As the description says this is part of the prequel to Ancestral Rivalry. I was surprised that anyone read it much less reviewed, and like it. Thank you for your kind words, and honest opinions.
The stealthy raccoon met little resistance as he slipped through the museum after hours. He was seeking to obtain a priceless treasure. The moonlight shining through the skylight, bounced off a glass case, and caught his attention. The thief crept silently to his destination. Upon reaching the display case, he stared in awe. It was the second most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes upon. The first being…
"Hold it right there Cooper!" Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox of Interpol.
Sly Cooper froze in his tracks. Chuckling, he raised his arms in surrender and turned to face the vixen. "Aah, Carmelita, what brings you out tonight."
Pointing her shock pistol at him she smirked. "My job." Motioning for him to step away from the display she lowered her shock pistol. "I could ask the same of you, Ringtail."
Lowering his arms he crossed them over his chest and smiled at the Inspector. "Well, my dearest, I was just making sure I don't lose the Cooper touch."
Rubbing her temples she sighed. "I thought we had an agreement. You know, the one where you're supposed to be behaving yourself."
"I know that one very well. Believe me sweetheart, I wasn't going to take anything. The gang and I are just running a drill. You never know when our skills may come in handy."
Carmelita snarled at him. "Your gang is here too?"
"I'm not a solo act, we work as a team."
"So I can assume Bentley has disabled the security cameras, and is probably listening in on your binocucom?"
Sly smiles at her. "You know us so well."
"That's what worries me." The annoyed vulpine moved closer to Sly. As she got within arms reach, she grabbed his shirt and pulled him into a rough kiss. The raccoon's confusion wore off quickly as he wrapped his arms around her and returned the kiss passionately.
Carmelita traced her fingers down the thief's chest, to his abs and stopped at his thigh. Pulling away from the now bewildered raccoon, the vixen crowed "Got it!"
Sly stood there confused as Carmelita held up his binocucom in triumph. Speaking into the microphone, she caught the turtle on the other end of the gadget off guard. "Bentley you and Murray can go home now, Sly is in my custody. No chance of escape. We're signing off now. Goodnight." Shutting down the binocucom she turned to face the would be thief again. "You've got some explaining to do, Ringtail. Make it good."
"You sneaky little devil. You toyed with me just to distract me. I think I'm rubbing off on you gorgeous."
Carmelita crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. "Don't try changing the subject. I want an explanation, and I'm quickly losing patience with you."
Sighing he pecked her on the cheek. "All right. But first, answer me this. I made sure you didn't follow me. How did you know I was here?"
Grinning at him she replied, "I have an informant. And before you ask, no I won't divulge any details concerning this individuals identity."
He frowned, "Fair enough." Pausing he notices something that bypassed his attention earlier. " Is it raining outside. The forecast said there was only a slight chance for a shower."
The fox smirked. "Oh this?" she gestured to her raincoat. "I was wondering when you would notice." Placing her hands on the overcoats belt, she began to untie the knot holding it closed. "This is part of an ultimatum."
"Ultimatum?" he interrupted.
Carmelita held her index finger to her lips and shushed him. "Please let me finish." She finished untying the belt and held the coat closed with both hands strategically placed. "We agreed that your thieving days were over. We agreed that you weren't going to break the law ever again. You promised. If you go back on your word, I have no choice but to go back on mine. This time I will catch you. I know all of your tricks, sweetheart."
As Sly stepped towards her, she took as many steps backwards. He paused in his tracks. "Carmelita, I wouldn't break a promise to you. I love you. I didn't come here to take anything. But, I just had to find out if I could still pull it off. I don't want to go back to playing cops and robbers with you. Although the thought of being chased by you is intriguing, to say the least. What we have now is much more important than stealing."
The fox smiled warmly at him. "Well then, agreeing to my terms shouldn't be a problem."
The raccoon lovingly returned her smile with one of his own. "What terms would those be, beautiful?"
His charm not lost on her, she paused momentarily while she reorganized her thoughts. "Well for starters, if you so much as even think about stealing I will throttle you to within an inch of your life."
Her temper was on the verge of flaring. That fiery disposition was one of her many traits that he couldn't bear to live without. "Is that it?"
Gripping her coat tighter she grinned seductively. "No, that's not quite all. Any hand that steals, is a hand that will not touch me."
He flattened his ears against his head as the realization hit. "You mean no more lovin'?" His heart thought of never making love with the love of his life again, had never occurred to him, before now. He looked at her with the saddest face he could manage. "You wouldn't go that far, would you?"
Gazing back at him with understanding eyes, she answered. "As much as it would pain me to do so, I would. I don't want to go back to the way things were between us. I love you, and I don't want to lose you. But, if you revert back to your old habits, I can't live that life. I don't want to have to constantly look over my shoulder, just waiting to be arrested. We've talked about having children some day. That's not fair to them. If you don't want to work for Interpol that's fine. You can be the stay-at-home parent. This is all your choice. If this isn't what you want, walk away. So I'm going to ask you this only once, do you want what's in that display case…" She opens her coat to reveal a very sexy blue lace teddy, "or do you want what's behind door number two?"
His jaw dropped. His heart was trying to explode through his chest. His eyes nearly escaped his skull. His previous train of thought was dangerously close to derailing. "I um, is uh, wow, is that new?" He finally managed to sputter. "Cause I don't remember this one, and uh, WOW." He slowly moved a little closer to her, expecting her to pull back from him. After she made no effort to put more distance between them he closed the gap and gently put his hands on her hips. "You look incredible. We both know I could never walk away from us, I love you. There is no choice to make. I didn't come here to pilfer anything. I just had to prove to myself that I've still got it." Looking over his scantily clad vixen he grinned lustfully, before wrapping his arms around her waist, and leaning in for a quick kiss.
The vulpine released her grip and let the coat fall back over her, so that she could return his embrace.
Ending the kiss, she smiled as she stared into his warm eyes, "I'm glad to hear that. I would hate to file for divorce after less than a month of marriage."
He chuckled, "Just get that thought out of your pretty little head. Our marriage is going to last forever, or until you get sick and tired of living with me. And even then you'll have to drag me kicking and screaming into court."
She smiled as she nuzzled into his neck. "Don't think I'll give up that easily. I finally caught you, and I'm keeping you."
"So, shall we go home, or would you rather continue this here?" His lustful grin returned, and he leaned in closer for a kiss.
"Hold up there stud. Until we get home, you can look, but you can't touch."
Sly frowned as he thought over the quickest way back to their apartment. "C'mon, across the rooftops is the fastest way." He started to pick her up, when she put a hand on his chest to stop him.
"You go ahead. I'll drive and meet you there."
"You don't want to go together?"
"I don't trust you to keep your hands to yourself on the way. I won't be far behind you. Let's head out, the sooner we leave, the sooner the fun can begin."
"Just one thing, officer." Sly closes her coat, and knots the belt snuggly. "I don't want anyone else getting a peek at you and what they can't have." After planting a quick peck on her cheek, he heads toward the closest window. Pausing before he climbs out onto the ledge, he turns to face her once more. "I'll be waiting, gorgeous."
Blushing slightly at the thought of what had just transpired, and of what was yet to come, the raincoat clad fox left the museum and headed for her car.
On the roof of the museum, Sly watched as his wife got into her car and drove off. Satisfied as to her safety, he took off in a sprint for the edge of the roof, and leapt over the gap to the building next it. Grabbing the drain pipe, he quickly climbed to the roof, and continued his journey picking up speed as he maneuvered from one roof to the next. Every leap bringing him one step closer to his goal. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the balcony he was aiming for came into view. He was now merely a wirewalk away from home. Tiptoeing across the telephone line, dropping to the ledge below, and agilely backflipping down to the familiar balcony of home, the acrobatic raccoon grinned. "I've still got it."
Slipping in through the French doors, he removed his gloves, and tucked his cane into it's hiding place in the closet. Continuing to disrobe, he threw his sweater and pants across the back of the couch. Standing in only his boxer shorts, he felt somewhat naked. Thinking for a moment he grinned as the solution hit him. Poking through the discarded clothing, he pulled out what he was searching for. Dusting off the blue fabric, he tossed it into the air with it landing crookedly on top of his head. His ears flicked as he heard footsteps approaching the door. Standing proudly, and slightly less naked than before, in his hat and shorts, he threw on his most mischievous grin and waited for the door to open.
Carmelita walked quickly to her door, looking forward to shedding the cumbersome raincoat. She turned the knob and giggled at the sight in front her. A well toned, grey-furred raccoon wearing nothing but his underwear, red ones with little white hearts, a hat, and a goofy grin. "Waiting long?"
"Just long enough to slip into something more appropriate for the occasion. It's been quite a successful day, hasn't it? I got a priceless work of art, and you got your man. Shall we adjourn into the bedroom, my dear?"
"Stop right there, Cooper." Carmelita ordered. "Did you steal something tonight?" the fox barked.
Putting his finger to her lips to silence her, Sly spoke softly. "Darling, the only thing I set out to steal tonight was you. The only thing I miss about thieving is our little rendezvous."
"So you planned to get caught, what if I had arrested you?" Carmelita questioned angrily.
"What can I say? Your fiery temper makes for a lot of fun between the sheets. Besides you know you wouldn't arrest me. You may have caught me, but you wouldn't have let me get carted off to jail."
"How can you be so sure of that?"
The dashing raccoon grinned wickedly at her. "Because as soon as the handcuffs were on, the thought of all the great times we've had with them would have made you miss me. Not to mention the lack of conjugal visits."
"Your too cocky for your own good. What makes you think I wouldn't move on with someone else?" she snarled.
"It's part of my charm. Face it, your as hooked on me as I am on you. I'm just trying to stay exciting for you. You don't handle boredom well." he crooned at her.
She smiled at his response. "Ringtail, I will never find you boring. To quote a very attractive reformed thief, shall we adjourn into the bedroom?"
Scooping her up into his arms he sighed happily. "I thought you'd never ask."
Chapter Two will post soon, hopefully. There will be more action and adventure in later chapters. I hope you like my take on the Sly Cooper universe.