"I now have a newfound respect and empathy for all manner of beasts of burden because of you," grumbled the tall, silver-haired man as he struggled to better his grip on the multitude of shopping bags that filled both of his large hands. His pretty, red-haired companion merely giggled and bounded a few steps ahead before turning around to face him as she backed slowly down the sidewalk.
"Don't be so cranky, Jenkins," she chided brightly. "I haven't bought that much stuff! Besides, you volunteered to carry my bags." Jenkins shot her a sour look.
"At the time I volunteered you only had one bag, Mrs. Jenkins," he reminded her sternly, her new title and name still sounding oddly strange and delightful to him at the same time. "And we were supposed to be heading straight back to the Annex. I didn't realize that we would have to stop in every single shop we passed between the two places!"
Cassandra laughed at the older man's tetchiness. She knew it was just an act on his part (well, mostly an act), though she had to admit to herself that she had perhaps gone a little overboard today. She'd only meant to pick up a new dress that she'd fallen in love with. She had seen it in the shop's window while they were here on the team's last mission, and she had promised herself that when the mission was over she would return and buy it—plus a few accessories to go with it, of course. But there had been so many sales going on everywhere when she returned! And Cassandra Cillian Jenkins was a shopping warrior; she simply would not refuse a good sale. Poor Jenkins had become collateral damage.
Well, she thought to herself mischievously. We'll see if we can't fix that!
"Just one more stop, sweetheart—I promise!" she said seriously. Jenkins rolled his eyes melodramatically.
"If only I had a dollar for every time I've heard that today…" he heaved resignedly.
"You'd have a buck!" she shot back. The redhead halted in front of a shopfront. "Here we are!" Jenkins peered in through the huge plate-glass window and saw, to his utter horror, nothing but shoes. His shoulders slumped in defeat as he turned to the excited Librarian.
"Oh, no, Cassandra, NO—not SHOES!" he almost whined in dismay. Cassandra grinned and reached up to pat his cheek.
Panic filled her husband's soulful brown eyes. "Cassandra, please!" he begged. "You have dozens of pairs of shoes already, in every possible color and configuration! HOW can you possibly need more?"
"Just a quick trip, I promise! I already know exactly what I want; I just have to try them on to make sure they look as good on me as I think they will. It won't take five minutes, I swear!" she tried to reassure him. "I swear, you'd think we were entering a fire-breathing dragon's lair, the way you're acting!"
"I wish!" the immortal muttered under his breath.
"Did you say something?" she asked, looking back at him suspiciously. Jenkins beamed at her.
"Not a word, my dear!" he said, sighing quietly as he dutifully followed her into the store.
The immortal tried to console himself with the thought that at least he could put down the heavy shopping bags and sit. He let the bags drop to the floor in a heap and then plopped down into a chair next to them, joining a handful of other glassy-eyed husbands and boyfriends. Cassandra instantly hurried off and disappeared among the dozens of shelves full of shoes, chattering eagerly to one of the sales clerks as she went. He settled into the chair and closed his eyes; this was apt to take a while.
The Caretaker dozed off after a short time. He suddenly heard his name and started awake, blinking open his eyes while he straightened up in the chair. As his eyes adjusted and focused, he saw Cassandra standing in front of him, eyeing him strangely, almost predatorily.
"Well?" she asked smoothly. "What do you think of these?" His eyes automatically dropped to her feet, and he blinked rapidly several times in astonishment, startled to see her wearing a pair of knee-high boots designed to resemble a man's oxford shoe. They were made of seductively shiny black and white patent leather that hugged the delicate curves of her calves, and were intricately laced all the way up the front with narrow, white satin ribbons. The spike heels were just high enough, so that as she took a few steps away from him in them, her bottom wiggled in just the right way. Jenkins couldn't take his eyes off of her as Cassandra strutted back to him.
"Well? What do you think? Do you like them?" she asked, spinning around in place before him. Her tone was nothing but innocence, but she was gratified to see how dark and alert his eyes were now when he finally dragged them up to hers.
"They're…lovely," he said, his voice slightly raspy. "Though I don't think they'll go with the dress you just bought." The young woman smiled mysteriously.
"Oh, they aren't for the dress," she positively purred in response. "These are for you!"
"Oh?" he blurted, still looking slightly nonplussed. "I don't think they'll look quite as nice on me."
She lifted one foot and carefully planted it on the seat of his chair, right between his thighs, then leaned in as closely as she could, looking him squarely in the eyes, a tiny lopsided smile on her lips as she whispered just loudly enough for him to hear.
"These are for bed, you silly goose!"
Jenkins swallowed hard as he slowly sat ramrod straight in the chair. Cassandra watched his eyes turn hard and eager as he pictured her stretched out languorously across their bed, wearing those sinful boots and nothing else. As he unconsciously licked his lips, she could practically see the desire blaze into life within him, could almost feel the heat of it as it spread and consumed him. His gaze dropped back to the leather-clad leg in front of him, one hand deliberately moving to lightly stroke the back of her calf. The leather was so smooth, flawless—just like her skin. Jenkins imagined running his tongue slowly along both. His breathing became quick and shallow as his fingers toyed longingly with the white ribbon bow tied just below her knee, imagining himself delivering a small kiss or a light nip to Cassandra's creamy thigh with each eyelet he cleared as he carefully removed the laces of each boot. Cassandra reached down and laid her hand on his cheek, and when he looked up she saw pure hunger in his eyes.
"Just a little reward for putting up with so much today," she whispered. "Now, why don't you meet me out front while I go pay for these?" She removed her foot from the chair, careful to let the toe of the boot brush against his crotch as she did so. He flinched ever so slightly, but the hungry look instantly turned into something bordering on feral. She held out the shoes she had been wearing when they entered the store.
"First, let me slip these into one of those bags," she said, stuffing her shoes into the biggest one. Jenkins looked askance at her.
"You're not going to take those off?" he asked, black eyes flicking to the boots. Cassandra shook her head and grinned wickedly.
"Nope! I'm going to wear them home!" she chirped, then turned and headed for the cashier's counter to pay for them. Jenkins scrambled to his feet and began frantically gathering up the various bags, stopping only long enough to treat himself to the sight of his Librarian's pretty ass twitching back and forth enticingly beneath her short skirt as she sashayed across the room.
As he struggled with the bags, Jenkins couldn't help but notice the looks Cassandra got from others as she passed by. Almost all of the men did double-takes, unabashedly gawking at the beautiful, poised young woman as she breezed by them. He could tell that some of the men were tempted to say something, but once they caught sight of the large, intimidating older man who was clearly with the delectable redhead in the short skirt, snug top and fierce boots, they wisely held their tongues. He suspected that he really wasn't supposed to feel this way in this age of political correctness, but Jenkins simply couldn't deny that he felt proud—and very masculine—to be the object of all of these other men's envy. He found himself holding his head higher than usual, an exultant look on his face as he waited for his young wife.
The women Cassandra passed were another story. Most of them glared at her, some with envy, others with disapproval, still others with outright condemnation. He hoped Cassandra hadn't noticed any of those. She was already sensitive to how people viewed them as a couple when they were in public together; the last thing he wanted right now was for some self-righteous moralist to say something hurtful to her.
No sooner had the thought entered his mind than he caught sight of a waspish, middle-aged woman with immaculate hair and impeccably-tailored clothes, her gold jewelry expensive, heavy and gaudy. She obviously had money and position of some sort in the community, and it apparently led her to believe that it gave her the authority to walk up to Cassandra as she was paying for her boots and stand there glaring at her. The young woman started as she turned around to find the older one standing directly next to her. The woman stared Cassandra in the eye, an ugly look on her face like she wanted to spit right into the redhead's face.
"Slut!" the woman hissed contemptuously. Cassandra blinked, speechless for a moment as she reeled from what the woman had just said to her.
"I'm…I'm sorry? What did you say?" the Librarian asked not wanting to believe that she had heard correctly. The woman's lips twisted in revulsion.
"You heard me!" she shot back loudly. "I've seen you two all around downtown today, all day! Every shop I go to, there you are, flaunting yourselves; it's disgusting! You hanging all over that nasty old man, hugging and kissing him in public like it's perfectly normal! Well, it's not normal! It's vile, and it's a symptom of everything that's morally wrong with this country today! I won't just stand by and pretend it IS normal! I'm going to speak up and tell the truth!" She then turned her vitriol towards Jenkins.
"And you! You should be ashamed of yourself, you sick old pervert!" she said loudly, pointing at him and causing other patrons now to turn to see what the commotion was about. "You're old enough to be her grandfather, for God's sake! Have you no sense of decency? Parading around with this…this…CHILD on your arm like she was your pet or something! You should be arrested and thrown into jail, you…you…pedophile!"
Jenkins didn't lose his temper very often, but he was immediately angered by the rudeness and cruelty of this ill-bred…fishwife, standing there and all but screaming her invectives against his wife. He dropped the bags he was holding and pulled himself upright to his full height, glowering eyes blazing as he opened his mouth to deliver several cutting retorts of his own. He was stopped short, however, by the soft, calm voice of Cassandra, yet with an edge to it sharper than a blade of Damascus steel.
"For your information, ma'am," she said politely as she smiled. "I'm not going to stand here and be bullied by you or your bigotry. He and I are both consenting adults, we are together because we truly love each other. Ergo, our relationship is none of your damn business." The young cashier behind the counter coughed as he tried to disguise his suppressed laughter.
The older woman spluttered incoherently for a moment, taken aback that Cassandra wasn't cowed or embarrassed in any way. As she stood there wildly grasping for something insulting to say back to the impertinent redhead, Cassandra simply stepped around the fuming woman and continued on her way, boot heels clicking leisurely towards the door of the shop. Jenkins, totally caught off guard, nonetheless flashed his brightest smile at the fuming woman. He quickly gathered up Cassandra's shopping bags and then hurried after his Librarian. As they were about to pass through the doorway and out onto the sidewalk, the woman turned to them, her face red with humiliation and anger as bystanders softly laughed at her discomfiture.
"You're not fooling anyone, you know! You're nothing but a gold-digging JEZEBEL and her DEVIANT…whoremonger!" she shrieked loudly. Cassandra stopped and turned slowly back to face the hateful woman, her eyes flashing blue fire.
"I'm sorry, but my name is actually Cassandra, not Jezebel," she said. She still spoke calmly, but her tone clearly signaled that she would tolerate no further nonsense from the other woman. "And this sexy beast—" she indicated the tall, unamused immortal next her. "—Is my husband, not a deviant, and NOT a whoremonger. And I demand that you apologize to him. Now." The fishwife sniffed in disdain.
"I will not apologize!" she said triumphantly, happy that she had at last gotten under Cassandra's skin. Cassandra began to walk back towards the fishwife.
"Cassandra…" Jenkins said warningly, but she ignored him. She stood in front of the older woman and looked straight into her hazel eyes.
"You apologize to my husband for your rude remarks right now," she repeated, the Librarian's voice like ice, all pretense of politeness gone. The fishwife narrowed her eyes stubbornly.
"I won't!" she barked, a sadistic smirk pulling at her lips. Cassandra looked at her intently. She didn't like using her gift to listen to the thoughts of others—she hadn't really mastered that aspect yet, and it could be very disorienting. But she wasn't going to let this woman get away with the slander she was throwing at Jenkins, so she listened, at the same time making some quick mental calculations.
"You know, I really feel sorry for anyone who has to spend time with you on a regular basis," she said. "Do you really enjoy being a plain old mean-spirited bitch?"
There was a soft gasp from the onlookers and some low murmuring. It seemed to Jenkins like everyone in the store was now gathered around to watch the show. Jenkins silently cursed himself for volunteering to come along on this shopping trip. He should've anticipated something like this. He knew there would always be those who disapproved of their May-December relationship, and that he couldn't simply hide from the world just to avoid situations like this one, but at the same time he didn't feel it necessary to go looking for trouble, either. Please don't let this escalate! he prayed.
And then it escalated.
With a snarl the fishwife drew back her right hand and swung, striking Cassandra across her face. She staggered back a couple of steps, but kept her feet. There was an even louder gasp from the onlookers. Jenkins dropped the shopping bags again, and, his face dark as a thundercloud, began to plow his way through the crowd.
Before he could reach her, Cassandra straightened up. Quick as lightening, the redhead struck her attacker with her small fist in the breastbone, with just enough force to knock the bully off-balance. With a surprised huff the woman fell backwards and landed hard squarely on her ass. She simply sat there on the floor, legs sprawled, unladylike, out in front of her, too stunned to move for several moments, her mouth hanging open comically. Jenkins froze in his tracks, his anger turned to amazement, as Cassandra knelt so that she was face to face with the fishwife.
"I'm still waiting for that apology." The fishwife gaped at redhead.
"I…I…I'm sorry," she said automatically, blinking dazedly. Cassandra smiled brightly.
"That's better! And because I know you're wondering about it—Yes, he is a fantastic lover," she stage-whispered, winking confidentially. Everyone within earshot gaped at the defiant young woman, including Jenkins. He stared at her for a few moments, then warily turned his head to look around at the others in the busy shop. The fishwife, now recovered from her surprise, was nearly apoplectic with rage as she struggled to get back to her feet. Others were simply uncomfortable-looking or shocked by the whole exchange. A few, though, began to clap, laugh and cheer for Cassandra as she stood up and went back to her husband, and it soon spread to others in the store until nearly everyone was applauding her. From somewhere in the distance Jenkins heard a young man's voice call out.
"You got yourself a hunnie right there, old sexy dude! Way to go!"
The immortal looked back to Cassandra. Grinning in triumph, she slipped her arm through his and led him out of the shop, stopping just long enough for him to pick up her bags, then down the sidewalk towards the back door to the Annex. After the initial shock wore off, Jenkins couldn't help but grin himself. He hadn't expected Cassandra to react like that at all, and he realized that—despite the fact she had physically struck someone—he was impressed by how she had handled the situation, even more than a little proud of her.
Almost immediately he scolded himself: Perhaps he shouldn't be quite so surprised. She had always been tougher than she initially appeared, but over the past couple of years Cassandra had especially grown and blossomed in terms of her self-confidence. She was strong and self-assured now, and Jenkins found that very attractive. He had to admit to himself that he was very turned on right now by this newest display of that confidence and poise, even more so than by those wicked, seductive boots. He leaned over slightly.
"That was very well-done, my love," he murmured. "And I do believe that's the first time in my entire life that I've ever had someone fight for MY honor! Where did you learn how to do that?"
"Eve. She taught all of us beginner's hand to hand combat moves; I just made a few adjustments to her techniques using some basic physics," she replied. Jenkins chuckled appreciatively and bent his head even lower so that only she could hear his next words.
"Courage, intelligence and beauty—you really have become quite a little Amazon since you first came to the Library," he rumbled softly. "You know, I've always been inordinately attracted to Amazons…" He waggled his eyebrows roguishly.
Smiling, the Librarian turned to look up at him with bold blue eyes. "I meant what I said back there. You are a sexy beast, and you are a fantastic lover!" She laughed as his cheeks turned pink and he bashfully dropped his gaze.
"Yes, well…" was all he said as a small, boyish smile came to his face. Cassandra couldn't resist stopping him just long enough to stand on her toes and give him a quick, but passion-filled, kiss right there on the sidewalk. She was pleased to see the hungry look return to his eyes.
A few minutes later they stepped through the portal into the Annex. The second they were clear of the doors, Jenkins dropped all of the shopping bags. He quickly bent over with a low, guttural growl and scooped up his booted little Amazon, effortlessly slinging the laughing, squealing woman over his shoulder as he quickly strode towards their bedroom, his large hand stroking the shapely calf of one leg in anticipation of the delightful pleasures to come.