Mistletoe

"Helen." Nikola greeted her with a half-smile as he threw open the door to her office and let himself in unannounced.

His sharp senses noticed that she tensed the moment he spoke. As he entered the room he could feel a change in the atmosphere that he couldn't understand. It wasn't her usual anger at his casual disregard for the social convention of knocking before entering.

"Nikola." Her voice was level, giving nothing away, and she didn't look up to acknowledge him. He paused halfway to her desk, his smile falling from his lips.

"Apologies, did I interrupt something? I know the world simply cannot keep turning without the hand of the great Helen Magnus guiding it."

Helen slammed her pen down with a force that startled him.

Perhaps his words had been a tad too facetious. Still, he hadn't said anything terribly offensive. If anything, it was a compliment to suggest the world couldn't get by without her magnificence.

But Helen didn't seem to take it as a compliment as she stood abruptly, shoving her chair away from the desk as she rose. The look on her face as she rounded her desk was one he had learned not to trifle with. As she stalked toward him, crowding into his personal space, Nikola found himself retreating. When his shoulder bumped the edge of the door frame he realize he had allowed her to intimidate him.

Him, of all people. The last living Vampire, stronger and faster than she could ever hope to be. Smarter too, but only by a small margin; Helen really was brilliant and extremely learned. He never expected to be cowed before a human. And Helen was not the type to use physical intimidation to get what she wanted. She much preferred reason. Nikola couldn't account for her behavior or his own timid reaction to it.

"Helen? Whatever it is I've done, at least allow me to explain before you shoot me again."

His confusion grew exponentially when her stony expression melted into a smile and her eyes sparkled playfully at him. Her entire posture relaxed and if Nikola hadn't witnessed it himself, he would not have believed that Mighty Magnus had made an appearance only a moment before.

"As far as I'm aware, Nikola, you haven't done anything that deserves a bullet." Her tone was full of humor, and something else that didn't fit her or the situation. He knew when she was using their banter to hide her anxieties. "Though, if you'd like to make a confession, I have a firearm in the middle drawer."

"Then why-?" He bit his tongue and settled for gesturing between them, not willing to admit aloud she'd been able to dominate him in such a way.

Helen's smile only grew and she chuckled. She cast her eyes up and when Nikola followed them he recognized the sprig of greenery hung about her door with a bright red velvet ribbon. The little berries peeped shyly through the leaves but did nothing to alleviate Nikola's confusion.

Mistletoe. His eye's dropped to Helen's again, questioning.

Nikola sucked in a breath when he found Helen closer than she had been before he had looked away. She was so close now he could feel her warm breath against his skin in the scant moment before he felt her lips on his.

Helen took one last step, settling in against Nikola with one hand on his chest and the other wrapped around his neck. The hair at his nape was soft under her fingertips but not as soft as his lips. She took more of them as her other hand grabbed his lapel, anchoring herself to him.

Nikola's lungs had ceased to operate and it was a damn good thing he didn't actually need them. Even if he had been mortal, he would have allowed himself to suffocate rather than draw away from her for one moment. He reveled in the sensations of her kiss and hoped the doorjamb would continue to hold him up. He wasn't at all sure it could manage it himself right now.

Just as he remembered that as the gentleman he should be making her knees weak, rather than the other way around, the moment was broken and Helen pulled those sinfully delicious lips away. Nikola knew he should smirk, make a witty comment about how he always knew she couldn't resist him. Move back in for more before she came to her senses and pushed him away.

But he was too taken aback to react properly. 'Taken aback' was such mild language; really, he was completely poleaxed.

His brow furrowed and his eyes begged her for explanation as she grinned at him. She took a step back, her smile becoming rather sly and secret as she tugged his suit jacket back into place.

"Consider it an apology," she said with a shrug. Her fingers lingered on his chest after smoothing his tie down. "I really do have a ton of work to do, so I'm afraid I can't entertain you right now."

Nikola blinked, his shocked system still struggling to catch up. When his mind finally cleared of the Helen-induced haze, the door to her office was shutting between them. She poked her head out of the narrowing gap a moment.

"Find us a bottle of wine worthy of the occasion and join me this evening." She lowered her voice and her wink sent his head spinning once again. "There's more mistletoe in the library."