Chapter 9

Sly carried Carmelita into her room, and gently sat her down upon her bed before he released herrather reluctantly. "Your stop, I do believe, Inspector?" he teased.

Carmelita found herself feeling a bit cold all of the sudden, what with having enjoyed the heat of Sly's body as he carried her. She laid luxuriously back upon the soft bed, and stretched, yawning despite herself. "Sorry 'bout that, Cooper. I guess winning at strip poker can take a lot out of girl…" she said, grinning mischieviously.

Sly smirked at her comment, and crossed his arms, enjoying their usual banter. "Hmm. I suppose it would at that, lovely lady," he replied. He grinned, then rubbed his knuckles against his chest in mock vanity. "After all, you got to enjoy what no lady since Mama Cooper has ever seen...Sly Cooper in all his glory." He waggled a clever eyebrow at her.

Carmelita couldn't help herself, and laughed at him, shaking her head. She also filed away that data on her being the first woman to see him…how had he put that again?...'au natural'. "Please, Cooper! 'All his glory'? You are too funny sometimes," she responded. She then peeled off her gloves, then shucked her jacket, carefully folding it and laying upon the bed. She felt odd that moment, and looked up, only to shiver with surprise and excitement as she spied Cooper staring unashamed at her in her brief halter top, bold as brass. "Okay, Ringtail...now be a gentleman and turn around. Oh, and keep those brown eyes of yours closed, mister! You hear me? If I catch you peeking at me, you'll rue the day you were ever born. Comprende?"

Sly responded by giving her a pained look. "Really! I can't believe you think I'd stoop so low as to become a peeking Tom, Inspector," Sly replied indignantly. He then glanced at the lovely detective. "Even if it is you were taking about, fairest of ladies." He appeared insulted, and crossed his arms, turning around, his back stiff.

Carmelita grimaced, realizing that just maybe she might of been being a bit too harsh with him. After all, she told herself, he might be a thief, true...but he always treated her with utmost respect. She reached around to unfasten her halter top, then slipped off her pants as well. She then laid herself atop the comforter, face down. "I'm...I'm sorry, Cooper. It's just that...well…" she bit her lower lip, unable to bring herself to say just what's on her mind. She could see Sly's back was still turned, but his posture relaxed a little, much to her relief.

"Oh," he initially replied, then finally understood. "Oh! Well, rest assured, Carmelita, I shall always treat you with the respect and dignity you deserve. Well, okay, maybe not in all cases, mind you. If

it's a matter of my escaping your tender mercies...I might have to resort to something clever. But..." he explained, nearly turning around, but at the last moment caught himself and stopped. "…I would never, never take advantage of you, Carmelita. I think that even you understand that, no?"

Carmelita was touched by his gallantry, and was doubly glad that Cooper's back was turned and his eyes firmly closed. For, she knew if he saw the tender look she had just given him, it would of embarrassed her more than she could imagine. She slowly lost that smile, covering up her true feelings by resuming her normal gruff cop facade. "All right, Cooper, you can turn around. Let's make this quick, though okay?" she told him.

Sly slowly turned around, a clever retort on his lips. However, he never got the chance to utter it. He found his breath was neatly taken away as he saw the lovely Carmelita lying upon the bed before him. Quite speechless for that long moment, he was rooted in place, a veritable statue. He shook his head in wonder, as he took in and enjoyed her tantalizing curves and overall loveliness. Fortunately, this didn't last too long, as he dragged himself out of his reverie, shaking his head. Unable to let the moment go without some flirty line, he decided to give her a soft admiring whistle, "There is no doubt about it, you are one lovely lady, Carmelita Montoya Fox." He took off his gloves, then took a seat beside her, placing his hands gently upon her alluring shoulders, and began to rub her taut muscles.

Carmelita smiled to herself, thinking that it's sort of nice to be so admired. That is, until she groaned softly in pure contentment as his very adept massage began. She found herself thinking with a smile, I sort of thought his being a thief might mean he has nice, strong, and flexible fingers...and, apparently I was right! She felt a sense of contented satisfaction at the sound of his whistling at her, smiling inwardly at the compliment. However, she worked very hard to keep her expression neutral…lest he understand how much he was affecting her. "Just you hush, buster. Much less talking, more massaging, Ringtail... Mmm," she chided him, groaning at the end, when he found a knot and began to loosen it.

Sly smiled down at her, noticing her small groans of pleasure. He adeptly moved his rubbing a bit lower down her back, kneading her tight muscles. Her muscles are so tight, that he's in no way surprised to hear Carmelita groan again with contentment. Hey, what could he say, he told himself, he actually rather used to this...as he had done this on more than one occasion for his friends. But, be that as it may, none of them were anything compared to Carmelita, who seemed to be one giant knot of tension. He decided to make mention of this to his lovely guest. "Gracious! Don't you ever relax, Carmelita my sweet?" he inquired, his voice soft and silky.

Carmelita chose to ignore his flattery, instead enjoying the relaxing of months of tension from her shoulders and back. She lazily lifted an eyelid, turning her head on her pillow. "Why do you say that, Cooper?" she asked, her voice soft and sleepy.

Sly grunted at that, breaking down a particularly stubborn knot as gently and surely as he could. "Why, you ask? Why because your muscles are one big mass of knots, that's why! When's the last time you actually went home and relaxed, exactly?" he complained, his forearms beginning to ache a bit.

Carmelita groaned softly as Sly found a very tender spot, and worked his magic. "Ha, that's rich, Cooper! Just when do you think I've had the time to relax? What with keeping you and your gang honest?" she replied, opening one eye a bit to flick a glance his way.

Sly only shook his head at her. "Honestly, girl! If you keep pushing yourself so hard, you're going to put yourself in the hospital! Now, as I recall, that last time I remember you being off of your feet was years ago. Remember? Back when you had gotten a case of the chicken pox?"

Carmelita´s eyes snapped open upon hearing that, obviously very surprised. She turned her head to look at him. "What? How do you know about that? That was years ago, mister! Way before I was ever working on your case, Ringtail."

Sly smiled rather smugly down at her, reminiscing. "Oh, yes...way before then, lovely girl. How did I know that, you ask? Well, just who do you think it was that left a bouquet of six red roses upon your stairs everyday? Hmm? Care to take a guess, Ms. Fox?" he informed her, grinning cleverly. "Now, I was glad you had your sister there to take care of you, you know. I mean, if she hadn't of been, I would of had to go inside and give them to you personally, each and every day. And, I think we know that wouldn't of been good for your recovery now, don't we? You know just how angry you get when anyone tries to do something nice for you, Carmelita." He stopped then, thinking. "Remind me again, mi querera. What was that sister of yours name again? Hmm, as I recall she was a rather cute girl...though, she had nothing on you, dearest..." he finished, giving Carmelita his most charming smile.

Carmelita's mind whirled as she came to grips with the fact that, even back two years before she'd received her first assignment to catch the thief, Cooper had been there for her. "Er, her name is Carmen, Cooper. And you'd best watch your back around her! Trust me, you wouldn't want to meet my sister after you'd just pulled a heist, mister. Carmen is the eldest in our family, and she's happily married. All that flirty chatter you use on me wouldn't cut it with her, amigo. She'd have you out cold from her shock pistol before you could say 'Buenos Tardes, Capitan Fox!'"

Sly grinned silently at that, reading between the lines of what she had just said. So, he told himself happily, my darling Carmelita is effected by my flirting? Interesting. "So, this Carmen is a Captain, huh? Your older sis, eh? Well, it sure didn't seem like that 10 years ago, beautiful..."

Carmelita felt wonderfully relaxed as Sly smoothly massaged away her fatigue and tension. She then smiled, remembering back. "Hmm? Oh, that. It must be her freckles, Cooper. Trust me, you're not the first one who thought she was younger than me," she explained to him. She smiled at the thought of Carmen, and relaxed even more. "Now, enough with the talking, Cooper, and keep up the massaging." Though, she was relaxed, she wasn't so relaxed that she couldn't feel a thrill shoot through her as Sly began to softly massage her rounded behind. She quivered with the feelings that created within herself, and allowed him to continue his somewhat naughty massage a moment or two before protesting. "That feels nice, Cooper...but, if you don't stop that right this very moment, you're going to have continue my massage after you regain consciousness. Remember, I've got my shock pistol, and I know how to use it."

Sly couldn't help himself and laughed softly at being caught. As much as he'd loved to continue, he was wise enough to move his hands back up her back and away from her very alluring behind. "As you say, my beautiful girl...as you say..." he assured her.

Carmelita felt her tension melting away...she hasn't felt this relaxed in years it seemed. "Mmm...that's good," she groaned, her eyes closed, her face the very picture of contentment.