The thing about Grim is that he’s only as bad as he feels he has to be to get what he wants done. Pragmatism, thy name is Joseph Reaper. Show him a picture of kittens doing cute little kitten things, and the big softy just grins and his blue eyes twinkle like a little kid. It’s actually pretty adorable. If you took that same group of kittens and put them between Grim and his goals, then the man wouldn’t think twice about stomping all over them to get what he wants. That being said, I applaud the bellhop being smart enough to hop out of Grimm’s way.
Danika looked at our manipulative little vampire and laughed, “He’ll move like that just for the tip? Jesus girl, what kind of freaky-deakiness are you giving the man?”
Before Penny could respond Niki snapped, “The kind that just made us ride in a car for over nine hours instead of getting to fly. Now, let’s get upstairs because I’m hungry, my ass is sore, and I can’t feel my legs.”
“Does my little Passion Flower want a backrub?” Danika’s voice was teasing, but sweet.
“Yes, but I want a nice juicy steak first, and something resembling a hot bath.” Niki grumbled. She still had a slight hitch in her walk. Apparently, her legs were asleep as well, or at least one of them.
“Well, it might not have been so rough on you if you hadn’t been cuddled up with me the whole trip.”
“Cuddling up with you was the one real perk of the drive. I wasn’t about to miss out on that.” Niki leaned in and gave her girlfriend a gentle kiss that almost curled my toes…wowza! They are just so gosh darn happy together. Even when they are grumpy and complaining you can just tell they’re madly in love with one another.
“Break it up you two, before I have to get the hose.” Katy teased.
Niki blew a raspberry at the witch, “Spoilsport!”
When we were all loaded into the elevato, Renaldo tapped the button for the top floor. No economy rooms for us, first class all the way baby, and all tax deductible. The hotel was eight stories high, but the elevator must have been powered by two squirrels because we barely crept upwards. We might have made better time going up the stairs. Sadly, the elevator music was a jazzy rendition of Hanson’s MMMBop sung by what sounded like some random karaoke singer. It was truly epic in its horribleness.
“So guys, what do you say we get some rest then go have a night on the town?” Katy chirped.
“Maybe we can visit Shell Island? I hear it’s beautiful, or maybe Saint Andrews State Park?” Danika said hopefully.
“What is with you and parks? It’s like you have a mental Rolodex of every nature reserve, state park, and botanical garden. Even when we were driving up you knew the name of every rest stop.” Grim said. It was a pretty good feat considering he was trying to keep several of our suitcases from falling off the cart using the side of his face. Both of his hands where fighting to keep the rest of the luggage on, as well.
Niki and Danika helped straighten the cart’s contents. Finally, when they got everything situated Danika responded, “Parks, nature reserves, and rest stops are all neutral ground for us. Sometimes we need to have discussions with other packs, or occasionally a loner needs a place to be safe from the pursuit of other packs. So we’ve all adopted those places as safe zones. No pack can attack another of our kind within the confines of a park, rest stop, or nature reserve. There are a few other places that are off limits, but that’s the general idea.”
“So what happens if someone breaks the rule?” I just had to ask. All the information we’d gathered on the werewolves during the time of our project was regarding their physical abilities. We never really learned much about their culture. I’d always had questions, but I was too afraid to ask them before. I knew that Danika was really just a guinea pig for the real project, and so I didn’t want to get to know her too personally at the time. It was hard enough knowing that my boss was using them to make the ultimate synthetic combatants. I knew that we were just using them, and so I tried to keep it as superficial a relationship as possible. We were friends, but we really didn’t know much about one another. It just made things easier at the time. Now it hurt my heart whenever I was reminded of just what a bad friend I was. The sad thing is that under the same circumstances, I know I’d have done it all again exactly the same way. I had a dying mother and a family to take care of. What kind of person does that make me?
Danika sighed, “Well, in theory, nobody has ever broken the rule.”
Joseph stepped away from the cart and slouched into the corner, “In theory?” He wrapped his arms around Penny, and pulled her back into his chest. She just fit into his arms perfectly, and I have to admit I felt a little jealous of her. Those big arms, that broad chest…easy girl, I don’t want a repeat of the car ride.
“Like I said, in theory nobody breaks the rule, but in practice if there is no one left to report it to the rest of the community, then no harm, no foul. Seriously, could this elevator be any slower?”
Renaldo grumbled, “Crazy people. All day long I ride this elevator with crazy people.”
Grim’s face grew dark and he started to reach out towards the man. Whatever he was planning wasn’t going to be good, but luckily at the last moment Penny reached out, took his hand, and curled it back around her in a loving snuggle. That was all it took to put the big man in a much better mood. He kissed the top of her head and I heard him whisper, “I love you. Thanks, I wasn’t thinking.”
Penny whispered back, “That’s okay; I do enough thinking for two people.”
“More like plotting.” Grim chuckled.
“Conspiring?” Penny’s voice was playful as she snuggled deeper into his embrace.
“Colluding.” Grim answered, kissing her head again.
“Colluding, that’s a pretty big word.” She pressed back against him.
“Well, I’m a pretty big boy.”
“Yes, you are.” Penny’s voice was all honey and seduction. I tried to ignore the gentle sway of her hips against the front of Grim’s jeans, but it was hypnotic. Then I saw it. Well I didn’t actually see “it”. I saw him swelling under his jeans. Penny’s hips moved out a bit, or should I say were forced out by…dear God, how does that thing even fit inside her? I felt my throat tighten up, and I couldn’t think. Dear Lord, if you’re real, please get me out of this elevator before I do something embarrassing, like tackle them both.
Penny began grinding her hips a little faster, and turned her head towards me so that she could lay it against his chest. She looked right at me, “A very big boy indeed.” Then she winked at me. Oh God, I’m actually trembling. I just can’t look away. His hands slid down and pulled her hips back against his crotch. She still kept that gentle sway. Two perfect breasts lifted up as her back arched to press against him even harder. Both of their eyes closed and I might be wrong, but I swear I think I heard her whisper, yum.
“Ack! Get a room, you two. You don’t see me dry humping my little Pudding Pop?” Niki’s voice broke the spell, and not a second too soon. I don’t know what came over me for a second there. All I could think of was being the other piece of bread in that sexy sandwich, and I’m not sure which of those two I wanted as the meat. I’ve never thought of a woman that way.
“We’re trying to get one, but we’re trapped in the slowest fucking elevator on earth.” Grim’s voice was already ragged with lust. God, I just want to jump on them both right now. I have to keep reminding myself not to reach out and touch them.
“You okay back there, DD?” Danika said playfully.
I snapped my head over towards her and squeaked, “Yes.” It was an actual squeak. Dear Lord, Danika knows. She can smell my…oh dear God! My face flushed six shades of crimson, and the worse it got, the bigger Danika’s smile got. The rotten, evil, tormenting werewolf; I hope she gets fleas.
The elevator dinged, but the door stuck. Renaldo grumbled, “Well, ladies, and…gentleman. It appears we are stuck. Don’t worry; maintenance will have us out in no time.
Grim snorted, “We’re on the top floor, r
ight?”
“Yes…sir?” Renaldo said. His constant irritation wasn’t going to earn him any tips from us, and I’m a pretty big tipper. As soon as I thought about tipping, my mind raced back to Penny’s comments earlier about Grim giving her the tip and my blushing found a seventh shade of red heretofore not found in nature or science.
“Penny, would you be a sweetie and get the door?” Grim’s voice was playful, but I could see he wanted out of this elevator as badly as any of us. The only difference was that we wanted to get our stuff in the room and relax, and he just really wanted some vampiric nookie.
The source of said nookie stretched as she moved off of him with the grace of a cat. I tried not to drool, or look at certain parts of her that were now stretching and arching in very…very pleasant ways. Finally, she moved towards the elevator doors. She looked at them, “These doors are kind of big. I’m not sure I can reach across far enough to hold them both open. Danika, be a dear and grab that other one please.”
Danika shrugged and weaved between Niki, Katy, and Renaldo to reach the other door. Renaldo stared at them incredulously, “Ladies, those doors are heavy. It takes strong men with tools to pry them open and…” He stopped and stared in shock. His mouth dropped open as the two girls opened the doors with all the effort you or I would unwrap a piece of gum.
Katy walked past the man, and along the way reached up and gently closed his mouth for him. “You’re going to let in flies like that.” Then without waiting for a response she stepped out into the hallway. The rest of us followed out. Grim pushed the cart out last. Once we were outside Grim turned back to Renaldo and said, “Thanks Roy. I appreciate all your help. So anyway Ricky, I think we can find our way to our rooms from here. Ladies…” Danika and Penny shrugged and let go of the doors. They slammed shut leaving Renaldo inside, probably still glaring at us all in shock.
Chapter 3
We rented out the top floor. It wasn’t cheap, but it meant we could actually relax, and Janine could wander around without accidentally scaring the bejeebers out of people. We’d made that mistake before, and gotten asked to leave by management. In hindsight, I have to say that we probably could have avoided the situation altogether. They overlooked Penny and Grim rutting like wild animals on the fire escape, in the elevator, and twice in the bushes leading up to the hotel. They even overlooked the three televisions that Katy accidentally ruined. In her defense, she’d just broken up with Penny and Grim, and I think her emotions were getting the better of her.
They overlooked that Janine kept scaring several of their guests. Although that may have more to do with them not knowing she was real, and that she was with us. They even overlooked Niki’s dog piddling on every plant in the lobby. Thank God we were able to convince her to leave that little squirt gun with her father, and not just because of the tinkling. That dog and Grimmy have a love hate relationship. Grimmy hates the dog, and we’ve had to talk him out of punting the little yapper more times than I can count. The dog just absolutely adores Grimmy, and by that I mean the dog lusts after Grim’s left leg. Just the left one, it’s like the dog thinks going after the right leg is somehow being unfaithful. As far as the rest of Grim, well the dog wouldn’t piddle on him to put out a fire. The only thing that dog loves more than Joseph’s leg is Danika, but it’s more like adoration to some deity than actual romantic love. Danika is like a goddess in Pepper’s little dog mind, and Joseph’s left leg is just a cheap booty call.
No, I’m the one that got us thrown out. It was a complete accident, and I still say that they really shouldn’t have been so angry about it. Niki and Danika were making love in the room next to mine, and for the record there should be laws about what kind of toys you can take with you on a trip. When I can hear the buzzing through the wall, then that should be a violation of hotel room law. They should send up a hotel sheriff to issue you a ticket, and maybe take you to hotel jail. Anyway, because of…the buzzing, and the other sounds coming from their room, I may have been feeling a little…frisky.
So I did what any other girl would do. I turned on the television and found one of those “special” movies. Then with the entertainment value of that particular movie, and Niki and Danika providing added “sound effects” I proceeded to do what comes naturally. When it was over I was a much happier, and relaxed young woman. , I got to thinking about the razzing I might get from the others when they saw the bill. So having the extra time on my hands, I hacked into their computer and erased my purchase. That would have been the end of it, but I started feeling guilty about stealing a movie from them. I spent an hour fighting my conscience about it, and then decided I’d do them a favor.
I hacked back into their computer, and for the next few hours I restructured their mainframe. When I was done it was much more efficient, and I’d probably saved them several thousand dollars in upgrades and improvements. Unfortunately, my efforts were not appreciated the way I thought they’d be when I brought it to their attention. Instead of a thank you, I got the manager yelling at me because I’d caused two members of the I.T. department responsible for handling all the programming issues for all the hotels on that mainframe to have nervous breakdowns. I still say those two were just being big babies because someone did a better job than they could. I guess it doesn’t matter though because we were unceremoniously tossed out, although we did get a letter of thanks a few weeks later.
Live and learn I suppose. The biggest lesson is that with our growing financial resources, we could live like rock stars if we wanted. So when we had to come out to Panama City, Florida to demonstrate our new body armor, we made sure that we got a whole floor. The only hotel that could accommodate us was the Leitmotif. It’s a fancy theme hotel where every room is a different theme. There are twenty rooms on our floor, and if we’re lucky, the variety of rooms will be enough to keep Grim and Penny from having more incidents in public. They weren’t really this bad until after the breakup with our little witch. Since they split up she’s been all over him.
Danika and Niki found their room first. It was beautiful. Since we were on the top floor the designers had created the room to resemble a green house. One-way glass gave them a view of Saint Andrew Bay, and they had a shower designed to look like a waterfall in the center of the room. Plants decorated the whole area. A marble walkway led to a round bed that actually hung from the ceiling. If the other rooms were as well thought out as this, then I really was going to have to put it on my blog.
Katy found her room next. Of course she chose the gothic room. Instead of a bed, they had a giant open coffin big enough for two, and written on the coffin lid was, “Til death do us part.” It was just creepy. The doorknob was a gargoyle, and the whole room was designed to resemble a tomb. Grimmy scooped up her bags and helped her get settled in. Meanwhile, the rest of us kept going.
Janine found a minimalist room. It was just four white walls, no windows, and a sleeping mat on the floor. It wouldn’t have been my choice, but I guess it makes sense since she’s a ghost and really doesn’t need to sleep. She chose the room that none of us would have wanted. Honestly, I’m pretty sure she’d be tormenting the other guests when she wasn’t with us. Our ghost is almost saintly, but she loves playing practical jokes on “breathers” as she likes to call us. As her friends, we’re spared the brunt of it, but as far as she’s concerned, anyone else is fair game. I guess that wouldn’t be such a problem, but she has a dark sense of humor that ranges somewhere between Monty Python, and Darth Vader. Janine honestly believes scaring someone is the equivalent of good nookie, or chocolate. That means several people in this hotel are probably going to get the vacation of a lifetime.
“Do you have it?” Janine said, her excitement causing the lights in the room to flicker like a strobe. Her excitement was infectious. I pulled out a case, and stepped around Penny. Janine followed me to the nearest wall socket, and started bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet as I opened the case. Inside was an electromagnetic pump I’d designed in my free ti
me. Instead of a simple box that pushed out an electromagnetic field, I’d designed this pump so that I could set up several external pumps at the corners of the room. Once I connected the pumps back to the main system, a computer program monitored and adjusted the signals so that it would flood the room with an electromagnetic field.
I flipped the switch and almost immediately smelled ozone. “Oooh, it tickles.” Janine giggled. I turned around, and as the EMF pump kept chugging along, Janine was practically crackling with power.
“Oh, the parties I’m going to have in here.” She laughed, and started dancing around the room.
“Just remember to turn it off when you aren’t using it. I wouldn’t want some poor housekeeper to walk in here and have an asthma attack because of all the ozone this thing puts off.
“Sure thing. I just can’t wait to see who else is floating around this place. They’re going to love this.” Janine was now shaking her moneymakers to some imaginary song that only she could hear. I walked back out to the hallway just as Grimmy was making his way back to us.
“Did you really have to help her?” Penny hissed. Her eyes narrowed as she put a hand on her hip. She wasn’t happy.
“Oh come on hon’, not this again?” Grim grumbled. His shoulders slumped, and he just looked a little beaten down. By their body language it was clear that they had been having this “discussion” a lot.
“She made her decision, and she should have to live with the repercussions.” Penny practically spat the words out like poison. I’d never seen this side of her before. I mean, I’ve seen Penny in a homicidal rage, but never just cold and angry.
Midnight Squad: The Ties That Bind Page 3
