Stockings and Suspenders (7 page)

Lust won out. The offer of another
quickie with her was too good to refuse. I stripped out of my clothes and
joined her in the bed. Anticipation of our bodies connecting coiled in my gut.

We came together in each other’s arms.
Our mouths met. Her hands clutched my shoulders, brought me closer to her. Her
mouth moved upon mine and, when her lips parted, I darted my tongue in. She
tasted woodsy and bitter from the dark beer we had drunk. I savored the taste,
the soft silky feel, of her lips.

Her body fit snug against mine, made
me aware of every part of myself and of her. She rubbed her hands down my back,
squeezed my ass, then rolled me over. Kristina kissed and stroked her way down
my torso to my navel, toyed with the patch of hair above my cock, then took my
length into her mouth.

Overwhelming ecstasy consumed me. A
primal drive kicked in, and all I wanted to do was take over and love the woman
who was loving on me.

As if reading my mind, she stopped.
“Right now it’s all about you.” She stretched beside me along the bed, slipped
her hand beneath a pillow and pulled out a little packet. Soon my cock was
sheathed, and Kristina straddled me, encompassing my length with her pussy.

She threw her head back as she rode
me, her full rounded breasts swaying with her motions. Wanting to taste her,
hold her, I sat up and wrapped her in my arms, nuzzled my face against her
breasts. Kristina threaded her fingers through my hair. The aroma of mint
surrounded me, and when I stroked my tongue along her sternum, she reminded me
of a candy cane.

I licked my way over to a nipple,
sucked on the tit, teasing the hard nub with tongue and teeth, as I caressed
the other, all the while slowly circling my hips. My cock slid in and out of
her hot canal. Her hips rose and fell upon me, signaling her yearning for
release, and I delved in deeper. Through her touch, our connection, and to my
amazement, she did what she said she could. Kristina had stroked my soul, swept
the dark thoughts and memories away. Peace, a warm comfort I hadn’t felt in
ages, settled within me.

We joined and separated in sweat
slicked frenzy, heightening each other’s bliss. My passion crested, and I
slammed over its precipice. After the fire of my orgasm burned out, I blinked
and found myself still sitting across from her in the restaurant.

Hell, even though my reasoning warned
me before hand, the quick switch-a-roo, sent chills through me. Rattled. Once
again. I hated being caught off guard. Not only that, the continuous temporary
loss of my saner faculties had me concerned.

She must have been slipping me mickeys
and sending me suggestions in my drugged state. I’d have to keep a better eye
on her. As an investigator I couldn’t lose my wits.

That smile of hers adorned her face.
She patted my hand. “Everything will be okay.”

Would it? Her smiles, her mannerisms,
the bizarre daydreams I’d been having whenever she was around, had become
suspect in my book. A thorough background check was in order.

As if she read my mind and didn’t like
the thought of me poking around and anxious of what I’d find, her face paled
slightly. She glanced at her watch. “This has been lovely, but I have to go.
I’m running in the marathon tomorrow, and I need to take care of things for
that. Thanks for lunch.” She couldn’t seem to stand or back away from the table
quick enough.

“How about dinner sometime? Give me
your phone number, and I’ll give you a call.”
And the number will help in my
investigation, too
.

Her gaze darted around the restaurant.
There was an anxious air about her. Seemed she realized something was going on
as well.

“Next time. Okay? Why rush a good
thing?” She practically ran away from the table and out of the restaurant.

Chapter Four

December –
First Saturday, Late afternoon

After I paid the bill and exited the
pub, I high tailed it over to my office to see if any new information had come
through on the elf case. The receptionist handed me several papers. Good. I
really wanted to get the elf case off my desk so I could concentrate on more
important matters, like finding out who Kristina really was.

In my apartment, I fixed myself a
double shot of my favorite Scotch and sat on the couch with all the files
spread out on the coffee table. I wanted to take my time with them, pour over
every minute detail to make sure I wouldn’t miss anything this time around.
Never before had it taken me this long to get a bead on someone—or some
thing
in this case.

A new report detailed a woman’s
description, which seemed very familiar, and interaction with a strange woman.
She said when she first heard the lady’s name she thought she heard Kris
Kringle. The woman joked she had Christmas on her mind with three young
children to shop for and cart from holiday pageant to visits with Santa.
Luckily before she made a fool of herself, she realized it was what the woman’s
last name sounded like. She claimed the female seemed to know things and gave
her resolution ideas for a family issue in a way no one else had been able to.
But one of her children had acted up. She turned to take care of the child, and
when she turned back to thank the woman, she was gone.
Seemed to have poofed
into thin air
.

Interesting.

Mentally
scanning all I knew about the elf so far, thoughts about Kristina intruded. The
events when I first met her until this moment in time made me realize they
jived with just about everything in the case files. The quick way she came and
went. The descriptions of her when she was in female form were consistent.
There was the way she
knew
things. Then there were her scents. Cinnamon
and peppermint. How much more Christmassy could one get with their scents?

I butted my forehead with the heel of
my hand. All this was something I should have caught onto much sooner. My
attraction to her had blinded me to one very important and particular fact.

Kristina must be the
elf
I was
looking for.

Thank God Kristina slipped up and
hadn’t changed her appearance and cloaked herself so she couldn’t be ID’d. It
was the break I needed. Going back onto the internet and into the databases, I
felt confident I’d find the confirming information I needed. I plugged her last
name into a search engine. When it came up, ‘
Did you mean:
christkindl
?’, I clicked on that.

Bingo. I had my girl.

I wasn’t going to call her and
confront her about this quite yet. I wanted to make sure I had all my facts
straight with some more research and my argument in place before I accused her
of holiday witchery. Leaning back in my chair, I grinned knowingly. Wouldn’t
she be surprised to learn what I knew? Secrets had a nasty way of revealing
themselves.

When could I spring this case? I
thought for a few moments, then realized she’d probably be at the marathon. I
wasn’t planning on running it this year, but I’d go anyway. Another quick
search brought up the race course. I picked what I knew to be a quiet section
and decided to poach the race there. Granted, I hated it when other runners
didn’t pay for races and jumped in on the courses willy-nilly to run, but I had
a good reason for my poaching. I couldn’t see paying almost two-hundred dollars
for a few minutes of work. The moment Miss Kringle passed by, I’d chase her
down and get my answers.

* * * *

December – First Sunday, Early
Morning

There she was, running as light and
effortless as a feather floats on the breeze, the Santa cap on her head like
the day before. The ease of her stride and carriage sent a twinge of jealousy
through me until I reminded myself that she was magical. She probably could fly
if she wanted. The moment she neared I joined her on the course.

The bright smile on her face was
welcoming. Almost deterred me from my purpose, but I stuck to my plan. “Hello,
Miss Kringle. Or would you rather I call you Miss Belsnickle or Miss St.
Nicholas?”

Her pleasant expression disappeared.
“So you did figure out who I am. Now what? Are you going to catch me in a huge
butterfly net, bring me to a scientific laboratory where I’ll be held prisoner
and studied to see what makes me tick? Is that what your investigation’s been
all about?” She jogged to the side of the road and stopped. Her hands perched
on her hips. Her narrow-eyed gaze stared me down.

I followed. As much as I wanted to
call her out and act all superior over my investigative capabilities, her ire
deflated my ambitions. “Don’t be mad. I was searching you out in a paranormal
aspect not in a judicial or scientific way. People were wondering about you and
wanted to thank you for your assistance. That’s all.”

“I don’t need thanks. Helping people
and granting their wishes is in my genetic make-up. Traits to be kind and do
good have been handed down through the generations. It’s like with you. You’re
in a profession that serves people. Did you, or do you, require thanks and
gratitude for the work you’ve done and continue to do?”

“No.”

“See? Why then should it be any
different for me? Just because I have a way of doing things that’s slightly
different than the norm doesn’t mean I should be treated abnormally.” Her hands
fell from her hips. Her head bowed. She sighed long and hard. “Well, I guess
that’s my cue that my time here is done. It was a pleasure meeting you Mr. Jack
Vorst.” She stepped forward, eyes full of sadness, reached out and slid her
fingers along my cheek. In a flash, she disappeared.

Chapter Five

Christmas
Day

The moment Kristina winked out of my
life it felt like my heart had been ripped from my chest. For days, I moped
around, feeling lower than dirt. I thought drawing my weapon and firing on the
man had been bad. Losing Kristina had been worse. I could have handled the
situation much better than I had. Thank God I had my work to dive into. I
captured a record number of bail jumpers, found clues for my buddies on the
force regarding the robberies. Metro was finally able to make the arrests. But
my accomplishments didn’t mean a thing without Kristina in my life.

She had turned out to be my perfect
female. Her smile, her laughter had chased away my shadows for the brief time
she was around. I still wasn’t sure if the sex we had was a product of my
imagination or her magic or was even real, but I missed her and our love making
sessions. No, I just plain missed her. Period.

It scared me to admit it, but I had
fallen in love with her. I adored her strength and softness, her caring and
intelligence. The way she gave hope to people, brought magic into their lives
just by being her. I admired the way she helped me believe miracles could
happen. I truly loved her and finally realized why people kept jumping into
relationships. They had faith and belief all would work out in the end, that
life would be wonderful. I just hoped what I was thinking and feeling was true.
That through love, faith and belief life could be grand. But how could I
contact her? Have her return so I could tell her all this?

I’d even decorated my apartment with a
tree, garland and lots of Christmas knickknacks in hope that she’d come back.

The thoughts tumbled in my head as I
shuffled from my bedroom into the hall to go to the kitchen. I had skipped out
on Christmas Eve dinner, opting for a liquid one at home by myself, and I was
dehydrated and in need of lot of water. Vic and Lory had understood why I stood
them up. I couldn’t be around a happy couple in an overwhelmingly colorful
house when I had lost the love of my life and hadn’t even realized she was so
until too late.

I flicked on the living room light.

“Hello handsome.” Kristina’s melodic
voice filled the small space.

She stood in front of my tree, adorned
in a white dress with fluffy gold trim. A green bow and belt that matched the
color of her eyes cinched her waist.

“How?”

“Don’t ask how. Just accept my being
here as part of the magic of Christmas. My life’s calling is to help people,
grant them wishes. Your heart’s desire, though you chose not to acknowledge it,
was to dispel the bad memories of what happened in your job, be able to open
yourself to love again. The thing is, all that you experienced, all that you
remember, is a part of you, a part of your make up. Deep down you realized such
the moment I disappeared during the marathon.”

“Huh?” I rubbed a hand over my face,
wondering if I was still drunk.

“I was there. You just couldn’t see
me. I sensed your thoughts and feelings as you stared at the spot where I was
before I vanished. I was compelled to stay but feared being seen.” She paused,
looking down at her gold high heels. She looked back up. “It was then I
realized I finally had received what
I
had longed for. Someone who loved
me for me, for my basic goodness and not the magic I could provide.”

My heart swelled, chipping through the
ice around it. She’d stayed for me. She cared for me. Perhaps I was worthy
after all. “You’re right. Magic or not, I love
you
.”