Monsters Under Mistletoe

4. The Gnomes Did It

Chapter 4

The Gnomes Did It

A zing of excitement shot through Caitlin’s body. Dillian wanted her ! Then her brain kicked in, and she scoffed.

“Does that pickup line work on anyone? No, wait.” She lifted her palm to stop him from saying yet another lie. “I let you in my bed, so clearly your technique works. The first time only. So, cut the act and let’s talk like professionals. Otherwise, I’ll explore the artifacts in here while you… play with your tails or something.”

His laughter, rich and deep, slid along her skin like velvet and settled between her thighs. How could Dillian have such a strong effect on her? It had been the same back in Edinburgh. Forget his good looks and way with words: spending time in his heady presence was enough to make tingles sizzle in her core. She had to get out of here ASAP.

“Cait, if you desire some tail play, you only have to ask.”

Her breath hitched. Heat flamed in her cheeks. At the hotel, Dillian had suggested he could use his tails in foreplay but had ultimately kept his glamour on in bed. Even so, he had taken her to heights of pleasure she never knew existed. What would happen if he used his tails in addition to his mouth, hands, and thick cock?

Pulse speeding up, Caitlin watched how his red-scaled tails slid out from underneath his robe and became intertwined in a slow, sensual dance in the air. The golden tips seemed to have extra agility, coming together and moving apart while the rest of his tails stayed locked into one.

“ Tesoro… ” he whispered wistfully.

That snapped Caitlin out of her trance. “Keep your tails to yourself, Dillian. Along with the nicknames and other manipulative flattery. Or, I swear, I will chuck a–a mummified cat at you!”

Her sharp words elicited a chuckle. “Please don’t. It would be more effective to use that mummified crocodile over there.” Caitlin groaned in exasperation, and he quickly added, “Alright, no more of the jokes you used to enjoy. No more of the nicknames you used to demand of me while I tasted you all over.”

If looks could kill, she wouldn’t have to worry about Dillian anymore. Alas, he didn’t keel over under her glare. “You. Robbed. Me. Stole what I had risked my life to take from the museum, and disappeared.”

“I didn’tsteal–”

“I had to lie at work to cover up my breach of protocol! Had to say a dragon stole the spearhead before my eyes at the museum, or I would have lost the job I love!” Caitlin knew she was giving him more information than she should, since he thought her a solo thief, but she was so pissed. Everything she had been keeping down for a month came pouring out. “But robbing me wasn’t enough for you, was it? Nooo. You could have taken the spearhead after you saved me from the security guards, but you didn’t. You wanted to have your fun with a foolish human. Had to get in my panties and then take my treasure. I bet you think you did me a favor. An orgasm or two in exchange for the artifact–”

“I didn’t get in your panties – I ripped them off you, and it was four orgasms–”

“That’s it.” Caitlin jumped to her feet, fuming. “Your tailed ass is going down.”

“Cait, wait!” Dillian got up overly fast for his size and lifted his arms and tails in surrender. His amused expression gave way to a serious one. “No more teasing, promise. Only the truth.”

“The truth? Ha.” Caitlin stayed where she was, though. She had been disarmed by the tomb robbers, and she didn’t truly want to destroy any of the artifacts here by smashing them in Dillian’s thick skull.

“I didn’t rob you.” He slowly relaxed his stance, as if expecting her to attack still. “The gnomes did.”

Caitlin blinked.

“They’re after magic items, just like the MUW and the organization I work for, KISKIS.”

Caitlin blinked some more.

“That’s short for Keep It Secret, Keep It Safe. We want magic to remain a secret, just like your employers… Yeah, I know you’re a MUW agent. But,” he added in a hurry, “that was a reason for me to keep my distance from you, not buy you a drink and bed you.”

Caitlin didn’t know what to think. There was a lot to process here. Whether she could trust any of it was another matter altogether.

When she remained silent, Dillian continued. “I too nearly lost my job. KISKIS agents are to keep their distance from the MUW, because the less you know about us, the better. All of us being united in one organization could be considered a threat to humans.”

“Are you a threat?” she asked tentatively. As mistrustful as Caitlin was of the dragon thief, she did not think of him as a threat to her life. Why save her only to kill her after? Yet, if what he was telling her about KISKIS was true, he must not plan on letting her live to spread the word.

Dillian gave her an are-you-serious look. “If we wanted to rule your realm, we could. But you have nothing to fear from us. That’s not why my ancestors stayed behind after most supernaturals, as you call us, left this place.”

“Why did you, then?”

He raised his chin proudly. “To keep the portals safe. Too much magic in one human’s hands could reopen the gates to our realm. Some supernaturals had to remain here and collect whatever magic objects existed. Over time, many decided the human realm was where we belonged, and mixed families were formed.” One of his tails curled to point at him. “My great-great-grandfather chose a human for his forever mate. I thus have only this half-shifted form and enough inner magic to mask my dragon features from humans. But even some pure-blooded of my kind cannot shift easily between their human and dragon forms, because our magic has weakened over the centuries.”

“Okay…” Caitlin sat back down. She might as well, since he was being so open.

He followed her example, his wings and tails visibly more relaxed now. “KISKIS usually gets to magic artifacts before the MUW does, but in your case you got to the spearhead in Edinburgh before me. I didn’t know you had it, but even if I had known, I would have let you keep it.”

“Mhm.”

“It’s true, Cait. The pesky gnomes ruined everything,” Dillian grumbled.

Caitlin pressed her lips together to stifle an unexpected giggle. “I take it the gnomes are not into KISKIS?”

He nodded solemnly. “They are the only supernatural kind not part of the organization. Their current king wants to accumulate enough magic to reopen a portal and leave this realm, doing the opposite of what KISKIS stands for. Thankfully, the gnomes’ research skills suck, so they’re the last to catch wind of a potential magic item and are thus far from achieving their goal.”

“Oh. Good.” Gnomes with an evil agenda and poor research skills? Was Dillian bullshitting her, or was he for real?

“In Edinburgh, they must have traced our scents from the museum to the pub and then followed us to your hotel,” he kept going. “When I returned to your room with breakfast and found the place empty and reeking of gnomes, I put two and two together.”

“I left immediately after I woke up to you and my pouch missing,” Caitlin mused out loud. “My assignment was a complete failure, and my hotel room might no longer be safe. I had to get back home and come up with an explanation.”

“We must have missed each other by mere minutes.” Dillian sighed. “I wasted so much time waiting in line for those deep-fried Mars bars.”

A smile tugged at the corners of Caitlin’s lips. “You were bringing me fried chocolate for breakfast?”

An answering smile lit his rugged face up. “For dessert. I had already ordered a full English breakfast delivered to the room.”

“Wow.” Caitlin tightened her ponytail in an attempt to bring her shield up against the mushy feeling his thoughtfulness had stirred. “It’s good I didn’t stay for that killer dose of calories.”

Dillian’s smile faded. “It’s not good, m ’ òr . I lost a whole month trying to find you. In the end, I nearly compromised one of KISKIS’ moles in the MUW to get the info I needed.”

She gaped. “You have moles in–”

“But now it’s all good. You know the gnomes did it, and…” His tails, again intertwined, tapped her left boot gently. “And we’re not parting ways ever again.”

“Um.” When had he scooted close enough to reach her? Damn, he was sneaky. Caitlin got back on her feet. “Hold up, Romeo. You’ve been trying to track me down this whole time?” She pinned him with her gaze. “You knew I would be here tonight?”

His devilish smile returned, sitting nonchalantly as he was. “I wasn’t sure it would be tonight, tomorrow or the night after tomorrow, but yes. That’s why I came prepared.”

“You what?”

He slowly rose in front of her. “I couldn’t let you disappear with a piece of my heart a second time, tesoro mío .” He gestured at the mask of Anubis lying next to his backpack. “I disguised myself as your favorite deity to make sure you would be intrigued enough to give me a chance to explain myself.”

“You what ?” With him standing so close and speaking with such undisguised passion, Caitlin’s brain was on the verge of obtaining an Out of Order sign.

“You told me about your love for ancient Egypt, remember?” He then took a step back from her and fisted his clothing over his chest with both hands. “Given it’s almost the festive season, I also prepared this.”

A ripping sound echoed in the small chamber. Just like that, Dillian’s wide black robe fell in tatters to the floor. Leaving him in nothing but green boxer briefs with a large mistletoe depicted over the crotch.