10 Chapter 10

The feel of his lips was a whole new level of bliss for Trixie. All at once, all of those teasing touches began setting her skin ablaze, and it took every ounce of self-discipline she possessed to keep herself from tearing his pants apart and mounting him there and then. Encouraged by her shivers and moans, he deepened the kiss, pulling her closer. Their tongues danced a rapid waltz between their lips.

Every once in a while, she'd feel his hands wander down the exposed skin of her sides, but he always caught himself before he went too far. Part of her was disappointed he wasn't trying to take things farther, but overall she appreciated the fact he was respecting the boundaries she'd set. It was also pleasing to know he was struggling with desire as well. They were so wrapped up in each other and the fireworks between them, neither noticed when sometime later, the carriage came to a halt, nor did they notice when the door opened.

"Ehem," a curt cough cut right through the romantic atmosphere. Trixie almost felt like a cold bucket of water had been dumped over her head. She immediately extracted herself from Emerick and whirled, startled by the sound. She found herself staring at the strangest looking man she had ever seen. Considering where she'd grown up, that was a feat.

If she weren't completely mortified, she might've laughed. Before her was a stately looking gentleman with large, white bunny ears on top of his head. Said ears were twitching, likely do to his evident irritation. Behind him, she caught a glimpse of a blue-silver scaled tail, reptilian in appearance and function except for an odd tuft of fur at the tip that matched his hair and the fur on his ears. As stark white as his hair was, she initially mistook him for an old man, but as she payed closer attention to his features, she realized he actually looked close to Emerick in age. Then there were his eyes.

He wore dark shades over his eyes, but the way he peered over them they were very clearly visible in deeply unsettling way. One was a brilliant crimson with a round pupil at the center, while the other was a frigid blue with that reptilian slit. Either side was actually quite attractive on their own, but together they just looked… creepy. She wasn't sure how long she sat their gaping at him like a fool at a freak show.

"It seems you've had a 'productive' day," said the rabbit man. His arms were folded and his foot was tapping the ground a mile a minute.

"Indeed I have," Emerick replied with a shameless smile. Trixie let out an involuntary squeak as he threw his arms around her bare shoulders. "Would you like to hear more about it?"

"That depends," The rabbit man replied, lips twitching. She noticed he had some pretty sharp teeth in there, only adding to the bizarreness of his nightmarish appearance. "How quickly did you drop your responsibilities to start snogging?"

"Who even says 'snogging' anymore?" Emerick wondered out loud. If looks could kill, Trixie was pretty sure Emerick would already be six feet under. "Oh lighten up Jacoby! 'snogging' aside, I've been taking my job very seriously! Just as Trixie here."

She felt like he was expecting her to say something, but she was without words. Even if she wasn't completely flustered, she wasn't entirely sure what 'very seriously' entailed with Emerick. He had seemed fairly concerned with the inspection he was conducting, and they'd had a fairly worthwhile talk, but did that count? She decided to stay out of it.

"Forgive him, Madam," Jacoby addressed her with a slight bow, noticing her discomfort. It took her off guard. She had never been bowed to before. "He was born a fool, and to make matters worse I'm fairly certain he was dropped on his head as an infant. He can't help it."

"Who was born the fool?" Emerick demanded in mock offence. "And you know damn well that none of my mothers would have ever dropped me!"

Had he said 'mothers' as in plural? She'd have to ask him about it later.

"You have a father, do you not?" Jacoby replied smoothly.

"I'm going to tell him you said that," Emerick warned.

"Go ahead," Jacoby smirked. "He's said as much himself on numerous occasions."

Just as she was starting to feel at ease, Trixie's stomach let out a loud growl, effectively interrupting their friendly spat. Apparently, she was already hungry again. As she colored in embarrassment for the umpteenth time that day, she realized Jacoby was staring at her. He had an odd expression, but said nothing and she couldn't guess the thoughts or emotions behind it.

"How about we order some dinner?" Emerick suggested. "I'm actually starting to feel quite hungry myself."

"Sure," Trixie managed to reply hoarsely. She couldn't bring herself to look his way to verify, but she was pretty sure she could feel Jacoby's eyes following her. "Just let me get my bags."

"Don't worry about it," Emerick took her by the hand. "Jacoby will get everything for us. Just relax and let me treat you like a princess for tonight."

"You're going to make him take all the bags in?" Trixie asked incredulously.

"I'm pretty sure he'd break my wrist if I tried taking one of those bags from him," Emerick smiled wryly. "He takes his job pretty seriously.

"Too right you are," Jacoby called from where he was busy gathering their things from the carriage.

"You get used to that," Emerick shrugged in response to Trixie's questioning look. "He has pretty sharp ears, in case you hadn't notice."

"Ok," Trixie replied. The apprehension had returned as she gazed up at the glorious white building before her.

At either side of the door were decorative statues that looked somewhat lion-like. Glorious flowerbeds encircled the building, adding a tasteful splash of color to the marble walls and the curtains drawn over the many, many windows. As dark as she was in dress and appearance, she felt deeply out of place, like a demon being dragged through heaven's gates.

Emerick lead her inside, past a snobby clerk—who made a point of starring down his nose at her the entire time they were in his line of sight—and up a grandiose set of stairs that lead them almost five floors up. Trixie was relieved when they reached the top, and she didn't even want to think of the trouble Jacoby was faced with in dragging their crap up all those stairs. She could only hope the grumpy bunny man didn't resent her too much for it.

"Right this way," Emerick said, slowing his pace to match hers and allowing her to lean on him as they walked. "We're almost there, I promise."

"Did you have to get a room this high up?" She gasped. "This place doesn't seem that full, why not get a room closer to the ground?"

"I doubt they'd allow me to," Emerick shrugged. "The suits on the top are specifically for 'distinguished guests,' a term which apparently applies to me. It's a bit of a bother, but I promise it'll be worth it."

She hoped so. The shoes she was wearing were pretty and all, but they with all the walking they'd been doing they hadn't been kind to her feet. She also felt out of breath, and there was still the matter of her libido.

When they finally reached his room at the end of the hall, she had removed her shoes and was walking barefoot. It earned her stares from the occasional passerby, but she hardly cared. It wasn't as though she'd ever have to see them again, in all likelihood. All she could think was his room had better be pretty damn amazing.

"You finally made it, young master." She about screamed when Jacoby opened the door for them from the inside. "It certainly took you long enough."

"How did you get here so fast?" Trixie demanded. She hadn't noticed a second stair case any ware, and she was pretty sure she would've notice him pass them. Jacoby was pretty hard to miss.

"Trade secret," He replied, a smile playing at his pursed lips.

"Show off," Emerick said with a roll of his eyes. "Thank you for taking care of everything though."

"Of course, young master," Jacoby said with a bow. "If the young lady would like to wash up, I took the liberty of having the bath drawn. A meal is also being prepared in the kitchens as we speak. They will deliver it shortly from what I understand."

"Very good," Emerick nodded, then turned to Trixie. "Would you like to bathe my dear? I have a bit of business to go over with Jacoby, and it looks like a good soak might do your poor feet some good."

"That does sound kind of nice," Trixie said, hesitantly.

"Please, enjoy," Emerick ushered her into the room. "I'll have everything prepared when you get out."

"Alright then," Trixie nodded. "I'll see you in a bit, I guess."