I sat at the bar, downing a beer. It was a local craft brew, a spiced ale that fit with the season. Thankfully this bar had a jukebox, meaning there was none of the incessant drone of Christmas music that so often made businesses this season unbearable. I just needed to hope the staff didn’t get overly annoyed at my admittedly eclectic choices in songs

Of course we couldn’t have just taken the whole winter break to debrief after our op. It was really foolish of me to expect that. The previous day Liah and I were woken up at our Bed & Breakfast by the sound of my phone ringing. We had stayed up far more later than usual for, well, the usual reasons a married couple would stay at a charming B&B, and the last thing either of us wanted was a blaring ringtone at 0620.

I had been forced to roll over to grab the damn thing off the charger, earning an annoyed meow from Liah. Her preference for sleeping in her cat form, on my chest could be inconvenient at times. Plus, while I usually preferred wearing old t-shirts to sleep, last night… ew. Way too much sweat on bare skin, combined with cat hair, I absolutely needed a shower. But first I had to answer the damn phone

“Good job. The debriefing will be tomorrow at 0800.” That was all I heard from my boss the moment I hit the green button. She didn’t even wait to hear me acknowledge that I got the message before hanging up. How inconsiderate.

Canwe slep in​? Came the sleepy thought from Liah, who had burrowed back under the blankets.

“You can.” I couldn’t imagine going back to sleep after such an unpleasant interruption though. “I’m going to take a shower.” I groggily staggered my way over to the bathroom, looking in the mirror as I waited for the shower to heat up.

Things were a bit blurry since my glasses were in the other room, but I could tell I was going to need concealer for my neck. All in all, I looked like something the cat had dragged in. Not that I was complaining.

Okay, just a little bit of complaining, like I wasn’t the one begging to be- no, waaay too early in the morning for those thoughts. I suppose at times the word “mousey” could be used to describe me, and if there’s one things cats enjoy, it’s toying with mice- Nope. Stop that. Bad Amy. Liah’s trying to sleep, the last thing you need to do is wake her up with your bottom-y fantasies. Though at this point they’re less fantasies and more like recent memories.

And to think, I had been the one concerned about their being a weird dynamic with the “witch ordering about her familiar” thing. I had worried that this would be, what’s the term, “problematic.” I’m definitely not an expert on the whole thing. As the kind of person who generally likes to keep her head down and act the wallflower, I don’t have much relationship experience. You could call me a late bloomer, even. Plenty of book learning on the subject, but not much when it comes to the practical side of things. As expected of someone working in an archive. All that worrying about whether I’d be taking advantage of our bond in in the end it’s me who gets pushed down and-

Knock knock

“You okay in there?” Liah asks. “You’re thinking rather loudly.” I suppose I woke her up after all.

“Yeah, I just got a bit distracted.” I shouted through the door.

“Oh, is that what we’re calling it now?” I could hear the grin in her voice. I could practically see it, smug, eyes twinkling. “Tell me, what could possibly be distracting you so much?”

“Uh, work?” Yes. Absolutely. Work.

“Oh, really?” The pouting disappointment in her voice was textbook, so real that it was certainly fake. None of the sleepiness from earlier could be heard. “What a dutiful little witch, thinking hard about work so early in the morning, disturbing her humble familiar’s rest. I suppose I should help out my master, since she seems to be spinning her wheels all alone on this ‘work’ thing.” A shiver ran down my spine. Was it fear? Or was it anticipation? The door clicked open during my moment of distraction, and Liah confidently strode in.

“So,” she said as she walked up to me, wearing not a stitch. “What is this ‘work’ problem that’s got you so distracted?” She stepped forward. I stepped back, my butt hitting the marble of the vanity. “Tell me, what could possibly be distracting you soooo much?” She looked up at me, her eyes focusing on her prey. She reached up a hand, caressing one of the marks she had left last night.

“It’s a familiar’s job to help out her witch. If something’s distracting you it’s my duty to help.”

Her fingers shifted, and a claw lightly scratched across my breast, drawing out a gasp. Her grin deepened, and her other hand held mine down where it grasped the counter-top for support. My heart fluttered. My mouth opened to answer her, but nothing came out. She moved in closer, pressing me against the marble top of the vanity.

“So, what do you need me to help with.” Her hand raised, slowly caressing my cheek. “Well? Tell me. I can’t help you if you don’t give me a task to do.” My mouth again opened, my tongue moved, but no coherent words escaped. She knew what I wanted, I knew she knew what I wanted, but that wasn’t enough. I was already squirming, but as a cat she needed to get the maximum amusement out of her prey before going in for the kill. And the more she toyed with me, the harder it was to even form coherent thoughts. Another claw brushed lightly against my neck, and my knees went weak. She pressed against me harder, partially to support me and partially to keep me locked in place. My brain turned to mush, and a slight moan grew in my throat.

“So? I didn’t catch that.” I hadn’t said anything.

I mumbled.

“Say it louder please.” She scratched again, and I let out a loud gasp.

“Fuck me.” I finally managed to string words together. Her free hand grasped my hair and pulled my head down, her open lips greeting mine. When I was at the verge of running out of air, she let go, leaving me gasping for breath.

“There’s a good little witch.” She looked at my breasts, still covered in fur from when she had been sleeping, and caressed them. “We shouldn’t leave the shower running like this, it’s a waste of water. Why don’t we get you cleaned up? It’s a shame to lose this marking, but I’ll find some other way to let people know you’re mine.” She dragged me into the shower, and I obediently followed.

“I knew you were a bottom, but did it make that much of an impact that you’re still thinking about it now?” Liah asked, smugly sipping her own beer from her seat next to me at the bar. I felt the heat rise to my cheeks, which I tried to hide by taking a gulp of my beer.

“It beats thinking about this morning.” I looked up at the tv, trying not to think about either the good or the bad.

“It’s a much busier work schedule, but what can we do about it?” She scowled at her drink. “I still wanted some more free time to plan a honeymoon. Damn bitch.” My foul language must be rubbing off on her.

Our boss had only half-listened to me during the debrief earlier this morning. At the end of my account of what had occurred during the raid on the Count of St. Germaine’s otherworldly lair, she neatly nodded as if I had described a trip to the store, then handed me a grocery list of her own.

On it was all the mystical documents an evil government witch could want. Clay tablets from Babylon with rituals to summon long-forgotten demons, alchemical texts that risked upsetting the world economy, a musical score that could cause victims to dance themselves to death. More magical goodies to file away in the archive, and their current or last-known locations.

“You earned your promotion,” she said as I leafed through the packet. “Now you just need to work to keep it.”

I mean, I understand that’s generally how things work. There’s no such thing as a free lunch after all. But being so rudely reminded that I had to work for my paycheck was hitting below the belt. So excuse me for preferring to think about spending time with my wife over plotting government raids on private collections, university libraries, and museums.

“I agree.” Liah said, earning a look from the passing bartender. I hadn’t said any of that out loud after all. “On the plus side, at least we can spend Christmas with your parents after all.”

“Do we have to?”

“I already messaged them to let them know we finished up with our ‘work rush’ faster than we had initially planned.” Her mouth twisted. She had booked the B&B for more than one day, and the whole drive back down to the debriefing she complained about having to check out early.

“But I forgot to get them a gift.” I shifted nervously

“I know, that’s why I already picked one out. I really don’t understand why you’re so reluctant to spend time with your parents. They really are nice people.”

“I dunno.” I looked at my glass, watching the bubbles slowly floating up through the caramel-colored beer to the surface, slowly popping. “It’s always felt weirdly awkward being around them. They’re like, bastions of rationality, while I’ve always had my head in the clouds. And after how weird things got on this last job, the disconnect will be even worse.” She placed a hand on mine, stroking my thumb with hers.

“I’ll be there with you. You don’t need to worry. After all, isn’t it a familiar’s job to help her witch?” I blushed.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to think of that the same way again.” Liah let out a loud burst of laughter. “You know what? I really don’t think it’d be a good job to have you help when visiting my parents.”

“True, that would be one hell of a way to ruin a Christmas dinner. I’ll keep my help there to being PG. PG-13 at most. Or, I’ll do my best at least. It’s just so hard to hold back when you start acting all shy.”

“You’re evil.”

“You’re supposed to be the evil one, remember? I’m just doing my duty.”

“’Duty’ my ass. I’m going to have to wear a turtleneck.” I took a sip of beer, pouting.

“There’s a lot I’d want to do to your ass.” My nostrils burned as the beer shot out of my nose. The bartender, thankfully far enough away not to hear what we’ve been saying, glared at me before bringing over some napkins. I took them with an apology, and wiped up the bar, waiting for her to leave out of earshot before continuing.

“Please don’t say things like that around my parents.”

“Relax, I wont. I wouldn’t want to give your parents the right idea after all.” Liah smirked. “Gods, you really are adorable. I should let up a bit though, before your poor little heart goes into overdrive.”

“Thanks.” Sure, she was still teasing me, but I could tell through our bond she knew the limits.

“Yup, no purposely embarrassing you in front of the parents. However, I still plan to talk to your mother.”

“About what?”

“I do want an actual honeymoon. Who cares if it’s months and months late. Who cares if it took me months to drag you along this far into the marriage. I want at least a week off, honeymoon. I’m not good at planning this sort of thing, you kind of are hopeless at it, so I’m going to ask your mom for help.”

“But then she’ll know-”

“Dear, we’ve been married for how long now? Your parents know we’re married. Sure, they don’t know the nitty-gritty details, but I highly doubt they’re thinking we’re ‘just friends’ at this point. So we’re visiting your parents for Christmas, and I’m getting your mom to help plan the honeymoon. Who knows, we could even have a ceremony before hand.” She was acting demanding, but the joy behind those words sealed it.

And so my plans for the following year were set. A marriage ceremony, a honeymoon, school, and a magical document retrieval list to ensure I wouldn’t have a single free weekend.