Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was a dark and stormy night.

Well, as utterly cliché as it sounds, that was exactly what that late-December evening was. The Eastern Irish coast—no stranger to wet weather—was under assault by one of the worst storms in its recorded history. It did not come down so much in buckets or sheets, but as a second sea hanging over the first and the land nearby, instantly drenching whatever was foolish enough to venture from under cover, and many things even under cover, thanks to a driving wind. The forecast only anticipated one night of this onslaught, but reports were already coming in, listing downed power lines, mud slides, and traffic disasters. It would likely be the most costly storm of the decade, if not the century.

Artemis Fowl II had few worries, as damage to the Fowl estate went. It's position atop a hill would save it from flooding, and significant ground cover meant that a mud slide was highly unlikely. Contractors had inspected the estate just that summer to find and repair any of the minor ravages of time, and so the violent wind and rain was unlikely to find a chink in the armor through which it could even so much as cause a leak.

Despite this knowledge, Artemis found himself turned away from his work, watching the floor-to-ceiling windows that led to his balcony. Lines of water streaked down the glass, like the smallest waves at the beginning of an incoming tide. Each rise in wind sounded like distant thunder, falling down to a relatively gentle howl between.

He was, for one of the first times in his life, alone. It was odd, and not entirely welcome, but there was little that could be done about the fact, now. In the year since his return from Haven, Doctor Argon had been assigning what his patient felt were rather ludicrous psychological tests. Initial tests had included watching a monitor of randomly flashing numbers and analyzing his response to see if multiples of four or five resulted in any reaction.

A more recent idea had involved an enforced solitude. Argon assumed that, for a boy who had spent nearly all of his life in the comforting presence of a mountainous bodyguard, the absence of other people might, in fact, be a significant source of stress, and possible trigger for the Atlantis Complex. Beginning with periods of less than an hour, the Fowl family and employees would leave the Manor, and Artemis would be rigorously interviewed by Argon after they had returned. The periods had become longer, with time, and early that morning—the day before Christmas, as it so happened, but the People didn't really notice these sorts of things— the Manor had been emptied of all but its heir. When his family and Butler were conducting some last-minute shopping in Dublin, the storm had hit.

There had been an initial panic over the suddenness of the storm. Butler had sent up the alarm first, believing that Opal Koboi—the human one, as her fairy self had been captured and returned to the past some months prior—might have a hand in the events. However, she was still in Atlantis, isolated from anything more technological than a hairbrush, and Qwan had confirmed that there was no magical taint in the storm system. It was merely one of the flukes of Mother Nature, only to be understood in retrospect. Even the People, with all their technology and innate understanding of the natural world, dubbed Gaia a capricious goddess.

Qwan's mostly technical speech had ended with an advisement to not panic (and something about making sure he had a towel), and Butler had only settled when Artemis agreed that this was the wisest course, given their situation. Still, the bodyguard had stated that he would begin the trek home, and was only dissuaded when Artemis pulled up news reports and a map, identifying all of the closed roads and backed-up traffic, which would keep Butler from arriving at the Manor until the next morning, unless he had a speed boat.

Butler was halfway through an Internet search on for-sale speedboats when Artemis had ordered him against taking that measure. "Qwan believes the storm will blow itself out about four in the morning, and the roads should begin to clear up within a few hours of that. I am perfectly capable of shifting for myself until you can arrive home safely."

Butler had his doubts, and had grilled Artemis on his mental well-being, but eventually gave up and allowed the call to end, feeling somehow wrong for leaving the boy on his own, even if Artemis was likely more safe at home than his bodyguard was with the Fowls in the hotel room they had managed to procure.

True to his words to Butler, Artemis was not particularly worried about being alone. Argon was confident of his treatment of the Atlantis Complex, and had repeatedly told his new favorite patient (Artemis had hacked Argon's systems long ago and learned that his nickname was "Cash Cow") that he showed none of the warning signs of a regression.

In fact, Artemis was rather enjoying himself. Even if he had been forced to eat leftovers for one of the first times in his life, the absence of interruptions had allowed him to work twice as swiftly as usual. His observation of the window was just a break from the mental activity, instead of a watch against disaster.

Which is why he nearly fell out of his chair when a hand slammed against the pane, right at the left edge. He was more jolted by the noise than the shape, but the skin on the back of his neck began to prickle as the fingers twitched and slid upward on the pane. A glow seemed to come from just beyond the hand, and it began to intensify. Brighter and brighter it became, and the hand moved in towards the middle of the window, revealing the arm beyond, until, finally, one of the most intense lights Fowl had ever seen came through the glass, momentarily blinding him and forcing him to cover his face.

Undeniably, something was out there, and Artemis made a grab for his phone.

At the very same moment that it rang.

He almost dropped the cell as it buzzed in his hands, planning to dismiss the call in order to make his own to Butler. Then he noticed the image associated with the number: a coin on a chain, chosen because the appearance of that particular caller could bring up some...questions from the uninformed.

Artemis snapped his phone open, shouting before it was even fully to his head. "Holly, there's an intruder in the Manor! Get here—"

"Let me in, Artemis!"

"—right aw...pardon?" Artemis looked back at the window, eyes narrowed to slits to help withstand the light.

The high beams flickered and turned off, leaving dimly glowing balls, which he could easily look at, and the helmet about them. Certainly, that helmet could be any officer of the LEP, but with the call to back it up...

"LET—ME—IN!" Holly shouted, each word punctuated by a fist slamming into the glass. "It's fuh-freezing out here!"

"Holly? Artemis asked, not moving.

"Now!" she screeched, grabbing the window frame and shaking it so violently that Artemis was sure something would break.

"Yes, coming!" Artemis dropped the phone as he rushed to the windows. With just a touch to the latch, they sprang open, admitting what seemed like a million gallons of rain and one disgruntled fairy.

"Closeitcloseitcloseit!" Holly slammed her shoulder to the frame, pushing against the wind with all her strength. Only when Artemis added his own and reached for the latch did they manage to conquer the wind, and, by that time, the rug before the window was quite thoroughly soaked. Luckily, it was not one of the Manor's more expensive decorations, so Artemis had no qualms ignoring it in favor of the dripping, shivering Captain Holly Short.

When Artemis had managed to regain some of his air, he swallowed, as if it would aid in his respiration, and eeked out, "To what do I owe the pleasure, Captain?"

"A-Argon," she stuttered, teeth clicking like an old-fashioned typewriter. "W-when he got an alert about the storm keeping your family from getting back, he got w-worried it could d-damage your rec-c-c-c-c-overy!" She began to hop from foot to foot, slapping at her upper arms. Each jump shook off some of the excess water, and she shook her head like a dog, more water flying off. Her limbs began to disappear and reappear one by one as she shielded to increase her blood flow, with the rapid vibrations helping to slough off even more rain.

"I suppose I should cease being indignant when I learn the People are monitoring my communications," Artemis grumbled, but with little feeling. He examined Holly's blue-tinged ear-tips and lips, deciding that a formal protest must wait in favor of being a good host. "Let's get you warm. A hot shower and a change of clothes should suffice. I believe you would fit into a set of my brother's bedclothes; at least until your uniform dries." Pulling her from the ruined rug, which he would have to remove soon, he pushed the elf towards his en-suite bathroom.

"D-d-dries?" Holly repeated, tilting her head back to get a good look at the pampered aristocrat. "Do you even know ha-ha-how to use a drier? Or kn-n-n-now where one is?" She did not resist his hands against her back. For one, hot water sounded like a perfect solution. For another, his hands were warm, even through her damp suit.

"It is in the basement, and I assure you, the task is not beyond my abilities." He did not mention that he would be doing a quick Internet search for the dryer's guide. Instead, he took his hands off Holly's back and began to rub them together. "Now, stop protesting. Unless you get some sort of thrill out of being in discomfort. Which, given our past interactions, I would not be surprised to learn is true, but I am afraid Mother would disapprove of me leaving a lady in distress."

"I'm n-n-not in distress! I'm just c-c-c-c-oooooooh...what are you doing?" The captain jumped forward and twisted her head away from the human, turning to face him, hands rising to cup her ears.

Standing with his own hands held out and just above hip level, thumb pressed to the rest of his fingers and finally ceasing its slow movements, Artemis cocked a brow at his guest. "Trying to return circulation to your ears. They were blue. I assumed that was a bad thing."

"Well, it...I...er..." Holly tried to cough, to help her delay her response, but the cold and exertion had abused her throat, turning the falseness true with a bout of painful hacking, thus, at least, freeing her completely from the need to answer.

"Go," Artemis commanded, pointing at the bathroom. "Leave your wet things next to the door, and I will exchange them for something dry."

"Yes. Dry. Wonderful." Wary of the human beginning his ear-rubbing again, Holly scampered across the room, slamming and locking the bathroom door behind her.

Artemis watched her go, one brow still raised, and, very slowly, curving his lips, until a single incisor was exposed. Picking the lock would have been easy, though the months in traction once Holly noticed him would be an inconvenience. Perhaps a worthwhile one, however, if he got to see the elf naked, surrounded by steam, water cascading off her breasts, over her stomach, and down and down...

Artemis wondered if Argon would find it promising that he felt no guilt over that mental image. Orion, the fool, would have sought to commit ritual suicide to regain his honor if the same thoughts had occurred to him.

In a wonderfully uplifted mood, Artemis collected a pair of flannel pajamas from Beckett's wardrobe. On his return to the bedroom, he saw that Holly had taken advantage of his short absence, laying out her uniform outside of the bathroom, all perched atop a towel to keep the hardwood floors dry.

Her...full uniform. Helmet included.

Artemis had a brief internal battle with his more evil intentions.

He lost brilliantly.

Scooping up the soggy clothes and failing to leave the pajamas, he hurried through the manor, putting his new plan into motion.

Holly was either phenomenally cold, used to hotter water than the Manor provided (which could scald a human, but perhaps was less than that available to the core-adjacent Haven citizens), or just indulging herself, as it was nearly an hour of water use and fifteen minutes after that, doing whatever it is women do after a shower, before the lock was clicked again. There was a long pause, as if she expected him to slam into the door in an attempt to reach naked, steam-damp elf-flesh.

Artemis sitting at his work desk, shook his head, clearing his mind of just such an idea. When he glanced back at the bathroom, the clothes were gone and the door closed.

Precisely seven seconds later, the screaming began.

"FOWL!"

Artemis hummed a little ditty to go along with the rhythm of his typing. She didn't have a gun, or even her helmet, so there was no danger from this distance. If she wanted to respond physically, Holly would have to come out in the change he had provided. Or in a towel. Or nothing at all, the three options listed in the exact opposite of what he would prefer.

Holly seemed to spend at least ten minutes in a furious debate with herself. Artemis remained facing the computer, even when the bathroom door opened and pounding, exaggerated footsteps approached his back. The anticipation...well, it did wonderful things.

"Artemis!"

"Hmmm?"

Artemis's chest nearly slammed into the desk as his chair was kicked, spilling him forward. He decided this was a suitable excuse to finally turn around.

He immediately hoped his crossed legs would hide his reaction.

"Fowl! Why the hell did you change my LEP suit to this thing? You better explain yourself, because I'm not in a good mood right now!"

Artemis found he could not blame Holly for her mood. He would certainly be irate over such an outfit, even ignoring the gender differences..

It was an old getup from Juliet's primary school days, when she had been a background character in a Christmas play. He was not sure why the items were still in the Manor, nor how he actually knew they were there, after all these years, but he would greatly reward whoever had horded the complete outfit. The red velvet dress had weather the years remarkably well, retaining a sheen and just enough stretch in the top half to accommodate Holly's small breasts. The black belt at the waist highlighted the pathway to her curved hips, and the white faux-fur trims at neck, wrists, and skirt bottom helped to soften the transition between brown skin and red fabric. She had even worn the shoes—simple red slippers—and hat, which he had not counted on, but the tips of her ears were tucked inside the fake fur lining, perhaps to combat the cold. The fuzzy ball at the end of the hat shook with her rage.

A dream come true. "Oh, but Captain, it's Christmas Eve. I just merely changed your clothing to set in some Christmas spirit."

Holly was no jolly elf. She was recovering from the truly phenomenal blush that had accompanied her appearance, settling for anger. "That's really funny, Arty," she said, with full sarcasm, "but I don't feel like playing around with your mind games, at the moment. So tell me: what does the ol' great and mighty, stuck-up genius want?"

He tried to seem offended, but she knew him well enough to just glare back at his acting. So Artemis sighed, smoothing his hair. "Since you know me oh-so-well, Holly, yes, I do want something for Christmas, that only...you can provide." He smiled down at the elf, confident that his physical reaction to her attire was now in check. Artemis stood, striding slowly towards Holly, his gradual movements catered to her skittishness.

"Then spit it out already!" Holly took a half-step back, desiring space but loath to retreat, this small bit a compromise. She clenched her fists at her side. "Don't be so overly melodramatic!"

He nodded and stopped his approach, sliding his hands into his pockets to remove their threat, and hopefully to give himself some extra cover if he began to react again as he made his demand. "For only this night, I want you to be..." He smirked, resisting the nearly unbearable need to run his tongue over his teeth as he savored the moment. "My own personal elf."

Artemis had never put much stock in the phrase "jaw dropping," until he saw it enacted before him. He briefly wondered if he should fetch the portable defibrillator that had been kept on hand since Butler's heart attack.

Gods knew why Holly did not murder Artemis outright. Instead, she looked down and muttered in a dark tone that Artemis had not heard since she discovered his betrayal back in time. "Geeze...you've already manipulated me a lot of times, and you want me to be your elf for tonight? What's the difference in it?" She took a deep breath, looking up at the human and crossing her arms (which she might not have done if she knew how it stretched the material over her chest, giving shape to the formerly hidden buds beneath). "As long as you give me back my LEP suit, then I'll do it. But, after this, you're in for some pain, Fowl."

Artemis smirked, displaying many of his perfectly maintained, eager teeth. "Believe me...it's going to be worth it."

She snorted. "The fact that it's you saying that scares me twice as much."

"Only twice? I'm losing my touch." Removing one hand from his pocket, Artemis gestured at the bathroom. "Now, to begin, you must be completely in uniform."

She understood at once. "I...you...that..." Holly shook her head.

"You did agree, my elf," Artemis chided, almost laughing when she squeaked at her temporary title. "I give you my word that I shall return your uniform in the morning or once my family returns—whichever is soonest—but only if you keep up your end of the bargain."

"Oh? And what will you do if I don't?"

Artemis considered this, tapping his lips. "I suppose I would call E1 for the officer on duty to pick you up. That is Lieutenant Verbil, correct?" Artemis made no effort to disguise his roving eyes an their approval of what he saw. "What would he say about your attire I wonder?"

"...This is why people don't like you," Holly spat before turning and storming to the bathroom.

She returned soon, her every step—even the ones she tried to make smooth—announced by a delicate ringing as the bell attached to her neck was jostled.

She stopped before Artemis, teeth gritted, fists itching for an impact. "Happy?"

"Immeasurably," Artemis agreed, deciding that the inch-thick red velvet perfectly accented Holly's long, appetizing neck.

He mentally shook himself. Best to not indulge too much while his addiction was present. In fact, he could use a few minutes without her to compose himself "Now, if you would, Holly, I have become a mite chilly, myself. Go to the kitchen and prepare a cup of hot chocolate."

"What do I look like," Holly snapped, "a maid?"

"No," Artemis answered, after a period of consideration on what she would look like in the French version of such an outfit. "Though I do believe I might be able to find one of the maids' uniforms. It would need some alterations..."

Holly needed no further prompting to turn and scurry to the kitchen, giving Artemis his necessary alone time. He berated himself for not choosing a more time-intensive task, which might have allowed him opportunity for a much needed...release of tension.

Stuck with his poor planning, Artemis reclaimed his seat and made sure to scoot in as far as he could, which would help to hide his hips and any further reactions he might have.

Soon after he returned to his coding project, Artemis heard his door open, admitting a brief blast of chilly air. Again, Artemis berated his scattered brain; this time for sending Holly out into the cold depths of the Manor, which, as he was in this one room for the entire day, except for brief food forays, had not been heated. She had so recently escaped the rain and hail, only for him to bring back her discomfort. It was inexcusable.

He feigned absorption in his coding until she stepped to the side of his desk, setting down a large espresso bowl with a loud thunk.

It was far more chocolate than Artemis preferred in one sitting, but it smelled appetizing enough. As Holly watched, her arms crossed mutinously, he picked up the cup and sipped, considering. Not quite as good as Butler's style, but more than he'd hoped for. He imagined she had obtained the recipe from the powder's tin, and at least the cocoa base was of good quality.

"It's very good," he praised, getting a snort in return. Even if she did have some abilities in the kitchen, he doubted the butch officer would ever want that kind of compliment, so he moved conversation away from the drink. "Is the rest of the Manor inclement, this evening?"

Only the Gift of Tongues helped Holly to understand, and she rolled her eyes at the stiff speech, gesturing lightly with one hand at her goose-pimpled skin. "Noooo. It's toasty warm."

"I must apologize," Artemis said, ignoring the sarcasm. "I shall keep you in my bedroom, with the heating, for the rest of the night. Here." He offered her the cup. "Drink this. It will help you get warm again."

Holly turned her face away, lips coming off her teeth in a snarl. "No, thanks! I know what you Mud Men do to those poor cows! Feed lots with not an inch of grass, walking in their own filth, corn—corn is not cow food, Artemis! And those...barbaric milking machines that destroy their udders! Sores with scabs and puss that get into the milk, I'll have you know!"

Artemis cringed. He knew this quite well himself, as his mother had dragged the family along to some of the more industrialized farms on Ireland and England. It was nearly enough to make him a vegetarian, until his father had agreed to Angeline's new dietary demands and farm choices. "Holly, my mother decides where our food comes from. That, in itself, should give you a good indication of how well this cow," he swirled the cup, referencing the originator of the milk, "was treated. I assure you, it was as happy as a cow can be."

Holly had stopped giving that milk that distrustful look, making Artemis wonder why she put so much more faith in his mother's animal morals than his own, but she made no move closer to the rink.

"Now, come, my elf. Consider it an order. I don't want you cold again, after all that hot water you used. Drink."

He allowed her a little more time for indecision, and then she closed her eyes, scowling as she leaned forward and placed her lips on the rim of the cup, her hands on its sides, a few of her fingers overlapping his as she tilted the cup and drank slowly. When she processed the taste, the tension flowed from her body, and she drank deeper.

Artemis watched in fascination as her throat moved with each swallow, the long intervals showing that she kept the cocoa in her mouth to savor its warmth and taste before letting it slide down. She made it look all the more delicious, and Artemis caught himself licking his lips, wanting to get a second-hand taste of that drink.

Eventually, Holly let go, giving the inside of the cup a peek, appearing sheepish as she realized a third of the contents were gone. She looked up at Artemis, about to apologize, when he stilled her by taking hold of her chin with thumb and index finger, the rest of his fingers fanning down toward the hollow of her throat. He tilted Holly's head back, studying her face and smiling.

"You enjoyed that...quite a lot," Artemis commented, amused. "Though I must confess, I enjoyed it...quite a lot more."

He could feel the increase in her heart beat below his fingers, in her jugular, as he eased his grip. Artemis brought his index finger to her lips, which were parted just enough to remind him of how plump and perfectly shaped they really were. He trailed his finger over the top bow, almost too gently to be felt, following the curves precisely.

She watched, not breathing, as he took his hand away and licked off the trace of cocoa that had been on her lips, closing his eyes halfway as he enjoyed chocolate with a spice of elf.

"Mmmm...break-time is over, my elf," Artemis chided, eyes still halfway closed, though it was obvious he had just as much focus that way as with eyes wide. "It's time for your next task."

Holly's body tensed, awaiting the order, and trying to decide how to fight back. "A-Artemis, no, I'm not going to—"

"Put these books away, if you will," Artemis commanded, lifting a stack from one side of his desk and placing it on the floor before Holly. It was nearly as tall as the captain, and probably weighed more. "They're all from the shelf to the left of the fireplace. Alphabetize by author's last name. I assume you know the English alphabet?"

"Yes, Fowl," Holly snapped as she took an armful of books and backed away, irritated at the tease, and yet greatly relieved at the cessation of his predatory behavior. "I am familiar with most of your human preschooler knowledge." She turned away and approached the book cases and fireplace. She gave the latter a disapproving look. Humans had the most inefficient energy practices. Trees. Holly shook the thought off. The white and gold Calcutta marble hearth had no soot stains to show if it had been used often or at all, so perhaps it was merely decorative, though there was a pile of logs in a bronze basket to one side. She decided it was best to ignore that and get to shelving.

As she had told Artemis, she was perfectly capable of sorting alphabetically. Though he did catch, very faintly, the strains of a certain song with the same tune as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." By the time she had climbed onto the wheeled ladder and worked her way to the top shelves, she seemed to have overcome her need for the ditty, though she did pause every so often, running the top of the next book's spine along her bottom lip in a manner that Artemis might have berated her for, if he hadn't been so utterly...fascinated. Those...lips...

Her absorption allowed him what he thought was an opportunity for close scrutiny, which turned out to be a false conclusion when she smiled, wide and triumphant, and slotted the last book into place, turning her head to look down the ladder's widely-spaced rungs as she descended. Artemis began to turn his head away from her as soon as she moved, and the flicker in her peripheral vision made her pause, smile fading.

Artemis trained his gaze on his computer screen, forcing himself to read the words so his eyes would track, even if he would not understand anything. He allowed himself a frown, as that, at least, would be a believable character trait, whether it was over a computer problem, or his own stupidity. He had been so careless. If he had brought out another project—perhaps his current architecture commission—he could have moved to a different, more convenient portion of his desk, thus giving himself a good excuse for staring at the fairy. Instead, he'd gawked like a geeky junior high boy that would need to hold a textbook before his pants to hide his shame.

Perhaps it would have been better if he hadn't looked away at all, as Holly was now walking back towards the desk, her mouth tight and brows lowered, not even bothering to hide her own scrutiny.

Artemis found he could barely stand her gaze. The last year had been...painful. His behavior as Orion had made it all but impossible to deny whatever latent desires he might have—though no one protested when he proclaimed that he now loathed fantasy. Even if he could have, Artemis never tried to explain away Orion's—and, if Argon was to be believed, his own—devotion, and she had never brought it up. It seemed that they both wanted to forget what was undeniable.

"Is this the last?"

Attention requested, Artemis allowed himself to look up from his work, first at the short stack of books, and then to Holly.

He swallowed. Was she doing that...deliberately?

Holly was leaning against the desk, pushed up on her tip-toes so her breasts just cleared the edge. They were not so much tantalizingly attached to Holly's body, but instead laid out on the wood, as if on display. If they were on display, the position certainly put them at their best angle, and the pressure against the stomach of the dress made the fabric stretch, and why did that make her breasts just seem bigger, when it really should have compacted them due to the pressure?

"Yes," Artemis murmured, only managing to look away from the perfect curves when they were hidden from view by the pile of books, which Holly swept into her arms. He looked up swiftly, trying to keep a tinge of red from entering his cheeks, and, if Holly's smirk was any indication, failing.

Without verbal comment—which really wasn't needed, as a little look from the elf could convey an entire volume to the gifted people-reader—Holly turned away, walking back towards the shelves, and...dammit, there was no way around it, she was doing that deliberately, at least!

She walked slow. Carefully. A sway of hips to the right. To the left. Her bare feet only touched the floor at the balls, adding a little height to the tiny elf, but doing far more noticeable things to the arrangement of her backside. Artemis was well aware that the main allure of high heels among women was their ability to tighten and shape in all the right ways, but he had never appreciated their function until now, even if Holly wore no stilettos. He considered the idea, and decided that, even though he had no librarian fantasies, he would quite willingly develop a fetish for it if Holly were to keep this up. Especially when the satin fabric came up about her legs as she crouched to put away the lowest book. Or when she climbed to the highest shelf and, instead of moving the ladder over to the far side of the shelf to put in a book without straining, she held onto the ladder with one hand and stretched out her entire body to put the last away, making a little...stressed...delicious sound...

That was it. There was no way this was not deliberate. Holly was teasing him. And not in a pleasant, "Let's ridicule the Mud Man for being an awkward little boy," manner. No. This was...flaunting and attitude and tones, all designed to make him dig his fingers into the keyboard as he tried to get a grip on himself, completely ignoring the frantic beeping of the speakers as the computer asked him, kindly, what the hell he was trying to do?

Artemis had no illusions about this being a genuine flirtation. Because that, after all, would entail that Holly was reciprocating some of his desires. No, this was...something far more sinister. This was revenge. He wondered if forcing the elf into that dress was worth the pain he was being put through.

When Holly turned on the ladder and traipsed lightly down the rungs, her chest bouncing and bell ringing, he decided it was. Entirely. Even if he would develop gangrene from the sustained bloodflow.

Somehow, a bit of that bounce was retained as she came back to his desk, which she stopped in front of, going into a military at-ease position, her arms folded behind her back, again stretching the dress and highlighting her chest. She fought for and quickly obtained a straight face, which she leveled at Artemis, asking, "What next?"

Artemis wondered if Orion had made a sudden return within his mind, as his mouth began to move of it's own accord. However, the words quickly convinced him otherwise, as the sunny-side-up git would not have dared make such a request.

"I shall retire soon." Artemis informed her, gesturing towards the large four-poster bed in the Northeast quadrant of the room. "Turn down the sheets and plug in the heating blanket. It's quite jarring getting in a bed that hasn't been sufficiently warmed."

Despite military training, something flashed across Holly's face, and she did not move.

Artemis chuckled, leaning across his desk and propping his head up with a hand as he surveyed the elf for a period, waiting until he saw the first little flinch of discomposure. His lips twitched, flashing his sharpest teeth, making Holly's pupils turn into tiny pinpricks. "I asked you to plug in a blanket, Captain," he chastised "Not crawl in and heat things up yourself."

"Right," she snapped, backing away, almost tripping over one of the room's many rugs. "Uh...right," Holly repeated as she turned her back, somewhat reluctantly going to Artemis's bed. Her speed was not so much an eagerness to get at the sheets, but to get away from the man, deducing that she was safer here than with him, despite the inherent dangers associated with the male's bed. So long as Fowl wasn't in that bed already, there was a bit less risk going there than staying by his side in the office area.

Artemis observed her retreat with great amusement. He decided, after only a little debate, that there really was no sense in not looking, at this point. Not if she had already opened up the opportunity by flaunting herself. It was a just punishment for her daring. So he turned his chair from the computer, leaning back in the custom-padded curves, which cradled his head and spine far more comfortably than many mattresses, and indulged.

Holly worked swiftly, but was somewhat hampered by her size. She had to flit from one side of the bed to the other to pull the sheets down, and always made a wide circle of it, as if she still distrusted the furniture. When she managed that task, she began to look for the electric blanket's plug, moving all the way from the top-right corner of the frame around to the top-left, where she finally found it. Then she cast about for an empty plug.

Artemis smirked, waiting. This...would be good.

There were a few plugs near the nightstand, but all of those were occupied. She leaned over the small table anyway, glaring at the arrangement...until she notice that, in addition to the cords for the alarm clock and light, there was a third cord for the human's cell phone charger, which could not have fit into the two spaces on the wall. She followed the cord, towards the bed...and groaned.

There, hidden from view by the bed frame, directly in the middle of the frame, was another outlet, one socket taken up by the cell charger, and the other mocking her with its emptiness.

Holly dug her fingers into the mattress and turned to shoot a filthy look at Artemis.

Noticing that he was unabashedly looking back at her, grinning, Holly jolted, face turning red, and looked away.

He really could not blame her for her irritation, being that there was a switch near the base of the electrical cord, for controlling the blanket's temperature, but it had been unseasonably warm for the last few weeks, prompting Butler to unplug the blanket. He was a paranoid man, when it came to things like unnecessary plugs and things he perceived as hazards. For once, Artemis decided he did not blame the man, as it meant he would get to watch the coming struggle.

For a human, reaching over the wrought iron vines that decorated the headboard and plugging in the cord would have been a stretch, but doable. For a fairy, it looked impossible. Holly pulled the mattress back as much as she could, finally creating a thin gap between it and the iron. Still trying to hold the mattress, she worked her arm in, plug searching about for the socket. The angle was awkward, such that she could not see what she was doing, and, though she could feel the metal plate about the socket, each stab at it met with failure. She squirmed, trying to stick her arm further down, and ran her finger over the prongs, and then the empty socket, considering it's shape. Three prongs, all rectangular, the ground perpendicular to the other two. There was only one way it would fit, and that just made it all the more difficult.

Artemis was greatly amused by her struggles. The Captain was a remarkably stubborn woman. She had been irritated by his demands for a temporary servant, and, yet, once she had a task, she refused to ask for his help, even when he could quite easily do it himself. Still, he was not complaining. It wasn't often that the elf was on his bed. In fact this was the first time, and he was going to enjoy it. He took in every little moment: when she grunted and pushed, trying to reach, wriggling, making the bottom of the dress bunch and rise up her taut legs, until he began to...wonder...hope...pray she would keep going just a little longer, so distracted by her efforts that she failed to feel the drift of cool air touching more and more of her upper thighs.

Holly growled, rising to her knees and putting her shoulder to the iron headboard, legs pushing back on the mattress, completely ruining the orderly arrangement of the sheets as she thrust her arm down into the larger gap. She stabbed, almost randomly, furious. "I can't...get it...in!"

The squeak of metal and plastic moving and settling made her ears twitch, and then they burned as a shockingly rough voice proclaimed, "I certainly hope I can."

She dropped the plug, tugging her arm out so she could turn.

Artemis kicked off his shoes as he came to the edge of the bed and crawled on, coming forward on hands and knees, focusing nowhere near the lost power cord. His eyes roved, but always over some part of Holly's body. Face, neck, chest, down to stomach and legs, and back to her own eyes, which he would not let free as he closed the distance.

Holly's heart hammered, like a rabbit cornered by a ravenous fox, and she pressed further back onto the headboard, thinking too late that there was plenty of space on either side for her to roll off the bed and dash away. Just when it did occur to her, Artemis's hands had begun to make their way up the mattress on either side of her calves, then her thighs, then—

With a "pop," the world went black.

Or mostly black. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, but the sparse light that came from the windows was enough for Holly's nocturnal vision to at least see vague shapes. What she saw was the shadow of a body before her, far enough that she did not feel Artemis's breath, but too close for her to move without him being able to feel a shift.

Artemis, however, was at a complete loss. He had halted when the power went out, and now he waited, wondering if he could possibly find the elf in the dark without doing something odd, like grabbing her armpits or kissing her eye socket. "Power outage," he said, unnecessarily. "A few more seconds, and the backup—"

He was interrupted by a distant thump and whirring, followed by a click from his desk, where his computer's monitor flashed to life, the "bong" of the operating system booting coming soon after.

By it's light, he was able to see reasonably well, and he turned back to Holly, who had, by this time, brought her fists up to her chest, holding them there while she gave him a look that dared him to keep doing as he had been before the outage.

Artemis was saved from the need to respond by a buzzing in his pocket, which made him jerk, surprised at the pleasant proximity to his groin. He pushed himself back, sitting upright on the backs of his legs, fishing a cell phone from his pocket. He flicked it open and pushed speakerphone, laying the phone between himself and Holly, so she could see the caller ID picture for Butler: a sig sauer, the muzzle lost in a white flash of gunfire.

"We're fine, Butler," Artemis greeted, earning an intensifying of Holly's glare.

"We?" The bodyguard's voice came back from the speaker's, the storm's interference, making the signal crackle.

"Me, Butler," Holly answered. "Argon sent me when he heard that Artemis would be alone."

"Well, good," Butler said, and Holly smiled at the undeniable relief in his voice, even if Artemis really wasn't the person to worry about this night. "Is the power out for you two?"

"Yes," Artemis confirmed. "The backup systems sent you an alert?"

"Yes. It's nothing internal, I'm afraid. I'm not sure why the power went out." The edge of stress was back.

It was destined to be short-lived, as another familiar voice broke into the lines. "Nothing to worry about, Big Man," Foaly said, the tapping of his keys audible in the background. "My systems just found a 999 call from one of your neighbors down the road. Seems someone smashed his truck into a power line. Took it right out." He whinnied, a loud, frustrated pound heralding the death of yet another keyboard. "I swear, you Mud Men. Too stupid to come in out of a storm. Literally."

"Then it's not an attack?" Holly asked, heart pausing in the time it took Foaly to answer.

"Nah. Just human error, as they say. I'm tapped into the electrical company's servers, and I'm already seeing an emergency work order, but it's pretty far down. I could bump it up, have someone there in a few minutes, but the rest of these...they look pretty dire, Fowl. Hospitals, even."

"No, do not bother," Artemis hastened, rubbing at his chin as he began to contemplate things. "Though the emergency generator will not power the heating...that is inconvenient." Security and any computer connected to it—such as his own—would get full power, but little else in the Manor would be running until repairs were made, or the solar panels on the roof could get some sunlight.

"Exactly," Butler confirmed with a frustrated sigh. "And the news is putting the weather below freezing, tonight."

"Below what?" Holly whimpered, wrapping her arms about her chest, bringing her legs in towards her body to protect her precious warmth. Elves loathed the cold.

"Bundle up, you two," Butler ordered. "Artemis, there should be some more wood in the living room. You know how to build a fire. Stay close to it, alright?"

"Fire?" Holly looked towards the marble hearth, chewing her lower lip at the ethical dilemma.

Artemis rolled his eyes. "We can debate the ethics of using plants as fuel after we have gotten warm."

"No," she protested cattily. "I meant Artemis Fowl being told to play with fire."

"Oh, ha ha," Artemis snapped. "Remind me of that when you don't freeze overnight."

"Children, stop it," Butler ordered, getting outraged yells from both elf and human. "Get moving. It's going to take some time to get that fire going, so you're just hurting yourselves.

"Yes, Butler," Holly mumbled. She edged past Artemis, trusting that he would not pounce when the phone's mic could betray him, and slid off the edge of the bed. Once safe, she shooed the human off the other side, and began to tug the blankets off.

The phone came towards her as she tugged, Foaly's voice braying out. "Oh, and Holly...I'll make sure to give Artemis a call, if something comes up." The half-hidden whinny in his voice informed Holly—as if she'd had any doubts—that he knew that her suit was conspicuously absent from her body, and the centaur had come to his own conclusions as to the reasons.

She thanked the gods the People had no video surveillance on Artemis's bedroom. Pictures of her in a Christmas elf suit would be all over the fairy 'nets by the time she had returned to Haven, if there had been.

Holly snapped the phone closed, not bothering with a goodbye to Butler or her supposed friend, tossing it at Artemis. He almost managed to catch, the device shooting about in his hands before popping free and clattering to the floor. When he'd managed to recover it, Holly had already taken off the first layer of covers, and was dragging them towards the hearth.

He scowled at the significant portion dragging across the floor, but decided it was best to not bring up such a detail when they had tasks to perform. "There are more blankets two doors down the hall, in the closet. Bring as many as you can, before you get too cold." He went off on his own errand, moving slower than normal through the dark Manor, and then even slower on his return, grunting with the effort of carrying the basket full of wood.

By the time he had re-entered the bedroom, Holly had finished her task and was sitting in front of the hearth, wrapped up in a blanket, even though there was not yet an appreciable drop of temperature. She glowered at the fireplace, apparently desperate enough to remain warm to take advantage of wood-based heat, but not enough to keep her from being outraged.

Artemis smiled indulgently at the elf. She was such a contrary creature. Which was useful, actually. It was easy to change someone's mind when their mind already did not make sense.

That could, of course, wait. Artemis set his load down and opened the glass doors, doing all the necessary safety checks on the fireplace before building a small pile of kindling, piling the thinnest twigs onto a base of dried leaves that had been collected that fall, lately taken down from their task as decorations under the dining room's glass table.

As he took a match from the small box on the mantelpiece, Holly opened her mouth, ready to ask if the pampered prince would need help with something so primal as fire-starting. Artemis halted her by holding the match in his fist and flicking his thumb over the white tip. The phosphorous coating came to life with a hiss, and Artemis smirked down at the elf, who was not so much impressed as shocked. He held up the match, now pinched in two fingers, in a sort of salute. "I assure you, I am competent."

"Yeah, whatever," Holly grunted, looking back at the kindling. "Just don't burn yourself."

Brought out of his gloating with a reminder that he held fire, Artemis crouched and tossed the match on top of the grass, which caught in an instant, the little sticks following.

Artemis continued to add kindling for some minutes, and then small logs, focus supreme as he waited for each to ignite. Luckily for his male ego, the fire cooperated, overtaking the old, dry logs quickly, and soon Holly groaned, feeling the return of warmth.

Artemis smirked at the sound, but the expression went away as he looked at the two metal baskets. The wood was extremely old—a rowan that had reached the end of it's long life around the time that Artemis Sr. was planning his trip to Russia—and, while the wood would have normally burned slow, the long seasoning made it go at a mad pace. "This isn't going to last the night," he announced.

Holly gave the wood a worried look. "Can we get more?"

Artemis shook his head. "Now without going out to the barn, and I rather think that's impossible in this rain. I hope the horses are doing well..."

"Oh," Holly said icily, "I'm sure you've given them every consideration possible."

Artemis stared at her, astonished at the venom. "Correct me if I am wrong, Holly, but I have the vaguest feeling that isn't what bothers you."

Holly glared at him. Then she tightened the covers, lifting one edge to make a hood, wrapping herself up so all that could be seen of her was a pair of eyes, a nose, and a frowning mouth. She said something, but it was muffled by the sheets.

Artemis—a fluent lip-reader, of course—understood, but he did Holly the courtesy of saying, "Just another what?"

She curled into herself even more. Then snapped out, "Just another thing you can use."

"I beg your pardon," Artemis huffed, sitting straighter. "That is hardly a fair assessment."

"Fair assessment?" she shot back. "When have you ever done something that wasn't to your benefit?"

"The nanowafer project."

"That was Orion."

"No. It was me," Artemis growled, pounding his fist into his chest. "I developed the idea months before that moron appeared. Even before I developed my condition. And, while I may not be investing the Fowl family's full resources to the project, I am still it's biggest backer!"

"Oh, yes," Holly returned, poking her head free, though much of her shoulder-length hair was still caught in the collar of blankets. "Investing. Not donating. Because, after all, if you did that, it might actually make up for some of the things you've done!"

"I...you..." Artemis ground his teeth, wishing with all his might that he could argue against this woman as easily as he argued against everyone else. Her words rarely made sense, but he still couldn't deflect them. "Fine! I suppose you'd prefer I acted more like Orion, then? Some dashing hero, come to sweep you off your feet?" He gestured grandly, as if bowing and making a sword-strike at the same moment.

"No! D'arvit, don't even...ugh!" Holly looked to the ceiling, and Artemis felt a brief surge of victory.

And then she finished speaking, balled fists striking her thighs. "Could you at least stop using me?"

Artemis balked. "What? Using—"

Holly interrupted his denials by flicking her bell, the ringing adding in it's own eloquent accusation.

"I...you can't..." Artemis knew she had a point, and he should have considered his retort carefully, but could not refrain from shouting with enough force to make the elf lean away. "If I was going to use you, I would have ordered you to keep me warm with your body!"

For the second time that night, Holly's jaw dropped, though only half as far as before. Just enough to let her gasp at the implications.

Artemis continued his face-off with the stunned elf for several seconds, daring her to deny his words. When he seemed to conclude that she could not, and he had finally won, he leaned over, opening the fireplace doors. "So...do not say I would use you, Holly. I only wish that I could." Artemis tossed another log onto the fire, waiting for it to catch, savoring the direct heat to his face. The room had grown cold during their argument. Or perhaps that was just his perception. Still, by the time he closed the doors and moved to claim the second nest of blankets, across from Holly, every other breath had begun to fog the air.

Looking across at Holly, in case she was about to renew the assault, he was puzzled to find her shaking off her blankets, jaw reclaimed from its hanging position and clenched firmly.

"Holly, what are you do—hey!"

Artemis leaned back as Holly yanked aside his protective down comforter, letting in the cold air.

"Stop that! What—"

"Oh, stuff it, Mud Man," Holly commanded, crawling forward and into the shield of blankets, tugging the aperture closed behind. "Your argument is stupid as hell, but you're right, and I didn't think about it until you said it. We can conserve more body heat like this."

"I...perhaps, but...weren't we just arguing?" He rather thought she would never want to touch him again, after an altercation like what had just passed.

"Do you want to start that again?" Holly took the obvious seat for sharing body heat: Artemis's lap, her back to his chest.

The fact that Artemis managed to grunt, "No," was a testament to his intelligence. Except for the tiny bit of brain power required to give that response, the rest of his mind was devoted to fighting over whether Holly needed to hold still, dammit! or Do that again, please! With just a little sliver leftover for praying that a certain part of his anatomy would calm down, as, if it was discovered, no logic he could employ would convince Holly that it was anything other than what it was, and that this contact was still a tolerable arrangement.

"Exactly. So shut up. I figure you're full of hot air, so no sense letting it out with your yapping." Holly tightened the blankets about them both, keeping her ears inside, and went silent.

Neither party considered commenting. Anything that they could have possibly said would be ridiculous or, at the very best, unbearably awkward. Artemis rested his hands on his thighs, calling up the meditation routine that Butler had taught him long ago. The position of his limbs was comfortable, even if he was weighed down by so many layers and an elf. It took some time, but he was eventually able to ignore the presence in his lap, slipping into a suspended mind-state. He used a similar routine to take breaks when he needed to use his intellect at full capacity, but now all he wanted to do was stop his thoughts, as every one threatened to betray him.

He was not a perfect yogi, unlike Butler, and a jab to his sternum snapped the genius out of his meditation.

"Fire," Holly mumbled, pointing to the dying flames, low tone showing she still felt guilty over her association with tree-murder.

Artemis glanced at the fireplace, preparing a snide remark that it was indeed fire, but yelped when he saw the flames were no longer blazing, but struggling for life, the log reduced to a black mass. Either more time had passed than he assumed, or the wood was even faster-burning than he'd initially assumed.

He turned, lunging towards the fireplace, crouching on his knees as he flung the doors open. He appreciated the direct warmth to his face, but did not indulge, throwing the smaller remaining sticks on top, waiting for them to catch. When they did, he breathed a sigh of relief, not sure where he would have gathered kindling for a second building-up of the fire's heat.

Below him, small, but quite audible due to their proximity, a small voice queried, "Er...is it okay?"

Artemis stated into the fire stupidly for a bit longer. Then he looked under his body.

Brought along by his sudden move to the fireplace, Holly lay on her side under Fowl, looking up with wide eyes, not moving a muscle. Her hair—grown out to her shoulders in the last year or so—was spread over the white down comforter, looking far softer than the eider feathers, and haloing her head in a red to match the flames. The dress's top revealed nothing, but the rapid shifting had caused the bottom of it to fall in an inconvenient manner, the fluffy hem resting across the very tops of her legs, which were partially bent so her thin ankles could fit between Artemis's knees.

Artemis could not help the wandering of his eyes, which went down to the very tips of her toes, up fit calves and things, to the promising curve that was only half-hidden by her attire.

Collecting himself, Artemis snapped his eyes back to Holly's face, with just enough wherewithal to register her deep blush before he looked up to the crackling sticks on the fire, which were now well alight. "Yes...er...almost." He picked up another log, leaning forward to get at the flames, one hand supporting himself to keep from falling atop and crushing the woman. In the middle of the maneuver, his eyes darted down and confirmed that, yes, the alignment this resulted in was very inconvenient, and he was a complete moron.

If Holly had called him on his reaction, there was no way Artemis could have made a denial. After all, she was getting a very close-up view on how a zipper's teeth meshed together, though he somewhat doubted she was focused on the metal bits in her vision. His finely tailored slacks would do absolutely nothing to hide the sudden, localized increase in blood flow, and the movement that matched his heartbeats.

Artemis flung the log onto the fire and sprang back, flinging the doors closed as he went. A spray of embers hit the glass, casting unreadable shadows on Holly's face. He completely backed off the elf's body, sitting cross-legged, facing perpendicular to the fire, arms crossed to deny the possibility that he would want to touch anything in his direct vicinity.

Even if he really, really wanted to.

Fallen out of the blankets, though still cushioned by the down under her, Holly remained on the hearth, just exactly as she had fallen, her loose fists resting next to her head, firelight playing over her face.

"Oh, gods," Holly groaned suddenly, Artemis's attention snapping back to her as her eyes drifted closed. "That feels so good."

Artemis's restricted manhood throbbed painfully at her words. "What?" he squeaked.

Holly stretched her arms above her head, reaching for the fireplace. "So...warm."

Artemis felt a sudden flash of anger. He assumed Holly rarely wore dresses, but how could she have not noticed how much of her body was uncovered? Surely there was some feeling left in her legs. She certainly had control of them, sliding one against the other, feet pushing against the comforter so she inched further up on the marble, writhing towards the flames. Their radiance was transferred onto the elf's skin and hair, and even the velvet dress, making her fairly glow.

Could she be...doing all this on purpose? She had been undeniably teasing him during the shelving task, but he had assumed she gave up when his own subsequent flirtations had taken things a bit too far for her comfort.

Or was this just legitimate revelry over the heat? Because, once she had gone as close to the glass as possible without touching it, she sat up, tugging her skirt down so she could fold her legs together, close to her body. "I do not understand how elves managed to live in Ireland before the Battle of Tailte. We must have gone south for the winter."

"South," Artemis managed, the bespoken region mourning the loss of such delectable skin. Then he shook himself, regaining a modicum of intelligence. "Perhaps the People have just adapted to the temperatures underground. It has been millennium."

Holly considered this as she did a quarter-turn, ending with her left side facing the fire. "Whatever. Fire gooooooood."

"I'll remind you of that when you are wracked with guilt in the morning."

Holly laughed, articulating her spine so she could look at her friend, a stabilizing hand to her hip. "What makes you think I'll regret this in the morning?"

Now Artemis was certain Holly was clueless, and especially of the arrangement of her body, because, with that smile and the hair falling about her eyes, the fire behind silhouetting her, bringing attention to the curves formed by chest, waist, and hips, she looked like a pagan goddess. Either of the Hearth—for warmth, protection, and belonging—or of unavoidable, fatal Temptation.

When she received no answer, Holly smirked and did another turn, face to the fire, back to Artemis, and closed her eyes.

She continued her slow revolutions, allowing each part of her body an extra blast of heat, and Artemis thanked her for her ease. It allowed him what seemed like hours to appreciate the sight. Just as one angle began to lose a portion of it's novelty, she would turn, bringing new delights to his attention.

In addition, Artemis was very, very glad that he had the blankets to cover himself, in case she did ever open her eyes. If she could see the reaction he was having...well, the bruises would be of a color roughly similar to his testicles.

They went through fuel quickly. When prompted, Holly (having forgotten all of her convictions, apparently) would add another log, greeting the coming flash of flame with a groan that made Artemis bite his cheek, fingers digging into his thighs.

Soon, the last, largest log was laid on top, and Holly turned away from it with brows lowered in concern. Even Artemis's assurance that this piece would burn for some time, it's embers keeping them heated for at least an hour afterward, did not ease her. She sighed, looked at the fireplace one last time, and shook her head.

"Well...better not wait until it gets too cold." Rising to her knees, Holly shuffled from the doors, towards Artemis. When she was kneeling just before him, she stopped. Then crossed her arms. "Well?"

Artemis blinked back at her.

Holly grunted and yanked the blankets aside, earning a yelp from the human. "I swear, you must have already frozen. Or at least your brain has."

"H-Holly, you shouldn't—"

"You said I should keep you warm," she reasoned, stepping into the blanket cocoon.

"I did not! We've been over this! I did not order you to— ...ngh..."

Artemis gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, entire body tensing up with the pleasure and anticipated pain, as Holly had just reclaimed her earlier seat. On his lap. And, if she had been ignorant of his condition moment's before, there was no missing it now, with his hardness nestled against her ass, throbbing at her presence, and his one, half-stifled cry of pleasure escaping into the cold night.

Holly did indeed seem to notice, as she stopped breathing for quite some time, dropping her chin to avoid Artemis's face. Her hands toyed with the edge of the blankets, and she chewed the corner of her lips.

Then she glanced at the fire, sighed, and pulled the blankets tighter about their bodies, shifting herself carefully so she sat sideways on Artemis's lap, on his thigh instead of his groin, opting for mutual survival and an agreement to ignore the situation, instead of fleeing or even venturing a word about what had caused him to become aroused in her presence.

Holly's movements were kind, but Artemis still breathed harder than normal until long after she had settled. Slowly, though, he began to believe he could recover. Cold, after all, would set in after about two more hours, when the fireplace finally sputtered out, and that would certainly dull his desire. So, just two...damned hours of need, and he could stop feeling...

Artemis's head began to swim. A warm wetness was against his leg. It took some time to realize it, but it was not he who had lost control.

After a long, tense minute, he risked looking down at Holly.

Her face was an obvious red, and not from her earlier heat indulgence. She did not breath especially hard, or move at all, but her discomfort was evident, once one looked for the signs.

Now that Artemis had allowed himself to think of the elf again, he could feel her all the more fully, and wondered how he could have ever missed it. There was a heat against his thigh to go along with the damp, plus the almost hidden beat of a pulse.

Tentatively, Holly tilted her head back until she could just see Artemis's face if she rolled her eyes up, and it was so close to her own that she flinched. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but Artemis decided that her thoughts would have to wait, because, if he did not kiss her now, he would go insane...again.

So he did, curling one arm about the elf's body to bring her in even closer, his hand tapping under her chin to raise it, his head falling down until their lips met and her excuse or warning or reprimand was lost in a tiny, delicious gasp. He pressed his mouth to hers all the tighter, unwilling to let their contact break. If this kiss was to end, it would not be his doing. Never his.

And, to his eternal joy, while Holly did squirm against him, all of the movement was from her lower body. Never the upper, and her head did not shift in the smallest degree, unless one counter her lips. Those opened and closed slowly, tongue sliding out to moisten her lips, doing the favor to Artemis's in the process, promoting him to begin a dance with one-another's mouths.

Holly pulled back, and Artemis heard her murmur, "Chocolate," before coming back to him, her sounds descending to just breaths and sighs and little squeaks when he chanced upon new, interesting spots within her mouth.

Her lower half continued to move, and the squirming made Artemis groan, his free hand lowering to squeeze her waist, trying to halt the torture. She growled and rocked harder against him, sending a blast of fire a thousand times better than the one beside them straight to his cock. His hand shifted, emboldened by lust, and grabbed the curve of Holly's ass, pulling her from his thigh onto his groin. Her side-saddle position prevented her from wrapping her legs about his waist, though she parted them in preparation to do so, whimpering in protest as she realized it was impossible.

Artemis pulled at her once more, and then Holly joined in his rhythm, one hand rising to play with his rounded human ear, which didn't do much for him. Instead, it was the other hand he noticed—by touch, since it was hidden in the blankets—grazing past his stomach, grasping at her skirt and lifting it, then descending further...

Artemis grabbed Holly's wrist, pulling it away, finally making her gasp, "A-Artemis?" and pull her lips away from his.

"Me," Artemis growled, trying to reclaim the lips, but Holly tilted her head so he only kissed her cheeks, and then the shell of her ear which made the elf yelp in surprise, her hips jerking once more against his. "I mean," he whispered in her ear, rocking back, his length aching in the tight confines of his pants, "let me. I want to, Holly." He prayed she could not resist. The urge to touch and explore her was twice as intense as the earlier need to kiss this woman, whom he had wanted and been kept from for so long.

The speed of the change in their interactions made her hesitate. She panted with each breath, the tickle of his words across her earlobe maddening. She shouldn't...he was sixteen!

"Yes," she groaned, turning her head back to restart the kiss, speaking in a small gap she managed between battles of tongues. "Please, Artemis."

He thought he would burst and disgrace himself at her words. Not just affirmation, but almost begging. Said in a whisper, but undeniable in it's desperation.

He let her wrist go, and now it was his hand that pulled at the skirt, moving it aside so his hand could come back down and encounter a surprisingly soft wisp of hair. He ran his fingers over the short locks, from the driest at the top of her mons, and then down. Down to the damp, hot place between her legs, following the hairs' path in a slow circuit that prompted the elf to spread her legs further, allowing him to complete the path before coming back up to her dry hairs, where he finally pressed in enough to touch Holly's skin.

She arched into his hand, squeaking into his mouth, momentarily losing the battle between their tongues. Each little sound she made sent a shock straight to Artemis's cock, and he wanted to let it free, even if just to rub against her skin, which would likely be enough to tip him over the edge.

He did not, however. He had greater concerns, and one all-consuming desire: to see. Wrapped in these blankets, he had only the sense of touch to go by, and it would not be enough for him.

He shifted closer to the fire, where the last flames were disappearing from the final log, so that the elf would not be bit by the cold which would approach before long. Shrugging his shoulders, he managed to get the blankets to edge off and down, freeing their bodies. He broke off the kiss and looked down at the woman in his arms.

"Dear God," Artemis breathed, making Holly smirk, aware of her many charms. Even the ones that still remained hidden by the dress.

But where the dress did not cover...perhaps it was an enhancement, due to the soft light, but it looked both inviting and elementally mysterious. A place to enter into, but with slowness and care and a focus so sharp that each nanosecond would be etched into the mind.

Artemis looked to Holly's face, as if she would deny him even now, but she just quirked a brow, waiting patiently, already well exposed.

Licking his lips, Artemis looked back down to her pubis, taking in the firelight on her short red hair, lighting it up just as it had done to the hair on her head. Then he trailed his fingers, down and through the covering, the woman's back arching as they went, until the man was certain that her spine would snap.

And then his index finger slipped between her folds, bumping into something small and pliable, which made Holly gasp and spread her legs even further, whispering for more.

Artemis paused here, letting his fingers catch up to one another and explore the nub, though he knew full well what it was. He traced it's shape, pressing gently, then pinching and so-very-carefully pulling, followed by rubbing over and over. Each experiment brought out an unrestrained sound from Holly, and he learned them quickly, developing an order as varied and effective as the steps in any computer program he had ever written. Given just a little more time at this, and Artemis was certain he could bring his lady to climax, but he wanted something more...intense. Uncontrollable. Full.

So he took his fingers away from Holly's well-serviced clitoris, continuing to her dripping slit. She had certainly not decreased in moistness since betraying her desires, as Artemis discovered when his first attempt to part her labia majora resulted in an unsteady, slipping grip, which sealed them back together, making Holly whimper a protest.

He was firmer on the second try, thumb and middle finger parting her folds, revealing the pink flesh beyond. It looked—and Artemis was momentarily shocked by the desire, but supposed it was a promising one for Holly—delectable. In the middle, dark and unknown, was her small entrance, which seemed to move like a gasping mouth, seeking something to fill it.

Holly did not blush at her exposure, but she did growl in frustration, rolling her hips against Artemis's hand. "D'arvit, Mud Man! Don't just stare! Do something!"

"Hmmm?" Artemis quirked a brow at the order. He wondered if Holly had ever considered saying such words to him before this night. This seemed like one of her impulsive fly-boy decisions. "Like...this?"

He dipped his index finger to touch her entrance, resting at the bottom, finger not even in up to half of his nail. He began to circle the opening, pushing to test the elasticity, wondering if there was any chance that something quite a bit larger would be testing her limits before the night was over.

"Ngh...yes..." Holly hissed, arching again, breasts thrust out by the curve of her spine. It was wonderfully alluring and, Artemis decided, not quite enough...

Still circling her entrance, he nuzzled into her ear, getting another sharp moan as he whispered, "Lean forward," to which she readily complied. Swiftly, Artemis located the zipper on the back of the dress, dragging it down.

Holly groaned in appreciation as the pressure on her chest was released. After Artemis uncinched her belt, she assisted him in lifting the dress off, wriggling in time with his tugs. This, of course, made his neglected cock twitch against her ass, their mutual desire feeding on each other, becoming all the more insatiable because of it, like a sailor lost at sea, forced to drink salt water.

Soon, the dress was off, tossed aside, and Artemis stared, heart frozen.

Holly's breasts were small, even for an elf, and what would have been generously called a B-cup on a proportionally sized human woman. Yet they were entirely fitting for her body: pert, with a little bounce whenever she moved. Against her nut-brown skin, her nipples were a much darker shade, approaching black, which shocked Fowl. He soon got over it, deciding that anyone who did not have breasts like these should feel envious, for this woman, now naked but for her choker and bell, was his perfection.

His circling finger never faltered in its rhythm, even as his other hand took on a contrary tempo, coming up from Holly's waist to cup her left breast. He marveled at the feel. Except for her needy pussy, he was sure these were the softest part of Holly's body. They were also ranking second in how much he was dying to taste them.

Artemis shifted his hold on the elf, lifting her to his thigh once more, the loss of friction against his member made up for by the elf's extra height, which allowed him to easily put his mouth to her skin. He first made contact with her lips, but abandoned them before she could respond, despite whimpered protests, moving on to her neck, and then to the collarbone, and, finally, to the smooth swell of breast, which he licked so thoroughly it seemed vaguely canine, but which Holly met with cries that allayed his worries about technique.

When he had his fill of the rest of her breasts, Artemis used a tongue to guide a nipple into his mouth, sucking and moaning with the taste. Skin, yes, but God...he couldn't get enough, and just sucked harder.

Shocked, Holly cried out Artemis's name, her hands rising to grab his hair, pulling his head closer to her breast, soon urging him off to suckle the other, then back again, never satisfied with whichever he serviced, always whispering for more.

More he managed to give her. Artemis pushed his finger at Holly's entrance, sliding in to the first knuckle. After a pause, he continued on to the second. Already she moved without control or a sensible pattern, but her movements alone could force in no more, and Holly sobbed as the finger was drawn out.

Then Artemis plunged it inside, Holly's tight cunt clamping down on the digit. Just one of his fingers was as big as two of her own, and two was all she ever used on her many nights alone. She had taken larger things inside, yes, but never so suddenly. The men she had let into her bed were not so capricious and rough. Elf lovers were almost all as gentle with their partners as with the natural world in general.

She loved it. Holly thrashed and growled, nails digging into Artemis's skin, shouting, "More!" She was obliged, the finger taken out and thrust in again and again. It's penetration, along with the suckling on her breasts, building a pressure within her. "Getting...close," she began to whimper, a part of her shocked that it was taking so little time. Even on her own, knowing all her own preferences and greatest fantasies, she took easily twice as long to get this far.

Of course...geniuses. Was there nothing they couldn't do?

"So...fucking...going to...d'arvit, just a little..."

Artemis removed his finger from Holly's wet hole, at the same time taking his mouth from her nipples.

"No!" Holly screamed, arching her back, pulling at Artemis's hair as she tried to force him back onto her chest. "I'm close," she sobbed. "Close!"

"Shhh...easy, my elf," Artemis soothed, resisting her strong pull. "Easy...easy..." He wasted no time, taking his middle finger away from it's job holding Holly's lips apart, joining it with his pointer and pressing both back to Holly's entrance.

Only this touch could still Holly, and she fairly froze as she realized what touched her. Not one finger, but two. A thickness that easily matched, if not surpassed, the largest male she had ever been with. She somewhat feared it, yet entirely ached for it, blood burning with denied satisfaction.

Unlike before, Artemis was not gentle. He pressed against Holly, his two thin fingertips managing to slide inside easily. Then he had to add more pressure for the first knuckle to pop through, bringing out a gasp in the woman, who seemed shocked that it fit.

Those two segments were all he used, at first, pumping in and out at an increasing pace. Slow, to accustom her to the girth. Then faster, to make her start moaning once more. Soon, she was again ablaze and crazed, so much so that, when he passed the second knuckle and sank his fingers to the base, her sudden silence and tension was not from pain, but a now inevitable orgasm.

Holly clenched down on Artemis's fingers, screaming, cursing, calling his name, beseeching the gods, ordering the man to go faster, harder, suck her nipples, all of which he did, taking no care for how roughly he treated the woman. She reveled in it, letting out an ear-splitting shriek when his thumb accidentally grazed her clitoris, literally crying when he caught on and began to rub it in fast circles.

Having never been with a woman, Artemis was unsure how long such a reaction could continue. Perhaps fairies enjoyed much longer climaxes than humans, or it may have just been a trick of his mind, stretching out the moment so he could savor every squeeze on his fingers, each time she said his name, the writhing of her body against his, all of it again tormenting his needful cock. Eventually, though, she began to descend, from screams to moans, to sighs and tiny whimpers, the speed of his fingers falling to coincide. Finally, he pulled back, easing his fingers out and meeting no complaint; only a contented murmur as she was emptied and left to go limp.

Artemis found himself somehow satisfied. Not fully—he was practically in pain, after so long—but in some measure bringing the woman off had felt like his own little release. A fulfillment of a never-spoken desire, which he would forever keep in memory. Artemis was rather glad that the myths about masturbation were unfounded; he would happily go blind thinking about Holly.

"Nnnnn..." Holly croaked as she took on some of her own weight, letting Artemis's head go so she could lift her arms and stretch, teeth gritted.

"There was no pain, correct?" Artemis asked with undisguised worry.

Holly snorted. "No. I'm not that small, Artemis."

"Ah. Good. I'd hate it if you couldn't..." He trailed off with a cough.

"Couldn't what?" Holly queried, brows raised. She laughed at his averted eyes. "If I couldn't take your great, big Mud Man cock?"

"I...never said..." Artemis floundered, argument not helped by the jerks coming from said Mud Man cock. "That is—"

"Spare me," Holly breezed, picking up the edge of one of the blankets Artemis had shrugged off. "Now, I'm cold, and I am not putting back on that monstrosity, so buh-bye." Ignoring Artemis's protests, Holly swept the blankets over her head, disappearing.

Artemis looked down on the lump that was the elf, trying to choke out something, and finally let his head fall back, groaning. He'd barely said anything, and it was still the wrong thing to say. Now she was going to just ignore him for the rest of the night, and refuse to talk about what that had just meant, and she would especially not be returning the favor.

Holly shifted in his lap, just a little.

Artemis gasped as he felt something grab his cock through his slacks.

That touch nearly kept him from registering a tugging at his waist as his shirt was untucked, followed by a sudden release of pressure as the button of his slacks was undone, zipper sliding downward.

Artemis yanked back the blankets, shouting. "What are you doing?"

Holly's hand was halfway into the slit of Artemis's boxers, and his yelling made her pause. She pursed her lips, shrugging. "The obvious."

"Obvious?" Artemis repeated, understanding her fully, but not truly believing. "But...you mean...you're going—"

"To blow you?" Holly supplied, grabbing Artemis's shaft and pulling, freeing it from the horribly confining boxers. "Why, yes, actually." She opened her mouth, positioning it over the tip. Then paused, pouting at him. "Don't you want me to?"

"YES!" Artemis's voice cracked, the sensation of Holly's fingers wrapped three-quarters of the way around his shaft somehow blending pleasure and pain, the ache for release amplified by it's sudden possibility.

"Well, that's what I thought," Holly laughed. Then she became very serious. "But I am cold, like I said, so..." She tugged at the blanket, trying to reposition it over her head, but was unable to do so with Artemis's death-grip on one corner.

"Artemis..." Holly warned, tugging a little harder. "I'm cold."

"What? How?" Even accounting for his desire and adrenalin, and the People's tendencies to prefer heat, Artemis was sure the temperature was tolerable.

"I just...am," Holly shrugged, unable to keep the corners of her mouth from moving.

Artemis, being a large purveyor of the commodity, knew a lie when he saw one. "Don't—"

"You can let me be warm," Holly interrupted, letting Artemis's cock go so it slapped against his stomach. "Or I'm afraid I'll be too cold to concentrate on anything."

Suddenly, Artemis understood. No, this had nothing to do with the chill. Holly was fine. Except for the fact that she was evil. Which he really should have caught on to many years ago. She hadn't protested because of any real discomfort. The elf was just denying him a chance to witness the most erotic moment of his life. "Don't toy with me, Holly. It's not fair."

"Really?" She looked up, considering, and finally nodded. "I suppose you're right..." Sitting up, she began to tug the layers of blankets around her, hiding her naked form, backing away. "After all, you are under-aged, so I really shouldn't—"

Holly was silenced by having her face shoved down, though not stuffed, with Artemis yelping, "Never mind!" He pulled the blankets back over her and his hips, letting her go once she was hidden from view, planting his hands at his side so he could claw at the floor to vent his frustration. "Whatever. Be warm! No problem." It wasn't fair, but he needed relief! And, as much as he wanted to see what was going on, knowing that it was Holly doing it would be far better than just imagining that she was.

Strong hands took hold of his member once more, ending the human's mourning with a slow stroke down, from slit to the base of his balls. He ceased to care about small denials, at this moment. This was nothing like getting himself off. Then, there had always been a sense of purpose and a goal that should be met quickly, lest he be discovered.

Holly probably had a goal, but Artemis could not be sure what this was. Phenomenal, spilling satisfaction, or a painful lesson for his previous demands of servitude? He tried to focus on the prospect of the former, which became easier with each long stroke.

Then—sublime, even in this heavenly night—Artemis felt something wet and warm at the base of his cock. All his attention went there, and then up a centimeter to another press of warmth. A tongue? No. It was too broad, and it's shape changed rapidly. And...it almost pinched.

Lips, he realized. Holly was kissing his hardness, planting each with her mouth wide open, getting the skin wet, occasionally tickling it with her tongue before closing her lips, sucking in as she did to bring a bit of skin into her mouth. This she soon let go, after a little, gentle tug, and up her mouth moved, repeating the process. It seemed to take forever, each kiss separated from the former by only millimeters, making Artemis wounder if he had spontaneously doubled in size, to explain the slow transit.

Eventually, though, a kiss came that grazed the corner of Holly's mouth against the ridge of his cock, making Fowl's member twitch. There was a giggle under the sheets, and Holly second hand joined the first, squeezing tight. If she had meant to steady his manhood, she had the opposite effect, making him throb with each heartbeat. Eventually, she managed a quick kiss on the line of a scar where his foreskin had once been attacked, which she decided to accompany with a little teeth, making Artemis whimper.

Then, a pause, during which time there was some shifting, and a whispered protest from Artemis. She could not stop now...

He was going to protest, and then felt something hot drifting over his cock-head. Not touching. More like...a nearby presence. A bare, brief, wet brush against one side of his ridge. Before he could comprehend what this might be, the it touched him directly, and it was so slick, a circle of pressure forming all around just below his crown. His tip was lathed in the wetness, drops of precum swept away.

Her tongue. Her lips. Holly had opened her mouth wide and lowered it onto Artemis's cock, bypassing the tip and taking in as much as she could without adjusting, finally sealing him inside her lips when there was no going further without him realizing what must be happening. The result was such a shock of pleasure that Artemis immediately felt a tightening in his balls. It was the beginning of something that approached all the faster when he looked down and saw the covers rise and fall, coinciding with a slide of hot-wetness on his shaft. He knew what he could not see, and, at this rate, it would be over so soon. All he wanted...needed...

"Fuck!" Artemis spat, grabbing the blankets and ripping them off.

His climax jumped closer as he looked down on Holly's shocked double-colored eyes, and lower to her bow lips trying to accommodate what seemed like a ludicrously large penis. He was, as humans went, average, but only a third of his length slid in and out of Holly's mouth. In...and out. In...and out. In...

And out.

Holly popped her mouth free of Artemis's member, rolling her eyes. "Arty!"

Artemis placed his hand on Holly's head, pressing down frantically. "Holly, I'm close! Don't stop, please. I need—"

"You need to keep me warm," Holly interrupted, jerking her head free. She backed off and grabbed the waistband of Artemis's pants and boxers, pulling hard until he responded by lifting his hips, though his hormonal mind had no idea why she was so concerned with his clothes. After all, she had perfect access to his member, already. "So," she went on, sliding the items off and tossing them aside, rising to her knees, moving in closer to Artemis, fingers working swiftly on the top buttons of his shirt, "if you won't do it one way..." She paused when she came to the last button, fumbling with it and nearly tearing the entire thing before she had a lucky break and managed to pop it free. She worked the shirt off the human's chest, laying it next to them and turning to gaze appreciatively on the finished product before her, pale and scrawny as it might have been. "You'll just have to keep me warm...some other way," she finished with a wink.

Rather suddenly nude, a few strokes from orgasm, and utterly confused, Artemis managed a, "What?" just before Holly's lips pressed to his own, both of her arms going about his neck. She fell backwards, Artemis dragged along. His hands came forward to catch himself just before the elf was crushed beneath him, so he could look down at his friend—also nude, he recalled with surprise—positioned below.

She positively leered at his confusion, sliding her hands from about his neck and down his chest, scratching at the skin. "If you want to keep me warm, then you are going to need to be much...much..." Holly wrapped a hand about the tip of the human's cock, pulling to guide it—and the attached teenager—up her body. "Closer," she finshed, spreading her legs and sliding Artemis's tip across her clitoris and down to her moist slit.

"Holly, wait," Artemis pleaded, trying to pull back. With her still gripping his member, retreat was practically impossible. He didn't even want to retreat, ...strategically gather his resources. A minute or two, at most, should be all he needed, but he was so close, and—

"Artemis," Holly purred, tugging harder, lifting her head to lick his neck. "Fuck me."

His crown began to stretch her entrance, and the moment of fear and need overcame the elf. She bit at his neck, whimpering, pulling harder.

Too much. Far, far too much. Artemis cried out, almost wailing, as he felt his pleasure suddenly double, body going rigid.

Holly seemed to understand what she had done. Just in time, she pulled the man's tip from her entrance and up towards her stomach. She stroked her hand along his length, catching the first burst off cum with her palm, using the sticky substance to lubricate her hand, so she could grip him tighter, jerking at a terrific speed along his shaft. It made little sucking, slapping noises, which both lovers ignored, Artemis overcome with the bliss of a skilled hand that was not his own, while Holly focused on aiming the massive hardness.

The semen shot between them, landing in a disorderly line on Holly's stomach and chest, the strongest burst creating a little opaque white pool in the hollow of her throat. Holly soon slowed her emergency hand job, not wanting to extend the flow. Not just yet.

When the pleasure of his orgasm faded, Artemis closed his eyes in what resembled a pained grimace, his nails digging into the sheets to either side of Holly's head. He had failed. If he'd been allowed to finish orally, it would have taken just as long, but that would not have resulted in such shame. Brought instead to the very cusp of losing his virginity, he had lost control. Perhaps Holly, in her rage over the denial of intercourse, would allow him to go lay naked on his balcony, where the rain and cold would give him a slow, agonizing death from exposure. Surely, it would be preferable to her next spiteful words.

"So..." the elf ventured, letting his softening member go. "...How long 'til we can go again?"

Artemis considered the question.

"Huh?" He slit one eye, looking down at the elf...and wondered how in the world he could feel his genitals ache again, when he had just had a release.

Holly laughed, looking at her hand, which was covered in white fluid, and then to her front, similarly coated. "You do make a mess, don't you?"

"...Huh?" Artemis repeated, staring. He felt he was justified in staring. What could be a sexier sight than Holly Short's mouth sucking his cock? Probably the elf naked, splayed on her back, and practically bathed in his cum. And smiling.

"Seriously, though," Holly went on, running a finger through the semen that had gathered on her neck, scooping some up and bringing it closer to her face, inspecting it, finding it much the same as any other man she had been with, regardless of species. "Do you have an idea? Twenty minutes? More? Less? I mean...Mud Men can orgasm more than once a night, right?" She looked Artemis in the eye, quirking a brow, and popped the finger into her mouth.

Artemis squeaked, feeling yet another stirring between his legs, from whence he had thought there would never again be a response.

"Less?" Holly said hopefully, licking the skin between thumb and index finger clean, still keeping eye contact.

"You...you want to try again?" Artemis gaped. He wondered, did she know what she was doing? Did elves not have a taboo about ingesting semen? Or did she just know it would drive him to distraction?

"Yeah," Holly returned, sucking her middle finger clean. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, I..." Artemis gestured at the fluids on Holly's body, which the dying coals had begun to dry about the edges.

Holly laughed as she wrapped her tongue—which seemed extremely long and flexible, a fact Artemis had not been aware of as an elf trait, but which he memorized very quickly—around the last two fingers of her wet hand. This done, she appraised the mess made on her body, and then looked around, fetching the dress she had been wearing until just recently. She used this to wipe at her chest and stomach, apparently having decided that she could not bend enough for the task. When she was done, she gave the dress a malicious look and tossed it aside, glad of its ruination. If she had been more confident about its chemical makeup, she would have tossed it on the fire.

"This is not my first time, Artemis," Holly said, pushing herself into a sitting position, prompting the man to sit back on his folded legs. "And you're not the first person to do that to me, okay?"

Artemis's expression somehow managed to mix relief and despair at the same time.

Holly seemed to understand, and she leaned over to run a hand—the one that had not so recently been cleaned by her tongue—along Artemis's cheek, and then black to play with a few strands of hair just behind his ear. "You can't be perfect the first time. But I would love to see you surpass yourself on the second."

After he was given sufficient time to comprehend her words, Artemis began to smile. "I'd like to try that, as well."

"Ah...excellent." Holly pulled her shoulders back, stretching and yawning, though her eyes remained alert and entirely wicked, causing another promising throb in the mastermind's nethers. "So, if we're both agreed, and there's going to be a little wait ahead of us..." She leaned back, hands to her sides to prop her up, and smirked.

Artemis, after Holly was obviously not going to finish, gave the elf a raised brow.

Holly rolled her eyes, wishing he could be as clever about this as he was about everything else. "Then you can...make yourself useful?" She prompted.

The brow went up a little higher. Artemis made no move.

"Oh, d'arvit," Holly grumbled. "You are a moron, aren't you? Like this." Shifting her weight to one arm, she reached out and grabbed Artemis's chin, yanking him towards her and transferring her hand to the back of his head, pushing down.

Being larger than the fairy, Artemis might have been able to overcome her manhandling if he'd fought back. Instead, he was forced to the floor, his nose stopping right before Holly's belly-button, eyes going wide in shock at the treatment.

It did not take long to understand, given that sort of direction.

"Lick," Holly commanded unnecessarily.

Artemis was so thankful Holly had removed his tip from her entrance as he came. He did not want to contemplate lapping up his own semen, even if he was perfectly alright with letting the woman do so just a minute or two ago. It was not a taste he ever wanted to experience, but this...he found himself salivating as Holly's scent processed. Even more so when he pulled back and got a good, close look at Holly's vulva.

If it had been arousing when he was fingering her, now it was fascinating; more so than any of his projects in the last several years. Soft and pink, still a little wet, though not nearly so much as when she'd orgasmed. Holly did not shave, but it appeared that she at least trimmed the hair, as some spots were shorter than others, when one looked close. It was sparse enough to see the skin below, and lick without inconveniences.

And lick he did. Starting at her belly-button, trailing down his tongue like a little spear. Artemis tasted each inch of her mons as he lay down, settling himself in for a long session. Having had one orgasm, he was perfectly content to lick and nibble and kiss until he could move his tongue no more.

The man found the elven body immensely convenient. He propped his elbows at Holly's inner things and stretched his hands up to the breasts waiting above. She was already murmuring encouragement for his tongue, but the addition of stroking fingers on her soft mounds made her fairly purr. When he pinched her nipples, the captain gasped before letting out a sibilant, "Yesssss..."

Artemis hummed in satisfaction as he took his tongue from Holly's bikini line, moving his head as far down as he could before sticking his tongue out again, lathing her from the base of her slit and up, angling back down again just before he reached her clitoris. He circled his tongue, slow and careful, adjusting it's shape and hardness constantly, only employing two rules: never touch the woman's clitoris and never touch her entrance

It was a cruelty, but no one had ever claimed that Artemis was free from a little sadism. Holly certainly knew him well enough to recognize that his omissions were intentional. She bucked her hips, trying to force an accidental caress, but always failed. It felt amazing, yes, and looking down at the man's head between her legs was enough to send tingles all along her body, and especially into her nipples, which were being tweaked and tugged in that perfect rough, yet not quite painful manner he had immediately developed. She loved how it all felt, but...he could do it. Could let his tongue flick or plunge, so that she would cry out in ecstasy. Her arousal had not completely abated after he'd pleasured her the first time, and now she needed that completion.

"Artemis...please," Holly whispered.

It was all he had wanted: a clear request. Artemis attacked Holly's clitoris, running his flattened tongue over it, making her cry out his name and tangle her hands in his hair. She sought to pull his head closer to her pussy, but Artemis resisted, merely maintaining his attention on the bud. He tried everything at least once: licked, nibbled, kissed, sucked, pressed with his tongue, adding his fingers, one to either side, so all his tongue could touch was the bud, isolating her pleasure in one spot. He even tried a tip he had read in one of Juliet's ludicrous "fashion" magazines: he wrote out the alphabet with his tongue. Then he tried Gnommish letters. And then Japanese kanji, just to be thorough.

Then, when he'd thought of everything, he abandoned it, making the elf mewl in protest, turning it to screaming when he thrust his tongue into her entrance, tasting her wetness as he went as deep as he could manage. On a human woman, it would have felt good, if not phenomenal, due to the depth of the vagina. On a female elf, it was thick, and just the right length to reach in and curl upwards, with Artemis pursuing another of the magazine's tips, coming to the conclusion that elves did not have the magic area...

...just before Holly's hips jerked toward him and she snapped her head back, screeching, "Fuck!" Men almost never got that right and Artemis had stumbled upon it almost immediately! "D'arvit...stupid...genius," she grunted, pelvis thrusting towards Artemis's tongue, as if she wished to fuck his mouth. Her mind began to go fuzzy, and she had just enough sense to cry out, "Cock! Can you—fuck, I want your cock, Artemis!"

Fowl had almost forgotten he possessed one, but Holly's demand brought attention back to his half-hard member, which regained it's rigidity rapidly. He didn't think it had even been a full fifteen minutes since his early ejaculation, but there was certainly something to be said about teenage virgins.

Almost reluctant, he withdrew his tongue and began to move over Holly's body, trying to go slow enough so he would not harm the woman, yet having a very difficult time caring if he did.

"No, wait!" Holly yelped, hands slapping Artemis's chest, the sudden denial making his stomach drop out. "Up. Sit up," Holly went on, pushing his shoulders.

Artemis, puzzled, complied, going to his knees then yelping as Holly also rose, shoving his shoulders up until he fell onto his rear, legs out in front, dick sticking straight up like an unadorned maypole.

Holly stood before Artemis and wrapped her arms about his neck, feet in the crook of his legs, his seated position keeping her head just above his. She looked down into his eyes and waited until his gaze—briefly stuck on the breasts at eye level—caught hers.

"Do not move unless I say it's okay," Holly demanded, waiting until Artemis nodded—jostling her tits, which again distracted him—to move.

She pressed the mans' cock to his stomach, getting it out of the way so she could sit on his lap, the hardness sliding against her own belly as she wrapped her legs as far about his hips as she could manage. There she paused, and suddenly shivered. The embers had finally failed them.

Despite his vague orders, Artemis imagined forbidden movement was mostly limited to the waist down, so he brought his arms up, wrapping them about Holly's back and bringing her in close. To her, he radiated heat, and even the untouched parts of her body basked in the warmth.

Holly smiled up at Artemis, blushing a little at her weakness. "Thanks."

"You're...you know I love you, Holly," Artemis blurted out, feeling it had to be said now. She must know exactly what this moment meant to him. It was not just a joke and flirting gone to far, or two friends satisfying their needs. It was the one thing he had wanted, but never had. What he thought he never could have, no matter how his unsurpassed mind tried to develop a solution.

Holly was surprised to find herself speechless, at first. He...couldn't have thought...

Tired of trying to figure out what to say with her mouth, she let her body communicate for a moment, tightening arms and legs so she lifted herself up Artemis's body, his cock coming free from between them. She reached down and grasped it, touching the tip to her entrance.

Holly, at level with Artemis's eyes, stopped...licked her lips...and smirked. "You moron," she laughed softly, brushing her lips to his in something between a nuzzle and a kiss. "I've know that since you were thirteen."

Then she pushed her arms hard against Artemis's chest.

There was an instant of resistance as Holly's entrance stretched, seemingly unable to accommodate this girth. Then her strength and gravity overcame it, and she fell, impaling herself, stretching past the point of pleasure, screaming as her buttocks tapped to Artemis's thighs.

"Holly!" Artemis shouted, tightening his grip, realizing too late that this just forced her further onto his manhood. "Dammit, off! What are you thinking?" He tried to push her away, the mind-bending pleasure he had at first felt not long-banished by his lover's single sob.

"No!" She yelped back, finally regaining her grip on the genius's neck, resiting his efforts. "No, I'm fine, now. You're just...fuck, you're huge, Artemis!"

"I am not," Artemis refuted, still trying to push, not at all flattered by what most men would have crowed over. "And you are not fine. Are you insane?"

"Best way," Holly reasoned, teeth gritted despite her assurances. "Like a band-aid."

"You could have hurt yourself!"

"I would have healed."

"We could have gone slow!"

"It would have hurt anyway!"

"I wouldn't have let you, if I knew that!"

"Don't say that!"

"Why?"

"Because I love you, too, dammit!"

Artemis leaned back, mouth open, making little creaking noises from somewhere high up in his throat. He stared at Holly for some time before shaking his head. "Captain, that is...the...stupidest argument I have ever heard."

Holly let out a small laugh, tossing her her head so the hair fell back from her eyes. "Tell me about it." Noticing his continued distress, she began to stroke his cheek, bringing her lover's body back until she could rest their foreheads together. "I'm fine now, really. I promise you, Arty, I'll never do that again."

"Oh. You...won't." Artemis swallowed, eyes looking to the side to avoid her and hide his sudden disappointment.

"Oh, yeah," Holly emphasized, shifting her hips and wincing at the tiny sting it engendered. "I'm going to get one of those novelty 'Mud Man sized' vibrators, most definitely."

"You...erk." Artemis swallowed. His leap of joy as he realized his misunderstanding—not a fling, as he'd assumed she meant, just not a rash jump into things in the future—was quickly obscured by his cock's own little leap of joy at the idea of Holly pleasuring herself in preparation for other visits.

"Well...ready?" Holly asked, putting both arms around Artemis's neck, dragging his mind back to the present. "Remember, don't move quite yet. You're not allowed."

Artemis nodded, but his face must have betrayed the strain of such an order, since Holly giggled and kissed his nose.

"Soon, I swear. Just as soon as I can...er...take it. Now, control yourself."

The brave captain seemed nervous as she flexed her thighs and tightened her arms, rising off his manhood. Artemis's groan sounded painful, but Holly wasn't fooled, or even sympathetic. He was just missing a warm place to hide his penis.

She kept going, insides stinging as his tip passed the tight ring of her opening, leaving a warm, pleasant tingle as her tissues eased. Even though she did not want to lose his touch, Holly came fully off Artemis's cock, which began jerking frantically under her, trying to find her entrance once more.

She ignored it, concentrating on her insides, tapping into her magic and following it's flow. She waited for any spark or leak in the energy.

Holly breathed out slowly, muscles easing. Nothing. It had hurt like hell, but Artemis had not—and likely could not—hurt her. Not unless he very seriously tried.

Which meant...

"Artemis..." Holly nuzzled at his neck, kissing and nipping.

"Mmmm?" Artemis replied, the strain in his hum betraying his barely-maintained control.

She nipped harder, reaching down to grab his member, positioning it, and whispering, "You can move, now."

"Oh...fuck," Artemis hissed, jerking his hips with no real plan of action, other than reclaiming that heaven just above him. His tip moved erratically, brushing back to Holly's rear, then forward so far that his next jerk slid his underside along Holly's clit.

Eventually, though, he calmed and let her get back to aiming his cock-head. When he knew it was aligned, Artemis lifted his hips, using just a little pressure to slip his tip inside, the wrapping around of his ultra-sensitive tip making his eyes roll towards the back of his head. The mastermind recovered quickly enough, and, now safely at his mark, his frenzy disappeared. He repositioned his arms, one held vertically along Holly's back, fingers disappearing into her hair, trying not to grasp too tight. The other rested on her hip, pushing down.

Holly cooperated readily, slackening her arms and moving her hips in small circles to lubricate his shaft. It made it easier for him to go inside, and had the added benefit of touching her every surface, promising a full satisfaction.

Inch by inch, they worked down, with occasional short forays back up, which made Artemis hold his lover all the tighter, as if she would use this as an opportunity to escape. She never did, of course, but the withdrawals were at least something like reprieves. She no longer felt pain so much as a burn and unsettling pressure. The elf could only imagine what things might look like up close...though she thought the pair of them could make millions if they ever released such a video.

Eventually...after much work and intense restraint on Artemis's part...Holly felt her labia brush against Artemis's skin as she reached his very base. Soon after, the burn began to fade, though the pressure was still present. However, it was beginning to...change. No longer a stretch, but a contact. Every inch of her insides—including many she didn't think she had ten minutes ago—was being touched. Even her clitoris brushed against Artemis's pelvis, her nipples teased by his chest. Things like a G-spot ceased to matter. Not when everything was being rubbed.

"I'm...going to speed up," Artemis warned, giving Holly the opportunity to protest.

"Please," she managed. "Yes."

He was surprised at the approval, but merely chuckled, tightening his grip on his own personal elf.

He didn't take up a fervid pace. At most, they completed a thrust, in and out, in a bit over five seconds. And it was not really a thrust. Instead, Artemis would squeeze Holly tight, bringing her closer as she did the same to him, their hips rocking in, his constantly jerking cock sliding into her pussy. Then they eased, coming apart, sliding out. Each thrust made the bell on Holly's neck jingle, like their own private music.

At first, they kept their heads close to one another and shared breaths, matching them to their movements. Soon, they brought their mouths together, the effort of their movements almost making them pant through their noses, but neither was willing to stop for air or break apart.

They went nowhere, but it seemed to them that the constant joining together brought them into the air somehow, as if they would drift up and away, connected to one another forever.

With their mouths occupied in a dance, Holly could not warn Artemis of her impending climax. Thus, his only clue was a pause in her breathing and the movement of her tongue. When she squeezed down on his length, he grunted in surprise, at first unsure of what had caused the increase in pleasure. Then his intellect caught up to his inexperience and Artemis growled in triumph, increasing his speed and ferocity, wanting to intensify Holly's orgasm and join her as soon as possible, now that he had proved himself.

Keening, Holly finally had to break the kiss, fighting for enough air to throw her head back and cry out, "Yes, Artemis! Huh...harder! Please!"

Her tightness and fervor and words and just plain being Holly was too much. It was like a little flame exposed to pure oxygen. The fuel that could turn a spark into an inferno. Her breasts bounced with each thrust, and the jingle of Holly's bell turned into a constant ringing as Artemis humped into her like a wild animal. The scientist in him dimly hoped he would not start being turned on by bells.

Needing something to occupy every part of his body, mouth included, Artemis wrapped his lips around Holly's conveniently close ear-tip, flicking at the same time he sucked. It made Holly's cries double in volume, and that was it.

With a deep thrust—deeper than any before, making Holly yelp in surprise and a tiny bit of pain, nails digging into Artemis's back—he began to cum. It was far stronger than any orgasm he had experienced on his own, even surpassing his earlier unintended climax. He was also certain more of his seed emptied into the elf than he had ever released before, completely filling her, until it began to drip from their joined bodies, each thrust wet and slick and phenomenal.

Even when Artemis could move no longer—more from his physical limitations than a descent from the pleasure—Holly moaned and twitched, somewhat subdued. Again, he wondered if fairy women enjoyed more pleasure than their human counterparts. Luckily, Holly did not ask for any more servicing, and soon recovered enough to focus her eyes, giving Artemis a sleepily satisfied look.

"Not...bad...for a first time," she managed.

Artemis smirked at the compliment. "I will give you all the credit, my elf. Butler did always say you'd make me a better man, though I'm not sure if this is what he had in mind."

Holly winced at the name. "Oh...gods. Butler. He's going to kill me." Even if the bodyguard thought his charge mentally on par with an adult, he would still be as outraged as a father seeing his daughter come home from her date past curfew.

"Only if he finds out," Artemis volunteered.

"You mean you won't tell him?" Holly waited until Artemis nodded, and then she whistled, the puff of air dislodging a sweat-stuck lock of hair from her face. "Saved my ass."

Artemis stroked a hand on Holly's hip, enjoying the feel of that private skin when removed—mostly—from a sexual context. She was soft in all the best places. "After all, if I told him, I couldn't use it to blackmail you, now could I?"

Holly blinked. Then her eyes went wide, mouth opening in alarm. Her grip on Artemis's neck went slack, allowing her to lean away, his member finally slipping free. "What? You...blackmail how?"

Artemis tightened his grip, stalling her escape. He only had seconds, and he used those to nuzzle his lips into the low curve of her neck, placing a light kiss where she had once been scarred by a mark of obedience. It was still lighter in color than the rest of her skin, though its powers were excised long ago. That was of no consequence, however. He needed no magic of that sort. Artemis Fowl had his own sort of powers. "Why...to be my own personal elf, Holly," he whispered. "Whenever you can."

"...Oh," Holly breathed, her struggles pausing. She did not try to push him away, anymore, but also did not resume their embrace. "That's...it?"

"That," Artemis said, kissing up to the shell of Holly's ear so he could speak in his very quietest voice, "is everything. My lady. My elf. My love."

They had wrapped up in the many blankets and talked some more, after that. About minor difficulties, mostly. Long-distance relationships. Visas. Laws against fraternizing with the enemy. Technicalities of age of consent when one considered time travel. In typical Fowl-Short fashion, none of it really seemed to matter, once they knew their decision was made.

At some point, Holly had fallen asleep—probably while Artemis was rabbiting on about something pertaining to time tunnel mathematics—her face in Artemis's chest, body pressed tight to his for warmth. Artemis had not lasted long after, despite the fact that the hearth rug was a far cry from his soft mattress.

He awoke a few times during the night, roused by a shivering fairy, prompting him to add even more blankets to their nest. They bound one another tight in arms and legs and covers, keeping in all of the body heat they could in the hopes that power and heating would return soon.

Artemis was initially not sure what roused him, but the first thing he noticed was, of course, Holly still tucked to him, loose fists to his chest, his arm about her waist, her breathing peaceful and slow. Then he saw a shaft of light a few inches away on the floor, falling on one of their many kicked-off covers. The power had returned, and the sudden heat after the bitterly cold night had made them get rid of all but a thin blue sheet for them both.

Then he noticed...Butler.

The large man stood in the bedroom's doorway, the knob still in his hand and his mouth open from his barely-silenced cry of alarm. He must have run all the way up from the carport, as his chest was heaving from the exertion. The two-day wear on his normally immaculate attire lent something wild to the bodyguard. Something quite like...shock.

Artemis looked down. Yes...Holly's back was to the bodyguard, but there was no hoping that bright red hair and deep brown skin could match a royal blue sheet set. And especially not when there was so much exposed shoulder and back, along with his own bare chest.

Butler's mouth snapped closed and a muscle began to jump in his jaw. He took his hand from the doorknob and thrust it, finger pointed, down before him. The order was clear: Here. Now. Explain.

Artemis sighed, removing his hand from Holly's waist to run it through his mussed hair. He was glad he'd at least recovered his boxers during the night, though his shirt and pants had been too uncomfortable for sleep. Butler did not need that much proof. He was a rather intelligent man in his own right.

And thank God he didn't hear his mother in the Manor. If Angeline walked into the room and found her son cuddled up to a mythical creature...

As Artemis pulled the sheet back from his body, Holly's eyes fluttered open. "Mnh...Artemis?" She pushed herself up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and yawning. "Wha...'z morning?" She arched her back, arms straight up for the stretch, the tips of her bare breasts catching themselves in another shaft of light.

Artemis's eyes shot to Butler, but the man had already looked away and was silently edging out of view. He blessed his bodyguard's discretion.

Turning attention back to Holly, Artemis smiled, finding that, even after the shock of being discovered, his expression was genuine. Holly could just do that to him.

Of course, she was naked, so perhaps his reaction had secondary stimuli.

"Just off to get some breakfast," Artemis said, pushing back the sheets from his legs.

"Oh, excellent! I'm starved." Holly turned her head to the window, squinting. She seemed to be studying the positioning of the sun as it cleared the clouds "Though I really should start heading back..." She kicked off the covers and stood in all her bare glory, making Artemis very glad that Butler was gone.

"Bring back my suit, will you?" Holly requested, beginning what appeared to be a morning calisthenics routine.

Artemis stared, eyes bouncing in time with Holly's undulating breasts, until he shook his head to regain some clarity. "Suit. Ah." He began to gather his own, dressing quickly in case Butler became impatient. "It's in the armoire, hanging up. Your helmet is on the shelf."

Holly snapped her head to the large wood piece of furniture, then back to Artemis. "What? In here? Since when?"

"Since I removed it from the dryer." He finished buttoning his shirt and took in Holly's faintly green face. "I shut off Foaly's systems before putting it away, so he wouldn't hear about out...arrangement." He glanced at the ruined dress, saddened, but reflected that the hat could be saved, and the necklace was entirely undamaged. He wondered if he could find another item to place that bell upon...

"You...you're evil."

"Mmm..." Artemis taped a finger to Holly's chin, lifting it as he bent down to give her a soft kiss. He broke it off before she could tempt him to turn breakfast into brunch, which made her pout most pleasingly.

"Only as evil as you'll allow, my elf," he teased, and, before she could respond, he reached around and firmly squeezed her right buttock, making the elf screech and jump away.

He turned and sauntered off, laughing, followed by a cry of "EVIL!"

He began to get his thoughts in order. He had some serious convincing to do.

But that was okay. After all, as had been proved last night, convincing people was one of the things he did best.