Hold On

Chapter 31

The next morning came and soon Juliet started to wake up. She slept the whole night through very well but she wasn't quite ready to let the sleep leave her yet. She yawned and wanted to stretch but it turned out she couldn't - she was blocked by something. She was surprised at first and opened her eyes, instantly figuring out that something was none other than her partner. He was lying behind her, holding her tight against his chest. The woman smiled at that. Immediately she decided that getting up could wait a bit more as she wanted to stay with him as long as she could. She closed her eyes and let her mind relax, applying the technique she used during her yoga sessions. It didn't last long though as suddenly she heard Magnum's sleepy voice.

"Morning, Higgy."

A shiver ran down her spine when she felt his hot breath on her neck.

She smiled and replied. "Good morning, Thomas."

"Did you sleep well?" He asked her.

"Actually yes." Came out her answer. What she didn't tell him was the fact that it was the best well-slept night in a really long time.

"I never thought I'd spent Christmas Day in such a high-end place like this."

Juliet chuckled at her partner's words.

"You know that Robin's Nest is quite a high-end place too, right?"

"Yeah..."

"And it's even better because there aren't any armed men that guard you all the time and don't let you leave the building." She added.

"Well, now that you've mentioned it..." Magnum said with a smirk.

He didn't have to wait long for her reaction because when Higgins heard that, she instantly turned to him, wearing a stern look on her face as she had a feeling where this was going.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked, squinting her eyes at him.

"Hmm, those two Cerberus dogs of yours act very similarly to those men and they're armed too." He explained.

"Oh, really? Are they going to throw their toys at you?" She got back at him.

He laughed at that. "No, but their teeth are sharp enough to hurt me pretty badly and it happened a couple of times that they didn't let me leave the house." He told her.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for that." Juliet said but his face told her that somehow he didn't believe her.

"No, really, Magnum. I'm utterly sorry for everything those cute dogs did to you." She added, trying to hide her smile but failing miserably.

"Oh, I really like your sense of humor." Thomas spoke.

"Really?" She asked surprised. There was a sparkle of joy in her eyes. "Is there anything else you really like about me?"

"Hmm, let me think." He replied, pretending to wonder and taking too much time.

"Well?"

"There must be something that I really like about you..." He started and was smacked on his arm at once.

"Hey! Be gentle." He protested.

"We went through this, remember?" She stated.

"All right, I'll tell you." He finally gave up.

"So, what is it?"

"I really like your arms and hands when you have to be tough and you fight the bad guys so effectively." Magnum said and started to gently trace his fingers down her arm to her hand. "I really like your eyes which squint at me and seem to x-ray me every time I try to hide something from you."