Gore: Winterwidow

Chapter 8: Kriss

Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock,

Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring,

Snowin' and blowin' up bushels of fun,

Now the jingle hop has begun!...

A week later, the radio in the office was playing a sickening Christmas song again, and as much as it sounded like nails on a chalkboard to the vampire, Lanna seemed to enjoy it. He was on break for now, not that he ever really had something to do. James was leaning against the wall at her desk as she chatted away about meaningless girly things. His mind had different matters to attend to.

Natasha was being harassed- well, in the vampire's eye anyways- by Davis once again. The man had no damn respect for personal boundaries! He was constantly hovering over and or next to her and it made James growl under his breath. He would kill that heinous bastard someday...

"James! Can you please stop ogling Romanoff and pay attention?" Lanna's voice echoed in the vampire's ears and he turned his surprised gaze back to the ravenette who huffed. "You're always looking at her! It's like you have some unhealthy obsession..."

What the hell was that supposed to mean? Obsession. The word didn't even begin to describe the feeling he got whenever he laid his crimson eyes on her. She was so tough and intelligent and gorgeous... It made him feel so- so lecherous! He folded his arms across his chest as he looked back down to his halftime, Lanna. She seemed to be a little jealous as well.

"Relax, chestnut," he said cooly and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, making her get all flustered. "I'm taking you to the office Christmas party tonight, alright? Wear something nice for me..." He could feel a certain pair of green eyes on his back, which made him smirk.

All this jealousy stuff seemed to be working out rather nicely. It confirmed that Natasha had some sort of unspoken feeling of tension towards the vampire, and that he could easily piss her off being with another woman. It also proved to him that she was stubborn as hell and wouldn't give up the game so easy. The thought made him smirk slightly. It made her all the more appetizing when she indisputably cared about the vampire's affairs outside of the office, and inside too.

Speaking of his relationship with Lanna, they were now officially dating, according to her, anyways. All the other women in the office seemed so shocked and envious that she had somehow landed the heartbreaker- the hot, brooding, bad-boy vampire. It just wasn't fair!

Lanna smiled and blushed at the gesture and nodded slowly, adjusting her glasses slightly. "Well, okay... Wait a second, I don't think I've ever seen you attending an office party before, right?"

James thought about that and it was true. He had always despised those stupid parties. Mostly because Davis would always be the center of attention and the vampire would just end up lurking in the dark corners, sipping on some red punch. It wasn't a good look for him, but now that he knew for absolute surety that his rose was going, how could he refuse? It was his plan to steal her away or at least get her alone tonight, and it wasn't an option to fail. Sure Davis would keep a close eye on her, but he could rely on Steve as a distraction for both Lanna and the big bastard.

In fact, out of the corner of his eye, he could see Steve waving him over coyly and the vampire sighed heavily, not wanting to deal with the dumbass punk. But whatever it was, it must have been important so he sighed heavily.

"Yeah, guess I had no reason to go," the vampire mumbled and proceeded to saunter away from her before she could ask any more questions.

He walked over to Steve's desk and placed a hand on his hip, feeling exasperated already and the blonde hadn't even opened his mouth yet. "What the hell do you want, Rogers? Can't you see I'm busy-"