“Hey,” She greeted her friend at the threshold of her open apartment door. “Thank you for coming over on such short notice,” She said as she stepped back, waved her friend inside, and then closed the door behind her after she entered. “And on your day off too.”
“I don’t mind Penelope,” Emily Prentiss replied as she placed her purse on the armchair closest to the door and then held up the paper bag she had in her grip. “You sounded like you might need some liquid courage, so I brought some tequila,” She added on with a smile that broadened when she saw the look of gratitude flash across Penelope’s face.
“God, yes,” Penelope gushed out as she hurried to her kitchen for the shot glasses, while Emily moved behind her to settle at the large island which separated the living room and the kitchen in the open-concept apartment.
“So, what’s going on? You sounded a little panicked on the phone.”
“Let me have some of that liquid courage first please,” Penelope replied as she tapped her shot glass atop the counter. With a smile, Emily opened the Tequila and pour them both a shot, which Penelope quickly drank down and then smacked the glass back down onto the counter. “Okay, maybe one more,” She gurgled out with her face contorted from the burning in her throat and stomach. Emily obliged, poured her another drink, and then finally drank her own as she waited for Penelope to tell her what was going on. “All right, first I need you to promise that you won’t fire or reassign anyone,” Penelope finally began.
“Well, if this is referring to you, technically, you don’t work for the FBI anymore. You’re just a liaison helping on the Sicarius case. Though, you know the door is always open for you if you want to come back.”
“Oh, yeah,” Penelope replied as she realized Emily was right. “So, say if myself and someone else on the team were ‘fraternizing’ … but not at work … well, except for tiny, little kisses behind closed doors …”
“Okay, Penelope, if this is about you and Luke sleeping together, I already know, and there’s no policy that prohibits you two from dating even if you still officially worked for the FBI. It only becomes a problem if a supervisor and a subordinate were involved because of the imbalance of the power dynamics. And while you know I love you and Luke both dearly, I don’t want to have sex with either of you, sorry,” Emily teased with a chuckle and Penelope rolled her eyes slightly as she smiled.
“So, you knew, already? Why didn’t you say something?”
“Yes, we folks who are not getting any tend to be acutely aware when those around us are getting it, and it’s none of my business. The whole gossiping thing is … well, that’s your shtick.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know I can be a little bit of a busybody,” Penelope agreed with a giggle. “But you all love it,” Emily smiled while she nodded, as that was true for the most part.
“You don’t have to worry about yours and Luke’s personal relationship, so long as it doesn’t affect the job, there will be no issues or reprimanding,” Emily assured her friend.
“That’s good to know but that wasn’t why I called you over, I need your help with something,” Penelope replied with a sigh. “Me telling you that Luke and I are sleeping together was just the prologue.”
“All right,” Emily said as she narrowed her eyes and looked at her friend suspiciously. “So, what’s this really about?”
“My back,” Penelope said as if that would explain all, but the scowl that morphed across Emily’s face spoke to her confusion.
“Your back?” Emily repeated and Penelope nodded as she moved around the counter to where her friend sat on one of the stools, and lifted the oversized faded green Ranger t-shirt she wore, which Emily suspected had belonged to Luke.
“Yes, my back,” Penelope confirmed as she turned until her back was fully facing Emily. Emily stared at it still baffled. “Is there something abnormal or grotesque that I’m not seeing when I try to look with two mirrors? Like some huge mole with hairs growing out of it?” She asked as she frowned up in disgust as did Emily at her words.
“No, I’m not seeing anything like that,” Emily stated. “Why are you wondering and worrying about that?”
“Because Luke doesn’t seem to like my back,” Penelope confessed. “I mean, he likes most of it. He can spend hours marking every inch of my body with his hands, mouth, tongue …”
“I get the picture, Penelope,” Emily quickly interjected and cut off the words and imagery.
“There has got to be something there because he’ll start caressing and kissing my back and then it’s like a switch flips, and he stops and moves on. He’s never said anything and the places he moves on to instantly distract me and I never think to ask him about it in the moment. Then I’m too embarrassed to bring it up later. There must be something wrong back there, a heavier deposit of gross back fat maybe? Please tell me the truth,” Emily could hear the genuine distress in her friend’s voice and so she closely looked but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary until her eyes honed in on something partially hidden by the elastic waistband on the sweatpants Penelope wore. When Emily reached out her right hand and used two fingers to push down the band just a bit, she had a quiet ‘Eureka!’ moment.
“I think I see the problem,” Emily announced and a wide-eyed Penelope twisted her head to try to also see it.
“You do? What is it? Is it bad?” Penelope fired off questions.
“It probably is very bad for Luke,” Emily answered. “But he’s willing to deal with it by just avoiding it.”
“Oh god, what is it?”
“Babygirl,” Emily said matter-of-fact and Penelope scrunched up her face in confusion.
“What?”
“You have a ‘Babygirl’ tattoo on your lower back, Penelope,” Emily said with a little chuckle very amused that Penelope was not comprehending that that was the problem. “Why do you have that particular tattoo?”
“It was a matching tattoo I got years ago with Der … ek, Oh,” Penelope pushed out as realization dawned on her and she pushed down the shirt and turned to face her friend as she sat on the nearest stool.
“Right, a term of endearment that you and definitely Derek has deemed to be exclusively yours,” Emily said as she poured them each another shot of tequila. “Seriously, I think if he could, Derek would trademark it so no one else could call you that but him. And I am sure Luke probably knows that too.
“Oh,” Penelope mumbled as she grabbed her shot glass and gulped it down.
“Yeah, oh,” Emily said as she also tossed back her drink and then she smacked the glass onto the counter. “You do know that there’s an easy way to fix this, right?”
“There is?” Penelope asked as her eyes lit up at this news and Emily nodded as she smiled.
“Yep, but you’re probably gonna need a few more of these first, then I’ll take you, and it’ll be my treat,” She continued as she poured Penelope another shot, while Penelope’s brows furrowed as she tried to comprehend what her friend meant.
She had been anxiously waiting for the telling jingling of the spare keys she had given him a month prior. He had been away for a few days with Roxy doing voluntary training with the FBI K-9 Unit. For the past two hours, he had been texting her updates on his arrival back home. The plan was for him to come straight to her place. He had told her that he probably should just go to his place to rest up first, which she was in full agreeance with, but then he told her that his need to see her and to be wrapped around her as he slept overruled any other thoughts on the matter. And she did feel a little bit guilty as she staged herself on the floor of her apartment just as she heard the latch of the lock and then the creak of the door opening.
“Honey, we’re home … Ay, Dios mío,” Luke Alvez playfully greeted as soon as he pushed open the door to allow Roxy to trot in first. Then he lost his train of thought as his eyes locked onto her delectable derriere that was stuck up in the air as she was on the floor on her hands and knees looking under her sofa. Roxy moved to Penelope’s side and settled down beside whom she now recognized as the Beta in their relationship. “Penelope, bae, I’m gonna need at least 4 hours of sleep before I have the strength,” He went on as he felt his mouth grow dry and his cock become swollen at seeing her wiggling her ass, seemingly unaware of what it was doing to him.
Got it,” Penelope said victoriously as she pulled from her position reaching under the sofa for the ball of yarn she had planted there. Then she settled back comfortably on her haunches. “Hi, Roxy,” She greeted the dog who sat beside her patiently awaiting the attention she had been missing for three days, as Penelope, rubbed, scratched, and kissed her. “Hi,” She then beamed up at Luke who still stood in the open doorway with one bag over his left shoulder and a larger duffle bag in his right hand. “I’m sorry, what did you just say?” She played coy even when she knew what he had said, why he had said it. Just as she knew the exact reason he stood there looking shell-shocked with his mouth open and his eyes locked to her backside. And yes, maybe she had strategically tucked the hem of the tank top she wore up some to expose her lower back.
“You got another tattoo,” Luke said and his tone suggested it was a statement and not a question, but she still answered it as such.
“Oh, yes,” Penelope replied as she lifted her shirt more, pushed down the elastic of the sweatpants, and twisted a little to give him a better view. “I just thought the original one was kind of stale, and it seemed unfinished. So, I just added to it and I think it flows better now. What do you think?” She asked him with the most innocent look she could muster, not that it mattered because Luke couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from the new tattoo.
“You’ve got 15 seconds,” He spoke out as he let both of the bags he carried drop from his body, back-kicked the door shut, and then reach back behind himself to lock it. Penelope’s quim instantly became wet and started to throb as she continued to play dumb, though she knew Luke’s countdown to sex game very well by now.
“Luke, what’s wrong?” She questioned him and tried hard to feign bafflement but she gave up the act when with one hand and in one swift motion, Luke had divested himself of the black FBI t-shirt he wore. He now stood bare-chested before her while his hungry gaze remained locked onto the tattoo.
“Twelve,” Was his only reply as he began undoing the belt he wore while toeing off one shoe and then the other. Penelope appreciatively raked her eyes over his beautiful body, giggled as she scrambled up from the floor, and then ran toward the back to her bedroom. “Roxy, stay,” Luke barked out a command before the canine could follow after his mistress. “Nine!” Luke yelled out as he now made his way to the back of the apartment.