Operation Honey Trap vs The Emperor of the Apocalypse-Chapter 184: Meet You in the Shower

"Item four," Alton read on from her OHT list, "ah yes, this one! I really had to think about this one when I saw that it was struck out.

Item four," he said with a falsely jolly voice, "’set a meeting with him when you’re having your shower, leave the door open’.

I really like the sound of this one, I have to say, well done. Feel free to plan all of our meetings like this in the future, won’t you? In fact, let’s be done with it, and I’ll meet you in the shower. No need for me to be at the meeting table while you’re soaping up. All the best rebellions are planned in the shower."

"You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?" she asked him. "Being a smart arse."

"Very much," he nodded.

"I really struggled with this one, but then I realised this was the infamous blue bottle incident. While we were supposed to be cataloguing red rock hut together, which I suppose counts as a ’meeting’ of sorts, you took the opportunity to strip off naked for a quick dip in the ocean.

Unfortunately, item four backfired on you when you failed to see the swarm of blue bottles that had washed up dead on the beach and managed to get one wrapped around your boobie. That was most unfortunate for you... less so for me who had the pleasure of rescuing you and enjoying that view at very close quarters," he gave her a suggestive grin.

Her face was unsmiling now, and she sighed heavily. "Really, Alton?" she asked him with frustration.

"I did notice that the pencil almost broke through the page when you struck that item out, so I assumed it didn’t go according to plan. I mean it would be hard to plan for a blue bottle to sting you on the bosom," he snickered.

Alton’s smile was stretching wider and wider, the unprincipled rogue!

"Item five we’ll come back to. Items six and seven I am interested in, because they remain open action items, not yet complete, and I’m certainly happy to help you close them out.

’Offer to share a horse’, and ’whisper in his ear!’ I like both of them. Certainly next time we’re on a mission you and I shall ride together on the same horse, a lovely idea! And if you like, you could come over here right now and whisper in my ear. Sweet nothings or dirty talk, both are welcome!"

"I’ll whisper something in your ear," she muttered, "and it’ll be dirty alright."

"Excellent!" he said with delight, ignoring her grumpy face, "I’m looking forward to that! Now, we return to item five, which I’m less in favour of..."

For the life of her, she couldn’t recall the missing items three and five. It had been a while since she’d revisited that list.

" ’Offer to honey trap on the mission to make him jealous’," he sighed heavily. "Delphine, Delphine, Delphine... This is the heavily contested question of whether you gave a blood oath not to honey trap another man while we were courting. And here it is, broken by you, in black and white."

He tapped the item in the list which had been crossed out after she honey trapped the two soldiers at Smithton.

"We already discussed this Alton, and I told you I thought you meant not to honey trap other men to recruit them, not when it’s needed on a mission."

"Still splitting hairs on that one I see," he said sourly. "In any event, I don’t like that one, or the next one. Item three," he tapped it. " ’Wear your bikini in front of Brenner to make him jealous’, and then in all capital letters, ’MAYBE A BAD IDEA’."

Ah yes, that one... She remembered it clearly all of a sudden. That wasn’t her best idea... not by a long shot.

"I see it was struck out too, so now I’m thinking that you also orchestrated the addition of those two perverts Brenner and Niko, who watched the sword training that turned out to be a striptease."

He wasn’t asking, he was assuming.

"Absolutely not!" she said. "I did think that one might be a bad idea, so I never did it," she trailed off, realising how unlikely that sounded.

"Never did it... and yet somehow it’s been crossed off the list?" he pointed at it like it was evidence of her malfeasance.

"Well... it happened by accident, so it made sense to tick it off."

"By accident huh, what a happy coincidence that must have been. So you didn’t deliberately drop that request for my help with a women’s training session in front of Brenner?"

"Definitely not," she said confidently. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"What a bald faced pretty little liar. So what do you have to say for yourself you little minx? You deliberately planned to torment me within an inch of my life, and deliberately make me jealous, when you already knew I was struggling desperately with jealousy over what had gone on between you and Brenner. What a diabolical little seductress you are! You just can’t help yourself, can you?"

Alton was secretly pleased that she had at least cared enough to try and seduce him after their falling out, even if her methods were highly questionable...

"You make it sound much worse than it is. It was all harmless fun."

"Harmless fun?" he asked, incredulous, "who for? Certainly not for the poor bastard that was the target of your little list," he thumped his own chest.

"You have no idea what jealousy feels like do you, you little minx. It’s like a clenching pain to your heart that squeezes it and just won’t let go. It drives you to distraction every waking moment of your day, and it fills your dreams, so you wake in a cold sweat.

Your imagination runs wild, even while you know it’s most likely not true. In your darkest moments you’re sure that it is... Shall I go on? And here’s your little list of items that should be called ’Drive Alton Mad’. DAM is the acronym you’re after, not OHT, whatever that is," he muttered.

He leapt up from the bed and started to stalk her, like a panther stalking its prey.

Or maybe a hammer stalking a nail, she thought, looking at his toolbelt with growing concern.

Was that a bricklayer’s tool, or something else? And why did he need a knotted rope?