Disclaimer: These characters are the property of FOX--but they have escaped to have a little fun with me.

Summary: A little holiday story while we're waiting for new episodes. Hodgins and Angela romance, rated M for extreme adult content--as usual. Turn back now if you're under 18 years of age or easily offended. Everyone else, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

"The Holiday Spirit"

On the fourth day 'till Christmas…

"Mr. Jack, a package came for you today special delivery," Hodgins' housekeeper informed him as she greeted him at the door, a stack of clean linens in her arms.

"Thanks Maria," answered Jack, following her through the house.

Approaching the den, the fragrant smell of pine reminded Jack of Christmases past--the towering blue spruce brought in all the way from Colorado, the vintage lights and ornaments that had been passed down and carefully preserved by his mother, and the glint of silver and gold ribbon on expertly wrapped gifts. The last Christmas like this that Jack remembered was far too many years ago, before his parents had died. He hadn't celebrated the holidays in this house since.

Entering the den, the Colorado blue spruce seemed to open her lovely arms to him. For a moment he was overwhelmed with a sense of nostalgia. He remembered himself as the skinny kid with braces who ripped open--and immediately abandoned--all the expensively mundane gifts Santa had brought him. It was the gem and mineral collection sent to him by his eccentric uncle John that he handled lovingly and spent the rest of the day studying, enraptured. It was a fine collection, and an extremely valuable one, that his uncle had purchased at an auction in London. Its centerpiece was a large, brilliantly colored black opal. Uncle John was one of the few people who understood young Jack's obsessions.

Now here he was once again, looking at the blue spruce and feeling a sense of holiday anticipation. It was going to be a great Christmas.

Maria interrupted his reverie. "The package, Mr. Jack, it's from New Mexico?" Maria was fishing.

Jack picked up the Fed Ex parcel from the small desk in the corner of the room where his mail was deposited. The return label read, "Taos, New Mexico." Jack smiled. It was right on time.

"Maria," began Jack, "ask Tomas if he can give me a hand bringing the decorations down out of the attic. I'd like to get the tree trimmed this weekend—better late than never."

Maria beamed her approval about the tree, forgetting her curiosity about the package. "I'll tell my husband to come up to the house right away," she replied, turning to leave. She stopped for a moment, smiling at Jack tenderly. "Your mother would be so pleased, mi querido muchacho."

After Maria had left, Jack pulled a penknife out of his pocket and opened the package from Taos. Pulling out the contents, he examined them under the desk lamp. Excellent work… he thought to himself, satisfied. In retrospect, Jack was glad the three-thousand dollar perfume had been put to another use. It hadn't been a gift worthy of a woman like Angela.

On the third day 'till Christmas…

"C'mon Hodgie, Zach just called to say that everybody is already there," Angela said close to his ear, standing behind him as he sat at his microscope. No one was left on the floor, so Angela leaned over to kiss Jack's neck where it was bare above the collar of his lab coat.

"Hey, you better not do that, or I'll have to slap you with a sexual harassment suit," Jack deadpanned, swiveling on his stool to pull her into an embrace. He too had noticed that for once, they were all alone in the lab. Jack rubbed his face against her soft red and green Christmas blouse, running his hands up the back of her thighs and beneath her black suede miniskirt.

"Mmmm," Angela sighed, enjoying the sensations that were developing as Jack fondled her buttocks. "You know, there's a security camera right above us…" she reminded him, kissing the top of his head.

Jack raised a hand to wave to whoever might be watching them. Standing up, he straightened his lab coat over the beginnings of an erection. "You really want to go to this party, don't you?" he asked, removing the slide from the microscope and putting it carefully back inside its container.

"What? Don't tell me you don't want to go to the Christmas party? Jack Hodgins doesn't want to drink spiked eggnog and be the first to get drunk?" Angela replied in disbelief.

"I'm lousy in bed when I'm drunk," Jack smiled, fingering a snowflake earring that dangled from her ear. "And I don't ever want to be lousy for you."

"Oh, we have to go—and no, I'm not going to let you get drunk. But this is the Christmas party and everyone will be there," Angela insisted, "and I want everyone to see me kiss my boyfriend under the mistletoe." She flashed him her best seductive smile while toying with his coat lapels.

"So that's what this is all about," Jack grinned, "You want Crystal to see us together. Is she still giving you the evil eye, because we were over, soooo over, way back in February--I thought she was dating Roger in payroll?"

Angela gave him a pointed look and replied, "Yes. I'm still getting weird vibes from Crystal. And Tammy Fucio. And Marcie, or Marsha, or whatever her name is from Security. And those are just a few of the ex-girlfriends that I know about. You know Hodgins, you were a real man-slut around the Jeffersonian," she finished, giving him a reproachful look. Angela dropped her eyes, folding her arms across her chest.

She's jealous, thought Jack, feeling oddly elated.

"Hey Baby, it's you I'm crazy about," Jack reassured her, putting his arms around her waist to pull her close again. "Let's go to that party and make-out in front of all my ex-girlfriends," he whispered, moving in to kiss her.

Angela pouted, but opened her full lips beneath his to allow his tongue to stroke her own. Pulling away she reminded him, "We're giving security a show, you know."

"Then we can scratch Marsha off the list," Jack responded happily. "Let's go party."

Two hours later…

"Angela, I've been looking for you," Angela heard a familiar voice calling through the crowd of co-workers who were all in full party mode. She was just returning from the lady's room, and now saw Brennan approaching with a slightly tipsy gait to her walk.

"My God, Brennan, you're drunk!" exclaimed Angela, smiling in approval at her friend. "Is Booth here?"

"No, I am not drunk. Slightly inebriated, but not drunk. And yes, Booth is here. We've been engaging in a very rigorous discourse on the socio-sexual politics of the workplace," explained Brennan, speaking very slowly and carefully.

"Is that what they're calling it now?" teased Angela.

"Is that what they're calling what?" Brennan gave her a blank look, her delicate features rosy colored from the eggnog she'd obviously had too much of.

"Never mind, Sweetie," Angela answered, taking Brennan by the arm. "Have you seen that skank, Crystal, tonight?"

"Is that the one Hodgins was dating last year at this time? I think I saw her corner him just a few minutes ago, when I was looking for you," offered Brennan. Changing the subject, she leaned in to whisper to Angela, "I've got to get back to Booth--he's drunk, you know…"

"Okay, you go back to Booth—maybe you'd better take him home with you tonight, just in case he can't drive himself," Angela suggested, thinking that this might be Brennan's chance to get a little action with the hot FBI agent while Cam was out of town visiting family.

"Good idea," Brennan swayed, looking very serious. "Maybe we should take a cab…"

"Yes, that's a very good idea," Angela said, pushing Brennan in the general direction of Booth, who sat sprawled across a couch on the other side of the room. "Good luck," she called softly after Brennan, watching her totter off to meet her destiny.

After witnessing Brennan more or less fall onto Booth's lap, and Booth smile stupidly at his good fortune before wrapping his arms around her, Angela was satisfied that her friend might get lucky before the evening was over. She turned to look for Jack, ready for a confrontation with the persistent Crystal.

She was rewarded by the sight of Jack, back up against the wall and arms crossed, listening stone-faced to what Angela considered a very trashy looking brunette with an empty glass of eggnog in her hand.

"Ya know, Roger, he just wasn't that into me," Angela overheard Crystal explaining. "He wasn't all that in the bedroom, either… not like—"

Angela took this opportunity to cut off Crystal in a very direct manner.

Elbowing past her, Angela walked up to Jack, who immediately stepped forward with his arms open. With one last smug look back at the offending ex-girlfriend, Angela went in for the kill. Jack was happy to play along, and grabbed Angela's ass while deepening the kiss.

Breaking long enough to see that Crystal was still standing there, mouth open, Angela turned to her and said very matter-of-fact, "He's mine, and now I'm going to take him home and fuck his brains out."

Grabbing Jack by the hand, Angela pulled him past the still gaping Crystal.

"What she said," Jack called in passing, happy to let Angela follow through on her threat.

Much later that evening…

"So, when are we going to decorate the tree?" Angela asked, murmuring against Jack's kisses as they stood in an embrace in front of the bare tree. The heat of the fireplace warmed her back, adding to the warmth Jack's hands generated as they smoothed over the bare skin of her back beneath her blouse.

"I was thinking tomorrow… after we get up… like around noon…" Jack answered, backing up with her towards the couch. He turned long enough to toss a few of the throw pillows to the floor, and then lowered himself until he was sitting with his back against the front of the sofa. Still holding her hands, he pulled her to stand in front of him. "I've wanted to do this all evening," he smiled up at her, eyes smoldering in desire. He reached up beneath her skirt and started to tug on her tights, peeling them down her long legs and off the ends of her toes. Jack's hands smoothing over the backs of her bare thighs and up under the hem of her silk panties caused both of them to breathe in sharply. Angela couldn't help but lean into him, legs parted and slightly trembling.

Jack pushed her skirt up and began planting kisses on the front of her panties, rubbing her all over with the tip of his nose. His hands held her firmly by the ass, keeping her in place, while she steadied herself by clutching the back of his head, fingers threaded through his curls.

Maneuvering his tongue beneath the hem of her panties, Jack searched for the bud of her clitoris. Angela arched her pelvis into his face, moaning when his tongue hit its target and began stroking it.

"That… feels… soooo… good…" Angela panted, hoping that Jack wouldn't stop what he was doing to her. Crystal could eat her heart out.

Jack did stop, however, long enough to strip off her panties and lift one of her thighs up over his shoulder to get better access. Angela braced her foot against the back of the couch. "Yeah Sweetie, that's even better--" she gasped as he buried his face between her legs and began licking, kissing, and sucking her with increasing intensity, the bristles of his moustache almost painful as they brushed against the sensitive peak of her clit.

In and out his tongue slid between her folds, licking her from stem to stern, and then returning to stroke in circles around the seat of her pleasure. Jack stretched two fingers through the valley between her cheeks to further stimulate her to orgasm. Angela felt the wetness running down the insides of her thigh, her one leg beginning to shake uncontrollably with the effort of supporting her body in this position. She was jerking rhythmically against his face now, her cries signaling her impending climax. Jack was sucking gently on her clit, and she was melting, the pleasure spiraling out from her core in exquisite spasms.

Finally, Angela doubled over, collapsing on the floor in Jack's arms, exhausted from the effort of holding herself up. "Is there such a thing as death by orgasm?" she sighed happily, burying her face in the front of his shirt, "because I just came pretty close."

Jack chuckled, pleased with himself. "I'd say you just came, alright," he quipped, pinching her on the ass.

"Ow! What was that for?" she scolded, looking up into his amused face.

"For not yet making good on your promise to fuck my brains out," Jack reminded her, and began pulling her blouse up over her head. "I think it would help the situation if we both got naked."

Ten minutes later…

Jack lay back on the Persian rug, propped up slightly on a heap of throw pillows, muscles taut as he endured the teasing pleasure of Angela's movements. She was straddling his lap, impaled on his straining erection, completely in control of the situation. Jack had never been happier.

"Oh, yeah, that's it Baby," he sucked in his breath and gripped the pillow behind his head as Angela ground her pelvis in a slow circle against him. He reached up one hand to tentatively stroke her breast, the nipple blooming under his fingertips.

"God, I love you," he continued, staring at her in adoration, amazed at how beautiful she looked with the glow of the fire reflecting off her smooth skin, her eyes narrowed in concentration, full lips parted to reveal a dazzling white smile.

"I know, Hodgie, and you're going to love me even more in the next few minutes," Angela replied wickedly, running her hands from his shoulders, down over his well-developed pectorals, through the fine hair that curled over his breast, her fingernails lightly tracing around his own hardened nipples.

"This one is for Tammy," Angela growled sweetly, pinching his nipples until he gasped at the painfully arousing sensation.

"Ooh, you're going to go a little Chuck Bronson on my ass, huh Baby?" Jack grimaced, feeling his groin surge in response.

"And this one is for Marcie…" Angela continued, reaching back behind her.

"Marsha--" Jack began to correct her, but then groaned loudly. Angela had begun stroking his balls, pulling on them gently. This caused Jack to arch up against her, pushing in deeper, growing harder by the second while his balls tightened in her hand.

"Revenge is… indeed… sweeeet…" Jack managed.

Angela released Jack's scrotum and leaned over to offer her lips to him, and in the process her hips lifted allowing him to slide almost all the way out of her. Jerking upright, Jack laced his fingers through her silky brown hair and pulled her mouth into the kiss, while effectively pushing her back down on his cock. Angela moaned briefly, and then regained her composure.

"And this…" Angela concluded, breaking just long enough from the kiss, "…is for Crystal." And with that statement, Angela made good on her promise.

Arms braced on the pillows next to Jack's head, Angela began to thrust her hips in earnest, sliding up his cock and then pushing back down to the hilt. Jack rocked up to meet her frenzied movements, finally gripping her buttocks to keep her from withdrawing completely in her enthusiasm for the task.

Jack felt the knot of pressure deep in his groin beginning to swell to the breaking point, and remembered his motto: ladies come first. Working two fingers under her writhing pussy, Jack began to rub her clitoris vigorously. Angela's brown eyes widened in surprise, and she began jerking out of control against his hand. Panting heavily, Jack's breathing was punctuated by Angela's small cries of pleasure as he coaxed her to her second orgasm of the evening.

Suddenly, his own pressure reaching critical mass, Jack exploded, bucking upward into his sweet torture device, straining to empty himself into her recesses. A long, guttural groan escaped him as he continued to spasm in the throes of release.

Angela rode out the storm, enjoying the look of complete, vulnerable oblivion on Jack's face—his head thrown back, lips parted in a grimace of pleasure, long blond eyelashes lowered as his eyes rolled back in his head.

"And that, Baby, is the last time we ever discuss any of your previous conquests," declared Angela adamantly, rolling off of Jack's heaving body to lie next to him.

After a few seconds of regaining his composure, Jack turned to look at Angela, smiling like the little boy who got caught doing something naughty, and who had enjoyed his punishment. "Never again—I promise. But we can still have sex like this another time, right? 'Cause I really liked that whole S&M thing you did…"

On the second day 'till Christmas…

"Hand me the silver frosted one that says Vienna on the bottom," instructed Jack from his position on the ladder. "My mom bought that one on her honeymoon."

"How romantic!" exclaimed Angela, fishing around in the tissue paper for the correct ornament. Finding it, she held it up to the light. "Are these real diamonds around the rim?"

"No, Austrian crystal," Jack replied. Angela shot him a severe look.

Realizing his faux pas, Jack quickly added, "Crystal as in the crystallization of silicon and oxygen found within a variety of metamorphic, sedimentary, and igneous rocks—hey, it's going to come up in conversation considering my line of work."

"Okay, I guess I was overreacting," admitted Angela, walking over to stand next to the ladder. She handed Jack the delicate ornament.

As he took it from her hand, Jack laughed. "I guess this is what it feels like to be taller than you—I think I like it."

"Hey, I like being able to kiss you without getting a kink in my neck," Angela reproached him. "You know, I've dated circus people—really, really short circus people."

"That's supposed to make me feel better?" Jack replied, reaching up to place the ornament on a high branch.

"No," Angela answered thoughtfully, "It's supposed to make you realize that I love you just the way you are. You're cute and sexy and the tallest man in the world to me when we're together."

Jack turned to look down at her, feeling a little embarrassed that he betrayed any insecurity about his height. Jumping down off the ladder, he lightened the moment by grabbing her and tackling her on the couch. "Now every time we're in bed I'm going to picture you screwing a midget—thanks, thanks a lot."

Angela shrieked, giggling, as he pinned her to the couch. "That is so not politically correct, Jack. Arman was a very nice guy with a good sense of humor, and a very large-"

"Oh mi! apesadumbrado de interrumpir! I'm so sorry!" gasped Mrs. Lopez, entering the room unannounced. She turned to leave again.

Jack leaped off the couch, clearing his throat, "Wait, Maria, uh, can you help us finish the tree?" He handed her a box of ornaments.

"Hi Mrs. Lopez," Angela stood up, feeling like a teenager caught by her boyfriend's mother.

"Hello, Miss Angela," Maria smiled at her, knowingly.

"Yeah, Maria, you'd better stay. Angela and I may need a chaperone to get this tree done," Jack admitted, smiling at Angela.

Christmas Eve

"You know," said Jack, bringing two brandy goblets to the rug in front of the tree, "this is the first Christmas I've spent at home in a long time."

"You're forgetting last year when we were quarantined at the Jeffersonian," Angela reminded him, lying on her side with her head propped on her hand. She took the glass Jack offered and sat up. "If memory serves, that's the first time I saw you naked," she smirked. "I remember thinking that you were pretty hot for a bug and slime guy."

"Oh really? I had no idea you were lusting after me even back then," Jack smiled, pleased.

"Okay, don't let it go to your head," Angela warned, taking a sip of the brandy. "So," she began, changing the subject, "when do I get to open that cute little package under the tree?'

"Who says it's for you?" Jack teased.

"It has my name on it—I peeked," Angela shot back. "In my family, we open at least one gift on Christmas Eve."

"Sorry, I only got you one gift," Jack replied.

"Well, then it will have to be the one." Angela got up to retrieve the gift from under the tree. Returning to Jack's side, she turned the small, carefully wrapped package over in her hands, and then shook it gently. "Not breakable, I hope," she smiled.

"Not if you stop shaking it like that," Jack warned.

Angela began to peel the paper at one corner of the package, and then stopped. "Wait, I'll be right back," she said, setting down the package and jumping to her feet. "I have to go get something." She left the room.

A couple of minutes later she returned, carrying something very large, flat, and rectangular, wrapped in gold foil and tied with a red ribbon.

"Here, we both should be opening our gifts at the same time," she explained, handing him the package and returning to the floor next to him. "I was hiding it under the bed."

"Hmmm, I wonder what it could be?" Jack asked innocently, examining the package's dimensions, although he knew very well that it had to be something framed.

"Open it and find out," Angela insisted, watching eagerly.

Jack ripped off the gold wrapping paper, and turned the painting over to view Angela's work. It was a watercolor of the Potomac at sunrise—the view from Jack's bedroom balcony.

"Angela…" Jack breathed in admiration, studying the vibrant colors and the detail so carefully rendered. "When did you--?"

"Oh, I spent a few mornings sketching while you were still asleep, and then finished the rest from memory at my own place. I hope you like it," she looked hesitantly into his eyes.

"Like it? It's amazing… this is exactly the view I see that makes me love this place." Jack turned to her, cupping her cheek in his hand, leaning in to kiss her. "Thank you," he said sincerely, "I love it. I love you."

Blushing a little and breaking away from the kiss, Angela turned to her own gift. "My turn," she said, her voice betraying the tender emotions his reception of her gift had caused her to feel.

She carefully unwrapped the small, square package to reveal a cedar box with silver inlay on the lid. A small business-sized card lay on top of it. Angela picked it up to read the name: Thomas Singer

"Some of my favorite pieces of jewelry were made by Thomas Singer—he's a very famous Navajo artist," Angela said, looking up at Jack in surprise.

"I know. You've mentioned it before," Jack responded simply. "Go ahead, open it."

Carefully, Angela lifted the lid of the box, and gasped. Reaching in, she lifted out a delicately wrought silver bracelet inlaid with a large heart-shaped gem with the most amazing colors she had ever seen. "Jack! This is beautiful—unbelievably beautiful," Angela said, staring at the bracelet, unable to take her eyes off the dancing fire within the gemstone.

"That's a black opal," Jack volunteered, pointing to the bracelet's centerpiece. "My favorite gem out of my collection," he added, wanting her to know that the opal meant something special to him. "I commissioned Singer to cut it and design a piece of jewelry from it. Now I know why you think so highly of the guy."

"A black opal?" Angela repeated, slipping the intricately designed band of silver onto one of her slim wrists, and then holding it up to the light to see its brilliance.

"Yeah, an opal," answered Jack, and then added quickly as a joke, "but don't worry, I haven't had any girlfriends by that name."

Christmas Morning, 12:01 a.m.

"Merry Christmas, Sweetie," Angela whispered in Jack's ear after being wakened by the sound of the clock downstairs chiming midnight.

Jack yawned, stretching, and then pulled her close in his arms again. "Didn't I just finish making love to you?" he asked sleepily, closing his eyes again.

"About an hour ago," Angela answered, "It just turned Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Baby," Jack mumbled. Something cold lay across his stomach. He opened his eyes again and lifted the covers to see what it was. Angela's fingers were playing with the curl of hair right above his navel, and her wrist lay on his belly.

"You're still wearing the bracelet?" he questioned, knowing she'd taken off all her other jewelry.

"Mmhm—I love it and I'm never taking it off," Angela replied adamantly. She pressed closer to him and let her hand follow the path of curls below his navel. "You know what else I want for Christmas?" she whispered, her hand finding him and stroking him into readiness.

"Well, I can make an educated guess," Jack swallowed, breathing heavily. "You're insatiable, Angela…"

"C'mon, Hodgie, where's your holiday spirit?" Angela wheedled, ducking her head under the blankets.

Jack sucked in his breath as Angela began spreading a little holiday cheer below the covers. "I just found it Baby, I just found it…"