12 Naughty Days of Christmas 2018

by Isabella Kole

  Then he pressed the full weight of his body against her. “Uh-uh, don’t do something you’re going to regret. I think we can still use this time wisely.”

  She could feel his heartbeat catch rhythm with her breathing and felt herself leaning back and pressing into him as closely as she could.

  Latching onto her ear, he let his hands roam beneath her fitted blouse.

  Thank heavens the office was locked, because she wasn’t about to be quiet. With her nipples so hard, reaching up to rub some relief into them was instinctual, but her hands were immediately caught in one of his.

  “I’ll get there,” he growled in her ear and used his other hand to make his point with a loud, stinging smack to her ass.

  The fabric of her pencil skirt didn’t do a thing to dull the impact and her quiver was reflexive, so was the fact that her lace panties were sticking to her due to the rush of juices that seemed to flow from her core like a running faucet.

  Placing her hands back on the counter she held as still as she could when both of his hands went underneath the blouse and her matching bra. He was not impeded by the hooks being in the back. Both the bra and the shirt were above her breast and his hands were pinching, pulling, and kneading a passionate symphony all over them. There would definitely be bruising. It wouldn’t be the first time. He liked to mark his territory and she stopped minding a long time ago. In fact, there wasn’t much that he did now that gave her pause anymore. That was part of her addiction to him and the problem.

  The first time he spanked her during sex she nearly jumped away from him, but then he rubbed that same spot and something shifted. There wasn’t any time to examine the situation as she was on the verge of an intense orgasm before he flipped her over and put his mouth to work on her sex. It was a sexual awakening and nothing like she’d ever experienced. Each time she got used to one thing he was doing to her, he changed it up and now, bent over the steel countertop, was no different. He loved that he could get her so worked up by just playing with her nipples and few smacks to her round firm backside. That thing was like a perfect peach with painted on clothes. Everything fit her to a tee. He’d padded her salary upon hiring just to keep her in the outfits he’d come to love so much. Whenever they went away on business trips he would take her shopping and sit outside the dressing room waiting for her to come out and model her finds. After an hour of her playing dress up, they weren’t completely in the hotel room before he was ripping her out of whatever she was wearing. When she complained, he pointed out that he was basically paying for her clothes and that he could afford to replace them.

  The way he held her, handled her and loved on her pushed aside the negative thoughts that often crept up during their time apart. There were plenty of those negative thoughts too. She knew better.

  “Oh, God! I nee—”

  “What, what do you need? You weren’t about to make a demand, were you?”

  “No,” it sounded like the words came out of her mouth, but she wasn’t sure how she was able to even string those two letters together.

  “Good girl! Your patience will be rewarded.”

  Memories. That’s all she’d been living with since she’d left Arizona and moved across the world to Japan. Now, she was headed back.

  The ticket was purchased. She’d made her plans and her peace with the plans. They were expecting her. It had been five months since she left – some might say fled – home and moved to Japan. It was a good job. It was an extraordinary opportunity. The pay was practically obscene. No one would have expected her to turn the offer down based solely on location. So, she took it. Besides, it was better than what she would have to deal with if she’d stayed. She’d packed her bags and didn’t exhale until she got off the plane to start her new life. The plan was to put her whole spirit into making things work because if she didn’t, her only other choice would be to return home, tell the truth, and live in the miserable consequences of her choices.

  “Fa la la la la!” That should have been what was on her mind, but it was the furthest thought from it.

  The second her last group of students were released, she was in her car. Having packed the night before, the carry-on bag crammed with a week’s worth of clothes, rode shotgun. All she needed to do was scoot by the office and sign out. Once she dropped off her keys Leah was officially off the clock as Sensei.

  “Leah, have a wonderful holiday,” Tomoko said.

  Although incredibly sweet, the woman loved practicing her English and even something as generic as having a good holiday could lead to unnecessary banter. Leah had no time for it. The plan was key drop off, sprint across the parking lot, careen around the base’s flight line, and make it two towns over to the train station. That was the plan. She was sticking to the plan, even though both of her friends told her, repeatedly, how flawed it was.

  “Anata wa o yasumi mo arimasu. Isshūkan de anata ni aimashou.” Returning the greeting, Leah was moving through the office back door as the secretary called out that her Japanese was getting so much better.

  Sweet compliment or not, Leah didn’t break her stride. Now she was about twelve clicks (kilometer) from the back gate and then it was a straight shot to the highway.

  Remembering that time with him had been all she’d done the last few weeks. It’s what had her squirming in her seat to generate some inappropriate friction against her center as she drove her thirteen-year-old little electric blue car, with the too expensive sound system, around the base flight line in racecar fashion. She knew she would be cutting it close, but she’d run through her exit strategy mentally all day. There had been no way out of her schedule to teach all day on the last day of classes. She was low man on the totem pole and didn’t have enough days to spare to tack onto a holiday break. The only silver lining in the worse work schedule she could remember having in years was that traveling from Japan to Arizona meant not losing a day. She could leave on the twenty-second and arrive on the twenty-second. Normally, she loved the holidays and should have been looking forward to going home more enthusiastically, but excited or not the journey was upon her. Getting in on the twenty-second also meant not breaking her tradition of Christmas Eve shopping with no plan or list in hand or mind, Leah let the spirits guide her gift purchasing up until the final store turned out the lights and bolted the door.

  Learning to drive on the opposite side of the street was one of the first things she got signed up to do and now she could navigate like an Uber driver on two continents. Slowing down through the last curve, which was a notorious speed trap, she took a quick glance left and right then pushed it from forty to sixty. Waving to her favorite Japanese security forces guard and dropping to a slow twenty over the speed bump, she took off full throttle.

  Midday traffic was clear and gratitude coursed through her. This was a part of the visualization she’d banked on. Then her phone rang. Looking down at the screen on her cell, Leah was torn on her decision on whether or not to answer. She loved talking to her big brother but holding a conversation when she was so hyper-focused on getting to the train station went against her exit strategy.

  “Hey, Eric! You checking up on your sister?”

  “It’s what I do. So, you at the airport already?”

  Leah could hear her niece and nephew clamoring for attention in the background and her poor sister-in-law seemed to be on the chase in an attempt to ward off disaster. This was why she tried to catch conversations with her brother on his job or his drive home. The only way to get to her sister-in-law, with any level of peace, was during the kids’ naptime.

  “No, I’m not at the airport yet. I’m driving to the train station and taking that to the airport. I couldn’t get a seat on the flight to Tokyo tonight and unless I wanted to wait until tomorrow, the train was my only option. Any more questions?”

  “Don’t be short, little sister. I’m just checking. And, yes, I do have more questions. What time do you land? Are you coming to Zoolights with us? I think Alex is going to come with the
family. Well, I invited them. I don’t want any nonsense, Leah. I don’t know what happened between you two, but don’t make it awkward. He seems willing to forgive.”

  “Forgive?” Alex would have a lot of audacity to behave as though she needed forgiveness. She hadn’t been in it alone.

  “Whatever, Eric. As you said, you don’t know. Anyway, you talk to Mom and Dad at least once a day and I know she has notes up all over the house with my flight information.”

  “Dad and I talk scores and weather, you know this. Knowing him, he’s aware you’re coming, but will still be shocked at your arrival. News, sports, and Mom’s voice – occasionally – is all the man tunes into since he retired. Most of the time I think he just says yes to get her to stop talking.”

  “Since he retired? That’s hilarious. The way I remember it that’s all he’s ever listened to and just saying yes to her is what we all do. Look, I love you, but I really have to go.”

  What she didn’t tell him was that she was pretty sure she’d just missed her turn and needed to concentrate to figure out the next U-turn. Something else off plan. Damn.

  “Okay, with the bum’s rush. I’m going to call Juju and see if he’s managed to nail down his plans. He’s clearly trying to give Mom a heart attack. His last message said he’d be there before the clock struck midnight on Christmas day. The woman called me positively apoplectic. I’m gonna get him together.”

  “Sounds good, big brother. Love you to the moon and back. Later.”

  She ended the call before the last syllable was out of her mouth. Leah knew he hated when she did that, but her big brother was unfortunately exactly like their mother and even a clear request to end a call could result in a ten-minute goodbye. She didn’t have time for that at all. Managing to make the turn she needed, she pulled into the station’s long term parking and almost forgot to turn the car off before she leaped out of her seat. Damn keyless entry. She grabbed the parking ticket and her roller bag. Twenty minutes to haul ass to the counter, get her ticket and get down to the platform. She’d lost a few minutes, but she felt confident it would all line up. Superior customer service and efficiency were things she loved about living in Japan, amongst many, even if they didn’t always display a sense of urgency in their actions.

  No line. Thank the Goddess, Leah looked to the sky in silent prayer. Sometimes her karma didn’t kick up to bite her in the ass for her behavior.

  “Moshimoshi. Eigo o hanasemasu ka?”

  “Hai.”

  Leah was all sorts of thankful that the worker spoke English. “One first class ticket to Tokyo station and a ticket to Narita airport, please.”

  The attendant’s fingers were pressing the various buttons on his upright keyboard so quickly she couldn’t be certain he wasn’t going to make a mistake. Knowing her outward display of irritation and attitude were culturally unacceptable and off-putting, Leah tried to hold it together. Every minute ticked by painfully. Finally, she signed the credit card receipt and took her tickets, with a quick half ass bow and a domo before slipping through the glass doors that would take her to the platform. The first class ticket was almost as expensive as the round trip flight, but the last thing she wanted was to be in a crowded car with folks touching her, sitting too close, breathing too close, or Goddess bless, a child, of any age. Okay, that last part was bitchy and not in the holiday spirit, but she wouldn’t fully relax into her journey home until she was on the plane. Although most services were normally hyper punctual, even in Japan a train could run behind schedule sometimes.

  Walking down the platform to the door entrance for the number ten car, she sighed in relief that there was only an elderly couple waiting at the same entrance. Hopefully, that would mean a mostly empty car at least for a while. Who knew whom they would pick up between this stop and their arrival in Tokyo station?

  The train pulled in exactly on schedule. Okay, Leah ticked off another point for team good karma. Waiting for the older couple to get settled into the first seats as they got through the doors, what Leah saw had her blood boiling. She remained calm and didn’t scream to the heavens like she wanted to when the couple still hadn’t taken their seats as the train slowly pulled out of the station.

  Her eyes were trained on the man, whose head was down and engrossed in some newspaper, sitting in her seat. Immediately she started thinking her traveling mercies had run out too soon.

  Seeing he was American, she didn’t even bother with an attempt at butchering the language. “Excuse me, I think you’re in my seat.” Her tone sounded mostly polite to her ears.

  When she didn’t get a response, Leah thought she’d guessed wrong. Maybe he wasn’t an American. Or, at least he didn’t speak English, because she was standing too close for him to claim he hadn’t heard her.

  This time she cleared her throat and touched his shoulder before she started in again. “Sumimasen.” She tried again. Still polite, considering her level of irritation.

  Was this joker seriously going to pretend he hadn’t heard her or pretend he didn’t understand?

  “Oh, hell no! Hey!” She smacked his shoulder none too gently.

  As he removed them from his ears, she started to feel a little dense for not seeing the earbuds. She could hardly focus on the task at hand, he was so strikingly gorgeous. Oh, and now he was staring at her.

  Chapter 2

  That’s what the armor was for, though. Leah had created a tough facade for just these situations. She steeled her features and crossed her arms, waiting for whatever excuse was about to come out of his mouth.

  “Can I help you, miss? Sumimasen.”

  “I speak English,” she finally answered curtly.

  “Well, you didn’t respond and you spoke to me in Japanese, so… I shouldn’t have assumed. What can I do for you?” He was seriously attempting to placate her with his words and tone.

  “Um, let’s see, I’d love to not stand for the next four hours, so maybe you could get the hell out of my seat.”

  “I beg your pardon. I think you’re mistaken. I’ve been in this seat for the last three stops, plus it’s what was printed on my ticket.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s what’s on my ticket too, so it looks like somebody screwed up.” Pulling her ticket out, Leah rolled her eyes heavenward. “Great, it’s going to be hell trying to translate the information on this.”

  “May I see your ticket? In all my years traveling around, I’ve not known them to make an error like this. Not saying it didn’t happen this time, but let’s just check before we accuse them of – how’d you put it? – screwing up.”

  “Ugh, whatever. I’ll just sit here for now. Let me get this stupid bag up first.”

  Leah shoved the suitcase handle down hard and then attempted to lift her bag, nearly landing in the stranger’s lap.

  “You’re angry with the bag too, huh?”

  “What?”

  “Nothing. Let me help.”

  “No, I’m good. Thanks.”

  “Oh, I didn’t mean that to come out as a question.” He stood up and took the bag from her hands, lifting it as if it weighed nothing and placing it in the overhead compartment.

  With him turned away from her, she was able to give him a really good once over. His jet black hair wasn’t really long, but she stopped beating herself up for missing the earphones. It was onyx, shiny, and curled around his head and hung a bit over his ears in a sexy disarray. The evidence of his muscles was less obvious, as his sweater left a lot to the imagination, however, by the way he hefted her suitcase, she didn’t doubt his strength. The bag was small but stuffed. Leah didn’t like to check her luggage, but she also hated being without her things. He didn’t even strain to reach the overhead, the way she would have without his assistance. The man was a foot taller, give or take an inch. She couldn’t tell what his nationality was from looking at him and she was looking hard.

  “Was I not careful enough? Do you have breakables in there?”

  “No, why?”

  �
��I turned around and you were watching me so intently that I just assumed.”

  “You know what they say about assuming.”

  “No, I don’t. Enlighten me,” tall, dark, and handsome said.

  “Not important. My seat is though, so can I see your ticket – now.”

  “Will that make you feel better, or say, behave better?”

  “I’d feel better if I were in my seat, sipping tea, and reading my book. I was kind of looking forward to the peace of a few uninterrupted hours.”

  “Wow, you don’t travel well, do you?”

  “Wow, you’re really judgmental to someone you just met, aren’t you?”

  Not giving her a chance to say anything else snippy to him, he handed her his little green ticket and pointed to the corresponding number and letter combo above his seat.

  “Damn it! I knew he was typing too fast to not be messing up something.”

  “I’m sure you have a seat, just not this one. Let’s take a look at your ticket, before the next stop. Sit down.”

  “You are seriously bossy and I’m not a fan.”

  “It’s not safe to stand as the train is pulling in, unless you fancy falling on your butt in the middle of the aisle. Plus, you’re in the way of this nice lady trying to do her job.”

  Looking around, she noticed whom he was talking about. It was like she’d appeared out of nowhere. The train attendant came through the aisle for service, but before Leah’s backside settled in the seat across from the still nameless man holding her ticket, he spoke to the woman in flawless Japanese and she retreated with an appropriate bow.

  “What did you say to her?” Leah asked, arms crossed and not giving an inch.

  “Nothing to sully your good name, so no need to worry.”

  “I’m not worried. Well, not about what you said. You do speak the language very well. Did you study it for years or are you from here?”

  “Are you a reporter?”

  “No. I teach English. Why?”

  “You ask a lot of questions with almost no pause to answer them. You’d do great at a press conference. Your interpersonal skills could use a little work though.”