The boss patted her shoulder. “Ellie won’t be coming home. I thought you knew that before she left.”
“Ever?” She sniffled.
“Never say never, but just know she is right where she belongs and with who she belongs to. This will be one of our most successful missions.” Pushing his glasses up on his nose, he stroked his beard and asked, “Now, do you need to be settled down?”
Putting her hands on her bottom, she shook her head. “No, Boss, I’m just fine. I simply didn’t understand.”
He nodded and went back to checking his list for the umpteenth time.
She breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. Ellie would be happy. On a personal note, she wasn’t going over his knee to have her bottom blistered. No one spanked as hard as the boss. He had this thing about knowing who was naughty and who was nice and had no qualms about dishing out what he considered proper. Humans were lucky. They got coal. Back in the day it was coal and switches and the switches were put to the use they were made for. Doing the switch dance was not something you forgot.
Neither was happening to her this time, though, and she tried to relax into the idea Ellie would happy. Wishing she could tell Ellie just that, she turned her attention to the next elf on her list, which was, of course, not the boss’ list. Ignoring the thought she was a little disappointed not to go over his knees, she buckled back down to work. Because no, no one wanted to be spanked, it hurt and he spanked way too hard. Sometimes, she thought, if she didn’t know better, that he might even be human.
Giggling at her thought, she wished Ellie all the good luck she could zap her way, and focused on Lucy who was having an issue with her human. His kids and wife needed him home for Christmas and he thought work was more important than his family. Lucy could help. And she could help Lucy. Helping was what elves did, after all.
Three more days, Ellie thought. She didn’t feel any closer to staying than she had this time last week. What was she going to do? Luke either acted like he thought she was staying forever or he seemed to be growing cold. She didn’t understand men. She’d had her eye on him for over a year now, if she knew any man, it should be him, but her abilities seemed to be fading. Why were they fading? Why was he getting used to her? Did he not care? Did she not care? Of course she cared. She was here to help and she didn’t know anymore if she was helping or not. Frustrating. No, frustrating didn’t seem to be the right word. Was he taking her for granted? Did he not want her here anymore? Sitting on the couch, staring into the fire didn’t help anything but it was all she wanted to do. This is not what elves did. They helped. They served. They made people happy. They did not stare into a fire and frown and do nothing. What was wrong with her? She did not feel any Christmas spirit right now.
Hearing Luke’s key in the door did not make her jump up and run to him as it usually did. Well, usually she met him there before his key hit the lock. Today, the only thing she wanted to do was stare at the fire. What was the point? Why was she here?
“Ellie? Where are you? Are you okay?”
Was she? No to the nope, she was not. She was not close to okay and whose fault was it? It had to be his, he was the only male here, and even in the elf world, everyone knew the male was always wrong in a fight.
A fight? No, they weren’t fighting. Were they? Maybe they needed a fight. Maybe she’d been too perfect and too good and too sweet, all the signs of a perfect elf, but not a human. Maybe he wanted a human, not an elf who wanted to stay with her project. But he needed her! She didn’t want to leave, and the fact he wasn’t doing what needed to be done for her to stay was irritating at best and downright wrong.
She stood up, and put her hands on her hips, turning slowly to look at him. “Well?”
“Well?” he repeated. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
“I will tell you what’s wrong!”
“That would be a good idea,” he said, and took off his suit jacket, and flung it over the back of the chair.
“I just bet you want me to hang that up, don’t you?” Elves did not argue. Why was she arguing? Picking a fight? Caring if he didn’t hang up a coat? It made no sense.
“What? Ellie, did you come down with some kind of weird female elf problem?”
“Sure, blame it on hormones.” She wanted to stamp her foot. Elves did not stamp their feet or stick out their tongues, which she also wanted to do. No, just no.
“Ellie?” He sounded very puzzled and this irritated her more, much more.
“How dare you!”
“How dare I what? Ellie, I have no idea what’s going on here.”
“Well, you should!”
“Now is the wrong time to turn all female on me, young lady,” he said sternly and she felt a thrill of nerves up her spine. No, that wasn’t her spine.
“I can be female if I want to be!”
“Of course, you can,” he said it slowly, but then his eyes cleared and he said, “Oh, Ellie, are you needing a spanking?”
“What do you mean by that? That is so chauvinistic and misogynistic, and I’m allowed emotions!” She couldn’t help putting her hands over her bottom.
He gave her a half smile. “Baby, if you need one, all you have to do is ask. You don’t have to have a fit. I know how women are.”
“How women are!” Now she was mad. Elves did not get mad. What was happening to her? She did not like this one little bit. Her emotions were happy! Happy to serve, happy to help, happy to help him. So why was she trying to argue with him, making him upset? It wasn’t right at all.
He gave her a look. What look was that? She didn’t think she liked it either. Watching him roll up his sleeves made her shiver. Ellie opened her mouth to say something but decided to shut it. Discretion was the better part of valor. Or of keeping her bottom safe.
Luke walked into the kitchen and she almost melted in relief. What was she doing? Why was she acting like that? What was going on? He probably was hungry. She’d gotten him used to a hot dinner this time every night. Was he looking for it? She hadn’t cooked a thing. He’d have to eat unseasoned human food. Poor male. It sucked to be him today, didn’t it? Yes, it did.
Putting her head between her hands, she sank down on the couch. She didn’t like the way she was feeling, she didn’t like what she was thinking, she didn’t want to leave him and she didn’t enjoy not being able to control her emotions and hated arguing with him and “Ack!”
He had her by the arm, and she was over his lap before she realized he’d even come back in the room. “Luke!”
He didn’t answer, but smacked her bottom with something that wasn’t his hand and hurt horribly.
“No! OW!” Her hands scrambled to keep her head from banging against the floor.
“Oh, am I getting your attention?” he said it conversationally and pulled down her leggings as he did so.
Already? No! “OW! That hurt!”
“Spankings hurt, that’s what makes them work,” he said, as if explaining.
“No! Stop! Not so hard!” Spankings wouldn’t be so bad if he didn’t spank so hard! What was that horrible thing? A board? A stick? Oh, her wooden bread spoon. Trash it would go into. “No! Not there!”
“Hard is a matter of perspective,” he said. And kept smacking her, there. She tried to move her hand back, but he smacked it with whatever he had – that horrible spoon – and said, “Move your hand. Your hand isn’t in trouble.”
She almost asked how her bottom got in trouble, but decided that might not be smart. Reaching down she grabbed his pants leg. Maybe that would keep her hand out of the way of that nasty implement. How could she handle this? She couldn’t.
“Luke, no! Please! I can’t. Okay, enough, enough!”
He didn’t stop but smacked harder and quicker until she panicked, how did she get away? She twisted and tried, but couldn’t. The helpless feeling overwhelmed her as she broke down and was crying so hard she couldn’t catch her breath. She wanted to tell him no more, no more, but nothing but sobs came out. Sp
eaking was beyond her, all she could do was try and breathe. Not even breathe, just get some air in. “Sorry, sorry!” she managed.
Then she was in his arms, being rocked and held and kissed. Cheeks, eyes, nose, forehead, Ellie kept trying to breathe and just couldn’t. Something was wrong, something was off, something, something different, something weird besides the pain in her butt. What was it? It needed to leave, needed to go away. She didn’t like it at all.
“Shh, baby, it’s okay now. Spanking’s over. All better now, I’ve got you.”
He hugged her close and she clung to him and tried not to wipe her nose on his shirt because, well, that wouldn’t be thoughtful. She hiccupped trying to choke back a snort or laugh, he’d turned her butt bright red and she was worried about him being upset about his shirt getting damp. Where were her priorities? Had to be an elf thing. Who else would care?
“I love you, Ellie girl, I don’t care if you are an elf or an angel or a demon or just a woman with something a little off,” he was saying in her ear.
Trying to calm down, she clung to him and sobbed. “I don’t want to leave you.”
“Then don’t. Stay. Don’t go back to wherever you came from,” he demanded. “Stay with me. Be mine, just be here. I’ll take care of you, I promise.”
Ellie sobbed into his shoulder. “It isn’t up to me. It’s up to you.”
“I’ve already asked you to stay. I said I loved you. What more needs to be done?” His voice was thick with frustration and she understood that.
“I can’t tell you,” she said, “I literally can’t. I wish I could. I want the words to come out but they can’t.”
Then she started sobbing again and he rocked her back and forth. He didn’t know much about women, but he knew sometimes they just needed to cry before they could make much sense, even to themselves. He wanted his happy, dancing, dimpling, smiling elf back. Back in his life forever.
“We will figure it out, baby, I promise.” He petted and soothed her, and when she had calmed down, he reached over for a tissue and wiped her nose. “Even elves get runny noses, I see,” he said.
She looked down and blushed, and he felt delighted. There, she was coming around again. See, a nice little spanking and a good cry worked wonders for a female temper. He could handle that, even with an elf.
Later that night, when she was tucked in upstairs, in her own bed – not his, sadly – he went outside, and looked up at the stars.
There it was. The one he and his wife had wished on together. He stared at it a long time, thought about her, and what she would want, what he would have wanted for her if their situations were reversed. He saw the star twinkle at him a few times, and smiled. “Thanks, my sweet one,” he whispered.
Then Luke made another wish, and went back inside. Tomorrow was the walk and he needed to be up early to help get things around. She’d done cookie balls to bake in the morning, to offer the walkers, and make the house smell good. Of course, there would be a huge pot of hot chocolate and many marshmallows. Plus, the dogs. Dogs attracted people. He’d seen the flyers and heard the ads on radio and television and knew that the tickets were selling well. Lots of money for the charity and although new in town, he felt proud to be part of it. Because of his help – well, Ellie’s help – families down on their luck this year would have a feast instead of nothing. He’d had nothing last year. He understood how life was and how something as small or as large as a decent meal when you weren’t expecting one could change your life. After all, answering the door instead of ignoring it had totally changed his.
Blizzard was turning into the perfect spot to live in, not the spot where he thought he’d be going to hibernate and just get through. It had all changed in a couple of weeks, and there were three days to go. The walks later today and tomorrow, and then Christmas day. Would she still be here when he woke up the day after? He’d find out. He had no intention of sleeping Christmas night. He might play kinky Santa and handcuff her to him, however. Could that possibly stop her from dancing out of his life with her one small suitcase that apparently channeled Mary Poppins and held a multitude of clothes and shoes and coats? If it would, he was investing in a pair.
He went to his own quiet, lonely room and wondered what she would do, eventually, to change it up and make it theirs instead of his? Well, he’d let her do anything he wanted. He couldn’t imagine his life anymore without his little elf. Drifting off to sleep, he smiled, realizing he no longer even doubted that was what she was, his Christmas Elf.
Ellie woke up smiling. The weekend of the Christmas walk, and then Christmas day, her very favorite day of the year! She refused to think of anything else, but how joyous and happy the weekend would be, how special it would be to spend her, hopefully first and not last Christmas with Luke and some new friends.
Today, she would help Luke put on the best house on the walk, the most fancy and of course the best smelling. It would be so much fun.
Getting up, she showered and dressed in her sparkly Christmas sweater and favorite red leggings. Taking a quick peek at her bottom in the mirror she was almost sad there was no visible sign of her spanking yesterday. Elves healed quickly. Too bad. As much as it hurt, she should have a souvenir. The good cry had made her feel better, oddly. Elves didn’t usually cry. There was nothing to cry about, after all. However, she had been spending so much time with these human creatures, it was no wonder some of their emotions were rubbing off on her. Nothing to worry about, she told herself, realizing she was still feeling not quite herself, but that was probably only the emotions of the upcoming days. The happiness of them, she reminded herself. Nothing more.
Dancing down the stairs, she started a huge pot of coffee in a maker that Lily had loaned her from her shop. and stirred up a pot full of hot chocolate. Then pulling the cookie balls from the freezer, she turned on the oven to preheat and started an egg casserole for Luke. A man needed sustenance. Her man.
Ellie flung herself into his arms when he walked into the kitchen dressed in blue jeans and a green sweater that looked festive, she thought. “You look great! Merry almost Christmas. Sit, I’ll pour you some coffee.”
“Merry almost Christmas to you too.” He smiled at her, watching her move in her graceful way across the room. It really almost felt like she danced everywhere. As if her feet barely touched the ground, he watched, mesmerized as her curls bounced and her dimple flashed while she worked. “Do you have my list of things to do today?”
“Of course I do,” she teased. “I’m just a regular old list maker, and yes, I do check it twice.”
He laughed. “I hope I’m on the nice list.”
“Well, when you aren’t spanking me, you are.”
“You needed that, and you know it,” he said, “You should thank me.”
“Should I, now?” She poured his coffee and put it in front of him. “I’m not so sure about that.”
“We can talk about it after next time,” he assured her and she smiled watching him take in the aroma of her coffee.
“Next time!” she said, acting faux offended, then wistful. “I hope there is a next time…” Shaking her head, she flashed her dimples at him and said, “But right now, I have cookies to get in the oven and then there are some eggs with your name on them. Want some toast? If you do, go ahead and start it, okay?”
She focused on the cooking and feeding. There were only a few hours before the walk started and she had so much to do. Luckily, she was very efficient and there was no doubt in her mind that things would go smoothly. It would be a great weekend! Her elf sense told her so.
A little later she did a walk through the house. Lily had donated so much greenery and several huge bouquets of flowers. Another small niche store donated a large Nativity and an adorable Rudolph set. She had the Nativity on the mantel and the Rudolph in the dining room bay window. There were several plush teddy bears in small little rockers, dressed in Christmas outfits and scattered through the rooms. She’d dusted and cleaned and shined and polish
ed. Nothing was lacking or missing. Oh, but water bowls for the dogs. She’d picked up a couple of themed bowls from Stormy’s boutique pet store and got those out. The dogs would be here half an hour before the walk started. First, she would start an easy dinner in the crockpot for Luke’s supper after it was all over. There was just something about cooking for a man – for her man – that made her feel warm and tingly all over. It just felt right.
The nice thing about being an elf was that there was no stigma. She could be submissive to her man – or a CEO if she preferred – make him dinner or have him rub her feet. It didn’t matter, whatever made anyone happy. Elves had learned the key to happiness years ago: You do you! Why humans had such a hard time with that, she didn’t understand. They did, however.
Ginger peach chicken in the crockpot and later on she’d do rice to spoon it over. Now, she was ready for the walk. It would be magical. The next three days would be perfect. She was an elf and she would make it so.
Hearing the doorbell a few minutes later, she saw Luke answering the door as she rushed to it. “Hello, Stormy and crew, come on in!” More dogs than she expected came through the door. Big dogs. Small dogs. Barking dogs. Scared dogs. How many did she bring?
“We had more people volunteer than we thought would show up!” Stormy told her, excitement pouring through her. “We could bring more dogs! I know there were a lot of tickets sold, so I hope to find interest in a lot of dogs today. Victoria! Watch him!”
Ellie took a deep breath and looked over at Luke who looked at her as if she had power over four legged creatures. Yeah, she had no flying reindeer training and no way could she make a dog do anything. Hopefully the people wrangling them could. This would be fine. Homing a lot of dogs would be part of her perfect day!
“This way!” she said as cheerfully as she could muster. “Let me show you where to set up.” How many rolls of papers towels had she gotten? She wasn’t sure there were enough now. Stopping at eight dogs she felt a little overwhelmed, but knew Stormy knew what she was doing. She hoped. Pretty sure. Hopefully.
12 Naughty Days of Christmas 2018 Page 60