by Shawn Lane
“Is there a reason I should be?” he asked, not looking away from his menu. He knew his blush would give away the answer.
“No, but clearly you are.”
Closing his menu, Christian set in on the table. “Well, you are the boss. It’s not every Elf that has lunch with you.”
“Right. But you are also my assistant so why should having lunch together be so strange? You act as though we have ‘we just fucked’ stamped on our foreheads.”
He choked on the sip of iced cranberry tea he’d just taken. “It does seem as everyone knows.”
Gabriel shrugged. “I doubt it, but what if they do. What does it matter?”
“You’re the one that pointed out your personal life was no one’s business.”
“And I still think so. But, Christian, the fact remains the more time we spend together the more obvious it’s going to be that we’re lovers.”
The waitress took that moment to walk up to their table for their order. She was a tall, thin, apple-cheeked blonde Elf with a name-tag that read Allison. She gaped at them like a fish.
Gabriel’s lips curved. “Are you ready to order?”
Christian nodded. “Um, yeah. I’ll have ginger chicken salad.”
“Make that two,” Gabriel said.
“Thanks.” Allison nodded, wrote down their orders, and walked away, sparing a backward glance to their table.
He rested his chin in his hands. “She knows.”
“I would say so.” Gabriel’s lips twitched in amusement drawing Christian’s gaze to them. He really was gorgeous with his long dark, braided hair. He couldn’t help wondering how that hair would feel unbound and sliding all over his bare skin.
He offered a sigh of his own. So what if everyone did know? He suspected he’d be subjected to some teasing, but it wasn’t like that was new. A young, gay blond Elf who was perhaps a little too pretty to be particularly masculine took some ribbing. And if Gabriel was his lover it would be less likely to turn into something more than just innocent teasing.
“They’ll probably think it’s so I can get special privileges or something.”
Gabriel raised a dark brow. “Is it?”
“You kissed me under the mistletoe if you remember. Not to mention your attack of me in the office.”
“Seduction.”
“Whatever it was. You were definitely the pursuer and I the pursuee.” Christian scanned the room once more and noticed they had indeed garnered a lot of Elf interest. “Not that I’m complaining.”
“I hope not.” Gabriel leaned back in his chair. Not once since he’d sat down had he looked anywhere in the café other than at Christian, the one exception being at the waitress when she’d taken their order. His focus, those incredible dark eyes, remained on him. The complete attention warmed Christian to his toes. “We have quite a bit of work to do after lunch.”
Christian frowned. “Work? I was hoping for some…more play.”
“Sweetheart, the work doesn’t get done by itself. It takes a lot to keep Santa’s Village running smoothly. You wouldn’t want something to go wrong and disappoint Santa would you?”
The thought of disappointing Santa Claus had his stomach twisting in knots. There was no man greater than Santa. Nor kinder. He started to agree with Gabriel’s statement when it occurred to him that Gabriel had just called him sweetheart.
“Christian?”
He nodded. “Yes, you’re right.”
Allison brought their salads and refilled their drinks all the while openly gawking at them. When she walked away at last, Christian sighed. He supposed he was just going to have to get used to the speculation from everyone on his personal life.
* * * *
A few days later, Christian was in the process of posting the list of work assignments in the Workshop per Gabriel’s orders, when Alistair walked down the hallway toward him. His friend stopped and scanned the lists.
“How is your punishment going?” Alistair asked.
Considering what they’d been doing on breaks and at night Christian couldn’t really think of it as punishment, and besides he’d found he liked being a personal assistant. It was much more interesting than making toys and bows and such.
“Not too badly. It might become a permanent assignment.”
Alistair frowned at the list. “For the next week I don’t have any assignments with Jasmine.”
Christian bit his lip. He didn’t want to tell his friend Gabriel had done it that way on purpose because he’d noticed their productivity went down when they were together. Instead, he smiled. “Well, maybe the following week will be different.”
Alistair turned to stare at him. “Did you say you might be working with the Head Elf permanently?”
He nodded. “It’s a possibility.”
“But…why would you want to?”
Shrugging, Christian said, “I don’t know. It seems to be work that suits me.”
“Weren’t you thinking of leaving after Christmas though?”
“Sure, but I might stay after all. You wanted me to stay yourself.”
Alistair shook his head. “The rumors are true, aren’t they?”
Clearing his throat, Christian couldn’t quite meet his friend’s eyes. “Rumors?”
“You and…the Head Elf.”
“What about us?”
His friend snorted. “Come on, Christian. You know what. Everyone has been saying you and the Head Elf are…lovers.” Alistair turned a bright shade of red. He’d whispered that last word.
He sighed. “It’s a shame that everyone doesn’t have enough to do to keep them from speculating on personal business that is not their concern.”
“I just hope you know what you’re doing. It might be fun and exciting right now, but if something goes wrong between you it could be disastrous.”
Christian had thought of that himself, of course. He could be faced with more trouble than just a broken heart if things didn’t end well with Gabriel, but he still had the option of leaving the North Pole.
“I know what I’m doing, Alistair.”
“Okay. But be careful because some of the other elves are jealous.” Alistair gave him a small smile and patted his arm. “See you later at the canteen?”
“I don’t think so, but thanks.”
As Christian watched his friend continue down the hall, he felt a twinge of sadness. Ever since Alistair had hooked up with Jasmine things had been different between them, mostly his own fault really considering his unrequited feelings for his friend, but now they seemed even more strained now that Christian was seeing Gabriel. Oddly enough the sorrow making his chest ache this time wasn’t due to lack of a romantic love from Alistair but the possibility of a loss of a good friendship.
He glanced at his watch. And naturally he was now late to discuss the upcoming party for the twenty-third with the party planner Elves.
Chapter 5
As fast as the blink of an eye it was Christmas Eve.
The last few weeks had been absurdly busy with all the Elves working long hours to get everything prepared. After Santa Claus returned from delivering gifts around the world the Elves could begin their own holidays, but now no one wasted a moment of time.
As the Head Elf’s assistant, Christian seemed to be working nonstop and at the end of every day leading up to that magical day he’d fallen into bed exhausted. The last week before Christmas Eve, he and Gabriel hadn’t found any time or energy for making love and now that they stood in the courtyard of Santa’s Village in front of the Castle preparing to see Santa off, he hoped to remedy that in the extreme near future.
Most of the Elves were gathered in the courtyard to see Santa and his sleigh on his way. Christian stood next to Gabriel, but he couldn’t help noticing Alistair and Jasmine standing hand-in-hand across the way among the crowd of Elves. They looked very sweet together.
Gabriel leaned over to speak in tones so low to Santa even Christian couldn’t hear what was said. Santa Clause laughed an
d Gabriel joined him.
“All right, folks, I’m off. I’ll see you when I return,” Santa called to those gathered. He snapped the reins and the team of reindeer rose in the air. “Merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas, Santa,” the Elves said in unison as they waved.
Already the Elves began to chatter amongst themselves, the noise rather deafening in the courtyard. Where once he might have joined in, now Christian winced. Perhaps he was maturing a bit.
Gabriel turned to him with a smile. “You’ve done a great job, Christian. Better, honestly, than I had expected. I’m very impressed and Santa is, too.”
His cheeks heated under the praise, but he also stood straighter. “Thank you. I’ve really enjoyed working with you.”
Gabriel nodded. “We’ll talk next week about your future. Tonight you’ve definitely earned the privilege to go celebrate at the canteen with your friends.”
The canteen? What?
Christian grabbed Gabriel’s arm when he went to move away. “Where are you going?”
His lover shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe to read. It’s been a while since I could relax.”
Tamping down an overwhelming wave of disappointment, Christian released his arm. “Oh.”
Gabriel’s dark eyebrows drew together. “What’s the matter?”
“I…I sort of hoped to spend tonight with you.”
“You don’t want to go to the canteen with your friends?”
“No, why would I?”
That seemed to render Gabriel speechless. But only for a moment, because then a small smile appeared on his sensual lips. “Well, perhaps we should head to the reindeer stables and inspect them.”
Christian frowned. “Inspect the stables? I don’t want to work.”
Gabriel laughed. “Trust me, brat. Shall we?”
He followed after the Head Elf as he made his way across the snow-ridden courtyard, stepping carefully with his snow boots. The stables for Santa’s animals was situated at the far end. Gabriel pushed the double doors open and stood back to let Christian precede him.
“What are we doing here?” he wondered.
Gabriel stopped before a wooden ladder that led to a loft above. “Up the ladder, boy.”
Not quite sure what Gabriel was up to, Christian shrugged and stepped onto the ladder and began to climb up. Gabriel’s hand curved over his ass cheek as he climbed sending a jolt of pure lust straight to his cock. Okay, maybe he was starting to get an idea of what his lover intended. He just never guessed they would fuck in the reindeer stables where anyone could come along.
He reached the top of the loft which seemed to be just a small crawl space really, neither of them would be able to stand up. He crawled on his knees on the bare, hardwood floor. When Gabriel appeared at the top of the ladder, her asked, “What’s this used for?”
“Used to be for storage, but we outgrew it many years ago now. It’s mostly used for trysts now.”
“What? Are you kidding?”
Gabriel laughed and joined him in the space on his knees. “No, Christian. Not kidding.”
He reached into the corner of the space and pulled out a two-inch think mat which he unfurled and set on the floor. Christian guessed it was supposed to be where he lay while they had sex. He couldn’t help wondering how many others had left their sexual fluids on the mat. He grimaced.
“So, you’ve been here with someone then?” he asked, bothered quite a bit by the notion.
“Me? No. But I know the goings on around here, sweetheart.”
He eyed the mat. “How long has that been up here?”
His lover threw his head back and laughed again. “I brought it up here myself a few days ago, in case you and I ever got the chance to use it.”
Christian smiled. “It has been a while, hasn’t it? I’ve missed our alone time.”
Gabriel lowered him on the mat. “Me, too. Let’s remedy that.” His lips covered Christian’s in a blistering hot kiss.
The heavier Elf’s weight crushed down on him, but he didn’t mind. He welcomed the feel of Gabriel’s muscular frame draped across his. His fingers drifted up to Gabriel’s silky braid, intent on undoing that long hair.
Gabriel pulled back from the kiss and looked down at him. “Hmm?”
“Your hair. I want it loose.”
Giving him a sexy indulgent smile, Gabriel leaned up and reached back to unfasten his long dark hair. As the soft silky strands flittered down to him, Christian grasped them gently, mesmerized by the beauty.
“You’re breathtaking,” he whispered, shyly averting his gaze from the intensity of Gabriel’s dark eyes.
Gabriel covered him again and a large hand cupped his jaw, drawing their faces very close together so Christian was forced to meet his lover’s gaze. “It’s not me that has the face of an angel.”
Christian smiled. “An angel?”
Gabriel kissed him. “A fallen one then. I want you naked so I can kiss every inch of you, I want to move within you, making you mine over and over.”
His breath stuttering, his heart hammering hard in his chest, Christian whispered, “Then what are you waiting for, Gabriel? Take me.”
Gabriel smothered his lips with another quick kiss before rolling off of him, just long enough to attack Christian’s clothes and quickly toss them aside. Before Christian had a chance to attempt the same with his lover’s clothes, Gabriel shed them.
He rolled Christian once more beneath him, bare skin to bare skin. He held Christian’s chin with one hand and their lips molded together, hot and moist as their tongues collided, seeking more…seeking everything. Gabriel slid his other hand down their bodies, to slip in between them, his fingers grazing across Christian’s hard cock.
“Gabriel,” he groaned. The hand closed around the tip, the thumb rubbing the pre-cum there. Closing his eyes, Christian wondered if it was really him screaming as Gabriel’s teeth latched on the pulse at this throat. This wasn’t the North Pole but Heaven.
Jolts of pleasure like he’d never felt shot through him as Gabriel’s mouth branded him while his big hand stroked Christian’s cock to near orgasm. He whimpered when his lover’s lips moved from his pulse but sighed with renewed ecstasy as the lips trailed down to latch on to a nipple. Obviously, his Elf was trying to drive him mad.
He inched his own hands down to smooth across the warm, naked skin of his lover. “You feel so amazing.”
“Mmm.”
His hand cupped Gabriel’s left ass cheek, pinching lightly which earned him a warm chuckle and then a quick kiss.
Christian gasped as Gabriel brought their erections together, stroking them in unison. “Please…fuck me.”
Staring at him with lust and something else Christian only dared hope for, Gabriel dropped a kiss on his nose. “Hold on.”
Gabriel partially lifted off him to reach into the corner where the mat had been. Christian turned to watch his fingers close over a vial and a foil wrapper.
“You are well prepared,” Christian said.
Gabriel grinned. “Why don’t we get you well prepared?”
He laughed. “On my stomach or just lift up?”
“Lift up, sweetheart.” Gabriel positioned himself between Christian’s legs and poured oil onto his fingers.
“Pumpkin spice?” Christian peered down at him.
“Yes.” His fingers slipped inside Christian’s hole, liberally coating him with the scented oil. Christian spread his legs wide to allow the probing fingers better access. His eyes drifted closed again and he pushed against the digits.
His lover hiked Christian’s legs up to rest on his shoulders and after tearing off the wrapper, rolled the latex over his big hard dick. Christian licked his lips in anticipation, his ass almost clenching just staring at the rod that would soon be driving into him.
Gabriel coated his cock and guided it to Christian’s hole. “Ready for this, baby?”
“Please, yes. I want you so much.” He exhaled as Gabriel pressed in,
reaching for his own aching, throbbing cock, stroking it for blessed relief. When Gabriel’s cock slid balls deep, he couldn’t keep a cry from escaping his lips.
“Shh, you’ll have the Stable Elves running in here wanting to watch,” Gabriel warned with a laugh and a rapid thrust.
He grinned back. “Let them. It’s fun to be a little naughty.”
“That you are, my sweet Christian.” His eyes closed as his thrusts turned deep and pounding, hid heavy balls slapping Christian’s ass.
Electric fingers tingled up Christian’s spine, his balls drawing tight as Gabriel hit his gland with each drive of his cock. “Oh, oh, God, Gabriel. I love you.” Cum spurted out, coating his fingers and dribbling onto his abdomen.
“Fuck, baby,” Gabriel moaned, jerking and shuddering as he found his own release.
They lay together, wrapped in each other’s for several quiet moments, only the sound of their labored breaths breaking the silence.
Eventually, Gabriel stroked his hand across Christian’s cheek, urging his face up to his. “You love me?”
Though he wanted to hide his face in the crook of Gabriel’s arm, he couldn’t move nor could look away from those dark eyes even if Gabriel didn’t have hold of his chin. “Yes, I do.”
“What about Alistair?”
“You know about that?”
Gabriel smiled gently. “I do.”
“I thought I loved him, it’s true, but ever since you and I have been together, since we’ve gotten to know each other these past few weeks, I know it can’t compare with the way I feel for you, Gabriel. I love you.”
“I’m very glad to hear that because I love you, too.” Gabriel kissed him.
Christian tightened his embrace, squeezing Gabriel. His fingers reached up to snag a few strands of that gorgeous hair and he rubbed his nose in them, inhaling the clean fresh scent. “I suppose we have to get dressed now. It’s rather cold in here, really.”
“Yes. Can you reach my clothes?”
He turned over and grabbed their clothes, frowning when he felt a rather thick fold of paper in Gabriel’s pants. “What’s this?”
“That’s the Naughty and Nice lists Santa uses before leaving to deliver gifts.”