by Allysa Hart
The belt was falling harder and faster now, making it hard to concentrate on his words. I took solace in the fact my ass felt like an inferno because that had to mean it would be over soon.
“Soon, little elf, you will be mine. All your past sins will be absolved through the sting of my leather belt, and you will have a fresh, shiny clean slate. And I know you’re going to remember this lesson for a long time to come and do your very best to change your behavior in the future, aren’t you?”
“Yes, Daddy!” I couldn’t keep from crying now, and I spoke the words through yells of pain and sobs of shame.
I counted ten more as the belt continued its harsh lesson upon the stinging flesh of my ass, which somehow hadn’t yet gone numb. I felt every lash. I almost cried with joy when I heard the clatter of the buckle as the strap of leather fell from his hands and hit the ground near my feet.
Santa Bear’s rainbow fur was soaked from my tears. I pushed him away and grabbed at a pillow before Yule scooped me into his arms, sat on the edge of the bed, and settled me in his lap, letting my torched ass hang in the space between his legs, an action for which I was very grateful. The Santa suit was soft, but his thighs were hard and muscular, and did not make a comfortable sitting place for someone with a freshly spanked bottom.
“You did very well, little elf. I’m proud of you.” Yule’s beaming smile radiated the pride he spoke of and warmed my heart. That smile almost made the pain in my posterior worth it. Almost, but not quite.
I forced a rueful smile, and tucked a stray lock of wet hair behind my ear as I looked up at him tearfully. “What if that wasn’t...you know, enough?” I whispered. The thought of taking any more of a spanking almost killed me, but when we were done, I wanted to be sure we were well and done. No round two needed.
Santa frowned, his eyebrows furrowing together, as he inhaled deeply. “You should see your bottom, little elf. But as for that spanking being enough, it won’t be. Not on its own. That’s why we need to get to bed very soon. We have a busy day of doing good deeds and spreading Christmas cheer ahead of us. But, first, let’s get a snack, shall we? We skipped dinner.”
“I’m not hungry,” I protested, with a pout, sliding off his lap. It was true. I wasn’t hungry at all. Not for food at least.
I placed myself on my knees between his, and rubbed his leg through the soft velvet, starting at his knees, and working up to his groin. When I moved to caress his package through the fabric of his slacks, he blocked me with his hand.
“Not tonight,” he scolded, waving his finger back and forth in front of my face. “You were very naughty, and tonight was about punishment, and punishment only. It doesn’t come with a side of pleasure. You’ll do well to remember that.”
“I want a Tonka truck, Santa.” The little towheaded boy on my lap was small for his five years and missing his two front teeth.
“Ho, ho, ho! Aaron, you’ve been such a good boy this year, Santa’s gonna see what he can do, but there just might be a Tonka truck with your name on it come Christmas morning.”
I could feel Crystal’s eyes watching me from her spot in the serving line. Strands of hair had fallen loose from her ponytail, framing her face, her makeup had all but melted off, and sweat glistening on her forehead. She was positively beaming and had never looked more beautiful. Except when screaming my name mid orgasm, of course.
Aaron leaped off my lap, and I handed him a candy cane and sent him back to his mother.
The poor woman looked slightly panicked at my promise of a toy, and I wondered if she, too, was a nonbeliever. If she was, she would be my first stop after the New Year. Poor woman deserved a little hope in her life. And little Aaron? Well, he would be getting his Tonka truck. And a new coat as well.
“I thought you had mall Santas for this stuff.” Crystals voice interrupted my musings, and I looked up to see her standing beside me, and that the line of kids had dwindled to nothing. Aaron had been the last one.
“I do, but we were here. My father always tried to put in a few appearances himself each year, especially at places like this. I will probably do the same. It was pretty fun, and very rewarding. Good works are good for the soul.”
“Yeah, but you’re Santa. You do good works all the time. Your entire life is based on good works.”
“Very true, little elf. Very true. And that’s why you were the one picking up litter, and delivering baskets, visiting nursing homes, and sweating your cinnamon buns off in that kitchen. Speaking of which, did you help with the cleanup?”
“Yes. But my feet hurt. Can we go home now?” Suddenly embarrassed, she lowered her voice to a whisper. “That is, I mean, if you think it is okay?”
I furrowed my brow and frowned in confusion. I was very tired. “If I think it is okay?”
“Yeah, you know, like if I’m off the naughty list? Could you check? I don’t want to stop now if it turns out I only need to do one more thing.”
I was dead on my feet, and naughty list or no, all I wanted to do was fall into bed beside her. “I’ll check when we get back to your place, little elf. And if by some oddity your name is still on there, I know a little deed we can do before we leave for the North Pole tomorrow. In fact, we might do it anyway because it’s the right thing to do.”
“Okay.” She frowned, looking torn. She wanted her name off that list, but I suspected she was more exhausted than I was.
I stood and took her hand, thanked the shelter directors, and walked out the front door. Once outside, I whisked her into an alley and teleported us home.
“Every muscle in my body aches, even ones I didn’t know I had. And my blisters have blisters,” I whined, stripping down to my bra and panties as Yule watched from his spot on my bed next to me.
“At least you’re off the naughty list,” Santa reminded me, grinning. True to his word, he had checked as soon as we arrived. It was good news, but at the moment, all I cared about was getting underneath a spray of hot water and climbing into bed.
“I need a shower,” I announced, standing to stalk off to the bathroom.
Yule caught my arm and stopped me. “Where are you going, little elf?”
I looked at him as if he had grown two heads. He wasn’t usually this slow. “I’m going to shower.”
“I ran a bath for us. With Epsom salts. Good for achy muscles.”
“What? When did you do that? And where did you get Epsom salts?”
Yule raised his eyebrows, and I shook my head at my own silliness. “Oh. Right. Santa. Well, come on, then.”
He followed me into the bathroom. The tub was indeed filled with warm water, and the smells of spearmint and eucalyptus permeated the air.
“Scented Epsom salts?” I asked, turning to find him naked.
He shrugged and climbed into the tub, sliding down into the water. “Well, it’s not peppermint, but it’s good for you on a day like today.”
“Mmmhhmm,” I murmured, stripping off my bra and panties and stepping into the tub in front of him. I leaned back against his hard chest and moaned. The Epson salts were working, and I could already feel the achiness and tension fading.
“Oh, this was a good idea.” I stretched out as much as I could, straightening my legs and resting them on the bathroom wall. I wiggled my toes.
“You deserved it, little elf. You did good today. I’m very proud of you.”
His words warmed me from the inside out. I was proud of me, too.
“That was fun,” I admitted. “It felt good, and everyone was so happy to see us, everywhere we went.”
“Yes, they were, weren’t they? Some of them don’t get a lot of visitors, or they are in such a hard place they don’t have a lot of self-confidence. They feel invisible. When someone gives them help of any sort, or even a smile or a kind word, it can make all the difference.”
I sighed. “I need to be better.” I knew Yule wasn’t meaning to, but he was making me feel bad for all the years I had been less than kind to people around me, especially peop
le like the ones we had met today.
“You will, little elf,” Yule said confidently. “What was your favorite part of the day?”
* * *
“Well, duh. The shopping.” I giggled. Besides picking up litter, visiting the elderly, and feeding the homeless, we had purchased hundreds of toys, dropping them off at angel trees and Toys for Tots bins all over town.
“I should have guessed. It’s always the shopping.”
“What was your favorite?” I asked, closing my eyes as I waited for his answer.
“My favorite?” I felt the rumble of his laughter against my back. “My favorite was meeting your friend Marcus.”
Beyond doing good deeds for the less fortunate, Yule had insisted that I needed to experience the joy of picking out and giving the perfect gift. He had taken me to the mall, and told me to pick out anything I wanted for anyone I wanted. Because my family would have thought I was completely off my rocker, if I had showed up with a pile of presents, I chose Marcus. I had picked out a rainbow beanie and scarf, a cashmere sweater, and a special Harry Potter coffee mug I knew he would love. He was a secret Potter-head.
I had felt overly vulnerable showing up at his house with gifts, knowing that we had never exchanged them before, and that Marcus was about as anti-Christmas as I had been before Yule came along and turned my holiday spirit on his head.
And oh yeah, there was Yule himself. I showed up on Marcus’s doorstop with a hunky Santa Claus.
Marcus hadn’t even batted an eye when I did, though. He invited us in graciously, and even served cocoa almost as good as Santa’s. His house was already decked out for the holiday, and he seemed to wince a little when he sat on the hard wooden barstool at his kitchen island, raising my earlier suspicions.
He had loved the gifts, and even surprised me with a porcelain teddy bear for my collection.
All those surprises had been more than enough, but my favorite one was when he pulled me away from Yule, and cornered me by the Christmas tree.
“Hot Santa looks pretty legit,” he whispered, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. “But he’s not your usual type. Where did you meet him?”
“Oh you know, around the neighborhood,” I answered, gesturing vaguely.
Marcus smirked. “Yeah, I don’t think so, honey. Tell me this, did he make a believer out of you? You off the naughty list yet?”
I choked on my cocoa and turned to gape at him. Marcus often spoke in code and innuendo, but this seemed like too big a coincidence to just be another one of his silly speech patterns.
“Oh, close your mouth, child. You knew I was safe. That’s why you brought him here.”
“I mean, I guess, I thought maybe...” I chose my words carefully. “You seemed different lately, and he had mentioned something, I guess.”
Marcus nodded sagely, bringing his mug to his lips and taking a sip before smiling. “Honey, I am always gonna be as gay as a Froot Loop, but I’ll tell you one thing. Vixen the elf mistress can visit me anytime she wants to. In fact, here soon, I’m going to start actively trying to get back on that list for next year. Mmmhmm.”
I laughed, and shook my head. “He broke into my apartment and started spanking me.”
Marcus nodded, looking totally unsurprised.
“He says I’m his Mrs. Claus.”
Marcus turned and peeked at Yule over his shoulder before turning back to me. “Girl! Go get your Santa then, you lucky bitch.”
I smiled and craned my neck to look up at ‘my Santa.’ “Yeah, okay. That part was my favorite, too. So Vixen the elf mistress is real, huh?”
Santa grinned. “Well, little elf, it’s like I said. Somebody has to help the naughty boys see the error of their ways. Sometimes a little Santa magic is enough, but if it isn’t, a visit from Vixen will usually do the trick.”
“You’re crazy.” I stretched my body to receive his offered kiss.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “But it’s the good kind of crazy.”
“Onward to the North Pole,” Santa cried, as we climbed into his jet-powered sleigh.
I smiled weakly. I was excited, of course, but nervous as all get-out. I had been stalling all morning, first by insisting we make breakfast together then by taking as long as possible to choose the perfect outfit, and finally by reminding him of the errand he said we would run this morning. It had turned out to be delivering food, clothes, and money, along with a hotel-room key to the homeless veteran I passed on my way to work every day. His name, I learned, was Mac, and he was a pretty good guy who had had a run of bad luck. Lesson learned.
I had learned a lot of lessons over the past ten days, many of them the hard way, but I was proud of the changes I had made. I was different, now, and ready to face my future, however unbelievable it might be.
It was a good thing I was ready, too, because the sleigh ride was short and fast, and before I could finish my musings or take a deep breath or worry about whether or not I had picked the right outfit, we were there.
The sleigh landed atop a hill of snow in front of a large majestic-looking log-cabin-style home, with a huge wraparound porch. Christmas lights framed every inch of the awning and all of the windows. In the distance was a matching building. It was slightly larger. A large sign hung in front of the door, proclaiming it to be Santa’s Workshop.
I couldn’t help but feel the magic of Christmas here. It lit up my soul, and warmed me from the inside out.
“Oh my goodness. It’s a real winter wonderland. I’ve never seen anything like this before,” I breathed. Being from the desert and not traveling much had really limited my exposure to snow and cold. I shivered and pulled my jacket tight. I’d never been so cold in my life, but the snow was calling to me, and I wanted to play. As soon as the sleigh stopped completely, I stood to climb out.
Santa caught me by my elbow before I could get anywhere. “Where are you going?”
“I want to play in the snow.” I tugged slightly, trying to free myself from his grasp.
“Not dressed like that, little elf. You’ll turn into a popsicle.” Snapping his fingers, he completely changed my adorable “meet the parents” outfit into a full-on snowsuit, complete with bulky boots, gloves, a scarf, and a hat that covered my ears. All bright red, of course.
“Are you for real? I feel like that kid in that movie we watched the other night where his mom wraps him up. I can barely move.” I dramatically waddled like a penguin in place.
“You’ll thank me later. Trust me.”
I was already ten times warmer than I had been and wondering why he hadn’t bundled me up sooner, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. Judging by the smug look on his face, he already knew, anyway.
I looked at him, gave a huge smile, and thought, Bite me, Santa Daddy, before turning my attention back to the snow.
“Careful, little elf, or I might do that,” he growled from behind me.
There was about a foot of snow on either side of the walkway, and I trudged right into it. It felt like trying to walk through a pool, but without that floating feeling. I stood there for a minute, taking it all in. Then I closed my eyes and free-fell backward. The snow crunched under my weight, and I sank down into it. It was soft and cold, and I loved it.
Giggling, I spread my arms and legs out wide in a sweeping motion to make a snow angel. The suit Santa had wrapped me in was serious business. It kept all the cold and wet out.
“Have you ever built a real snowman?” I asked from my sprawled position. Getting up wasn’t as easy as getting down had been, and I struggled as I tried to stand.
Ignoring my predicament, Santa guffawed. “I grew up here, little elf. I’m a snowman-building Jedi master.”
“Show me!”
“Not right now, little elf. We don’t really have time. We’re going to be discovered any second now. If they aren’t already watching through the window. Come on.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the snow, effortlessly.
Meeting his parents was the reason we were here,
of course, but we had all day, and I wasn’t ready. The North Pole and the splendor of the snow had brought out that buried little girl, and I wanted to play.
“Come on!” I tugged on his arm, pulling it up and down. “Just show me really quick. We’ll build a little baby snowman. It doesn’t have to be fancy or anything. How long can it possibly take?”
“Long enough, little elf. Let’s go.”
Shaking off my arm, he turned and walked toward the house, but I wasn’t ready. Panic seized me with every step he took.
I followed slowly, ten steps behind. The snow crunched under my boots, and I was inspired. Stopping to eyeball a big mound at the base of a bush near the porch, I allowed my impulses to take over. Bending down, I took a big scoop of it into my hands, and quickly formed it into a ball.
“Hey, Daddy,” I yelled, chucking the ball of snow in his direction when he turned toward me to see what was the matter.
The ball of snow made a satisfying thudding sound when it hit the shoulder of his velvet Santa coat.
He cocked an eyebrow at me and smiled. “Oh, little elf, you have made a grave mistake.”
I didn’t wait for him to say anything else before I reloaded, aimed, and let another one fly. This time, I hit him square in the chest. Before I could finish packing the third one, Santa charged and tackled, sending me flying backward, ass first into the snow. He leaned over me, knocking me all the way back, and pinned my arms above my head on either side.
“Now, now, now. What do we have here?” The voice was a deep rumble, and my stomach sank as I guessed the origin. “Could it be my son, and my future daughter-in-law having a bit of fun without me? A snowball fight, perhaps?” I looked up to see a handsome white-haired man of nearly eighty, with a big belly and a full beard, wearing jeans and a thick red-and-green plaid flannel. The scarf wrapped around his neck matched the jacket of Yule’s suit, and I groaned. This was not the first impression I wanted to make.
“Get off her, Son,” he boomed. “The elves could be watching.” It seemed a weird thing to say, and I giggled as Yule rolled off me, and helped me up.