I had to agree, there was something about this stunning woman that got under your skin. Even so, it wasn’t worth revealing ourselves to the humans any more than he already had with her.
Luka had held me back when Holly made her way to the roof with Bernard. I stayed only to see what he had to say for himself and to insist he stop this blasted charade of his.
Instead of defending his actions, he surprised me by confessing that he knew his magic was the cause of the demonic toys, and that there was no chance he could make this work. But he needed to draw me out and give me a reason to be willing to help him. His actions the entire night had been completely intentional.
Luka had been trying to find the right time to show me something he wasn’t sure I would have looked at or even considered otherwise. Then he insisted on showing me one of the letters from the stack accidentally addressed to him.
Sure, this one had his name scrawled across the front of it, but when I opened it I realized it had been no accident. Inside was a letter addressed to the both of us, from a very dear old friend of both of ours. I could still recall the words.
Dear Nick and Luka,
I know it’s been awhile and I’m sorry for that. Please find a way to contact me, I need help from the both of you. Nick, I know you might be pissed that I am asking Luka’s help as well, but this is the only way.
My daughter has lost her Christmas spirit and she needs to find it again. Between the two of you I know you can help her find the magic within her once more. I look forward to seeing you.
Best Regards,
Reginald
I wasn’t sure exactly how Luka had ended up with Reginald’s daughter at his side for the evening, but something told me we were about to find out. We entered the house, and as expected it was decorated to the hilt for Christmas, just as they had always done.
The sight made me smile, some things didn’t change, even after all these years. Fudge, I really missed having those two around the North Pole, they had really brought an extra bit of life to the place. I sighed as we moved further into the house.
I heard Holly before I saw her, and it made me grin, she had quite the temper on her. It was no wonder I was so attracted to her, for Jingle Bells sake, I was already thinking about taking her again and making her cry out my name. Probably not the best idea considering we were in her father’s home.
“Don’t you even pull that tone with me Dad, I know better,” Holly scolded. “I know you know something and you better start explaining.”
We stepped into the doorway, the large French doors giving enough room for the three of us to stand shoulder to shoulder. Holly paced the room, and Reginald sat on the sofa watching her patiently.
Finally spotting us in the doorway she grabbed Luka’s hand and dragged him in the room. I pushed back a tinge of jealousy that it had not been my hand she took instead. Up to this point I had given her no reason to prefer me over him, I had no reason to be jealous.
She stopped with Luka in front of her Dad. “Exhibit A,” she motioned to Luka. “Do you want to explain to me why these guys seem to know who you are?”
Reginald beamed at Luka, as he stood from the couch, “I see you got my letter then? It’s good to see you boy, it’s been way too long, way too long indeed.” He crossed the short distance and embraced him in a hug, clapping him on the back. Holly stood next to the two of them staring at them slack jawed.
They separated and Reginald turned to the doorway, ignoring his daughters protests for the moment. “Nick, Bernard, it’s so good to see the two of you again. He strolled toward us, shaking Bernard’s hand, a huge grin on his face before giving him a hug. “Keeping this one in line I trust?” He chuckled.
“Always,” Bernard laughed.
Reginald moved to me, “You haven’t aged a bit, Nick. I’m glad you came,” he said sincerely, embracing me as he had the others.
“It’s good to see you, I’m sorry to hear about Martha,” I told him regretfully. I truly was, she had been a good woman, one that cared deeply for those at the Pole. I wish I had known, as I would have been here to pay my respects.
“Thank you, she no longer suffers and that is what is important my boy. She loved you, you know.” I nodded, blinking back the emotion that threatened to choke its way through. “Anyway, enough of that, it’s Christmas Eve and you’re all here.” He clapped his hands together and turned back to Holly.
“Yes, and you better start explaining what the Hell is going on.”
I was kind of with her on this one, I really wanted to know what had brought us all in this room and what Reginald was playing at. He had always had something up his sleeve, but this one appeared to take the cupcake.
Chapter Twenty
Holly
Dad looked at me sheepishly, “I had to do something Holly.” He tossed his hands out to the sides in exasperation. “It pained me to see that you were so miserable around the holidays. I couldn’t stand knowing that you stopped believing in the Christmas spirit or in Santa and all he stood for. Especially since I knew exactly how real it was, and how much it all meant to your mother. I had to do something,” his eyes pled with me for understanding.
“Dad, I’m not miserable, I just miss Mom. She always made the holidays so joyous and magical. It’s so different without her.” I crossed to him and squeezed him tight, a tear slipping down my cheek. “I only just now realized I should have been here for you too. I’m sorry.” I murmured against his chest.
“Oh now, don’t you think a thing of it. You were hurting and I knew that,” he eased me away from him. “That’s why I called in the calvary,” he beamed as if he had done the greatest thing in the world.
“I hate to break it to you Dad, but this Santa’s broken. He’s the grumpiest, most selfish damned Santa I’ve ever met. If you’re counting on him for Christmas cheer, you’re going to be extremely disappointed,” I informed him seriously.
My dad gave a full bellied laugh and Nick grimaced at him. “She sure does have you pegged doesn’t she?” He laughed again, holding his stomach. “Oh, that’s the best thing I’ve heard all night,” Dad wiped a tear from his cheek.
“It’s not that funny, Reginald,” Nick said dryly.
“It’s true though,” I told him. “The Devil has more Christmas spirit than you do.”
Nick frowned at me while Luka puffed his chest out at the compliment. I don’t think either one of them realized that they were both fitting into their roles right now perfectly. Nick as the grumpy ass Santa, and Luka as the happy, prideful Devil. Dad watched the exchange between us, a wide grin spread across his face. “Funny how The Worlds work isn’t it?” he asked.
“The worlds? Don’t you mean the world?”
“No, he means The Worlds,” Bernard spoke up. “You don’t think that Christmas magic, or that from Hell for that matter, could exist in this world, do you? Can you imagine the risk if it were to run rampant here? You’ve seen some of those consequences tonight,” he explained.
“That makes sense I guess,” I agreed. “That still doesn’t explain how you know them, or why you would call them to help make me happy at Christmas again.”
Dad took a deep breath as if preparing to tell me something difficult. “Your mother and I weren’t always exactly truthful with you,” he began, trailing off, lost in thought. I assumed trying to figure out the best way to tell me their secret.
The guys all remained silent, it appeared they already knew what he was about to reveal to me. Deafening silence filled the room, “Dad, just tell me, whatever it is, we’ll deal with it.” I couldn’t be mad with him, I was sure they had their reasons for keeping what appeared to be a big secret from me all of these years. I needed to hear him out and have an open mind.
“Your mother and I used to be caretakers of the North Pole. It was how we met actually,” he gave a sad, sweet smile as he remembered. “We both were born and raised at the Pole by our parents and they by the generations of caretakers before them,” he wat
ched me closely, making sure I understood. I gave him a slow nod, indicating I did, and for him to continue.
“It had been forbidden for us to see each other; our parents would hear nothing of it. A simple reindeer caretaker, and a baker’s daughter should have never even spoken to one another. It was the same as royalty speaking to a commoner, and was forbidden.
Nick and Luka were our friends, they encouraged us to see each other, the rules be damned. It shouldn’t matter if we cared for one another. We continued to see each other and we fell in love and created you.”
“Not only were you a creation of the North Pole and its magic, but you were a result of our forbidden love. We had deliberately disobeyed our parents, and that was a sin. We were told because of that you were going to be taken from us and someone else would decide your fate as you should not even exist. So, with help from these three, we left the only home we had ever known and came here to create somewhere safe for you,” he finished, his eyes hopeful that I would understand.
“Why did you not ever tell me this before?” I asked.
“Your mother wanted to,” he admitted. “I was too afraid that you would want to leave us to go find where you had come from. I didn’t want to lose you.”
“There is no way you would ever lose me, you’re stuck with me for good, Dad.” I fell silent for a moment, thinking about the news he had just dropped on me. “What does this mean for me?” I inquired.
“What do you want it to mean for you?” Luka asked, coming over and taking my hands. “This doesn’t have to change things, and you don’t have to go back to the North Pole if you don’t want to.”
“I’m not sure exactly what I want,” I told them honestly. “Before tonight I hadn’t even considered that Santa might actually be real, or his elf, let alone the Devil.” I laughed cynically. “Hell, had I known you guys were this sexy, I might have actually wished you were real and not lost my Christmas spirit.”
“Think we’re sexy huh?” Luka grinned as he turned to me.
“Don’t get a big head,” I laughed.
“I’ll give you a head alright,” he said, his voice dropping seductively.
“Hush, perv,” I giggled, a contradiction to my words.
“Look, we have to run back to the Pole to restock before we head out. Would you like to finish the night out with us? No pressure,” Bernard suggested.
“You intended to anyway,” Luka smiled hopefully.
“Splendid idea,” Dad said, a huge grin on his face. I started to decline; I didn’t think it was such a good idea. I felt that they were determining my fate. Generations had been told what they had to do. To the point of my parents being told who they could be with, who they could love, and being forced to leave to protect me. If I went back to the North Pole what would happen to me?
“This is such a bad idea,” Nick shook his head vigorously.
“You know what? Fuck it, lets go to the North Pole.” I wasn’t going to go, but if that dickhead thought it was a bad idea, I was going to go, even if it was just to piss him off. “I’ll finish out the night with you three, but that is all I’m promising for now,” I told them. I just hoped I wasn’t making a big fucking mistake.
Chapter Twenty-One
Holly
I kissed my Dad goodbye and promised to be back later in the day despite the self-satisfied grin on his face. We all piled into the sleigh and this time I rode upfront next to Bernard, deciding it was best to avoid Nick or Luka so I could actually enjoy the ride.
We took off and everyone sat in awkward silence for a while. I’m sure they were each trying to process the new bits of information they each had learned. While they had already known who and what my father was, they hadn’t known that I was his daughter, and I was certain that had to come as a surprise to each of them.
Fuck, two of them had slept with me and I wasn’t sure how that weighed on their conscious. Did either of them even care about the fact that they had sex with a close friend’s daughter? I laughed inwardly, that was pretty doubtful, considering that if I were honest with myself, I didn’t care that they were his friends. I didn’t regret a moment of it.
They sleigh dipped down briefly as we avoided an ominous looking cloud and I watched in awe as stars appeared in the distance. Bigger and brighter than I had ever seen them before. I had missed all of this before. I had been a little preoccupied. “It’s so beautiful,” I breathed out.
Bernard looked at me, staring for a minute, his hazel eyes intense as they locked with mine, “Yes you are,” he said thickly before his cheeks flushed red and his ears turned crimson. Quickly he turned back to the front of the sleigh, staring straight ahead as if his life and everyone on board depended on it.
His thigh brushed against mine and heat spread through me, interesting. I was attracted to him before, but I hadn’t thought he returned the feelings. This elf was hella hot and I would be happy to jingle his bells, that was for sure. I glanced over at him, his ears still flushed, damn that was cute.
I wondered how strongly he returned those feelings. Slowly I moved my hand over to his thigh and ran it down the hard length, his velvety pants smooth under my hand. He sucked in a breath as I moved my hand upward and stopped inches from grazing his dick.
“Holly,” he said thickly, dropping his hand to cover mine, stopping me from traveling any further upward. “I-I don’t suggest you do that,” he stuttered. Damn he was so adorable when he was flustered.
“Why? Afraid you’ll crash?” I leaned over closer to his ear, and whispered low and seductively, “afraid you’ll like it Bernard?”
“Fuck,” he groaned.
I shifted onto my hip so I could face him better, using my free hand to reach for his dick and found him already hard as a rock. He shuddered out a breath, his stomach clenching as he struggled to control himself. In the back seat of the sleigh Luka made eye contact with me and winked making me grin and feel even more brazen.
“Think you can control the sleigh Bernard?” I inquired, kneading his dick harder, making him let out a heavy breath. He released my hand from his leg and surprised me by unhooking his suspenders and sliding his pants down, letting his large cock spring free.
“Holly, I tried to warn you,” he said, his voice rough with need as he reached behind my head, fisting his hand in my hair. He surprised me as he pulled my head into his lap, my lips hovering right above his stiff dick. “Open Holly,” he demanded.
This was a side of Bernard that I hadn’t expected and I found that it excited me. Heat shot through me once again, gathering at my core. I went from the one teasing and tempting to being the one that was being controlled.
He pulled my head lower, his dick pressed against my lips now, “You know you want to taste my cock, take it you naughty girl,” he ordered again, his hand tightening in my hair as he struggled again to control himself.
I licked my lips in anticipation and lowered my mouth over his dick, his precum slick over my tongue and driving me to want to push harder over his cock. I let out a frustrated breath as I was stopped halfway down his shaft as Bernard pulled me back up, “Say please,” he growled.
Was he serious right now? “Say it Holly, or I stop you right now.”
Damn it I wanted to feel him fill my mouth. “Please,” I muttered, a soft whine escaping my lips.
“Oh no,” he chided. “You teased me, Holly. Say it.” He tugged my hair, pulling my head back to look at him, his hazel eyes dark on mine.
“Please Bernard, let me fucking taste you,” I begged.
In response he pushed my head back down on his dick, sliding my mouth back down on him in one smooth motion, allowing me to take him in completely this time. I opened my throat fully, taking in all of him. He loosened his grip on my hair, letting me bob my head up and down on him, my throat tightening around him each time I lowered myself. I stroked my tongue over his shaft, stroking him and sucking each time I pulled back.
“Holy shit Holly,” he breathed out. “You feel so da
mn good.”
I pulled back and swirled my tongue over the tip before sliding his shaft back in my mouth and pumping his it hard and fast again hitting the back of my throat. I felt his dick stiffen inside my mouth and I knew he was getting ready to finish. Heat spread through my center and my own excitement built, matching his, knowing that he was experiencing so much pleasure from what I was doing to him.
His dick jerked inside my mouth and he tightened his grip on my hair. “Take it, Holly. Swallow every bit.” I pushed down and swallowed as he filled my mouth, hot as fuck for the way he demanded that I take what he gave me.
Finally spent he sagged against the seat and relaxed his hand in my hair. I sat up and he leaned forward reaching into a hidden compartment on the dashboard. He pulled out a cloth and handed it to me, giving me a moment to wipe my mouth and then took it from me.
While I finished, he adjusted his pants again, sending me a shy grin. Really, how the hell had he gone from the domineering elf I had just witnessed back to this shy, blushing guy? Once he was seated comfortably, he leaned forward to another compartment and with a whir out slid a steaming mug of hot chocolate. He picked it up and passed it to me.
“Here you go, thought you might like, you know, a drink,” he stammered out.
“Really, your going to be shy after that?” I chuckled as he blushed again.
“Our Bernard always was a shy one,” Luka laughed from behind us. “That was hot as fuck though. Well done Bernard, well done indeed.”
“I actually have to agree on that one. You’re lucky I didn’t climb in that front seat and take that pretty little rear end of yours,” Nick chimed in, his voice heated.
“Seriously? Take that rear end? That’s the best you have?” I laughed. “Why don’t you ever swear?”
“I can’t,” Nick replied simply. “The Christmas spirit is supposed to represent everything good, while I might be a tad bit grumpy, to put negative words out there would defile that spirit and eventually Christmas would disappear,” he explained.
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