by Jenny Plumb
“I’ll help you,” she offered.
“I might appreciate that,” Ben said. “How about my... whiskers?”
Heather rolled her eyes and smiled. “Anything you need, Mr. Claus. But I have to change too. The elf heard a snake might be coming in and quit.”
“With no notice?” he said, dryly, pulling on his boots. “That never happens in retail.”
He was out on the floor, sitting in the Santa throne only about ten minutes later. Heather was right behind him in a green elf suit and an adorable Santa hat that sat perkily on her dark curls. Shaking his head, he had no idea why he was so attracted to her. Her smart ass mouth? Her adorable ass? The fact she submitted to him so sweetly, and then challenged him in the next moment? Or that she filled out that elf suit so well?
“Ho, ho, ho,” he said, to the first person in line. “Who do we have here?”
“This is Sugar Cookie.” The lady held out a bit of white fluff that Ben knew would blend with his white cuffs. He’d have to hold her against his red suit. Sugar Cookie lifted a lip and gave a little snarl. It took all his control not to snarl back. He hadn’t been to Santa school where they taught Santa manners.
The next ones up were gorgeous black labs with bright green bows. Now they knew how to dress for a Santa picture, he thought. His little elf cooed over them, arranged them properly and gave them a dog biscuit at the end. The photographer had a squeaky toy that made them sit at attention.
After that, he was handed a black cat who haughtily ignored him. That was easy.
The next two were kittens and he could hear all the ahhhs from the crowd who had gathered to watch. Nice. He knew this would bring people in.
About a half an hour later there was a small lull. He turned to Heather and said, “So is this fun, or what?”
She laughed and waved a roll of paper towels. “How many pee spots have you cleaned up, sir?”
Shocked, Ben said, “Has that come up?”
“Five here and eight so far at the other store. We’re keeping track. Winner gets to buy the loser hot chocolate.”
“Who wins? The one with more or less?” he asked and took a mental note to call the floor cleaning people for overnight work.
“We haven’t figured that out yet.” She smiled saucily at him.
Then a scream split the air and Ben and Heather both left the staged area and ran to the sound.
“My rat!” the woman screamed. “That cat scared her! She’s loose! Find her! Lady! Come!”
Half the people fled the store, shrieking; several others huddled against the wall. A few started looking around. One lady, holding a cat, started sobbing, seemingly frozen to the ground.
“What’s it look like?” Ben asked then realized how that sounded. It was a rat. It looked like a rat. Oh, bloody hell he had a rat loose in his store.
“She’s white and has a pink bow on. She’s probably scared. Lady! Lady! Come to Mommy!” She got down on her hands and knees and started looking under counters.
Okay. The rat’s name was Lady. Did rats come to whistles like dogs or a call of rat, rat, rat like kitty, kitty, kitty or… Damn, he had a rat loose in his store. Should he call the exterminator?
Suddenly, there were shrieks in the pharmacy. He saw Heather take off running, her little elf hat bobbing, and he followed closely behind her. She got there before he did and a pharmacist, who ran right into him, slammed him in the chest. Grabbing her, he steadied her and with a calming word, sent her on down the aisle. Stepping into the pharmacy, he saw Heather, holding a white thing with a pink bow in her arms. She was holding a rat. A rat.
He no longer had a rat loose in his store.
The rat’s mom, pushed past him and grabbed Lady out of Heather’s arms. “I’m never coming back here again, you scared my baby,” she sobbed and ran out of the store, as he stared after her, trying not to say anything.
“Let’s not do pet pictures next year,” Heather said, nose wrinkling and stepping closer to him, her lips curving in a smile so luscious, he couldn’t resist.
“I think that is a great idea,” he said. “You know a better one?” She shook her head as he pulled down his beard and pointed above him. There, hanging from the pharmacy door was a sprig of mistletoe. He held out his arms and she stepped into them.
As he kissed her, he heard a child scream, “Mommy! Santa’s cheating on Mrs. Claus!”
The End
About the Author
Megan McCoy
Megan McCoy lives in the heartland of America, surrounded by corn, soybean fields and hot guys on tractors. At home, she's raising kids, Chinese Cresteds, and poodles, training them all with a tender hand and heart, while saving her sternness for the alpha males in her books. Getting up at three in the morning to write leaves her time for a few hobbies - gardening, canning, bike riding, bread baking and taking in strays.
Visit her website at: www.meganmccoy.com
Facebook: meganmccoybooks
Twitter: @meganmccoybooks
Don’t miss these exciting books by Megan McCoy and Blushing Books!
Her Choice series:
His Firecracker
The Dilemma
The City Girl
Her Choice Always
Her Choice Forever
Single Titles:
Two Weeks of Joy
An Old-Fashioned Relationship
Hard Wired Desires
Audio-Books:
An Old-Fashioned Relationship
Dear Reader,
Thank you for choosing to read my story! I adore Christmas, and the thought of introducing you to the Jackson Tribe in a Christmas setting? Oh my goodness, I’m shaking with excitement!
Since I want this Christmas story to be able to be read by anyone whether they have ever heard of the Jacksons or not, I wanted to give you a quick introduction to my favorite crew!
Jacob and Maggie Jackson are the patriarch and matriarch of the Jackson family. They have seven crazy adult children who all just happen to be falling in love and living out various veins of the kinky lifestyle. How funny and convenient that that happened just as I started writing their story, huh? They are in their fifties and have spent decades running a ranch/treatment center for disadvantaged youth. They practice domestic discipline in their marriage, and have modeled a very open and sex-positive view of marriage and kink to their children.
Judah is the eldest of the siblings. He is a pastor in his early thirties and recently married a sweet girl named Antoinette (Toni), and adopted her little girl Amelia. He and Toni practice a DD relationship that is heavier on the ageplay side. When Toni is in her younger mindset she is Nettie, an adorable precocious young girl who likes to laugh, eat candy, and play pranks. Amelia is four and recently reunited with her mother.
Benjamin and Joseph are next in line. They are twins in their late twenties and do everything together. They run a highly successful realty business, and are both into the kinkier BDSM side of things. They are not able to join the Jacksons for Christmas this year as their story, which is still being written, pulled them away for the holidays. But, I promise it’s a wonderful one that you will definitely want to read once they finish telling me what it is!
Levi is number four. He’s smack dab in the middle of the seven siblings. He is a police officer, and married Bernadette (Bernie) over Labor Day weekend. He and Bernadette found out recently that they are expecting their first child, and they are ecstatic, but understandably nervous. Bernie is an elementary school guidance counselor, and is in the midst of getting her masters degree in counseling. They practice a DD marriage.
Reuben is next, followed by Dan. They both work with their parents on the ranch and haven’t revealed much of their lives to me yet.
Last, but by far not least, is Virginia (Ginny). She is the baby sister of six brothers and can stand up to all of them at once! She is a senior in high school and also in her first ever relationship, but is waiting to tell me her story until after her birthday. I’ve heard rum
ors, though, that there may be some pinings for things of the kinkier variety in her heart as well.
The only other character you need to know for this story is Saul. He is a young man that Bernie and Levi rescued from some nefarious drug dealing gang members during the summer. He had been living with his grandmother, but for various reasons, the courts decided that he was better off spending some time here at the ranch. He is in high school, and when he’s not trying to impress the gang members is a really upstanding kid.
Now, that you have a good overview of my dear friends, let’s go see what they are up to today!
Chapter 1
“They’re here! They’re here! They’re here!” Amelia bounced on the couch looking out the front window of her grandparents’ house. She had been waiting “forever” for her Aunt Bernie and Uncle Levi to arrive. Well, since breakfast, and that’s a very long time when you’re four. She threw open the front door and bounded down the steps to leap into her uncle’s arms. “You finally showed up!” She giggled when he kissed her face all over.
“Yes, we did, little girl, but why on earth are you out here in the snow with no shoes on? Your feet are like ice cubes,” he chided gently.
“I was just too ‘cited to put shoes on! But I took my socks off, so they wouldn’t get wet,” she explained with the logic that only a preschooler has. Well, a preschooler, or her mother when she was feeling “little.” “I made a good choice.”
“I’m not sure we would categorize that as a good choice, little girl.” She heard the gentle tone of her father, Judah, and looked over her shoulder guiltily. “I seem to recall that the instructions were, ‘Wait until they come inside to greet them. You’ve had a cold and we want you to heal so you can go sledding tomorrow.’ It doesn’t look to me like you were making very obedient choices, were you?”
She pouted, but shook her head honestly.
“Give your auntie a kiss, and then I think it’s time for you to go have some rest time.”
She started to fuss, but with one quirk of his eyebrow, she settled down. “Okay, Papa.”
Judah smiled happily at this name. When Amelia had started asking, a couple weeks after she moved in, whether Judah was her daddy now, he and Toni had been unsure what to say. Daddy was a name that they felt was special to them for Nettie to use; so when Amelia said she wanted “Papa” like in Little House on the Prairie one night during family reading, everyone had thought that was a perfect idea.
Amelia threw her arms around her Aunt Bernie and blew a raspberry on her cheek. “I love you the bestest, Auntie B. Is it time for the babies to come out so I can hold them yet?”
Bernie kissed her back, blowing her own raspberry. “No, monkey, not yet. You have to wait until your birthday and then your cousin will come out to play with you. Do you think it’s a boy or girl today?”
“Both!” Amelia stubbornly declared.
Everyone laughed. She had been maintaining that there were twins in there since the day Bernie announced. And no matter how many times they told her that the doctors said there was only one, she continued to insist on two.
“All right, well we’ll see who is right when it’s time for them to come out. For now, go obey your papa, and go rest. After rest time I’ll play a game with you, okay?”
Amelia grinned. “Yes! Hi-ho Cherry O!” She hopped out of Bernie’s arms and sung loudly all the way up the stairs to her room here. “Hi-ho Cherry O! Hi-ho Cherry O!”
Judah chuckled and followed her up to tuck her in.
Levi held the door as Bernie walked in with a small bag. He had a suitcase, a computer bag, and a guitar case. Jacob was sitting on the couch in the living room and jumped up to help him. “Wow son, it looks like you could use some assistance.”
Bernie made a face. “I’d be happy to ‘assist’ him, but he won’t let me carry a damn thing. I keep explaining to him I’m pregnant, not an invalid. People have been doing this for thousands of years, and I highly doubt they went nine months without lifting anything heavier than a purse or exerting themselves more than climbing a flight of stairs. But he won’t budge. He’s driving me crazy.”
Jacob laughed. “I was like that when Maggie was carrying Judah, but by the time this one came around I had mellowed out a lot. I think she was mucking stalls the day she went into labor.”
Everyone laughed at that one.
“Let me help you get situated. Y’all will obviously be in Levi’s old room. Maggie set up all the rooms with fresh linens, and snack baskets, and other frou-frou. You’d think that her children lived on the other side of the country and she only saw them once a year the way she has been preparing for this weekend.”
His sons gave each other knowing looks. “Sure, Mom has been excited at having all of her chicks in one place for the weekend. Dad, I think you’ve put more into this weekend than Mom ever could. You called me three times just this morning to see when we were coming and what our favorite beverages were,” Levi said teasingly.
Jacob’s face reddened a little, but he laughed heartily. “Okay, I might be a bit excited as well. We haven’t had everyone spend the night in a long time, and we’ve never had the wives and a granddaughter for Christmas before. What can I say? I’m a sucker for family gatherings!”
Everyone agreed, but they didn’t mind. It was fun to have the whole family together, and four full days off of work to just enjoy each other’s company did sound delightful.
Levi led Bernie upstairs. “Whoa, your parents replaced the bed in here. Wasn’t it bunk beds last time we were over?” she asked.
Levi grinned. “Yeah. I guess they decided that adult married sons needed something more intimate. I didn’t expect a king, though. This is sweet. And a TV? We never had TVs in our rooms as kids. We weren’t even allowed to have computers or laptops. My parents thought it was better, and safer, to have all media and electronics in the main areas of the house.”
“Oh my god, Levi! There are even chocolates on the pillows and mini toiletries in the bathroom! Your mom is the cutest!”
He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her head softly. “Not the cutest, because that’s saved for you, my love. But she is pretty intense with her welcoming stuff. Speaking of welcoming, let’s check out this basket. God, it’s like we opened our stockings early. There are Cheez-Its, olives, and cans of Dr. Pepper in here. She even put in Twinkies. Where did that woman even find Twinkies?”
Bernie came up behind him and gasped. “Oh Levi! She even thought of me, look at all that hot cocoa and decaf flavored coffee! I just told her that you banned me from caffeine and it was killing me. God, she is seriously the best! Is that Godiva? I am going to love your mom for life!” She popped a piece in her mouth and closed her eyes, moaning.
He pulled her onto the bed and started nuzzling her neck. “I don’t know how I feel about anyone except me getting that sound, Mrs. Jackson – even ‘divine chocolate perfection.’ I think I’d better see if I can outshine the chocolate.” He kissed her chocolate-filled mouth, and then grunted himself. “Okay, that is pretty amazing chocolate.”
Bernie giggled and started kissing him harder, sticking her tongue in his mouth, making sure he could enjoy every drop like she was.
Across the hall…
(Did you really think I was going to let you into their most intimate moments? What do you take me for – an erotica author? *evil grin*)
“But, I don’t need a rest, Judah! I’m not in Lil’ Nettie mode, and I promised Maggie I’d help her with dinner prep.”
Judah swatted her bottom. “You don’t get to use my name right now, little miss. You might not be in Lil’ Nettie mode, but you’re definitely in Nettie mindset and you know it. You’ve been throwing sass and attitude at me since I walked in here from putting Amelia down. I know you didn’t sleep well last night because you were excited about this weekend, and I know that the adults are going to marathon movies tonight, so unless you want to miss out on that fun, you’ll go lie down and ge
t some rest. Besides, I happen to know that Mom is doing lasagna tonight. She and Ginny already have them in the fridge ready to go into the oven. All they will need help with is bread and salad and they do that right before. So, there is no reason you cannot take a little nap.”
She pouted at him for a moment, and then her face changed and she grinned coquettishly. “Will you lie down with me? I might need some snuggles to get good sleep.”
Benevolently, he kissed her cheek. “Of course, baby. I’m always happy to give you snuggles.” He laid down on the bed and gestured for her to come into his arms.
She crawled onto the bed, but not into his arms, she leaned her face over his belt and started undoing it with her teeth.
“Antoinette! What are you doing?”
“I want your cock. In my mouth. Now.”
He looked at her like she had grown three heads. “Wh-what?” The bipolar change from sassy to sexy was throwing him for a loop.
“I need sex, Judah. I need it now. I need it so bad it’s like I can taste it. If we don’t have sex, I am going to curl up into a little ball and die. Seriously, die.”
He shook his head, speechless. “Okay… I mean I’m not going to deny you sex or ever turn down a blow job.” He wondered what had gotten into her though. She had been increasingly erratic lately. Super happy and then crying, really irritable and then begging for sex, completely irrational and then apologizing for being that way. He had no idea what to make of it. They had only been married for a couple of months, but had lived together since July and this was completely out of character for his little wife. He wondered if she was getting sick.
She undid his belt and then unzipped his pants, pleased to see that he was already mostly erect for her. Sliding his boxers down to his knees she turned so that her butt was in his face and her mouth wrapped around his penis. She began to suck eagerly and moaned as she did so.
