Temptations of Christmas Future

by Lexi Post

  Ethan continued. “I know, but she came to me and you’re the one who taught me to never turn away from a friend.”

  Malcolm pointedly looked at Holly, and she flushed. Good.

  Ethan sat in his chair and sighed. “I don’t think it would make much difference to tell her I love her. She seems to have forgotten we were once friends.” Ethan gave a pathetic chuckle. “No Mum, it’s not an American thing. She doesn’t even know I exist anymore.”

  Malcolm watched Holly closely. She was intent on Ethan’s conversation, but there was no recognition in her face.

  Ethan looked up at the ceiling as if finding his patience. “No, I won’t do that. Did you want me to bring Sophia with me on Sunday?”

  Holly whispered as if Ethan could overhear. “He didn’t say anything about a baby. Do you think he’s skeptical?”

  Malcolm opened his mouth, but Joy stepped in. “I’m sure he is since he doesn’t remember that night.”

  Ethan reached for the glass of Scotch with his free hand. “Right, I’ll pick him up on my way over. See you then.” With one hand, he ended the conversation and with the other, he threw back the shot of whiskey.

  Holly frowned, floating closer to Ethan. “I’m so sorry. I did this.” She waved her hand at the whole room. “I did all of this.”

  Joy drifted forward as if she’d offer comfort. “You didn’t know. How could you?”

  Holly glanced at him. “I could have if I’d been a good friend like he’d been to me.”

  He nodded.

  Joy glanced back at him before facing Holly again. “You were grieving. You needed some time. You just took too long.”

  “You’re right. This is all wrong. I can change this.”

  “How?” Malcolm pulled Holly’s attention from Joy. “How will you fix this?”

  “Tomorrow. He invited me to his parents for Christmas day. I’ll go. If he needs someone to talk to about Cameron, I’ll be there for him.”

  He pressed his advantage. “But that’s not all he needs from you.”

  Joy gave him a nervous look, but Holly kept shaking her head, now having a dose of her own guilt. “This isn’t right. How could anyone be his friend and forget he exists. Is it someone from when he attended the university?”

  Malcolm felt like Ethan wasn’t the only one who had lost patience. “No. Think. What woman do you know who used to be friends with Ethan and is American?”

  Holly’s brow lowered as she thought. “I didn’t know he knew any Americans but me.” She stared at him, and he raised his eyebrows.

  “Oh no.” She shook her head. “You don’t mean…he loves…but I didn’t know…how can—” She closed her mouth, her eyes wide.

  Joy moved in like Florence Nightingale. “Of course you didn’t.” She looked at him with disbelief.

  He ignored her. “But think of all your actions for the last three years from his point of view, and this is even farther into the future. The woman he loves pushes him away every time. Do you wonder he drinks himself into a stupor every night?”

  “That’s it.” Joy grabbed his arm. “You overstepped.”

  He refused to be moved. “He’s loved you for a long time. After Cameron’s death, he thought it was just a shared sympathy, his heart aching for you in your grief. Then he realized it was something more. He’s wanted to tell you but out of respect didn’t push you…for three long years. Then, as you see, he gave up. You made that easy since you avoid him.”

  Holly shook her head. “But I can’t.”

  He floated toward Holly, but Joy blocked his way. “I think you’ve done enough.”

  He stared at her. His anger at Holly didn’t make sense. He was law enforcement. He kept his cool, his objectivity. Why be angry at—he was angry at the wrong woman. “Cameron Douglas, come here!”

  Joy’s eyes grew round. “What are you doing? You can’t call him here.”

  He lifted his head to shout toward the ceiling. “Cameron Douglas, your wife needs help!”

  Joy grabbed him as if she could stop him from shouting. “Malcolm, don’t. Please.”

  He stared into her eyes which were filled fear. “Why not?”

  “I’m afraid for you.”

  He grabbed her shoulders. “Why?”

  She looked away.

  He’d seen something there. He had to know why.

  “What’s going on?” Cameron Douglas floated through the ceiling and directly toward Holly. “Hen, are you okay?”

  She shook her head.

  He threw them a look of rage before he gathered his wife into his arms.

  At his boss’s contact with his wife, a small doubt crept into Malcolm’s conscience. Could the man keep his time with her limited, or had he just sentenced Cameron to a ghostly existence?

  He pushed the thought away. If he was right, this was Cameron’s test and he had his own woman to deal with. Without a word, he let go of her shoulders, grabbed her hand and swept them into the ether.

  Joy tried to pull away. “We can’t leave. We have to fix this with Cameron.”

  Her struggles were fierce, but he was far stronger. The ether cleared as he landed them in his living room and he let her go.

  She spun on him, her eyes filled with unshed tears. “We need to go back. Don’t you understand? Cameron will dismiss you and you’ll never be seen again.”

  His heart lurched. “Why do you care if that happens?”

  “Because I don’t want you to disappear. Don’t you understand?”

  His chest tightened as emotion threatened to choke off his words. He lowered his voice. “Joy, why don’t you want me to disappear.”

  She pushed a stray strand of hair back behind her ear. “I care about you.”

  He forced himself not to cross the room and take her in his arms. “Why?”

  At that, she rolled her eyes. “You can’t figure that out?”

  He shook his head. He needed to hear it.

  “I care because you’re kind and honorable and caring and smart and…” she shrugged.

  “And what?” She made him sound like a paragon of virtue which he wasn’t, but he needed to hear everything.

  A tremulous smile formed on her lips. “And you’re sexy squared to the tenth power.”

  His ego swelled at her words, but it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. He finally moved toward her.

  She backed up a step, and he grasped her arm. Her eyes widened as she looked up at him. Did he appear that scary?

  He lifted his other hand to cup her face and an electric shock had them both jumping apart.

  “Will you fuxing let me touch the woman I love? What is wrong with you?”

  Joy stared at him in shock.

  He loved her. A warmth settled around his heart as if all the cracks and gouges filled in. He felt whole.

  A movement in the window behind Joy caught his attention. The green colored mist swirled to form two golden eyes and whiskers. The eyes squinted as if laughing before the image disintegrated. What in the afterlife was that?

  “Malcolm?” Joy’s voice brought his attention back to her. Her turbulent turquoise eyes glowed with a new warmth. “You love me?”

  “Aye, I do.” He’d tried to resist, but he’d been helpless against her sweet happy soul. She was an unexpected delight on so many levels.

  When she didn’t say anything, his heart started to ramp up. “I’m hoping maybe ye feel a wee bit for me as well.”

  “Oh yes!” She stepped forward then halted. “I do love you and I want to touch you.” Her brow lowered in worry.

  He glanced at the window behind her. Did that mean they’d never be able touch each other in his cottage? Was he supposed to keep his future sexual methods away from her? If that was the case, he’d gladly do it to be with her.

  He stepped closer to her. “I want to touch you, too. Take my hand.”

  Gingerly, she clasped his hand.

  As much as he wanted to pull her against him, he couldn’t risk the pain to her. “Now yo
u touch my arm.”

  “Maybe we should go outside.”

  He grinned because that’s exactly where he was headed if that was their only option, but he needed to be sure. “Just use your finger.”

  Hesitantly, she held out her hand. As her finger hovered over his wrist, he held his breath. Finally, her light touch was on his skin. Her gaze snapped to his. “I don’t understand.”

  Afraid to hope, he kept his excitement to himself. “Now use your whole hand.”

  She grasped his wrist. Still, there was no shock.

  He smiled, gazing at her with all that he felt. He raised his hand still clasped by hers and cupped her cheek. “It’s okay now.”

  “Why?”

  He shrugged. “I think a certain entity didn’t want me to have you here unless it meant more than simply sex.”

  Joy’s eyes glittered with mischief. “I would have been okay with that.”

  He laughed, the action freeing. “I know and so would I, but I think we were meant to fall in love.”

  “You really do love me?”

  “Ach, lass, from the moment I saw beneath your poised exterior, I started falling for you.”

  She cocked her head and looked up at him through her lashes. “And when was that?”

  “When I discovered you had a piercing.” He’d explain exactly when that was later.

  She winked. “If I’d known that was all it took, I would have told you about it the second time we passed each other in the spirit lounge.”

  “That soon?”

  She nodded. “Oh yes. I’ve been half in love with you since the first time we met. I was so afraid you’d find out and laugh at me.”

  He pulled her into his embrace. “I could never laugh at you. You fill the dark, empty places in my soul and make me want happiness again.”

  “Oh, Malcolm.” At the look of love in her eyes, he lowered his lips to hers and gave her the kind of kiss only a consummate deserved.

  When he pulled away, her eyes were shining once again with unshed tears. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing. I’m just so happy.”

  He gave her a seductive smile. “I can make you even happier if you’d like.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Oh, I’d like.”

  Laughing, he scooped her up into his arms and headed for his bedroom, anxious to show her how much he could worship her both body and soul.

  Chapter Eleven

  Joy thought her heart would jump out of her body it was so full of happiness. Never had she imagined Malcolm would love her. He was darkness and strength and she was light and soft, but it had happened. And in the afterlife, no less.

  She was still adjusting to her dreams coming true when Malcolm gently laid her on his bed. She could barely see anything as the room was dark. In fact, it didn’t seem to have any windows.

  He stepped away. “Open ceiling.” At his words, the ceiling rolled back to reveal a series of square windows that looked into the green mist between his mountains. From where she lay, she could see the peak of one. It bathed the room in a beautiful green light. It was beaut—she swallowed as she leaned up on her elbows.

  Malcolm’s bedroom was a tribute to everything sensual. On the walls, painted directly into the stucco, were murals depicting various sexual acts between men and women, two women, two men, threesomes, foursomes, and even orgies.

  The sex itself ranged from simple, to toys she’d never seen before, contraptions she was sure didn’t exist in her time, to bondage. One scene in particular caught her attention. A man with a pierced cock and a woman with pierced nipples were being led by a man who held chains attached to their piercings.

  “Do you see anything you like?” Malcolm’s voice had changed. Here was the sexual man she’d sensed when he’d walked by her in the lounge.

  She moved her gaze across the various images, well aware that already her body was excited. “Maybe. There are some I’m not sure what is happening.”

  His lip quirked up. “Allow me to educate you.” He gestured to one wall. “Motion, no sound.”

  The painted figures started to move as if a porn movie played inside the wall itself except without live people. She stared as one woman straddled a man on what looked to be a weight bench only the head was lower than the hips. Another man pushed her forward and dribbling lube down her ass then proceeded to thrust inside her butt hole while she continued to ride the man beneath her.

  Joy tried to close her mouth, but she seemed to need it to bring in more air as her gaze fell on a woman attached to a wall with furry manacles. Another woman lifted a bucket and poured what looked like a red syrup all over the other woman. Within seconds it had dried on her like a candy apple. Two men joined the syrup woman and began to eat away at the woman against the wall, who was obviously enjoying every moment.

  Joy swallowed. “I knew I wasn’t that experienced, but this is far more than I imagined.” She looked sideways at one woman who had brought out something that looked like a whip, but seemed to have a mind of its own as it curled around a man’s cock. “And I’m pretty sure there are a number of these I have no interest in.”

  Malcolm smiled. “I’m glad to hear that.”

  Her body relaxed. She’d been afraid that he was into every act. At least half held no interest to her, while others… She watched a man pull a string from inside a woman’s sheath then eat the large nugget that popped out, only to pull on the string again until another treat was revealed. That both the treat and the woman’s clit were devoured by his mouth had Joy’s own sheath moistening. “These aren’t depictions of real acts, are they?”

  He nodded. “Oh, they are. In fact, this was one of the most sought-after reels of my time.”

  “Reels?”

  “Yes, that’s what these were called. Painted sexual scenes that come to life.” He strode around his bed to the other wall. “This is what I’d like to do to you now.”

  She studied the act in progress. A naked man with black hair dribbled oil on a woman lying on her stomach on a cushioned table. “A massage?”

  He grinned. “With a bonus.”

  “That sounds wonderful.” Suddenly, she stilled. “But what about Holly?”

  “Massage table.” At Malcolm’s command, a table rose up from the floor. “Holly couldn’t be in better hands right now. We need to let the two of them figure things out. I’m sure Cameron will find us when he wants to.”

  He was right. Holly was in good hands, but she still worried about Malcolm. They needed to make sure that he could keep his job and based on Cameron’s reaction, that didn’t seem likely. Don’t be subtle. Of course! Cameron had basically told them what to do. Maybe he wanted to be Holly’s knight in shining armor.

  “Joy?” Malcolm, completely naked, stood next to the bed, holding out his hand.

  She smiled and put her hand in his.

  “Turn around so I can get you out of your clothes.”

  “I can simply—”

  “I know, but I want to undress you for a change.” His eyes seemed to shine with a warm glow that had her body shivering in response.

  She turned around, and he unzipped her green velvet dress, slipping it off her shoulders, down her arms to puddle at her feet. He crouched, holding the dress as she stepped from it.

  Malcolm threw it over a strange looking chair before turning back to look at her. “If I’d known what sexy under things you wear, I would have undressed you slowly before now.”

  She laughed. “No, you wouldn’t have. You were too anxious to get me naked.”

  “And get inside you.” At his words, her breath hitched.

  “Turn around slowly. I want to see you.” He motioned with his hand what he wanted.

  She was happy to comply. She wore a soft white corset with thigh highs attached by dainty flowered garters. Beneath it was a thong of pale green lace. She slowly turned, allowing him to look all he wanted. When she finally faced him, his cock was hard and proudly
sticking out.

  A secretive smile curled his lips. “Beautiful.”

  It wasn’t the word, but how he said it that caused her to flush.

  Before she could respond, he knelt at her feet. “I love these old-fashioned garters.” His large fingers nimbly worked the hooks on the front and back of her thigh. Then he purposefully rolled the nylon down to her boot. Lifting her foot as if he were Cinderella’s prince, he removed her boot and rolled the nylon completely off.

  Again, he rose and put her thigh high by the odd chair before returning to undress her other leg. When he’d completed that one, he returned and turned her around. Deftly, he unhooked the back of her corset, pulling it from her torso. As he put that away, she remained where she was.

  She felt him stand against her back, his hands coming around to cup her breasts. “I’m going to make you come three times before you stand on your feet again.” His voice brushed by her ear, causing her to shiver, though it could well be his words that caused that.

  One hand moved from her breast to grasp the front of her thong, and she held her breath. The other hand moved over her shoulder to glide down her back.

  “Are you wet for me?” His whispered words caused more moisture to fill her folds.

  She nodded.

  “Good.” His hand at her back grasped the top of her thong and slowly pulled upward, tightening the lacy string between her ass cheeks, sensitizing her anal hole and smearing her wetness. “Not that I don’t believe you. I just want to see it.”

  He continued to pull until the panties were pressing her barbell in her clit hood and she jerked at the spike of excitement.

  As if it was exactly what he’d waited for, he lowered the thong down to her feet and took it off.

  “Ach, definitely a good start.”

  She turned around to see him add the thong to her pile of clothes. Then he took her hand and led her to the cushioned table. The top almost looked like it was made of twenty separate square cushions.

  When Malcolm moved to the side and dropped four of them, leaving two holes big enough for her breasts, her curiosity rose. “Why do I have the feeling this is no ordinary massage table.”