by Marie Fraser
“I couldn’t resist asking.”
“I can’t blame you,” he smiled. “But I think, even though it’s a popular movie, we’d put Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to shame.”
“Maybe,” Ashley said slyly. “Only if you can produce the ever-lasting gobstopper.”
“Oh, well,” Dasher acquiesced. “No ever-lasting gobstoppers here. But, the room where we make hot chocolate is next and I have it on good authority that you can take some home with you, if you’d like.”
Chapter Four: Pulling Back
After sampling another incredible mug of the world’s absolute best hot chocolate, Ashley yawned as they walked back to Dasher’s cabin. “You’re sleepy,” he said, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand.
“I’ve had a long day,” she said, “But I’m not complaining, this is the most amazing date I’ve ever been on.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
“That’s a mutual sentiment,” she smiled. “But I am about to fall asleep on my feet.”
“Come on,” Dasher said. “I’ll tuck you in and in the morning, I’ll make sure you’re back home in a timely manner, after morning sex.”
Ashley laughed, but when Dasher helped her undress, she was asleep within five minutes of her head hitting the pillow. The following morning, after a thank you very much for the great sex start, Ashley was once again sitting in the sleigh with Dasher next to her. The silence between them was easy and neither of them felt a pressing need to fill it with idle chatter. They made plans for the weekend after next and Dasher left her with a heated kiss as she walked into her apartment complex.
Six weeks later, Dasher found himself immersed in Ashley’s life. He knew her work schedule and they made plans regularly to see each other, even as the holiday season began to heat up. She’d even seen him in his reindeer and her reaction had been everything he’d wanted it to be, so why was it so hard to take the plunge?
Ashley Bogart was sweet, funny, a little minx in bed and was the most generous and considerate woman he’d ever met and there in lay the problem. The minute he started to feel something real and tangible, he always cut it off, but with Ashley he simply couldn’t seem to let her go.
“You’re brooding again,” she pointed out during dinner one evening when they’d decided to go out spontaneously.
“Sorry,” he said, a sheepish grin on his face.
“You’ve been brooding too much for it to simply be a passing issue,” Ashley said.
“I know I’ve been lousy company tonight,” Dasher said. “I guess I’m just not used to relationships that last more than a few weeks. I’ve always been the sort to move on after things started to involve more than just my sensory organs.”
“You mean you’re the hit ‘em and quit ‘em type,” Ashley pointed out.
“Yeah,” he chuckled. Why did it sound so bad when she said it? “It’s not that I didn’t care when I was with a woman, I did. I just…I’m not good at turning sex into something more.”
“Dasher,” she said slowly, taking time to formulate what she wanted to say. “If you want to back off, all you have to do is say so. I’m a big girl and I understand that both people have to be interested in something more for it to work.”
Dash knew that he should be jumping for joy, and inside he sort of was, but she just looked so damn calm about all of it. Why wasn’t she railing at him and telling him what a piece of crap he was? “To be honest, Ashley, I’m not sure what I want and that’s half the problem. I’m obviously not getting younger, but I don’t feel as if I have to settle down and raise an all-inclusive family just because I’m not a young buck anymore.”
“So, take some time to figure it out,” she said. “Just…don’t expect me to be available when you do.”
“That’s fair,” he said and it was pissing him off. They finished dinner amicably and Dasher took her home, refraining from kissing her before he left. “I guess I’ll see you around?”
“Yeah,” she said, sounding much more nonchalant than she felt.
***
The next three months dragged by as Ashley tried to put her time with Dasher behind her. When she was asked out by Jason, a nice man who’d complimented her elf costume, she accepted and enjoyed a lovely, but typical night out with dinner and a movie. Deciding that the guy deserved a break, Ashley suggested they go out for coffee and conversation after the movie and was actually glad the guy accepted.
“So, you’re boss makes you and only you dress up to advertise holiday savings and deals?”
“Yeah,” she replied. “I’ve been acquiescing so long I’m not even sure I’d know how to say no.”
“It’s easy,” he chuckled. “You simply walk into your manager’s office, shove your costume in his face, flip him the bird and tell him to take your job and shove it.”
“I can’t afford to do that,” Ashley laughed. “Not that the thought hasn’t crossed my mind. With Thanksgiving coming up I’m damn tired of dressing up like an overstuffed turkey, especially one who looks more like a two-bit ostrich than an actual bird you’d want to eat.”
“Well, I’m not complaining about the outfit as you look incredible in it,” he laughed. “But I can understand not wanting to prance around in ridiculous clothing just so your manager can pad his pocket for a good revenue quarter.”
“And that’s the thing that irritates me the most,” she said, really getting started now. “All the bonuses that our store rakes in, the employees never see a dime. If I had his job, my employees would know that I appreciate them in more than just free merch. I’d make it count on their paychecks so that maybe they could actually afford a decent life.”
“I can look into it for you, if you’d like,” Jason said, reminding Ashley that he was a lawyer.
“How do you argue all day?” she asked, sipping her Caramel Macchiato infusion. “Small fights make my head hurt.”
“Ah, that’s because to you, it’s not worth the reward. Which I can’t blame you for by the way. But for me, it’s about seeing if my argument stands the test. I want to win every single time and when I do, I know that the work I put into claiming discovery and issuing the right injunctions and such, I know I did my best.”
“But what about when you lose?”
“I don’t,” he grinned. “Often anyways. When I do lose, however, it gives me something to learn from and I’m a veracious learner.”
“Big words counselor,” she teased. After their coffee, Ashley was taken home, given a short but heated kiss and left to brood.
***
Dasher was restless as the heavy, bell ridden harness was placed over his head and chest. He stamped his feet in irritation, ignoring Dancer, who was trying to calm him down. It’d been nearly four months since he and Ashley had taken a break and he wanted to break something just to relieve the frustration in his system.
Unfortunately, time wasn’t going to give him the opportunity as each of his reindeer teammates was locked into place. Rudolph strutted up and down the line, trying to pump up and encourage each member to fly their best. All Dasher wanted to do was punch him in the face and feel better. By the time the toys were loaded into the sleigh and Santa took his seat, Dasher was about to boil out of his skin.
“Easy, boy,” Santa said, running a comforting hand down Dasher’s flank. He turned his huge antlers back and chuffed at the jolly man, who irritatingly enough, never seemed to be in a bad mood.
The only thing that allowed Dasher to settle was the plan he’d tucked into the sleigh. If Ashley would hear him out, he had some things to say. When Mrs. Claus stepped close to him, he looked up with his dark brown eyes and waited.
“It seems to me that for one of our calmest reindeer, you’re a little excitable tonight. We need you to be more than just the ambition and frustration,” she said. “If that irritation has anything to do with Ashley, I suggest you put it away until tomorrow morning. Tonight, you have work to do. I have it on good authority that she’s not quite as over yo
u as she’d like to think. Take some time before you go lunging head on into all of that.”
Dasher didn’t want to admit that her advice made sense, but in the cold truth of reality, he knew it did. Giving his giant head one shake, he reined in his anxiousness and stood, waiting. The big man shifted in his sleigh, grabbed the reins and said, “On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer and Vixen. On Comet and Cupid, on Donner and Blitzen. Let’s go Rudolph!”
His laughter, as it always did, rang out into the night as he shouted over the North Pole, “Merry Kristmas!”
As it always did, the twenty-four-hour run wore the reindeer so thin that most of them were sleeping in their cabins within an hour of returning home. Dasher, however, was pacing in his bedroom, having showered off the sweat and filth of flying so long through city after city. His debate wasn’t about whether or not he wanted to see Ashley. It was more about whether he should interrupt her Christmas to say his piece. Dressed in jeans, a polo shirt and his favorite leather jacket, Dasher picked up the sleigh he’d rented and after begging Comet and Cupid to make the flight and bribing them with cash, he headed over to Ashley’s.
***
Ashley sipped her coffee, sitting in her living room in her pajamas and watching the snow come down. Snow on Christmas was always such a magical occurrence that she never got over the excitement of it each time it happened. When her doorbell rang, she expected it to be her sister and was shocked when Dasher stood in her doorway.
“I was going to wait until this afternoon to come see you, but I didn’t know what your plans were so I risked it.”
“Merry Christmas to you as well,” she said, making no move to invite him in. “How did you get up here?”
“I bribed your doorman with a sleigh ride,” Dasher grinned. “Ashley, I realized about two seconds after I opened my mouth that night at dinner that I had royally stuck my foot into it. Before you I liked my women for moments at a time. A month or two of fast and furious, one woman after another and I never let myself get to the point of feeling more than male appreciation for them. Then I run into you in your elf costume and I can’t get you out of my head. I understand if the last four months have helped you move on, but for me, it’ll take a little longer if you still want to keep things as they are. I’m not here to pressure you, I just…I wanted you to know that I care, that I want more.”
Ashley watched him turn and start to walk away before she took a deep breath and said, “I don’t.”
He turned back, his dark eyes so full of hope that she chuckled. “You don’t?”
“I don’t want things to be the way they are,” Ashley said, opening her door wider. She laughed when Dasher scooped her off her feet and stepped inside, kicking the door shut behind him.
“You’ll have to understand that I’ve been up for nearly thirty-six hours and I’m- “Ashley stopped him with her lips on his and Dasher simply didn’t have it in him to care if he was half dead; he’d have her on the most magical day of the year, if it finished him off.
Chapter Five: Merry Christmas to All
Ashley, for the most part was not a needy person. However, she had a yearning inside her for Dasher that defied logic. She wanted him to touch her, everywhere, with every inch of his body. Reaching down, she stripped off her pajama top and had her bra unhooked before Dasher had taken three steps inside her apartment. His low groan of appreciation had her soaring. Unlike their first time, this was the frenzied, tear all your clothes off, mating that her body longed for. And wasn’t it wonderful that it was Dasher who would fulfill her deepest wish on her favorite holiday?
“Dash,” she breathed. Finally, the bed was beneath her and Ashley bucked her hips as Dasher yanked on her pajama bottoms. The sound of her panties tearing was music to her ears as he began to use his beautiful hands on her. When his mouth clamped over the tight tip of her breast, she bowed up, yearning for more. Reaching up, Ashley dragged Dasher over her, reveling in the feel of his weight against her. “Take me,” she begged.
“Ashley,” Dasher whispered, his breath warm against her neck. Needing him, she had his jeans unsnapped before he could protest and her hand slipped past his boxers to feel the warm, smooth shaft beneath.
***
He was only a man, right? Dasher thought when Ashley’s warm hand closed around him. When she began to move those slender fingers up and down, he nearly lost his control. It wouldn’t do good to hurt her in the process of making love. Focusing his attention on pleasuring her, Dasher let his hands streak down, cupping the warm mound that rested between her thighs. When his fingers sank into her, the wet heat fueled his own arousal and waiting became impossible.
Yanking back, Dasher stripped off his remaining clothing and settled over Ashley, the tip of his hard cock pressing insistently against her. It wasn’t until she opened those gorgeous blue eyes, though, that he filled her. His shaft pulsed as he took her higher, pushing her closer and closer to climax. He cupped her warm breasts in his hands as his hips continued to thrust against her, burying his cock deeper and deeper in the inviting warmth of her wet pussy.
When she came, Dasher was hopeless to do anything but follow her over, spilling himself inside her. “Holy shit,” he breathed, all but collapsing next to her. Her own labored breathing was beautiful as they both enjoyed the afterglow of sexual bliss.
Ten minutes later, when she asked if he wanted to go again, he laughed. “I’ll die, I swear. I need a shower and sleep. Then I’ll have you again, after everyone’s gone. I have a mind to break in your kitchen table.”
***
“Alright,” she said, not the least upset. How could she be when he’d just rocked her world? They showered together, but sex waited as Ashley knew Dasher was near to exhausted. She climbed from the shower first, lighting candles in her room and changing the sheets so he could sleep easy. When he came out, she was standing in her bathrobe, her hair messy. He looked so good in just a towel that she felt her body physically respond to him.
“I love you, Dasher Holland,” she said, pressing a kiss to his surprised mouth. When she went to walk away he caught her wrist. His dark eyes practically molten when he looked at her.
“It never really occurred to me that a woman might expect to hear those words so I’ve never said them. When I say them to you, you’ll know I mean them that I mean the promise that comes with them.”
“Then there’s no rush,” she smiled. “Merry Christmas. Get some sleep, I’ll wake you when everyone arrives.”
Two hours later, Ashley tiptoed slowly into her room. Watching Dasher in such an unguarded state was nice. His features smoothed out and rest looked good on him. Gently touching his shoulder, she watched his eyes and the moment he recognized her. A warmth settled over her as she brought her lips to his in a soft, comforting kiss. “My parents just go here, so everyone’s arrived.”
“Okay,” he said, tossing the sheets back. When gasped at his naked body, her body too aware of him. His grin told her he knew it and she blushed. “Don’t worry, love. I’ve still got plans for your table.”
She smiled before leaving discreetly and waiting for him to come out. When he did it seemed everyone’s eyes turned to him. “Everyone, this is Dasher Holland. Dash, this is everyone.”
Like any good boyfriend, Dasher greeted everyone with a smile, but it was the surprise of having so much to discuss with Ashley’s father that intrigued him. The man was not just intelligent, but humorous and a fantastic conversationalist.
“I like your parents,” he said when they’d finally seen the last guest out the door.
“They like you too,” she smiled, snuggling up to him. “I have it on good authority that my mother thinks you’re hot and my father is duly impressed with how happy I am and how smart you are.”
“Your mother thinks I’m hot, huh?” he grinned, graciously accepting when Ashley punched him in the arm. After a round of cookies, Dasher kept his promise about breaking in Ashley’s kitchen table. They watched movies, munching on extra butter
y popcorn and then, when they’d made love during the twilight hours Dasher said, “I haven’t given you your Christmas present yet.”
“I thought you were my present.”
“It’d be a little presumptuous of me to just assume I was all you wanted, wouldn’t it?”
“Maybe,” Ashley said. “But I wasn’t just going to assume you’d gotten me anything either. Especially because I didn’t get you anything.”
“Well now,” he grinned, pressing a kiss to her bare shoulder. “You happen to be plenty for this first Christmas together.” Dasher held out a long, slender box to her and she oohed over it for a minute.
When she opened it though, her reaction was all Dasher could have asked for. “You shouldn’t have bought this,” she said, gently picking up the diamond, ruby and emerald necklace. Dasher took it from her and clasped it around her neck, letting his hand trail down to cup her warm flesh.
“There’s more,” he smiled, holding out a larger box in the same white suede of the necklace. She opened this one to reveal small earrings that matched the necklace and now along with her smile there were tears in her eyes. “They look lovely on you, although they aren’t nearly as beautiful.”
“Thank you doesn’t seem like enough,” she said, sighing a little.
“There is a way to make it all worth it,” Dasher said, sitting up and holding out a small box. “But you have to answer a simple question before I can give this one to you.”
“Dash- “
“Will you please, Ashley Bogart, marry me and put up with my job and my need to occasionally transform into a four-legged hairy, ornery beast?” He opened to box to show her a beautiful half carat, princess cut diamond ring that was surrounded by tinier emeralds and rubies.
“You’re serious,” she breathed, hardly believing it.
“As a heart attack,” he grinned. “I know we didn’t really- “
“Yes,” she said, looking up with tear filled, baby blue eyes. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Epilogue
One Year Later-
Ashley snuggled into her brand-new parka, a gift from her husband. Dasher had left earlier in the morning with a promise to pick her up around noon for their flight to the North Pole. As a now permanent member of the Santa family, Ashley Holland was welcome any time of year, although the winter season was always her favorite and she usually waited until then to make the trip. The first time she’d watched Dasher take off on Christmas Eve for their twenty-four-hour trip, she’d cried at the magic of the moment.
