Twelve Days of Temptation

by Ruth Cardello

  I suppose I should be glad you practice safe sex.

  His answer came a few minutes later. I do, but it’s not for me.

  I don’t understand.

  Yesterday when you got yourself off in front of Brock, did you want to go further? Did you want to fuck him?

  You know I did.

  How did it feel knowing you couldn’t?

  It was frustrating. Awful.

  And fucking wonderful, wasn’t it? Last night you pictured him when you came, didn’t you? It was his tongue, his cock, that fucked you last night, wasn’t it?

  You said that was okay.

  It is. I want you to want him. I want you so hot for him you can’t keep your hands off your pussy when you’re around him. And I want him to want you. I want him to crave what you will deny him. He can’t have you, Kate. You’re mine. Say it.

  I can’t belong to a man I don’t know. I’m not sure I can belong to any man.

  You can and you do. Call your fantasy fuck today. Ask him to go somewhere with you. Take that condom with you.

  Why would I do that when you just told me not to have sex with him?

  The condom is there to remind you how easy it would be to say yes to him. You can spread your legs for him anytime you want, Kate. But our time together ends when you do. So you won’t. You won’t use that condom because, even if you’re not ready to admit it yet, you already belong to me. Spend time with Brock. Tease him. Tease yourself. Then send him home alone. Text me after he’s gone and I’ll show you what you should have done in the bathtub with my gift.

  You want me to call him today? Ask him out? What makes you think he’ll be free to see me?

  Trust me, Kate, he’ll drop everything when you call.

  Do you know him?

  I know men.

  Should I use my Ben Wa balls?

  No. Keep it simple. You and him.

  Kate picked up her regular phone and held it without dialing a number. This is crazy. Wrong. Brock’s sister said he likes me. I can’t use him like this.

  She remembered how he’d looked at her when she’d visited his office. He wants me. But enough to come over today simply because I ask him to?

  And what would I feel around him without the balls inside me? She placed the condom in the front pocket of her jeans.

  I’ll do it, but only because I’m curious.

  About?

  About how much of my excitement around him is from the toys and how much is because of him.

  Master Elf took a long moment to respond. Call him. Find out. Then text me.

  ***

  Brock plowed through his emails while waiting for Kate’s call. He’d already cleared his schedule for the day. His project was coming along without a hitch, which freed him up to concentrate on Kate.

  He was still flying by the seat of his pants when it came to what to give her each day. He knew what his goal was: To make sure that by the time he revealed himself on the twelfth day she was as much into the real him as she was into the version of him she liked to call Mr. Elf.

  He preferred the title Master Elf.

  Master had a nicer ring to it, but really he was willing to settle for any title that would get her into his bed—and ensure she didn’t leave once she found out what he’d been up to.

  He had started today believing that sending the condom was a stroke of inspired genius. He’d seen it as a win-win. If she couldn’t help herself and slept with him, he would get to fuck her earlier. If she held strong and spent the day with him, getting to know him without sleeping with him, he would still find his pleasure later that night.

  He’d been shocked when she’d said she might only be attracted to him because she was horny from the toys he’d sent her. He hadn’t considered that possibility. Some men would have been offended by that revelation.

  Those men would never fuck a woman like Kate. Men ruled by their egos were weak. He saw them all the time in the business world. They made hasty decisions based on how they felt instead of keeping their eyes on the prize.

  Kate needed a strong man.

  A smart man.

  Someone who saw challenge as the ultimate foreplay.

  Don’t know if you’re attracted to me, Kate? Then let me show you exactly why you should be. Let Mr. Elf wow you with his knowledge of appliances and sexual dominance. I’ve been told these eyes could melt panties off a grandmother.

  Okay, that is not a pleasant mental image.

  He shuddered.

  Brock took out his cell phone and checked if he’d missed her call. Come on, Kate. You know you want to spend the day with me. You have my number. Call me.

  At noon Linda dropped by and asked Brock if he wanted to join her for lunch. He told her he was too busy, but that was a lie. He’d answered every email. He’d made every phone call. On any other day, he would have left his trailer and walked the work site, but he didn’t want to miss Kate’s call.

  His sister returned an hour later with a turkey sandwich and a soda for him.

  “What are you working on?” Linda asked.

  He took a large bite and shrugged. “The usual.”

  “Anything I can help you with?”

  He shook his head adamantly and took another bite. With his sister, the less he said the better. She was too good at reading him.

  “So, I was thinking . . .” Linda said.

  With his mouth full, he answered, “That’s dangerous.”

  “I like Kate. I think Mom and Dad would, too.”

  Brock started choking on his sandwich and reached for his drink. He coughed and took another sip. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’ve been thinking a lot about what she said to me in the supermarket. She lost her mother and her husband this past year. That means this is her first Christmas alone.”

  Brock hadn’t thought of it that way. Honestly, he hadn’t thought about much since he’d read her letter besides fucking her. “I suppose it is.”

  “Even if the two of you don’t end up dating, we should invite her to spend Christmas with us.”

  “There is nothing between Kate and me.”

  Linda rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. Misty Falls might be a city, but it’s a small one. People talk. Everyone already knows you like her. She seems to like you. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out where the two of you are headed.”

  “What else are people saying?” He watched Linda’s expression closely and was relieved when she answered pursing her lips, as she did when she was lying.

  “Nothing, really. Just that they saw the two of you dancing one night. The women can’t understand what you see in her, but the men all do.”

  Brock stood and tossed the remainder of his lunch in the trash. “If you spent less time gossiping and more time billing our customers, we could afford to start on that mill in Massachusetts.”

  “Touchy, touchy. I’m not giving you shit about liking her. I just wanted to tell you if you want to bring her to Christmas Eve at our house, or Christmas breakfast—we’d all be cool with that.”

  “All? Why do you say that like you’re also speaking for Mom and Dad?”

  “I told you everyone knows.” She threw her hands up in frustration. “It’s like you don’t listen when I speak.” She shook her head and walked out of the trailer.

  Brock paced back and forth, debating what to do next. He couldn’t text Kate as Mr. Elf and order her to call him without giving himself away. He didn’t want to contact her as Brock—that took the fun out of her asking him out.

  I just have to wait.

  She’ll call.

  Brock put on his coat and did a site inspection. He checked his phones periodically, but neither showed a missed call or message.

  By three o’clock he was crawling out of his skin. He returned to his trailer, laid both phones on the desk in front of him, and frowned.

  He picked up his regular phone and called Kate. It rang several times before she answered.

  “Hello?”
>
  “Kate, it’s Brock.”

  “Oh, hi, Brock.”

  There was a strain in her voice that put him on high alert. “Are you okay?” She sniffed and he knew instantly that she wasn’t. “What happened, Kate?”

  “Nothing,” she said in a defeated, shell-shocked tone.

  “I’m coming over.”

  She didn’t say no, so he took that as a yes. He hung up, grabbed his coat, and bolted to his car. He was ringing her doorbell twenty minutes later.

  When she opened the door her eyes were puffy from crying, and her nose was bright red. There was a shine to her cheeks as if she’d just wiped them dry. He pulled her to his chest, and she didn’t resist. She stood in his embrace, shaking but not crying. He hugged her tighter. For a few minutes she didn’t move, then she let out a sad little sound, wrapped her arms around his waist, and burst into tears. He didn’t know what the hell had happened to her, but whatever it was, he would make it right. Whatever it took.

  He lifted her up, carried her into her house, and kicked the door closed behind them. He walked over to her couch and sat down, cradling her in his lap. “Tell me what happened, Kate. Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

  She hid her face in his chest. “It’s too stupid to explain.”

  As she shifted on his lap, his cock sprung to life beneath her delicious little ass. Not now, he chastised his wayward appendage. But it felt so good to hold her. He could smell shampoo and her light scent. He was painfully aware of every single place their bodies touched. Every fucking place. He stroked a hand up and down her back to comfort her, and even that caress had his thoughts going wild. He wanted to rip her shirt off and expose the breasts she so innocently pressed against his chest.

  I need serious fucking help.

  He shifted her so she was no longer seated directly on his erection. “It’s not stupid if it upsets you. Just say it. Whatever it is. Most things aren’t as bad as they seem in our heads.”

  She wiggled again, rubbing his cock with her thigh as she shifted so she could look up at him. Except this. This is fucking torture.

  “I received my final divorce papers today. I signed them and sent them back. It’s done.” Tears gave her big blue eyes an added shine. “I knew they were coming, and it’s what I wanted. Why did it hurt so much to sign them?”

  Brock let out a long sigh and pulled her against his chest again, tucking her beneath his chin. “Do you still love him?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t think so. I mean, how can you love someone when you realize everything you thought you knew about them was a lie?” Her words stabbed through him and for the first time made him question the final outcome of his game with her. As he fought off a mild inner panic, Kate continued, “He said he loved me, but he didn’t. He was a collector of beautiful things, and I think I was simply another item he collected. We barely even had sex. My only job was to look good around his friends. When my mother became ill I saw how little patience he had for anything that wasn’t beautiful.”

  Brock continued to rub Kate’s back slowly, telling himself he was nothing like her ex. He’d always cared about Kate. I want to get to know her. I’m willing to talk to her as long as she wants—after I fuck her brains out.

  I’m an asshole.

  “I’m sorry, Kate.” He knew she thought he was sorry for what she was going through, but he was equally sorry he couldn’t turn off his need for her. He wanted to comfort her—all night long, and in as many ways as their stamina allowed.

  See, that’s why I’m an asshole.

  She leaned back and looked up at him again, and he groaned as it put her right back on his traitorously swollen cock. “No, I’m sorry. I hardly know you, and I’m blubbering all over you. You don’t want to hear about any of this.”

  Strength. Give me strength. “I want to hear about whatever you want to talk about.”

  She put a hand up on his cheek. “It’s not fair of me to take advantage of you this way.”

  Take advantage. Take any fucking thing you want. Keep wiggling that little ass now and then, and I’ll sit here all fucking day listening to whatever. “I don’t mind.”

  “It’s kind of obvious that you like me, Brock.”

  Attempting to look cool, Brock raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

  “Unless that’s a flashlight in your pocket.”

  Brock covered his face with one hand, groaned, then half smiled at her. “In my defense, you squirm a lot.”

  Kate laid a hand on his chest and smiled sadly at him. “I wish I had met you before all of this. Or six months from now. You’re such a n—”

  He grabbed her hand. “Don’t say it. Trust me, I’m not as nice as you think I am.”

  She held his eyes and nodded. “Yes, you are. You’re everything I should want, but I’m not ready for you. I’m still angry. Angry with Wayne. Angry at myself. Do yourself a favor and don’t trust me right now. I’ll only hurt you.”

  “I’m a big boy, Kate. You don’t have to worry about me.”

  Kate slid off Brock’s lap. “Yes, I do. You know why? Because I like you. I like you a lot, Brock. And if I’m not honest with you, how does that make me any better than Wayne? I don’t think we should see each other anymore.”

  Brock stood up. “Nobody is perfect, Kate. People make mistakes and forgive each other all the time. It’s called life.”

  Kate walked to the door. “I’m sorry, Brock. I wish I could explain this better, but I can’t. Just trust me. You need to stay away from me.”

  Brock followed her to the door and looked down at her. “I’ll do that if you do one thing for me.”

  She bit her bottom lip and looked up at him nervously. “What?”

  “Kiss me. Just once.”

  The tip of her tongue flicked across her teeth. “What will that prove?”

  “Maybe nothing.” He pulled her hips to his and ground her against his bulging cock. “Just one kiss, Kate.” He bent down and licked her parted lips, teasing them to open for him. “You owe me at least that.”

  He buried a hand in the back of her hair and took her mouth boldly, thrusting his tongue deep and circling hers. She placed her hands on his shoulders, holding him to her rather than pushing him away. He had spent so many hours imagining how she’d taste, but the reality was so much better.

  He couldn’t get enough. He lifted her and slammed her against the door. He stepped forward as the door slammed against the wall behind her. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he ground his pelvis against hers with a rhythm as old as time itself. He shoved a hand down the back of her jeans and grabbed one of her ass cheeks.

  He tore his mouth from hers and kissed his way down her neck and to one of her hard and protruding nipples. Right through her clothing and bra, he closed his teeth around her hardened nub and gave it a gentle tug. She gasped, and her hands tightened on his shoulders.

  He raised his head. Everything in him wanted to kick the door closed and take her right there on the rug in the hallway. But even in her aroused state, her nose was still pink from her earlier crying, and he knew he could win now but lose in the long run if he pushed her.

  He eased her back to the floor and took a deep breath. “Do what you need to do, Kate. I know you’re not in a good place right now. I don’t care. We don’t have to rush, but I’m not going anywhere. I’m not that nice.”

  He gave her one final quick kiss and walked out the door. His balls were aching. His head was aching. He was pretty positive that when it came to winning Kate’s heart, he had fucked up his chances as much as any man could.

  But that just made him more determined to have her.

  He’d never been a quitter.

  Chapter Nine

  Kate was still a bundle of nerves hours after Brock left. She’d tried to do the right thing. She’d warned him to stay away from her. But he wouldn’t listen. He has no idea what a tangled game he’s entering into.

  Her prepaid phone vibrated with an incoming message, but she
ignored it. She poured herself a glass of wine and sat down on the couch with both of her phones in front of her on the coffee table.

  One nice guy.

  One possibly psychotic sexual deviant.

  The choice should be easy enough.

  Why is life so much more fucking complicated than it has to be? What is it Mr. Elf gives me that I need? Do I think I don’t deserve a good man? Am I that cookie cutter stereotypically pathetic?

  Or am I just a sex freak myself, and I never knew it. What would a man like Brock think if I told him I have sex every night with a man I’ve never met?

  Her phone vibrated again. She finally picked it up and checked the messages on it.

  You didn’t text me, Kate. I don’t like it when you disappoint me.

  I’m not in a good mood today. Maybe we should talk tomorrow.

  Do you think I give a shit about your mood, Kate? Are you naked?

  No.

  I told you to always be naked when we talk.

  You contacted me. I didn’t contact you.

  You want to be punished tonight, don’t you, Kate? Do you feel guilty about something? I like it when you feel guilty. Tell me what you did, and I’ll choose the perfect punishment.

  I don’t want Brock to be part of our game. I don’t want to lead him on.

  Oh, you like him.

  No.

  Did you fuck him?

  No. I wanted to, but I told him to stay away from me instead.

  And what did he say?

  He said he doesn’t care if I’m fucked up in the head. Or something like that. But he doesn’t know about you.