Page 12 of Santa's Knotty Workshop

“More,” I begged.

Nick growled. “Anything you need.”

He tucked a pillow under my hips, then gripped them. His fingers were likely to leave bruises. I didn’t care.

“Someday I’m going to do this while I have clamps on your nipples. Would you like that, Percy?”I groaned and thrashed. “Fuck yes.”

He clicked his tongue. “Such language will land you on the naughty list.”

“It’s not so bad,” I echoed his words back to him.

He plowed into me, going deeper than ever before, and I cried out.

My hand gripped my cock, and I stroked to the rhythm as he slammed into me. “So close, Nick. So close.”That spurred him on faster. He grabbed my hips and moved for me, using my body like I was a ragdoll, until finally he slammed in one last time and his hips gave a little jerk. His head tipped back. “Percy!”

Hot cum filled my channel at the same moment my cock erupted, spurting cum over my stomach.

Then Nick’s cock grew. His knot expanding so that my channel was filled even more. I moaned against the pressure that was both exquisite and slightly painful. My cock remained hard, almost feeling like I was going to come again.

“Oh fuck!” I groaned.

Nick kissed my cheeks and sucked on my neck. “So sweet, my mate. You’re the treat I’ve been waiting for. Merry Christmas to me.”

I woke up to the warmth of a wet cloth on my inner thighs.

“Are you back with me, mate?” Nick’s deep timbre soothed my soul.

“Can we do that again?”

He chuckled.

“We can and we will. On every surface of this room—on every surface of the workshop, if you want. We can use every toy I’ve ever conceived of. Whatever it takes to get you through this heat and every one afterward.”

“We’re really mates then?”

Nick laid down next to me. He brushed the backs of his fingers over my cheek. “I meant it when I said I was waiting for you.”

“I didn’t even know I needed you. Now, nothing could take me from you.”

“Nothing will, mate.”

Chapter 8

Nick

Three Days Until Christmas Eve

“Love, I’m sorry to do this, but there’s a meeting that I must attend.” Leaving him already hurt, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. To most of the world, I had exactly one job to do, and it was too close to that time to be pushing work aside. It was worse than cocoa with no milk, but what can you do?

“What? What is it for?” Percy’s sleep-addled voice was addictive. If it were up to me, I would stay in bed with him, delivering allthe naughty toys he needed. But his heat had passed, and duty called. With only three days until my big journey, I needed to be ready. I was lucky that I had spent the past few days in bed with my mate and wouldn’t have given them up for anything, but that didn’t make the reality of the season any less present.

“I need to meet with all the lead elves.” There were ten of them, one for each of the different departments. “We need to make sure everything is shipshape before I load up the sleigh and make my rounds.”

“Can I come?” he asked.

I grinned. That was exactly what my mate should be asking. But also, I didn’t want to push extra responsibilities on him so soon. We’d only been mated for such a short time, and it was a pretty big deal to find one’s true mate—to find them and have them be someone with the responsibilities I had, ones that would eventually be shared? Yeah, that was a huge thing to spring on someone.

“You can, but don’t feel like you have to. Your heat just ended, and that takes a lot out of you.” Me too, but unlike him, it didn’t encompass my entire being. Heat was exhausting. Full. Stop. “This is your first year being thrown into this mess. Taking on this responsibility so soon is a lot to ask.”

---