22. Natalie

Chapter twenty-two

Natalie

The next day, we return to the workshop, and the next. We spend a full week in Puutyot.

We visit with the elves, we learn how to carve toys, learn about how each elf chooses their favorite design. We visit the tea shops, the bakeries, we try all the food, and we fall in love.

Not just with the village and the elves, but with each other. Deeper and deeper, every day.

I thought I was in the North Pole for a good time, an adventure, but I had no idea how life altering it would be.

I am utterly besotted with Jasper and Cole. If I thought we were insatiable before, it is nothing compared to how it is now. Every moment we can, we have our hands all over each other. Early mornings, lunchtime, before dinner, during dinner, all night until we’re so tired we just need to sleep.

They explore my ice kink, doing delectable things to my body that I can’t wait to repeat. We take turns being in charge. We try every position and combination we can think of. Cole and Jasper have moments with just the two of them, sometimes I watch with a very happy smile, and sometimes I excuse myself to go draw instead.

I also have alone time with Jasper, alone time with Cole, and my connection with them is so all-encompassing, it feels like they’re rooted in the very fabric of my being—becoming bonded to my soul.

Being with them is comfortable and exciting at the same time, and the mere thought of walking away from this relationship is unfathomable.

Tomorrow, we say goodbye to Puutyot and set off for Pehmolelu—the village responsible for making soft toys like stuffed teddy bears. I can’t wait to make a mini Jasper and mini Cole teddy.

Walking into the living room, Jasper sets three cups of mulled wine on the coffee table.

“I can’t believe our stay here is over.” Jasper’s bottom lip forms into the most adorable pout as he plops down on the soft rug in front of the fireplace.

Cole picks his cup up but pauses before taking a sip. “Can you believe we’ve been here for a week?”

I lean back on my side of the couch, stretching my legs into Cole’s lap as I wait for my wine to cool down a little. “I’m thinking we should make this a yearly trip. I’d love to visit Tinker and all the Puutyoten elves again.”

“Yearly?” Cole quirks an eyebrow, a hint of hope creeping into the seemingly casual question.

“Yearly,” I confirm, letting the implication of the statement hang in the air. They’ve not yet asked me again if I want to stay, giving me the space to make my decision in my own time.

Jasper tries to act like that single word didn’t have a strong impact on him, but the way his butt wiggles on the carpet reminds me of a happily wagging tail.

“Do you have a favorite memory from the week?” Jasper asks, eyes wide and expectant.

An irrepressible smile lifts the corners of my mouth. “I have a couple. One in particular was when I was riding Cole reverse cowgirl and you were fucking us with that delicious tongue at the same time.”

Cole’s eyes glaze over like he’s recalling that exact scene. “Honestly, that is a night I never want to erase from my mind. I was always curious how it would feel having a knot. Jasper wrapping his tongue around the base of my cock so I could knot you was mind-blowing. I don’t think anything could top that.”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I say, “Don’t go putting challenges down like that. We might just come up with something even more creative.”

Jasper crawls forward and kneels between Cole’s legs. Placing his forearms on Cole’s knees, he glances at me before back at Cole. “Like the first night we used the paddle?”

Running his hand along Jasper’s horn, Cole taps two of the bells that somehow keep increasing, thanks to elves loving Jasper’s new look. He currently has six jingle bells of different sizes and colors adorning his horns. The elves no longer fear Jasper—if they ever really did—but view it as a privilege to “beautify” him.

“Poor Tinker.” Cole chuckles. “He really indulged us when we made that paddle. I know we were supposed to be focused on the Naughty List, but that paddle was practically begging to be made.”

“It’s been very useful, hasn’t it?” Jasper asks and waggles his eyebrows at me.

“Very,” Cole agrees and gives me a lascivious once-over.

Jasper sits up a little straighter, his eyes shining as he asks, “Should we use the paddle tonight?”

I shake my head, not even bothering to consider this question. “No, my ass still has the imprint of a Christmas tree from two nights ago when you ‘punished’ me for being naughty.”

Jasper sits back on his heels, looking a little deflated. “You may have deserved it. I couldn’t concentrate on a word Tinker said, knowing you were wearing the anal beads from the first night we met.”

I smirk. “Well, it was worth it. Edging myself all day to get double teamed at night was so much fun.”

Jasper’s voice turns sultry. “You always like being double teamed.”

I pick up my cup and hold it out to him in a salute. “So do you.”

Cole sits up and reaches for his own mulled wine, tutting playfully at us. “No paddle tonight, you two. Your asses will be too sore in the sleigh tomorrow. It’s a couple of hours’ ride to Pehmolelu, and I want you to be comfortable.”

“Feel like wearing your beads instead?” Jasper asks. The dare in his voice baits me just enough to know I’ll say yes.

I pretend I’m considering my answer, and throw my own dare out. “Only if you wear a plug.”

Jasper doesn’t even hesitate. “Deal.” He holds out his hand for me to shake, anticipation dancing in his eyes. I know the same feeling is reflected in mine as I shake his hand.

Cole clears his voice and sets down his now-empty cup. “Not like I want to change the topic, but can you show us your latest sketches? I’ve been waiting all day to see them.”

Jasper jumps up and grabs his cup. “Oh yes. I got a glimpse of one of the drawings and I already have a story drafted for it.” Not waiting for a response from me, he chugs his mulled wine and plops back down in front of the couch, resting his back between Cole’s spread thighs.

Like every other night since our first visit to the workshop, Jasper pulls me into his lap. Cole runs his hands through Jasper’s hair, making the male under me practically purr with contentment. I hand over my sketchbook to Jasper, and he flips through it, finding the right place.

He pages past the wreath door handles of the workshop’s front door, past the snowflakes decorating the exterior of the building, past the one I did of Tinker and Coco yesterday. He pauses when he gets to my latest one of the two nutcrackers standing guard next to the fireplace.

“I loved drawing them,” I explain, tracing a finger over the one on the left’s hat. Those two specific nutcrackers see so much in that workshop, it just felt right to give their eyes a certain alertness.

Clearly inspired by how I portrayed them, Jasper starts his story, Cole and I eagerly hanging on to every word out of his mouth.

Choosing between this being my favorite part of the day, or the sex that will doubtlessly follow after, is almost impossible. It’s like trying to choose between Cole and Jasper. They’re both perfect in their own way, each providing me with a nourishment my soul really craves. The three of us together is how it’s meant to be.

When Jasper finishes his story about the nutcrackers and how they came alive to help save Christmas, I smile up at him. “I think this is your best one yet. I have nothing to add to it.”

Cole clears his throat, almost sounding emotional. “That was really touching. It was like I was part of the story. Those nutcrackers are real heroes.”

Jasper preens under the compliments. “Thank you. But it’s Natalie’s drawings that really moved me. I know they’re wooden dolls, but there’s something magical about the way she captured them.”

“Talking about capturing things…” Cole gets up from the couch and returns a moment later. He kneels down in front of me where I’m still in Jasper’s lap on the floor. “I noticed your book is almost full.”

I page through the five remaining blank pages and swallow hard. “I’ve been so inspired since I got here. I’ve never drawn so much so quickly. There are just so many details I don’t want to miss.”

“You’re so talented, and I want you to draw to your heart’s content.” Cole takes out a wrapped box that looks to be about the size of my current sketchbook, but I rein myself in from jumping to conclusions. He continues, “I hope this isn’t too presumptuous of me, but I ordered you a new one from Kirja—the book village we’ll get to eventually, but I didn’t want you to wait.”

He hands over the box, looking adorably nervous. “Thank you, Cole.”

“Open it,” Jasper encourages and tickles my sides.

“It’s not fully done,” Cole starts to explain when I reveal the hunter-green sketchbook inside. “I ordered the binding to be in the same color as the books I bound on my shelf, but your name still needs to be foiled. When we get back home I’ll finish it there, but I wanted you to have it now.”

With tears welling in my eyes, I whisper, “Home.”

In that single word, I know this is it.

I try to blink the tears away for a couple of seconds before I let them fall freely. “Jasper, Cole, you are my home. I’m staying. With you. If it’s in the Arctic, in the Alps, or in the Sahara—it doesn’t matter. You are my adventure. My destination.”

“You’re in? You’re fully accepting the bond?” Jasper asks, his grip on my waist tightening with his excitement.

Certainty strengthens my voice. “There was never really a question about it. I just needed time to confirm what I knew to be true. You’re my mates and I’m yours.”

Cole’s eyes mist and he cups my face. “My human mate.” He cups Jasper’s face with his other hand. “My krampus mate.” Drawing our foreheads together, he whispers, “How did I get so lucky?”

Jasper’s voice is thick and wet with emotion. “I didn’t even think I was on the fates’ radar, and then they go and give me two of you.”

I draw back and wipe the mascara from under my eyes. “Before we become blubbering messes, how do we make it official?”

“There’s not one specific way, but I can show what I have in mind,” Jasper says, his emotion quickly morphing into seduction, the innuendo clear in his suggestion.

“Tell me more,” I murmur before slanting my mouth against his.

While we may not have found anything for the Naughty List in Puutyot, we did learn a lot about toys, as well as each other. There are still plenty of villages to visit, plenty of time to figure out what will be the perfect replacement for coal this Christmas, and I’m doing it with my soul mates.