5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Percy

Six Days Until Christmas Eve

I kept my head down the next day at work. It had taken a little extra effort to get out of bed after staying up half the night with Nick working. How I longed for it to have been so much more. But no, all we did was work.

A couple of times I let myself believe that he’d been looking at my lips, wanting to kiss them, or that he was checking out my ass. Sugar plums, twice I even thought he was flirting with me. But that was ridiculous. He was Santa 69, and I was… well, I was me, the elf who had nothing better to do than to clean up spilled sex toys.

Visions of his large hands gripping mine as I rode him filled my dreams. Not surprisingly, his long, thick dream dick looked suspiciously like the toy I had stashed in my bedroom. I tried not to think too hard on that one.

No one mentioned anything about the issues on Whipsy Lane the next morning. It was as if it never happened, and I was back on Dildo Row, boxing up toys all day long. It wasn’t an awful job, and it was fulfilling. I enjoyed knowing that my efforts were bringing joy to people around the world. These weren’t like kids’ toys where they often moved on to a different one by the time Christmas rolled around. If an adult went out of their way to write to Santa, they meant it.

I couldn’t help but notice how much smaller these toys were compared to the one I had upstairs, hidden in my room. And not a little smaller, either. They were significantly smaller. It hadn’t fit in the drawers it was so long. I ended up having to hide it under my pillow. Not that I expected anyone to snoop, but it felt weird to leave it out in the open.

Willy walked over to the table and set a large cup in front of me. The tall red cup with snowflakes on the side had steam rolling off the top, and the clear scent of peppermint and chocolate filled the air. Someone had taped a small gold envelope to the side.

“Oh, I didn’t order this,” I said, surprised. There was a full-time café meant to keep the elves fed and hydrated while we worked. It was also a great place to take breaks. I used them sometimes, but not today. My head had been too busy with all things Santa and dildo to have thought about it.

“This is a gift.” He flipped his gaze toward the row of offices where Nick was.

My cheeks heated. “Oh, and it came with a note?”

“Got something you want to tell us, Percy?” He said it quietly so no one else could hear. He didn’t seem to be malicious in his teasing, just curious. Still, it wasn’t something I wanted to discuss with him or anyone else here. Anyone except possibly Santa. No, definitely Santa, but I was too shy for that.

“No.” I shook my head. “It’s nothing.” How could I explain that I’d spent the evening with Nick, fixing an issue on the workshop floor? Of course, I could say just that, but it felt like so much more than that. And besides, being the fodder for all things gossip wasn’t in my plans.

Willy grinned. “Seems like maybe there’s a crush. Good luck.” He meant it kindly, and for a moment, I realized maybe I did have a friend here after all. Had it been anyone else, that good luck would’ve been wrapped in sarcasm. And if it was Chester? That wouldn’t have gone well at all.

“Thank you.” I watched him walk away. As kind to me as he was, I wanted him good and gone when I read the letter.

Once he was gone, I opened the note. There was a hint of glitter inside the card, along with Nick’s swirly handwriting:

Thanks for last night. I’ll see you soon. –N

My cheeks heated further. The innuendo in that message was strong, but I knew we had just worked on cleaning up the mess. If anyone else had read it, they might have thought differently. I hastily closed the envelope and slipped it into my back pocket. I would cherish it always.

I took a sip of the mocha and moaned.

“I’ll have what he’s having,” Harry said from next to me, and the surrounding elves chuckled. If possible, my blush grew even darker. My face was totally on fire.

“Now, do you have an admirer, Percy?” Harry joshed.

Of course, Chester came over at that moment, his glare focused on me. “Who would admire Percy? He just got here. He doesn’t even have any friends.”

Why did he always have to be so mean?

The elves next to me rolled their eyes.

“We’re all friends here, Chester. Just because Percy is new here doesn’t mean he isn’t our friend.” Harry winked at me.

Was I not the only one who raised an eyebrow at how much of a dick Chester was?

I had half a mind to lift the dildo in my hand and smack him with it. But he didn’t deserve any dicks. Although, maybe a good dicking would calm him down. Whatever the case might be, he wasn’t worth my time.

Chester turned around with a flourish and walked away, shaking his ass like he thought we all wanted to look at it. Actually, knowing him, he did think that. I wasn’t sure what gave him the confidence, but I could use some. Maybe then I could tell Nick that I liked him.

Despite Chester popping in to stir the pot a few times, the rest of the day went by quickly, my hands going steadily, tying bows, boxing up the toys for all the good little subs, doms, and kink explorers out there. I felt like my blush never went away. In fact, I was positively overheating to the point of being uncomfortable.

I wiped my brow with my forearm, and it came away wet with sweat. Had someone stoked the fire too hot? I looked around, and it seemed that I was the only one experiencing this weird heat.

At the thought of heat, my mind started making calculations. When had I last had a heat? As an omega elf, they were a regular occurrence, but when was my last one? Surely I had more time. I mean, if I was going to have a heat right before Christmas, I’d have prepared ahead of time. This didn’t make sense. It was early. Very early.

But I didn’t usually spend time in such close proximity to an alpha I was attracted to. Had being around Nick thrown my body into heat early? I half remembered from sex education that it was possible, but that was ages ago.

“Oh no!” I forgot to keep my inside thoughts inside. I clapped my hand over my mouth.

Willy looked over at me. “Are you okay, Percy?”

“Fine,” I squeaked. “I think I might be...”

His brow raised. “Oh, you look positively flushed. Are you not feeling well?”

I leaned closer to him and whispered, “I think I might be going into heat.”

“Oh, jingle bells… Let’s get you back to your room then. Do you need any supplies?”

My mind immediately went to the large dildo and bottle of lube I had. I shook my head.

“I’ll have the kitchen send you up a care package. Do you need help walking there?”

How embarrassing.

“No, it’s not that far gone. I can work a little longer.” Even as I spoke the words, I heard how bad of an idea it was.

“No, the faster you get back to your room and get to rest, the faster you’ll recover. This isn’t the first time an elf has gotten their heat during the rush time. I think it’s the rush that brings it on. Just get to bed.”

No part of me believed it was the work rush that had done this to me. It was Nick. Why did he have to be so hot and kind?

“Thank you.” I gathered up all my things and headed toward my room, crossing my fingers I wasn’t garnering too much attention. Sure, they would all know after the fact, but having all eyes on me now as I fled during the busiest time of the year because I was basically horny, yeah, I wasn’t ready for that.

I hated my heats. They were particularly frustrating when you experienced them alone, and I had no desire to grab a random alpha just to spend my heat with. I wanted a partner… but that was one Christmas wish I wasn’t likely to have come true. I’d have to make do with my stolen dildo. At least it was better than only my hand.