8. Chapter 8

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 all the 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.”

“I can handle it.” He pouted, sticking out his bottom lip. Candy canes, did I want to nibble on it and forget about all my responsibilities, but I needed to focus.

He was fully awake now and rolled over in my bed, looking up at me, giving me his biggest puppy-dog eyes. As if I could say no to him, even if I wanted to.

“Of course you can. I know that you can handle anything. I’m just saying you don’t have to.” I bent down and kissed the pout from his face. “Everyone will understand if you take some time off after your heat.”

“Let me get dressed.” He wasn’t having any of that, and as much as I didn’t want to push him, I was thrilled that he was going to be by my side.

“I’ll wait for you.” Another kiss and I stepped out of the bedroom. Sure, it gave him privacy, but also… if one of us got naked in front of the other, it wouldn’t be but a few seconds before everything but each other fled our minds, and today wasn’t a day that could happen.

We’d moved his heat to my suite not long after claiming each other, so I could treat him appropriately in my, I mean, our enormous bed. It was custom-made, after all. I was Santa. I was a big man. I needed a gigantic bed.

Gorgeous Christmas things decorated my room all year round. I’d always liked it that way, but if Percy decided he preferred something else, I’d change it that day. This was our bedroom now and it needed to fit both of our tastes.

Percy came out a couple minutes later, wearing his regular elf uniform. I smiled down at him. My mate was almost ten inches shorter than me and a hell of a lot more petite.

“We’ll have to get you new attire.” He looked great like this, but his role by my side meant it was time for a change.

“Oh yeah? What new attire does Mr. Claus wear?”

I growled, adding a suggestive tone. “For one, you will wear my collar, if you’d like.” That was meant to be a conversation for another day, but out it came. I’d have felt bad if there had been even a split second of awkwardness between us after muttering the words. There wasn’t. Instead, I instantly scented his arousal. He liked the idea. He liked it a lot.

His eyes darkened, and he sucked in a breath. “I’d love that.”

“Then we can make it happen.” I snapped my fingers, and a red collar with a green buckle appeared around his neck. There were leaves of holly embossed on the leather. His hand touched it. I’d designed it when I first scented him, not to push but to help me be productive as I attempted to be patient. The look on his face made me so glad I had.

“I love it.” His eyes glistened. He didn’t simply love it, it brought him to near tears.

“You haven’t even seen it.”

“It’s yours. It’s a gift from you. It tells everyone that I’m yours. I love it.”

“I’m glad, mate.”

Since I didn’t want him attending the meeting in his regular elf clothes, I dug out an old coat of mine, and he slipped it on. It was from my smaller days before I had bulked up. Even so, it was too big for him, which would tell everyone it was mine. Was I being possessive? Yeah, but since we both enjoyed it, I didn’t see a single problem with that.

“Now let’s go see what these elves need.” My guess was that it was a lot. I’d never taken time off this close to go time. They were very good at what they did, and I was sure it had gone well, but they would have a ton to say.

The elves were all sitting around the table—Chester, Willy, and Stanley, along with the rest of the crowd. Chester narrowed his eyes when Percy walked in with his hand laced in mine. He was going to need to get over it and quick.

“First things first, welcome, everyone. I feel that we’re going to have another successful holiday season. That is a direct result of all of your hard work.” Their eyes were all on my mate, most of them with smiles. It was time to address his presence. “In case you all haven’t heard—which I’m sure you have—this is my mate, Percy.”

Percy let out a small wave. Many of the elves at the table clapped and cheered for us—all except Chester, who kept a glare on their face. He was going to have to cut that out before he ended up on the naughty list and out of a job.

“If there’s anyone in this room who has something to say about my mate, or has any negative feelings or ill will toward him, they can kindly go fuck themselves. I might be Santa Claus. I might be jolly and gleeful, but I will not tolerate disrespect toward my mate.”

I looked pointedly at Chester. He had the decency to blush. I wasn’t playing games.

“Congratulations,” he said through gritted teeth.

Percy and I sat down and listened as each elf gave a report on their departments. There were no problems—everything was on track. I knew it, but hearing the words quelled any anxiety I’d been feeling.

After the meeting adjourned, I grabbed my mate’s hand and pulled him out the door.

“Do you want to grab your things from your room? You can move in with me.” If I had thought I could manage it between waves of heat, I’d have done it already.

“Really?”

“Sweetheart, where did you think you would live?”

He laughed. “I haven’t had a chance to think about any of this, Nick. It all happened rather fast. I don’t regret it, but goodness, I’ve only been out of my heat for a few hours. I’m still having trouble walking, and I can still feel you everywhere.”

I growled at that. “Damn right. I want you to feel me everywhere, always. When I go on my Christmas Eve run, I want to leave you plugged so that when I come home, I can take care of you right away, preferably in my sleigh. I don’t care if the whole workshop is there to witness it.”

His gaze turned dark again. “That sounds amazing.”

“Great. Now let’s get your things.”

Percy tugged at my sleeve. “Wait. I can move my things later. I want to help in the workshop.”

“Love, you just heard—there’s not much to do.”

“There must be something.”

I sighed. He wouldn’t be a proper mate if he didn’t want to help. I loved this about him. But also, I wanted him to take some time to adjust.

“Let’s see how things go, all right?”

He nodded.