Читать книгу Nick's Naughty Elf - Georgia St. Claire - Страница 5

Nick quietly closed the door to the guest room after checking to ensure that Marcie was still sleeping soundly. He had tried to drive her home; but when they got to her street, the whole block was a media circus with broadcast vans carrying their oversized satellite dishes and glaring bright lights illuminating everything. He had swung the car down a side street and taken her to the condo he was renting while substituting for Mr. Nickson. Marcie had remained asleep the whole time.

Back at the store, when he had finished changing and had made sure that the reporters were all gone, Nick had gone into the gingerbread house to talk to Marcie. But he had found her curled up and sleeping in a corner, one of the canvas equipment bags pulled over her like a blanket. He had carried her to his car and, when she still hadn’t awakened, carried her from the car into his condo, down the hall and into the guest room where he settled her on the bed and covered her with a quilt. He shook his head in wonder, he thought only young children slept so soundly that transfers didn’t wake them.

Nick moved into the study, settling into a dark brown leather club chair; he kicked off his loafers and put his feet up on the matching leather ottoman. He took out his cell phone and called his cousin. “Hey, Niccolo! How are you doing?”

“Hey back at you, Dominic! You being naughty or nice?” There was a pause after the routine question. “Slush, you’re off center and not in a good way! What the bells have you been up to?”

Nick sighed. “I was afraid of that. But I wanted to see what you picked up. I’m not even sure which problem is causing it. Have you seen the news lately?”

“The Spanking Santa is you?” Niccolo asked incredulously. “What happened, coz?”

“I lost my temper and spanked a swearing elf.”

“But, you were Santa. How’d that happen?”

Nick sighed tiredly. “Yeah, I know. The suit should have prevented me from being anything more than mildly irritated, at the very extreme. But I actually bellowed at her before I spanked her.”

“Wow man, that should not have happened.”

“I know. Listen, have you ever had, um, stirrings, when wearing the suit?”

“Stirrings? What do you… the only kind of stirrings I can imagine you must mean, aren’t possible. Do you mean,” he dropped his voice, “sexual stirrings?”

“Um, yeah. Twice, while wearing the suit.”

“What are you, some kind of pervert?” Niccolo was outraged.

“No, no! Not a kid, bells that would be horrible! My naughty little elf, an adult.”

“While you were wearing the suit and spanking her?”

“No, not while spanking. I was too angry then to do anything except spank her and get back to the children. But later, when I went to talk to her. She really got to me.”

“And you were still suited up?”

“Yup.”

“Can’t be. The suit prevents everything except nice behavior.”

“Sex is nice.”

“That’s your human maleness talking. For Santas, sex is only nice if you’re married, and last time I checked, you aren’t, unless you forgot to invite me.”

“When the time comes, you’ll be the first to know, I want you to be my best man.”

“Thanks, coz, I’m honored. So, do you think the suit is malfunctioning somehow?”

Nick screwed up his face as he considered the possibility. “I wouldn’t have thought so; because except for my behavior towards the elf, everything else is just as it should be. I really tested it to the limits during the press conference I had to give. I wanted to send the ‘I’m Santa, don’t mess with me and what I tell you’ message. It worked right up to expectations.”

Niccolo laughed. “Yeah, you did a great job. Here, the spanking issue kind of got buried in the whole discussion about the things you told the reporters. And the clapping at the end was genius! They played the tapes made by the witnesses and compared them to what the press recorded and they are extremely similar. People don’t know what to make of the whole thing. There was some concern that Santa may have been applauding the elf that was swearing. There are always people who are out in right field.”

“Left field, Niccolo. But good try; you’re doing well with your American idioms. Next time you serve here you should be spot on perfect.”

“Santa is international. I don’t know why he can’t be Italian,” Niccolo complained, sulking.

Nick laughed. “I agree with you, coz, but when in the US, Santa speaks American English, that’s how it’s always been and that means it will always be. Continuity is everything in our business.”

“Yeah, I know. So now, what are you going to do?”

“Well, I’ve obviously got to file a report about everything. But I expect I’ll just have to play it out. There have been Santas in the news before, and unfortunately, never for good things. Would you be willing to try to find out about the whole ‘stirring’ thing for me?”

“Sure, that’s what best men are for, right? Diverting some of the trouble away. You deal with the press about the spanking; I’ll see what I can discover about the whole emotional aspect. You lost your temper and shouted, you didn’t just ‘stir’.” Niccolo chuckled. “Although I’ll tell you, when I’m not suited up and I see some of those sexy elf outfits, I’m stirring too!”

“She wasn’t wearing a sexy outfit. It was one of those old-fashioned velvet elf dresses that goes down to her knees, long sleeves, and high lace neckline. Nickson’s has been in business for almost a hundred years. These are the original pieces. We're talking what was sexy a hundred years ago, and keeping in mind that elves are nice."

“You thought she was sexy? Dressed like that?”

“I never said I thought she was sexy. I had a sexual response when I thought she was cute.”

There was silence as both men contemplated that statement. “Wow,” Niccolo finally said.

“She’s tiny and elf-like.” Nick felt he needed to explain things better.

“Wow,” Niccolo said again. “Your goose may be cooked. You were attracted to an elf when you were Santa.”

“Oh bells! You’re right, that’s not good. But she’s not really an elf.”

“And you’re not really Santa. But you were both wearing early pieces and you know they’re more powerful than the ones they issue now. Come to think on it, she shouldn’t have been able to swear. What do you think is going on? I’ll try to be subtle when I ask around, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to fool anyone for long. Combined with why you are in the news, they’re going to know.”

“I understand. Just do what you can. We can’t expect a miracle.” Both men chuckled at that statement and the call ended.

Nick placed his phone on the table next to his chair and turned his head towards the doorway. “Come in here, Marcie. Eavesdropping is very naughty.”

She crept in timidly and stood in front of him, her eyes downcast. “I’m sorry, Nick. I didn’t start out meaning to, I just didn’t want to interrupt.”

“You should have turned around and walked away or continued into the room. Hovering out of sight and listening was very wrong.”

She nodded in agreement. “Yes, I know. But I just couldn’t seem to make my feet move. Are you going to spank me again?”

“Yes. I have a very, very strong dislike of being overheard and I want to ensure that you don’t do this again. But first, I want to know what you heard and what you think it means.”

“I woke up and I didn’t know where I was, so I started walking down the hall and then I heard you shout that something would be horrible and then I think you were talking about me because you said ‘naughty little elf’. But I’m confused because you said something about sexual and that I wasn’t sexy and it didn’t sound like you cared for my dress.” She bristled at that point. “The store gives me the outfit to wear, and I can’t help what it looks like!” She looked downcast again. “Then you said I wasn’t an elf. Are you going to fire me? I’m really, really sorry about swearing. I don’t know what came over me. It was just so frustrating that your picture kept coming out slightly smeared and blurry and I really wanted you to look nice!”

“I thought you said Joey’s picture was smeared.”

“Well, it was Joey’s picture, for him to take home. But it was your part of the picture that kept getting messed up, and I wanted it to be perfect!”

Slush! Her emotional response that triggered the swearing was related to me, just like mine was to her. That is really concerning. We shouldn’t work together any more. Who knows what could happen tomorrow with the children around?

Nick stood up. “I couldn’t take you home; there were too many reporters waiting at your building. So I brought you here for the night. Come with me, I’ll give you one of my tee shirts to sleep in tonight. That elf outfit is antique and too special to be mistreated.”

He led the way out of the study. “Twice now you have been very naughty and while you are going to be spanked, I think that perhaps you should be replaced by someone else to be my elf.” He was walking down the hall towards the bedrooms as he spoke, but as he said the last few words, his equilibrium shifted and he had to lean against the wall to keep from falling. His mind latched onto the words in his head, replaying over and over, ‘someone else to be my elf’. It was like the robot in the old TV show intoning ‘Danger, Will Robinson’; his body had just told him in no uncertain terms that replacing Marcie with another elf was not a wise decision. Double slush! I’m in big trouble!

Following behind Nick, Marcie saw him stumble and stop to rest against the wall. She gasped and reached out to hold his arm, thinking that somehow she would try to prevent him from falling. Her attention was focused on his safety and it took a minute for his words to sink in. She blanched. “Oh, no, please! Nick, Mr. Clausson, I’m terribly sorry! I’ve been the Nickson elf for several years and I’ve never made a mistake before. Please don’t punish me by taking that away from me. I look forward to being the elf all year. It is the most special thing in my life!”

He frowned down at her. She is such a tiny little thing! “I am very worried about exposing the children to any more naughtiness. Your misbehavior made me very angry and I am not at all happy about how I behaved in response. Look at the mess that has been created. Tomorrow I’ll have to stand in front of the press and make a statement about Nickson’s Santa spanking his elf.” Those last two words brought a zing of pleasure. ‘His elf’, Marcie was his elf. And he knew that unless Niccolo discovered some kind of cure, his days as a single man were coming to a swift end; and somehow, that knowledge didn’t bother him in the least, after all it was Marcie who was his elf.

They reached his bedroom and he pulled open a drawer, taking out a tee shirt. “Here, you are so much smaller than me, this will be as long as a nightgown. Go change in the bathroom and meet me in your bedroom for your spanking. There should be an extra toothbrush in the medicine cabinet.” He frowned at her. “You will be spanked on your bare bottom; so you might as well take a couple of minutes to wash out your panties so that they will be fresh in the morning. I need to make another quick call. If you finish in the bathroom before I get back, I expect you to be waiting with your nose in the corner. And be sure you hang up that elf dress carefully!” He turned around and headed back to the study where he had left his phone.

“Niccolo, there’s no point in asking anyone about the ‘stirring’,” Nick said as soon as his cousin answered the phone. “She’s my elf. As soon as I thought those words I knew the truth. Before that, I thought about replacing her and nearly collapsed. I’m not sure how to handle this. Her swearing was an emotional response related to me. So we’re both breaking through the restraints the suits should impose. It’s still nearly two weeks until Christmas and I’m not going to be able to work unless she is with me. But together, if we have any repeats of today, our behavior is going to upset the children. What do you think I should do?”

“You're the one the rest of us come to for advice! How am I supposed to know? You’ve got to talk to Aunt Gloria; she’s the family expert. But you know what they say, ‘If something is unsettling, then settle it.’ You’re going to have to settle things with your elf. Aunt Gloria will tell you how.”

“I’m pretty sure I know how,” Nick grumbled. “Keep your schedule clear. I think there’s a wedding in the near future, Best Man.”

“How does your elf feel about this?”

“I have no clue. We’ve barely spoken about anything besides work and I’ve got to go spank her now for the second time today. She eavesdropped on our last phone call.”

“Just as well then, that she’s going to become part of the family. Can’t have civilians running around knowing things.”

“I’m not sure how much she understood, but you’re right. We can’t take chances.”

In the hallway, Marcie gasped and turned to tiptoe back to her room. Even not wearing the Santa suit, Nick’s hearing was still excellent. He swore, ended the call and was suddenly with Marcie. “You are so naughty, little elf, I don’t know how to cure you. But we are going to start working on that by administering a paddling after I finish the spanking. I told you to wait in the corner. What are you doing listening in on my phone call again?”

“I’m sorry, so sorry! I couldn’t find the toothpaste so I came to ask. Please don’t hurt me!”

He had her by the arm and was marching towards her bedroom. “What did you hear this time?”

“Nothing!”

He sighed, stopped and faced her in the hallway. “Don’t lie, little elf. That is one of the most naughty things you can do. I promise I’m going to spank and paddle you; nothing more. Tell me what you heard so I know how to handle things.”

“I don’t want to be handled; I want to go home! You’re frightening me!” she wailed. “I thought you would be nice because you’re Santa Claus!”

Nick knelt in front of her so that they were at the same eye level. He put his hands gently on her shoulders to keep her in place and focused on what he said. “Marcie, you know I’m not Santa Claus. I’m Dominic Clausson. I’m a distant relation to Mr. Nickson and I came to run the store while he is sick. That means I’m also filling in as Santa Claus; just like you aren’t really an elf, you’re just pretending to be one.”

“But it feels so real when I do it. That’s why it’s so important to me to continue. I even think elf thoughts when I’m dressed up.”

“You do?” He was incredulous and then shook his head. “We’re getting off topic here. You weren’t frightened of me before, so obviously what you overheard has concerned you. Tell me, please.”

“You said you didn’t know how much I understood, but you didn’t want to take any chances,” she whispered. “Please don’t hurt me.”

“That’s all you heard?” She nodded. Nick stood up, took her hand and began leading her down the hall again. “I have to talk to someone before I can explain very much. And I have to spank you before anything else. Look what happened when I delayed spanking you for eavesdropping on my first call, you immediately did it again! So spanking first, then some corner time while I figure out what to use as a paddle, then a brisk paddling and then into bed with you. There’s nothing like a hearty session of crying over a blistered bottom to wear a naughty elf out and send her to sleep. Then I am going to make another phone call and you had better not stir out of that bed! I don’t care what you think you can use as an excuse, if you so much as stick a toe out from under the covers I am going to be so angry, I can’t imagine how I’m going to punish you then! Do you understand, little elf?” She nodded. “No. I want to hear you promise me this time.” They had reached her bed and Nick sat down, pulling her to stand between his legs. “Promise me now, Marcie. No more eavesdropping! No more naughtiness at all.”

She looked down at the carpet. “I promise.”

“Not good enough. I want eye contact and I want a full statement of what you are promising me.”

She raised her eyes. “I promise that I will not be naughty and I especially will not eavesdrop.”

He looked at her intently. “I believe your promise. But, just so we are clear on the matter, crossing your fingers or anything else doesn’t excuse you from a promise.”

She gave a tiny giggle, “I’m not crossing anything. I mean my promise!”

“I know you do this time; but I have a hunch that you were going to try to get out of a future promise, so I thought I would make sure you understand the rules.”

Her eyes got wide. “Oh!”

Nick nodded in satisfaction. “Just as I thought; you are in the habit of crossing your fingers and thinking that it means the promise doesn’t count. Well, now you know that you’ve been wrong all those times and that also means you were naughty every time you gave a promise you had no intention of keeping. Shame on you! I’ll allow no more of that, little elf! Now up you get.” His large hands spanned her waist as he lifted her and placed her across his knees.

She turned her head to look back at him. “Don’t spank me for past times, okay? I can’t help that, I didn’t know!”

“Of course you knew. Giving a false promise is very naughty and every time you are naughty you feel a little twinge in your tummy. You can’t tell me that you didn’t.”

Her shoulders slumped. “You’re right, I can’t tell you that.”

“But I am not going to punish you for past misbehavior, only what you have done since we came together. I want you to hold on tight to that pillow so that you aren’t tempted to reach back. And use it to muffle any sounds that are very loud; I’m not sure how well soundproofed the walls are in this place. This is for your first offense of eavesdropping.” He inched her tee shirt up to the small of her back and brought his hand down with a hard crash. The size difference between them meant that his palm covered nearly her whole bottom with every spank. He moved the position of his hand with each spank, but there was still a huge area of overlap.

Marcie held on tight to the pillow and buried her face in it to keep her squeals from being audible. She remembered her thought earlier of how much the spanking over her dress while standing had hurt, and not wanting to experience a bare bottom spanking. But this was much worse than she had ever imagined. This made the earlier spanking seem like he had been playing patty cake. When he started on her thighs and her sit spots, she couldn’t understand why she didn’t lose consciousness from the pain, but she wasn’t spared.

Nick realized that his hand was delivering a spanking that was harsher than should be expected, simply because there was so much overlap with each smack; and he knew the paddling was going to be hard on his elf as well, so he didn’t continue the first punishment for longer than it took to turn her fair skin crimson. “All right, little elf, we’ll call this spanking finished. I can’t exactly ask if you learned your lesson because you repeated the offense before I could deliver this punishment!” He rubbed her back in soothing circles trying to calm her crying. “I want you to go stand in the corner for a bit before we do the paddling. Were you finished in the bathroom before you came to ask me about the toothpaste, or do you need to go back and do anything else?”

She raised her head from the pillow to answer, but that made her sobs too loud, so she shook her head and kept the pillow in place.

Nick sighed as he continued stroking her. “I’m not sure if that was a shake no you don’t need to go back or a shake no you didn’t finish. So let’s try that again. Do you need to go back and finish in the bathroom?” This time she gave a clear affirmative nod. “Okay, my little elf,” he said attempting to sooth her, “I’ll give you time to finish in the bathroom before you stand in the corner. But you have to stop crying first, or at least calm down enough to let go of the pillow, okay? Come on now, this spanking is done and you need to stop crying about it.”

She nodded and slowly raised her head up, her sobs subsiding.

“That’s right, no more crying, there’s a good girl,” Nick encouraged. “Go finish up in the bathroom. Look in the linen closet for the extra toothpaste. I wasn’t expecting company while I’m staying here so I didn’t put any out.”

She nodded again and finally stood, but didn’t move away. Nick looked at her in surprise. “What?”

“That was the first time you’ve called me a girl. Every other time you’ve called me an elf.”

Nick flushed and looked away, not meeting her eyes. “I guess I was just staying in character by thinking of you in character. You only took off your elf outfit a few minutes ago.”

“But you’ve called me an elf several times since then.”

“Don’t belabor the point, Marcie,” he growled. “Go finish in the bathroom and then get your nose in that corner. We still have a paddling to get through.” His hands on her shoulders twisted her around and he sent her off with a spank. She squealed and her hands flew back. “No rubbing!” he called after her. “Get those hands away from your bottom!”

He waited until she returned to the bedroom and then he made sure he was happy with how she was positioned in the corner. “That’s right, your nose should actually be touching the wall and your shining red bottom should be prominently on display. Keep your tee shirt up high enough that it doesn’t cover any of your spanking. Now stay that way. Remember that rubbing isn’t allowed and will get you a fresh spanking if you disobey me. I’m going to go find something to paddle you with and you had better be in exactly this position when I get back.” He gave her a firm spank, which had her rising up on her tiptoes since she couldn’t move forward at all.