Grumpy Elf:Of course.
Me:He was such a pompous ass.
Grumpy Elf:He didn’t get handsy in the movie, did he?
Me:No.Why? You gonna come here and kick his ass if he did?
Grumpy Elf:Don’t be absurd. I’d put him on the naughty list, of course.
Me:My hero.
Chapter Fifteen
Kendrick
“This is delicious,” I sighed, cradling the cup of hot cocoa between my palms.
After our shower, and orgasms, Balfour had insisted on ushering me back to the warmth and softness of his bed. And, honestly, I wasn’t complaining. It was kind of nice to have someone pampering me the way he was.
Plus, I was tired and aching. My muscles were letting me know in no uncertain terms just how much I had put them through the last few days. As much as I had wanted Balfour to fuck me earlier, I had to admit he had made the right callby saying no. And, I had gotten a very unexpected and frankly mind-blowingly excellent blowjob.
He had turned the heat back up in the cottage, telling me he had dialed it back because I was so hot during my heat, and the place was warming up nicely. My only complaint was that he had covered up his nakedness with a pair of red and black plaid pajama pants. They looked so fucking sexy on him, it made my mouth water. And to see him actually wearing something with colors and a pattern, his long hair disheveled around his shoulders and down his back…I could stare at him all day.
No wonder the man chose to wear nondescript clothing all the time, with colors matching his beautiful hair and eyes. If he actually wore something with color, no work would ever get done in Santa’s Village. Everyone would be too busy drooling over Bal.
I was currently sipping cocoa from my mound of pillows, while Balfour fussed about in the kitchen, coming into the room carrying a tray of warm, iced cinnamon rolls.
“It’s not as good as Pops’ cocoa, but it will do,” Balfour commented, setting the tray down on the bed. He handed me a small plate containing two warm rolls, and waited patiently while I sat my mug down on the nightstand.
Sniffing the rolls, I sighed happily. “It feels just like Christmas morning.” I bit into one sweet treat, moaning my appreciation as the flavors exploded on my tongue. “Though I’m not usually lazing in bed, being waited on. Not that I’m complaining.”
I watched as he slowly chewed his own bite of roll, his Adam’s apple moving as he swallowed. “You deserve to be pampered after a heat. All alphas should pamper their omegas after a heat.”
Our eyes locked for a minute, before we both looked away, neither of us sure what to say after that declaration.
He wasn’t my alpha and I wasn’t his omega, but Goddess, I wanted him to be. And I had no idea how to process all the things I was feeling for him. All the things I wanted.
After my initial dislike of him in my brother’s honor, my giving him crap had been just that. He had been easy to tease, to rile, to push his buttons. It had been fun, because he gave back as good as he got, and I loved it. Now he was the first person I texted when I had a funny story to share or watched a new show I thought he would like. He was one of my best friends, even if I had never told him as much.
I didn’t want to lose that. There was no way this–whatever this was between us–could work. It was impossible, wasn’t it?
He was an elf, for fuck’s sake. He wasn’t even human. Not fully. And he lived in Santa’s Village. He was The Santa’s head elf. He was four hundred and something years old.
Nope, we wouldn’t possibly ever really be able to sustain an actual relationship. I lived in the human realm. I had a job I loved, friends, a life in Sweet Alps that I was going back to tomorrow.
But Keegan lived here. He and Nik were happy. Keegan had built a different life from the one he’d had in the human realm. A life with a lover who adored him, and two amazing kids. A life where he taught gingerbread classes, and put together the gingerbread contest, and did…whatever else it was my brother did. The main thing was, Keegan was happy. He and Nik made it work.
Could Bal and I make it work? Would I be willing to give up my life in the human realm? Would I be allowed to? Nik was a Kringle, The Santa, and he had Christmas magic passed down from his family on his side. Bal was an elf, and while I knew he had some elf magic, it wasn’t anything he could use to the bend the rules here in Santa’s Village. I wouldn’t be just allowed to move here, to see if dating him would work out.
Would I even be happy living in Santa’s Village, if I could? Visiting was completely different than uprooting my entire life and living here twenty-four seven.
I honestly didn’t know if I could.
I didn’t have a clue if Bal would want me to. Or if he even felt any of the things I was feeling.
Sure, the sex between us was off-the-charts dynamite, but sex was just…sex. It didn’t make a relationship, or a life. Not really. It was a tiny part of it, when you really thought about it.
And I had no idea where Bal’s head was at. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure where my head was at either. Maybe I was still cloudy from my heat?
