'Twas a Dark and Delicious Christmas Read online

  'Twas a Dark and Delicious Christmas

  13 Author Anthology

  Edited by BL Brown

  Evernight Publishing

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2010 Evernight Publishing

  Table of Contents

  Santa's Naughty List by Stacey Espino

  My Boys by Amarinda Jones

  A Christmas Curse by Ericka Scott

  The Little Red Ribbon by A.D. Blackburn

  Once Upon a Christmas Spanking by Rachel Clark

  Yes Alana, There Is a Santa Claus by Seleste deLaney

  Carly's Delights by Lauren Pilla

  Kingdom of Sweets by Gigi Brevard

  Holly's Clause by Kerri Nelson

  Hard for the Holidays by Skylar Sinclair

  The Christmas Fae by Emma Shortt

  Jack Frost by Misty Burke

  A Christmas Wish for Laura by Shannan Albright

  This is an EROTIC ROMANCE Anthology

  **ADULTS ONLY**

  ISBN: 978-1-926950-05-1

  Cover Artist: Dara England

  Editor: BL Brown

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Santa's Naughty List

  Copyright© 2010 Stacey Espino

  Chapter One

  Laura-Ann stood on tiptoes and carefully hung a hand-painted glass ball on a high spruce branch. She loved the Christmas season, even if a small part of her held contempt for the big guy in red. Since her childhood, she’d prayed for a miracle. When the miracle never came, she began to write to Santa Claus in hopes he'd deliver the gift she wanted most. But every Christmas morning when she’d run down the cool wooden stairs in her bare feet, she’d find the same thing staring back at her from under the tree. Nothing. Either Santa Claus forgot about her list each year, or he didn’t exist at all.

  Big red bastard.

  She adored the holidays, but thinking about her foolish childhood fancies would only bring her grief. At thirty-six she knew better than to believe in dreams and wishes, and yet she couldn't help herself. As she glanced around the room she noted everything looked perfect. The fireplace glowed as wood crackled from the flames encircling them. Fiery fingers leapt high over the logs in the hearth. The scent of burning wood mixed with the apple cider warming on the stove, gave the air a festive aroma. Her townhouse was neat as a pin.

  After hanging the last glass ball on her seven foot blue spruce, she stepped back to admire her handiwork. Perfect. If anyone should be on Santa’s “nice” list, it would be her. She even kept to tradition, leaving out milk and cookies that were never consumed. Although she called it a harmless ritual, part of her believed he was out there, watching her, judging her. Believing Santa was real allowed her to blame him for all her misfortunes. Blaming was so much easier than facing the truth. The truth that her life sucked. No matter how hard she tried, or how hard she wished, she didn’t have anyone to love her. When her parents’ time came to leave this world, not even the wish list of a little girl could bring a miracle.

  The phone rang, pulling Laura-Ann out of her daydream. She grabbed the cordless off the counter. “Hello.”

  “Lannie, are you coming to the party or what? We’re all here. You promised.”

  Laura-Ann sighed, feeling horrible to disappoint Jennifer, but she didn’t want to spoil the spirit. “I’m not really in the partying mood. You guys have fun without me.” Though the staff at the office usually couldn’t pry her and her best friend, Jennifer, away from each other on a normal day, December 23rd was a day she’d rather spend alone. It may be unhealthy to mope and reflect on a past that couldn’t be rewritten, but sometimes she couldn’t control how much her heart ached at the sound of a holiday melody, or flash of colored lights as she drove home through the neighborhood each night. Everything grew to be a reminder of how Santa Claus wouldn’t, or couldn’t, answer her plea for love.

  Late that evening, after having a few too many glasses of wine, Laura-Ann was abruptly woken up. She gazed around, her vision slightly blurred and feeling light-headed. Still in her red heeled pumps and matching pencil skirt, she attempted to sit up without busting a seam, suddenly realizing she'd fallen asleep on the hardwood floor. She sat near the Christmas tree in the main room of her small townhouse. The fire sputtered near death with only a few smoldering embers flaring red in the heap of ashes. Once again she’d spent a lonely evening feeling sorry for herself, trying to appear worthy of a Christmas miracle—from her perfect house, to her perfect appearance.

  A shuffling of feet made her pause. Her numbed senses suddenly jumped to life as adrenaline surged through her. Living alone with both of her neighbors away visiting family for the holidays, the sound made her heart beat double time. How long was she passed out for? What time was it?

  With difficulty, she twisted her legs around in the tight material and pushed herself up to a stand. The noise began again, coming from the hallway leading to her bedroom. She grabbed the closest thing to a weapon she could find. It sounded like rummaging raccoons, and she felt relieved, until somebody swore. Hoping to take the intruder off guard, Laura-Ann jumped out when she reached the corner, raising a large plastic candy cane above her head as a potential weapon of mass destruction.

  “What are you gonna do with that? Annoy me to death? You got that from the dollar store, and it’s hollow.” The intruder's tone was nonchalant and he barely bat a lash from her sudden dash into the bedroom.

  “Who are you?” she demanded. The man pulling clothes out of her dresser drawers wore black jeans and a fitted t-shirt. He didn’t look like an axe murderer, but then again, she’d never dealt with a criminal before either.

  “Let’s just say, I’m the other guy.”

  “Other guy? What’s that supposed to mean? Are you robbing me?” Laura-Ann suddenly realized she held no fear for this nighttime break-and-enter miscreant. If he wanted to harm her he would’ve acted on it already. In fact, his presence felt oddly comforting in her solitary life, strange as it was. The inner walls of her home only held emptiness and echoes from the time she arrived back from work, until the minute she tucked herself into bed each night. Having another human—a temptingly appealing one at that, sharing her space—made her feel strangely warm and tingly.

  The longer the stranger held her gaze made her wonder where exactly those tingles originated from. She shifted her thighs, feeling a familiar ache in her pussy she blamed on loneliness. How ridiculous was she, lusting over a thief? What was wrong with her?

  “You ever hear of Santa Claus?”

  She snorted. “Sure. You’re the spitting image.” He was ruggedly good looking with dark waves of hair and exotically tempting black eyes. If Santa Claus resembled this sex god, every woman in the world would be on their best behavior, anything to get on his ‘good list’.

  “I didn’t say I was Santa Claus. I’m the other guy, remember? I deal with the naughty girls. The ones on the list he’d rather not deal with.”

  “Naughty list my ass!” she wailed, and then stopped herself. The guy
was talking nonsense and here she stood encouraging it.

  “Sorry, sweet cakes, but I have it right here in black and white.” He pulled a long, thin sheet of paper from his jean pocket, which reminded her of a clown pulling out the never-ending scarf, and held it out for her examination. She snatched it from his outstretched hand and scanned the document until she eyed her name.

  She glared at him. “Did someone put you up to this? Why are you really here?”

  “To punish you, of course. Good behavior gets rewarded, but bad behavior must be met with discipline. You don’t expect good ol’ Saint Nick to dole out the unpleasantries, do you? That’s where I come in.” His wicked grin slithered over her flesh like he'd kissed her, and then the stranger let her lace panties fall back into the drawer before he began to pace the small room with his hands locked behind his back.

  “I’ve been watching you, Laura-Ann. There’s been no mistake. You’ve been a very naughty girl.”

  “Am not!” She stomped her foot like and enraged child. “If I believed you, which I don’t, I’d demand an audit.”

  He stopped pacing and gazed at her, clearly confused. “An audit? On what?”

  “My behavior. I’m a good girl, dammit! Santa Claus had no right denying me all these years.” Santa Claus? She must truly be messed up. Maybe she hit her head last night after drinking too much.

  “Sweet thing, don’t worry about it. What’s done is done. The best thing you can do now is take your punishment like a woman. Now pack up, you’re coming with me.”

  “What? I’m not going anywhere.” She balled her fists at her sides. As much as she felt empowered by anger, she still had that undeniable inkling of fear sparking within her. “I’ve done nothing wrong and I don’t know you.”

  “So you want some examples, do you?”

  She scowled at him. The man wasn’t fazed at all by her threat. Instead, he stretched out his muscled arms to massage the back of his neck. Her gaze darted to his chest as the material pulled taut, revealing sculpted pecs and a washboard stomach she could bounce a coin off. Was it wrong to envision herself trailing her tongue along the planes of his male flesh? Maybe she was a bad girl.

  “Six years ago, you had a pity party after turning thirty and brought that twenty-two year old stud home with you.” He clucked his tongue and shook his head disapprovingly. “You broke that boy’s heart.”

  “He wasn’t supposed to fall in love with me! I was nearly ten years older than him. He had no business being interested in me when girls his age were twice as willing and beautiful.”

  Mystery man stepped closer to her. “Oh, I can see what he was interested in.” He held her chin between his thumb and finger, looking deep into her eyes. Could he see her soul? Did he find everything lacking within her?

  “Okay, so you know about Lucas. Half the city does after the drama he pulled off. The fact that you knew about him proves nothing.”

  “Oh, I’ve just gotten started.” He tapped the side of his forehead as if thinking of the perfect memory to focus on. “Ah hah! Go back another five years. You and Jennifer were out at a new techno club and met up with two young men. However, when Jennifer left that night you stayed behind, didn’t you?”

  “How can you know about Ben and Alex?” She felt her cheeks heat from the memory.

  “Well, I didn’t remember their names. Didn’t think you did either.” The man looked disappointed, his eyes crinkling in the corners, which only made him look even hotter. “The list only stated that you had your first double fuck in the restroom of the club that night. Sorry, Laura-Ann, but in our books, that’s very naughty.”

  She covered her ears, her face burning from embarrassment. Nobody knew about that night. She’d had a few wild and rebellious years, but chose not to hold onto those memories. During the black periods of her life when she felt the most alone and vulnerable, she tended to turn to random men for attention. Their affections weren’t a substitute for love, but when she was so god damned starved for companionship, she couldn’t be choosey. Now, she handled things differently. Her life was a front—from her perfect home, to her perfectly coiffed hair, to her so-called uptight, distant personality. She could hide her brokenness from the world and live a life of denial. It was better than running into the arms of strangers and having her heart crushed time and time again.

  Now Santa Claus wanted her punished? If he would've delivered on what she'd begged for since the accident, she wouldn’t have needed to misbehave. She'd lost her parents, her only family, and knew there was no bringing back the dead. All she'd ever asked for was for someone to love her, to return the love that swelled her heart every time she read a romance novel or watched a tear jerker on television. Was that too much to ask?

  “Laura-Ann, the Elves are waiting.”

  She focused on the present. “What? Elves?” This can’t be real.

  “Of course, Elves. Santa doesn’t expect me to handle the naughty list without a staff. I’m only one man. I can’t do everything.”

  “Are there other women on your list?” Somehow the thought of her mystery man punishing other women pulled a thread of jealousy out of her heart. Stupid, stupid, stupid. He wasn’t hers to claim. If everything he said was true, she doubted he was even human at all—maybe just an overgrown Elf. An Elf with a body made for fucking. Shit! She shouldn’t have these feelings. Not now. For years she’d denied herself, ignored her feelings of love and desire in order to function in society.

  “No—just you. Saint Nick thought you’d be enough to handle with your rap sheet.”

  Laura-Ann huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, inadvertently plumping up her breasts. Exactly how much did this man know about her history? Could he read the sexually explicit thoughts now filling her head?

  “I don’t even know your name.”

  “Chris,” he said. “Now. Try and be a good girl for a few minutes. We need to go.”

  “Where do you plan on taking me? Not that I’ll go willingly.”

  Chris closed the distance between them, hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her against his body. She gasped as her feminine softness crushed into the firm wall of male muscle. “We’re going to the North Pole, Laura-Ann.” He leaned down from his uncommon height and nuzzled her neck. With an erotic whisper against her ear, he added, “Be as difficult as you want, it’ll only be more enjoyable for me. Remember—I’m trained to deal with the naughty ones.”

  She wanted to revolt. Her mind wanted to reject the fantasy of the Christmas legend. Her alcohol induced fog, plus her increased loneliness from the holidays, made it easier to accept what Chris suggested. But what exactly did he do to the naughty girls?

  Chapter Two

  Chris had no idea what he was getting into when he accepted the new assignment from the boss. Sure, he’d dealt with bad girls before, very bad girls, and teaching them a lesson had been a pleasure for him as much as it was for each of those naughty vixens.

  Laura-Ann presented something else entirely. His heart pitter pattered when he looked into her bright blue eyes. Her white-blonde hair was pulled into a neat chignon and her reindeer printed bustier barely contained her ample breasts. She looked like an advertisement for holiday festivities from her tight red skirt up to the small snowmen earrings adorning her ears. Why did Santa Claus send him for her? She may have earned her place on the naughty list, but she seemed to have reformed herself. The big guy had an even bigger heart and was quick to forgive past indiscretions—except in this case.

  He studied the woman, beyond tempted to bury himself in her warmth. He wanted to fuck her hard and fast to squelch the desire racing through his veins that started when he first laid eyes on her. She’s an assignment, not a potential mate. In fact, there would be no mate for him since he’d sworn to be the keeper of Santa’s naughty list. Six generations of men from his bloodlines carried on the tradition. Before he was born, his fate had already been sealed. Though his position was coveted by every man living in or near the North
Pole, he never felt blessed with his lot. He wanted something simple—a wife, children…love. But, a regular human life would never been granted to him, and he wouldn’t ask for it, not when so much responsibility and expectation rested on his shoulders.

  As soon as Laura-Ann started packing, he smirked, pulling her into his arms. She wouldn’t need a bag where they were going. In a flash, the bedroom disappeared and they now stood on the roof of the townhome complex. The wide expanse of city lights competed with the colorful lights decorating the trees and homes around them for the Christmas season. With a new moon, the night was unusually dark for the city, allowing a rare and intimate glimpse at the stars.

  The beautiful Laura-Ann clutched to him, her body trembling as she peered over the edge of the roof. “How? What are you? This can’t be real.”

  “Tell that to the reindeer,” he said, nodding to the team on their left. Santa had been generous allowing him to borrow the sleigh for tonight’s assignment. Tomorrow night, the big guy would travel the world granting dreams and wishes to many. Right now, the jolly fellow was resting up to save his energy for the trip.

  Chris enjoyed the wide-eyed expression on Laura-Ann’s face as she stared with unblinking amazement at the team of reindeer busily pawing the rooftop and shaking their bells. “This can’t be real,” she repeated.

  “Very real, sweetheart. Don’t get too close though. They aren’t crazy about naughty girls.”

  She glared up at him, still clutching his shirt in a death grip. As they held eye contact, soft flakes of snow drifted down from the heavens, a couple landing on Laura-Ann’s pixy nose. “Snow?” Looking up with the awe and wonder of a child, she watched the magical snowflakes dance around them. A smile transformed her face to one of such beauty, he could barely contain his desire to kiss her pouty lips.