Epilogue
EPILOGUE
BOZ
Unlike Santa's birth month, when he moped around the apartment from March first to the thirty-first and refused to tell me which day, exactly, was the day of his birth, Christmastime was pure bliss. We took advantage of the longer nights to do all the things Santa said he'd wanted to do with me last year but didn't because I was human. We made snow angels during the first snowstorm of the season, chased a pack of deer through the woods during their rut, and spent a night on a rooftop in Maine, taking in the northern lights.
Santa wanted to show me everything at once, but I needed down time, too. I was still crunching numbers from dusk to two, Sunday to Thursday. Santa worked at the club while I worked, but he gave dancing lessons or tended bar more often than he worked in the VIP lounge .
One night during a commercial break while we lounged on the couch, I asked how the new VIP headliner was doing. Santa was happy to report on his replacement, Jewel. I'd even helped her with a Christmas dance routine she and her elves could perform to lure folks to the VIP line. According to Santa, they'd only done it twice, and both times, the VIP line grew so long they had to tell folks to come back the next night.
Santa's far-off gaze and slight grin made me wonder. "Are you jealous?"
"No! I'm grateful."
Not the response I'd expected. "Grateful?"
"I worried Mr. Caynik wouldn't be able to replace me, but Jewel is so much better than I was. She's fun to watch, and when she closes that door, you know she'll be as satisfied as the customers."
"You weren't?"
He met my gaze and shook his head. "No, not for a long time. I'd forgotten why I liked sex so much. And then I met you."
"Do you still like sex?" I asked.
"I love sex with you," he said, kissing my cheek. "With everyone else, it's just a job."
"You'd rather tease the crowd with a dance."
"I'm teasing you," he reminded me with a quick peck to my nose. "The crowd is a side-effect."
"I love it when you tease me." I shifted in his lap to straddle him and went in for a deeper kiss. He surrendered to me, and I lost myself in the glorious rhythm. I loved kissing even more now that I didn't have to breathe.
He arched his back and thrust his cock against mine. We both moaned as instinct took over. In less than a second, I was sprawled on my back on the bed with him on top of me, our streaming show forgotten.
His teeth scraped against the side of my neck in the way I loved. It still made my pulse race, even though I knew he couldn't hurt me. I healed too quickly now.
"Do you wish I was still human?" I asked. It was something I wondered as our heartbeats slowed each morning and death returned to our bodies for the day.
"I wish you had lived longer," he said. "Only because I always wanted to live longer." He gazed up at me and smiled.
I'd met plenty of vampires over the last year, thanks to my job, and they all had shrewd and calculating gazes. Not Santa. When he looked at me, I knew he saw me, while other vampires all seemed to look through me.
"How do you do that?" I asked.
"Do what?"
"You look … human, when you look at me."
He shook his head and nipped at my chest. "I let my guard down with you. You do the same with me. That's how I knew you loved me. You look at Colette like she's a spreadsheet."
I laughed. I couldn't help it. He was so fucking adorable. Yes, two-century-old vampires could be adorable, and he was proof.
"You're my favorite spreadsheet." I played with his hair as he continued to nip, lick, and suck his way down my chest and abs.
"I'm your favorite cocksucker." He hovered with his chin a hair's breadth from said cock. If I flexed my kegels, I could hit him with it, but I didn't. I reached for the caned headboard and held on, showing him I was ready for whatever he wanted to do to me.
I never would have asked the real Santa Claus for a boyfriend. I wouldn't have known what to ask for, since I'd never had one. Santa was so much more than my boyfriend now. He was the perfect Christmas present, one I could enjoy all year round.
THE END