Chapter 2

After our semi-official movie "date," it was almost as if the dam burst and the feelings Candy and I had for each other poured out. The two of us managed to finagle our coworkers into switching shifts with us so that Candy and I worked together every time either one of us was on the schedule.

This also meant that the two of us had down-time at the same time, and the two of us spent almost every minute of it together. One evening was at the company's Christmas party and dance. Candy and I were almost inseparable that night, plastered together on the dance floor. If there had been any question about how the two of us felt about each other, Candy's nipples poking out from the front of her sheer blouse or my erection pressing into her soft belly would have silenced any doubts.

"Are you having a good time," I whispered in Candy's ear. The floor was almost empty, the party having begun to wind down thirty minutes before. The song we were dancing to was a slow one and as the two of us moved in unison, we were in reality doing little more than grinding against each other. My hands had slipped down Candy's smooth back and were now resting on the tops of her rounded ass cheeks. As we swayed to the music I could feel her muscles flexing beneath my fingers. Candy sighed and pressed herself more closely against me as I squeezed her soft flesh.

"Wonderful," she murmured. Candy was wearing a satiny dress, light purple and smooth to the touch. As we danced I almost imagined I could feel the hot mound of her pussy pressing against my thigh as my hard cock pushed insistently against her hip. We swayed together, enjoying the closeness until at last the song faded away.

"Do you want to stay?" I asked, noticing we were one of only three couples left in the hall. Candy looked up, biting on her lower lip as she locked eyes with me.

"I think we could go, if you wanted," was her response. I noticed her face was flushed and her voice seemed throatier than normal as we stood there. Nodding quickly, I grabbed her hand, wondering briefly whether the dampness I felt in our palms came from her hand or mine. Deciding it didn't matter and thankful for the suit jacket I was wearing as it obscured my erection from sight, I dragged a more than willing Candy from the dance floor and into the hallway, my mind swirling at what the night might bring.

The hallway was deserted. Unable to hold myself back any longer, I paused, pivoting in place and pushing Candy back against a wall. I buried my face in her hair, kissing my way down the side of her face until my lips and tongue made tiny wet spots on her smooth, hot skin. She moaned, grabbing my hand tighter in her own as I trailed my lips along the line of her jaw. As I kissed her, I could feel her pulse racing just below the surface of her delicate skin.

"I want you," I growled, pressing my hard cock between her thighs. Candy moaned at the sensation, opening her legs as wide as she was able in her skirt, allowing my shaft to press hotly against her covered pussy. Even through our layers of clothing I could feel her heat.

As we ground frantically against each other her mouth sought out mine and we kissed, our wet lips opening as our tongues dueled together. Candy moaned into my mouth as I trailed my hands down along her side, spanning my fingers over her rounded hips and around behind her to cup her buttocks.

"You're so hard," she moaned, humping her crotch against my own. "Can you feel how wet I am for you?" She looked me in the eye, a wild look on her face as she dragged her tits across my chest. "Do you want to fuck me?" she asked.

"God, yes," I hissed. We kissed again, our hands dancing over the other's body, probing and grasping at whatever came into reach.

"Oh Bobby. You're so hot," Candy moaned as her fingers found my cock. She had managed to unzip my slacks and somehow slipped her hands inside my briefs and was now stroking my erection. "I want you. I need to feel you inside me," she panted.

My own hands were full as well as I reached under Candy's blouse, no longer tucked in her skirt, and cupped her pert breasts. Her nipples were like pebbles against my fingers. I squeezed and tugged at the rubbery flesh, drawing sighs of delight from Candy's lips, just as her soft stroking brought moans of appreciation from my own.

As my passion built up I could sense slippery drops of precum escaping the spongy tip of my cock (now pulled free of my slacks), and leaking down over Candy's fingers. She noticed as well and began spreading the sticky liquid over the tip and shaft of my prick, drawing yet another grunt of approval from me.

Not wanting Candy to feel left out I released my grip on her soft tits and reached down under her skirt. Momentarily breaking her grip on my cock, I grabbed the hem of Candy's skirt with both hands I slowly lifted it up over Candy's hips, allowing her to spread her legs more widely.

She parted for me readily, quickly regaining her insistent grip on my erection. As more and more of Candy's smooth thighs came into view I felt myself - if possible - grow even more erect in her hand. As soon as I was able I let go of the skirt, now bunched around Candy's waist, and reached out a hand to cup her warm, and as I soon found out, sopping wet pussy.

When my fingers crept past the elastic band of her satiny pink panties, Candy gave a strangled cry. Her hips rocked up to meet my fingers as I probed her sensitive flesh. Her deep crevice was dripping with her fluids and it was easy work to wet my finger in the pungent liquid. Her labia, puffy and dark red with her arousal, opened easily to my touch, parting to reveal the delicate inner flower of her pussy.

"Touch my clit," Candy panted. Her head was thrown back, eyes closed, mouth wide open in a mostly silent scream. Her hands had abandoned my cock and were now attending to her breasts, each hand pulling on the smooth flesh. My fingers, now coated with her fluids, sluiced in and out of Candy's honey-coated pussy, the liquid noises the only sounds in the empty hall other than our ragged breathing.

As circumstance would have it, just as Candy appeared ready to orgasm, a bright light suddenly shone across her face. Her eyes snapped open and my head whipped around, turning to see a night watchman making his rounds.

"Hey you two!" he shouted, picking up the pace from his normally slow walk. Giggling like school children, Candy and I raced to make ourselves presentable before he arrived. Realizing it was hopeless, our clothes too disheveled, we took the only option available to us and bolted out a side door, escaping into the night.

"So cold!" Candy laughed, her teeth almost immediately chattering in the mid-December air. "Hold me." I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, continuing to look back from where we'd come, not confident our escape was anything other than temporary.

"Come on," I said, whispering loudly in the silent air. "Let's get out of here."

Our evening came to an abrupt end soon after, as both our roommates were home and awake.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she climbed out of my car, her gaze locked on my cock, still erect inside my slacks. "I didn't mean to leave you hanging like that." Her unhappy look quickly turned to one a bit more sultry and full of promise. "Well, not hanging, exactly. I guess I'll just have to make it up to you," she grinned as she closed the door. She blew me a quick kiss before running up the sidewalk to the front door of her apartment building.

"When?" I called after her.

"Next time!" she said, blowing me a kiss before she closed the door behind her.

"Next time... I like the sound of that," I thought as I drove away - happy, but more than a little on edge. I knew the box of tissues by my bed would come in handy that evening.

"Oh Robert! Are you sure? Can't you come for a little bit?" my mother asked early the next week. In rearranging our schedules in order to spend as much time together as possible, Candy and I had failed to check how the changes might affect anyone else. In my case, at least, it was going to mean missing the family's Christmas Eve festivities.

"Sorry," I said, shrugging my shoulders helplessly although my mom obviously couldn't see me over the phone. "I really can't."

"Could you at least make an appearance?" my dad asked, having picked up a different line and catching my answer. "The party starts fairly early," he continued. "I think everyone would like to see Santa." I sighed heavily.

"Can't do it. Because the shopping season has been so busy, Taylor's decided to stay open extra hours the week before Christmas, including the night before. We're open from eight in the morning until ten at night on Christmas Eve, and I need to be there starting at three thirty at the latest to start my shift."

"I guess we'll just have to miss you," my dad answered.

"Sorry," I repeated, wondering if I would ever feel older than a ten year-old when it came to disappointing my parents. We chatted a bit more before hanging up.

"Didn't go very well, huh?" asked Candy, who had been listening to my end of the conversation. She scooted closer to me on the couch and nestled into my side.

"Nah, but it's okay, I guess." I smiled down at her. "At least we get to spend the day together."

"Right," she snorted. "At least you get to sit down all shift. I'm the one who has to stand up the whole time. My back kills me at the end of every shift, just from the constant bending over to give the kiddies their candy canes!"

"Need a back rub?" I asked. Candy shook her head.

"I'm fine right now," she replied. "Ask me tomorrow night."

"Can you believe it's almost Christmas?"

"Only a couple more days," she smiled. "What are you getting me?" she grinned.

"Not telling," I huffed. "It's a surprise."

"I know you're ticklish," she said in a teasing, menacing voice.

"Is that a threat?"

"Maybe." Candy looked out of the corner of her eye at me.

"I'll never tell."

"We have ways of making you talk," she said in a clipped German accent. The two of us stared at each other for a moment before bursting out in laughter. I reached out and gave Candy a hug, enjoying the warmth and softness of her body as she melted against me. When we finally broke the embrace I noticed her giving me a curious look.

"What?"

"You're not going to tell me, really?" she asked. I broke out in laughter again.

"I told you, it's a surprise."

"Humph," Candy groused, although it was obvious she was only half serious. We sat on the couch for a few more minutes, just holding hands and enjoying each other's company. Eventually we noticed the time and with a frustrated sigh I pulled myself to my feet, dragging a mildly protesting Candy up with me.

"Sorry," I said. "It's late. I have to run a few errands in the morning before work. I wish I could see you on Christmas Day." Candy's parents were visiting from out of town, so the two of us wouldn't see each other after Christmas Eve, at least for a few days.

"Then I guess I'll just have to give you your present tomorrow night," she said.

"After work?"

"Sounds good."

"It's a date, then."

I, for one, will never understand the deeply-ingrained habit many men seem to have developed that leads to so many of us doing an entire month's worth of Christmas shopping the day before the big event. I have always been a prompt person, going back so far as my school days, when it wasn't uncommon for me to sit down on a Friday evening and finish my homework for the weekend, just so I wouldn't be faced with it Sunday night.

Still, it always amazed me when I came face to face with procrastination so great that husbands were willing to risk the dark ire of the lady of the house, just to avoid facing the normal crowd of Christmas shoppers.

And yet, here I was, two hours before my last shift of the season as Santa Claus, frantically looking over pieces of gold jewelry at Taylor's jewelry counter.

"What are you looking for?" the girl behind the counter asked me.

"I don't really know," I said, fighting the urge to scratch my head for fear I'd look even more idiotic than I knew I already did. "It's for a girl, and we've only been dating, not really dating, just kind of hanging out a lot, and..." I paused, knowing by the look on the girl's face that I'd just said something even more idiotic.

"Are you stalking her or something?" she grinned.

"No! It's not like that. It's just... we like each other. A lot. But it's only been a few weeks, and I don't want to scare her off."

The girl nodded as if that explained things perfectly and disappeared from behind the counter. When she reappeared, it was behind me and I stifled a cry of surprise. The girl had returned with a necklace, but completely perfect for Candy. It had a thick gold chain, actually three chains braided together, a heart made of what appeared to be ruby hanging from it.

"It's beautiful," I said. "Looks expensive though." The salesgirl looked at me suspiciously, apparently trying to gauge the true depth of my feelings for Candy.

"Maybe a little bit," she said finally. "But don't you like it?"

Damn! She was right; the necklace was beautiful. Gorgeous without being ostentatious, simple without being plain. I nodded; my first instinct about it had been right. Pricey or not, it was what I wanted to give Candy for Christmas.

"Wrap it up for me?" I said with a little grin. The girl smiled brightly. I don't know how many other desperate men she'd had looking for jewelry this close to Christmas, but she seemed quite pleased by my sale. I took advantage of the present wrapping service the department store offers during the holidays, and after grabbing a bite to eat headed back to the dressing area. Despite all the right signals I'd been receiving from Candy, I was suddenly nervous about the gift I had "hidden" in the plain paper bag in my hand.

"What's that?" Candy asked, startling me as she walked into the room. I glanced at the clock, unaware of how close it was to our starting time. Candy had arrived dressed in her costume, while I still needed to change. Apparently the gift would need to wait until after our shift.

"Uh... what? Oh, this? Just supper," I lied, tossing the necklace in my locker. I grabbed the Santa suit, shaking out the dust that invariably gathered each night. "You mind?" I asked Candy, feeling foolish for my sudden case of modesty. Her response was to sit in one of the chairs directly in front of my locker, grinning broadly.

"I don't mind," she laughed. "Take it off, Santa!"

"You asked for it." I shook my head in amusement and began the process (which was about as far from sexy as undressing could get), of transforming myself from a mild-mannered teacher's assistant to St. Nicholas. Candy grinned the whole time, watching as I stripped down to my underwear before strapping on layer after layer of foam padding. Once I had obtained the bulk associated with Santa I grabbed the traditional red suit. The entire process took roughly fifteen minutes.

"You are one sexy Santa," Candy commented as I tugged on the red hat. "You took forever though."

"You could have helped," I shot back.

"Nah," Candy smiled. "I'd much rather help you get out of the suit than put it on."

"Really?" I smirked. "I think I know a Santa who wouldn't mind a little help like that!"

"Do you really?"

"I think I might," I grinned, wagging my eyebrows for effect.

"We'll see about that," Candy said. Laughing at our silliness, the two of us hurried out to the main floor of the department store. We waited until there was a lull in the seemingly unending line of children to switch places with Carlos (the only hispanic Santa I'd ever seen), and his sullen elf helper, Jeff, who it seemed had been given a second chance to play Santa's helper.

"Hey Bobby. Hey Candy," Carlos said as we passed. I nodded quickly, keenly aware that the shopping crowd, so close to Christmas, was bound to be more than a little restless, so I hurried to my place, as did Candy.

After a few hours of sitting, I was more than ready for "Santa's" dinner break. Forgetting I had told Candy my dinner was in the bag which actually contained her necklace, I was momentarily confused by her look when I mentioned I was heading across the street to grab some fast food.

"I thought you brought your supper?"

"Um... I... ah," was the best I could do. I was attempting to concoct some sort of believable story when Candy darted to my locker and grabbed the jewelry box. I tried to stop her from opening it, but she pulled away from me triumphantly.

"Ah ha!" she chortled, holding the brown paper bag aloft. "What's in here, really?" she asked. "Is it my present? It's kind of small to be my present, don't you think? Can I open it now?"

I sat back in my chair, my hands resting on my knees. I shrugged my shoulders helplessly.

"Why not? I was going to surprise you after we were done playing dress-up, but I suppose now's a good time. Knock yourself out." I sat back, trying to look uninterested while Candy tore into the neatly-wrapped package. I knew the moment she saw the necklace when the good-natured "ooh" and "ah" sounds she was making tailed off into silence.

"Bobby?" she asked questioningly. I turned my head to see her holding the gold chain in her hand, the blood-red heart dangling loosely in the air. "Is this really for me?" I smiled and nodded happily.

"Do you like it?" I asked, a bit unnecessarily. The look on Candy's face told me all I needed to know. It was indeed a stupid question.

"Bobby! It's gorgeous. I don't... I don't know what to say. I didn't get you anything nearly this nice," she said, a sickened look on her face.

"You don't need to get me anything at all." I stood, walking over to where Candy was standing. "Turn around, I want to put the necklace on you," I whispered, taking the chain from her hand. She spun gracefully, pulling her ponytail out of the way. I unfastened the clasp of the necklace and brought the heart pendant around to her front. As I closed the tiny mechanism, I couldn't resist the urge to bend down and kiss the smooth skin on the back of Candy's neck.

"Ooh, I like that." Candy shivered a bit as my lips pressed lightly against her, the soft hairs on her neck standing at attention. Candy leaned back, pressing against me lightly. I continued kissing her neck, eventually moving around to her front until we were standing face to face.

"Merry Christmas," I said quietly, looking into her deep blue eyes. She smiled up at me, her head tilted back, her lips opened slightly in obvious invitation. I closed the distance between us and soon our lips were pressing against each other in a serious kiss.

Candy moaned lightly, reaching up to wrap her arms around my neck as the kiss deepened. Her lips were soft, full and lush against my own. I felt myself beginning to respond to the gentle sway of her hips against me, my cock once again with a mind of its own as it thickened noticeably beneath my Santa suit. Candy rocked her hips against it, making clear it was no accident as she moved over the bulge in light circles. Our mouths were open now, Candy's wet, slippery tongue darting in and out of my mouth, teasing my tongue as I tried to connect with her.

The mood was broken, however, when we heard a light tapping on the break room door. Quickly, Helen's voice came through the door and the two of us pulled apart, both of us breathing more heavily than normal. I could see a light pink flush spreading over Candy's neck.

"Guys?" Helen called out.

"Come on in," I said, sitting down at the table to hide my condition. "What's up?"