Chapter 24

 

“You sure they’re okay with this?”

Thankfully, they were alone — for the moment — standing outside the door to Hunter’s office, the cold winter wind whipping through the parking lot and swirling within the vestibule at the smoked glass of the front doors. She shivered, but knew there wasn’t much to be done about it. After all, she wasn’t exactly dressed for the weather.

It had been Troy’s idea to put on the costume. She’d have never had the courage to walk out of the house in an outfit quite this… revealing. His growled promise that she’d be punished if she backed out now was more than enough to get her moving though.

“Naughty elf” was what he’d labeled it, the skintight green shorts so brief, the lower curves of her buttocks threatened to pop out if she so much as bent over. Her red and green button-up top was fur-lined at the bodice. He’d, as usual, forbidden her to use a bra. The brutally tight waist cincher she wore underneath, and the fact he’d made her leave the top four buttons undone, ensured her boobs practically spilled out. A twenty-five degree December day wasn’t conducive to an outfit that showed almost as much skin as a bathing suit. At least the cute Santa hat kept her head from freezing.

“I’ve never seen a sluttier little elf.” Troy kissed her cheek, pressing the large red velvet goody bag into her hands. His eyes glinted in the gray light of the day. “You’d better get in there before I take you back to the truck and fuck your brains out, bad girl.”

Her heart skipped a beat, her nipples tightening to steel points even as her blush burned hot. “These shorts didn’t used to be so tight.”

“It’s a good look on you.” He waggled a dark eyebrow.

“I feel like a beached whale.”

His gaze darkened, his mischievous smile fading until his sensuous lips were but a thin line. “What have we talked about? You’re gorgeous. I told you — more than once — that I will not tolerate you putting yourself down.”

“But, I really… these fit before.”

“And they fit very well now, Lacey.” His voice was a murmur but it was all steel.

Her mouth went dry as she realized she might have pushed it just a little too far.

At least the brutally tight waist cincher flattened her still too-rounded belly. It didn’t do anything for her thighs though, which she thought were still too big. Having Hayden hadn’t helped in that department either.

“I think we’re going to have to address this issue again.”

Her stomach sank at the quiet words.

His expression was cool, neutral as he took her by the upper arms. “But not now. Right now, you’ve got a job to do, and that’s to use that smokin’ bod of yours in the service of evil.”

She couldn’t help but giggle even though a chill ran down her spine. She knew her Troy; she’d just earned herself another painful punishment. The only question was when, and in what form it would take.

Damn you, Lacey. Why do you have to keep getting your ass in a sling!

“You’re coming in, right?”

The office wasn’t very big, maybe ten cubes all told — and she’d made Troy double-check to ensure it was okay to pull something this crazy.

“I’ll be right behind you.” Troy cocked a thumb toward the doors. “Need to say thanks to Bill Hanlon anyway. You can do your thing while I talk to him.”

“W-who?”

“His boss.” Troy grinned mischievously. “Hunt’s not gonna have any idea what hit him. Now go.”

Lacey swallowed hard, willing herself to have the courage to walk inside.

The picture of Hunter’s crooked smile filled her mind, and she sighed, yanking open the smoked glass front door, blessedly warm air washing over her.

The short walk down the worn gray carpet of a hallway led her into the office area. There were six cubicles on each side of the room, separated by a broad walkway down the center. She looked around for Hunter, then Troy touched her left shoulder.

“He’s right over there.”

She glanced back at Troy, who stayed back out of sight of Hunter’s desk. He gave her a sly wink, mouthing “Go.”

Her heart jackhammered in her chest as she walked over to his cubicle. He was on the phone with someone, his head in his hands as he leaned over on his desk. Several of his officemates peered over at her with questioning looks. She knew that Hunter was an engineer, just like her husband, and she was still struck by how much time engineers spent on the phone rather than actually… engineering.

You ditz.

Hunter’s white dress shirt stretched taut over his broad shoulders, the fringe of his rich brown hair just falling over the back collar, the sight making her heart do a flip-flop.

Then he looked up — and his mouth fell open.

“Jack, I… I gotta take another call.” He gave her a puzzled glance. “Yeah… tomorrow’s fine.”

He dropped the handset into its cradle and stared up at her. “Lacey? What the… what’s going on?”

She gave him her winningest smile. “Came to drop off a few gifts. You won’t mind, will you?”

“Mind?” He glanced over to the other cubes. Every eye in the place was watching them now, the office suddenly a lot quieter than it had been two minutes ago.

Courage, Lace.

Fishing the envelope for Hunter out of the bag, she bent over the half wall of his cubicle, trying not to think about how much of her ass she was probably showing off to his co-workers, yet very much paying attention to the fact Hunter’s eyes were glued to her breasts bobbling in the confines of her bodice as she laid the envelope on his keyboard. “Will you hold this for me?”

“Uh, sure.”

She put a hand to her mouth to cover her smile at the way he visibly yanked his gaze back up to hers.

“What’s this?”

“A little something — Troy wouldn’t let me look at it though.”

It was true. When he handed it to her, he’d made her promise, on pain of forty strokes of the cane, not to peek at it. That it was for Hunter’s eyes only. The curiosity was still killing her, but she knew better than to press her luck too much. If it were really that important, Troy would’ve shared it with her.

You just keep telling yourself that.

“Wait here, okay?” She held up the velvet bag. “I’ll be right back.”

For the next five minutes, she handed out the little bags of candies wrapped in red, white and green ribbon, starting with the row of cubicles across from Hunter. As Troy instructed previously, she made sure her bottom was facing toward Hunter as she bent over to deposit the gifts at each desk. She glanced back at him as she bent once or twice, her belly doing flip-flops at the sight of Hunter valiantly trying — and failing — to avoid staring at her blatantly displayed ass.

Yes!

Few of the men even said a word to her as she gave them their presents, a couple of them gazing up at her as if she’d just appeared from out of the floor. One of them, a younger man with a hard, angular face seemed to be actively avoiding her, turning away as she approached his workstation. She hoped his aversion to her wasn’t because she looked hideous in the risqué elf get-up. A couple of Hunter’s co-workers made small talk with her as they accepted their gifts. One of them, a quite attractive older man with a shock of black hair laced with gray didn’t even try to hide the way his gaze crawled all over her.

She wondered if Troy watched as the man looked her up and down. The thought had her pussy tightening, though she wasn’t entirely sure why.

Then she was back at Hunter’s cube, taking the chair he indicated next to his desk. She tried to ignore the way her boobs bounced as she plopped down on the seat.

“You should not have done this.”

“Why?” She straightened her shoulders, blushing a little as his gaze dropped to her breasts. “Don’t I look festive? It’s almost Christmas!”

“You look… great.” He inclined his head at her, his voice lowering to a husky note that made her insides quiver. “But you’re going to get me fired.”

“Troy cleared it ahead of time with your boss.” She giggled at the way Hunter’s mouth dropped open.

“Where did you get this outfit?” He looked her over as he said it, the heat rising uncomfortably between her thighs.

“Do you like it?” She hopped to her feet, twirling for him in a way she knew probably crossed about a hundred lines of their friendship. But she wanted to push him a little to see what he’d do.

“Sit down,” he said, pulling her to her seat with a strong grip on her forearm. His gaze coursed over her again, lingering on her naked thighs as he scratched under one ear. “Yes, I like it. Way too much, actually.”

Grinning, she leaned close, whispering. “That was kinda the point. It’s the least I can do to say I’m sorry.” She winked at him, turning toward him a little, her shorts riding up even higher. “And get my broken-hearted friend to think about something… more pleasant.”

“Jesus Christ,” Hunter said through a hand plastered over his mouth, his face blushing. His reaction filled her with giddiness… and introduced a mortifying slipperiness between the lips of her pussy.

“Sorry,” she whispered, then cleared her throat, glancing over at the two men who sat immediately behind Hunter’s cubicle. She knew she still had a rapt audience, but the only audience she really cared about were the two men in this room who meant the most to her.

She gave his two watching coworkers a little wave, beaming at them. Both of them blushed, and turned their attention back to their monitors.

“Is Troy with you?” Hunter craned his head around, looking down the walkway toward the front doors.

“Doesn’t matter.” She took his hand, and held it firmly in both of hers. “Look, Hunter… I wanted to do something to cheer you up. To let you know we’re thinking about you. That I’m thinking about you.”

It was more than that of course, and she’d agreed with her husband’s assessment.

They needed to see how he’d react, especially if they ever hoped for… anything more.

She suspected Troy’s ulterior motive was using it as an excuse to show off his wife’s scantily clad body, but he’d never admit that to her. The illicit thought that he got off on sharing her charms with strangers — and most importantly — Hunter, had her clit tingling.

That town has gotten to you, hasn’t it?

It wasn’t even a question anymore.

“Lace… I wanted to say something. I’m… sorry about how I reacted. I was an asshole.”

She squeezed his hand. “You don’t need to apologize. I was the one being a selfish brat. I feel terrible.”

“I’ll take you over my knee if it’ll make you feel better.”

She gasped, her nervous laughter ringing out louder than she’d intended. “Hunter!”

Her mouth went dry at the words though, his tone only half-joking.

Troy peeked at her, Hunter unable to see him. Her husband tapped a finger at his wrist.

Wrap it up.

“I have to go.” She stood, tapping the envelope still clutched in Hunter’s hand. “Don’t open that until you get home, okay?”

He peered down at it. “Okay…”

“Give me a hug.” He rose, his big arms drawing her in. He pressed a quick kiss to the crown of her hair that had her sex squeezing hard.

That doesn’t have to mean anything, Lacey.

Of course, it didn’t, but she suspected there was more to it, for when he’d hugged her, he’d conspicuously avoided pressing his hips against hers.

Sneaking one last glance down as she left, there was something there that made her heart skip a beat and her nipples pebble to stone.

Hunter’s dark slacks utterly failed to conceal the rather prominent erection swelling between his thighs.