THE NAUGHTY NORTH POLE Book Three

 Enjoy this first SNEAK PEAK of the latest installment in the Naughty North Pole, A GIFT FOR SANTA. Nick Klaus aka THE Santa Claus, has just agreed to go have a beer and "catch up" with long time friend Jack Frost. Watch the sexual tension blaze....
 

“So is it true?” Jack asked quietly from the corner of that intoxicatingly sexy mouth.
“What?”
“About your elves?”
“What about them?”
He nudged me with his elbow. “That their cum tastes like candy?”
I almost spit out my beer. Choking back the mouthful, I said, “Um, I wouldn’t know firsthand, but yes, I believe they do.”
He gaped. “How is that possible?”
“It’s all the candy they eat,” I explained. “Sugar seems to alter their chemistry.”
Sniggering, Jack shook his head. “No, not that. How is it possible you don’t know firsthand?”
I frowned. “They work for me. I can’t take advantage of them.”
“You leave the Pole like three times a year. So you mean to tell me that’s the only time you get laid?”
I glared at him, not liking the direction of this conversation. “How do you know how often I leave the Pole?”
His hand waved about in dismissal. “That’s irrelevant. You’re avoiding the question. When was your last time?”
“That was certainly not the question.”
He shrugged, draining his beer so effortlessly my thoughts went to indecent places about how open his throat might be. Dammit, how did he always manage to push my thoughts to a sexual place?
Signaling the barkeep for another round, he said, “It might not have been, but you knew that’s what I was after.”
I said nothing as a third drink was placed before me. Part of me wanted to call Jack a nosey asshole, toss down a twenty, and hightail it out of there. If I recalled, our last encounter had ended in exactly that manner and I believe the word I called him had been “fuck-stain.” Not one of my better moments. But that was the way it went with us. The sexual electricity would spark until Jack made a wise-ass comment, then I got pissed and left.
Knowing how things usually ended, why had I come again?
Oh yeah. Because Jack Frost made me crazy stupid every time I got around him.
“I was just curious,” Jack said, his voice void of humor or condensation.
It should have annoyed me, but I was the fool who opened up this particular door. Never before had I shared anything so personal, nor had he. We flirted, made innuendo and went our separate ways. Rather than walk off in a huff per my usual, I sighed and downed the rest of my second beer before picking up the third. “It’s been a while. Can we just leave it at that?”
Of course, he couldn’t.
“How long’s a while?”
I studied him, the sharp, angular features, the blue streak he’d had in his hair long before weird hair color had become trendy. Everyone knew Jack had a list of lovers in his little black book as long as the Naughty and Nice List. I had not been with anyone for a very long time. Nothing killed the mood the way hearing a running commentary of thoughts during sex did. Most days I preferred knowing what others wanted and expected of me, yet during intimacy it ruined the element of discovery and the new found joy of learning your lover.
However, with Jack Frost—as well as with other supernatural beings powerful enough to block my abilities—I heard nothing. Unlike the white noise of human or elf thoughts I’d learned to tune out long ago, only silence met me when I was with him. Probably what made him so damn intriguing. Or maybe it was his mouth, that wide, succulent feature made my insides do the rumba. I’d always imagined sex with Jack—and oh yeah, I had imagined—would be exactly what it should be. Exciting and new.
Perfect.
Looking away from his knowing stare, I feigned interest in my mug, unsure if I wanted to share with Jack Frost when my last time had been. The man had been a broken veteran whose lover had died in the trenches of Europe. I’d felt his grief, his wanting, in palpable waves. Ordinarily, giving an adult human their Christmas wish went beyond my abilities, but in that moment I had what the man needed. One last hurrah before he went straight, literally. I’d made love to him all night, holding him while he cried, telling him he was perfect just the way he had been born and one day he would know true love again. Over the years I had checked in on him and his wife, brought their children the best toys, but I could always hear his lonely desperation. I was delighted to discover him one Christmas divorced and living with his partner. I liked to think maybe I’d helped him heal and accept that his lover during the war had not been a phase but real and genuine, something to be celebrated, not hidden.
“Well?” Jack prompted after my continued silence.
“1945. V-E Day, when Nazi Germany surrendered.”
Beer spewed from his lips. “What? You’ve gotta be kidding me!”
I frowned at his shock, more out of annoyance with my stupidity for telling Jack something so personal. Now he would think I was a loser or a fool—neither opinion I wanted the winter sprite to have.
The Jackson Five’s version of Santa Claus is Coming to Town came across the radio and beside me Jack sniggered into his beer. “Apparently Santa Claus hasn’t been coming at all, in town or otherwise.”
The night I spent with my sad veteran held a special place in my heart, and I didn’t appreciate Jack cheapening it with his laughter. “You can be a real prick, Jack.”
“Okay, not cool. I take it back.” He held up his hands in a truce.
I bristled with annoyance when I saw him still trying to suppress his amusement. “Asshole.”
Jack gave me a helpless gesture. “Come on, Nicky, you gotta admit that was funny.”
I forced down any humor wanting to surface. “No, it wasn’t.”
“Matter of opinion.” After a sip of beer, he set the mug down and regarded me for a moment. “Now, don’t get mad at me for asking, but why so long?”
I sure as hell couldn’t tell Jack the real reason behind my dry spell was more than just distracting thoughts being played out by my lovers like instruction manuals. He might figure out my sex drive wasn’t dead at all, rather it had been put on hold, secretly waiting for someone to rev it up—namely him.
Gods, I really was nuttier than fruitcake.
“Look,” I began. “Running the North Pole is a lot of work. I have to keep things moving, monitor everyone and everything. Do you know how time-sensitive all of this is?”
“If time is an issue, why take away precious moments to come here with me?”
Was he being rhetorical or did he really want an answer? It didn’t matter. I’d dallied long enough. At least this little encounter had not ended with an argument. The only bitter sting of this meeting: the lonely one inside me.
I pushed my stool from the bar. “I should never have come. I need….”
A gentle touch on my arm stopped my retreat. “I know what you need, Nick.”
His intoxicating tone went straight to my cock.
“I have work to do,” I argued.
“You always give everyone what they want. Don’t you think it’s time Santa got a gift for Christmas?”
Crossing my arms, I frowned. He never called me Santa except to be derogatory, and I sort of hated it when he did. With Jack I enjoyed being just plain Nick.
With a sly look, he tossed a twenty on the bar. “If you stopped running away from me, Nicky, you might get lucky.”
I bristled. “I don’t run away. I might leave, but only because I get sick of that mouth of yours.”
Jack licked his lips, and damn if I could stop myself from staring at the way his tongue slid over those enticing pieces of flesh. I swallowed hard and all bravado and irritation fled in the face of such temptation.
“You haven’t seen enough of my mouth to really be sick of it.”
My eyes widened and the thud-thud of my heart in my chest seemed impossibly loud. The air in the bar felt hot and suffocating all of a sudden. I fought the urge to tug on my turtleneck and release some heat.

 The Naughty North Pole Book One

Piercing blue eyes met mine. “Come on. I double-dog dare ya.”
A breathy chuckle escaped me. “What are you, eight years old?”
Smirking, Jack slid off his stool. “I have a room across the way at the Holiday Inn. Care to finally make good on all this back and forth, or do you just wanna take care of your North Pole yourself?”

The Naughty North Pole Book Two

I hope you enjoyed the excerpt! 
To catch up on all the naughty antics going on the the North Pole, enjoy your FREE copy of Book Two, PIP'S BOXING DAY WISH  at smashwords.com  with code AQ98N.

And while you are there be sure to pick up Book One, 
MS. CLAUS'S LIST.

A GIFT FOR SANTA coming on November 23, 2012!!!

"I'm cool that you're gay, BUT..."

I haven't blogged for a while, because I've been busy writing, but lately I've been noticing this irritating trait in people that CLAIM to support gay people. I'm not talking about the real bigots, I am referring to the ones who honestly delude themselves into thinking they are being supportive. I almost wanted to call this post "The Silent Homophobia" but it wasn't quite right because they're not exactly silent, except when it comes to being honest with themselves.

Maybe it's a sibling, or a niece or a your own child that comes out to them and they say, "That's okay, I don't care, you're still my sibling/niece/child and I love you."

Yay! Now the gay person can breathe a sigh of relief. They have come out and received the acceptance they were terrified they might not get.
Life is good.

Until the person adds the inevitable "BUT...."


....but don't tell your grandparents."
....but don't bring your partner around the kids."
....but don't tell my husband."
....but don't start talking about gay rights and stuff."
....but I don't want to hear about anyone your dating."
....but you can't bring your partner to Christmas because of my in-laws."

Um, excuse me?!?!?!?!?!
I thought you just said you were cool with them being gay?!?!

Sounds to me like you aren't.

If you were truly supporting them, you would not place restrictions on who they are.

Now you might never use homophobic slurs or even say, "That is so gay." You may consider yourself quite liberal. But with comments like this, you are trying to convince them and yourself that you are open minded when in reality you just told them, "I'm cool that you are gay, but just don't be gay around me."

Newsflash: there is no off switch for being gay. I sure as hell can't turn off my straight side. It's not some entity within me I can ignore or leave at home. IT IS WHO I AM.

Same thing with being gay. IT IS WHO THEY ARE.

It ain't rocket science, people.

To the family members who have said these things, I implore you to THINK about what you say next. You may not even realize how hurtful you are being, which is why I wrote this post.

How would you feel if someone said, "That's cool that you have kids, but please don't ever bring them to my house or start talking to me about kid stuff or school. That just isn't my scene."

You would both be startled and offended.

No person who truly loves you would speak in such a thoughtless fashion. You would begin to question if that person truly cared about you and the things important to you. And doubtless you would start to distance yourself from that person and choose to cultivate healthier relationships with others.


Now some idiots might say my analogy is not a good one, but think about it. If a gay man has a boyfriend he loves that person and they are important to him.....Duh. You love your kids and they are an important part of YOUR life. How is his love any less valuable than yours? Wouldn't you be hurt if he told you not to bring your kids around? Of course you would be! You love them and someone who loves you should love them too.


Ask yourself: Is the perception of what others think about me more important to me than trying to be supportive and accepting of my family member?

Is it pride or ignorance which I base my actions on?

How would I feel if they said, "I love you BUT...." to me?

To all of you people who have said these things, I want to give you the benefit of the doubt and say that you are not thinking before you speak. I want to blame it on your ignorance and peer pressure when your gay family member puts their heart out there and bravely invites you to go to a Pride event with them and you say, "No, that's not my scene" or "I don't think I'd be comfortable."

That's why I am writing this. As a reminder that words have so much power. Constantly telling them you are "fine with them being gay" is like telling your son, "It's okay, I'm fine that you were born a boy and not a girl." After awhile that son is going to know you are NOT okay and you wished you had a daughter. I always say if you repeat yourself three or more times you are trying to convince yourself. Hell maybe you need to convince yourself you are okay having a gay relative. Go see a counselor if you have to, because obviously you have some issues. If you care about that person taking steps to come to terms with things is okay. I wish people didn't feel this way, didn't have to learn to accept that some people are born gay but unfortunately it is still part of the world we live in.

Remember: your family member isn't any different than they were before. Its only in your eyes that they are and that is YOUR problem not theirs. If you love them, fix it. And you can start by thinking about the impact of what you say to them.

Maybe you never planned to be hurtful. But the casual indifference to a relative who has come out to you, ignoring it or pretending that nothing has changed except for the new stipulations YOU have placed on the relationship, hurts them.

It hurts them and eventually they will drift out of your life.

Is that what you want?

Do you not want your gay relative in your life?

Now I am sure I have been thoughtless with things I've said, and I am sure I will be again. I am only human after all. But I am hoping that a few people might read this and reevaluate the way they speak to their gay family members. Because it is not the "I love you" that they heard.

The only words they will remember are the ones that came after "BUT...."

Those are the words which will drive a wedge into your relationship, possibly severing it to the point of no return. Maybe that is secretly what you want. Maybe you don't want the "embarrassment" of having a gay relative. Maybe you wish they could be "normal" and they hadn't "shattered" your little world. If that is who you are, then they are better off without you in their life.

Since you are reading this, I'm hoping you are not that person.

If you DO love them and want them in your life you need to show it.

That doesn't mean you need to join PFLAG or start making them rainbow birthday cakes. Please, Lord, do not make them a rainbow birthday cake!!!! LOL Being gay is only a part of who they are. But it is a big part. If Cousin Louie is a bigoted jerk and doesn't like your gay family member, maybe you should not invite HIM to Christmas dinner. Choose the side of the person you love, not the one you think might talk about you behind your back because THEY are ignorant. Show your support with positive actions rather than trying to keep your family member's "gayness" a secret.

The writer in me hates to rely on cliches but walk a mile in their shoes. Would you want stipulations placed on their affection for YOU? They trusted you to live up to those first words you spoke to them when they told you their biggest secret: "I'm cool that you are gay and I love you." If you meant those words PROVE IT. Stand up for them, be proud. Earn the trust back you lost when you said "BUT..." Accept the total package even though its now wrapped up in a pretty gay bow.

Love them.

Plain and simple.

There ain't no "ifs," "ands," or "BUTS" about it.

If you know someone that these words might help, I don't usually say this, but please, share this post with them. If one person gets a wake up call then my veering off topic to my usual blog postings will have done some good. I do believe most of these things are spoken out of ignorance, but you do not have to remain ignorant.

And if you are gay and have family members being thoughtless like this, take heart. They might just need a little reminder, a new perspective. Sometimes just being told how their words make you feel will help them reevaluate. Give them a chance. I know that some things can't be fixed, but relationships are a two way street and you need to be able to look yourself in the mirror and say "I tried."

Remember, there is a whole world out there that loves you. It's no accident that people in the GLBT community refer to each other as "family."


~D