Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 190(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 127(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 190(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 127(@300wpm)
He jerked his head towards the massage robot, which was still working on nothing but air.
“I hope you’re enjoying your massage at the maximum intensity setting,” it said happily, just as though Kelli was still on the table. “Soon it will be time to flip you over and massage your front.”
Kelli shivered at the idea of those long, pinching fingers working on her breasts or nipples. Thank goodness Klaus had been in the room with her to rescue her!
“My God, that thing is awful,” she breathed, shivering as she looked at the robot.
Klaus shrugged.
“Not gonna say I told you so…but I did kind of tell you so.”
“Yes, I know.” Kelli sighed. “Can you take me back to the dressing room so I put on some clothes?”
“Sure.” He carried her back across the room and deposited her in front of the changing booth.
As she got dressed, Kelli noticed that there were red marks on her shoulders, back, thighs, and waist. They were painful, but she knew it could have been much worse.
The elf dress fit differently with no bra on under it and it felt strange to wear the striped stockings with no underwear on beneath them. She was glad she still had the fur coat she could wear to cover herself.
When she came out of the changing room, the robot massage therapist was still twiddling its long fingers in mid-air. Remembering that the disembodied voice had asked for her input, Kelli spoke up.
“Hey—you really need to work on this aspect of the Christmas Village,” she shouted into the air. “It’s dangerous! You either need to hire real massage therapists to work here or you need to reprogram your robots to listen to verbal cues—not just use the remote.”
“Who are you shouting at?” Klaus asked, frowning.
Kelli shrugged.
“I’m just giving feedback—you know—like the floating golden sparkle voice asked us to.”
He snorted a sound that was suspiciously like laughter.
“The ‘floating golden sparkle voice?’”
“Well, what would you call it?” Kelli put a hand on her hip.
He shrugged.
“I guess that’s as good a description as anything else. Okay, are you ready to go back to the ship now?”
“What? Go back to the ship? I don’t think so!” Kelli exclaimed. “We’re supposed to stay the night in one of the cabins—remember?”
He frowned.
“You mean to tell me you still want to stay, even after everything you just went through?”
“It was one bad experience,” Kelli pointed out. “The rest of Christmas Village is really nice. We haven’t even tried the ice skating pond or Rudolf’s Hot Chocolate yet.”
“I’ll make you a deal,” Klaus growled. “We’ll look at the pond because I do not know how to ice skate and I’m not in the mood to learn. Then we can get some hot chocolate and then go back to the ship.”
“Klaus, don’t be like that,” Kelli pleaded. “We don’t have to ice skate, but I’ve really been looking forward to the cabin!”
He raked a hand through his thick, black hair.
“All right, sunshine. You get your way. But if there’s anything weird about the cabin—I mean anything at all—we’re leaving and going back to the ship. Deal?”
“Fine, but we both have to agree that it’s weird,” Kelli said. “It can’t just be you pointing out that you don’t like their carpeting choices or whatever.”
“All right, we both have to agree.” He sighed. “How do you always get your way?”
“Because I’m adorable.” Kelli gave him a bright smile which he returned with an irritated grunt.
She had no idea that very soon she would be wishing she had agreed to go straight back to the ship.
8
KLAUS
Klaus shook his head as he watched his charge gazing out onto the perfectly round, frozen pond as the two of them sipped hot chocolate. He couldn’t believe that Kelli still wanted to stay, even after the near-disaster at the massage parlor. But though he had barely gotten her free of the crazy massage robot and had seen the painful-looking red marks on her shoulders and thighs, she still refused to relinquish her enthusiasm for the Christmas Village.
He had to admit, she looked adorable, staring out at the pond and sipping her chocolate. There was a tiny bit of whipped cream on the end of her nose, her cheeks were red, and her eyes were sparkling. The sun had sunk beyond the horizon leaving the town’s lights to illuminate the night. Klaus supposed all the festive colors did have a warming effect.
Well, maybe staying the night wouldn’t be so bad. He couldn’t help thinking of how it felt to hold her naked in his arms. He shouldn’t think about it—shouldn’t remember how soft she was or how tight her nipples had looked—but somehow the images kept popping into his head.
Klaus took another sip of the sweet, frothy hot chocolate and tried to push the thoughts away. They would go and look at the cabin and maybe stay the night. And if there was only one bed, he would sleep on the couch, he promised himself. Nothing else was going to happen.