The woman behind the counter frowned when I showed her the picture on my phone of the ring my wife had sent me to get.

She was a pretty young woman in her mid-thirties with short blonde hair and pixie features. She had been smiling brightly as she greeted me, and her momentary frown did nothing to dampen the way her body language said that she was pleased to have a customer. In fact, as she recognized the ring, she took a deep breath and lifted her shapely breasts as she gave em a coy look.

"Your wife sent you... for this," she said, making her statement a question.

"You'll have to excuse her spelling," I explained as I started to back-scroll through the links on my smart phone. The picture was replaced by the online ad with a thumbnail picture and a quick description. Back from there was a text from my wife with the phrase "Xmas is cumming" and the link to the ad. I held the phone out for the woman to see. I wasn't sure how to prove that the text came from my wife.

"Cumming indeed," the woman laughed as she turned and unlocked a cabinet.

The picture did a poor job of capturing the essence of the ring. The band was a simple design of plain rounded white metal. It was almost too wide for a woman's ring, yet too feminine for a man. The stone was an iridescent opal, black on one end blending to red or green on the other end. The stone was almond shaped, yet smaller than an almond, and set at an odd angle on the band.

The woman interrupted my study of the ring by reaching out and pulling my left hand across the counter. Her index finger stroked my bare ring finger.

"Your wife?" she teased.

"Half of my job requires me to work in industrial control panels with electricity. Rings are a liability. My wife has my wedding band for safe keeping."

"You'll have to be careful," she said as she turned my hand palm up. She quickly slid the ring onto my pinky finger with the stone turned to the inside. "You'll need to wear this like this. You might even give it to your wife."

I almost pulled my hand back to remove the ring. We hadn't even talked about price yet. The longer it was on my finger, the more reluctant I was to remove it. I suddenly decided that my wife and I would be keeping it.

"How much is it?" I asked

Her eyes flashed as she asked "Have you been naughty or nice?"

"Of course I've been nice," I answered with a smile and a gleam in my eyes that suggested otherwise.

"I don't believe you," she flirted, "and there's only one way to know for sure."

My breath caught as I waited for her solution. Her eyes gave me a once over, and her lips pursed together in a naughty mue.

"Take the ring, and go ask Santa which list you are on," she proclaimed.

I gave her a puzzled look, and she answered by stepping out from behind the counter and all but pushing me out the door and toward the center court of the mall.

The economy had done a number on this mall. The high end stores had moved away to be replaced by discount sellers. The jewelry store I had just been pushed out of bought and sold used wares, and was almost a pawn shop. I had no idea why she sent me to see the mall Santa, and I had low expectations of what I would find when I got there.

There were a couple of moms with toddlers waiting to get pictures and the Santa had a crying kid on his lap. The only thing that was different from when our kids were small was the pimple faced kid with the camera had a digital camera and printer instead of a Polaroid instamatic. I had no idea what to say to the cheesy Santa.

Suddenly, his eyes met mine, and something odd happened. My vision collapsed until all I could see was his face. By his eyes alone, I could tell he was the real deal. His white beard and the merry gleam in his eyes proclaimed it. His subtle laugh and his round belly confirmed it. This was not just a mall Santa, it was the real thing.

Somehow, his eyes never left mine, even as he looked at the camera and smiled for a picture. As the mom collected her brat from his lap, he beckoned me with a nod of his head. He touched his finger along the side of his nose and smiled.

"Give my assistant a hand, and she will tell you which list you are on," he said.

With a wink, he directed my attention to the assistant, even as he turned to address the next person in the line. I turned to the assistant, and my breath caught again. I knew right away that something was wrong.

The first thing I noticed was that young woman was nearly an identical twin to the woman in the jewelry store. They had to be sisters. She had the same pixie features, with the tips of her ears just visible in her short cut blonde hair. The naughty gleam in her eyes matched as well. What didn't match was the overly sexy costume the woman in front of me was wearing.

Her outfit screamed 'naughty elf'. Her shiny emerald-green bustier lifted and displayed the tops of her breasts quite nicely. Her red lace open finger gloves perfectly matched her short red skirt that barely covered her ass. Although she wasn't a tall woman, her tiny snowflake heels and red and green stockings made her exposed legs look exquisitely long.

It occurred to me that either the mothers in line with their kids should have been complaining, or there should have been a lot more fathers in line. It was obvious that neither was happening, so I knew something was wrong. I struggled to think of a way to ask her what was going on.

I was sure to make of fool of myself, but she saved me by reaching out and taking my hands. She turned them over and her eyes flared as she saw the ring on my pinky finger.

"Were you hoping to be on 'Naughty' or 'Nice'?" she asked.

"Both?" I stammered.

"It doesn't work that way," she said with a naughty grin.

Her eyes gave me a once over the same way the woman in the store had done, and she even pursed her lips in the same way.

"Come move some boxes for me, and we'll see which list you belong on," she said.

As she took my hand to lead me away, another woman stepped out from behind Santa's chair to be his assistant. For a moment, it seemed to me that the new assistant looked just like the woman pulling my hand, but with darker hair. I would have tried to take a closer look, but the blonde pixie pulled my arm around her shoulders and leaned into me in a most provocative way, and all of my attention focused on her.

With her hip swaying against me, she led me to a service door. She swiped a security card and we stepped into the service hallway that runs behind the stores to the shipping docks. Two corridors later, she stopped at the door to a storage room. I almost laughed when she type 1225 into the keypad that unlocked the door.

We stepped into a medium sized storage room with a work bench in the middle and high shelves all around. She pointed at a box on a high shelf that was clearly out of reach for her. She looked at me with a seductive pout.

"What would you have me do to get you to reach that box for me?" she asked breathily.

She was standing very close to me, so when she took a deep breath and lifted her chest just like the woman at the store had done, her breasts were nearly touching my chest. Her pout spread to a grin as she watched my eyes dance across her breasts before returning to her face.

"Just ask," I suggested as I carefully turned and lifted the box down onto the workbench.

"Just ask?" she teased. "There might be any number of things I would have done for you."

She reached out and took my left hand with both of hers. She turned it palm up and then traced a single finger around the shape of the stone on the ring.

"Don't you want to touch me?" she asked. Her eyes stayed focused on my hand as she took a breath and lifted her breasts again.

"Yes," I answered, "but only if you want me to. Not as a reward for helping you. All you had to do was ask."

Her eyes were flirting as she looked up again. She pulled my hand forward and lifted her breasts higher, until her flesh almost met mine.

"I just have to ask?" she teased.

"Please," I managed.

She looked at me expectantly and waited. I realized I hadn't made her actually ask for help with the box. I let my eyes wander between her eyes and her breasts, but I waited.

The second time my eyes returned to hers, she turned my hand onto her breast and she commanded, "Touch me."

The stone of the ring seemed to touch her flesh before my hand did, and it felt like sparks flashed off of it into my hand and her breast.

My right hand slid around to her naked back and she arched back into it. She somehow also arched her breasts up into my left hand and the ring on my finger. Her flesh was firm and warm, and we both groaned in need as I touched her.

"Are you going to wait until I ask before you kiss me?" she groaned.

I answered by pressing my lips to hers as I pulled her body to mine. She moaned as she melted against me.

When she pushed away to pull my shirt off, I told her, "You don't have to ask, just let me know what you want, and it is yours."

She gave me a knowing look as she pressed back up to kiss me again. I noticed that her body lurched every time my hand slid the ring across her nipple, so I took advantage of it by stroking across as often as I could.

She pushed away as her hand slid down to stroke my hard cock through my pants.

"Do I have to ask?" she asked.

"You just did, and the answer is yes," I replied, hoping against hope that she wanted a lot more that just touching and kissing.

With a happy gleam in her eyes, she cried out, "I must taste you!"

She fell to her knees in front of me, yet somehow my pants fell faster. She moaned and gave my balls a squeeze as my cock reached the back of her throat. I slid my fingers into the close cut hair on the back of her head and tried to pull her away.

"Too fast!" I warned.

"Give!" she commanded and then swallowed me again. Her eyes demanded that I obey. I am embarrassed by how soon it happened, but I was helpless to hold back. She smiled and moaned as she took it all.

With a very pleased look, she pulled back and let my withering cock fall from her mouth.

"I want my other lips wrapped around you to taste their fill," she purred.

"I may need a minute," I gasped.

"Just a minute?" she teased. She made a tisking noise with her tongue and shook her head.

Then she pursed her lips into a naughty smirk, and pulled my left hand to her mouth. I felt an odd tingling around the ring as she rubbed the stone against her lips like she was applying lipstick. Her eyes were bright with desire as she pressed her lips to my cock and sucked it in.

As her lips pressed into the base of my cock, she sucked hard and started to pull back. I don't know if the crackling sound of static electric sparks that I heard was real or not, but the feeling had to be real. As the ring of sparks pulled up my shaft, my cock grew as hard as I've ever felt it. Only the soothing stroke of her tongue kept me from cumming again.

The head of my cock popped out of her mouth, and she popped up to her feet. She was completely naked as she pressed her body against mine. She pulled my left hand between her legs.

"Am I ready?" she teased as she arched up to kiss me.

Our tongues met and my fingers pressed between her lower lips. I felt her body jump as the stone brushed past them. I decided to make her more than ready. I turned my hand and started pumping my fingers into her while making the stone slide along her lips and over her clit. She cried out and clung to me as she started to cum. I held her until she was done.

"I wanted my lips to taste your hardness," she chastised. "Why did you do that?"

She sounded like she wanted to be angry, but couldn't manage it.

"I had to make up for breaking my own rule," I teased.

"What rule?" she asked, as I knew she would.

"Ladies cum first!" I teased.

"And often, I hope," she laughed.

Her laughter was quickly replaced by a burning look of intense desire.

"This time, we cum together," she demanded as she jumped.

I easily caught her slight form. She reached between us to guide me inside as she pulled me into a kiss. Her upper lips made demands for her lower lips, and I turned and balanced her ass on the workbench to comply. She arched away from me and I supported her back with my right hand as my left hand pawed at her breast.

I swear I saw the sparks that popped from the ring to her nipple, and suddenly she was cumming hard. Her eyes reminded me of her desire. I felt sparks flashing through the ring into my hand, and I quickly found myself filling her. Even through the intensity of my orgasm, I managed to touch and tease her to keep her orgasm going as long as I could.

Before we had caught our breath, I pulled her back up into my arms. She looked worried, but I gently caressed her jawline, and then gave her a gentle kiss.

"Thank you," I offered.

"For what?" she asked with a thoughtful look on her face.

"This was very naughty, and we probably shouldn't have done it, but thank you for sharing this pleasure with me."

Her eyes studied mine for a moment, and then she arched up and gave me a gentle but very empassioned kiss.

Easing back, she said, "I've never met someone who was on both lists."

She smiled, and then her attention slid to my hand. She turned it palm up.

"You're keeping the ring," she said flatly. Her statement was a question, and the choice was mine.

"My wife sent me to get it," I explained.

Her eyes raced to mine in her surprise. It was obvious that she didn't believe me. The naughty mue pursed her lips.

"Try not to misuse it," she charged me. The naughty look never left her face as she kissed me again.

As she sat back from the kiss, she took a deep breath and turned towards the radio on the bench.

"Turn it up," she suggested. "I love this song."

I didn't hear any music at all, but I still reached to turn up the volume.

It happened again as I reached for the radio. The face of the radio looked wrong. My vision narrowed until all I could see was the display and the buttons. I turned the volume, and the Bruce Springsteen song "Santa Clause is Coming to Town" was playing. I snorted a short laugh and tried to turn my eyes back to the naked woman sitting on the workbench with her legs around my waist.

My vision expanded from the radio, and I was sitting in my car, in my driveway at home, many, many miles from the mall. I was fully dressed and the car was running. As the song ended, I reached out and turned off the ignition.

I sat there and struggled with the thought that I had just imagined the entire thing, when an odd coolness on my left hand drew my attention.

The ring was still on my pinky. A warm wetness between the ring and my finger was turning sticky as it dried. I couldn't stop myself from checking, and it smelled of candy canes and hot chocolate. It tasted even better than it smelled.

===

My wife says she never sent me the text. I didn't delete it, but it's not in my phone any more, nor did it come from hers. I can't find any ads like I remembered it in the online list.

There is a pizza place where I think the jewelry store was in the mall. The mall is run down, and the cut-rate Santa that they have looks like a grinch. I hate to be mean, but while the pimple faced kid looked the same, Santa's elves look like they should have been hiding under bridges and waiting for billy goats.

I tried to show my wife that the ring had magic. She scoffed and told me to get rid of it. Most of the time, it sits in a desk drawer at work. Sometimes I put it on when I go to lunch.

I was wearing it at lunchtime on the last working day before Christmas. As I pulled into the parking lot at the local cafe, I saw a woman struggling to change a flat tire. I didn't even think twice before offering to help her.

I was stunned silent by the naughty grin on her pixie features as she looked up at me.

"I would love some help," she laughed. "Fixing the tire comes first, even it that breaks some kind of rule. Tell me you have time to check the lists when you're done."

"All you have to do is ask," I smiled.

She smiled and turned my attention to the blonde and dark haired twins that were walking towards up with bags of food.

"My sisters would like to see if the lists ring true as well," she grinned.

I turned my palm up so they could all see the ring.

Authors note:  I wrote this story for the LushStories Holiday Hijinks contest, but it ended up being way too long.  I spent a couple of days trying to decide if I should trim it down to one scene, or start fresh on a different story.  I made a different story for the contest.  I hope you enjoy this little Holiday story delivered in mid Summer.