"These are amazing," Nick said and kissed the spot above her ear as they laid that early morning in Hazel's bed, looking through the raw images she had snapped yesterday. Nick was officially off Santa-duty as well, the mall slowly closing down for the holiday. The big night was coming fast and Hazel wasn't ready.
She was desperately clinging to the few moments she had left before she knew the inevitable would come. And then go.
"Thank you," She smiled faintly and looked down at the images on her camera display as well. She scrolled through them and found the one she liked the most; the one of all of them in front of the large ornate Santa sleigh which had been the most magical ride of Hazel's life. "This one is my favorite."
"I like that one, too," Nick agreed. "But I think it's missing something."
"What?"
He leaned in and kissed her cheek. "You. Do you always stay behind the camera, or is it that you don't like being in photos?"
"I... I don't know," Hazel slowly shrugged, noncommittally. "I never thought about it... I guess I always just take the pictures because there's not much to capture around me."
"Respectfully, I disagree," Nick chuckled and wrapped his arm around her, making Hazel laugh. He squeezed her good and growled teasingly against her shoulder. "I can find at least a dozen things I'd like to capture around you."
"Starting with your arms?" Hazel teased back and bit into his bicep, only hard enough to make him chuckle in confirmation.
But just then, she realized something else.
"You know what else my photos are missing?" She voiced and couldn't believe how perfect it was; "Santa Claus. Besides from the picture I took of you, Michael, Camille and Ashley at the mall, I haven't captured a single Santa shot yet."
"Hazel Duane, are you asking me to model for you?" Nick whispered in her ear.
Hazel's whole body covered in goosebumps. Now there was an image; Nick spread out on the snow in his Santa suit, top half undone, maybe a hand down his pants with a sultry look on his face...
Her poor lens would most certainly break. Along with her panties.
Shaking her head, Hazel removed the dirty images from her mind. She wasn't a porn photographer after all, and she wasn't making a calendar. "Only if you want to. We could go around town and get a few different shots of Santa spreading Christmas cheer to the people. I mean, since you're done working at the mall anyway..."
Nick hummed thoughtfully. "That could actually be very nice."
"So you're in?" Hazel fluttered. There was no doubt that Nick would complete her Christmas collection and earn her a good grade in her class – but she also couldn't deny she would then have something beautiful to remember him by... other than memories and the crater he left in her heart, after he was gone.
"Let's do it," Nick smiled, leaning in to peck her lips again. He really couldn't get enough of them, Hazel thought and smiled back sillily.
"We'd better get to work then. It's going to be a long day."
~~~
They got ready, each of them showering and eating breakfast. When Hazel got out of the shower, she had once more caught Nick on his phone speaking hushed words that ended as soon as she walked into her bedroom. Again, she had asked him if everything was alright, and once again he assured her it was. Hazel didn't know how much longer she should or could ignore it, but the nagging in her stomach was growing worse.
Something was definitely up with his business, and Nick was choosing to ignore it. The thing that bugged her badly, though, was... was it because of her?
After breakfast, they made ready to leave, Nick dressed up in his Santa suit with a warm layer of clothes beneath and Hazel wrapped up in her scarf and gloves. It was chilly outside, but a beautiful day, a little overcast with some blue peaking through. The snow wasn't melting yet, which meant perfect weather for shooting some nice Christmas photos.
They drove to the market first to snap a few dozen photos of Nick going around and wishing people a merry Christmas. The kids who were with their parents were drawn to him like moths to a very bright Christmas flame; Nick's face was a pillar of happiness as he lifted them up and asked them all what they wanted for Christmas. Even the parents seemed charmed by his Santa act.
– Hazel couldn't blame them at all.
After the market, they then went to the park when more people started to come by. Parents were walking their dogs or taking their kids outside to play in the thick snow. A group of children were making a large snowman a few feet away, one Hazel quickly captured a picture of as well. When they spotted her and Santa, they excitedly offered them to join. For about half an hour, they therefore ended up building the entire snowman with the kids until it was done. Hazel got them all to pose in front of it with Nick smiling brightly to the camera behind them, making bunny ears on Frosty the Snowman.
Those enchanting brown orbs of his had never shone brighter.
Throughout the whole day they had had a blast, but every half hour or so, Nick's phone went off. He kept dismissing the calls until he finally put it on silent and told her it could wait. Hazel had been so close to saying something when she remembered the fiasco with her parents.
Keep to your own business, she reminded herself.
They had just finished up down at the small frozen lake at the park when Nick pulled out his phone again when it buzzed in his pocket. With a small growl, he hit the off button and turned off his cell. Shaking his head, he then walked on, just as Hazel was checking her photos. The next moment, she heard a loud thud!
"Nick!" She gasped and cupped her mouth, but then had to stop herself from laughing when she found him sitting ass first in the snow, mumbling under his breath; He had slipped on some frozen water under the snow. "Are you okay?"
With heaven-turned eyes, he looked up into the sky with a flat glare. "Ef you, Frost."
Hazel laughed and snapped a photo as he staggered to his feet and sent her a grin with a bit of a playful scowl to it. He briefly rubbed his sore ass and then walked up to her.
"Maybe that's enough for one day," Hazel endearingly suggested and let him pull her in for a tight hug. He hummed in exhausted agreement and buried his cold nose in her hair before kissing her neck.
"Let's go home."
~~~
Back at her place again, Nick had taken a hot bath to warm up his cold limbs while Hazel took the liberty to transfer all of the pictures onto her laptop. She had changed out of her outdoor clothes as well and switched to her flannel pajamas, pairing it with a large cup of hot chocolate. After she had tasted Nick's, her easy-mix tasted absolutely horrid though.
"How did they turn out?"
Hazel turned her head over her shoulder to see Nick coming out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and a towel in his hands, drying his hair. She smiled and turned the screen for him as he leaned in, pressing one hand against the table and his nose to her hair. "They turned out amazing. The camera loves you."
Nick smiled and kissed her cheek. Then, slowly, his hand grasped her camera, removed the cord and looked at it. "They're nice. But I think..." He carefully spun Hazel's chair around, and Hazel looked up to see him smirk crookedly. "They're still missing something."
"Oh?" Hazel crossed her arms and lifted a teasing brow as Nick grabbed her camera and turned it on. She had feeling she knew where this was going... and it made her stomach clench dangerously. "And what is that?"
"They need..." Nick lifted her lens and propped it in front of his eye. "A little you."
He snapped a photo of her pensive stare, then chuckled and looked over the rim of her lens. Hazel laughed as well and shook her head, then stood up. "Me, you say?"
"I told you," Nick said and lowered the camera to step closer and envelope her in his arms. "These pictures are nice. But what they're missing..." He leaned in to her ear, "Is a little naughty."
Hazel's body flushed in warmth and it had nothing to do with her flannel wear. She felt a tingle in her stomach as Nick slowly drew her earlobe into his mouth and sucked on it delicately.
"Naughty..." She whispered and then flicked her eyes up to him when he pulled back. "You mean... something like this?"
She stepped out of his arms and brought her hands down to the hem of her blouse. She slowly started dragging it up, seeing Nick's eyes drop to the act and darken. With a firm nod, he lifted the camera again as then Hazel slowly turned to her side and pulled her shirt off.
"Yeah, just like that." She heard the sound of her shutter going off several times as she pulled the material off her body and let it drop to the floor. Saucily, she looked over her shoulder and caught Nick holding her lens up with a wry smirk. "You're so damn naughty, Hazel. What am I going to do with you?"
He lowered the lens again when Hazel stepped closer to him and pressed a hand to his pectoral. She let her eyes slide over his body slowly, temptingly, and bit her lip for him as she visualized all that he could do with her.
"Hand me the lens."
With a moment's hesitation, Nick stared down at her with slightly narrowed eyes before handing over the camera with a little reluctance. Hazel took it and adjusted the lens before taking a step back and quickly snapping a photo of his gorgeous, freshly-showered body. She wasn't amiss of the slight bulge behind the towel at his hips.
"I think I'm gonna need copies of those," He said as Hazel giggled and continued to snap a few photos of him, purposely lowering it and snapping a taunting one of his growing member.
"For your office, you mean?"
"Oh, yes."
"Are you going to put them in the nice frame you ordered?" Hazel chuckled when he stepped closer and captured her, leaning down and growling in her ear.
"Don't tempt me," He warned. He slowly slid his hands down into her flannel pants, cupping her soft rear and giving it a squeeze. "I might put it above my mantel."
"Well then," Hazel breathed, almost too caught in his wandering hand to even form a sentence. "Better give you something nice to look at then."
– And that was all Hazel remembered before the night became a sweaty, erotic blur with the sound of her shutter clicking to the rhythm of their haggard moans.
• • •
I need an intervention.