Excerpt of Noelle's Gift by Shannon Emmel

When Noelle saw the room, Brad and everything else was momentarily forgotten. She tried to take it all in. The floors were covered in yards of undulating white that gave the illusion of a blanket of new-fallen snow. The cocktail tables, too, were swathed in white and topped with accents of silver and gold. Other seating areas were staged with electric fireplaces decorated with garland, and stockings hung from their mantles.

As she neared one of those seating areas, Noelle’s worst nightmare took hold. In front of every fireplace was a white bearskin rug and across every couch, there was a fur throw. To her utter horror, the white covering nearly everything in sight and giving the impression of snow, was actually fluffy white fur.

That it was all faux fur was irrelevant. The look, the feel and the effect it had on her, was exactly the same. She felt the familiar twinge between her legs begin to build and with it, a sense of panic that one or more of her coworkers would notice and somehow guess her dirty little secret.

She maneuvered through the maze of people and holiday vignettes toward the location of the restrooms, hoping to collect herself before she made her final decision to either try to stick it out, at least for a while, or come up with an excuse to cut and run immediately. She made her way toward a giant Christmas tree, decorated with hundreds of old-fashioned wooden and glass ornaments. A toy train chugged along, winding in between brightly wrapped packages as it circled the base of the tree. Noelle breathed a sigh of relief, knowing it was the last obstacle between her, the hallway leading to the restrooms and a few moments of relative safety.

Her relief was short-lived. She stepped around the tree and ran straight into John Abbott, the company’s CEO, surprisingly dressed for the occasion as Santa Claus.

With the CEO, and dressed in a custom-tailored black velvet, fur trimmed suit of his own, complete with matching Santa hat, was the company’s newest acquisition, Mr. Brad Merriman.

“Noelle,” Mr. Abbott said, with an uncharacteristic twinkle in his eye. “Merry Christmas! Have you been here long?”

“N-no. I just arrived,” Noelle replied. She was willing to bet Brad was behind the over-the-top holiday décor. “Merry Christmas to you too. You’ve certainly outdone yourself with this holiday party. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it.”

“Ha ha, you may as well call it what it is—a Christmas party! I know it’s not exactly politically correct these days, but I haven’t had this much fun in years. And the credit for the idea all goes to this man right here. I’d like you to meet the new president of our advertising division, Brad Merriman. Brad, this is Noelle LeBlanc. She’s your senior V.P. and the top producing member of your team, so I’m sure you’ll be seeing a lot of her in the future.”

“I certainly hope so,” Brad said, extending his hand to Noelle.

Noelle took his proffered hand. Her mind barely registered the fact that Mr. Abbot had excused himself to greet other guests, leaving her looking up into blue eyes that never glanced away from hers. It was just as she feared, her pussy pulsed and the old urge to melt into his arms was as strong as ever.