The Klaus Brothers Boxed Set

by penny watson

  Mr. Brockman folded his arms across his chest and glared at Santa. “I’m here to support Miss Grant. Evidently, your son has broken her heart.”

  Santa rolled his eyes. “Butt out, Mr. Buttinski. My son is taking care of it. You always were a sore loser. Alena chose me, now get over it.”

  Mr. Brockman shook his head. “I see you haven’t changed much, Nicky.” He turned to Mrs. Klaus and lifted her hand to kiss her knuckles. “And you look lovely as ever, Alena. How have you been?”

  “Is that really one of mom’s old boyfriends?” Sven asked.

  “Uh oh. Dad doesn’t look too happy about this reunion,” Wolf said, trying not to laugh.

  Nicholas cleared his throat. “Sorry to break up this love fest, but I think someone is anxious to see Kiana.”

  Gregor put an arm around Kiana’s shoulders. “I hated seeing you so upset in Manhattan. I think you’ll be feeling better soon.”

  Wolfgang nodded. “He’s been going out of his mind, just so you know.”

  “Drank himself into a stupor,” Nicholas said.

  “I’ve never seen him so distraught. He needs you, Kiana,” Sven added. He cocked his head toward the end of the beach. Kiana shielded her eyes from the setting sun and gazed along the sand dunes.

  He was standing there, alone. Swim trunks hung low on his hips. His skin was tan, dusted with sand. She could see every tantalizing tattoo, every ripple of muscle, every drop of water glistening on his skin. She hesitated, not sure what to do. And then she saw the look in his eyes. Filled with love, filled with desire. He opened his arms and waited for her.

  Before she knew it she was running down the beach. Dreaming about touching him, holding him, kissing his smile. Suddenly she was wrapped in his embrace, laughing and crying and nuzzling his neck. His mouth was all over her, kissing her tears, her eyelids, her lips. She pressed her face against his chest and inhaled his fresh scent… evergreen, earth and Oskar. Her fingers feathered over his beautiful tattoos and stroked the soft hair on his chest.

  He pulled back and gazed down into her face. “My God, you look gorgeous.” His eyes raked over her from top to bottom. “You take my breath away.”

  “You changed your hair color,” she whispered. Her fingers ran through his damp hair, stroking his scalp.

  “Yeah, it’s aquamarine,” he answered hoarsely.

  She nodded in understanding.

  “And I got a new tat. Wanna see it?” He flexed his forearm. A miniature version of Kiana’s mermaid had been expertly applied. She ran her fingers over his skin.

  “It looks great.” She smiled up at him. No spell could take away this feeling… it was true and honest and real in every way. “Oskar, I don’t care about Zottig Herz. I love you. This past week has been horrible.” She buried her face against his chest. “I missed you so much.”

  “I should have never let you go,” he replied. “I knew that Zottig Herz was a crock. Please forgive me.”

  “But the spell…” Kiana interrupted.

  “Never happened.” Oskar finished. “Ingo and Eugen figured out the spell was null and void because you and I started to fall in love before the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve.”

  Kiana gasped. “What! What are you saying? There was never a spell?”

  Oskar nodded. “Exactly.”

  She shook her head. “But what about the flower petals in the shower? And my dreams about you?”

  “The spell was trying to take hold, but it couldn’t. We were already falling in love. I should have trusted my gut about the whole thing. I knew our feelings were the real deal.” He kissed her forehead and rubbed the tears from her cheeks.

  “I can’t believe they put us through that for nothing.” A fresh spurt of anger welled up inside of her. “I was devastated. I’ve been curled up in bed the whole week.”

  His expression turned grave. “God, I’m so sorry you had to go through this. For what it’s worth, this past week has been the worst of my life. I numbed myself out at Dag’s. Everything is pretty much a blur since you left.” Oskar leaned down and kissed her again… slowly, gently, and thoroughly. She was breathless in seconds. “I can’t imagine my life without you, Kiana.”

  “I don’t want a life without you, Oskar.” She tightened her grip around his waist. “It feels so good to be in your arms again,” she whispered.

  He cupped her face in his giant hands and smiled. “I tried to think of something to show you how much I care about you, how much you mean to me…” He paused and glanced at the sunset. A soft apricot glow illuminated his face. “What do you think about the beach? Do you like it?”

  She was surprised by the vulnerable expression in his eyes. “Oh, Oskar. I love it. Thank you so much for this.”

  He nodded, relief flooding his face. “I was hoping we could make new memories here. Replace the old, painful ones with new ones, happy ones.”

  She gazed at the sea and then back at Oskar. “You have no idea how wonderful it is to be here. I feel like I’ve come home.”

  He brushed a strand of hair from her forehead as the wind whipped around them. “You belong here, I can tell. This is your element. Surrounded by wind and water and tropical flowers. Like a goddess.” He smiled down at her. “This is the real you… not the woman covered up in coats and hats and fake glasses.”

  She smiled. “You’re right. This is truly where I feel most comfortable. Thanks to you I’m not afraid to be the real me anymore. I’m done with hiding behind my protective shell.” She touched his face gently with her fingertips and shook her head. “This is such a precious gift. Thank you. I can’t believe you did all of this for me. The beach, the ocean… all of it.”

  He clutched her shoulders. “I would do anything for you, sweetheart. I want you in my life. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  Kiana bit her lip. “Are you sure? I’m just a plain Jane librarian.”

  Oskar shook his head. “There’s nothing plain about you. You are the most gorgeous, sexy and fascinating woman I have ever met.” His kiss lingered this time, drawing out the connection between them.

  He pulled back and searched her face. “You’re okay with the HR guy?”

  “You mean the HR Director—slash—snowboarding wiz—slash—demon slayer—slash—man of my dreams? Yeah, I’m okay with that.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, I guess we make quite a pair, don’t we?”

  She nodded. “A great pair.”

  Oskar cupped her face in his hands. “I have a couple of plans. Wanna hear about them?”

  “Lay it on me, Bad Boy.”

  Oskar tipped back his head and roared with laughter. “Okay, first up… we go surfing.” He nodded towards two surfboards leaning against a rock. “I’ve been practicing. I think you’ll be impressed.” He wagged his eyebrows at her. “I can’t wait to see you in action. Maybe you can give me some pointers.”

  “Well, it’s been a long time. I’m probably a little rusty.” She glanced down at the surfboards and smiled. “I can’t wait to get out there!”

  “I knew you would like this,” he said. “There’s more…”

  Her heart was thumping wildly at his intense expression. “Okay. What else?”

  “We’ve got a whole party thrown together… flowers, food, entertainment. It would be a waste not to celebrate something really special.” He swallowed and reached into the pocket of his swim trunks and pulled out a ring glinting in the last rays of sunshine.

  Her breath hitched. “Oskar… what is that?”

  He held out a band etched with crescent moons and sparkling dark blue sapphires. “It’s a ring for a Moon Goddess. Marry me, Kiana. Tonight, on the beach. Let’s make our own unique life together. You can help me with elf management, I’ll help you build the new library. Gabi needs a mom and a dad. Mr. Frosty is already living on my patio. It sounds like a pretty cool family to me. We can snowboard and surf and travel whenever we want to. What do you say?” His hand was trembling as he offered her the ring.

>   Kiana reached out and gently took the band. She slid it onto her finger and splayed her hand over his heart. “It fits perfectly.” Is this really happening? My dreams are finally coming true?

  “We fit perfectly,” he answered.

  She glanced over her shoulder and saw the crowd watching them with bated breath. Alena and Nicholas, Sr., Gabi, Trish and Mr. Brockman, the Klaus brothers, the elves. All of the most important people in her life. “Well, Mr. Brockman could give me away. And Trish could be the maid of honor.” She turned back to Oskar and laughed. “And elf management sounds sort of fun…”

  “So, what’s your answer? You’re killing me, sweetheart.” The love she saw shining in Oskar Klaus’ eyes was real.

  “Yes, I would be honored to be your wife.”

  Oskar released a huge sigh of relief. He leaned over and hollered down the beach, “She said yes!”

  The crowd roared its approval as he pulled her tightly into his arms.

  Kiana giggled. “I think you might be wrong about one thing, though…” she said, staring up into his eyes.

  Oskar frowned. “What’s that?”

  “The spell.”

  “The spell?” Oskar shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

  Kiana smiled up at him. “I think you kast a spell on me. Some sort of sweet magik.”

  Oskar knelt in front of the fire and stoked it until it roared to life. He wanted to keep his girls nice and warm and cozy on this cold winter’s evening.

  “Uh, I dropped another stitch!” Boris grumbled from his spot on the sofa. “Lys, I need some help over here.”

  Lys hustled over to Boris and tipped her glasses to the end of her nose. “Let’s see. That’s easy enough to fix.” She reached over and pulled out a loop on his scarf.

  Gabi giggled from the rocking chair. “My scarf looks great!” A long, white muffler danced in the air, sparkling with silver sternschnuppen.

  “Gabi, quit showing off, little honeybee. Uncle Boris is having some trouble with his knitting tonight,” Kiana called from the kitchen.

  Boris frowned at the dancing scarf as it taunted him, flying in front of his face. “That’s cheating!”

  Gabi fell to the ground, laughing. “Sorry, Uncle Boris. I’ll help you out. I promise.”

  Ingo joined Oskar next to the fireplace and smiled. “The stitch-n-bitch session is going pretty well, huh? Kiana made a nice hat, Lys’ mittens are almost done, and Gabi’s scarf looks great.” He scratched his beard. “And, um, Boris is starting to get the hang of it. I think.”

  Oskar raised a brow. “I sure hope that isn’t going to be my Christmas present for next year.”

  There was a tap on the window. Mr. Frosty waved at Oskar. “Hold on a second, buddy.” Oskar stuck his hand in the ice cooler on the floor and pulled out a root beer-flavored popsicle, Mr. Frosty’s favorite. He slid open the window and tossed the treat outside. The snowman caught it in his twiggy hand and nodded a thank you to Oskar.

  “Ingo, when are Hie and Loki coming over?” Kiana asked, balancing a tray of hot chocolate in her arms.

  “Any minute now, Kiana. Thanks so much for including them. They get lonely sometimes.”

  Kiana smiled, a gorgeous heart-stopping smile that made Oskar weak in the knees. Every time he saw his new bride he got a pang in his chest. He couldn’t believe his good fortune. Only a few months ago he’d been restless and dissatisfied with his life. Now it felt complete. He had a wife who adored him and was his partner in all ways. She was helping with the new construction plans for the Rec Center, designing a library for Glasdorf, and pitching in with “elfin” issues. In fact, he noticed that the elves seemed to gravitate to his beautiful wife. She had a way about her that put everyone at ease. Especially the children.

  He had an elfin daughter who was filled with joy and had a magikal talent that blew even Master Eugen out of the water. He had a pet snowman who kicked ass at making snowballs and shoveling the walkways. And his house, which used to be quiet as a tomb, was now constantly filled with visitors, friends, and family. Somehow his self-absorbed bachelor lifestyle had been usurped. And it felt pretty damned fantastic.

  Although Kiana had resigned her position at the New York Public Library, they still spent quite a bit of time in Manhattan. At least once a week, they volunteered at Brockman’s Bookstore for story hour. Gabi used magik to transform herself into a “human” child so she could join them. Ki was also busy planning the Literacy Project fund-raiser with Wolfie. It promised to be the big event of the season.

  Family dinner nights at the Weihnachtsmann’s house had turned into a boisterous and festive occasion. All the brothers, wives and sometimes friends (Trish never missed lasagna night) would gather and discuss Klaus Enterprises and how work was going. Gabi usually fell asleep on Ki’s lap by the end of the evening.

  Oskar’s favorite time with Kiana was surfing on their own private beach in Glasdorf. She sparkled with joy every time she caught a wave. Hearing her laughter and sharing her passion for the water made him a happy and satisfied man. Rolling around in the surf with his sexy wife was an added benefit.

  They were even discussing a trip to Hawaii to see her family. She felt strong enough to face her past. Now that she had a future in Glasdorf with him and Gabi.

  Kiana handed out steaming mugs of hot cocoa to all of their guests. She walked over to Oskar by the fireplace and set a mug for him on the mantel, next to Ingo’s Mother Bond designs.

  “Hey there, Bad Boy. What are you thinking about? You have a very pensive look on your face.”

  He leaned down and kissed her. “Just thinking about how lucky I am.”

  Kiana looked up at him, love shining in her eyes. He remembered being jealous of Nicholas when Lucy gazed into his brother’s face with that look, the one he was getting right now. It was a million times better than he could have ever imagined. He cupped Kiana’s face in his hands and kissed her with all of the joy and happiness in his heart. From behind him he heard Gabi’s sweet giggles.

  “Oh boy, here they go again. I had to put mistletoe up everywhere. You never know when they’re going to get in the mood for kisses.”

  Oskar glanced up at the ceiling and smiled. Gabi had strung bouquets of mistletoe tied with cherry red ribbons all over the cottage. “My favorite Christmas decorations, perfect for any time of the year,” he murmured into Kiana’s neck. She laughed and kissed him again.

  THE END

  The Klaus Brothers Series #3

  Sweet Adventure

  Penny Watson

  SWEET ADVENTURE

  Copyright © 2014 Nina Roth Borromeo

  Cover Design: Stone Lily

  Cover Images: 123RF, Sandra Cunningham

  Editorial: Helen Hardt

  Ebook Production: JW Manus

  All rights reserved. Except for the use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means is forbidden without the express permission of the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  * * *

  From: Andrea De Luca

  Subject: Wonderful Toys!

  Date: September 18

  To: Sven Klaus, Director of Toy Design and Woodworking, Klaus Enterprises

  * * *

  Dear Mr. Klaus,

  I am so impressed with the toys made by Klaus Enterprises! I recently gave my nephews the model airplane kit for their birthday, and they adored it. My sister and I were amazed by the beautiful craftsmanship. I especially like how an “elf” presents the instructions…such a cute idea! We will definitely be purchasing more of your products in the future. It’s refreshing to see a company that still believes in well-made old-fashioned products, instead of mass-produced hunks of plastic.

&
nbsp; Thank you,

  Andrea De Luca

  P.S. I’m a freelance writer, and I would love to do a story about your toys that will be featured for this upcoming Christmas season. Any chance I could have a tour of your workshop and an interview? Thanks!

  * * *

  From: Klaus Enterprises

  Subject: Thank you

  Date: September 19

  To: Ms. Andrea De Luca

  * * *

  Dear Ms. De Luca,

  We are delighted that you enjoyed our Model Airplane #3. Please stop by our website to see additional products.

  Sincerely,

  Ulrich Munsterman

  Assistant to Sven Klaus

  Toy Design and Woodworking Shop, Klaus Enterprises

  * * *

  From: Andrea De Luca

  Subject: Interview?

  Date: September 19

  To: Sven Klaus, Klaus Enterprises

  * * *

  Hello Mr. Klaus. I see an assistant replied to my note. I’m sure you’re extremely busy and don’t have time to personally answer all of your emails. However, I’m very interested in doing a feature article about Klaus Enterprises. There’s a lot of depressing news out there, and folks would love to read something uplifting and fun during the holiday season. I noticed Klaus Enterprises has an office in Manhattan, but I couldn’t find an address for the workshop. Where exactly are you located?

  Andrea De Luca

  * * *

  From: Klaus Enterprises

  Subject: News Story

  Date: September 27

  To: Ms. Andrea De Luca

  * * *

  Dear Ms. De Luca,

  I am afraid Mr. Klaus is not able to conduct an interview at this time. I have enclosed a $20.00 gift certificate for Klaus Enterprises Toy Shop. Please enjoy with our compliments.

  Sincerely,