Christmas Box set - (Complete 1-4)

by M. L. Briers

“Someone took Jessica?” Troy offered George a look of pure suspicion. “No, that wouldn’t happen.”

  “Well, she’s gone — are you telling me the faeries… elves took her?” George grumbled at his own mistake.

  “Oh, no.” Troy shook his head on a deep frown that made him look way too concerned for George’s liking.

  “Oh no? I’m not feeling the love for that because it really doesn’t fill me with a warm fuzzy feeling and internal calmness.”

  “The elves,” Troy groaned.

  “The elves?” George’s eyebrows shot up on his head. He was running out of patience, and the shifter wasn’t giving him much to go on.

  “Fairy magic is…”

  “Awesome, yes I know, get to the point,” George grumbled.

  “Highly sought after in these parts. Apart from the odd visit from the fairy godmother, we don’t get many faeries up here.” Troy said.

  “I wonder why? Oh, wait, couldn’t have something to do with being kidnapped, could it? But, look, what’s the point if she doesn’t have her magic,” George offered back.

  “Depends on what magic you use,” Troy shrugged.

  “If they hurt her…”

  “Hurt her?” Troy chuckled at the very thought. “Elves don’t go around hurting people – that’s faeries.”

  “I’m going to forget you said that,” George grumbled.

  “Say it’s not so?” Troy offered back.

  “It’s… Let’s go get Jessica,” George said as he changed the subject.

  “Truth hurts?” Troy chuckled.

  “Just point the way to the elves,” George offered back.

  “The thing with elves — is that they’re all around us,” Troy shrugged.

  “Fine. I’ll just get back to tracking her footsteps then,” George sighed.

  “I can help with that,” Troy said.

  CHAPTER NINE

  ~

  “In here.” One of the elves nudged her towards a large barn.

  “I’m not going in there with you,” Jessica snorted her contempt for the both of them.

  “No time to waste.” The other one nudged her to the door.

  “Nudge me again, and you’ll be pulling back a stump,” Jessica promised him that.

  “We need you,” the other elf informed her.

  “To do what?” Jessica demanded. She wasn’t moving another damn inch until they told her what was going on.

  One of the elves reached out and yanked open the barn door. There inside, on a bed of straw, covered by a blanket, was a polar bear cub.

  Sitting next to him was an elfling, her big, wide, brown eyes were filled with sadness, and they bade Jessica on.

  “We have the fairy,” one of the elves said, and the child perked up a little.

  “The cub is dying,” the other elf informed her. “And Tammy won’t leave his side.”

  “They’re friends. Best friends. And since the cub stopped eating so has Tammy.” The other elf said.

  “Well, why didn’t you say so?” Jessica bit out in disbelief.

  “You might not have helped,” one of the elves said.

  “Idiot,” Jessica bit back over her shoulder as she walked toward the child and the cub.

  “Your magic will work for good, for healing,” the first elf said.

  “Now let’s see what’s wrong with your furry friend,” Jessica announced as she started toward the cub, but the sound of two deep, warning growls made her stop in place.

  There in the darkness of the room stood two full-sized polar bears, and neither one looked happy.

  ~

  ~

  ~

  “I know where they’re going,” Troy announced, they’d tracked the footprints far enough for him to be sure.

  “You wanna share, or is it a surprise?” George bit back the urge within him to take the man by the shoulders and shake an answer out of him.

  “Yes, but remember what I said about elves not hurting anyone?” Troy asked.

  “Don’t say it,” George bit out. “Evil elves.”

  “It’s not the elves you need to worry about,” Troy started to speed up, and George matched him step for step.

  “You wanna tell me who I need to worry about?” George had that horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach again.

  “The bears.” Troy started to run. George matched his step.

  “What damn bears?”

  “The polar bears.”

  “Oh, I might have known — polar bears,” George bit out on a shake of his head. “Why do I need to worry about polar bears?”

  “Because one of the cubs is dying,” Troy shot back over his shoulder as they raced together across the frozen landscape.

  “What does that have to do with… Fairy magic,” George answered his own question. “That would be great if we had magic.” He muttered to himself.

  “Can you go faster or shall I shift into my reindeer and carry you?” Troy asked.

  “I am not riding on a reindeer’s back,” George grumbled. Then again, if it got him to Jessica faster; he’d do anything.

  ~

  ~

  ~

  When his feet hit the snow, George carried on down to his knees. He was frozen solid, well, not quite, but there are certain parts of him that felt as if they were.

  Troy shifted back into his human form. He reached out one large hand, fisted the back of George’s shirt, and yanked the man to his feet.

  “Now is not the time to pray,” Troy chuckled to himself as he half yanked, half dragged George toward the barn.

  “You reindeer shifters are crazy,” George bit out through clenched teeth.

  He’d endured the flight on the back of the reindeer, and it was something that he didn’t want to ever repeat.

  “Was the loop the loop a little too much?”

  “Ya think?” George bit out.

  “Had to do it — had to get over the trees,” Troy offered back.

  “Because you couldn’t see them coming half a mile away?” George grumbled.

  He had some feeling coming back into his feet and legs, not much of it, but he was sure that his face was frozen solid into a grimace.

  Troy booted open the door to the barn, and everyone turned to look in their direction. George’s heart leapt at the sight of Jessica.

  “Holy bells, George,” Jessica announced. “What happened to your hair?”

  “My hair? What’s wrong with my hair?” George rushed out with a feeling of panic.

  “It’s white, and it looks like you stuck your finger in an electricity supply,” she informed him.

  “That’s his fault,” George grumbled as he eyed the naked shifter beside him, and he grumbled again when Jessica did the same. “Eyes on me, Jessica.”

  “Just taking in the view,” Jessica shrugged.

  “I rode a bloody reindeer to get to you,” George offered back.

  “Well, it’s lucky you have a crash helmet head then isn’t it?” Jessica shrugged again. “Now come and help me.”

  “Do what?” George tried to make his legs move; they were thawing but not as much as he’d hoped. “I’m frozen solid,” he complained.

  “Geez, George, it’s just a bit of snow,” Jessica sighed as she pushed up to her feet and started toward him.

  “Did I mention I rode a reindeer?” George grumbled back.

  “That would be me.” Troy chuckled.

  “Yes, George. You did mention it,” Jessica said as she stopped in front of him. “Well done, George.” Then she reached up, wrapped her arms around his neck, pushed up onto tiptoes, and kissed George right on the lips.

  George almost pulled back out of shock. Jessica kissing him?

  Hell yeah!

  CHAPTER TEN

  ~

  George felt the excitement rush through his body, and there was heat that raced through his blood. He was just starting to feel warmer when — she pulled away.

  “Warmer?” Jessica asked, and George frowned.

>   “A little…”

  “Good. Now move and help me,” Jessica demanded.

  “I could be warmer still…” George started, but the death glare that she offered back over her shoulder made him bite down on the rest of his words. “Had to give it a try, you understand?”

  George felt like his feet were encased in lead as he followed Jessica over to where the cub was laying. He heard the deep, hearty, warning growls that came from the corner of the room and his eyes flicked in that direction.

  “They won’t hurt you as long as you don’t hurt the cub,” Jessica assured him.

  “They told you that with their growling?” George didn’t look convinced.

  “I told her,” Tammy said, and George tipped his head and looked around Jessica to where the child was sitting.

  “And you are?”

  “Tammy,” she offered him a shy smile.

  “Hi, Tammy. I’m George,” he offered back.

  “George, not now. I need your magic to join with mine to help the cub,” Jessica said.

  “We don’t have magic up here,” George whispered in case the rest of the room didn’t know it, and things turned a little hostile.

  “Yes, George, we do. Healing magic,” she informed him.

  “Help him now,” one of the elves said.

  “Then Tammy will eat,” the other elf offered.

  “Why aren’t you eating?” George asked.

  “He’s my friend. I feel sad,” Tammy said.

  “George, let’s get to work — you can make friends later,” Jessica said.

  ~

  ~

  ~

  “You need to eat now,” George said as he knelt down on one knee in front of the child.

  “I’ll eat when he does,” Tammy said and pointed at the cub.

  “That wasn’t the deal — we heal him — you eat,” George gently berated her.

  “Don’t worry, Tammy. I think Benny is going to be real hungry, real soon,” Troy said.

  “Okay. I’ll eat,” Tammy gave a small shrug of her shoulders. “And I’ll share it with Benny.” She grinned.

  George pushed up to his full height when Tammy raced back over to the cub that was nestled between the two big polar bears and being nuzzled to within an inch if his life. She threw herself down onto her stomach on the makeshift bed, and propped herself up on her elbows, as she rested her chin in her hands and giggled happily.

  “Which reminds me,” George said as he turned to look at Jessica, and caught her checking out the naked shifter. She snapped to attention, looked at George, and offered a little grimace. “Busted.”

  “Reminds you what, George?” Jessica said changing the subject.

  “We left a perfectly good dinner behind us,” George said.

  “I didn’t leave. I was kind of abducted — but, okay,” Jessica offered back.

  “I’ll take you both back to the cabin,” Troy said. George almost swallowed his tongue.

  “You mean, like, on your back?” George eyed the man with suspicion.

  “No loop the loop,” Troy chuckled.

  “That sounds like fun,” Jessica grinned from ear to ear as George groaned.

  “I think we’ll walk,” George rushed out.

  “George, I walked it. It’s miles,” Jessica folded her arms and offered him the evil eye.

  “Fine,” George bit out.

  It didn’t feel fine.

  He’d sworn the first time was the last time that he was ever going to get on reindeer’s back again.

  But what his mate wanted…

  ~

  ~

  ~

  “That was a good thing you did back there,” Troy said once he’d shifted back into his human form, and they were all walking back to the cabin together. Troy held the key to the front door, and neither Jessica nor George wanted to climb back in through the bathroom window. “That cub is the last of them.”

  “The last of them for the season?” George asked.

  “The clan is getting old, and that cub was a miracle. I doubt that there will be any more cubs,” Troy said as he turned the key in the lock and opened the cabin door.

  “The mates aren’t mating?” Jessica asked.

  “It’s pretty hard to find a mate out here — bears, reindeer, even the wolves are finding it hard to find a mate — we are all facing extinction,” Troy admitted. “Well, I have a busy night ahead, you know?” Troy turned and walked away.

  “Maybe there’s something we can do about that,” Jessica whispered to George, and he reached out and pushed her inside the cabin.

  Jessica shrieked as she was launched inside. It didn’t take much for her to regain her balance, but when she did, she turned towards George, who was kicking the door closed behind him, and she offered good thoughts, as she tossed a lamp at his head.

  It bounced right off and hit the floor, and for a long moment, George looked a little stunned.

  “Can you not?” George groaned.

  “You pushed me!” Jessica hissed at him.

  “Yes, yes I did,” George said. “I was thinking the exact same thing as you — but, we don’t need to get their hopes up,” George offered back.

  “You have a point,” Jessica admitted with a shrug.

  “You mean — I’m right?” Amusement spring to life in George’s eyes.

  “No, George — you’re never right, your male,” Jessica grinned back.

  “About that kiss?”

  “Let’s not go there…”

  “No, let’s go there…”

  “I will zap you until your hair stands on end — that fluffy head of hair, turning to straw,” she warned him.

  “You can’t, but you don’t like my hair anyway,” George teased back as he took a step toward her.

  “George, one more step and I’ll find a way to make you barbecue,” she hissed.

  “I like barbecue,” George’s grin stretched from ear to ear, it was his charming, teasing, sexy grin, and she liked it.

  “Back off, fluffy,” Jessica warned, and the look in her eyes said that George had better listen.

  “On the bright side, if I’m barbecue, then you can’t call me fluffy anymore,” he chuckled as he took a long step toward her, reached out, wrapped an arm around her back, and yanked her toward him.

  “George…!” That was as far as she got, George brought his lips down on hers, and she rushed to silence.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  ~

  “George! What are you doing?” Jessica demanded as she stomped on his foot. George jumped up and down in place, grasping his toes, and cursing under his breath.

  “We’re mates, Jessica,” George ground out through clenched teeth.

  “That’s not the point,” she berated him again.

  “We know how this goes — we’ve done it to others,” he said hopping up and down on one foot.

  “But…”

  “You like me…”

  “That’s not the point!” Jessica hissed back.

  “You even like my fluffy hair…”

  “That’s not the point either!” Jessica hissed back as she tossed up her hands in frustration and turned away from him.

  George stomped down on his injured foot — he hardly noticed the pain shot up his leg as he reached out to her, wrapped a hand around her upper arm, and yanked her back toward him again.

  Jessica’s hands hit his chest, her head snapped back, and she offered him a glare of annoyance.

  “Then what is the point?” George asked.

  “You hate me, George. You said so,” she offered back.

  “I don’t hate you…”

  “You told your friends in the bar that you hate me,” Jessica said.

  “Oh, geez — that was like a million years ago,” George rolled his eyes.

  “No, George. It was last week,” Jessica offered back a questioning look.

  “Last week — a million years — it’s all relative,” George shrugged.

  “Not to
me,” Jessica said.

  “A lot happened since then,” George said. And she opened her mouth to speak, but he held up his finger and silenced her. “I got to know you. Not only that, but I got to like you. When you were in trouble, when I thought you were hurt, tonight when you disappeared — I had a sick feeling inside of me, a weight holding me down…”

  “That’s your fluffy hair George,” Jessica snapped back.

  “Admit it — you like my hair,” George grinned again.

  “Yes, George — I like your hair,” Jessica finally admitted.

  “And you like me,” George said.

  “Don’t push your luck,” Jessica grumbled.

  “And I like you,” George grinned from ear to ear, a sexy, cocky, grin that made her toes curl.

  “You like me?”

  “Ask my sister…”

  “She’s not here.” Jessica pouted.

  “Well, after we mate and we get back home, then you can ask her,” George couldn’t stop grinning.

  “A little late, don’t you think?” Jessica tossed back.

  “Well, that all depends on perspectives — why wait?” George had that damn grin on his lips, and laughter in his eyes again.

  She liked that as well.

  “I still hate you,” she bit out.

  “No, Jessica, you don’t.” George chuckled as he yanked her as close as he could possibly get her, and then he brought his lips down on hers again.

  She didn’t turn her magic on him that time. She didn’t stomp on his foot. In fact, she kissed him right back.

  “See, I knew you liked me,” George teased her.

  “Careful, you might not be able to get that fluffy headed ego of yours back out the door.”

  “Then we’d be stuck in this cabin, alone, forever,” George grinned.

  He kind of liked that idea.

  “No, you’d be stuck here. I can still get out,” she chuckled.

  “You’d leave me?” He raised his eyebrows and offered her something of a smug look. He already knew the answer to that.

  “In a heartbeat,” she lied.

  “Then I’d better have my wicked way with you while I still can,” George swept her up into his arms and she squealed with surprise.