by R. E. Butler
She rolled her eyes hard enough to make them ache. “Who are you, Rudolph? This is nuts. People don’t turn into animals, and Santa – excuse me, SC – is a myth.”
He let out a low sound from his chest and she froze, staring wide-eyed as his eyes turned from hazel to bright gold. He was growling like a bear, and as his lips parted, she could see fangs.
Fangs!
Her breath caught in her chest.
He shook his head and said with a growly voice, “I’m not an elf, I’m a quad shifter, meaning I have control over four animals: reindeer, polar bear, artic fox, and snowy owl. Mrs. C sent me to your bar because she believed I would find the one woman on the planet meant for me there, my fated mate. You’re her. I brought you here to show you my truth before things went any further in our relationship.”
She swallowed hard over the sudden lump in her throat.
“I don’t… it’s not possible.”
“I’ll show you that it’s very possible, but I just asked you a few seconds ago to keep an open mind and not freak out. You look like you’re thinking about running away, and I don’t want you to do that.”
What is he, psychic?
“You want to show me what?”
“One of my animals.”
Skeptical thoughts crashed through her mind with his words. People absolutely never changed into animals. That was crazy.
“Come on, Holly. You know you’ve felt drawn to me since we first met. You’ve tried your hardest to keep me at arm’s length, but you weren’t able to. Why do you think that is?”
“Lust.”
“Love, damn it,” he growled. “And it’s neither of those things.”
“So what is it?” she asked, throwing up her hands. “You’re asking me to believe that Santa and people turning into animals are a real thing.”
He let out a deep sigh and shrugged out of his coat. “Seeing is believing, Holly. Just promise you won’t run. It’s too cold for you to be out here for long, and it’ll get dark soon.”
He jerked his shirt over his head and dropped it onto his jacket on the ground. “Promise, Holly.”
“I promise.”
She fully expected him to be joking, to quickly put an end to things, but he continued to watch her intently as he stripped out of his clothes. She tried not to ogle his body, but he was positively the sexiest man she’d ever seen in clothes. Out of them? He was stunning on a hundred different levels, stacked with muscles and covered with sun-kissed skin. Just the sight of him in all his mouth-watering perfection made her whole body shudder.
He inhaled and snarled softly. “You smell fucking amazing.”
“What?”
He tapped his nose. “I have enhanced senses, and right now I’m picking up how turned on you are.”
She wrinkled her nose, tempted to sniff the air herself. “I am not.”
“Liar,” he murmured and then winked. “Now pay attention, beautiful. I’ll be able to shift back pretty quick, but in the meantime, I’m still me in my shift. I might look like an animal, but the thoughts are all human.”
Unease slipped through her, and she wondered how far he was going to take things. He clearly believed what he’d said, or he wouldn’t have stripped completely, but it couldn’t possibly be real. People didn’t turn into animals, period.
He cleared his throat. “I think I’ll change into the reindeer, since you’re so certain SC isn’t real. The polar bear can be pretty intimidating, so I’ll save that big fellow for another time. Ready?”
She stared, not daring to blink or breathe, and nodded sharply.
For a heartbeat, nothing happened, and she let out the breath she’d been holding.
But then something did happen.
His body changed swiftly, short brown fur replacing flesh, hooves replacing hands and feet.
She sucked in a sharp breath and blinked rapidly, very certain she hadn’t seen what she’d just seen. People didn’t change into animals, but Vaughn had changed into a reindeer.
Holy freaking crap!
He shook himself out and snorted, his breath billowing from his nostrils like smoke. She felt rooted to the ground, fear and disbelief twining inside her like a storm. Part of her wanted to run, to do the exact opposite of what she’d promised. But she couldn’t actually make her legs work. She was staring into the eyes of a reindeer that moments earlier had been a man, the man she loved.
She’d believed he was teasing her about his home with Santa, but now that she’d witnessed one part of his story with her own eyes, she had to figure out if she was going to believe the rest.
Do elves exist? Is there really a Santa Claus who brings gifts to the children of the world?
She lowered her head and closed her eyes as tears stung them. The ground crunched, and she knew Vaughn was moving close. He gently bumped her hand with his muzzle, and she pulled off her glove and touched him, then opened her eyes and lifted her head.
“You were telling the truth,” she croaked with a raw voice.
He grunted, and it sounded like “Yes.”
She lifted her hand and touched one of his antlers. He tilted his head to allow her to grasp it, and she squeezed gently, still in awe of what she’d seen.
“You were right when you said I couldn’t keep away from you. I tried because I wanted to focus on the bar. I told Ivy I didn’t have time for a relationship, but I wanted you even when I wouldn’t let myself admit it out loud. Can you change back now? I want to talk. Really talk.”
From one moment to the next, Vaughn went from reindeer to man, then scooped her into his arms. He carried her into the cabin, seemingly unaffected by the cold and his nudity. He kicked the front door shut and set her on the couch, kneeling in front of her and unlacing her boots. She wiggled from her coat, tossing her hat and gloves to the side along with it. He joined her on the couch, pulling a quilt over his lap to cover himself.
“What do you want to know?”
“It’s really true? Santa and Mrs. Claus, and the reindeer and elves?”
He nodded. “Elves look human, not like they’re depicted in human stories. They’re not particularly short, but they do have pointed ears. All the females in NPC are elves, and males are either shifters or elves. Some shifters, like me and my friends, are unique and have four animals. My dad is a shifter, but not a quad.”
“And your mom is an elf? And your sister?”
He nodded.
“Can you take me to see NPC?”
“Not until dawn on Christmas Eve. NPC is magically closed and protected three hundred and sixty-four days a year. It’s only open for twenty-four hours. Our people can magically transport, but only when the city is open. If we aren’t back in NPC by dawn on Christmas Day, we’re stuck in the human world until the following Christmas.”
Her mind spun as reality set in.
“You came here because Mrs. Claus said you’d find your fated mate at my bar, even though you were going to be essentially trapped here for a year? Away from your family and friends?”
He nodded.
“Where did your apartment come from? Is Jack a shifter, too?” Her hand flew to her mouth as more questions filled her mind.
He took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
“There are eight quads on the sleigh team. I’m the Comet position. Jack is the Donner position. And yes, he showed his shift to Ivy when they came to the cabin.”
“She didn’t tell me.” A little bit of hurt filled her.
“Jack made her promise not to. That was two weeks ago, beautiful. You were so intent on keeping me at arm’s length that Ivy wasn’t sure when or even if you’d let your heart go enough to let me in. It’s against our laws to just share our shifts until we’re certain we’re with our fated mate. She couldn’t tell you because it wasn’t her secret to tell, it was mine.”
She stared down at their linked fingers, aware of the warmth emanating from him. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you’ll stay wi
th me.”
“Where?” Her mind flitted to the bar and the years of hard work she’d put into it.
“Wherever you want to be.”
She frowned. “You would stay here, in my world?”
“Yes, if it’s what you want.”
“What about your family and your job?”
“I want to be in NPC, Holly, but where you are is home for me. If this is where you want to be, then I will happily work by your side at the bar. My family will understand, and so will my friends.”
She realized then that Ivy was planning to move to NPC with Jack. They’d used the guise of his job, but they weren’t simply relocating to another city, they were going somewhere magical. A place that, if Holly and Vaughn didn’t follow, would be magically closed for most of the year. She wanted to ask Ivy about her decision and why it was so easy for her to want to leave, but immediately she knew why – her pregnancy meant their baby wasn’t entirely human. Wouldn’t Holly do the same to protect a child of her own? And didn’t she want Vaughn to be safe, too?
A headache bloomed, and she leaned back against the couch and closed her eyes. “I don’t know what to think.”
“We don’t have to make any decisions anytime soon.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles, sending a shiver down her spine. “Sorry for what?”
“For being a jerk outside.”
He chuckled. “It’s okay, beautiful. I was laying some heavy truth on you. Your whole life, you’ve been told that what I am and where I live is fantasy. It makes sense that you’d push back against things until you could see it with your own eyes.”
“I’m pretty tired,” she said.
He nodded, and she could feel his eyes on her as she got up and left the room. Although the bedroom was being heated by the electric radiator, it wasn’t nearly as warm and comforting as the family room and being with Vaughn, but she needed time to come to terms with what he’d shared and what it meant for their future.
She’d never expected to ask the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with to give up his world for her, but if he stayed here, then she was doing just that. He wasn’t asking her to walk away from her life here, but if they stayed, what did that mean for him?
Chapter 6
Vaughn watched Holly leave the family room and his heart fell. He wasn’t exactly sure what he’d expected to happen when he shared the truth of his world with her, but he’d certainly hoped she’d want to talk some more. And a small part of him had wanted her to agree to move to NPC, especially when she figured out that Ivy and Jack were leaving.
He couldn’t imagine what it was like to know that what she’d believed was legend was actually truth. She said she needed time to think, and he’d give it to her. No matter that his body was strung tight like a bow, or that his beasts were roaring within him to go to her and not leave things unsettled.
He got up to add more wood to the fire, then closed the screen and settled back on the couch to stare into the flames, wishing he felt welcome in the bedroom. Her actions had spoken far louder than words when she shut the door.
Closing his eyes, he hoped the dawn would bring Holly back into his arms. Things had been going so well, and he hated the distance that lay between them now.
* * *
He woke slowly with a growl, his beasts urging him awake. Holly stood before him wearing only the shirt she’d had on earlier, which was barely long enough to cover the tops of her thighs. Her hands twisted in the hem of the shirt, revealing her panties and a tantalizing view of the apex of her thighs.
He rubbed his eyes and sat up, his cock springing to life immediately.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“No.” Her knuckles turned white, and he could hear her heart rate picking up.
“What can I do?”
She swallowed hard, and the sweet scent of her arousal hit him.
“I’m…” She cleared her throat. “I don’t know what to tell you about the future, but I know I really do love you. I want to be with you, and right now I don’t care if it’s here or in your world, I just don’t want to go another second without being in your arms.”
He pulled the quilt off and stood. “If we make love right now, Holly, I’m going to want to fully make you mine.”
“What do you mean?” She stared up at him with luminous eyes, trust and uncertainty in the depths.
He brushed his thumb lightly down her throat. “My people mark their mates with a bite. It’s like marriage without the government paperwork.”
“Do you have to bite me?”
“I don’t think I can make love to you without doing it. My beasts are banging around in my skull to make you ours in truth.”
She chewed on her bottom lip and he kept his thumb on her pulse, wanting her to say she’d be his in every way, even though he knew he was asking a lot.
“Will it hurt?”
“I’ll make you feel good first,” he said, his voice suddenly husky. He cupped her face and kissed her. “Be my mate, Holly. Here or in NPC, I don’t care, I just want you to be mine.”
“Yes,” she whispered, rising onto her toes and kissing him.
He tilted her head, stroking his tongue deeply into her mouth. She moaned softly and he ate the sound, a million thoughts cascading through his mind, the chiefest of which was making her his immediately.
He lifted her and set her on the couch, dropping to his knees and resting his hands on her thighs. She gazed at him, her eyes alight with curiosity and blazing with passion as she slowly lifted her shirt up her stomach. She curled a finger into her panties and tugged, and then he took over, sliding his hands up the outside of her thighs and wrapping them around the silk material. He drew them down her legs and tossed them aside, then pushed her knees gently. She spread her legs for him and he moved between them, sliding his hands under her thighs and pulling her forward, spreading her body open for him and inhaling the sweet scent of her heat.
Her hand curled around the back of his head as she gripped her shirt between her breasts.
He lowered his head and kissed her, flicking his tongue over her clit and smiling as her hips jerked with the motion. He circled her bud slowly, feeling it swell under his tongue. She moaned softly, her nails abrading his skull, and wiggled farther down into the couch. He gripped her thighs and licked his way down to her center, sliding his tongue inside and lapping at the heady taste of her. He’d never tasted anything as sweet as his beautiful fated mate.
She fisted his hair and arched under him while he moved his tongue in and out of her as he played with her clit. Groaning, she chanted his name and thrashed her head against the cushions, her stomach fluttering as he worked her to her peak. She shrieked as she crested the climax, her body jolting and her toes curling against his back. He snarled as he sucked on her clit and fingered her, drawing her pleasure out until she was panting for breath, her eyes the most beautiful shade of blue he’d ever seen.
He positioned his cock at her center and slowly pulled her down onto him. She gripped his shoulders and kissed him, mewling into his mouth as she planted her feet on the carpet and lifted herself off him. He slipped his hands up her top and cupped her breasts, the heavy globes tipped with tight nipples that he wanted to kiss and lick. She swiveled her hips, and his eyes crossed as sheer pleasure lit up within him.
Laying his thumb on her clit, he rubbed the sensitive bud, her pussy gripping him as they moved together. She wrenched from the kiss with a groan and drew her hair to the side, baring her throat.
“Vaughn,” she murmured. “I’m yours. I’m so fucking yours.”
“Yes,” he whispered against her skin, his fangs punching from his gums as his body roared toward completion. He waited until her body locked up around him, her cry of pleasure echoing in the room. Then he bit down on her throat as he played with her clit, drawing her pleasure out as long as he could.
The first sweet taste of
her blood on his tongue and he followed her into bliss, barely able to control the roar from his bear at how perfect and sweet things were now. He nicked his tongue and covered her wounds, ensuring they would heal quickly but scar permanently, a reminder to all who would see her that she was claimed by him forever.
She went limp against him with a gusty sigh, her arms wrapping tightly around him and her ankles hooked behind his back.
“I fucking love you,” he said, kissing below the mark and down to the crux of her neck.
“I love you, too.”
“Fucking love you.”
She giggled. “I fucking love you.”
Damn straight.
After they made love on the floor, he carried her to the bedroom where he loved her right a second time, and then a third, before they fell asleep watching the sunrise through the window. He’d never been more content than he was at that moment, with his fated mate in his arms and all right in the world.
She hadn’t promised him anything but her heart, and they hadn’t nailed down their plans for the future, but he didn’t actually care. He’d told her she was home for him, and he was 100 percent sure that was the truth. Wherever the future took them, as long as they were together, the location actually didn’t matter. He understood now what his friends had been through when it came to their fated mates. Just finding and mating her made everything else inconsequential. His heart was firmly in Holly’s hands, and he’d never been happier.
* * *
Vaughn woke to the smell of bacon, his sensitive hearing picking up the sputtering of meat in a hot pan. His stomach rumbled as much as his beasts did when he realized how cold the bed was without Holly in it. He got up and stretched, then found his jeans on the floor and tugged them on.
In the family room, he found Holly crouched next to the fireplace, using a long-handled fork to turn bacon, which squeaked and popped in a cast-iron skillet.
He looked out the window at the afternoon sunshine. “Hey, beautiful.”
