A Christmas Home

by April Zyon

  She nodded and leaned into his touch. “I … I feel so much better when you touch me,” she admitted with a sigh. The more she thought about it the more she realized that this man was nothing like any other man she’d ever met in her life, and it wasn’t just because he was a shifter but because he was the man that he was. He was someone that put her needs and desires above her own and she’d never had that before in her life. Even though her thoughts came quickly, in the blink of an eye she realized that this man, this one being on the entire planet, was worth taking a chance on. Someone worth giving everything up for? Taking a deep breath, she pulled back from him. “I’m going to trust you, Jagger, because I like you, a lot. I’m going to trust you because my soul is telling me to,” she told him. “I will see you in five minutes, promise.” With that said, she walked into the bathroom so that she could get herself cleaned up.

  Chapter Five

  Their lunch was delivered to the table. As the waitress left, Jagger spotted Ophelia coming back from the bathroom. Her face was dry but her eyes were still somewhat puffy. They were clear, though, so he relaxed a little and stood until she’d sat down opposite him. “You okay?” he asked quietly. Reaching across the table, he gave her hand a squeeze when she offered it to him.

  “I am. I’ve just never had something dropped on me like that before. But I want to know. I want to know everything. Why me?” she asked before he could speak. He could see by the look in her eyes that was the question she needed to know first.

  Nodding slowly, he took a deep breath. He understood where she was coming from, and he’d promised not to give her any lies. “Remember what I said about the fates putting certain folks in our paths?” When she nodded with a confused expression, he began to rub his thumb over her hand. “Until you ran into me in the hotel I didn’t believe that shit. After all we’re in control of our own lives. We decide who we are going to be, what we’re going to do, and where we’re going to go. Then there you were and I realized I’ve been fooling myself. We were meant to meet, Ophelia. To what end is still up for us both to decide, but the cards have been dealt and we’ll need to figure out what we do from this point forward with care.” Jagger could say more but he’d already laid a lot on her and he didn’t want to overwhelm her all at once. Besides which he’d told her the truth, just not all of it. Yet.

  He could see that she was weighing the words and formulating a response. He took heart in the fact that she hadn’t pulled her hand from his. In fact she gave his hand a squeeze. “I think I get that. I was engaged.” He growled at that knowledge. “It didn’t feel right. I was doing it because I didn’t want to be alone and I thought that he might love me as much as I was hoping to love him. It didn’t work. I was deluding myself,” she said, and he noted how she took a deep breath when she said that. “But then I ran into you and I couldn’t stop wanting to touch you. How weird is that?”

  “All part of the greater plan, I’m sure,” he said. Lifting her hand, he pressed a kiss to her fingers. “I can’t stop from touching you whenever I get the chance. I’ve had to rein myself in a bit because I didn’t want to freak you out or scare you off. But now that you know I don’t plan to hold back any longer, sweetheart. First, though, let’s have our lunch so we can head out. There’s a lot I want to show you, and a few spots we can stop in to warm up.”

  “So don’t hold back,” she told him without her gaze wavering, and he knew she was telling the truth. There was a pause. Then she leaned in closer and added, “I really do want to see all of you, every single part. Please?”

  “Why do I get the impression you don’t mean my very impressive cock?” When she blushed he chuckled deeply and winked. “I think we can make that happen. But it won’t be in the hotel room. It’s a little small and claustrophobic for the bear. If you want the full show and tell I’ll need to do it either at my place or outside somewhere. Now eat,” he ordered. Pointing a finger at the plate in front of her, he pulled his hand free from hers to pick up his burger. After taking a large bite he looked to her to see what she had to say.

  He watched her as she took a bite of her pulled pork sandwich and felt his cock harden when she moaned at the taste. “Oh this is so good.” She wiped her lips, then took another bite. It was several minutes before she added, “And I do want to see your very impressive cock so I can tell if it is just that or not.” The little minx was teasing him; he saw it in her eyes.

  “Sweetheart, you will likely swoon with how impressive my cock is.” Said cock was throbbing and pressed up tight against his zipper. Jagger would reach down to adjust himself but he didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of knowing she’d made him hard. “But remember I will get even for you messing with me, slowly, and with my tongue.”

  “Promises, promises,” she told him, laughing just a bit as she did so. “So while we’re out maybe you can show me your bear and then if I haven’t passed out you can take me home?” She took up another fry and ate it, goddamn her for taking the fry and running it over her lips before sliding it over her tongue and out again.

  “If you do pass out maybe I’ll just leave you there. The chill might do you good,” he muttered. Glaring at her, he took another big bite from his burger. The little wench was trying to mess with him and doing a damn fine job. Be nice if his damn body didn’t react instantly with her but there was no getting around that. He and the bear wanted her, wanted to bite, nibble, and lick until she was begging him to fuck her hard, fast, and deep.

  “Maybe your bear would wrap around me and keep me warm till I woke up and then you could make me even hotter while we’re both naked?” There was hope in her voice. “I should be freaked out, I really should. I’m not, though. It’s so weird but I’m not. I know what I need, what I want in life, and I think that it might be you. I want to get to know you.”

  “I’m glad to hear you think so, sweetheart. And we can talk all you want about whatever you want. You already know the biggest thing there is to know about me, and you know what I do for a living. Not overly glamorous, I admit, but it’s a good gig and makes me a ton of money. I also happen to be really good at it. So lay some of those pressing questions you have on me and I’ll answer whatever you’ve got.”

  “I’m jobless right now,” she told him bluntly, which took him by surprise. She was nervous, though. He saw it in the way she was folding the napkin and that piqued his interest. “It was time for a change anyway, so it’s really no loss there. But there’s more.” She drew in a deep breath. A frown crossed his brow as he watched her breasts rising and falling in her uncertainty. “I think you need to know something.” There was that damn whisper again that had him hard once more. “I never knew that there were shifters, I really didn’t.”

  She looked around and as if realizing that they were pretty much alone she leaned over the table so she could lower her voice again. “Last year I saw myself in a dream. I was huge pregnant. I mean, huge,” she told him. “I lived on a beautiful piece of land with woods all around it, a huge lake, and I felt loved. Now before you say anything I should tell you more, so let me? Please?” He’d been about to interrupt her. How had she known?

  “When I dream.” There was that fucking hesitation again and he was ready to shake her to get the words out faster. “When I dream they are never wrong. My hair in that dream was cut like this. There was a light snow falling and I saw snowmobiles and the mountain range out there.” She pointed toward the window. “Just a different view. I have had so many dreams, waking and sleeping, that come true. I went to a palm reader because I wanted to know what this was and she wouldn’t touch me. It was in New Orleans and she was a Vodun. She shouted at me to leave her place and leave it now. I saw another reader and she told me it was the soul that the Vodun saw inside of me, that the soul was destined for something that scared the woman. She told me.” She paused to take a drink of her soda. Fuck he wanted to hear the rest of it. “She told me that I was a true born psychic. Said my dreams weren’t dreams but visions of the futu
re. So someday I’m going to stand out on a wild and beautiful piece of land, drinking hot chocolate, and I’m going to be massively pregnant.” He could see just how much her confession cost her.

  He wanted to question her on so many points but didn’t want to press her yet. “You say all of that like you expect me to freak out. I’m a guy who can shift into a Kodiak bear. Not much surprises me anymore.” Although he had to admit hearing she was a natural psychic was definitely one for the books. He’d never met anyone like her before. Shifters were one thing, but he had to admit that if they existed then it made sense there could be others out there with extraordinary gifts. “Come on, sweetheart, if you’re done let’s head over to the bakery to pick out some sweet goodness before our ride.” Standing up, he pulled out money for the meal and a healthy tip before holding out his hand to her.

  She stood, once more trusting him in placing her hand in his. “Thank you for not thinking I’m a freak. My parents had me in treatment for years until I finally acted like I was normal and just going through a phase. It was hard to tell you that. Thank you for letting me get it out. I appreciate that more than you can possibly know.”

  “If you are a freak, so am I and you know what they say, right? We freaks have to stick together.” Pressing a kiss to her cheek, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they left the restaurant. He kept her pressed to his side, happy when she slipped her arm around his waist to hold him just as close. He led her across the street to the bakery and let her go wild in picking out whatever she wanted. Jagger wasn’t overly picky about his sweet treats, and he’d had pretty much everything in the bakery at one time or another.

  He watched her as she selected the items and asked for tastes of things here and there. She took her time in figuring out what she wanted. But when she finally made her selections he had to smile. One of the things she picked was honey brittle. His little mate was born to be a bear’s mate. “Oh, and peanut butter fudge, please?” she added, then leaned back against him. “Go ahead, Jagger.”

  “Vicky already knows what my favorites are. I’ve tried everything here but I always come back to the same old same old.” Hooking his arm around her neck, he pressed a kiss to her jaw. “She’ll box everything up for us. You’re going to need to put on a few more layers before we head out. I have some stuff in my truck for me, so we’ll store anything we’re not taking with us on the ride in there until we come back and head to my place for dinner. Speaking of which, let me call Con real quick so he can make our dinner take-out.” He pulled his phone out to make the call, then dug out money to pay Vicky for all the goodies Ophelia had chosen and the ones she’d packed up for him.

  “I’ll grab my snow gear and be back down in fifteen? You can pay for this and get your things while I run up?”Jagger nodded. “Go ahead while I talk to Con. I’ll meet you at the front doors. My truck’s around the side so it won’t take me long to grab what I need.” He gave her another kiss, then let her loose and watched as she headed out. Damn the woman had a fine ass on her. He fully intended to take a bite out of that luscious rear end before the night was over. Hopefully they’d get to that point. Wrenching his mind back on task, he spoke to Con about the meal that night. He let the other man know about Ophelia’s preference in meat, then left the menu in the other man’s hands. He knew when to step back, and when it came to food Con knew his shit.

  Accepting the baked goods and other items from Vicky, he headed back to the hotel and his truck. He had a plan for the afternoon, and if everything went well he’d have his little mate in his bed at the end of the day.

  Chapter Six

  Snowmobiling with Jagger had been amazing. He had even shown her his bear, which was massive. But she’d known when she had looked into the dark blue eyes of the bear that Jagger was in there and he would never, ever harm her. She knew that without the shadow of a doubt, and that was huge for her.

  They laughed and chatted the entire drive to his place after dropping the snowmobiles off at the shed and she grabbed an overnight bag, because she knew she was going to stay the night with him … both of them knew it.

  It wasn’t until they pulled up at his home, however, that she actually looked around and gasped. Awestruck, she didn’t know what to say. “Jagger.” She felt her heart beating faster and faster in her chest. “This.” She looked wildly around, slipping out of her seat belt and all but jumping out of the truck when they came to a stop. “This.” She ran to the back of the home. “Oh God, this is it.” She looked at the massive lake behind the home, the mountain range—even the tree that in her vision had held a tree house. “I don’t understand.” She had icy tears running down her face because this was where she actually called home in her visions.

  Large hands landed on her shoulders to turn her around to face him. Jagger watched her, a confused look on his face. “Don’t understand what, sweetheart? What’s going on, Ophelia? Why the hell do you look a second away from collapsing?”

  “This is the yard I was telling you about. I was hugely pregnant, standing right here looking over the lake and mountains and holding hot chocolate. I could feel someone behind me holding me, his hands rubbing over my big belly and feeling the baby moving. This is home,” she confessed. “I think I’ve come home.” And it confused her.

  “Okay, okay,” he said, rubbing his hands up and down her arms. Jagger drew her in close and led her to the back door. “Let’s get you inside and warmed up. Damn but you scared me diving out of the truck like that. Don’t do shit like that, sweetheart.” He opened the door and ushered her into a mudroom off what looked to be a large, open-concept home.

  “I didn’t mean to scare you, but I had to know. I saw that mountain over the top of the house, and then the house, and I had to know. It was a shock to my system, to say the least.” Yes, she had many dreams that had come true over her lifetime but this was so personal and so perfect … so thrilling. She took her boots off, settled them beside his, and walked into the massive home. She looked around and smiled. “I love it.” The home was an open floor plan. The dining room, kitchen, and living room all seemed to be one massive room, the only difference being the tile in the kitchen and the hardwood that was in the living and dining room. She looked around and saw stairs that led up and ones that led down. “Show me around, please?” She wanted to know every inch of this house because all she had seen was the outside.

  Nodding, he took her hand in his and gave her a guided tour. The main floor was all open, the kitchen, dining, and the living room. A movie/game room was the only enclosed space besides the bathroom on that floor. Upstairs were four bedrooms and an office. The master bedroom looked out over the lake. The en suite bathroom had the same view from the tub. When they returned downstairs, he left her for two minutes, returning with their food his friend had cooked, and the rest of the bakery items. Jagger made quick work of setting up at the breakfast bar connected to the kitchen island.

  “This is a beautiful home, Jagger,” she said and turned into his arms instead of sitting. “I can see you in this home and I love it.” She did, however, pull the bakery bag closer to her. “I want sweets. Later I will eat food but for right now I want sweets. Later will you show me that hot tub I thought I glimpsed?”

  “We can do the hot tub after I get back from my meeting,” he said. Brushing her hair back, he tucked it behind her ear. “I need to eat, sweetheart. We shifters burn a lot of calories in a day, especially with shifting.”

  “Okay.” She had forgotten about his meeting. “Can I stay here while you go to your meeting?” she asked while she watched him eat.

  “Absolutely. You can even poke around if you want to and snoop. The meeting is the town council wanting to talk to us about a new shifter clan who wants to move into Shifter Falls. They have to get permission from the alphas because we’re all territorial. Our six groups have managed to get through our various differences to work and live together in some form of peace, but adding another to the mix could fuck up the balance. The cou
ncil already knows our answer, but everything has to be done by the book.”

  “Wait, you’re an alpha?” She knew that meant something big. “And what is the group that wants to move in and why would you have issues with them coming in?” she wanted to know. “Who owns the resort and runs it? Are they shifters, too?” Rapid-fire questions, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.

  “So many questions,” he teased. “I am an alpha. As to the group, we don’t know who they are. We won’t know until this meeting. But the main issue is having too many different shifters in one place ups the chances of us being outed and could lead to pack wars. Something that happened a lot in the early years of us colonizing here with the humans. The resort is owned and run by the lynx shifters. They are some of the calmest of the shifters beyond the grizzly. Not that both groups can’t get damn riled up, they can, and both are handy in a fight, but they tend to do better with the gigs where a lot of human tourists are around. Some of us don’t have the same patience.”

  “That’s interesting. I still can’t get over it. I never would have dreamed there were such things as shifters. I thought I was the oddity in life. I always believed that I was the only one who was different in this world.” She leaned back in the chair she had settled into and watched him as he ate. “And you are the mechanic. Do you have a pack? Is that what it’s called for bears? I can never remember the groupings.”

  “We just call them packs, but a grouping of bears is known as a sleuth. I do have a pack. Some of them work for the shop with me. The old alpha actually owned the place, and when he passed his mate asked me to step up to run it. She’s still the owner but never comes in, leaves everything to me, and I send her the check each quarter for her part of the business.” He threw a look at his watch and cursed. “Shit, I better get going or I’m going to miss the exciting parts of listening to the minutes from our last meeting. Make yourself at home, poke around, grab a nap, whatever you feel like doing. It should only take a couple hours, three at most, and then I’ll be back.”