Pepper laughed. “So, I’m giving you an education.”
“In more ways than one,” he said. “And I don’t just mean about us being mates. The way Dan talks about you, and how you stopped me ripping the head off Krampus, you are a special person.”
“It’s OK, you don’t have to say nice things about me. I’m yours already, remember?” she joked.
“I think that’s what Dan means about you,” Bas said, ignoring her self-deprecation.
“What?” She frowned, knowing what was coming and feeling as if they were ganging up on her. “You mean believing what my dad says about me? He’s right though, he told me I had one job, and I failed.” She looked up and her eyes rested on the old man leading them into the village.
“Hi, Mr. Kramps,” a young boy said to Krampus as they passed him.
“Hi, Jimmy, have a good evening.” Krampus lifted his hand up and waved.
“Would that be so bad?” Bas asked. “Maybe it’s time we all started to be who we really are, not who we think we are.”
“Don’t let your views on my upbringing get mixed up in this. If we don’t get Krampus some more Christmas Magic, then he won’t look like a kindly old grandpa, and the town will hate him for what he is. That might be enough to make him go back to beating children.”
“Are you sure?” Bas asked.
“No, but I do not want to find out, not on my watch.”
Krampus and Dan, who were deep in conversation, reached a small house at the end of a dim street. The front door was painted red, and outside stood a small Christmas tree with pretty lights on it. Krampus opened the door and went inside; Dan followed, as did Bas and Pepper, although they hesitated briefly, a look passing between them that questioned if they could trust the goat-demon.
“I’m not going to say ladies first,” Bas said, entering the house in front of Pepper. She could feel the tension in his body; he was ready to fight.
“Tea?” old man Krampus asked.
“Yes, please,” Dan said, settling on to the comfy sofa.
“Sure,” Pepper said, and then asked Dan, “How much longer do you think Dash should be?”
“I would say an hour at the most,” Dan said, and smiled. “Sit, relax. Soon we’ll be heading home.”
“As if that doesn’t bring its own problems,” Pepper said, looking at Bas, unsure how their relationship was ever going to last. She might be his bonded mate, but their lives, their jobs, were so different, and so far apart. “Where the hell do we fit into this world? You are a lawyer, and one thing I can safely say about Santa’s village, is that there is no crime.”
“We’ll make it work. It’s not as if you have to be there all the time, do you?” Bas asked. “Can’t you have a sleigh and your own supply of magic dust?”
Dan laughed. “You can be the first Pepper Minstix to commute to work.”
“Break with tradition?” she asked, horrified at running that one past her father. “Maybe I should just let him fire me.”
“No chance, we are all looking forward to you being in charge. You don’t get to leave,” Dan said. “Need a hand?” Dan jumped up out of his seat and went to help Krampus, who was bringing in a tray with tea and cookies on.
“Damn bad back,” Mr. Kramps said, as he passed the tray to Dan. “Thank you.”
“So how long have you been living like this?” Bas asked.
“About twenty years. I needed a break. And I like it here, and I like the people.”
“So the part about grinding children’s bones to make your bread was a joke?” Pepper asked.
The old man smiled sadly. “Without this disguise, I’m not sure. The people would hound me out of town. And I’d end up doing something stupid, like a reality TV show.”
Dan nearly sprayed his tea across the room. “Now that is something I would watch. At Home with Krampus.”
“Ahh, you might laugh, but I do miss the days of people seeing the real me. Maybe you failing to bring me the magic dust is a sign I should go back to being the real me.”
“I haven’t failed,” Pepper said.
“Not yet,” Mr. Kramps said with a toothy grin. “But Krampus Night is upon us.”
“Dash will be here,” Pepper said. “And you agreed to giving me more time.”
As if to prove her right, there was a knock at the door. “What, does he have a homing beacon?” Mr. Kramps asked, getting up from his seat.
“We’re telepathically linked,” Dan said with a wink. “Don’t worry, old man, I’ll get it.”
Dan left the room, and went to the front door. The sound of Dash’s voice carried down the hallway and Pepper gave a sigh of relief as he walked into the room, the small pouch in his hand.
“Courtesy of Mrs. Claus,” Dash said, passing the pouch to Pepper.
“Thank you, Dash,” Pepper said, springing up and giving him a hug. Then she turned to old man Kramps. “Here is the last of the gifts. We hope you have a Merry Christmas, and that no children will be beaten. Or eaten.”
Happiness swelled inside her, crushing her father’s voice for once. Bas and Dan were right, she didn’t need it, she shouldn’t let him constantly judge her and make her feel inferior. Parents were supposed to be supportive. Her eyes rested on Bas. When she had children with her mate, she would be the most supportive parent ever. She smiled; she wanted children.
It was clear now, that it was up to her to break more than one family tradition.
Thoughts of making babies with Bas bubbled up and formed a giggle, which erupted like an attack of the hiccups. “Sorry.”
“Care to share what’s on your mind?” Bas asked, taking her hand.
“No. I do not. But maybe once we’ve finished our tea, and said goodbye to Krampus, we can discuss it, while Dan and Dash take us back to the North Pole. You are coming for a visit, aren’t you? I promise to have you back for work on Tuesday.”
“Wait. One. Minute,” Krampus said.
“We aren’t done here.”
“We are.” Pepper’s happiness ebbed away. “We had a deal, we’ve fulfilled our side of it. You have everything.”
“But it was late,” Krampus said. “So there is a forfeit.”
“A forfeit?” Pepper asked. “What kind of forfeit? Because I am not sleeping with you.”
“Where the hell did that come from?” asked Dash.
“You have missed all the gossip,” Dan said to Dash. “What’s your forfeit, Krampus?”
“I want to go and experience Krampus Night.” He winked at Dan, who grinned.
“You two set this up?” Pepper said, remembering how they were talking earlier.
“Come on. One night, we let our hair down, Krampus gets to be Krampus, and then we go back to work tomorrow. No one will begrudge us this.”
“No, we should go back.”
“One night, Pepper.” Bas took her hand, and the promise of what this one night might hold was enough to persuade her.
“I guess I’ve well and truly broken the Pepper Minstix mold,” she said, as she agreed.
Chapter Fifteen – Bas
“Your papa would never have let me do this,” Krampus said. He was sitting in the sleigh, leaning back with his arm outstretched as if he were cruising in a million-pound yacht, not racing through the night sky behind two reindeer.
“If I’m going to get fired, I might as well do it in style,” Pepper said.
“They won’t fire you,” Bas said.
“Want a bet?” she asked.
“You have a lawyer as your mate. I’ll take them to court for unfair dismissal.”
“No one takes Santa to court,” Pepper said. “But thanks for the sentiment.”
“That’s how you’d win. He’d be a no-show,” Bas said.
“Listen,” she said, turning to face him. “No matter what happens, being a Christmas Elf has always been my dream. It may sound stupid, but it’s in my blood.”
“Even if your father is an ass,” Krampus said. The magic contained in the dus
t he had sprinkled on his head had long faded, and he hadn’t used any more to cloak himself in the mantle of an old man. Bas found himself drawn to the creepy face of Krampus. “Want to take a picture?”
“No.” Bas said. “You know I’ve never been to a Krampus parade. Are you going to blend in?”
Krampus laughed. “I’ve watched a couple of these parades on YouTube. And I think I’ll blend in just fine,” he said with relish.
“We’re about to find out,” Pepper said, as the sleigh dipped and they began their descent. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m trying not to freak out, and I’m trying even harder not to puke,” Bas said, and closed his eyes as they shot down towards the ground. Dan and Dasher had said they needed to drop down quickly when they first made their descent, because even though the sleigh was cloaked, they would still form a shadow or a silhouette in front of the moon. They could not risk being seen, so it was important for them to get out of the line of sight as quickly as possible.
“Woohoo,” Krampus yelled, and Bas felt his stomach lurch. “Look at the ground, Bas.”
“He doesn’t need to,” Pepper called to Krampus and took Bas’s hand, holding it tight in her own.
“I’m sorry about what I said about going to court,” he said to Pepper, speaking even though he still had his eyes screwed shut as the wind swept across his face. He gripped her hand tighter.
“That’s OK. I know you mean well,” she said. “And I know you live in a grown-up world, and Santa’s village seems completely farfetched and childish to you. But it is my home.”
“I know. And I’m sure your dad won’t want you fired,” Bas said, squeezing her hand.
“We might have to disagree on that,” Pepper said sadly. “Our family has been keeper of secrets since forever, and he feels as if he broke that tradition when he had me. I’m the first girl to take on the role.”
“Oh, that makes sense, he’s projecting on to you for what he sees as his own failure,” Bas said. “My dad did the same. He’s only half proud of me being a lawyer.”
“Why?” Pepper asked, her voice raised to be heard above the whistling wind.
“He wanted me to follow him into his law firm, and I wanted to blaze my own way. I left our hometown because I didn’t want to come up against him or his firm in court. We kind of agree not to talk about our differences, but it works better if we aren’t in the same room. He blames himself, thinks he’s the failure for me not doing what he wanted me to do.”
“Which is why you don’t go home for Christmas?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“What about your mom? And do you have siblings?” Pepper asked.
“My mom comes to visit sometimes, on the pretense of a shopping trip. And my brother is a lawyer too, and works for my dad, so they get along great. I don’t think they miss me.”
“I’m sure that’s not true,” she said.
“And I’m sure it’s not true your dad is disappointed at having a daughter take over the family business,” Krampus said.
“Were you eavesdropping?” Pepper yelled.
“Eavesdropping? I’d have to cover my ears not to hear you two yelling at each other,” Krampus called above the sound of the wind.
Bas opened his eyes to look at Krampus, willing to stick up for Pepper if he needed to.
“How do you know my dad isn’t disappointed in me?” Pepper asked.
“You forget, I’ve dealt with your father since before you were born, and his father before that. He was proud as anything when you were born. Made me sick each year when he came around telling me how good you were. That was in my darker days, when I would have offered to carry you off in my basket.” He grinned his awful toothy grin. “I actually did mention it to him, once or twice.”
“You actually threatened to take Pepper?” Bas asked, forgetting all about his vertigo.
“I did. I heard through the grapevine that he had been teased about having a girl as his heir. But he told me he loved you and was proud of you.”
“He probably did when I was a baby, but then as I grew up, I became an embarrassment,” Pepper said.
Krampus shuffled closer to Pepper, much to Bas’s distaste. Bas figured that was the whole point, the goat-demon liked to wind people up, to press their buttons. “Do you know who talked me in to going to live in a town and becoming part of a community?”
“No,” Pepper said. Bas could see her breath halt in her chest, and tears prick her eyes. They both knew what was coming. But, Pepper still offered up, “Mrs. Claus.”
Krampus laughed. “I think she was in on the conspiracy, for sure. But it was your father. And do you know why?”
“No.” She shook her head harder, as if willing it not to be true.
“Your papa. He was scared for you.”
“Why?” Pepper asked.
“One year, you snuck into the toy room, or the gift room, one of those rooms where you weren’t allowed and you got caught. You were on the naughty list, and so you were fair game. Pepper came to me and offered me a new deal, a deal that kept you safe from me.” Krampus leaned back in his seat again. “I was tired, I’ve been running this game for some time, and I was ready for a change.”
The sleigh evened out, and they came in to land in a park, with tall trees surrounding the sleigh. Pepper hadn’t even noticed. “You’re lying.”
“Nope. Why would I lie?” Krampus got up. “Party time.”
In the distance, Bas could hear shouting and hollering, they didn’t need to guess where the parade was. “Come on, let’s unhitch Dan and Dash.”
Pepper got up, not looking at Krampus, who had sprung out of the sleigh and was jumping up and down, stretching as if he were about to take part in a race. Wordlessly, she unhitched the reindeer, and they shifted into men.
“OK, let’s go,” Dan said.
“I’m going to wait here,” Pepper said. “Someone needs to watch the sleigh.”
Dash frowned. “Did we miss something? You two haven’t had a lovers’ tiff, have you?”
“No. I’m tired, that’s all. And I won’t be able to enjoy myself if I have to worry about someone stumbling over the sleigh. You go.”
Dan looked across at Bas, who nodded. “I’ll stay with Pepper.”
“Are you sure?” Dash asked.
“I think they might want some alone time,” Dan said.
“Look after him,” Pepper said, indicating Krampus, who was hitching his basket on to his back. “Please don’t let him take any children.”
“I’m a reformed character,” Krampus said, and then ran off across the park. “But I do intend to swat someone with my birch.”
They watched the three of them go, and then Bas slipped his arm around her shoulders and said, “I like the idea of alone time.”
She rested her head on his shoulder. “Me too.”
Chapter Sixteen – Pepper
“Here we go.” Bas climbed back into the sleigh, and passed Pepper a burger and some fries. “Not exactly healthy.”
“Just what I need,” she said, and took the food from Bas. “Today has been weird, even by my standards.”
“The last couple of days have been weird. The last sane thing I did was have a drink with my friends, and draw straws as to who is working over the holidays.”
“And did you win?” she asked, biting into her burger, and realizing she knew nothing about him, other than he was a lawyer, with paternal problems too.”
“Yes. Although at the time I didn’t mind. If I’m working, then it means I’m not expected to go home for Christmas. Although now that I have you, maybe I’ll have to reconsider my mom’s invitation.”
She swallowed her mouthful of food. “We’re going to have to schedule that for the New Year. I will be working every Christmas.”
“Of course you will,” he said, screwing up the wrapper of his burger.
“You don’t mind?” she asked.
“Not as long as we have Christmas in Santa Land.”
She laughed. “I think that can be arranged. As long as you leave your lawyer’s head at the gates.”
“I can do that.” He put his arm around her. “This is more like it. It’s the first time since we met, that it feels normal, as if we could be any man or any woman in the world.”
“Except we are sitting in an invisible sleigh.”
“We are, aren’t we? So this means no one can see us? If we’re sitting in here, no one will see what we are doing?” Bas asked.
“No. The magic will encompass us.”
“Then no one will see if I do this?” He leaned in and kissed her neck, sending shivers through her body.
“Except Dan and Dash, and maybe Krampus, I have no idea what he sees.” She began to talk very fast, her nerves kicking in.
“And they won’t be back for ages,” Bas said as the sound of cheering rose; the parade must have begun.
She sighed. His lips pressed against her neck, stirring sensations in her body she had never experienced before. They didn’t know each other, but she knew she trusted him and wanted to be with him. Would she choose him over her job and her family if her father made her? At this moment, yes, she would. Bas made everything so simple, so easy.
And right now, she wanted to be easy.
His hand slid along the length of her thigh, stroking her through the fabric of her woolen stripy tights. Why the hell did she have to be dressed in an elf costume? It was the furthest from sexy you could get.
Bas didn’t care. His body, his mouth, told her she could be dressed in one of Santa’s sacks and he would still find her attractive, he would still want her. That was enough for her to abandon her inhibitions. She was his mate, they were meant to be together, and he’d been patient. He could have acted on his primal instincts when she couldn’t remember who she was, but he hadn’t.
He was a good man, willing to drag Santa into court if it meant her keeping her job. She giggled, partly because he was kissing her neck, which was ticklish and partly, now she thought about it, because taking Santa to court was one of the funniest things she could ever imagine.
“I’m so glad you are taking this so seriously,” he said.
“I’m sorry. I was just thinking of Santa turning up in court, and you grilling him about firing me.”
Sleighed: BBW Holiday Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Christmas Bears Book 1) Page 7
