A Very Alpha Christmas

by Anthology

Blix followed the direction of his finger. Sure enough, her go-bag was sitting on the porch, not far from where they stood. “Yes, but I didn’t bring it. It was ready for when I needed it.”

  “What would you need it for? Were you going somewhere?”

  “I was planning to leave home and come find you.” She didn’t know where the admission had come from, but she wasn’t interested in recanting it. Everything she’d said was true and no matter what Rand thought, they were both going to have to live with the consequences of her words.

  “Well, let’s get you inside and see if we can’t figure it out.

  “Yeah, I’d like that. Oh, and Rand?”

  “What?”

  “Girlfriend?”

  “I guess we should talk about that, too. Come on inside.”

  Blix nodded and followed Rand through the front door. A fire burned in the fireplace to the far end of the room. It was sparsely furnished with only an armchair and a couch in front of the fire and a bed along the back wall. She tried not to stare at it, tried not to imagine being naked with Rand in it, but she failed miserably.

  She couldn’t deny she wanted him and if he showed even the slightest bit of interest, the slightest hint of being serious about the girlfriend comment, Blix knew she wouldn’t hesitate.

  As Rand helped Bernie bring in a large tree, she peered into the kitchen. “What happened in here?”

  “I was trying to make hot chocolate.”

  “Looks more like a bomb went off,” she said.

  “I have several talents, but apparently making hot chocolate isn’t one of them.”

  Blix couldn’t disagree. She couldn’t believe she was standing there either, watching Rand set up a tree. The scent of pine filled the interior of the cabin.

  He was dressed in jeans and a plaid shirt. He looked like he belonged there. Did a couple of days outside the North Pole really change him that much? Or was this the real Rand and no one ever realized it?

  He was still beautiful to her. Now there was a rugged element to him, a shadow of growth around his jaw and his hair was disheveled.

  She surveyed the damage that was the kitchen and spied the basket she’d filled with cookies for him. It was empty. She’d put a dozen double magic cookies in it. Was that…?

  She started gathering the pots and measuring cups and set them in the sink, then wiped the counters down as best she could. There was cocoa and sugar everywhere.

  She put the milk back in the refrigerator, but not before she poured some in a pot she was able to dig out from the back of the cabinet.

  “You don’t have to do that.” Rand spoke from where he leaned against the edge of the counter.

  “I know, but how else are you going to get hot chocolate?”

  “I meant cleaning.”

  “I like a clean kitchen.” She measured out cocoa, sugar, and added a pinch of salt, whisked them together, then into the pot of steaming milk. “Where’s Bernie?”

  “He left.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize. I hope he didn’t think me rude.”

  “I’m sure he didn’t. You know, I don’t think we’ve ever been alone like this.”

  “No, I don’t believe we ever have. Did you eat all the cookies at once?” He blushed and ducked his head.

  “No. About four when I returned from buying the tree earlier. Worked up an appetite. Why?”

  “Because I think that’s why I’m here.” She poured the cocoa into a mug and handed it over to Rand.

  “What does my eating the cookies have to do with you showing up out of nowhere? Was I not supposed to eat them?”

  “No, of course you were.” She faced him. It was now or never. “I doubled the magic in the recipe. I didn’t know what it would do to you. I mean, I hoped it would help you find your way again, be happy, see the good in people, see the good in the world. I hoped it would make you believe again, see the miracle that the season really is.”

  “I don’t know if they did that, but maybe they are what brought you here.”

  “I don’t understand how, though.”

  “Could be because I wished for you.”

  “Me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  Rand smiled. “Maybe now would be a good time to talk about the girlfriend comment.” Blix glanced at the floor and didn’t look up until Rand’s boots entered her line of vision.

  “You don’t have to say anything.”

  “I think I do and I think you have things to say to me, too.” He tilted her head up and after a brief moment of hesitation, she lifted her gaze. His touch was warm on her skin and stood still, barely breathing. His fingers traced the line of her ears, rubbing the tip where it was most sensitive, where the most sensation would be felt.

  She leaned into his palm.

  She’d waited a long time, wished for a long time for him to touch her, for him to see her, acknowledge her. Had she facilitated this? Had she forced this? Had her wishes somehow gotten twisted up with what she was trying to do in the first place?

  Had she poured her wishes into the cookies instead of leaving the wishes up to fate the way she always did with the batches she made?

  “I’ve wanted you for a long time, little elf,” he whispered. “I saw you years ago and the first thing I remember thinking was that I wanted to marry you. I wanted to see your smile every day.”

  “You’ve always been the player, Rand. Never serious about anyone.”

  “You’re right. I wasn’t serious about anyone, but it could be that I was serious about wanting you and didn’t know how to tell you. Until now.”

  She didn’t want to leave. Ever. She didn’t know if she’d be allowed to go back home, but she didn’t want to leave him, didn’t want to lose this moment, didn’t want it to end.

  His lips touched hers and she was lost. He lifted her off the ground and spun her until she was seated on the counter.

  He tasted of the chocolate she’d made him, of the fresh air, of the pine of the tree he had yet to decorate. His arms were solid and warm and she twined hers around his neck.

  It was the kiss she’d waited hundreds of years for. It was the kiss from the shifter of her elfish dreams.

  Tongues twisted. Lips crushed.

  She wanted to memorize everything about him.

  “You’re North Pole royalty, Rand,” she whispered. “I’m just a baker.”

  “You’re more than just a baker, Blix.” He kissed the tip of her nose and lifted her off the counter. “Damn, Blix, did you ever think that I didn’t want to be who I was? That I didn’t want to be everything to the world, but the world to just one person?”

  She didn’t know what to say to that. He had feelings for her and she was still processing them.

  “Now, how about let’s decorate a Christmas tree?”

  6

  Rand wrapped the fake popcorn strand around the top of the tree. Next year, he’d have a real popcorn strand. He’d have to learn how to make it, first. If Blix were around, maybe she could help him with that.

  He’d been so surprised to find her on the porch. He’d heard Bernie’s truck and opened the door, and there had been his elf, looking uncertain and confused and more beautiful than he remembered.

  Her sparkly green dress, bare feet… He didn’t understand how she came to be there. He didn’t know if she was going to be taken away from him either. He would make the most of the time they had.

  And the kiss? Looking down at her as she hung ornaments on the lower half of the tree, he wanted to kiss her again. Over and over. He wanted to take her to bed, to keep her there. He wanted to wake up beside her on Christmas morning.

  “Have you shifted since you’ve been here?”

  “Yes. The very next day.”

  “Are there others? Like you? Reindeer shifters?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t come across any other animals yet. But, it’s peaceful here. Even the small town. It’s quiet. It’s picturesque.”

  “
Tell me about it?”

  “It’s not very big. A few restaurants, a general store, a mercantile, a couple of places to stay. I would like to explore it more. I’m curious.”

  “Take me with you.”

  Rand grinned. “I’d love to.” He took a couple of steps backward and pulled her with him, to survey their decorating job. “Even without lights, it looks great.” Cinnamon sticks tied together with ribbon. Pine cones hung with twine. Popcorn strands, cranberry garlands. “I have some oranges in a crate and Heidi threw some cloves in.”

  She glanced up and over her shoulder at him. “Heidi?”

  “She works in the general store. Jealous?”

  “No. Look, Rand… I…” She stopped speaking, let her words trail off, and turned to face him. “I think I’m in love with you. I don’t know how it’s possible, but I think I am.”

  He was thrilled with the change in topic. He’d been trying to figure out how to approach the tension floating between them. It appeared she had, too. “Does it scare you?”

  “A little.” She shook her head. “No, that’s not true. It scares me a lot. You’re different here in this cabin and away from the North Pole, I don’t know who I am or who I would be.”

  “What are you saying, Blix?”

  “I want one night. With you. If you’ll have me.”

  Rand couldn’t believe his ears and his reindeer didn’t want to be reined in any longer. He wanted to mate. “One night? Really? That’s all?” He lifted her off her feet as he had earlier and walked with her over to the bed.

  “You sure about this?”

  Blix nodded. “I am.”

  “Then, little elf, your wish will come true.”

  He settled her into the mattress and slid down on top of her, his hands gripping the sides of her head gently, his lips trailing along her cheeks, her jaw, until he finally captured hers. The kiss in the kitchen hadn’t been enough to scratch the surface of his desire for her.

  Tonight was a dream and one he didn’t want to wake up from.

  He let go of her hair and ghosted his hands down her sides to the edges of her dress. The sparkles matched her eyes, as they always did and Blix lifted up, allowing him to ease the dress over her thighs.

  Her skin was warm where he touched and her muscles trembled beneath his palms.

  The more he revealed of her lush body, the more he wanted her. It wasn’t going to be easy to take it slow, to savor her the way she deserved this first time.

  He buried his face in her neck, inhaled her sweet scent, then sat back on his haunches and pulled her up, just enough that he could get her dress off over her head. Beneath it, she wore black lace. “Wow.”

  “Good wow?”

  “The very best wow,” he whispered, then devoured her mouth while lowering her back to the bed. Her legs parted and cradled his hips between them. Given their height difference, one might think things would be disproportionate and uncomfortable, but he fit her and she fit him. “I’ve wanted to have you like this for a very long time, but especially since that day at the bakery. You fell into me and I didn’t want to let go.”

  “I didn’t want you to let go, either.”

  “How about I don’t let go this time?”

  “How about you don’t?” She lifted her head and gave him a hard, smacking kiss.

  Rand smiled and trailed his lips down her chin, over her jaw. He filed away every gasp, every breath. Her skin tasted of vanilla and cinnamon everywhere he tasted her.

  Using his teeth, he lowered the cups of her bra, taking a moment to delight in the vision of her bared to his gaze. He made a mental note of each goosebump, of the way her nipples pebbled when he blew cool air across them, of the way her belly quivered beneath his fingers.

  He worked her panties from her hips and thighs and chuckled when she kicked them off to some unknown part of the room. “Feisty elf.”

  “Eager.”

  “Then let’s not keep you waiting any longer, but damn, Blix… You’re beautiful. Sexy. And when you blush? It stains your entire body and highlights the sparkles in your cheeks and brightens your eyes.” She blushed deeper, just the way he’d intended. It turned him on. More than he was prepared for. Knowing he had that kind of effect on her? It blew his mind.

  Once more on his haunches, Rand divested himself of his shirt, after unbuttoning a couple of the top buttons enough that he could pull it over his head.

  “Wow,” Blix gasped, reaching out to run her hands down his chest.

  “Good wow or bad wow?” He managed to get the words out even though his throat seemed constricted when she was barely touching him.

  “Such a good wow. I never imagined I’d have the chance to be with you. Dreamed it, yes, but was never sure it would happen.”

  He unfastened his jeans and shoved them down his hips to his knees until he could force them the rest of the way off. Then, he was on her, skin to skin, nothing between them.

  The heat between her legs made him groan and if he could’ve gotten harder… God, but she was perfect. Pale skin, dark hair, glittering eyes.

  She wrapped herself around him and coaxed him closer, inch by inch. His cock touched the wetness of her sex and he was lost. “Blix.”

  It was all he said. It was all he could say.

  He once again held her head between his hands and kissed her.

  He slid deep in a single dive.

  Eyes locked until he was all the way inside, then the breath they both had been holding, let loose.

  Blix moaned and wiggled beneath him, adjusting to his size. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’m sorry. I should’ve gone slower, been more gentle.”

  “No you shouldn’t have. I didn’t want slow or gentle. I’d have said so if I did.”

  “Mmm. Then, if not that, what do you want?”

  “You to take me like you won’t let go. Devour me like you seemed to devour the cookies I made for you.”

  “Damn, little elf.”

  “Make me tingle, Rand.”

  “Always, Blix.” He lifted, pulled out of her, then drove back inside her, harder, quicker, stealing her breath. “Always.”

  He held her, with gazes locked. He wouldn’t let her look away and didn’t want her to close her eyes. He wanted to see her expressions. He wanted to see what he did to her reflected back at him. He wanted to know that she felt everything he did, and more.

  She was tight and hot and gripped him as though she’d never let go. She urged him on with the lift and buck of her hips into him. Her short fingernails dug into his shoulders and down his arms.

  She scratched him. She’d marked him.

  It was enough to make him groan. She was as spicy as the cinnamon she used in her cookies.

  Now that he had her in his bed, he wouldn’t be able to let her go. She was the mate for him, the elf for him.

  Her breasts pressed into his chest and her nipples teased. She pushed up into him every time he pulled back from her, in a give and take, until she started pushing harder. Her breath became shallow, harsh, and she began to strain against him, tensing, then letting go.

  “Blix?”

  “Please, Rand.”

  He lowered an arm and wrapped it under her hips, lifting her, catching her clit with the ridge of his cock each time he thrust.

  “Oh yes, right there, Rand.” She cried out moments, seconds later. Her gasps turned into whimpers and then she was coming, her inner muscles fluttering along his cock. She seized under him, then rode him with each move he made.

  He rocked against her body, a pistoning motion that drove him to take her harder.

  She tightened her thighs, raising them as high up his sides as she could, giving him a deeper angle with which enter her and bottom out.

  His balls pulled up tight against his body and the sensations started to flow. Harder. Faster. Until the dam broke and his orgasm took him over the edge.

  He panted and they held each other until his breathing slowed. He kissed her tenderly and when h
e made to let go and shift his body off of hers, she only held him more fiercely.

  “You asked for one night, Blix.”

  “Yes.”

  “I think there are going to be a lot more one nights.” He took a deep breath and exhaled hard, feeling lighter and at ease. “I’m glad you’re here and as soon as I recover, I’m going to show you again just how much.”

  7

  “Rand.” The old man greeted him. The word was stiff, forced. But movement behind Rand made the old man smile. “Miss Silverberry.”

  “Kringle,” Rand said around the candy cane lodged in his mouth, calling Father Christmas’ attention back to him.

  Golden eyes refocused on him. “I hate when you call me that.”

  “And I hate that you sent me into the middle of nowhere. We’re even.”

  “I hardly think this is a competition.”

  Rand took a deep breath, the peppermint clearing his head. Like it or not, the old man was right. It wasn’t. Being with Blix here these last few weeks had been wonderful, easy, and strangely more real than any other part of his life had been up to the point he’d been sent away. Seeing their visitor on the front porch brought everything back, even the old hot head attitude. “What are you doing here?” he asked evenly, his voice almost cordial. “It’s Christmas Eve, isn’t it? You’ve got a million things to do and not one of them includes a visit to your only son.”

  “Actually, it does include you.”

  “How? Have you come to scold me like a child?”

  “If you continue acting like one, yes. Rand, please…” His father seemed at a loss for words.

  Rand narrowed his gaze. “Mother’s mad at you, isn’t she?”

  “Like you wouldn’t believe. But she knows you’re all right. She knows you’re not alone. Look, son, I couldn’t show you special treatment.”

  “You didn’t show me anything. No consideration. I had one doubt. One. In all the years I’ve been alive.” His father gave him a skeptical look. “Okay, fine. More than one. But it was the only one I ever voiced. You can’t tell me you haven’t done the same. There are small pockets of humanity that are good, I agree with that. Humanity at large, though? They’re greedy. No one is happy with even the smallest gift, the smallest gesture.”