Sputtering I managed to say, “You are going to pay for this, mister.”
I wrapped my legs around his waist and prepared to turn the tables on him when he leaned in and kissed me.
My legs fell to the ground and my heart skipped a few beats.
Snow covered my face and I should have been freezing cold, but his warm lips melted the snow and I relaxed my body as my entire body shivered from his touch.
The kiss intensified and the snow melted off my face as I ran my gloved hands through his hair. I wanted to feel his dark brown tresses through my fingers so I pulled off the gloves and ran both hands along his scalp. His hair was wet and soft.
When he moved his lips to my ear I breathed, “Finally.”
He stopped and lifted his head, “What do you mean?” His quizzical expression made me smile.
“I have been waiting for you to kiss me for two weeks. I was starting to wonder if you didn’t enjoy our first kiss.” I wasn’t very experienced with kissing, or boys, so I had considered the possibility he might not have liked our kiss.
“I’ve wanted to kiss you every day since the mistletoe. That’s not true. I’ve wanted to kiss you every day since I first met you. Today is the first time we’ve had more than one minute alone. I was beginning to think you didn’t want me to kiss you and had made sure we were never alone.” He dazzled me with his smile before he leaned down and kissed me again.
Once he lifted his head for a breathe of air I said, “I made sure we were alone today just so you would kiss me.” I reached up and kissed him again.
I wasn’t sure how much time passed but when we finally came up for air and he moved off me, we had a crowd.
Hoots and hollers surrounded us and I was embarrassed. Public displays of affection were never my things. I usually made fun of couples who kissed in public.
“It’s about time!” Darla yelled out.
“I was wondering if we were going to have to get doc to surgically remove your lips!” Someone else yelled.
“When you didn’t come home for dinner, Rock organized a search party for you two. Had we known you were just getting some nooky, we wouldn’t have worried.” Lizzie said as she walked closer to us.
“Oh! Jingle Bells! What time is it?” I had lost all sense of time with Jax.
“After seven. I made your favorite dinner, chicken and dumplings, with extra dumplings.”
“I’m sorry! We just lost track of time.” I stood up and looked around at all of the smiling faces. I was never going to live this down.
Maybe I should go live with Jax at his cave.
Jax jumped up and held his hand out for me. I took it and he helped me up. He handed me my gloves and I realized my fingers weren’t even cold. Even with all of the snow on us I was warm.
“Come on, let’s go back to your house for dinner.” Jax said as he took my hand and ignored all of our friends.
“Aren’t you embarrassed?” I asked him as we entered my house and took off our jackets.
“No, should I be? What we were doing is exactly what everyone wants, and expects. No reason to be embarrassed. Kissing is very natural.” He smiled and kissed the tip of my nose.
“Sure, but all of those people watching us and then clapping and yelling. It was kinda weird, don’t you think?” I didn’t know what it was like for dragons, but most of us when in our human forms didn’t lay around in the snow kissing for all to see.
“I would probably have done the same if it was someone else kissing in the snow. Are you embarrassed we were caught or is it something else? Like me being a dragon?” Jax took a step back and furrowed his brow.
“No, it’s nothing like that. I’ve just never been a fan of PDA and no matter who I was kissing would have been very embarrassed. I’m glad everyone knows about us.” I really was. Even though I wasn’t sure exactly what “we” were, I was happy people knew something was going on between us. Maybe now the girls would stop flirting with Jax right in front of me.
“PDA? What’s that?” He asked with a confused look on his face.
“Public Display of Affection. It’s a human term I learned in college. Lots of PDA to see on a college campus. It got to be a bit too much after four years.” I laughed thinking back to some of the crazier couples who just couldn’t keep their hands to themselves.
“Humans are strange.” He said.
I agreed with him.
“How about we find the leftover soup? I just hope they actually did save us some.” I led Jax into the kitchen where I found my dad filling his bowl full of my favorite dinner.
“Hey dad. How’s the dumplings?” I said before I grabbed two bowls out of the cabinet.
“Finally. Where have you two been? Charlie said you left hours ago.” My dad put his bowl down on the counter next to the stove.
“We went to the park to build a snowman and hang out.” I said not looking at my dad.
“Tell him what else you two did in the park.” Lizzie laughed as she entered the kitchen.
“Lizzie, knock it off! You were worse than me when you first met Palo. Remember? Or should I refresh your memory?” I couldn’t count how many times I walked into the living room catching them making out on the couch. Or in the kitchen when no one else was around.
“We aren’t talking about me. This is about you and Jax.” She wiggled her brows.
“Girls, I just need to know you are safe. I can see that. Maybe next time you decide to have some alone time you can just call home and tell someone?” Dad picked up the spoon and walked over to the kitchen table to enjoy his dinner.
“Fine. Next time I’ll call home and let you know I’m not coming straight home and to NOT send out the wolves.” I was still embarrassed over being discovered in the park with Jax.
My mom walked in to the kitchen and dished herself up a bowl. “I heard where you were today. Does this mean you’ve decided to accept Jax’s proposal?”
I swear my family wanted me to die from embarrassment.
Was she really asking me right in front of Jax if I had decided to mate with him?
I shook my head, “No mother. We haven’t had any time to talk about today. What with a mob cheering us on and you all not giving me even a moment to think about anything.”
If it wasn’t my favorite dinner, I would have gotten up and walked away. My family was so inappropriate.
“How about you and I go for a walk after dinner?” Jax asked me.
“Sure, I’d love to.” I smiled at him before digging back into the biscuit on top of my soup.
“Mr. Kringle…” Jax was interrupted before he could ask his question.
“Please, call me Chris.” My dad smiled at Jax and motioned for him to continue.
“Alright, Chris. Mandy showed me a letter today from a little girl asking for a mommy for Christmas. Did you get many of those letters?” Jax found the one topic everyone would be interested in and changed it so as to keep them from embarrassing me further. He was a keeper.
After dad told us one of his stories we all got up and helped to clean the kitchen. It didn’t take long with all of us helping.
“Where do you want to go?” I asked as I wiped down the table.
“How about Maker’s Rock? I’ll shift and you can ride on my back.” Jax offered.
“Sure, let me get a scarf to hold my hair. Last time it was a rat’s nest after our flight.” I chuckled remembering when we ducked out of Rocks training session.
I went outside to find a dragon with a back pack hanging from his mouth. He dropped it at my feet. “So I have some clothes to change back into once we get there. Do you mind holding it?”
“Not at all. This is a great idea.” I put the pack on my back before climbing onto Jax. I loved flying with him. We hadn’t flown together at night before. I wondered how much I would be able to see while flying in the dark.
I needn’t have worried, the moon was out in full casting a silvery light on everything in its path. I could make out trees and shrubs.
I even caught a deer running away from us.
It didn’t take long to get there on the back of a dragon. We were coming in for a landing before I was ready. It was such a romantic ride. My heart swelled as I realized I did like Jax, both the guy and the dragon. Even my wolf wasn’t scoffing at him anymore. She seemed interested as well.
Once I was off his back I dropped the back pack and watched as he picked it up and went inside the cave.
“I’ll wait out here until you’re dressed. Just holler when you’re decent.” I walked to the side of the entrance. I didn’t to catch an accidental glimpse before he dressed. While nudity wasn’t any big deal in a wolf pack, he wasn’t a wolf or in my pack. He was a guy I was seriously becoming attracted to.
As soon as he entered the cave I heard something overhead. It was as though a bird was flying right over me. A black blur swooped down and picked me up.
I screamed, “Jax!”
Without even seeing the face of the dragon who had me in his taloned grip I knew it was Alexandru. He must have seen us flying and come over here to catch me.
I looked down and saw a fully clothed Jax shift in a blink of an eye and take off after us. Alexandru had a good head head start and I worried Jax wouldn’t be able to catch us.
We continued to climb higher and higher in the sky. The air was getting pretty thin and if he went much higher I would pass out from lack of oxygen.
“Are you trying to kill me? I can hardly breathe this high up!” I screamed to the idiot.
“You evil witch! You’ve ruined everything for me! Jax never even wanted you as his mate! Now I see you two together all the time. It’s sick! You should have already been my mate. I won you fair and square. Now I can’t even get a bear shifter clan to accept me. You’ve ruined my life!” Alexandru screamed as I began to choke due to lack of oxygen.
He lowered down to an elevation I could breathe in. I looked around and noticed Jax getting closer. Then my heart just about stopped. In the distance were at least a dozen dragons heading our way. I was screwed. Once they showed up they would stop Jax from rescuing me.
There was no way I was going to be his prisoner again, or worse. I would rather die fighting him than wait for him to decide he was ready to get rid of me.
I couldn’t stop thinking about what Alexandru was planning. I had beefed up over the past few weeks with all of Rock’s workouts. I knew I could do this. It was stupid and would probably get me killed, but a plan of my own came to mind.
Looking at the underside of the dragon holding me I scanned for his sensitive spot. It was directly above me on the right. I tried to reach it with my fist but it was too far away. My only chance would be my legs.
I lashed out with both feet and held on to his feet. I knew I had hit the right spot when I heard him screech and he released me.
While I was free falling to my death I thought of Jax and his smile. What it was like to fly with him through the sky without worrying about my safety and how I would miss so much with him.
It was strange, I was at peace with my death but wished I had mated with Jax already. Not to keep alexandru away, but because I did love him. I was no longer afraid to love a dragon.
“If I make it out of this alive, I’m going to tell Jax how I feel.” I said into the empty air as I continued my tumble, eyes closed.
Before I could hit the ground I felt talons wrap around my body and I opened my eyes in fear that Alexandru had found me.
When I looked up to the belly of the beast, I noticed threads of silver in the scales along the body.
“Jax!” I yelled out and held on to the talons keeping me from falling into the void.
I couldn’t believe Jax had saved me. Now, we just needed to land inside the protective magical dome of my village so Alexandru couldn’t follow us.
Chapter 21
Mandy
I couldn’t see anything happening around us because I had been on my back while I was freefalling. The only think I could see was the leathery membranes of Jax’s wings, the talons, legs, and the underbelly of the dragon who saved my life. The sky was out of my range of sight.
Jax yelled out, “Mandy, I’m going to drop you in a snow bank. We are inside the dome, but run home as fast as you can. I’ll be back after I make sure Alexandru is captured.”
He dropped me before I could answer. It must have been about a five foot drop. It didn’t hurt. The snow felt like a cold blanket wrapped around me.
I took a few deep breathes and then got up and ran home as instructed.
“Mom! Dad!” I yelled when I ran inside.
“What’s wrong?” Dad asked when he turned the corner into the entry and saw my face.
“Alexandru had captured me but I got away. Jax is now following him and his followers. Can you reach King Erol? Jax is going to need help.” I wondered if Jax could hold his own against all of them long enough for reinforcements to arrive.
“Dragons are patrolling the area. They’ll find the rogues. Let’s go get some hot cocoa and you can tell us all about what happened.” Palo had come into the entry to see what happened.
We all went into the kitchen and by the time I had a cup of hot cocoa in front of me, my entire family were around the table ready to hear my story.
It didn’t take long to tell them what happened.
“So, do you think Jax can handle all thirteen dragons?” I held tightly to my mug while I waited for an answer.
“Yes, he can. But I’m more worried about you and what you did. Why would you try to kill yourself? We rescued you once, we could do it again.” Palo paced the kitchen and rubbed his face with worry.
“I wasn’t trying to kill myself. I knew Jax was close and figured he would be able to catch me. Alexandru had almost killed me already with flying so high. I doubt he wanted to keep me alive for long anyway. You should have heard the way he accused me of ruining his life.” I knew Alexandru no longer wanted me as his mate. He was planning on killing me. Probably very slowly and painfully.
“Still, you shouldn’t have made him drop you like that. I don’t know what you were thinking, but it wasn’t smart. Not at all.” My mom scolded.
“I agree.” Jax stated as he walked into our kitchen.
I jumped up and ran to him. “Jax, I was so worried about you. How’d you get away from Alexandru and his clan? I saw them coming toward us.”
“Those were the dragons sent here to help protect you, not followers of Alexandru.” He pulled me back by my shoulders and looked me over. “Are you alright? That was the stupidest thing I have ever seen anyone do! You almost gave me a heart attack!”
Then his lips crashed against mine. He pulled me tight against his body and my temperature soared as he deepened the kiss.
“Alright, alright. I know you almost lost my daughter, but please. I just ate and don’t feel like getting sick watching you maul her.” Dad said.
I pulled back from Jax and smiled lovingly into his perfect face.
Lizzie said, “Look up.”
I did and realized we had just kissed under the same mistletoe as the first time we kissed.
“It’s the same one?” Jax asked.
“Yes, it is.” I replied.
“Fitting.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because I can’t hold it in any longer. Mandy, I love you and want to spend the rest of your life with you.” Jax tenderly held my head in his hands and lightly kissed my lips.
“I love you, too! I realized it tonight while I was freefalling and knew if I made it out of this I was going to tell you.”
“It’s about time you realized it! We have all known for several weeks now!” Lizzie exclaimed.
Everyone laughed, including Jax and myself.
“Mandy, will you let me love you forever? Will you accept me into your family, and accept my mixed up family as your own? Will you become my mate and make me the happiest being on this great Earth?” Jax’s proposal brought tears to my eyes.
“Yes, oh
yes, Jax!” I reached up and kissed him, not caring that my entire family witnessed his proposal and was watching us kiss, yet again.
Someone came up to us and pulled us apart.
I looked over and was planning on yelling at the person when I realized it was Santa.
“Finally! I know you two just proclaimed your love and agreed to mate, but you’re blocking the entry to the living room. Please take this elsewhere as I am sure we will have your father knocking on my door very soon.” Palo walked between us and went to sit in his overstuffed chair in the living room.
“Ohh! A bonding ceremony! This is going to be so much fun! When do you want to have it? The sooner the better. You know how crazy it gets after Thanksgiving. Oh! That would be a perfect weekend! How about that Saturday we have your ceremony? It should give me enough time to get everything together.” Lizzie was off with her notepad to make a list.
Before I could say anything, the doorbell rang and I looked to Jax. “Your dad?”
“I would bet on it. Before we choose a date, we need to tell him and see if he’s okay with us having it here.” Jax said holding my hand and walking us to answer the door.
“Dad, good to see you. Come on in.” Jax and I stepped aside to welcome his father in.
“Thank the good Lord! I heard you took a fall from a dragon high up, Mandy! What happened?” The king pulled me close to him for a hug.
I had never seen him hug anyone, not even his own son. It was weird.
“I’m fine, Jax saved me. Please come on in. I think we still have some hot cocoa if you’d like a mug?” I was trying to get Erol into the kitchen before my crazy family told him we were having a bonding ceremony here in a couple of weeks.
Once the three of us were sitting at the kitchen table with our hot cocoa, Jax started. “Dad, Mandy has finally agreed to be my mate.” He took my hand in his and kissed it.
“That’s wonderful! I knew you two kids would hit it off. When are we going to have you back with our clan so we can plan a massive ceremony worthy of a prince and his princess?” Erol asked looking from the both of us.
I licked my lips and looked to Jax. Having the ceremony here was really what I wanted. I had no desire to bond with him in front of strangers.
Miss Claus Under The Mistletoe Page 13
