“You know, there’s this big burn mark on my floor, in the corner,” said Avery, giving Krampus the stink eye. “You can’t miss it — it looks like a demon made the mark. Put the tree on top of that, so the good folks of this town don’t have to stare at that demonic mark.”
“Miss,” said Cain, bowing his head to Avery.
“Oh, stop, nobody has called me ‘Miss’ in a century,” said Avery. “It’s a big one this year, isn’t it, Krampus? You did good.”
“What is it?” asked Candy.
“Go help him set it up and you can find out,” said Avery. “Krampus and I have much to discuss in the kitchen.”
Cain nodded at Candy. Candy made herself make eye contact with the big man in front of her. She was from a male-dominated tech center of the world. She was used to dealing with Type A personalities, alpha males, and heck, even twenty-something tech billionaire regulars who insisted her gluten-free avocado toast wasn’t really gluten-free. She wasn’t used to dealing with men who had primal energy about them, men who were big, strapped with muscles, and looked like they wanted to eat her up.
“I assume that Avery wants this set up in the main eating area,” said Candy. “Come on. Let’s go through the front door, rather than the back door. There are double doors in the front, and from the looks of that tree, we’ll need’m.”
“So, Candy, what did you do to get sent up North this Christmas season?” asked Cain as they walked around the building.
“Well, I’m from San Francisco, born and raised, but had never experienced a white Christmas,” explained Candy. “When I heard that the Bear Claw Bakery was looking for workers to do some temp work in Montana, I…I…”
Candy had been talking to Cain just fine. He had a voice as deep and rich as a cup of Christmas tea with extra honey. When Candy turned to face Cain as they reached the front doors, her verbal capabilities vanished into thin air. Cain had been holding a giant package in front of his body as he’d walked up from the dock to the patio. Now, there was a different package on display — a trouser snake, right in the lumberjack’s jeans. He was shirtless too, covered with a sheen of sweat, melted snowflakes, and icy lake water.
“You jumped at the chance to take a free vacation,” said Cain, finishing Candy’s sentence. “I get it. I’ve done the same thing. You know why I was on all those pirate themed historical romances last year? I was offered one Hell of a trip to Hawaii.”
As soon as Cain cursed, the mark on his shoulder burned. He’d forgotten it would punish him for bad behavior. He slapped his free hand up to his shoulder.
“What was that?” asked Candy.
“Uh, mosquito,” lied Cain, causing his mark to burn again.
“Uh-huh,” said Candy, crossing her arms. “In this weather?”
“Darndest thing, isn’t it?” asked Cain, looking over Candy. She was sassy. She wasn’t the typical fangirl that let him get away with being a bad boy. She was calling him out on his bullshizz – and she knew who the fuck he was and wasn’t afraid to rightfully insinuate he was a liar.
She was also curvy as Hell.
There’s an order to this, warned Vixen.
Look at her, said Cain. She has to be the one. She’s sassy. She’s curvy. She’s hot. She’s got the curves I deserve.
If you deserve those curves, where’s your mate mark? asked Vixen.
Candy looked at the spot Cain had slapped. It was the red spot she’d spied from the patio.
“Is that…” started Candy.
“No, it’s not,” insisted Cain.
“You’ve already lied about getting bitten by a mosquito. Maybe you’re lying about that not being your mate mark too,” said Candy. “‘Naughty,’ huh? You really hit the lottery with that one. I’ve never seen it on any of your covers.”
“A lot of airbrushing happens behind the scenes,” said Cain. It was technically true, so his mark didn’t burn.
“Alright, alright,” said Candy, opening one of the double doors for Cain. Cain opened the other double door and walked into the warmth of Bear Claw Bakery. He’d been to a few of their locations before, but he’d never been a regular customer. This location was like the ones he’d been to — cozy, comfortable, with a considerable pastry counter and a modest beverage menu.
“Where do you want it?” Cain asked Candy, brushing up behind her because there wasn’t much room for a large shifter, a Christmas tree, and a BBW in the entrance of the cafe.
A chill went down Candy’s spine. Had Cain just asked her where she wanted ‘it’? Cain was a dreamboat, a dreamboat who’d come over to her bakery in a rowboat, from an island he was basically banished to for bad behavior, but a dreamboat nonetheless. She’d seen his body on covers of books in the grocery checkout line, but in person, well…he was hotter than she could’ve imagined. Heck, she could just imagine his thick, strapping arms wrapped around her body, rather than the Christmas tree.
Again, it took Candy willpower to not answer, “Wherever you’ll put it.”
She’d learned things from romance novels, after all.
Shifters had marks on their chests, given to them by Fate, that would lead them to their fated mates — their true loves.
Candy had imagined herself as the heroine in those stories each and every time she read a spicy scene, and often times, Cain had been the man in those scenes. It was surreal to be face to face with the man she’d had those sorts of Naughty thoughts about before.
Maybe that was the reason his mate mark said ‘Naughty.’ After all, most toys found under the tree come Christmas Day came with warning labels, like ‘choking hazard,’ but Cain’s warning label…well, that was the kind of warning label she’d expect to see on Christmas Day, but, not on a toy. She’d find it on a power tool, in the garage — but not just any power tool.
She’d find it on a big, fat drill.
“Where do you want the tree, Candy?” asked Cain.
Candy snapped out of her dream. Of course, Cain had been talking about the tree. How could she have been so silly?
“Oh, uh…I think in the corner,” said Candy. “There’s a Christmas tree stand over there.”
“Smart woman,” said Cain, following Candy to the corner.
“Wish I was a lucky woman, like Avery,” said Candy, checking underneath the stand to make sure that it was on top of the big stain described by Avery — and it was. “I’m kinda jealous she managed to get Krampus to bring her a big tree like that. I wish I had one at my place. I love Christmas trees. I love’m tall, small, wide, thin, bushy, heck, even prickly and curved to one side. I even like them out in the wild, uncut.”
Candy cleared out light chairs and tables. She’d deal with rearranging furniture later. Cain opened the Christmas tree bag and grabbed the tree.
“Hey, Candy, you mind helping me get the trunk in the hole?” asked Cain.
“The what in the…oh, right,” said Candy, getting on her knees to help slide the Christmas tree’s base into the top of the Christmas tree stand. “Here. I’ll screw it in when it’s in. It looks like the stand’s already wet, real wet. I guess Avery put some water in here earlier. The hole’s pretty wide, so I think that thick tree should fit in. I know we’ll have to screw the trunk in, screw it in tight, so it can barely move an inch.”
“That’s right, give it a good, hard screw,” said Cain. “You want to take as much of the tree’s length into that hole as you can. Start with the tip. Be gentle. You don’t want to break the tip or any other part of the shaft. I made sure to ‘shave’ the base, make it easier to take its whole length in, but if it’s too prickly, be careful. Wouldn’t want that thick, prickly shaft to hurt you.”
“Well, not all the way,” said Candy. “Got to leave the last inch or two clear.”
“That’s right,” said Cain. “Is it in? I’m trying to get it in.”
“It’s in,” said Candy. “Don’t let go of the trunk yet. I still need to screw it in, hard.”
“Got it?” asked Cain, looking down at
Candy. The woman was working hard to get the tree in the tree stand, but, from his angle, he could see her cleavage. He could tell what color plus-size bra she was wearing. He could tell what color lace was on the outside and what color satin lined the dang thing. He tried to look away, but, her boobs were in the line of sight of the tip of the tree trunk.
“No, so stop moving it back and forth, or I’m going to get a face full of sap,” said Candy. “I just need to keep a tight grip on it. Ahh…fuck.”
“You got it?” asked Cain. “That hole feels tight, real tight.”
“Almost,” said Candy. “It’s almost there…oh, fuck!”
“What?” asked Cain.
“I pinched my finger,” said Candy. “Fuck, I’m so close. It’s just so hard, you know?”
“Oh, yeah,” said Cain, who had read the innuendoes in what Candy had said. Apparently, Candy wanted him as badly as he wanted her. Why else would she be using dirty talk to talk about putting a frikkin’ Christmas tree in a tree stand?
“Okay, one, two, and…we got it,” said Candy. “Whew. I thought we’d never get there.”
“Cain!” called a voice from the back of the bakery.
“Thanks for the help, Candy,” said Cain. “I really owe you one.”
As Cain walked away, Candy wondered just what Cain could ‘owe’ her. He was a bad boy, sure, but could he be like that sugar cookie dough she’d been rolling out before? Could he still be turned into something sweet, just in time for Christmas?
About the Author
I’m Sable Sylvan. The only thing I love more than reading hot paranormal romances is writing down my fantasies and sharing them with readers like you.
Catalog: www.amazon.com/author/SableSylvan All my books are available for FREE under the Kindle Unlimited borrowing program. I appreciate all reviews — positive or negative!
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xoxo,
Bear-y Spicy Fairy Tales:
A Small Town Menage Series
Goldilocks And The Three Bear Shifters
Little Red Riding Bears
Three Grizzlies Gruff
The Shifter Princes:
A Fairy Tale Billionaire Series
Shifterella And The Billionaire Bear
Beauty And The Billionaire Bear
Sleeping BBW And The Billionaire Bear
Rapunzel And The Billionaire Bear
Seattle’s Billionaire Bears:
A Fairy Tale Billionaire Series
Rumpled Bear Skin
Blue Bear
The Bear Prince
The Little Bear Maid
The Twelve Dancing Bears:
A Male Entertainer Menage Series
Grizzly Bear Buns
Polar Bear Buns
Black Bear Buns
Cinnamon Bear Buns
Panda Bear Buns
Koala Bear Buns
The Feminine Mesquite:
A Fairy Tale Billionaire Series…
featuring BBWs + BBQ + BDSM
The Cinderella Cook-Off
Beauty And The BBQ
Spicy Beauty
The Matchstick Grill
Little Red Hot Sauce
Fated Mate Speed Date: A Cowboy Series:
The Cinderella Hoedown
The Rapunzel Rodeo
The Sleeping Beauty Pageant
Beauty And The Bobcats
Little Red Riding Bulls
Three Werewolves Gruff
Bear Buns Denver: A Male Stripper Series:
Mountain Bear Buns
Glacier Bear Buns
Sun Bear Buns
Moon Bear Buns
Spirit Bear Buns
Yeti Bear Buns
The Twelve Mates of Christmas: A Christmas Bad Boys Series
Dasher Claws
Dancer Claws
Prancer Claws
Vixen Claws
Comet Claws
Cupid Claws
Donner Claws
Blitzen Claws
Demon Claws
Daddy Claws
Frosty Claws
Miss Claws
The Twelve Mates of Christmas: The Complete Collection
Find me online:
www.sablesylvan.com
[email protected]
Prancer Claws: The Twelve Mates Of Christmas, Book 3 Page 14
