by Ellie Mack
I blinked several times to keep from crying. It was absolutely perfect. I had fallen madly in love with Dmitri after four months. He was charming, kind, and had a great sense of humor. I took a long slow breath as I walked carefully to the door in the newly fallen snow. Blowing out a steady stream of air as I entered, I glanced around but didn’t see him. Tonight he would make it official.
The maître de escorted me to a corner booth that had a single red rose in a vase. I had arrived before Dmitri. I sat nervously scanning the crowd. The waiter brought my wine while I waited. Ten minutes later he arrived with another woman’s hand in his.
“Sonya, I’d like you to meet my fiancée, Claire.”
I stood and nervously extended my hand. His fiancée? He scooted into the booth, staying close to Claire, their fingers laced together. I couldn’t help but stare. Was this his idea of a joke?
Claire was a lovely girl. Physically the opposite of me in every respect: blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin, and a rail thin body. I couldn’t help but compare her to my own dark hair, brown eyes, olive skin, and curvy figure.
Dmitri bragged to me that he had taken my idea of a perfect romantic evening to propose–to Claire. They had just returned from their carriage ride, and he wanted her to meet his work associate who had given him the idea.
I wondered if she knew that the conversation came after a passionate night of lovemaking. Could you even call it that? Apparently, it was just sex to him.
As she beamed and he chatted on, my mind went back over the past year to the date. I looked for any signal that I had missed, but didn’t see one. I was reeling, wanting to scream. At one point, Claire had thrown out that they had been dating for six months.
Claire excused herself to the restroom, and Dmitri patted my hand and said, “Don’t worry babe, you’re still my little bit on the side.”
I was devastated.
After a few seconds, I gathered my wits.
“No. I am nobody’s bit on the side. Thank you for clarifying things for me. Also, thank you for remembering the date, however, it’s in poor taste to ask me to meet you on our anniversary only to find out you’re a two-timing snake. Does Claire have any idea that her ‘darling’,” I put extra emphasis on it the way she had, “proposed to her the way your ‘work associate’ ” using my fingers to quote the phrase, “suggested after fucking your brains out?”
I waited just a couple seconds. “NO? I didn’t think so.”
I gathered my purse and scooted out of the booth. I turned around to face him.
“Congratulations. Thanks for clearing my schedule for me. I certainly hope it doesn’t take Claire as long to see you’re a snake.” I took two steps then turned. “Oh, and don’t bother showing up Monday. You’re fired.”
I heard Claire asking him what I meant by what I had said as I walked out into the snowy night. I managed to get to the car before the tears fell, and they flowed while driving straight to my apartment.
I didn’t see that one coming.
It had been a long trudge through the snow, but Rudolph was determined. It wasn’t enough that the other reindeer laughed him out of the games just because he was a little different with his red nose, even the coach had laughed at him.
He’d show them. Ever since he was a fawn, his father had taught him to be afraid of the abominable. He remembered cowering behind a snowdrift as the great lumbering beast snarled in passing. Now, he didn’t have a choice. The abominable had taken Clarice before he could claim her for his mate.
Do or die, he would rescue Clarice.
Herbie, an elf, and Cornelius, a gold miner, joined him on his trek to find the doe of his dreams. They had traveled many hours of the long night when they reached the mountains where the abominable’s cave glowed in the distance.
Cornelius volunteered to scout the cave in the hopes that it held treasures of gold. He was more than willing to take down the abominable in his pursuits.
Herbie and Rudolph stayed at camp, looking over the rise of a rock outcrop as Cornelius made the trek across the valley and climbed the base of Mt. Dreadful to the cave. When he had reached the cave entrance, he motioned towards them that he was going to investigate.
Slowly, he crept forward, ducking behind a rock, slipping behind a stalactite, until he was no longer in their sight.
All they could do now was sit and wait. Herbie opened his bag, taking out his dental tools. “I can’t wait to get away from Christmastown. Do you think southerners will accept an elf?”
“I don’t know,” Rudolph answered. “We are isolated. I plan to take Clarice beyond the forest and make our way down the coast to make a life in the great black forest. Maybe you could try the village there.”
“That would be a good start.” He tossed the dental pliers in the air, catching the handle on its descent while it flipped closed before he tucked it back in his bag. “We can only try, right?”
A great roar came from inside the cave. They turned to look. Cornelius, mauled and bleeding, crawled towards the edge of the rock to make his descent. A trail of blood remained on the snow-white floor of the cave as he dragged himself toward the rope. He nearly made it.
Rudolph and Herbie’s faces fell, becoming ashen white with the red of the cold stark on their cheeks.
“Now what?” Herbie swallowed hard.
Rudolph’s mind raced with scenarios, all ending badly. He walked toward their camp, head down. He’d known from the beginning this was a do or die mission. “Herbie, I can’t ask you to risk your life for my doe. Head toward the coast. If Clarice and I aren’t there by the full moon, good luck, and I hope you find your dream.”
“Nonsense. You’re the only friend I have. I’m sticking with you, no matter what.” He tucked his tool bag over his shoulder and climbed on Rudolph’s back. “Let’s go.”
They raced across the valley, slowing only when he reached the outcrops on the ascent of the mountain. Rudolph’s hind feet found their footing easily on the rocky terrain. Positioning himself on the final leap upward to an outcrop on the upper right of the cave, he could see within to what was going on.
There were at least twenty abominables in there along with several reindeer, elves, and wolves. Rudolph closed his eyes, tuning into the rumbles within the cave. His mother had taught him how to listen to the other creatures’ languages.
After a few minutes, his eyes flew open with horror. “They are going to destroy Christmastown! When they bite their victims, they become abominable like them. Look at Dougal.”
Herbie spotted the reindeer that Rudolph pointed out. His eyes were black as coal, like bottomless pits. His fur was dull and matted. Dried blood on his throat and signs of decay around his mouth and eyes.
“He looks like walking death,” Herbie spoke in quiet horror.
“Exactly. They all do.” Rudolph spied Clarice. His heart sank. They could walk away now knowing that his mission was futile, or he could make a last stand to save his folks and the rest of Christmas town that had shunned and laughed him out of the games.
His mother’s kind-heartedness pierced his conscious, and he couldn’t walk away.
“Are you still with me? I don’t know if we can beat them, but if I don’t at least try, I would hate myself forever.”
“What have I got to lose? At least I know we are doing something good.”
“Okay, friend. We will wait until they exit the cave and pick them off one by one from the rear, taking out as many as we can. Let’s hope this works. When we get to Clarice, I can’t do it.”
Herbie held onto his scalpel in his right hand, his left hand clutching the base of Rudolph’s antlers. “These have grown to be a magnificent rack Rudy, shame Clarice wasn’t able to see you now.”
Rudolph nodded his head in a sad agreement.
The horde of abominables began to exit the cave, leaping down from the entrance, some helping their turned army. Once they were all on solid footing on the valley floor, Rudolph and Herbie began their attack. Rudolph
skewered the rear abominable with his antlers, easily tossing the massive beast over his head. Amazingly, for their size, they were rather light. When its body hit the ground, it shattered into a thousand pieces. Rudolph stared at it in surprise, and it finally registered in his brain that his antlers were a formidable weapon against abominables. Why didn’t his father or the others ever know this?
With renewed hope, Rudolph attacked with fervor. One after another, the abominables fell until there were only three remaining. They were near his home.
His mother darted in front of one of the abominables to escape. As it grabbed his mom, Rudolph ran forward screaming, “NOOOOOOOO!” His mom fell from the grasp of the beast as it shattered.
He lay beside her crumpled body as she struggled to take her last breaths. His hot tears fell on her, his heart shattering just as the abominable had.
Behind him, Herbie fought off the abominables, slashing at them with his scalpel. He was able to bring them down, but not before one of them got his leg. He dragged himself towards Rudy, hoping his friend would kill him before he became part of the undead horror.
Rudolph rose, sniffling away the last of his tears just as something grabbed his leg. Looking down, Cornelius, or what was left of him, was biting his leg.
At least he had tried.
The history books recorded that the tragic Christmas slaughter was conducted by one crazed reindeer, Rudolph the Red.
About Ellie Mack
Contemporary romance author, Ellie Mack, is a former columnist outside of St. Louis, Missouri where she resides with her husband and daughters. Her works have earned her nominations in the Indie community for best debut romance and best ugly cry in 2017. Recently, she has “dipped her quill” into the realm of Norse mythology with her title The Awakening.
As a breast cancer survivor, Ellie encourages others with the diagnosis to keep fighting and to always have hope.
“If there’s life, there is hope.” -Stephen Hawking
Ellie has also won both the Liebster and Wordpress blog awards for her blog Quotidiandose.wordpress.com.
When she’s not working on her next book, Ellie enjoys journaling, crocheting, and practicing her skills in the kitchen.
“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” -Vivian Greene
You can follow Ellie at:
My blog- https://quotidiandose.wordpress.com
Other Books by Ellie Mack:
Red Wine & Roses
Quotidiandose: 30 Days of Sass
Roxy Sings the Blues
Tempting Fate: Charity anthology
The Awakening: Book 1 of the Valkyrie’s Curse series
Nic Collins hung her head and huffed out another irritated sigh. She hated Christmas lights. And right about now, she hated her house and the gutter and the light clips and the ladder she stood on. She also hated the neighbor who had called out a greeting to her—oh yeah, he’d sounded a little amused and a lot smug—and then she swallowed down a prickly, niggling little jolt of hatred for Hailey Gerritsen. The very same Hailey Gerritsen that the rest of the world loved.
Okay, maybe not the whole world, but pretty much everyone in Nic’s world. And maybe hatred was a bit strong, but also pretty darn close at the moment. After all, it was Hailey’s fault that Nic was all but hanging from her gutter, stringing up the damned icicle lights that were at least a few years out of style.
“Nic?”
Damn. And let’s not forget the part about Scott Walton standing at the foot of her ladder, holding it steady for her. She almost jumped, because that last wave of frustration with Hailey had trumped everything else, making her forget that Scott was here. To help her.
She rolled her eyes and groaned quietly as she lifted her chin.
“Hmm?” She didn’t trust herself to speak.
“You okay up there?”
Why was Scott here? Well, yeah, he was helping her put up her Christmas stuff. Nic got that much. Hailey had probably sent him over, but Nic had told him she was fine. She didn’t need help. He could go. He hadn’t, though. He hadn’t left, and he was helping, and he’d offered at least seven times now to do this part, to climb the ladder and hang the lights.
“Yep.”
“You sure you don’t want me—?”
Eight.
She dropped her head back to hang between her shoulder blades. Her hands hurt from the cold.
“I’m fine, Scott,” she mumbled.
“Can I make a suggestion?”
Nic flexed her fingers as she turned slowly on the ladder and shot him a look that said I’m all ears. But she bit her tongue when she met his cobalt blue gaze. How could one guy be that cute and nice?
Scott Walton was dreamy. Nic had noticed that three years ago when he’d been new on the crew and Hailey had introduced him to Nic and the rest of the gang. He was tall and a little lanky, but not in a bad way. His long legs weren’t awkward so much as lean and sexy—not that Nic had ever looked. Much. He had wide shoulders and a tapered chest, and Nic had noticed his butt. What female on the planet wouldn’t notice Scott Walton’s butt?
Best of all? He was nice. No false advertising in his friendly smile. He was mild-mannered, handled himself professionally, but he was fun too. Plus, he always had time to help anyone out, which Nic supposed was why he had shown up here earlier.
She nodded slowly. As the producer on set, Nic was used to doling out orders and taking charge. The crew had been together for five years, and Nic rarely had to flex her bossy muscles, but she could and did now and then.
Not with Scott, though. Nope.
“Sure.” She arched her eyebrows and waited for him to suggest she get down and let him finish the lights for her. She wouldn’t. She’d thank him and go back to wondering why the damn lights weren’t working, and he’d go back to watching her, either until they were finished or until one of them froze.
Doubtful. It was just cold enough to be miserable, but certainly not freezing.
“C’mere.” He reached for her hand.
Well. This was new. She squeezed her hand into a fist again before backing herself down the ladder, stopping on the first rung so that she stood almost eye to eye with him.
“What if…” He took her hand, even though she’d just moved down to look at him. “We…scrapped these lights and went to get new ones.”
They’d worked together for three years. They were work friends. Period. She blinked at her fingers encircled in his big warm hand. Warm? How was his hand warm?
“New ones?” She cleared her throat and looked up to find those blue eyes searching her face intently. He nodded, but rather than speak, he stepped toward her, into the bushes where she’d had to wedge the ladder. His eyes never left her face, so Nic was careful not to shift her gaze, though she wondered what he was doing. Why was he getting so close?
“New lights,” he repeated. When he squeezed her fingers, she nodded.
New lights. Of course. Why hadn’t she thought of that?
But he didn’t step back, didn’t look away. Instead, he leaned further into her. Nic caught her breath when she felt him touch her cheek with his free hand. He stroked his thumb over her lower lip and dropped his gaze there when she gasped in surprise again.
He was—what the—oh—he was going to kiss her. Yep. He had that look. That intense stare that guys in the movies get just before they kiss the girl. Before Nic could process that, before she could react, Scott brushed his lips—warm and soft—over hers.
Okay, proof that she wasn’t frozen yet, because her heart fluttered in her chest and throat, and a wave of warmth unfurled through her belly and fingertips. Still, in his hand, they throbbed, and Nic curled them around his.
He made another pass, this one just as slow and soft, his lips covering hers. It had been a damned long time since she’d done this, but she couldn’t recall the feeling of wild horses dancing on her chest before.
Her lips remembered their part, though
. Suddenly, Nic realized she was kissing him back. Really kissing him. The lazy stroke of his tongue over hers was delicious and wicked. Nic’s body felt warm now.
All too soon, he pulled away from her, but he held her eyes with his gaze.
“What—?” She cleared her throat, but the word still came out like a croak. “What was—?”
His smile was sweet, and the thought of those lips on hers just moments ago, made her ache in places she’d thought were long dead. She flicked her gaze up to watch him as he reached to pluck something from her hair.
“You had…” He shrugged, and Nic’s eyes were drawn to his lips again. “Mistletoe…in your hair…”
“Mistletoe?” she whispered, and her heart did a belly flop. She’d fallen for a moment, believed in the magic of the season. In reality, Scott had only kissed her because he was supposed to because of the mistletoe.
“Let’s get new lights and start again tomorrow.”
About Tracy Broemmer
Tracy Broemmer is the author of the Lorelei Bluffs women’s fiction series, the Williams Legacy, and several stand alone women’s fiction novels. She has recently dabbled in contemporary romance, as well.
“Come on, Cayden, it’s time for bed.”
“Dad,” the little boy whined, “Papa’s call.”
Tristan sighed before walking into the living room. His lover hadn’t been gone for more than two weeks, and already their son was trying to avoid bedtime for the video chats. “Sorry, buddy. I don’t think he will call tonight. He only called a few days ago, and he can’t just call when he wants.”
Cayden pouted, looking at the empty corner of the room and then to his father. He went over, lifting his arms to be picked up. “Miss Papa.”
“I miss him too.” Tristan lifted the little boy and settled him on his hip. “What if you go to sleep now, and tomorrow we go pick up the Christmas tree?”
