“That’s one way to do it.” El chuckled.
I nodded. “Yeah, it certainly adds an element of excitement.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out to see a text from Monica.
“I know you love this x-mas shit so merry Christmas. Hope you’re having a nice day, wherever you ended up. Love you, ho . . . ho ho! LOL! I crack me up.”
Smiling, I typed out a quick reply. “Who you calling a ho, skank? I made it home and I’m with the fam. I appreciate the holiday wishes, especially since you want to stab Christmas with a shank. Love you too!”
“Sadie!” Dad called, and I whipped my eyes up just in time to see a brightly wrapped package sailing for my head.
I gasped and squeaked, but a dark hand shot out and caught it inches from my face.
“Watch out!” Max yelled as he saved my life.
A few people cracked up laughing. El shook his head as Max handed me the present, and Tin moved to help my dad—they were throwing gifts at double time with Tin’s help, making everyone scramble to catch them all.
Mom appeared behind me and passed me a shortbread cookie, then kissed my cheek with a wink.
My heart was full.
The North Pole
Epilogue
The phone rang as I threw another three T-shirts onto the growing pile on the bed.
“Hello?” I answered it without checking who it was, rushing into the bathroom to look for my hairdryer. I was running out of room in the suitcase, but I wasn’t sure if they had hairdryers in the North Pole.
“Are you running or fucking right now?” was how Monica greeted me. “You’re out of breath.”
“I’m packing.”
“I call BS. Packing has never winded me like that.”
“It’s fucking stressful, OK?” I yelled, then tripped on the pile of boots I was trying to fit into the suitcase and just lowered myself to the floor next to them, defeated.
“Whoa. How about we rein in the bitchy and you tell me what’s going on like a normal person. Hmm?” Monica chastised me, but she didn’t sound mad at all.
I sighed. “I’m sorry for snapping at you. I’m just nervous about this trip. It’s kind of a big deal, and I’ve been so busy with work I haven’t even had time to prepare for it properly. And now we’re supposed to leave first thing in the morning, and I have no idea what to take, and I haven’t even shaved my legs.”
Monica laughed but stopped before I could yell at her for laughing at my anxiety. “OK, let’s just take a deep breath. First of all, is everything at work ready? You’re set up and good to leave?”
“Yes.” I nodded, kicking some boots out of the way and leaning back on the bed. “Joe is all over it. We’re managing the start of the holiday rush, and I’ll be working remotely over there. It’s all set up.”
Joe was my business manager and PA, my right-hand man. Three years ago—just after three sinfully sexy elves fell at my feet and took me on a magical Christmas adventure— I’d quit my job at the department store, given notice to my landlord, and moved back in with my parents for six months while I got my lingerie business off the ground. I specialized in unique, high-quality designs that catered to all sizes, ensuring beautiful underwear that was supportive and comfortable. I did limited-edition lines around special dates like Valentines and Christmas. The past two years, they’d sold out.
It had been scary and overwhelming at first, but I’d built the business up from the ground, kept it online only, and now employed twenty staff.
“OK, good. So put that out of your mind.” Monica’s steady, no-nonsense voice was making me calmer already. “You can shave your legs in the shower in the morning—that’s, like, a five-minute task. All you have to do now is concentrate on the packing. Why is it stressing you out so much?”
“I don’t know.” I rolled my eyes and leaned my head back on the mattress. “Because it’s the fucking North Pole? I mean, I’m going to meet Santa. The Santa. I’m nervous and worried I’ll fuck it up somehow.”
About six months after we started dating, my business was booming, so the guys and I had moved into a spacious apartment halfway between the city and my parents’ place. It was fairly close to where I’d set up my office and close enough to my family to visit often. The guys had continued to do their elf duties every year, but I hadn’t ridden along since that first time. I’d just meet them at my family Christmas the next day.
The hardest part was when they had to leave for a month. The North Pole took most of the year off—Santa’s original Elves were more than capable of managing the place on their own. There was a meeting in January to discuss how the deliveries had gone, then there were planning sessions and catch-ups about once a month, but mostly the Elves and the magic took care of it all.
The recruited elf teams just did the delivering. Most of the time they lived in the real world, but in December, they all went to the Pole for the entire month to prepare, plan, train, hang out with Santa, and do other secret Christmas-magic things I didn’t know about.
Being apart for an entire month was hard for us all, so for the first time, they were taking me with them. I was going to the actual North Pole!
“You’re nervous about meeting Santa?” Monica chuckled. “Girl, he’s just another old white man. And isn’t he supposed to be all jolly and shit?”
I gasped. “He is not just another old white man. He is jolly and holly and wonderful. How dare you?”
Despite being let in on the whole “Santa is real” situation, Monica still wasn’t a fan of the season. She’d thawed out to the concept and even come to our last family Christmas, but she was still a bit of a Grinch. She and my parents were the only ones who knew. We’d had to get special permission from Mrs. Claus herself to tell them, and even then, it was under a protection spell that prevented them from talking about it to anyone but us. But it made my life easier—I hated lying to people I loved, even if it was a lie that wouldn’t hurt them.
“My point exactly!” Monica sounded triumphant. “The man is supposed to be pure joy, the place a magical land of candy canes and shit. No one is going to judge you or make you feel bad. You’re overthinking this.”
I surveyed the mess around me in silence for a few moments, then a small smile pulled at my lips. I was being ridiculous. “You’re right,” I grumbled. “I needed to hear that, Monica. Thank you.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that. Can you repeat it?”
“I said thank you.”
“No, the first part.”
“You’re right,” I growled, but it ended on a laugh.
“Ahh. Music to my ears. Now go pack.”
“Wait. I totally hijacked that conversation. Why did you call?” I pushed to my feet and headed for the living room. I was pretty sure I’d heard the front door, meaning one of my guys was home, but I’d always make time for Monica.
“I’m in line at the Mexican place. Just called to kill time. Actually, it’s my turn next. Gotta go. Bye!”
“Love you too, bitch!” I yelled down the phone as she hung up.
I walked out into the living room just in time to see Tin hanging up his coat and toeing off his boots as he looked around at the mess I’d made. My packing frenzy/freak out was not contained to the bedroom.
“Hey, why is half the kitchen out on the countertops?” he asked with a mixture of amusement and worry.
“Don’t worry about that.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned in for a kiss. “I’ve dealt with it now. And it’s not half the kitchen. It’s just my fave frying pan and the mint hot chocolate mix and a few other things I wasn’t sure they’d have at the Pole.”
I smoothed Tin’s blond hair back, giving him another kiss. During his time in the real world, he was a baker. He came home smelling like bread half the time, but he owned the place, so he wasn’t always the one doing the baking.
Before he could respond, the door opened again, and Max walked in.
“Whoa . . .” He raised
his eyebrows at the mess and lowered his messenger bag to the ground.
Max was an operations manager and worked freelance, only taking projects that wouldn’t interfere with his North Pole duties. He often had the longest hours, but he also got the most time off in between.
I helped him out of his coat and hugged him from behind, resting my cheek on his broad back. He wore the softest cashmere sweaters.
“Sadie freaked out about the Pole and decided to pack the kitchen sink.” Tin moved into the kitchen and started putting everything back in its place.
Max covered my hands on his belly with his and half turned his head to speak to me. “Baby, they have kitchen sinks at the North Pole. They have everything you could possibly need, and if there’s something you can’t find, we can just magic it to you.”
I wriggled around to his front and gave him a kiss on the lips. “I know. I’m good now. It was temporary insanity.”
He chuckled but helped me straighten up the living area as Tin finished off the kitchen.
I started to pull the curtains shut, then paused at the window, watching through the gap for a few moments. We had an apartment on the fifth floor, and it had great views of the city in the distance. I smiled at the lights twinkling in the steadily falling snow. It had been snowing on and off for about three days, and the park across the road looked like a magical winter wonderland. I loved it at dusk the most, when the light was disappearing and everything kind of glowed.
A pair of hands landed on my hips, and someone pressed his nose to the back of my head and inhaled deeply.
“God, you smell good.” El’s low voice reverberated through me. I let the curtain fall closed completely, my full focus on him. I’d been so mesmerized by the snow I hadn’t even heard him come home.
“That’s just because you spend all day inhaling exhaust fumes,” I teased. “Everything smells good by comparison.”
El loved working with his hands and was a mobile mechanic with his own truck, appreciating the freedom and independence it provided. He wished he could be around in December to help broken-down people get home during the Christmas season, but he knew the reason he was away at that time was much more important.
“Good point.” He dropped his hands and stepped back. “Now that you mention it, you smell terrible.”
I turned to face him, and he scrunched his face up before flashing me a grin, making those dimples appear. Between the dimples, the red hair, and the overalls covering his tall frame, he was downright irresistible.
“Rude.” I crossed my arms but smirked.
“Can we get pizza for dinner?” Tin asked, coming to stand by us and leaning back against the couch. “Can’t be bothered to cook.”
“Seconded.” Max twisted to face us on the couch, resting his arm next to Tin’s hip.
“Done,” El and I said at the same time.
“I need a shower first. Someone else order?” El walked off in the direction of our bedroom, and Max picked up the phone.
“Shit!” My eyes widened and I rushed after El, but it was too late.
“What the fuck happened in here?” he called from our room.
The three of us cracked up laughing, but the laughter died in my throat when he appeared at the end of the hallway completely naked. He must’ve peeled his clothes off as he walked and spotted my mess too late.
He stood with his hands at his hips, every inch of pale skin and toned muscle proudly on display. His hair was a mess and his hands were dirty, but my thoughts were suddenly even dirtier.
“Come on.” Tin took my hand and pulled me in El’s direction. “Let’s have some fun before dinner.”
“And then we’ll clean up your mess and finish packing,” Max added as he appeared behind me, pressing his front to my back. He walked me forward, nuzzling my neck.
El just shrugged, accepting he wasn’t going to get an answer now that we’d started that, so he turned around and gave me a good view of his tight ass as he led the way into our bedroom.
Tomorrow, we’d get our Christmas on and prove why we all deserved to be on the nice list. But tonight, I was going to do every naughty thing imaginable with the men I loved.
THE END
Note From The Author
Thank you so much for reading It Started With A Sleigh! I really hope you enjoyed it and you’ll consider leaving a review. And if you didn’t like it, that’s OK too – I’m always open to feedback.
More Paranormal Romance from Kaydence Snow
When Evelyn Maynard receives a scholarship to the exclusive Bradford Hills Institute, she’s determined to make a fresh start. The Institute is world renowned for educating and training Variants – the 18% of the population fortunate enough to have superhuman abilities. As a human, she’s lucky to be admitted.
She’s done with fake identities, running and lying but once again she finds herself surrounded by secrets.
Some she’s been keeping her whole life.
Some have been kept from her.
Some she finds herself dragged into…
Ethan, Josh, Tyler and Alec have some of the rarest Variant abilities Evelyn has ever seen. They fascinate, intrigue and attract her, but is it their abilities, their own secrets or something more that Evelyn can’t seem to stay away from? The secrets they keep could drag Evelyn so deep into their dangerous and exciting world that she’ll never be the same.
And the answers she finds could get them all killed.
https://amzn.to/34zIdpH
***
Chapter 1
I looked down at my watch: two minutes past midnight. It was officially my seventeenth birthday.
In the uncomfortable plastic seat next to me, my mother, Joyce, saw me checking the time. She kept her voice low as she reached for my arm. “Happy birthday, Evie.”
“Don’t,” I grumbled and pulled my arm out of her reach.
She sighed and sat up straighter. To the casual observer she looked completely calm, sitting in the departures lounge at gate twelve at Melbourne Airport, her hands folded gently in her lap. It was a well-practiced mask—she was on high alert. We were sitting in seats with a wall at our backs as she scanned the airport every few seconds. Her oversized handbag was still slung over her shoulder, just like mine, in case we needed to move fast.
I bit down on my tongue to stop myself from crying. I was trying to be as alert as she was, but I kept thinking about the reason why we were at the airport, waiting to board a flight to Los Angeles with tickets purchased only hours before and new counterfeit passports tucked into our bags. I had committed a cardinal sin in my mother’s eyes: I had made friends and got myself a boyfriend.
Naturally, we had to change our names and leave the country.
Ever since I could remember, my mother and I had been running, never staying in one place for longer than a few months, never getting close to other people. I was used to this routine, but this time I was more than just frustrated with having to start at another new school and memorize another new name. This time, for the first time, I was actually leaving something behind.
A flash of movement caught my attention and my mother stiffened, but she relaxed when she realized it was just a Variant, rushing through the airport at superhuman speed. The man in a suit had a panicked look on his face as he used his ability to get to his gate on time.
He was one of the approximately 18 percent of the world’s population lucky enough to have Variant DNA, but his ability was a common one. I was just a boring human, a fact my mother was eternally grateful for, as it made it easier for us to blend in.
A painfully polite female voice came through the speakers: “Ladies and gentlemen, Qantas flight QF83 to Los Angeles will begin boarding shortly.”
I tuned her out. I had taken more flights in my seventeen years than most people did their entire lives. I knew the boarding procedures better than half the ground staff.
I knew many things your average teenager didn’t.
Instead of explaining the
reasons behind our nomadic lifestyle, my mother had taught me how to be invisible. I knew to place myself near an exit in every building. I knew how to spot a person or vehicle that was following me and how to lose them. I knew how to completely wipe the memory of any electronic device. I knew how to forge official documents.
I knew everything except what I actually wanted to know—why?
I didn’t know why my mother chose the places we went to over the years, zigzagging from one continent to the next. Until now, whenever I’d suggested America, she’d shut me down with a firm “no,” but all of a sudden we were on our way to LA, and from there to Nampa, Idaho—a very specific location that I suspected was chosen very randomly.
Whatever the reason Joyce had chosen Nampa, the first leg of our journey was about to begin. Boarding had started.
With another surreptitious look around the airport, my mother placed herself behind me as we joined the line, shielding me from some unspoken potential threat. I rolled my eyes at her and faced the front as her dark blue eyes narrowed in exasperation.
I had the same eyes—dark blue—and just like her, you could see the blue in them only in natural light. I had her thick chocolate-brown hair too, but hers was cut short, and mine reached the middle of my back, falling in soft waves.
I was also just as stubborn. In a display of this trait, I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at my feet, concentrating on the swirls of little double helixes that littered my DNA socks. The machine ahead beeped rhythmically as the attendants scanned boarding passes, and I shuffled forward, wondering how such a great day had managed to turn to absolute shit in a matter of hours.
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