by J. K Harper
She pushed her head into the pillow, running one hand along his back as his lips traveled to her collarbone, then down one breast. He caught the nipple between his lips, sucking and gently biting, then moved to the other one. She cried out, pushing her breasts into his mouth and shamelessly shoving her pelvis against his. Lightly moving his mouth on her softness, his tongue came out to swirl around the rock hard nipples, back and forth from one to the other.
"Wyatt," she gasped, the sound of it bouncing around the little room.
In answer, he gently disentangled his other hand from her hair and brushed it down her side, stroking down her ribs, curving over her breast. Then he spread his fingers across her soft belly, stroking her. Slowly, he moved his hand down, then let a finger travel to explore her soft, wet center. Brynna cried out as he gently pushed one thick, broad digit inside, gently swirling around in her wetness.
"I've been dreaming about this nonstop for the past week. Hell, for the past five years." His voice vibrated through her body.
Feeling half dazed by the building ecstasy, she just nodded. Driven by some deep, primal urging she didn't understand but felt was right, she leaned forward to kiss him, hard, at the spot where his neck met his shoulder. He sharply inhaled, the vibration from it seeming to rattle down his spine beneath her fingertips.
"Inside," she commanded in a low gasp, more sure of this than anything in her life. "I want you inside me, Wyatt. Now."
9
I want you inside me, Wyatt. Now. The words seemed to hang in the room, their sweet invitation wrapping around Wyatt's brain and causing it to stop working. All he was right now was pure sensation, pure joy and rightness with Brynna.
His Brynna. His mate.
“Whatever you want,” he managed to say, his voice ragged. His cock throbbed, eager to be inside her. He'd been almost painfully hard for the last fifteen minutes.
His fingers told him she was ready. The soft moan deep in her throat, the way her eyes fixed on his with an intensity that seemed to connect them together, told him she wanted this just as much. She rolled her thighs apart, tipping her hips up at him again. He groaned, feeling the fire roar through him. Feeling his bear push at him to claim his mate, to bite her slender neck, to make her his. Her beautiful breasts, bare and soft and still glistening from where his mouth had feasted, moved up and down from the tempo of her breathing. Reaching up, he pulled her arms over her head and clasped her wrists in his hands, gently holding them to the pillow.
Brynna smiled up at him, her pulse banging in her neck as her spicy-sweet scent rose in waves, almost overpowering him with lust. “Now,” she said again, her voice half-command, half-laugh, and all strong, sexy woman. Then, “Fucking right now, Wyatt,” she whispered in a ragged cry, all play gone from her face. Her voice shook, her body shook.
He thought his soul shook, too.
“Yes. Now,” he whispered back. Spreading his weight on his knees between her open legs, he thrust his aching cock inside her.
Wyatt almost roared with the stunning explosion of tight heat, with the way Brynna's mouth fell open as she panted. She tilted her hips up more, to accommodate him. He slid inside, eliciting a small gasp from her as he pushed against the tightness.
“I'm sorry.” Her voice bumped as his thrust slid her over the sheets. “It's been a while.”
Wyatt stopped, making her cry out a soft, “No, don't stop!”
“I don't want to hear about anyone else ever again,” he growled, tipping his head down to lightly nip at her ear, then her shoulder. “Just me.”
“Same back to you,” she retorted, though a sweet moan underscored her voice.
Wyatt pulled his head back to look at her. Brynna's gaze was clear, even though her face was soft with her need. He nodded. “Deal,” he said in a low voice, before he abruptly thrust all the way inside her.
She gasped and arched her head back, meeting his strokes by pushing up toward him. Letting him fill her completely, the sweet moans coming from her lips telling him how much she liked having him there. He increased the rate, changed the angle, and never stopped the delicious slip and slide and thrust of this most ancient dance.
Fucking hell, but doing this with Brynna was the singular most amazing experience of Wyatt's life.
“Wyatt,” she gasped, low and throaty, her eyes wide on his as her hands pressed hard onto his back. “More. Don't stop. I'm close,” she said in a ragged warble. “I want to be looking at you when I come.”
He just nodded, keeping his eyes on hers, diving again and again into her soft heat. He felt his own orgasm spiraling up through him as hers began to rise as well, judging by how her pupils got bigger and her moans got faster and her hands clutched him tighter, fingers digging deep into his flesh as she hung on to him.
“Wyatt,” she said again, looking directly at him. Then she tilted her head to the side, exposing her neck. “Claim me.” Her ragged voice trembled with the force of her need.
“Bryn,” he growled. “Yes.”
Crackles of blinding hot lightning seemed to fill his every cell as he reached forward, plunging his sharp teeth into the sweet spot between her shoulder and collarbone. They pierced her skin as he claimed his mate. He tasted the sweet ambrosia that was Brynna on his tongue. Then he roared as an orgasm blasted through him, so intense he thought he might black out.
Brynna screamed, her face blazing with ecstasy. Joy exploded out from her, surrounding them both as Wyatt was held inside her, her walls pulsing around his shaft as he spilled his seed into her, spilled his own cry into the room to mingle with hers. They rose in ecstasy together, billowing waves of pleasure holding them together, the feeling so stunning that Wyatt thought his head might blow off from the joy of it.
Brynna. His mate. His soul.
Slowly, bit by bit, the head-banging sensations lessened, gradually ebbing away. Very slowly, very gently, they eventually collapsed into a tangle of sated bodies onto the soft bed. Wyatt carefully lowered himself on top of her, half off to the side, holding her close to him. Her sweaty skin beneath his, her intoxicating scent filling him, were his entire world as every other thought still stayed far away.
“Wyatt,” she said long moments later in soft, lazy voice, the sound already edging toward sleepy.
He chuckled, masculine pride rearing up in him even as he fought his own satisfied yawn. He meant to say, “So it was good, huh?” but instead he somehow whispered, “I love you, babe. Always have.”
His beautiful mate murmured back a sleepy “Mmm,” snuggling into him and letting him hold her tight. Then she pulled back a bit, looking him in the eyes, and quietly said, “I love you too, Wyatt. I always have.”
Brynna had a sappy expression on her face that Wyatt was pretty sure matched his own.
He broke the silence by saying, “My tiny little deer. As always.”
“You—you—” she sputtered, though her smile was still huge.
“Big cave bear,” he suggested, grinning back at her.
She threw her head back and laughed, a pure, joyous sound that echoed through him. “Home.” She breathed the word. “I really am home, Wyatt." Her voice was soft but the words rang through the quiet room. “This really, truly is exactly where I’m supposed to be."
He held his mate close, breathing in her scent.
An enormous smile blazed over her face. "It finally feels so right to be here. With you."
Fierce joy swept him again as he caught her up tight in his arms, kissed her gorgeous lips until they both gasped for breath, laughing together in his bed.
Together with his mate, right where they both belonged.
Her face was almost obliterated by another yawn. Wyatt grinned into her hair, taking a deep inhale to smell her and sighing back with contentment. “My Bryn,” he said in wonder, gently stroking her back. “You're my home, too, now and forever. Merry Christmas Eve, mate,” he added, nuzzling her hair and kissing her ear.
“Mm-hmm. Merry Christmas Eve to you too, World Wi
de Web. Sleep now, mate,” she murmured against his chin, her entire body relaxed as she drifted off in his arms.
Holding her close, Wyatt did just that.
Epilogue
Brynna drifted up from a deep sleep when her phone went off with a text notification. Strangely enough, it sounded like sleigh bells jingling, which was not the text tone she'd set. Fumbling for it, smiling sleepily as Wyatt exhaled and turned over beside her, she blinked until her eyes came into focus. Who the heck was texting her this late? On Christmas Eve?
Then she saw the name on her phone and all the air whooshed out of her.
St. Nick, it read.
No. No way. She'd taken good old Saint Nick's number out of her phone years ago, when she'd left Deep Hollow. But apparently Christmas magic worked like this. His number was right back in her phone, with the same jingle bell ringtone it used to have.
Her phone softly jingled again. Glad you finally came home, little deer. Come on outside. I have a business proposition for you.
A business proposition?
Jingle jingle. Just need you to sign some paperwork first. There’s room for that bear of yours too. He seems to really enjoy the holiday spirit. Hurry up, the others are out here with me and they're getting impatient.
Room for her bear? Paperwork? The others? Brynna stared at her phone, her brain still foggy.
Lots of kids waiting for their gifts, Brynna. We only have one night to get them all out there. Put a hustle in your step.
Blinking, Brynna automatically sat up. Old habits died hard. She couldn't say no to the old man, even though she'd shaken her fist at his hold on her life ever since she had learned what being a rare reindeer shifter was all about. Truthfully, she was happy to see him again. She had to admit she’d missed his cheerful presence.
Pausing, she looked back at Wyatt snoozing so peacefully beside her. Her gorgeous, sexy, amazing mate. Leaning down, she whispered a bare kiss onto his shoulder. He murmured in his sleep, making her smile. Then she swung her feet out of the warm bed.
Quietly, Brynna dressed and tiptoed out of the house, wincing as a floorboard creaked. She slipped out the front door, carefully shutting it behind her. Walking out almost all the way to the street, she turned around and looked up into the crisp, star-filled sky, searching the rooftops.
Ah. There they were. Right on top of Wyatt's roof, actually.
Shaking her head, Brynna couldn't help smiling. “A sleigh and seven tiny reindeer,” she said, rolling her eyes at one female reindeer who giggled quietly. Alina, of course. “You're missing one, you know,” she pointed out. “There are supposed to be eight.”
Alina snorted and pawed at the roof, jingling the traces.
Brynna looked at the jolly old man dressed in red seated in the sleigh, glasses slipping down his nose as he gently rattled some papers in her direction. Nodding at him, she said, “Okay. Tell me about your business proposition, St. Nick. I'm listening.”
* * *
Wyatt woke out of a sound sleep with Brynna's sweet voice echoing in his head. He blinked, reaching out a hand to search for her. But no sweet, sleeping mate was to be found. Waking up completely, he realized his phone was ringing. He swatted his hand around the bedside table until he found it, then squinted at the screen.
Brynna was calling. Utterly confused, he answered. “Babe? Where are you?”
Her voice burbled out, giddy with excitement. “Come outside, Wyatt. I’ve got something really cool to show you. I think you’ll love it. Hurry! We’re all waiting.”
What the hell? “Who’s waiting—” he began, but she just laughed and hung up.
Rubbing his hand across his eyes, Wyatt got out of bed. He yanked on a pair of pants and headed outside into the dark, quiet night. Snow covered every yard, the streetlamps cast a golden glow on the ground, and lit trees twinkled out of every house window on the block. But no Brynna.
“Hey, man,” a deep, somewhat familiar voice called out from somewhere above him. “Up here.”
Wyatt twisted around and looked up. Then his jaw dropped. On the roof of his house sat a sleigh. Leather traces attached it to eight reindeer, each one of which was pawing the roof—his roof, for crying out loud—and snorting or shaking their heads. Impatience was clear in each one.
A sleigh with eight tiny reindeer. Holy shit. Was he dreaming?
Seated in the sleigh was Thor, wearing a frigging Santa outfit. Red velvet hat trimmed in fluffy white, red velvet suit with a shiny black belt, a big old belly, a huge white beard. The whole nine yards. Wyatt’s jaw stayed dropped.
Thor waved an impatient arm at him. “Hurry up. These guys are getting really restless. It's hard to hold them back.”
A female shifter's voice, speaking in her deer language yet perfectly understandable to Wyatt, crackled out into the cold, magical night. “Thor Calhoun, you'd better know by now you can't hold me back.” She sounded surprisingly dainty despite her slightly deeper voice in her shifted form.
Wyatt rubbed his eyes, then looked again. That sounded like Brynna's sister, Alina. He peered hard. Yup, that was her all right, in the traces at the head of the team.
Right beside her, daintily pawing his roof and sending puffs of air out each time she snorted, was the prettiest little deer shifter in the world.
Holy shit once more.
“Brynna?” Wyatt stared, a disbelieving grin finally spreading over his face. He hadn’t seen Brynna as her reindeer in forever.
Her little laugh echoed out over the roofs of the houses on Wyatt's street. “It's me!” Her voice sounded so excited, so happy, that a huge smile blazed over Wyatt's face.
“Come on up here, bear.” Her cute little face bobbed up and down, her ears wiggling at him. “I signed a deal with Saint Nicholas. He's in charge of all the individual Santas around the world, so he's really busy this time of year. They really did miss having me here.”
Wyatt blinked, still smiling. “Uh, come again?”
Brynna’s voice giggled with joy. “I'm part of the annual Deep Hollow Christmas Night sleigh team now. It is only once a year, after all. And,” Brynna’s voice suddenly went a little shy, “there’s something else really cool that I think you’ll enjoy. Since Alina and Thor are going to try to start making little shifter babies as soon as they’re married next year”—Alina deer-giggled while Thor grunted happily—“Thor plans to step down as the local Santa. So, you can be the new Santa in Deep Hollow, Wyatt. If you want it, I mean. I know how much you love Christmas. We all know that.”
There was a little pause. Then Brynna whispered in a suspiciously thick voice that trembled right on the edge of happy little reindeer tears, “Merry Christmas, mate. I hope you like my gift to you.”
Wyatt felt something suspiciously like tears prickle at his own eyelids. Damn. His Brynna, his mate, knew him so well. She had just made him the happiest bear in town. Probably the happiest one on the entire planet.
Nodding, feeling his face splitting into a crazy huge grin, Wyatt had to swallow and blink hard a few times before he could trust himself to speak. “Yeah, babe. I love it. I'll be Santa on Christmas Eve every year. As long as you keep pulling the sleigh.”
Alina burbled, “Awwww!” echoed by the happy little noises of the rest of the reindeer team.
A deep, peaceful silence billowed around them for a moment, broken only by the soft snorts of the reindeer. Wyatt now recognized them all as Brynna's extended family, including her parents. And one little guy at the back, who looked an awful lot like—
“Deputy Donner? Is that you?” Apparently the kid wasn’t a rodent shifter after all.
The rookie deputy nodded ecstatically, sending all the bells on the traces to jingling. He even had silver tinsel wound through his antlers. “That's me! I’m Brynna's and Alina’s second cousin. And see, I told you we'd be a good team. Either on the patrol beat or on Christmas Eve. Come on, Deputy Webber. It's the most fun ever.”
Thor chimed in, as did the team of deer with happy little barks
and huffing sounds. “Let's do this, Wyatt! I'll be the lead Santa tonight and show you how it's done. I think you're gonna love it, man. But let's get going. We've got a lot of gifts to deliver. It’s starting to snow again, too.”
Wyatt’s grin got bigger and bigger. Big, beautiful snowflakes had indeed begun to drift down from the sky. Looking at the roof, he wondered how he’d get up there. He was a bear, not a flying reindeer. But the team immediately stepped off of it, gently floating down to land in Wyatt's front yard with the sleigh.
“Whoa.” He whistled low. “Okay, Bryn. This is definitely pretty cool.”
Brynna bucked in her traces with giddy excitement. “Jump in, Santa! Nick left an extra suit for you. Put it on while we're flying.”
Wyatt felt like a kid again as he hopped into the sleigh and pulled on the suit Thor handed him. Then Thor gently slapped the reins over the deers' butts, earning a little ear flick and kick from Alina as they leapt into the air, sleigh and all.
The streets of Deep Hollow were very quiet in the middle of the night as they flew overhead, jingle bells whispering on the harnesses. The falling snow stayed calm and gentle, floating through the air and occasionally landing on Wyatt’s face, the inside of the sleigh, and all over eight little reindeer butts. Everyone’s happy, festive laughter filled the sparkling night as they soared through the skies above Deep Hollow, spreading cheer and joy and gifts to all.
Wyatt soon held the reins as Thor genially instructed him on how to do it. Brynna kept doing cute little deer bark-giggles as they flew. Beside her, Alina said in a big sister voice, “Brynna, you have to go faster. We'll never be done at this pace.”
Behind them both, their mother snorted. “You both need to go faster, girls! Your father and I didn’t raise slow sleigh-pullers.”
Beside her, Brynna’s father briefly leaned his head over to gently touch his mate with his antlers. “No, we raised two fabulous reindeer who are both brilliant and take after their beautiful mother.” At that, Brynna’s mother did her own cute little bark-giggle, wiggling in the traces so the bells jingled even more.