by C. D. Gorri
That announcement seemed to stop her dead in her tracks. And he thought nothing could dampen her natural enthusiasm and energy. Good job, Sander. One afternoon with you and you’ve disillusioned the poor girl. You dolt.
“You don’t celebrate Christmas?” She looked like he just told her he kicked puppies, for Pete’s sake!
“No, I don’t,” for some reason that was totally beyond him, Sander searched for an excuse. All he could come up with was a vague, “We aren’t Christian.”
“Well, even people who aren’t Christians celebrate Christmas nowadays, you know, as a commercial holiday?” There it was. That positive outlook was back and in full force.
“Not me,” he said and grew more uncomfortable by the second.
“Okay, I can try to accept that,” she said.
“Well, gee, thank you for respecting my right to choose not to celebrate a Christian or commercial holiday,” he murmured back.
“But you still need to let me throw this party.”
“What? No!”
“Look, Alexsander, I’m not trying to convert you or anything, but I think everyone should celebrate Christmas.”
“Why?”
“Well, it’s a time for joy, kindness, and love.”
“I thought it was about a baby born in a barn because no one would let his parents in their house.”
“Okay, first off it was a stable and the inn was already full.”
“Really? That sounds, er, nice, and how’s it about love?” He couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of his voice even if he tried. Love, ha, he didn’t believe in such things anymore.
“Well, people are nicer this time of year. It’s the Christmas magic, you see. They forget old grudges, get back in touch with past family members or friends, smile a little easier at strangers, hold doors open, believe a little bit more in things like happiness and love, you know, that kind of thing,” Noelle looked down and bit her lip.
“I’m afraid I simply don’t believe in any of it. I’m sorry, but there will be no party.”
“Oh, yes there will.”
Sander’s eyebrows flew up an inch on his forehead at the tone she’d used. Did she just scold him? like a school teacher does to a wayward child?
Ooh. He could so picture her in a bun with a ruler in her hand. He’d never had a thing for roleplaying, but he could so imagine a teacher-student fantasy with his feisty little vixen. Dammit, there goes his cock again.
He needed to get her out of here. Fast.
“Excuse me?” His voice was deep and growly. For some reason it sent shivers up Noelle’s spine.
“I said, there will most certainly be a party, Mr. Falk. Look, I believe in Christmas, whether you do or not is your choice, but I won’t let all those people down because you are acting like a Scrooge. Whether you think so or not, you need this.”
She sounded like a foolish kid, but she couldn’t help it. It was her favorite holiday. Maybe the big man standing next to her could use a little kindness too. Something to banish the pain from behind his brilliant teal eyes. Those eyes that sometimes glowed like magic.
He must be a Werewolf, she thought to herself. Living in Maccon City, she was bound to know about the supernatural creatures who seemed to love this section of the Jersey shore. That and her own familial connection to the Macconwood Pack made it all the more likely that she’d recognize other supernaturals.
Still, she couldn’t help but feel for the man, Especially, since he seemed to have no idea at all about the joy the season could bring.
Maybe he’d just had a hard time of it, as Wolf families often did? The Curse and all. But that was all in the past if she understood Fred correctly. Someone was changing things. The future looked brighter for all Werewolves.
Maybe he didn’t know that yet? Noelle wasn’t a therapist or social worker, but she had buckets of empathy for the suffering of others. Seeing Alexsander’s pain, hurt her for some reason.
“What did you just say?” He asked.
“I said there will be a party here. Don’t you want some joy and love in your life?”
She tried to shake off the feelings that threatened to drown her. He was so big, so handsome, she’d never felt so instantly attracted to a man this way before, but more than that, she wanted to help him. To soothe his troubled soul. The same way she wanted to help the teenagers in the area who were alone this time of year. Well, maybe not the same way…
Still, she knew the Werewolf teens, those who used the services provided by the Macconwood-Nighthawk Teen Outreach Program, often had no family life to speak of. Holidays were lonely times for kids like that.
They needed something to show them that Christmas was about making family where you can, forging lasting friendships, and spreading joy and love. As a volunteer there, she’d thought this party was a wonderful idea.
She looked at her reluctant host and saw something behind the gruff exterior. Maybe he was in need too? Maybe he could use a little Christmas in his life? She almost thought she saw a longing there in his teal eyes. Something honest and hopeful, then he opened his mouth.
“So, are you proposing some sort of mad orgy in my house tomorrow night? Cause I could get behind that!”
“What? Oh, my-! You know, just when I thought I liked you!”
Sander laughed aloud at the shocked look on her face and even more so when she slapped his shoulder and laughed with him. It felt warm and welcoming, this comradery with a stranger, but what else could she do. Things were straying into the slightly uncomfortable.
“So, you like me? Uh, you know, I’m sorry, but I don’t know your first name?”
“Oh my! Really? Geez, I’m sorry! It’s Noelle. Noelle Gifford.”
“Ah, now it makes sense. Your love for this holiday, your name means-”
“Christmas gift. My birthday is tomorrow, so my parents thought it was appropriate! I have a cat named Holly and a fish named Ninnymungins.”
“What?”
“Never mind. Look, Mr. Falk, I um. I know about you know, your kind-”
“Call me Sander, please, and I sincerely doubt you know anything about my kind,” she was sitting so close to him he couldn’t help himself, he leaned over and inhaled.
She smelled sweet and spicy like the ginger cookies his Ama used to make. He hardly remembered his mother anymore. She was fragmented in his mind, but those cookies, those he’d never forget. Thin slivers of almonds and flour mixed with butter and candied bits of ginger throughout. They were his favorite.
He looked at the woman in front of him and his mouth watered. He clenched and unclenched his fists. Fool. You are maimed. Unfit. A monster.
His bitterness burned inside of him and he missed nearly everything she’d said. He did catch the part about her employees coming over in less than an hour to set up.
CHAPTER 5
“No, I’m sorry, but it’s impossible.”
“Mr. Falk-”
“Call me Sander.”
“Okay, Sander then, please. It’s Christmas, and these kids have nowhere else to go. Besides I have a signed contract.”
“It was signed by my brother. Not me.”
“But it’s for this address!” Noelle couldn’t believe her ears.
Just when she thought they were getting along! He’d even made a few jokes, and then, bam, Mr. Wannabe-Grinch was back in gear. What happened to make him this way?
“You have to go, I just want to be left alone,” his anger seemed to come out of nowhere. No, not anger exactly, more like frustration.
“No,” she narrowed her eyes at him.
“No?” His look of astonishment amused her further.
“You heard me, no.”
“I think maybe I heard you wrong,” he glowered at her, but Noelle didn’t back down.
“Nope, you heard me just fine. Excuse me,” she turned her back to him and jotted notes on her tablet before shooting off a message to her assistants.
She walked into the ballroom where the party w
as to be held ignoring the tall man who practically oozed energy as he stalked behind her.
She felt his teal eyes burning holes through her, and she wanted to tremble. Instead, she turned to face him. He glared some more. Noelle lifted an eyebrow and yawned, barely covering her mouth with her free hand. She turned her back to him again. Dismissing him, as it were.
She lifted the tablet again and sent off another message. They were going to need several small tables to fill the area so people could mingle and fill the space. Food brought people together and rather than serving from one central spot, having several small stations would create movement and encourage conversation.
It was going to be perfect!
Sander was reeling. The little vixen yawned at him! At what he knew was his most scathing glower. Where did she think she was going with this anyway? It was his house, dammit!
She turned her back to him and kept right along taking notes and sending messages. His sensitive ears heard the little whoosh noise every time she clicked send. Jealousy reared its ugly head as he wondered who it was she was messaging. A boyfriend perhaps? Grrr. No fucking way. Es meus!
Startled at the turn of his thoughts Sander closed his eyes and ran a hand over his face. Who was this little ginger perfumed minx anyway? Why did he want her so damn badly?
His Dragon growled in his mind’s eye, and Sander stiffened. He needed to get more fully in control. He couldn’t think straight with her so close to him. He walked over to a window and threw it open. He inhaled the fresh, cold air, allowing it to wash over him and soothe his beast.
She is not mine! He was destined to be alone. His heart safely locked away. His sapphire rose would never go to another. He would go cold. And he welcomed it.
There was a reason he was an IceDragon. The white lightning that shot from his mouth was colder and could burn faster than any flame, save his brother’s.
He was an outcast in his world. Any hopes he had as a youth to find a mate was destroyed when Chief Dragomir cut his hand in half. He could still feel the searing pain of his torture during his enslavement. Fury flashed through his blood only to be replaced by the familiar emptiness of his current state.
The dull thud of his heartbeat was a constant companion. A reminder that he was still alive, though he had resigned himself to a solitary existence. One that was all too fleeting.
Ever since he opened the door that morning, he’d felt different somehow. A strange stirring in his blood. An awakening in his Dragon that he never thought to feel. The beast moved under his skin, prowling, hunting, as if he sensed something close by. Something the human side of Sander was fighting tooth and nail.
No. I am broken. Maimed. Not long for this world. But we could have pleasure with her, completion. She is ours. Mine. Es Meus. His dual natures warred within him. The sweet sound of her laughter rang in his ears, piercing the cold ice surrounding his heart. He wanted to roar his frustration.
This was far too dangerous. He could not allow himself to form an attachment to this woman. This gorgeous, sweet, and surprisingly tough as nails, woman. She was not for him.
He snorted aloud. He couldn’t believe she was carrying on with her plans. Completely ignoring him! It was outrageous! Sander fumed.
“Excuse me, it’s getting a bit drafty,” she side-stepped him and closed the window.
“I said there will be no party here tonight!”
“No.”
“No?”
“Oh, you heard me! You, big bully! The answer is no. I will cater this event, and it will rock, despite your Scroogey attitude! Now, excuse me, I need to make some calls,” she grabbed her cell with slightly trembling hands.
Sander couldn’t help the smile that curled his lip. So, she wasn’t as unaffected by him as she seemed. Good. He’d hate to think he was losing his touch, but still, he felt ashamed.
All he had to offer her was an afternoon tryst. It was a pretty shitty thing to do to someone as bright and full of optimism as she.
No. He must resist temptation. She was not responsible for his acceptance of his fate. She was not the reason for any of it. Fuck. He had no right to drag her into his fucked-up world.
Sander needed to remain strong. It was best if she left the castle grounds and he simply forgot about her. Before he asked her to go, he’d best apologize for his rudeness.
“Noelle?”
He turned down the long hallway that led to yet another section of the castle he had yet to explore. The place was huge. He’d have to remember to tell Callius what a fine job he did of it. He almost called out her name again, when he heard her trembling voice.
“Yeah, I’m okay. No, he’s, he’s not that! Oh, Fred, I am so sorry to bug you! But why didn’t you tell him I was coming? You forgot? Saying he was shocked is putting it mildly…No it’s not that, he just hates the holidays…No, of course, he didn’t come on to me…Oh, well, no I mean, Fred! Of course, he’s attractive! He’s freaking gorgeous! No, no he doesn’t strike me as being the type of guy to, well, you know, be interested in someone like me… I don’t know, but that’s not the issue…I won’t let those kids down. You got it… Okay, have a great trip. Bye.”
His teeth ground together. He had no idea what he was about to do, but he couldn’t just stand there. Sander caught up with Noelle in three long strides. Her eyes flashed up at him as he turned her to face him.
“Sorry, that was-”
“My nosy sister-in-law.”
“Well, it was Fred, but-”
“Did she hire you to seduce me?”
“Seduce you? No! I’m a caterer! I mean, do I look like a seductress? I mean, how could you think that I-” She sputtered and looked down at herself shrugging as if to say, not in a million years, but Sander interrupted her reply.
“Because if she did, I have absolutely no objection.”
For one instant, Sander stopped fighting the intense attraction he had to this woman the second he’d laid eyes on her. He pulled her flush against his hard body noting the flash of desire in her blue eyes.
All rational thought left his head. Every single reason he’d given himself for why he should refrain from touching her, was gone. Just. Like. That.
His body was being taken over. More beast than man, and he had only one master. Noelle.
The soft fullness of her womanly curves made him harden instantly. He didn’t wait or pretend. No clever wordplay or shallow flirtations.
Why should he bother with all that trifle? He was Dragon. Dragon’s took what they wanted. And he wanted her. His Noelle. He felt his teeth elongate and he bit down hard against them.
Not forever. I will not doom her to life with a malformed beast. No marking! I will borrow her, just for the now, he told himself firmly.
He could have now. But that was all. His teeth retracted, and he growled, pressing his lips firmly against hers.
Sander swallowed her moan, dipping his tongue into her sweet mouth and losing himself in the oblivion of pleasure that was her kiss. She tasted as good as she smelled, like ginger. A hot, spicy flavor that was almost enough to melt his resolve. Es Meus.
CHAPTER 6
Noelle wasn’t sure if she was dreaming or not. She was a twenty-seven years old business owner with an agreeable disposition, and she worked very hard.
Love was something she never thought she’d have. As for sex, well, she’d always been open to the idea, but let’s face it, she was mousy. Not just her looks, but her personality as well.
She wasn’t particularly tall. Her body had some padding, but it wasn’t enough to be called curvy like her best friend, Joss. Her hair was brown, her skin pale, well, she had nice blue eyes. But nothing like the teal of Sander’s eyes.
Sander who was owning her mouth like he’d die if he didn’t have a taste of her. Holy crap! This was the most intense kiss of Noelle’s life. She clung to his broad shoulders like some whimpering maiden in a fairytale, but damn it if, if she let go, she just might slide to the floor in a puddle of lust.
He growled against her lips, his tongue probing the inside of her mouth, sending shivers of desire through her body. Noelle almost groaned in frustration when he broke the kiss and started tugging on her top.
“I guess my panty and bra sets aren’t a total waste of money after all,” she murmured as he pulled her sweater over her head.
“What?” Sander’s head cocked to the side as if he was trying to make sense of her words.
“Nothing,” she wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his head back down to her. he was so tall, and incredibly sexy.
She kissed him without restraint. Noelle didn’t know enough about sex to play coy games or sophisticated flirtations. She only knew she wanted him and hoped he wanted her enough to overlook any clumsiness. The thought of her red and white striped bikini briefs with her white lace demi bra gave her confidence.
Her hair might be flat, but Noelle had no such problem in the chest department. His growl of appreciation as his hands found her full breasts sent zaps of pleasure straight through her core.
No, no more thoughts or second-guessing. He was the only thing that existed in that moment. Chills shot through her body as he squeezed and tugged. Their kisses grew hotter and deeper with each passing second.
His big body seemed to swallow hers as he enveloped her with his warmth. His skilled lips and tongue were positively sinful as he stroked and tasted her slightly damp skin. She was putty in his arms.
Noelle had been kissed before, but never like this. Electric currents sparked from his fingertips as they circled the base of her spine, down over her hips, and around her full buttocks. He ground his hips against her soft belly and groaned into her mouth, a sound she echoed.
Her heart pounded in her chest like a freight train. Noelle’s skin seemed to scream out for his touch, and when he did trace the fingertips of his right hand over her body, oh, sheer pleasure hummed through her from the center of her being to every nerve-ending.
He held her against him with his left hand, the one that was missing a few fingers. Not that she cared, he was perfect in her eyes. It was the way he held her tight against him that gave her pause. As if he feared she would run away given the chance.