A Mate for Christmas: Collection 1

by Zoe Chant

  He hesitated, looking back at Abigail. The moonlight made everything silvery, but his eyes still burned ember-bright, red and gold. Right now, they looked vulnerable.

  “I’ve never brought anyone here before,” he said, his voice hushed.

  Abigail walked up to him and took his hands in hers. The mate-bond sang as Jasper ran his thumb over her ring. “Show me,” she whispered. “I want to know everything about you.”

  He smiled, raised his hand again, and the mountain moved.

  Tendrils of gold curled around the edges of the door-sized rock, like roots growing out from the heart of the mountain. They pushed the rock aside, revealing a dark cave.

  “Ladies first,” Jasper said. He squeezed Abigail’s hand and she frowned.

  His smile was wobbling. He kept licking his lips. And his eyes still looked wary.

  “Jasper, I’ve already chosen you,” she said, placing one hand on his chest. “I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You don’t need to be nervous.”

  Jasper took a deep breath. “I know. I just…” He shut his eyes and winced. “You’ll see.”

  He led her into the cave. It was even deeper than it looked, going deep into the mountain. She was worried about losing her footing in the darkness, but just as the last beam of moonlight faded, another light came to life. The cave walls were lined with fern-like tendrils of gold, and they were glowing.

  Abigail looked closer. Not ferns; the gold made patterns like ice crystals on a window. “This is beautiful,” she murmured.

  “Ye-es,” Jasper said, sounding uncertain. “This is beautiful.”

  Abigail narrowed her eyes at him. Interesting, she thought. In the magical gold-light, he wasn’t looking nervous anymore. More… embarrassed?

  What does a dragon have to be embarrassed about? she wondered.

  Then they turned a corner, and she knew.

  Abigail gasped. She couldn’t help it. Jasper’s hoard was incredible. A huge cavern, piled high with gold and jewels. Objects of unbelievable value… and all on a particular theme.

  She turned to her mate, eyes wide. “Jasper…”

  “I know.” He winced. “It seemed like a good idea at the time. God, this is so embarrassing… it’s so much worse than the sweater…”

  He covered his face. Abigail couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing, which only made him groan louder.

  “Jasper, stop.” She pulled his hands away from his face and gestured at the treasure-piles. “This is— this is wonderful. Don’t be embarrassed.”

  “But they’re…” Jasper grimaced. Abigail caressed his cheek.

  “Wonderful. Beautiful. Jasper, how could I think they were anything else?”

  Arm in arm with her mate, she surveyed his hoard. Gold and jewels. That was traditional, she knew.

  But of course, Jasper wasn’t a traditional dragon. He was a Christmas dragon.

  She stared wide-eyed at piles of Christmas baubles of all sorts, balls and bells and filigree stars, all gleaming, pure gold. Chains that looked more like tinsel and streamers. Even…

  Abigail knelt down. “Is this… Rudolph?” she said, picking up the golden figuring and holding it out to Jasper. “With a ruby nose?”

  Jasper stared at her, looking utterly lost. “Yes,” he admitted. “But… you’re smiling.” He hesitated. “Do you… like it?”

  Abigail’s smile stretched across her face. “Like it?” She spun around. Everything in the cavern was one hundred per cent, ridiculously, wonderfully Christmassy.

  It was so, so Jasper.

  “I love it,” she told him, and fell backwards onto the nearest pile of gold.

  She’d expected it to be like falling onto gravel, or a riverbed of loose stones; instead, it was like falling into clouds. The gold moved under and around her, cushioning her perfectly.

  “Is this— ?” she began.

  “More dragon magic?” Jasper advanced towards her, his eyes glowing with more than ember brightness. “Yes.”

  Desire shot through Abigail and she gasped. Jasper’s eyes locked on to her mouth. Anticipation sharpening the warmth inside her to white hot, Abigail slowly licked her lips.

  Jasper was on top of her in a heartbeat. His body covered hers completely. “Damn it,” he groaned. “You know how much I love it when you do that.”

  Gold moved under Abigail. Out of the corners of her eyes, she could see tinsel-like strands stretching towards her.

  “I do,” she agreed, and licked her lips again.

  Jasper’s eyes flared gold and red. He captured her lips with his, flicking his tongue out to explore her mouth. She kissed him back just as passionately. Her tongue teased against his, questing, playing.

  She had longed for him all day. Her first Heartwell Christmas had been one miracle after another— happiness, family, love. Her desire for her mate had grown with every hour of the day, a low, strong simmer that made her skin prickle.

  She’d expected a slow, languorous lovemaking, like they had shared the last few hours of Christmas Eve, when their bodies were tired but their desire for one another far from exhausted.

  She hadn’t expected this. The fire, the urgency. Pure need, white-hot and shining gold. Beautiful. Right.

  She dug her fingers into Jasper’s hair, deepening the kiss. Her skin was on fire, desperate for his touch. Her clothes were too heavy, stifling— but he was wonderfully, gloriously bare.

  Abigail ran her hands up and down her lover’s chest, sliding them around to dig her fingertips into the muscles of his back. He was hot, and hard, and wonderful. And groaning against her lips, his own hands pulling at her coat and shirt, fumbling with her trousers.

  At last they were lying skin to skin. Abigail could feel Jasper’s heartbeat against her breasts, the swell of his chest with every breath he took. The mate-bond sang inside them both, gold-bright and perfect.

  Jasper gazed down at her, his eyes hooded with lust. “My darling,” he murmured. He interlaced his fingers around hers, holding her hands against the gold above her head. “You are my most precious treasure. Everything else here pales in comparison to you.”

  His eyes raked down her body. Everywhere his gaze fell, her skin prickled with anticipation.

  Abigail inhaled slowly, breathing in her dragon’s scent. Sweet and spice, and pure masculine power. She moaned with desire and Jasper bore down on her. Her whole body melted against him, soft against his masculine hardness. She was hot and wet and willing, and he—

  His eyes glowed into hers. “My mate,” he whispered, his voice hoarse. “I have already given you the heart of my hoard. Now the rest of it will be yours, as well.”

  Gold chains— tinsel— snaked around her wrists, pulling her arms tight. Abigail wriggled against her constraints, glorying in the feeling of being pinned beneath her mate. More gold wound around her ankles, spreading her legs. She gazed up at Jasper, lips parted, the desire coursing through her veins so strong her vision was hazy.

  “Everything I have, I share with you.” Jasper caressed her cheek, moving his hands down over her breasts, her stomach, until Abigail thought she would burst with need. “All for you. My greatest treasure.”

  The gold responded to his words. Abigail felt the change through the mate-bond. Before, Jasper’s hoard had been his, the chains around her wrists and ankles a mark of his claim on her. Now, the gold sang inside her, as well. Every piece of it. Her blood rang with its golden chimes.

  “Oh, Jasper,” she gasped. “My dragon. My only, my strong, wonderful mate—”

  The chains were hers, now, too, but they stayed where they were. She wanted them there. She wanted to give herself, every part of herself, to him. To her Jasper, her dragon. Her mate.

  Now and forever.

  Her ring sang on her finger. The heard of the hoard. She felt it in her own heart. And Jasper was on top of her, his cock pressing against her entrance, and she had never wanted anything more.

  “Please,” she gasped.

&n
bsp; Jasper’s eyes were dark with lust. He moved on top of her, excruciatingly slowly. Abigail trembled with frustration. Didn’t he know she needed this? Didn’t he feel her desire, like she felt his through the mate-bond, lust and love and wonder woven together until she could barely see straight?

  She looked deep into his eyes. He knew. Oh, he knew.

  And she knew just what to do. She bit down on her lower lip. Hard. So hard she mewled with pain.

  Jasper bore down on her. She felt his hunger, his desire, flooding through the mate-bond. He crushed his muscular chest against her breasts. Claimed his lips with hers. And he thrust inside her, so tenderly she thought she might cry from the overload of sensation.

  He stilled when he was completely inside her. His heartbeat met hers, their breath mingling in the cool cavern. The scent of sweet spices filled her lungs. Her body. Her soul.

  They moved together. Each thrust, each breath, each heartbeat. The fire inside Abigail was still wild, still urgent and raging with need, but Jasper controlled her. The gold controlled her. And her desire built with every moment, to heights she had never believed possible.

  Her hands clenched. Every sensation seared across her soul. She was the heart of Jasper’s hoard and his loved pressed in on her, filled her every pore, buoyed her up like a star in the oceans of eternity. My mate. My mate. His heartbeat thudded in her ears and she knew, gazing into the depths of his eyes, that her heartbeat filled his.

  Gold-red eyes filled her vision. Her world. Dark pupils, wide with lust, and the flame of hot embers around their edges.

  “Oh God, Jasper— !” she gasped, and pleasure overwhelmed her.

  Sensual ecstasy caught her like a leaf in floodwaters. Pleasure cascaded through her, time and time again, until her limbs thrashed and she cried out in helpless abandon. The gold held her firm under her mate, until he drove into her harder than ever before, crying out as he spilled himself inside her.

  The chains retreated as they lay together, panting. Abigail was almost disappointed; she wanted them on her forever, to show that she was Jasper’s, his own, his mate. Forever.

  She wrapped her arms around him and the glimmer of gold caught her eye. The chains had retreated— but not all of them. Gold clung to her wrists, delicate filigree chains of snowflakes and stars.

  “I’m yours,” she said to Jasper. Love flowered inside her and she sent it to him through the mate-bond as joy filled her veins. “See?”

  Jasper touched the bracelets. “Mine,” he whispered. His eyes smouldered into hers.

  “Merry Christmas, Jasper,” Abigail said, curling her body around his. He wrapped his arms around her, and she felt safer and more loved than she ever had in her life.

  “Merry Christmas, my love,” he said, and Abigail kissed him. He was right. This was the happiest Christmas she had ever known.

  Epilogue

  Abigail

  ONE YEAR LATER

  The secret woke Abigail early. She’d felt it, these last few days, a newness, a strange new adventure growing inside her. But until now, she hadn’t known what it was.

  Wonder filled her. She allowed herself a private, amazed smile, letting joy flow through her veins as she stretched sleepily in her and Jasper’s massive bed.

  Love flowed back to her through the mate bond. Jasper had felt her wake up. She rolled over, ready to share her news.

  And found the bed empty.

  Abigail pushed herself up on her elbows, frowning. Where was he? This was Christmas morning— their second ever, the first since that wonderful first Christmas she had spent with her mate. Her husband. She looked at the rings on her finger. They had done things the wrong way around; her engagement ring was the plain gold ring Jasper had made for her last Christmas, with its inscribed dragon twining around her finger. The second was gold set with glittering jewels: one for each of the dates they had been on before Jasper claimed her as his own. One diamond for the terrible egg nog. One for the ice-skating, one for the dog-sledding. He’d even convinced her to include one for the night she almost lost him, their adventure up into Santa’s belly.

  And the biggest stone wasn’t really for a date. It was for their first Christmas Eve together, and the moment they had chosen one another forever.

  It was a jasper. Of course. Red and gold and almost as shining as her gorgeous husband’s eyes.

  Warmth blossomed inside her and she sent it down the mate bond. This wasn’t as selfless as it sounded; as a human, she couldn’t sense the mate bond with as much finesse as Jasper could. If he wanted to know where she was, all he had to do was think it. If she wanted to know where he was, she needed to flood the chain that connected them with overwhelming emotion.

  Luckily, when it came to her and Jasper, that wasn’t hard to come by.

  Jasper was in the kitchen.

  Any other morning, she could have forgiven him for that. But this morning, she had the secret. The best sort of news.

  Abigail slipped out of bed, pulled on a silky dressing gown, and padded through to the kitchen.

  Déjà vu caught her as she saw Jasper brewing coffee. They were in his cottage, of course. Just like last year. And they’d spent the previous night… well, very much like last year.

  She crept up to Jasper on tip-toe, even though she knew she could never sneak up on him. He sighed with happiness as she wrapped her arms around him from behind.

  “Awake already? I was going to surprise you with breakfast.” Strangely enough, he didn’t sound disappointed, especially after he turned around and snuck his hands under her silky robe. “But if you’re awake…”

  “Jasper, wait!” Abigail batted his hands away, laughing. He stopped at once, looking contrite.

  “Of course. You need coffee first.”

  “I think you’re going to need the coffee, actually.” She smiled at his confused frown, and let him to the small kitchen table. “Sit down.”

  “All right…” Jasper’s eyes narrowed. Abigail bit back a grin. He knew nothing was wrong; the mate bond would tell him if she was unhappy, or if the news she had for him was bad. But that was all he knew.

  Much as she loved the magic that connected her to her mate, she was glad. She wanted to tell him herself.

  Jasper sat down and she stood in front of him, feeling like her whole body was glowing with the secret.

  “Sweetheart, what is it?”

  “Something new. Or…” She took his hand and pressed it over her abdomen. “Someone new.”

  Jasper’s eyes went wide. She felt his shock through the mate bond— and then his happiness, wild and pure and true. “Someone?”

  Abigail held his happiness inside herself and then sent it back, overlaid with her own surprise and joy. “We’re going to have a baby. Don’t ask me how I know. When I woke up just now… it’s like she had woken up, too, for the first time.”

  “She?” Jasper’s eyes softened. “We’re going to have a daughter?”

  “A baby girl.” Abigail laughed. She flung her arms around Jasper’s neck and collapsed onto his lap, pressing herself against him. He stroked her belly. She knew she wasn’t showing yet; it was too early for that. Too early for anything but the mate-bond magic to reveal her body’s wonderful secret.

  “I can feel her, Jasper. It’s amazing. Like I can feel you.”

  Jasper bit his lower lip. A surge of warmth flowed through Abigail. He’d started doing that, this last year, and she knew he’d caught it from her. She felt the particular singing of the mate-bond inside her that meant her mate was focused entirely on her.

  “I feel her, too,” he whispered, his voice hushed with wonder. “Our daughter.”

  Happiness bubbled out of Abigail and she laughed out loud. “Oh, my darling,” she cried out, pulling Jasper into a kiss.

  “Merry Christmas, Jasper,” she whispered. “Just think. Next year, she’ll be here. Our first family Christmas.”

  She rested her forehead against his. A year ago, would she ever have imagined she could be t
his happy? But here she was, with everything she had never dared believe she truly wanted.

  Every Christmas she was with Jasper, she found some new joy in life. She couldn’t wait to discover what the next year brought them.

  Christmas Hellhound

  A Mate for Christmas, Book 2

  1

  Caine

  DECEMBER 20

  (CHRISTMAS EVE EVE EVE EVE EVE)

  Caine was having the dream again.

  He ran as fast as he could, but there was no escaping the monster. Everywhere he fled, every alleyway he sprinted down, every dark corner he hid in, the creature found him.

  At last his strength gave out. He collapsed, bloodying his knees and hands on the rough ground, exhaustion roaring through him.

  Everything was dark. The only sound was the rush of blood in his ears and his gasping breaths. Nothing else.

  Nothing else.

  Hope flared inside him, pale and delicate like the first blossoms of spring, and then the monster opened its eyes.

  His eyes.

  Caine burst awake, a scream echoing in his ears. One leg kicked out, hitting something that fell over with a crash, and for a moment he couldn’t remember where he was. Nothing was familiar: not the bedsheets tangled around him, not the smell of the air, not the silence. There were no traffic noises filtering in from outside, no distant or not-so-distant sirens blaring. No sounds of people at all.

  One thing was still the same. Caine closed his eyes, turning his vision inwards to the deepest shadows of his soul. There it was. The dangerous monster that lived inside him.

  Caine sat up wearily, getting his bearings. His hearing still seemed strangely muffled, and as he blinked and looked out the French doors at the end of his bed, he realized why. The world outside was blanketed in a thick layer of snow.

  The last piece of the puzzle clicked into place. Caine remembered where he was.