Sugar, Spice, and Shifters: A Touch of Holiday Magic

by Élianne Adams

  Shea held me over his body easily. He let go, positioned his cock in line with my pussy, and slid into me. He gripped my hips, rocking my body up and down. Filling more than I ever thought possible, I immediately craved more when he moved me up. We both cried out, discovering pleasure we had no idea about. Or I had no idea about, anyway. Shea’d been right, every time was going to be better than the last.

  I fell forward, grasping his shoulders as the shockwaves, the sweet reward for giving him my body, rolled through me. I met his lips in a kiss, and Shea came inside me.

  “Shit.” He pulled me away from him, grabbing his shirt and rubbing it hard between my legs. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

  I put my hands up, puzzled.

  “I can’t get you pregnant. Especially this close to a full moon. There’s no telling what could happen. Neither of us are strong enough for that.” Shea kissed me, but frowned. “No wolf has ever successfully mated with a human.”

  — — —

  “Santa came!” Emma was a ball of energy, riding the high of opening her presents, jumping up and down when everyone arrived for brunch.

  I cleaned the paper from Hurricane Emma out of the living room. She had just as much fun playing with the wrappings and bows as she did with her presents. She already had everything open, begging Major to build her doll house. When he said she had to wait, she moved to Shea, who couldn’t say no to her. My heart almost burst watching them lay out the pieces--even more so after our conversation last night.

  I wondered if Cass and Emma would shift, too. If they were expected to fight. This amazing little family that couldn’t be ripped apart.

  The adults hadn’t opened presents yet. We decided to do a swap so everyone was guaranteed a gift without spending a ton of money. I got Kiera, who was super easy. Shea had brought me to her favorite coffee shop, and I picked out a couple winter flavors for her. I wasn’t as confident about what I’d made for Shea.

  “Need any help?” Trina asked Cass, who was in the kitchen making pancakes.

  “Yes. Start spiking the coffee!” she laughed.

  We crowded around the table, some of us pulling chairs up to the counter. All of us heaped our plates with pancakes, sausage, and home fries. Yesterday’s drama was forgotten while Cass entertained us with stories about the guys as kids. I didn’t realize wolves could blush.

  “Let’s exchange gifts!” Kiera cried out, too excited, clearing all the plates she could reach. “I can’t wait any longer!”

  Kiera loved what I got her. Shadow had me, and I was thrilled to open a pair of pink polka dot pajamas.

  “I had help picking them out.” Shadow nudged Trina.

  “You have to get new jammies for Christmas. It’s a law somewhere,” she added.

  “You won’t be needing those,” Shea whispered in my ear. “But I’ll have fun unwrapping you.”

  “I think Shea and Delaney should start with the couple gifts,” Lyssie said. Everyone turned to her. “They’re the newest couple. And they’re so cute together.”

  My gift to Shea fit in an envelope. I’d drawn the Christmas tree on the front of it, and given it a bow. He narrowed his eyes and the room fell silent as he pulled a piece of paper out.

  I’d drawn another version of the picture he caught me drawing, the picture that changed everything for us. Golden flowers and sunburst butterflies with a vine spiraling around them. He looked up at me, puzzled. I picked the paper up and placed it over his heart, tapping on it.

  “You drew me a tattoo?” he asked. I nodded. “Fuck, that’s hot. I don’t know if my gift measures up.”

  “Of course it will,” Cass said, sitting on Major’s lap. Emma crawled on top of her. I loved it when they settled in a pile. It was comfortable and messy and I wanted that someday for me and Shea.

  “Come on.” Shea grabbed my hand and brought me outside. There were two tiny bushes that I’d never noticed before by the stairs. “They’re holly bushes. One for me, one for you. I wanted something that was never complete, always growing. Just like us. Something that was beautiful and made things better, like you do for me. And every time we walk through the front door, here we are. I hope they make you think of me.”

  I loved them. They were perfect, not only because of all the reasons Shea mentioned, but they meant I was home. This was our home, it would always forever be growing and changing, never complete, but always beautiful.

  X whacked Shea on the shoulder, and he only let me see him wince. I hadn’t realized everyone followed us outside. “Who knew you had it in you?”

  “That’s the most romantic thing I ever heard,” Trina said, nuzzling against Shadow for a kiss.

  Shea took my face in his hands. “How do you say I love you in sign language?”

  I went up on my tiptoes and kissed him.

  We didn’t need words, we just needed each other.

  ABOUT

  Sawtooth Shifters

  Each new moon, a Sawtooth Forest wolf finds his mate. Check out other titles by Kristen Strassel.

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  Kristen Strassel

  Kristen Strassel writes books about rock stars and vampires. After all, they tell you to write what you know. She is a passionate music fan who also loves football games and diner food. Kristen works as a makeup artist on film and TV shows when she's not writing, and loves being behind the scenes. A former resident of Las Vegas, Kristen now lives in the Boston area.

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  Bringing Christmas to the Dragons

  Dragon Ruins

  Rinelle Grey

  With time running out before his clan’s prince is discovered by mining or killed by enemy dragons, dragon shifter Jayrian needs to convince the elders to accept help from the humans. He hopes that the clever librarian, Gretchen, might be able to help him with that. He didn’t count on falling for her—that wasn’t part of his plan at all.

  Gretchen longs for adventure outside of the books she reads in her job as a small town librarian. But not the kind that involves her moving to the big city to take the promotion her Aunt Mary offers. The cute guy who’s been hanging around the library seems far more exciting—there’s just something about him that draws her—so on impulse, she invites him to her family’s Christmas celebration. When a dragon lands on the front of her car on the way there, she wonders if she’s gotten more than she bargained for.

  Together they must find a way to save his prince and clan, without sacrificing who they are, or their budding relationship.

  ONE

  Cars lined the side of the road. Parents leaned on windows, chatting. The lollipop lady had her sign at the ready. Of course it had to be school pickup time.

  Jayrian didn’t need to slow down for the forty zone, his push bike didn’t make those sort of speeds anyway, but he did have to watch out for a car door opening, or a toddler who might wander onto the road.

  It distracted him for a moment, but the bustle passed too soon, and he was back to the open road.

  He wasn’t too sure why he hurried. It was by chance that he’d seen the notice on the community notice board while he waited for the library to open. The news was weeks old already, and they still had weeks to act. Mining wouldn’t start until the human Christmas was well and truly over. Nothing happened in the sleepy Australian outback town between Christmas and New Year.

  But the news still set his heart racing and made him feel an urgent need to do something. Anything. And compared to the last three hundred years of waiting and how slowly the elders moved on anything, a few weeks was a very short time in which to do something.

  If only the elders could see that.

  Clearing the edge of the small outback town, there was only flat, dry plains between him and the lair. Urgency singing through his veins, Jayrian peddled as hard as he could, despite the hot, summer sun beaming down on him. He didn’t care about sweating or the dust he stirred up, some of which stuck to the sweat. He just needed to pa
ss this news on to someone so it wasn’t his responsibility anymore.

  He ducked and wove his way through the stunted trees, then dropped his bike in the dirt outside the huge red dirt mound that was the entrance to the lair. Ignoring a couple of human form dragons sitting on a log outside, Jayrian raced into the mound, and down a slope into the cave below, not even bothering to change his clothes. It was cooler inside, under the ground, but Jayrian barely noticed. He looked around, past the human form dragons sitting on fur’s chatting, searching for Hestrian. He found the man near the waterfall at the back of the cave.

  “I need to speak the elders,” he demanded.

  Hestrian never hurried. He was eighty-nine years old. Still not as old as the youngest of the elders, but old enough that he never rushed for anything. “Their position on your suggestion has not changed. They do not wish to speak of it again.”

  Of course they weren’t going to listen to anything he said. He was only twenty-five. How could he possibly have anything useful to say? Jayrian bit back a retort, and forced himself to speak politely. “I have some important news from the human village. That’s why they sent me there, wasn’t it? So they would know if the humans were up to anything? Well, something is about to happen. Something very bad.”

  Some of the urgency he felt must have communicated itself to Hestrian, because, though he still looked disapproving, he said, “I will speak to them and see if they are willing to see you.”

  He turned and padded slowly through the entrance at the back of the cave.

  Jayrian shifted impatiently from one foot to the other.

  Hestrian was gone for a while so Jayrian had long enough to go through all the possible conversation starters he could use with the elders, imagine all their responses, think up arguments that went much better in his head than they probably would do in actuality, and to think he probably should have changed clothes. While the elders wouldn’t mind sweaty, they weren’t impressed by human clothes. They said they were too awkward for everyday wear.

  Just as he was wondering if he had time to change, Hestrian returned. “You may enter. They will see you now.”

  No time for second thoughts. Jayrian’s legs trembled as he walked down the long passageway to the elder’s chamber. More to do with the exertion of the long ride than nerves, he was certain.

  The sight of all five elders, one from each of the different types of magic except lightning, in full dragon form, made him catch his breath. It was rare for the dragons to shift these days. Jayrian had only done it once or twice himself. They were too afraid the humans would see them. But here, deep in the dragon’s lair, they were safe to be what they truly were.

  “You wish to see us, youngling?” Kyrian boomed inside Jayrian’s head. The metal dragon’s scales glinted silver in the firelight. The dragon’s strength and age gave him an unofficial leadership of the group of elders.

  After weeks in the human village, the dragon’s telepathy took some getting used to.

  Jayrian swallowed. “Yes, elder. I have news from the human village, and it is not good.”

  “Well spit it out,” Mesrian prodded. “We’re not getting any younger, you know.” An encouraging smile removed any sting from her words.

  Mesrian’s impatience mirrored his own. Not surprising given she was a fire dragon as he was. And her matter of fact words, helped Jayrian calm himself. He couldn’t afford to upset the elders. He couldn’t risk them continuing to delay making a decision. They had to act now. Before it was too late.

  “The humans are going to mine the Dragon Scales. They’ve found a coal vein there,” he blurted out.

  The only sign of surprise Kyrian gave was a slight widening of his eyes.

  The other dragons rumbled in alarm.

  “This is a concern,” Mesrian said slowly. “When?”

  “I don’t know. Soon, in the next few weeks, but not until after New Year,” Jayrian said. “They do nothing until then.”

  “That gives us time,” Kyrian said. “Do you have any more information?”

  This was Jayrian’s opening. He took a deep breath. “Edtrima still guards the Mesmer chamber entrance, but I know the perfect human to send instead. She’s a…”

  “Enough,” Kyrian raised a claw. “We have already listened to, and decided against, this plan of yours. Before the princes entered their Mesmer sleep, they ordered us not to divulge our existence to the humans. This is not sufficient reason to disrespect their wishes.”

  “But if you’d just listen…” Jayrian said desperately.

  “No. Do not speak of it again. Return to the human village, but keep your distance. You are there to observe them, not make friends. Remember that. If you find any further information, return immediately. You are dismissed.”

  Jayrian stared at the faces of all five elders, but each looked impassive and determined. Like old, weathered rocks. Mesrian looked sympathetic at least, but that didn’t mean she was any more likely to be swayed than the others. He’d tried before.

  His shoulders slumped as he walked slowly back out of the elders chamber, down the corridor, and past all the human form dragons. They watched curiously, but no one attempted to stop him as he headed back out to his bicycle.

  He didn’t see his parents, and right now, he didn’t want to. They would act sympathetic, but they never meant it. They agreed with the elders. Everyone always agreed with the elders. Wait until the princes wake, then they can make the decisions. That’s why they’d lived their entire lives in hiding, unable to even transform into their natural form for fear of being discovered.

  Jayrian scowled.

  He could probably find out when the mining was due to happen if he searched around a little, but what was the point if the elders weren’t going to do anything? His plan might not be foolproof, but it was better than anything anyone else had put forwards. He even had the perfect person to wake Prince Taurian, but they didn’t even want to listen.

  Prince Taurian’s Mesmer chamber would be discovered when the mining started. There was no way around it. Then humans would be involved in dragon business, no matter what the elders wanted.

  All because they were too stubborn to do anything differently. Because they were too afraid of disappointing the mystical prince none of them had ever met.

  If they kept this up, they’d never meet him. No one would.

  TWO

  Gretchen squeezed a book onto an already overfull shelf, then sighed at the number of books she still had to go. She glanced at the entrance to the library again, but he hadn’t mysteriously turned up. She would have heard the door anyway.

  She chastised herself for the stab of disappointment. So what if he hadn’t missed a single day at the library in the last couple of weeks. He didn’t owe her anything. Hell, she didn’t even know his name. So what if he always seemed happy to talk to her, and even seemed to seek her out sometimes? He had no idea how much she looked forward to talking about books with him. How even the most mundane of conversations, such as the way he’d asked her how he could search for all the articles about dragons that didn’t include virgin princesses, were somehow exciting when he was involved.

  It did help that he had such interesting searches.

  Gretchen sighed. It was Christmas Eve, he was probably home with his family. That was more important than coming to the library.

  In a few hours, she’d be seeing her own extended family. The Christmas get together was always so much fun. She should be looking forward to it. She always had when she was little.

  But this year was different. Aunt Mary would be looking forward to Gretchen sharing news of her impending new job as collections manager at the Yerlou library with the whole family. Gretchen still didn’t know what to say. If she told Aunt Mary she didn’t want the job, she’d be disappointed.

  At least Aunt Mary’s disappointment might distract the rest of her family from their teasing about her lack of a boyfriend.

  She couldn’t really speak her mind at their teasi
ng, they’d only insist that they were, and make it her problem for being upset.

  It wasn’t her fault that she hadn’t met anyone who she liked in that way. And at twenty-four, she still had plenty of time to find the perfect man.

  How did one meet men anyway? It was easy in school, where you had plenty of chances to get to know each other. Gretchen had had a few boyfriends then, though even then, she’d preferred her book boyfriends. They never made fun of her for preferring to read instead of going to the game, or said she should wear makeup more often.

  Gretchen adjusted her glasses, and leaned back on her heels, staring up at the books in front of her. Why was fantasy always so much better than reality? Was there something wrong with her, or something wrong with her reality?

  Or was it just that she was too busy sitting around waiting for someone else to ask her out? She had the perfect opportunity here with Mr Sexy Fantasy Man, and all she did was discuss search techniques with him. Surely there had to be an opportunity to ask him out in there somewhere?

  The automatic doors hissed as they slid and Gretchen’s heart beat a little faster. Was it him? Scrambling to her feet, she smoothed out her skirt, crumpled from kneeling, and berated herself for thinking she should have actually put on some makeup this morning.

  Pushing her trolley of un-shelved books, she headed back for the counter. It was nearly time to close up anyway. She’d finish shelving them after the holiday. They’d still be here.

  She glanced sideways towards the door, trying to look disinterested, just in case it was old Henry looking for a new book on World War II. She wasn’t in the mood today.

  But it wasn’t. It was him.

  A smile lifted Gretchen’s lips at the sight. Her eyes soaked up this familiar black hair, cut long enough that it had a slight wave to it, and sought out his eyes, their deep, almost golden, brown mesmerising her.