by Zoe Chant
Like those ice-skaters who turned up just at the wrong moment, she thought, and immediately shook her head. No. That wasn’t fair. She might be a Grinch, but that was no reason to be nasty. The carol-singing idiots might have looked like they’d been dragged backwards through a Christmas tree, but they weren’t miserable. No one who actually hated Christmas could sing carols with such reckless, tuneless abandon.
No. They were happy, and Jasper had been happy, and she was just a miserable, soulless Grinch. She hadn’t even properly thanked Jasper for the scarf and gloves, even though they were the best present anyone had ever given her.
Oh, God, definitely don’t tell him that. That’s like, one step above socks being the most exciting Christmas present ever. One hundred percent pathetic.
She stared out the car window, blinking hard. Her eyes cleared and she realized where they were. “We’re going back to my place?”
Jasper pulled in to park. “We could go back to mine, but you wouldn’t come back anytime soon.” He yanked on the hand brake and winced. “Let’s pretend that didn’t come out sounding all serial-killer. I mean, I’m staying halfway up the mountain. You can see what would happen. We get out there, it snows overnight, roads closed— or maybe I just tell you the roads are closed, because once I have you in my bed I never want to let you go.”
“Hmm.” Abigail rolled her eyes at him. “And then I miss work— get fired— lose my apartment, and freeze on the streets?”
“No.” Jasper leaned across to kiss her. “Because you’re still in my bed, remember? In this entirely theoretical situation.”
“Tempting… but I’d better not risk it. Not even an avalanche could keep Mr. Bell from rocking up to yell at me for missing my shift, and if I’m living in your bed by this point, that could get embarrassing.”
Jasper sighed dramatically. “There goes my plan to carry you off into the mountains.”
Abigail laughed. She hadn’t felt this happy in— too long. And nothing had ever been able to pull her out of her Christmas-time unhappiness as well as a single smile from Jasper could.
Warmth unspooled inside her as she undid her seatbelt. Quick as a flash, Jasper was out of the car and racing around to open the passenger door for her.
She stepped onto the sidewalk, icy air biting at her cheeks. “Aren’t you staying with your family, anyway? Didn’t you say something about a nephew?”
“I—” Jasper’s mouth snapped shut. “Well, yes. There’s the lodge. But I have my own, personal bachelor pad on the property. Believe me, I’m not going to whisk you away to a romantic snowy realm where you get woken every morning by a four-year-old dra— menace jumping on the bed.”
Abigail tipped her head on one side. Another smile was pulling at her lips. Hadn’t she run through her quota for the month already? And yet every time she looked at him, there another one was. It was almost like the guy made her happy, or something. Almost like you might be falling—
Her heart leapt— and she caught it and wrestled it to the ground. He was fun. And spending time with him was definitely preferable to sulking around in her apartment all alone.
“So,” she said, sneaking her hand into his. “Is this some sort of hint? All this talk about trapping me in your bed… Are you suggesting I should trap you in my bed, or something?” She checked the car clock. “For the next seven hours, at least.”
“Is that a promise?” Jasper smiled wickedly at her.
* * *
“When you promised to trap me in your bed, I assumed you’d be in it, too,” came Jasper’s plaintive voice from the bedroom.
“In a minute!” Abigail bundled her uniform into her mini washer-dryer. “I have to get the washing on!”
“I can take them to the laundromat again in the morning,” Jasper argued.
“Waste of money,” Abigail muttered. “Where’s the laundry detergent— aha.” She checked the inlet hose was firmly attached to the faucet, and dropped the drain hose into the shower. She gave the machine one last tap before she turned it on.
“Please don’t flood the bathroom again,” she whispered.
The little washer-dryer was a lifesaver. Her apartment building didn’t have a laundry, and the laundromat around the corner mostly catered for wealthy tourists— with prices to match. One more thing she hadn’t taken into account when she moved here.
If only the machine didn’t break down and flood the bathroom one time out of ten. She’d bought it for herself a few Christmases ago, which had been a mistake. It was stupid to think that if she’d bought it any other time of year, it would have crapped out less, but… well. Abigail and Christmas had never mixed.
A black-button eye caught hers as she stopped at the door to turn off the bathroom light. Her stomach twisted. The kitten toy from the shop roof was hanging from the shower head, where she’d left it to drip dry. It had dripped, but it didn’t look like it would be dry anytime soon.
“Why didn’t I just throw you out?” she muttered, and closed the shower door.
Jasper was waiting for her in the bedroom. In her bed. Completely naked, complete with cunningly placed pillow and a reproachful look in his eyes.
“Don’t look at me like that. I can’t abandon my chores every night,” Abigail said. A mischievous impulse made her grin. “Speaking of chores, there really are a few other things I need to get done…”
“Please, have mercy!” Jasper leapt from the bed and knelt at her feet. “Whatever it is, leave me to do it when you go to work tomorrow. Vacuuming. Dishes. Polishing the silverware.”
“Aha!” Abigail cried, arching one eyebrow. “So that’s it, is it? Your dastardly plan. Trick your way into my bed and my apartment, and then run off with the silver while my back is turned.” She ran her toes along Jasper’s thigh, stopping just short of the still-intact modesty pillow. “Joke’s on you, it’s all aluminum. And plastic.”
Jasper groaned and let his head fall back. Abigail’s eyelids lowered as she looked down his body, her gaze trailing slowly from his neck, to the curve of his collarbone— down to his firm pectorals and the flat planes of his stomach and abs, the deep, alluring V that led between his legs…
Abigail lifted her eyes again to find Jasper staring straight at her, a smirk hovering on his lips. “Damn it, you’ve found me out,” he murmured, his voice like honey-smooth chocolate. “If only I could think of a way to distract you from my nefarious, cutlery-thieving ways…”
The pillow slipped lower. Abigail licked her lips.
“Go on…” she said, sinking down in front of him. “Distract me.”
CHAPTER 8
Jasper
*
DECEMBER 22
THREE DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Jasper parked around the corner from the square— a cause for celebration, given how busy the town center was this close to Christmas. Gold and red lights glimmered above the street, leading towards the square. Towards his Abigail.
He turned the engine off and closed his eyes, just for a moment. Abigail. Letting her leave the bed this morning had been almost impossible. Seeing her dress for work— he’d wanted to shift then and there, pick her up and fly her deep into the mountains, to the Heartwell lodge and his personal hoard.
A shiver ran through him. His hoard. He would take her there, eventually. Eventually? Try sometime in the next couple of days. And when he did…
Jasper frowned. Abigail was so prickly about the magic of Christmas, and he was beginning to suspect there was more to it than just grumpy Grinch-ness. The look on her face the night before… He shook himself. How would she react to him inviting her to join with him on top of a pile of gold?
Guess we’ll find out soon. He had plans for tonight: romantic, non-Christmassy, perfect plans. If everything went well, the night would end with Abigail in his arms, and on his hoard. And then his prickly, sharp, glorious Abigail would truly be his mate, now and forever.
He jumped out of the car, leaping over a pile of icy snow. Inside him, his d
ragon rose up, wings outstretched. Fly!
Not yet, he reminded it. Didn’t we fly enough this morning, with Cole? Not that what he does can really be called “flying”… more “falling with intent”… Intent of dive-bombing, most of the time.
Heart light, he practically skipped down the street, buoyed by the glow of festive lights and the enticing scents of spice and coffee on the air. The only way this evening could be better was if I could smell snow on the air, as well, he thought, kicking at a small snow-drift as he rounded the corner into the square. Clearly it had snowed in Pine Valley recently, probably only just before he arrived. It would be a white Christmas. But that wasn’t the same as seeing snowflakes settle on his mate’s eyelashes, and kissing them off her lips…
When she is your mate, he reminded himself. When he’d made things official. Yes. When he’d completed the simple task of revealing his true nature to her, and convincing her they were meant to be together, and taking her up the mountain—
His foot slipped. Jasper shifted his weight to keep his balance, but his legs didn’t obey. For a moment, his vision swam, going double. Four legs slipped out from under him. Two wearing dark trousers, and two huge and scaled.
Jasper squeezed his eyes shut. When he looked down at himself again, there were only two legs. Human. Wearing pants. And one human ass, currently soaking up snowmelt from the sidewalk.
He groaned and rolled onto his knees. His vision swam again and he pinched the bridge of his nose. He might not be able to see his dragon’s phantom body any more, but he could feel…
A shiver jolted down his spine. He could feel his dragon, but not like he ever had before. It had always been a part of him. When he was human-shaped, the dragon curled up in the fire of his soul, deep inside. And when he was dragon-shaped, his human side made itself at home in the dragon’s fiery heart. But now— it was like the dragon was being shaken loose. Like something was tearing it out of him.
He was losing his dragon.
No! It’s too soon! He gritted his teeth and pulled, wrapping psychic arms around the burning shape of his dragon as tremors struck them both. I still have three days— not now—
“Jasper?” Abigail’s voice exploded into his mind like fireworks. He took a shaky breath. The tremors stopped. His dragon was still there, safe inside him. He pushed himself up and saw Abigail running towards him. “Jasper, what happened? Are you all right?”
Jasper forced himself upright before Abigail reached him. Too fast. He swayed, and then she was with him, holding him upright.
He let his head drop onto hers and inhaled deeply. Her scent filled him, sweet and warm and his.
“I’m fine,” he mumbled into her hair. “I fell— hit my knee. Like an idiot.”
“Are you sure?” Abigail held him at arm’s length, frowning as she inspected his face. “You’re so pale.” She bit her lip and Jasper’s heart lurched. His mate might be spiny, but the spikes surrounded a soft, delicate heart. “If you want to cancel tonight—”
“Never.” He tipped her head back and kissed her, tender and— he had to admit it— more than a little desperate.
Abigail’s lips were warm and soft. Her touch grounded him with memories of their two nights together, and promises of more. He moaned gently into her mouth and she pressed into him, her hands gripping his coat.
“Falling over in the street is embarrassing enough,” he murmured. “I don’t want to go and lick my wounds at home by myself.”
Abigail stilled. Jasper forced himself not to respond. Not pull away, and not pull her closer, either. After a moment she scowled and tugged at his jacket, yanking him closer to her. “I wasn’t going to send you home alone. I meant, if you wanted a quiet evening, instead…”
He kissed her again, relief washing through him. She wasn’t pushing him away. The shaking was gone. He was himself again, dragon and human and whole.
“There’ll be time for a quiet evening later,” he assured her, nipping at the fingertips of her glove. The glove he had given her. “First, I want to take you somewhere special.”
* * *
“How far away is this ‘somewhere special’?” Abigail asked. Her eyes narrowed. “This isn’t you stealing me away to your mountain bachelor-pad, is it?”
“And risk Mr. Bell’s wrath? Certainly not.”
“So where are we going?”
Jasper shot her what he hoped was a mysterious, sexy smile. “You’ll see.”
Abigail mock-frowned at him and he laughed.
“Don’t worry, I’ll get you home in time for your beauty sleep. Not that you need it.”
Abigail ducked her head, cheeks pink. “Well, I sure didn’t get it last night. I was almost asleep on my feet the last few hours at work. If I have to listen to another Christmas carol tonight, I’ll scream.”
Jasper paused with his finger two inches from the radio button, and smoothly transitioned the gesture into reaching for Abigail’s hand. She wove her fingers between his, staring out the window as they left the small town behind.
They were driving in the opposite direction to the previous night’s date, deeper into the mountains instead of looking out over the foothills. Snow-covered bluffs rose either side of the road, white peaks disappearing into the darkness. The pine trees were so dark against the snow they looked like black shadows of nothingness.
“It’s so beautiful out here,” Abigail said quietly.
“Picture perfect. I’m not surprised the town goes crazy over Christmas, with views like this in their backyard. It’s like the North Pole out here.”
“Except there aren’t any trees at the North Pole,” Abigail said absently.
Jasper kept his eyes on the road, but his attention was laser-focused on his mate. Had she just said something Christmassy, without sounding like she hated it?
His skin prickled. His dragon was interested in what he’d just heard. Very interested.
Play it cool. He cleared his throat. “Well, there aren’t flying reindeer, either, but it’s all part of the magic, isn’t it?”
She snorted, but it didn’t sound like her heart was in it. “Oh, magic. That’s one word for it, I guess. But it’s all just lies people tell children, isn’t it? Until they can’t even be bothered with that anymore.”
Not all magic is fake, Jasper wanted to say, his heart sinking. I’m not fake. What I feel for you isn’t fake. But if you think Christmas is all about lying, how can I convince you that this isn’t just a fling, and you’re truly my soul mate?
By taking her out of her Christmas-mad town. That was his plan. He just had to hope it would work.
A few minutes later, he followed a side-road into the outskirts of the forest and pulled up outside a long, low building. It was a classic log cabin on commercial scale, with red-painted windows and a sign hanging above the entryway: Home of the Puppy Express!
“Oh, I’ve heard of this place!” Abigail leaned forward, staring at the sign. “I always wanted to give it a go, but I— um. Well. You know.”
“You don’t get out much this time of year, I know. It’s a good thing I came along.” Jasper practically skipped around the car to open the door for her. “The ideal companion for a night out.”
“Or in,” she murmured, leaning close to him as she got out of the car. “Brr— is this where we’re having dinner? I hope it’s warm inside. I’m not really dressed for it.” She was wearing the same tight black pants she had worn to their date the night before, but it was even colder here under the trees than it had been at the rink.
“Not a problem.” Jasper reached into the back seat and pulled out a bag. “I knew we wouldn’t have time to go back to yours for a change of clothes, so I picked these up earlier. I think I’ve got the sizes right…”
He watched as Abigail looked inside the bag. “You— these are from the most expensive shop in town! You didn’t seriously… oh, my God.” She looked up at him. “Are you sure? I can’t— I mean, there’s a whole outfit in here.” She dug further into
the bag. “There’s shoes. Jasper, I can’t accept this!”
Jasper had been ready for this. He braced himself against his dragon’s crushing disappointment. It took a lot of human self-control not to take to the skies and go sulk on the highest mountain-top in the ranges, but he managed it.
He’d gone back to the store where he bought the gloves and scarf. He’d only meant to buy the matching hat for the scarf-and-gloves set. And then he’d remembered her stockinged legs, and wondered how windproof her navy-blue coat was…
He opened his mouth, a dozen pre-prepared arguments on the tip of his tongue. But before he could start, Abigail wrapped her arms around him, squeezing until he couldn’t breathe.
“Thank you,” she muttered into his chest. “This is way too much, and I don’t know why you’re bothering… but thank you.” She pulled away and wiped her eyes quickly.
“I thought for a moment you were going to tell me to turn the car around and return them,” Jasper joked. Were her eyes a little red? His dragon clacked its claws together nervously. Had his practical, definitely-not-a-Christmas-gift not been the right thing to do?
Abigail giggled. “I already saw that you’re taken the tags off everything.”
“And I paid in cash. And I lost the receipts. All of them.” Abigail’s giggle turned into a snort of laughter and the knot in Jasper’s chest loosened. It was all right. “Come on. They should be ready for us by now.”
He pushed through the door. The room inside was comfortably warm, blissful after the bite of cold outside. Flames crackled in a six-foot-wide fireplace, sending flickering light over a couple of temptingly deep armchairs and a thick patterned rug.
It would have been the perfect location for a quiet, private dinner; but that wasn’t what Jasper had planned. He caught Abigail’s eye and nodded towards the back window. She walked over, shopping bag clutched tightly to her chest.