A Christmas Home

by April Zyon

  “If I’m asleep when you get back will you join me? I promise not to attack you, but I feel that safe with you. I want you to know that,” she said. She did, she trusted the man more than she could ever tell him and she felt as if there were the smallest of ties starting to pull the two of them together.

  “I’ll join you, but you’d better not be asleep. I’d like to get you naked in the hot tub,” he told her. Standing up, he pressed a kiss to her lips. “If you’re asleep I may wake you up just for kicks. See what you do with that.”

  She kissed him again. “Go, do what you need to do and come back to me quickly. If I’m sleeping, wake me because I want to try out that hot tub, naked.”

  “I will,” he said. Another kiss and he left her to the large box of bakery goodies. Probably a bad thing, but if she couldn’t have him there with her it would have to do for the time being.

  Chapter Seven

  When Ophelia woke the next morning she was nice and toasty warm. She reached for Jagger but frowned. He wasn’t in bed with her. Why? She sat up with the blankets held tightly to her chest. Then she smelled it. Coffee and bacon, two things she loved. “Oh God that man.” She got out of bed and even though she had on shorts and a t-shirt she wrapped the blanket around her because she was bloody damn well cold. She walked down the stairs, then stood against the wall and watched Jagger as he moved around the kitchen. “You made me breakfast?” she asked with a smile. “I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone make me breakfast before.” She moved from the wall and toward the coffee pot. Pouring herself a cup, she leaned against the counter while she watched him. “So why aren’t you married yet,” she teased.

  “I never found my mate before so there was no reason to marry. Now that I’ve found her it’s changing my thinking on the subject.”

  “Wait, what? Then why did you sleep with me last night?” she demanded, feeling even colder now. No they hadn’t been sexual but they had gotten hot and heavy with touches and kisses. It would figure that her vision would get screwed up.

  “I said I only recently met her. To be precise she tried to mow me down in a hotel lobby. Thankfully she’s too tiny to manage it, otherwise I’d be rethinking the whole mating her thing.” Stepping in, he pressed a kiss to her lips, then smacked her bottom. “And yes, I’m making you breakfast. The cinnamon buns are fresh, so you can start snacking on them while I do up the eggs. Go and sit before your head explodes.”

  She did, taking her coffee and snagging some bacon. She settled into a chair and finally asked, “And am I her?” That’s what she had to know. She knew it. In the deepest part of her heart she knew it, but she needed him to confirm it. That she was his.

  “Yes, you are her, silly woman.” Chuckling, he scraped out the pan he’d cooked the bacon in and got rid of the gunk. Then he poured in the eggs and got them cooking. “I figured you would have clued into that fact with that detail about you trying to mow me down in the hotel lobby. Was I not clear enough?”

  Just hearing the words made her feel warmer. The fact that he was telling her that she was his reaffirmed the thought she’d fleetingly had that they were mates. When she didn’t respond, he said, “Hey. Tell me what you’re thinking?”

  “I was just thinking of how good it felt to have you touching me, how nice it was to have you holding me. I know that’s weird but it’s the truth.” When he came toward her with a plate of eggs and bacon she let him put the plate down, then pulled him close after dropping a cinnamon roll on her plate. “I like you, a lot.” She could see herself giving her heart to him, easily.

  “I like you a lot, too, sweetheart.” He wrapped his arms around her and she felt him press a kiss to her hair. “Eat up, and then we’re going to have ourselves a chat. I have to go into work for a couple hours, but then we have the afternoon to do whatever we want.”

  “If you need to, you can go ahead and go. I’ll be here. No, wait.” She paused. “Instead will you take me to the resort? I don’t want to not have any way to get anywhere.”

  “Absolutely. If you want you could even pack up your stuff and turn in your key card. You know, if you’re interested in maybe doing a few more sleepovers.” He shot her a grin before letting her loose to get his own plate of food. Joining her at the breakfast bar, he set two cinnamon buns on his plate and began to eat. “When you’re ready come by the shop and we’ll drive back here.”

  “You wouldn’t mind?” He shook his head. “Then I’ll do it. I have a rental at the resort that I can use but if it’s really snowy out there I won’t drive, just so you know. I’m happy to move around on the snowmobile but not the Jeep.” She trusted the snowmobile more because, well, it was created for the snow. “I can follow you home, though.” Home. When she said that word it felt right.

  “Of course I don’t mind. I adore you, Ophelia. Of course I want you here, sweetheart. And the shop isn’t that far from the hotel. We’ll swing by there on the way to the resort so you know the way back. It’s ten minutes even in these conditions. The roads will be mostly clear, and if you take your time you’ll be just fine. Now eat up. We need to get moving, otherwise I’ll end up stuck at work all day instead of cuddling with you.”

  “Yes and that would make me very cranky,” she said with a grin before turning serious. “Are you sure that people won’t get upset with me all but moving in with you?”

  “There might be a set of twins who are mildly upset, but I think I can smooth that out with an extra scoop of ice cream and some assurances they are still my favorite under-ten girls. They’re the daughters of one of our workers at the shop. He had a heart attack a couple months ago, so I’ve been helping out by giving their mom a break so she can do her own thing or go see him without their boisterous natures overwhelming everyone.”

  “Ah so you have a fan club already. I can see it.” She was smiling at that. “And are they shifters, too? How will I know who is a shifter and who isn’t?” She was curious. She really wanted to know how to tell who was a shifter so that she didn’t hurt him in the process or upset his friends.

  He shook his head. “No, they’re human. So is their father and mother. Most shifters will tell you outright, especially now that you’re carrying some of my scent on you. But generally you really won’t know until you start learning the little tells each pack has. The wolves are the easiest. They tend to sniff folks. Can’t help it, and yet it’s still creepy.”

  “I think one of them sniffed me the first time I got a snowmobile. He said I smelled like honey and he wanted to lick me. He was weird. Seriously weird. Haven’t seen him since, though, so that’s a good thing,” she added with a shrug. “He was handsome but there was nothing about him that made me want to even get his name.”

  “That would be a bear, likely a grizzly since we Kodiaks tend to be a little more low-key. And we usually do not say anything about honey. The grizzlies see it as an insider joke. We don’t find it nearly so funny. It’s old, tired and done, in our opinion.” Scraping up the last of his eggs, he sat back to pull apart and eat the second of his cinnamon rolls. “You also weren’t fated to meet him and cozy up to him, only me. And yes that sounds as egotistical out loud as it did in my head.”

  “It’s okay. I think I really have been waiting my whole life for you. I’m just thankful that the asshole I was engaged to picked this place as our honeymoon. I kept it. Turned in the honeymoon suite in for a longer stay, and I’m glad I did. I got to meet you, after all.” She leaned in and kissed his shoulder. He pressed a kiss to her lips. “Finish up your breakfast while I shower and get dressed. Then I’ll tidy up down here while you get ready to head out.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll shower at the resort. And I’ll clean up down here so don’t worry about it, okay? I don’t want you to be late.”

  “You sure?” She gave him a nod. “Okay. I won’t be long. Ten minutes top,” he told her. Another kiss, then he slid off the chair and headed for the stairs. “Throw everything in the dishwasher. We’ll have enough to start it after dinn
er tonight.”

  “Sounds good. Think of me while you’re in the shower.” Oh she knew what she was doing to him, very much so, but she was perfectly fine with it. “Now go. Get your cute butt in the shower so we can get out of here.”

  “You will pay for that later,” he called over his shoulder. “Get yourself ready, woman. We leave in twenty minutes.” A couple minutes later she heard the water turn on and knew he was getting in. Which led her mind to dangerous territory best left for when they had time later.

  She quickly cleaned up the kitchen and dressed. She was pulling her boots on when he came down the stairs. Heavens he was a walking, talking, living and breathing wet dream. Damn. “I’m ready to go when you are.”

  “Then let’s get moving,” he said with a grin. Jagger threw on a leather jacket before he grabbed her jacket and held it for her. He opened the door for her and followed her out to the truck. After helping her in, he went around to get them moving. A half hour later he pulled up out front of the resort hotel and came to a stop. Hopping out, he gave her a hand down and walked her toward the door. “I’ll see you in a bit. Make sure you get everything so we don’t have to come racing back for your favorite fuzzy socks or something.”

  “Don’t worry, I would never forget my favorite socks.” She moved away from him quickly to run up the stairs and get her things so that they could go back to his place. If she was really lucky, in a few hours they would start to cuddle and warm up with some hot cocoa.

  Chapter Eight

  After cleaning up from their leisurely dinner, Jagger had taken a phone call while Ophelia went to get towels for their dip in his hot tub. He was still talking, and taking notes, too, she noticed, when she returned. Catching sight of her, he smiled and finished up the call, dropping his cell onto the notepad before coming her way.

  She tilted her head slightly and looked to him. “What’s happening?” She glanced at the notes he had been taking and moved closer, her hand on his back. “Is there something I can do to help you?” She wanted to help him, always.

  “Nothing to be done at the moment. It was my second calling with some details about the pack that wants to move here. The council has given us two weeks to do our own investigating since they know we’d do it anyway before we go back for a discussion. The vote to allow them to move in or not will be cast then.”

  “Do you have reservations about this group?” she asked as she moved to take the seat at his side. “Perhaps send people to where they’ve been before to find out if they had caused issues in other places? I know that sounds like a terrible thing, but the last thing you want is to have someone who will cause you to lose this amazing place to deviants.”

  “I have reservations about anyone that wants to move to my home with as many as they want to bring. Especially since they know there are six packs here already. We already have people on the outside looking into the pack now, and their past. That call was only about some of the information we’re hoping to gather. At the moment I’m hovering over a solid no way in hell to letting them move here.”

  “Are there more of them than there are of the people who are here currently?” She didn’t know how all of this worked, packs, the politics of it all and keeping peace between so many different species. “I would also be very blunt and ask them why they want to move with this pack, what happened with their last home. It might be a good idea to have people talking to the children and women. People that would normally be overlooked often have more inside information than could be garnered anywhere else.”

  “None of them are here, nor will they be unless we permit them to move here. We only received written request along with a listing of the pack members and genealogy of the pack. Don’t worry, we have investigators that can dig up anything and everything without ever even meeting one of the pack.”

  She shrugged and leaned into him when he came closer. “Then if all else fails you have a person who can see the future. I would just need to touch something that belonged to their alpha and I should be able to get a glimpse at their past, present, and future.” She was an oddity, only reason she was so readily able to accept Jagger as a shifter.

  “My little ace in the hole.” He pressed a kiss to her lips. “Let’s forget about them for now. We have two weeks to figure that mess out. For now I want to get you into my hot tub, and we both know you’ve been itching to get in there, too. Come on.” He held out a hand to her when he took a step back.

  She took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “I can’t wait to try out that hot tub. The view is spectacular.” It was odd to be in water when there was snow everywhere but they were only steps from the sliding doors and he had these large heating torches that warmed the patio area so it was all good.

  “It’s all about the view,” he said with a grin. Picking up the towels, he tugged her out onto the deck. He turned on the heaters, then hit the switch for the tub. Once everything was turned on he pulled the top from the tub. Then he began to strip down with the same ease and lack of self-consciousness he had when he’d done it to show her his bear.

  She simply watched him. She couldn’t seem to help herself. This man made every single part of her ache with need. He paused and lifted an eyebrow as if to ask why she wasn’t naked yet so with that she began to strip. She tried not to be self-conscious. She loved her curves, and God knew she had plenty, but she had never been with someone who was as fit and in shape as this man was.

  When she held on to her shirt—using it as a shield a moment longer than he obviously thought was necessary—Jagger tugged it from her hands. He set it aside and took her hands in his to lift her arms. Then he stepped in so their skin touched and slipped his arms around her. “You are gorgeous, Ophelia.” His voice was rougher and deeper than before, full of meaning and need.

  She let her hands move over his shoulders, then ran her fingers through his hair and pulled him close. She was on her toes but she seemed to fit him just right. “I’m glad you think so.” She tilted her head up to him and smiled. “I like my curves. I’m not the size that the doctors and media says that I should be but I don’t care. I’m healthy and I love that I have boobs and a butt. I could do with a little less belly but I’m still good with it and I’m glad you are, too.” She felt his growing erection and smiled. “Hot tub, right?”

  “You are perfect as you are, Ophelia. I love that you have curves. They make me hot to jump your bones, if you hadn’t figured that out.” He rocked his hips forward to press his hard cock against her belly and wiggled his eyebrows. Dropping his hands to her ass, he gave a squeeze while lowering his head. “We need to let the water warm before we climb in. It’s likely only a couple degrees over freezing right now.”

  “I think we should keep that thing running or get a solar blanket for it because I can see us using it a lot.” She tilted her head to the side to give him her neck to tease and nibble on. She felt her pussy creaming and lifted a leg to rub against the side of his.

  “I have an element I can slip into the tub to keep it warmer than ambient temperature. Now that you’re here, and since you appear to appreciate it, I’ll dig it out of the shed and start using it again. Thank the gods I use thermal energy to power this place or my bill would skyrocket.”

  She grinned and rubbed her cheek to his chest. “Yeah but I’m so worth it, admit it.” She hoped she was, at least. She knew that he was worth anything to her. “While we’re in the hot tub we can discuss what I could do around here to earn a living. ”

  She felt his fingers clench before he leaned back to stare at her. “Really?” he asked softly. At her nod he gave her a hard, fast kiss before drawing back again. “I am so damn pleased you want to stay, sweetheart. I was hoping, but hearing you say you want to stay has me wanting to do a jig. And I can’t dance worth shit.”

  “Why wouldn’t I want to stay when I have one of the most amazing men who wants me. All of me. You want everything and so do I,” she confessed. “Besides, I’ve had a vision of myself in the backyard wit
h snow coming down around me, hot cocoa in my hands and super pregnant with a man’s arms around me from the back. Never saw him, till now.” She pressed a kiss to the underside of his chin and added, “You.”

  “Mmm, I do like that image. But not for a while. I want you all to myself for the time being.” Jagger ushered her to the hot tub. He only let her in after he dipped a hand in and warned it was cool but no longer freezing.

  “Don’t worry, no babies for a while. I have an implant. If we want one before five years is up we will have to have it removed. For now I’m more than happy simply trying,” she admitted. “Oh, ” she hissed and looked to him. “You going to warm me?”

  Chuckling, he climbed into the tub and sat down. “It’s not that bad. You should try our polar bear dip we do mid-January. Then you’d be really glad to have me to warm you up.” He helped her climb into his lap and wrapped her up in his arms once more.

  “Yeah, no, not going to do that one. I’ll watch and cheer you on from the sidelines and hold the blanket for you.” She settled in his lap and nuzzled against him with a grin. “Do you have real polar bears here, well, shifter polar bears, that is?”

  “Here? No, they prefer living much farther north than this. We’ve had a few come through at this time of year for vacation like everyone else, but the summer months are a bit too warm for them here. Even in their human form they’re sensitive to shifts in temperature.”

  “Ah, you know that makes sense. It’s sad, though. I’ve seen images of starving momma polar bears on the ice sheets because they have to give birth on land and can’t go out as far as is necessary to hunt for food. It’s horrible for them. I’m assuming that the shifters wouldn’t have the same issues, right?”