Buck Me... For 4th Of July: BBW Paranormal Were-reindeer Shapeshifter Holiday Romance (Frost Brothers' Brides Book 5)

by Anya Nowlan

  “That was…” she stuttered, not really sure what she was going to say.

  “It was,” Comet agreed.

  Instead of pulling out of her, he wrapped his arms around her and sat up with her in his lap, keeping her close to him. Rina rested comfortably against his wide chest, not caring to move an inch, even though he was still inside her. Comet fumbled with something and then she felt the warmth of his leather jacket around her shoulders, keeping her protected where Comet’s body wasn’t immediately touching hers.

  “I’m not sure we’re being very good at this whole ‘talking’ thing,” Rina said after a while, laughing slightly.

  “Really? This is the best conversation I’ve had in forever,” Comet shot back, making her giggle even harder.

  Fourth of July is really kicking yesterday’s ass so far.

  Comet

  Driving back to Seberra early in the morning, Comet couldn’t believe everything that had happened over the last few hours. He had to keep checking the passenger seat to make sure that Rina was still there, curled up under his jacket, sleeping soundly. Sometimes, he’d reach his hand out just to feel her warmth, to convince himself that it was all real and not some sort of convoluted dream.

  He shook his head, grinning like a madman. They’d made love three times before it got too cold to think or do anything other than stay curled up together, but by then, the sun was coming up. They watched the sunrise together and then, reluctantly, got their things and marched back to the truck. Duties called and Comet wasn’t exactly happy to meet them head on.

  This is insane, he thought, shaking his head.

  He’d been telling himself that over and over again for most of the drive. But Seberra was getting awfully close and he still didn’t know what was going to happen next. Worst of all, he didn’t know what he wanted to happen.

  It was obvious that while Rina had moved on, there was still something there. Something big and indefinable and oh so intoxicating. For Comet Frost, there was no question about what it was. He’d known that she was his mate when he’d left her, but back then, he’d been certain that he was doing the right thing.

  For her.

  While she’d made something of herself and was building a legacy she could be proud of, Comet couldn’t help but think that he’d screwed over both of them. It had been stupid, teenage angst that had led him to turn tail and run, but wasn’t he smart enough to make the right decisions now?

  What if I just disappoint her again?

  The thought brought a frown to his expression and Comet leaned his elbow on the door, the window rolled down again. He liked the feeling of the cool air whipping past him as he drove down the road, Seberra looming menacingly in the distance. It stood as a marker of all the decisions he had to make, right then and there. The decisions he’d been running from for most of his adult life.

  What if she’d be better off without me?

  The question was particularly bitter – it had been the same rationalization he’d given himself when he’d left her last time. Thinking that no young woman would want to be tied down by a man who was never around, and even worse, was a shifter, he’d made the choice for both of them.

  And he’d regretted it every goddamn day since.

  Comet was spiraling into the darkness of his thoughts, the happy warmth of the night spent with Rina keeping him somewhat at bay, when she stirred next to him. Rina yawned and Comet chuckled.

  “You sound adorable,” he said, giving her a look.

  “Yeah? Did I snore?” she asked with a crooked grin, mussing a hand through her curly hair.

  “No. I meant the yawn.”

  “Ah, yes. Well, I’ll have you know that I planned this carefully, timing it so it would be the most impactful yawn you would ever hear,” Rina said, flopping back against the seat and studying the outlines of the town up ahead. “So we’re almost there,” she said thoughtfully.

  “We are,” Comet confirmed.

  “So what happens now?”

  Comet quieted for a moment.

  I wish I knew.

  “Take a right here,” Rina said suddenly as they came up to an intersection.

  He reacted without thinking. A bit later he realizes why he knew the road – it was the one that would lead to the airport. It was a rinky-dink little operation, but odds were good that Big Red Eight – the plane he and Dash had flown in – was still there. While its massive size would have made one assume that it couldn’t land at little airports like the one Seberra sported, the Frost dynasty was excruciatingly good at engineering and piloting aircrafts that defied the laws of physics.

  At least enough to land wherever they wanted, anyway.

  “The airport?” he asked, frowning slightly. “What’s there?”

  “Work,” Rina said, rolling her shoulders back.

  “I guess that goes for both of us.”

  It took a few more minutes to make it to their destination and park the truck. The airport was a small affair, barely even gated and fenced, and a mere wave at an attendant saw both Rina and Comet strolling in like they were regulars. Comet had grabbed his bag and was carrying it over his shoulder as he followed Rina, enjoying the view of her walking in front of him way too much.

  “Ri! Oh my god, I thought the coyotes ate you!” a plump, short, chocolate-skinned woman squealed, skipping out of a small airplane that was kept pretty close to the main gates. “Where were you?”

  Comet watched with some mounting awkwardness as the two women hugged, averting his gaze to glance around the airport for his plane instead. It was over across the single runway the airport boasted, under a large tarp that made it nearly invisible from the ground as well as the air. Comet was fairly sure that the women wouldn’t have been able to spot it unless he pointed it out, though it easily rivaled the size of the entire airport.

  That was sort of how the Frost brothers rolled. Everything had to be larger than life.

  “I’m sorry. It’s a really long story. I didn’t have my phone and the day sort of got away from me,” Rina apologized, already striding over to check the plane.

  “Who’s the hunk?” the woman asked, trying to keep it hushed, but Comet’s hearing was damn good and he caught the words.

  He grinned to himself, unable to keep from the temptation of butting in.

  “Her knight in shining armor, of course. Isn’t that right, Rina?”

  “Can’t you try and behave, at least a little?” Rina asked, jumping up into the small aircraft and tossing him a look that was only half-serious.

  “Not really,” he retorted with a dramatic sigh, putting his weight on one shoulder as he studied the operation before him.

  There were two trucks parked around the aircraft – a dinky little thing that he could fly with his eyes closed. He noted the mishmash of packaging and crates that had obviously held fireworks and related tech. The airplane was kitted out with a system that would make it possible to set off the fireworks while in flight, giving them more height and prolonging the burn because of the altitude.

  It was a neat little setup and Comet could tell that some of it was custom-built. He had no doubt that it was to Rina’s exact specifications.

  “This is Comet. We go way back.”

  “Pleasure,” the tiny woman called back, though she was busy handing Rina a clipboard with information. “I’m Kalina. Ray’s around here as well.”

  “Same back at you,” Comet said with a nod.

  He stood around for a few more minutes while Rina fell into her working groove, seeming to forget he was even standing there. Watching her was a treat. She was so focused and driven that it gave him goose bumps. While he’d always known that she’d make something out of herself, it was intoxicating actually watching her work, controlling her domain.

  “Right. So, I think I should go,” he said after a while, fully expecting it to fall on deaf ears.

  Every fiber of his being was telling him to stay, but at the same time, nearly a decade of self-doubt wa
s screaming at him to just leave and let her be. Rina’s gaze snapped up quickly, and Comet could read hurt and surprise on her expression for a moment before she wiped it off her face. The guise she wore now was one of professionalism.

  He knew that face. He’d had to don it plenty of times over the years.

  “Oh,” she said, her voice deadpan. “Well… it was… good seeing you.”

  “You too,” Comet said, scratching the back of his neck.

  What do you tell a woman you never want to leave? ‘Please give me an excuse to stay?’

  “I’ll be right over there, if you need anything. I don’t think we’ll take off before night,” he said before he turned around, motioning towards his plane.

  “There where?” Rina asked, squinting her eyes as she sat on her haunches at the cockpit door.

  “In my plane, of course,” Comet said with a chuckle.

  “Okay.”

  Comet grinned to himself as he turned around, walking over to Big Red. The tarp it was hidden under had a control panel that could be handled via the Frost brothers’ smartphones. Comet pulled his phone out and tapped on the app, deactivating the camouflage as he walked toward it.

  The gasps of surprise as the behemoth of a plane appeared, almost blocking the whole runway, were as sweet as they’d ever been.

  But they didn’t do much to relieve the pang of regret in the pit of his stomach.

  * * *

  “You’re a dumbass,” Ru’s voice came over the comms, making Comet roll his eyes.

  “Yeah? Thanks for the careful psychoanalysis, doc,” he snorted.

  “I swear, you’re stubborn as hell. She’s right there. How damn hard is it to go and tell her that you don’t want to be without her anymore, huh? What do we have to do to make you see that you’re being an idiot about this?”

  “I don’t know,” Comet answered grimly. “But I don’t think this is exactly helping. How long is Dash going to be?”

  While Comet had had every intention of driving to the closest city and getting the hell out of Arizona, things had obviously changed. Now, the easiest path out was to wait for Dash to come back from his run and then take Big Red out.

  And leave Rina behind again.

  I am a dumbass.

  “He should be back in a few hours. Maybe he can kick some sense into you.”

  “Don’t hold your breath,” Comet said, cutting the connection.

  He turned back to listen to the traffic over the airport, which was little to none to begin with. Mulling over all the dumb things he’d done in his life in some vain hope of finding something that had been a bigger fuckup than leaving Rina for the second time, something caught Comet’s ear.

  “Rina’s Fireshows. Your slot is coming up in fifteen. Are you ready?” the tower queried, making Comet perk up.

  “Negative, tower.” It was Rina. Every time she spoke, Comet felt like the world stood still just to listen to her. “Our pilot isn’t here. We might have to give up the slot.”

  “Affirmative. Check-in in ten.”

  “Noted.”

  Comet stared at the dead comms for a moment, a million thoughts bursting through him, fighting for prominence. This was his shot. His in.

  Fate had practically served her up for him and he still hadn’t taken the hint. And here it was again, smacking him in the face with how obvious it was.

  I can’t disappoint her again. I won’t.

  Comet jumped up from the seat and sprinted through the long corridor of the boundlessly large cargo plane. He opened the hatch and practically flung himself out, too impatient to wait for the stairs to lower completely. He’d left everything behind and Big Red Eight wide open, but it didn’t matter.

  All that mattered was Rina.

  Somewhere in the distance, he could hear the explosions of some over-zealous locals, shooting their fireworks already. It seemed fitting, in a way. A bang and sparks flying had been a part of everything they’d ever done. It only made sense that their reunion would be no different.

  “Rina!” Comet yelled, making it to the small plane in time to see Rina’s crew pack up their stuff, sullen looks on their faces.

  “Comet?” she asked, having just dropped a crate in the back of the truck. “What are you doing here again?”

  “I heard you needed a pilot,” he said, stepping up to her.

  Beads of sweat glistened on her forehead and chest and it took everything Comet had not to kiss her like both their lives depended on it. The tension between them must have been palpable, because Kalina was mumbling about having to do something over there, quickly disappearing from view.

  “I… I do,” Rina said, frowning a little as she stared up at him. “Wait. What are you saying here, Comet?”

  “I’m saying that I’ve been an idiot all my life and I’d like to stop that. I let you go once and I don’t want to do it again. I know this is going to be complicated and the reasons why I ran all those years ago were juvenile and dumb, and I’m probably no better now than I was then, but… Hell, I don’t know what I’m trying to say. All I know is that Rina, I love you. I want to treat you like the queen that you are. Will you let me fly for you today so I could make a start with that?”

  Comet felt himself vibrating all over as she watched him, surprise in her blue eyes. He was like a kid again, nervously awaiting judgment. But this time, he knew he was at least trying to do the right thing. It wouldn’t make up for all the wrong choices he’d made before, but hell, it was a start, right?

  That’s all he wanted.

  A new start.

  “That’s a hell of a pitch to fly a plane for a little fireworks show,” she said finally, a smile slowly forming on her lips.

  “Is that a yes?” Comet asked, standing up straighter.

  “I mean, how could I say no to that, right?”

  “Buck yes!” Comet hooted, throwing his arms around her, picking her up and spinning her around.

  “Comet!” Rina squealed, laughing. “Put me down!”

  “In a sec,” he said, spinning her about one more time before depositing her back on the tarmac. “Okay, so, with that out of the way, I think we have business to attend to.”

  Comet put on his best serious face and hopped into the airplane. He was almost in the cockpit when he noticed Rina wasn’t following him. He crossed back, frowning as he leaned out the door.

  “You coming, boss?”

  Rina shook her head, a smile competing with the slightest tint of surprise, before nodding and taking the hand that Comet reached out for her.

  “Let’s roll.”

  They were up in the air within ten minutes, perfectly hitting the slot that they’d been given. Not that there was all that much traffic in Seberra on the Fourth of July, but punctuality counted for something.

  Comet piloted the plane while Rina made sure that all the fireworks went off in the right sequence, pushing a series of buttons and controls that looked far too complicated for Comet. And he was used to flying the most advanced airplane mankind had no idea about. He was glad he got the easy job this time.

  The sky lit up with every manner of colors, painting the heavens above Seberra bright with the most fantastic fireworks show the residents had ever seen. While everyone else was enjoying their barbeque and the show, Comet was smiling like a fool, sneaking glances at the most beautiful woman he’d ever known, falling more and more in love by the second.

  While he still thought his brothers deserved a good ass-whooping for lying to him, he couldn’t help but be thankful. It wasn’t often that a man was given a second chance at happiness and though he’d tried really hard to muck it up, fate had made the path too clear for even the stubborn stag to miss.

  He couldn’t have been happier for it. And he was committed to making sure that Rina would know for the rest of her days that he was never going to let her down again.

  Epilogue

  Rina

  “Honey, it’s ridiculous,” Rina said, trying to bat at Comet’s hands as
he walked her down what felt like a gravel path.

  “Bear with me,” Comet said, chuckling a little at his choice of wording – for some reason that phrase had never been quite the same the moment the bears came out of the woods. “And stop wiggling. Dammit, woman, can’t you just trust me for a second!”

  “Of course I can,” Rina said with a sigh, putting her hands in front of herself again.

  Comet had tied a scarf over her eyes before they’d left his cottage in Shifter Grove. At first, it had felt sort of weird being back in Idaho – after all, Rina hadn’t been there in eight years – but in only a few days, she’d felt more at home there than she ever had anywhere else. It screamed ‘home’ to her and that was something that both shocked and surprised her in the most positive way.

  “I wish you’d tell me where you’re taking me, though,” she grumbled.

  “We’re almost there.”

  The drive had taken nearly half an hour and Rina knew the area around Shifter Grove well enough to assume that they weren’t going to town. She’d kept rattling options at him and Comet had kept denying her guesses. It was driving her batty.

  “Okay. Ready?” he asked, and Rina nodded quietly.

  He pulled the scarf from her eyes and Rina blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the light. When she did, her mouth fell open and it took conscious effort to close it again.

  “Are you serious?” she asked, looking at the sign that read ‘Rina’s Fireshows’ in big, bold letters over the doors of the large storage facility they were standing in front of. “Is this what I think it is?”

  A wide smile spread over her lips. Business had been booming since Seberra, and though it was only early fall, she was already booked through the year and expanding rapidly by adding more crews. The show had been such a big hit that Rina had decided to specialize in it.

  Comet had made a few comments about her setup and she’d taken them to heart, improving her tech by a notable amount. And while Jake was still a raw memory, that was all he was – an unpleasant thing that had happened in the past. Nothing worth dwelling on anymore, anyway.