The Snow Leopard's Christmas Surprise

by Emilia Hartley

  “That man, what was his name? Adam. He was standing outside your window.”

  Ellie was slapped across the face with sudden anger. “I get it. You don’t like the guy, but you can’t go around accusing him of being a stalker! It isn’t going to make me like you any better.”

  Nolan snarled.

  Ellie fell back. A lump stuck in her throat. The anger on his face wasn’t directed at her. She could tell. How, she didn’t know. It might have been the way he paced the floor like a man who needed to act, it might have been the way he looked at the window like it was his enemy.

  Nolan was pissed that anyone had threatened her, even in such a small way. It warmed her heart.

  The scare had been more than she needed for one night and she found the prospect of falling asleep again frightening. She didn’t want to be helpless like that again. Nolan was moving toward the door when she called out for him to wait. He paused, hand on the door knob with his back still facing her.

  “Could you….” Ellie hesitated. Was she really asking this of him? “Do you think you could stay here for a few hours more?”

  “I-I, uh, wasn’t going to go anywhere.”

  Her throat grew tighter still. He didn’t understand what she meant and she didn’t know how to ask him past the lump in her throat. “No, I mean… Could you stay in this room with me?”

  Nolan’s hand fell away from the door. When he turned to face her, his eyes were wide with concern. She could tell he still wanted to leave. Was it so bad to be in her presence? The idea made her stomach tight, but she ignored it. All she wanted was to feel safe enough to sleep for a few hours more. Having ashifter who could hear her heart beat from the other end of the house might help her.

  “I can do that,” he said, finally. He searched the room, eyes lighting on every surface but not finding whatever it was he wanted.

  “What are you looking for?”

  “A chair or something to sleep in. I take it that’s what you would want.”

  She guessed it really did kill him to stay in her presence. He must have only rushed in because her heart rate had woken him and he wanted it to stop. Ellie drew her arms around her middle and looked away.

  “You’re welcome to sleep on the bed,” she whispered.

  “Is that what you want?” Nolan asked cautiously. He glanced from Ellie’s gaze to the bed beneath her, something moving behind his dark eyes.

  “I mean, it’s the only place to comfortably sleep in here. If you can’t tell, I didn’t invest in a lot of furniture. It’s only something else for Casper to climb.”

  Nolan laughed, a hearty sound that stirred things inside Ellie that she quickly shut down. This wasn’t like that, she told her body. There would be no repeat of the night four years ago. It was well and truly over. Yet, her body didn’t think so as Nolan moved to the empty side of the bed. Not that there really was an empty side.

  Ellie tended to sleep in the very center, having never shared a bed with anyone larger than a four year old. But, the events of the past few moments had her sitting on the side furthest from the offending window. Nolan laid himself on top of the blankets while Ellie pulled them back over her form.

  He was a stiff board beside her, clearly uncomfortable. Ellie guessed she had been a bit of a stick in the mud lately. She’d set a lot of rules and boundaries, more often than not, mad at Nolan about something. Usually, it came from a fire still burning from the first time he left. Ellie had to admit she was still afraid he would leave.

  There wasn’t much keeping him here, not if he had a wife or other kids somewhere else. She truly knew so little about him. After a moment of staring at the ceiling, Ellie threw back the blankets.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Turning the lights off. You don’t sleep with them on, do you?” Ellie said, sarcasm apparent.

  “Do you ever quit, woman?” Nolan groaned.

  “Quit what?” She slapped the light switch and the room fell into darkness once more. She had to feel her way back to the bed, tripping over discarded leggings and toys along the way. Finally, her hands hit something more solid, something higher. But, it wasn’t the bed.

  “Hey,” Nolan said, softly.

  Her face warmed when she realized she was holding his socked foot. Her hands jerked back and she let out a nervous laugh, feeling for the bed beneath him before crawling back into her own spot.

  Still, when she lay back down, sleep was even further away. She was too aware of the man laying beside her, nearly a stranger. The heat from his body was warm and comforting, counteracting the fear she’d just felt even if she’d previously suspected him for being the eyes in the window. Nolan was something she couldn’t explain.

  “So, where have you been?” She asked into the dark.

  There was a long pause, Nolan shifting beside her, before he answered. It seemed to drag on, her stomach churning as she hoped she hadn’t crossed some imaginary boundary he hadn’t specified. She’d set so many, it wouldn’t be odd for him to have some of his own.

  “Anywhere,” he said, finally. “I went in any direction I saw and kept moving. I think in the past year alone, I saw most of the desert in Nevada and Arizona.”

  Ellie couldn’t help but laugh at the idea of a snow leopard in the heat of the desert. She’d never visited the states, herself, but she knew there were no snow leopards in the desert for a reason.

  “Do you…” She let the words form in her mouth, holding them while she figured a way to put them nicely. “Do you have any other children?”

  Ones that, perhaps, he hadn’t walked away from? The thought was bitter, and Ellie squashed it down.

  “No,” he whispered. “I wasn’t so careless with anyone else. Normally, I had more of a mind to take better precautions, but…”

  “But I was a bit pushy that night.”

  He laughed this time, a breathy sound as if his mind was falling back into the memory. “You could say that. I would say enticing. You had my brain turned to mush, in the best possible way.”

  Ellie smiled into the dark, grateful he couldn’t see the warmth on her face. She rolled over to face him. His eyes seemed to glow in the dark, reflecting the small amount of light like a cat’s. Would she have noticed had she not known?

  “How did you…. Become you?”

  The glow of his eyes disappeared for a moment. “I’d rather not talk about it.”

  “Alright,” Ellie said, pulling away.

  Nolan sighed. “Let’s just say my parents are not as friendly toward one another as yours are. They are… nice people, your parents.”

  “They weren’t before Casper was born. All I heard was how irresponsible I’d been. How, if I’d been a better person, you would have stayed. They were not happy with my…predicament.”

  A hand reached out, rough fingers touching her warm cheeks. Ellie wanted to pull away. She’d been strong, held her head high through the whispers and rumors. Having Nolan there changed nothing. Yet, his touch was more comforting than anything she’d felt in years. It made her eyes drift shut.

  “I wish I knew how to be a family,” Nolan confessed as she drifted into sleep. “But, I think the best I can do is be a father for Casper as long as he needs me. I want to be there for him and when he no longer needs me, I’ll get out of your hair.”

  Ellie was nearly asleep, but she reached for Nolan’s hand and gripped it.

  ***

  The sun rose on a clear and bright day. She was grateful her alarm went off before Casper could sneak into the bedroom and find Nolan in her bed. It would have been the hardest conversation to have with a four-year-old.

  She slipped into the kitchen, feet silently padding on the floor, to get a cup of coffee. The mug warmed her hand, the handle the shape of a candy cane to imitate holiday cheer even if Ellie wasn’t feeling it. She was a bundle of confusion now that Nolan was back.

  After her late-night scare, which she now convinced herself to be a waking dream, she’d slept with Nolan’s hand i
n hers. She shook her head. Ellie needed to be more careful from then on out. She couldn’t have the man in her room, even if she dreamed of eyes in the windowpane.

  A thump against the door signaled the arrival of the newspaper her father insisted on while he was here. She made her way toward it, throwing back the last of her coffee. When she threw the door open, she found a box sitting before her door. It was neatly wrapped with Christmas paper and bore a giant bow on the top.

  “What is that?” a voice growled behind her.

  She looked back to see Nolan, groggy and grumpy. He rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand before glaring down at the box.

  “It’s a gift,” Ellie said, turning back to the box with just as much confusion.

  “It reeks,” Nolan grumbled. “Like your window last night.”

  She waved him off. “I was seeing things. Happens from time to time.”

  She bent to retrieve the box and the newspaper, bringing both into the kitchen. When she set the box on the counter, she noticed a small card tucked into the bow.

  “I still don’t like this,” Nolan said, following hot on her heels. “I know I smelled Adam outside your window last night. I’m not as crazy as you think I am.”

  She looked up at Nolan. Would he be the kind of guy to get jealous of her life? Would he try to interfere in her love life even if there was nothing between them? She opened the card.

  Merry Christmas to a pretty woman, Adam.

  “Maybe you smelled him when he left the gift on my doorstep.”

  “At three AM? I don’t think that was the only thing he was doing.” Nolan leaned into the box and sniffed it, his nostrils flaring.

  She swatted his shoulder and motioned for him to back up. Nolan had no right to be jealous of her love life. It was only human to want to be happy with someone, only natural to try and fill the empty space Nolan left in her little family.

  Ellie smiled. She and Adam hadn’t seen each other long, but it felt like she was already falling for him. Maybe, that was the holiday cheer finally starting to sink in. There was more to it than keeping her rambunctious son out of the tree and fending off her parents’ useless advice.

  The lid of the box slid off with ease, revealing the contents neatly tucked inside. A pale green card envelope sat atop the gift with Ellie’s name written across it. Her brow rose, the box already having a card, but she didn’t think too hard about it. It was heavier than she expected and Ellie couldn’t help but wonder, as her heart fluttered, if there might be love letters inside.

  But, when she opened the card, a number of Polaroid photos fell to the floor and scattered in every direction. Confusion turned her stomach, but as Nolan bent to retrieve the photos, Ellie turned to the card.

  She was about halfway through reading when Nolan growled. The sound was so animal, she jumped and glanced at the doorways of the kitchen to make sure no one heard him. When she turned to chastise him, she saw what was in his hand.

  The photos were all of Ellie, but she didn’t remember taking any photos with Adam. In fact, there wasn’t a single photo in which Ellie was looking at the camera. There were shots of her holding Casper’s hand as they walked into the grocery store. There were photos of her in the candy shop, laughing with Reggie. Never had she gone to these places with Adam.

  Ellie realized these photos were taken after she stormed out on Adam. They hadn’t even been talking while she visited these places.

  Feeling the coffee in her stomach start to rise, she turned back to the card in her hands. It’d started sweet and loving, the promise of a relationship that could bud into so much more, but when she re-read it she begun to see that the fine line between romance and obsession had been crossed.

  At the very bottom, there was a short paragraph that made her skin crawl.

  We could be so good, a happy family, but you have to get rid of him. When he is gone, you’ll get my gift to you. If he doesn’t leave, I’ll make him.

  The card fell from her hands and fluttered to the floor as if it weren’t a threat that weighed heavily on her. Nolan slammed the photos down and reached for the box, jerking it closer to him. He tore at the tissue paper while her body was rooted to the spot. Torn scraps of paper filled the air.

  “What’s that, Mommy?” Casper appeared in the hall entry, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

  Her heart clenched. Not knowing what sat in the box, she rushed and scooped Casper from the floor. “It’s just some trash, honey. Mom was trying to make an empty box look pretty for a client.”

  The lie stuttered in her lips, fear addling her mind. Thankfully, Casper accepted her lie as truth and collapsed against her chest. On her way out of the kitchen, Ellie glanced back at Nolan. He was fuming as he looked down into the box. When his eyes lifted and met hers, she felt the fear begin to ebb. She didn’t understand why, but it might have had something to do with his inhuman status. Perhaps having a shifter around wouldn’t be too bad, she thought as the photos flashed through her mind.

  ***

  A fire burned inside of Nolan. It raged and tore at his insides, rendering him into nothing more than a smoldering husk that needed one thing.

  Nestled inside the ribbons of tissue paper was a set of lingerie, made of strappy black leather. The implication would have been romantic if it hadn’t been for the other toys Adam had included, like the steel cuffs bound in leather or the ball gag beside it. Some people liked that kind of play, but Adam’s perversion had been clear when Nolan pocketed the photos in which Adam had drawn the toys onto Ellie. It was clear Adam had expectations of Ellie that she hadn’t been aware of.

  He gripped the counter and waited for Ellie to leave the room with his son in her arms. Nolan would not have anything like this happening around this house. The violation set off every protective instinct, even some he didn’t quite understand. Nolan knew he would be protective of his son, but the insult to Ellie might have been the fire that burned brightest in him.

  He would find Adam and he would tear the man apart limb by limb until he couldn’t hurt anyone ever again. Groaning, Nolan knew that wasn’t the best idea. If caught, it would get him in trouble. He couldn’t afford to get arrested, not only because of his son, but because confinement would expose what he really was. His kind had been careful up until this point.

  Cramming the photos and card into the box, Nolan yanked it off the counter and tucked it beneath his arm. He paused in the foyer, caught between the door and the scene in the living room. Ellie sat cross-legged on the floor with Casper while they went over a book about the alphabet. She had a bin of extra props beside her to entertain Casper’s endless energy while keeping him on track.

  Pride bubbled up inside of him, but there was little time for that. When Ellie realized he was watching, he silently pointed to the box under his arm and then to the door. Her brows furrowed. She still didn’t know what was in the box, the gesture that implied Ellie was nothing more than a kinky sex object to Adam. Eventually, her gaze averted and she nodded.

  It allowed Nolan to slip out of the house. To Ellie, he was busy disposing of the box. In reality, Nolan had more on his mind. Outside, he found a neighbor’s trash bin and lifted the lid. Before dumping the box into the bin, he hesitated. The cuffs and gag sat atop the mess, drawing his attention.

  Quickly, he swiped them and stuffed them into the pockets of his coat. The box landed with a satisfying thump in the bin before Nolan turned and lifted his nose into the air. Nolan knew nothing about Adam, but he recalled the man’s scent and his heavy use of cologne, which made it easy for him to find the scent on the air.

  Chapter Nine

  Ellie sat on the floor with Casper. Casper was already bouncing from wall to wall, playing with the various toys he’d managed to pull into the living room already. Her mother crept out of the kitchen, a smug look on her face when she sat down on the couch.

  “What are you so happy about?” Ellie asked.

  Her mother’s eyes slid toward her and Grace’s smile c
urled at the corners, but she didn’t say anything. Ellie frowned in response. Her morning had already been full of unexpected surprises. Her stomach was still churning, her mind reeling over what might have been tucked in the bottom of that box. Nolan had whisked it away before her family saw it, but Ellie had an idea that her mind was playing it out to be worse than it actually was.

  She expected the head of a cat, or something equally gruesome and terrifying. Whatever it was had enraged Nolan. She’d never seen him so angry over anything during his stay with them. It stirred something inside of her, making her eyes fall to the floor while she did her best to work through the emotions.

  The anger over her fear had warmed her, made her feel safe. Yet, the rational side of Ellie told her she couldn’t trust this man. Hell, she couldn’t trust anyone. Even men she thought were safe turned out to be creepy and dangerous.

  Adam wanted her to remove Nolan from her life, the one threat Adam had to their relationship before he started being weird. Ellie wanted to groan and roll her eyes. She would forever be alone if that was what the world had to offer. At least she had one good man in her life, she thought. Casper was more than she needed.

  “I saw a certain someone leave your room this morning,” Grace said, her voice low and snapping Ellie from her thoughts.

  Ellie perked up, eyes wide and a warning on her curled lips. Her eyes slid to Casper then back to her mother, an unspoken message sent.

  “Nothing happened,” Ellie hissed. She didn’t know if she should bring up Adam outside her window or the gift the man had left on her doorstep. She didn’t want her parents to worry or blow it out of proportion.

  “Then why was he in there?”

  Her mother was insufferable. Ellie didn’t bother responding to her mother’s inquisition. The woman wanted Ellie to attempt a romantic relationship with Nolan for the sake of Casper, but Ellie didn’t even know if that was what she wanted. She didn’t know if she and Nolan would be good together. Nolan was still, largely, a mystery to her.