She waved at him, heaved her pack onto her back and trudged off across the ice and snow.
Chapter One
Sonia Snowflake sighed, hitched the strap from her bulky pack a little higher over her shoulder and resumed trudging through the obnoxiously deep snow. Sometimes being an elf sucked. Being one of the B.E.L.L.S. sucked even more. Who the hell thought up Battle Elves trained in Logic warfare and Land defence Scouts, anyway? Did that stupid old man in the red suit think she looked like a warrior, for god’s sake?
Sonia stopped again and checked her watch. She’d been walking—if you could call it that—for almost two hours, and she was tired and cranky. Making progress through giant snowdrifts took every bit of her energy. She could have spun a bridge out of the snow, but she didn’t know how long her magic powers would be sustained in this climate, so she was saving them until she really needed them.
Might as well set up here. One place is as lousy as the next.
She dropped her pack on the icy snow, pulling the hood of her parka farther down on her face and the thick scarf up over her nose to shield herself from the blowing snow crystals.
Why can’t I be snug and safe back home, finding another elf to warm my bed?
There was actually a particular one she’d had her eye on. She just hadn’t let him know she was interested. Then this damn trip had come along.
Bah, humbug!
Gathering two handfuls of snow, and fumbling a bit because of the thick gloves she wore, she managed to make a respectable snowball. Waving one gloved hand over it, she set it to the frequency she’d been given and attempted to contact the other B.E.L.L.S.
“Anyone there?” She held the snowball close to her ear. “Hello? Come in if you can hear me.”
Static crackled, then a faint voice said, “B.E.L.L.S. Scout One checking in. Are you okay?”
“As much as I can be,” Sonia snarked. “Is that you, Tasha? Have you got a place set up?”
“Yeah. Finally found shelter in an outcropping of rock. I don’t know why you all love tents so much. At least I don’t feel the frickin’ wind in here.”
“Kendil?” Sonia asked, looking for the third of the B.E.L.L.S. “You out there? Come in, please.”
There was a long pause before Kendil’s static-laced voice came over the connection.
“I’m here. And when we get back to the North Pole I’m going to cut off that fat man’s balls and freeze them in ice. What the hell was he thinking?”
Sonia laughed. “Join the crowd. But we just need to get this done in the next couple of days and then we can go home. Okay,” Sonia told both of them. “Check your watches. We call in again twelve hours from now.” She almost clicked off before a thought jabbed at her. “Oh, wait a minute. Any sign of the macho military yet?”
“Not here.”
“Not me, either.”
So no one had run into them, at least for the moment.
Sonia shut off the radio, sighed again, and pulled the thermal tent from her pack, looking at it as if it was a Chinese puzzle. Which it might as well have been. But the wind was picking up, if that was even possible, and if she didn’t get out of the damn snow pretty soon, she’d be frozen here for eternity. And that was a truly unpleasant thought.
Okay, time for a little hocus-pocus.
Sonia closed her eyes, concentrated hard and waved her hands over the tent. She counted to ten, opened her eyes and smiled. There it was, just like in the picture, open, braced and staked. Scooping some snow into her gloved hands, she tossed it into the air. In seconds, the thermal blanket had stretched itself out on the floor of the tent. She crawled inside, dragging the pack behind her, and pulled out a small metal case and her magic candle. Santa had given everyone a box of them to use when their heating systems went on the fritz.
She set it inside the metal cylinder, brushed her gloved fingers over it and the tip burst into flame, spreading heat throughout the tent. She’d just unzipped her parka, pushed it back off her head and unwrapped her scarf, when a deep male voice nearly made her jump out of her skin.
“How the hell did you do that? Are you real, or am I already hallucinating?”
Well, hell.
The deep voice cut through the wind. Where had its owner come from? She hadn’t seen anyone anywhere near her, although the blowing snow definitely cut down on the visibility. Her own fault, she chided herself. She’d been paying no attention whatsoever.
“Are you coming out,” the voice continued, “or am I coming in there?”
Sighing, Sonia unzipped the tent closure and peeked outside. Instantly, every bit of saliva in her mouth dried up. She looked up…and up…and up. Was this a giant? If so, he was a damn good looking one. Although his survival gear nearly obscured both his body and his face, she could see enough to know she was in big trouble. She wasn’t even settled in yet, hardly ready to take on the military. Yet apparently, one had made it to her front door. Someone had forgotten to remind her these guys were sex-on-the-hoof as well as battle-hardened veterans.
Oh, shit.
She tried twice to say something, but she couldn’t make her mouth work properly.
“Just who the hell are you?” he barked, his words almost swept away by the wind.
She finally found her tongue. “Sonia Snowflake. Who are you?”
“Snowflake?” He snorted. “No one is named Snowflake. Cut the crap.”
Sonia’s indignation rose to the danger level. Who did this guy think he was?
“I happened to be named Snowflake, so stick that in your ear.” Or anyplace else that’s handy.
She pushed herself to her feet, glad she was small enough that she could stand upright in the tent, and stuck her head back out of the opening again. “Who are you and how did you get here? I didn’t even see you before. How did you sneak up on me?”
He held up a gloved hand. “Too many questions.” He lowered his arms and let the straps holding an enormous pack on his back slide down, lowering it to the ground. “Damn, those things are heavy. Listen. Can I crawl inside there for a minute? It’s hard to have a conversation with the wind swallowing every other word.”
Crawl inside? Inside her tent? Wait. She smacked her forehead. Of course. This was one of the very human beings she was supposed to keep an eye on, right? Well, she could certainly keep an eye on him inside her little warm housing setup. But did she want to get that close? Of course, he was totally gorgeous. One look and her nipples turned to hard pink and her cunt quivered and thrilled. She chewed on the thought for a moment. She could be in big trouble here.
Then she smiled to herself. Or in big luck.
“All right,” she told him. “But be warned. I have magical powers. If you try anything funny, I can disintegrate you.”
Well, maybe not quite disintegrate. That particular power had been on the fritz lately. But certainly something to rearrange his molecules.
She could see him sigh even beneath all his heavy gear, then watched as he stooped and made his way inside, pulling his pack in after him. He plunked himself down beside the sleeping bag she’d unrolled, reached out a long arm to zip up the tent again and removed his goggles, hood, cap and scarf. Suddenly, the little tent was incredibly full.
Sonia thought she’d faint. No one at the North Pole could even approach the rugged good looks and sensuality of this man. Had Santa dropped him down here to help her with her mission? To make her feel better? What she felt was a strong wave of lust sweeping over her and a clenching of the muscles in her pussy so strong that she had to squeeze her legs together to restrain it. Holy blizzard! Sonia wanted to lock the zipper on the tent and keep this guy in here forever.
Wait a minute, idiot! I don’t even know who he is. Am I so sex-starved I don’t care?
Yes!
“If you’re through giving me the onceover,” he interrupted in his rich, deep voice, “I’ll introduce myself.”
“That would be good,” she told him, unsticking her tongue from the roof of her mouth
.
He unzipped his jacket, pulled off a glove and held out a hand. “Lieutenant Frank Martin. United States Marine Corps. Pleased to meet you.” He grinned. “Ma’am.”
Sonia mentally smacked herself on the forehead. Of course! The freaking military. She’d been trying hard not to think about them.
“Nice to meet you, Lieutenant.” She frowned. “I think.”
“I think we can dispense with formality in this situation.” He looked around the confined quarters of the tent. “People call me Jaguar. Or Jag.”
And are you? she wanted to ask.
“Your turn,” he prompted.
“I already told you.” She shook her head so the thick fall of her raven-coloured hair tumbled down her back. She brushed a few strands away from her face and dredged up as much indignation as she could. “Sonia Snowflake.”
He shook his head. “All right, all right. If you insist on continuing this ridiculous sham. But here’s a more important question. What the hell are you doing here?”
“Me?” she squeaked. “What are you doing here?” Although she knew what he’d say.
“I’m on a mission for Uncle Sam, and that’s all I can tell you.” He studied her face, his own giving nothing away. “Now you.”
Okay, this could get tricky. Very tricky. Make up a story? Tell him the truth? She hauled in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“I’m on a mission from Santa and that’s all I can tell you.”
She heard a strange noise and realised it was Jaguar Martin trying to swallow a laugh. He finally lost the battle, fell backwards and gave in to a paroxysm of mirth. Tears leaked from his eyes, as he laughed so hard he nearly choked.
Sonia waited, anger simmering, until he finally pulled himself together and sat up again, doing his best to arrange his face into a sober look.
”Okay, listen.” Sonia wanted to stamp her foot. Preferably on him. “I don’t care what you’re doing here, as long as you don’t get in my way.”
“Your way? Get in your way?”
He nodded. “We all parachuted in here at the same time but somehow I got separated from the rest of my team. I can’t raise anything but static on my radio with all this snow and I need to contact them. We’re on a tight schedule here.”
I could fix that for him, but then he’d leave. I might not trust these guys but when was the last time I had a chance to keep a sexy man captive?
“Exactly what is it you and the others are supposed to find out here?” And are you going to deep-six my North Pole project? “You’d better spill it right now. You never know what magic I might work on you.”
He stared at her, plainly wondering if she was crazy, then sighed. “Okay, okay. There’s no one else to hear anyway. And who the hell would think I’d meet an elf?”
“Who thought I’d meet an arrogant military asshole?”
“Fine. Whatever. Do you want to know about this or not.”
“Yes.” She folded her arms across her chest. “Talk.”
“The military wants to set up a war games training programme here at the South Pole.” He made a face. “Not that we have a lot of enemies to fight down here, mind you. But I guess they figure if we can survive down here, we can survive in any cold weather environment.” He shook his head. “Of course, we won’t get anything done if we can’t even contact each other.”
She cleared her throat. “Maybe when the wind dies down you’ll get better reception.”
He frowned at her. “Are you kidding me? The wind here never dies down. Didn’t you do your research before your mission for…Santa?”
“My research is my own business,” she snapped. “Why did you guys have to pick this exact time to scout locations for your stupid mission?”
He glowered at her. “Stupid mission? You’d better believe what we’re doing will help us to keep the rest of you safe.”
Sonia laughed. “Safe? It doesn’t get any safer than the North Pole.”
He stared at her. “Listen, what kind of game are you playing, here? You could at least come up with a more believable story.” He looked around and began pulling his jacket off. “How do you get it so hot in here? The thermal tent can’t do it all.”
She pointed to the candle in its container. “I have a heater.”
“A candle?” He laughed again. “Give me a break.”
He finished shedding his jacket, folding it and putting it on top of his pack. The Nomex all-weather suit barely concealed his broad, muscular frame and the black colour of the suit only accentuated the deep green of his eyes and the dark blond hair that lay thickly on his head. The stubble of beard on his jaw made him look even sexier, if that was possible.
Sonia was afraid she might come just from looking at him. And ohmigod, was that a huge erection pushing at the fabric of his clothing? If it was, he had a cock that would put every elf she’d ever been naked with to shame. Her little cunt throbbed just imagining it inside her.
Stop it!
She mentally smacked herself. She was here on business.
“So, how long do you expect to be here?” Jaguar Martin asked, looking around the small tent again. “You don’t appear to have a lot of supplies.”
She shrugged. “I have what I need. So how long do you expect to hang around this resort?”
“That’s classified. Military, you know.”
Sonia glared at him. “Military, huh? Well, I’ll have you know I’m one of the B.E.L.L.S.”
A grin teased at his sensuous mouth. “The what?”
“The B.E.L.L.S. Battle Elves trained in Logic warfare and Land defence Scouts. We’re military, too.”
Jaguar laughed so hard he fell over backwards, a real feat in the cramped space. Tears rolled down his cheeks and he had to hold his sides.
“That is not funny,” she raged, stamping her foot.
“Sorry.” He sat up and wiped the tears from his face. “Did you say elves? Battle elves?”
“So what?”
Another fit of laughter consumed him, stealing his breath, and he choked as he tried to swallow it back. “So, do you, like, carry automatic rifles and things like that?”
She nodded, indignant. “Of course.” She glared at him. “Don’t you?”
“That’s different,” he told her.
“Oh? And why is that? Because you’re such a big macho man?”
“If you’ve actually got a rifle, let’s see it,” he challenged.
Sonia heaved a great sigh, unzipped her pack, and pulled out a collapsed unit. With a quick flick of her fingers she snapped it open, locking the barrel into the stock, and held it out, lying across her palms.
“There, Mister Macho. Satisfied?”
Jaguar just stared. “I don’t believe I’m seeing this. And anyway, assuming you can actually shoot that thing, there are no such things as elves. I’d think you could have arranged a better cover story.”
“Oh yeah?”
He was really getting to her. She knew she shouldn’t let him bait her into doing something, but she couldn’t help it. Grabbing some snow from the edge of the tent, she blew on it gently, then tossed it into the air. Sparkles and stars twinkled in a circle, then settled on the thermal floor, and in their place was a festive meal for two. Including wine.
Jaguar goggled. The only word for it. “How the hell did you do that?”
“I told you, I’m an elf.” She gestured at the food. “Shall we eat? Gotta keep up your strength in this climate.”
“Listen. I want to know what’s really going on here. And don’t give me any more of your fairytale double talk. ”
“Fairytale double talk?” Sonia didn’t know whether to laugh or be insulted.
She could see Jaguar Martin was getting nervous. That would never do. She rubbed her hands together then waved them at him. In an instant, the nervousness disappeared and the grim look on his face was erased by a warm smile.
“Exactly.”
She glared at him. “Does that mean you don’t want to
eat this delicious food I conjured up for us?”
“Did you say eat?” He looked down at the food as if just realising what was in front of him. “Okay, I’ll forget the fairy stuff for a while. I’m starved and this looks delicious. So I say, let’s do justice to this meal.” He gestured for her to sit down opposite him.
Sonia shed her own jacket, unzipped her thermal jump suit, and sat cross-legged on the blanket. Jaguar was already digging into the steak, making approving noises.
“So, you don’t even have to cook this stuff, right?” he asked between bites of steak.
“Um, yes.” Of course that fat old man in the red suit would send her someplace even more remote if he knew she was using her magic for this. But damn. She wasn’t exactly interested in eating the North Pole version of Meals Ready to Eat. Especially not with a hunk like Jaguar Martin, even if he was a pain in the ass.
She stole a glance at him from under her lashes. He was definitely ripped. All muscle, all male. As he chewed and swallowed, she watched the play of muscles in the column of his throat. If she’d had any panties on, they’d be soaked by now. If she could just soften his rough edges, this might not be so bad after all.
She smiled to herself as she cut off a tiny piece of steak and chewed delicately. Yes, indeed. Not too bad at all.
Chapter Two
Jaguar Martin didn’t know if he’d fallen into whatever passed for a rabbit hole in this godforsaken tundra, or if the Thermavan was causing him to hallucinate. Testing a drug that maintains an internal body temperature of ninety-eight point seven degrees, in a subarctic climate, could be valuable to the military, especially with plans on the table to establish bases here. But Dr. Axel Cole, head of the project, had warned him there would be side effects, although he assured the men the most evident one would be the increased sex drive.
Yeah, right. Good old Axel should be sitting here in this imaginary tent with an imaginary female eating imaginary food and telling him the same thing with a straight face.
He looked at the petite female sitting across from him. An elf? No way. They just didn’t exist, except in legends. Especially not looking the way this one did. When she’d removed her all-weather gear, his cock had immediately tried to fight its way through the fabric of his thermal suit and he’d had to grit his teeth to maintain some kind of control.
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