We were quiet for long minutes, me waiting to see what he had to say, and I assumed he was gathering his thoughts before speaking.
“We don’t know each other, so I think introductions are in order. I’m Alden. I’m an owl shifter from an old-money family in Charleston, South Carolina. My mother is a shifter, but my dad’s just human. Mother has spent her whole life wanting to fit in and belong with my dad’s people and their social circle. So much that she’s lost sight of who she used to be. Dad loves her no matter what and doesn’t give a shit if they fit in or not. That’s usually the blessing of being born into something, I guess. Mother was hoping I wouldn’t be a shifter like her, but surprise. Like my dad, I don’t give a shit what anyone thinks. If I did, I wouldn’t have gotten a degree in English and write spy novels for a living. I’d be a lawyer, play golf every Saturday, and drink meals every night. I’m not perfect. I have writer’s block to the point that I might not ever write another book. Everything is crap. I rented this place for a year to get my career back on track, but all I did was fly around the mountain, make friends with the squirrels, and injure one of Santa’s actual fucking reindeer. I’m a mess.”
After his heavy confession, he gave a deep sigh full of sadness and moved to sit up, but I wrapped my arms around his shoulders to hold him in place, then ran my hand down his hair before squeezing him tight again.
“It’s nice to meet you, Alden. I’m Hale. Yeah, I’m one of the reindeer, but there are hundreds of us, not just the few from the song. There are dozens of Santas and even more reindeer, elves, and sleighs. We might have a little magic, but not even Santas can make it around the world in one night by themselves. I’m not that special in the grand Christmas scheme of things. I don’t have much to do other than train some of the ambitious younger reindeer who want to get a jump start on their abilities. I have them run and train not just their reindeer but their human bodies, too. But that’s all I can do. I was never book smart, but I could train and do the physical things. I built my own cabin away from the main villages and built my training courses, and that’s what fills my days when it’s not Christmas. I’m boring and not that smart, but I’m loyal, and I can cook. I guess that’s something.”
There was no more talk for quite some time after I was done. We listened to the wind outside and the crackle of the fire, and somewhere in the room was the faint sound of a clock ticking as time went by, one breath at a time. I figured he had fallen asleep when he hadn’t spoken for so long, but I was wrong.
At first, it was a small sniff, and then it became a rhythmic sound that sounded like crying. Oh, God, he was crying! I let his shoulders go and turned toward him, expecting to see tears and sadness. There were tears on his flushed face, but they were because the bastard was trying not to laugh.
“I’m so sorry, I can’t help it. Ever since you said it, I can’t stop.”
“Ever since I said what? Fuck’s sake, I thought you were crying.”
Alden reached out and grabbed my face, then smacked a huge kiss on my lips and kept apologizing. “No! I’m not crying. I’m so happy. Honestly. But when you said it, I couldn’t stop giggling in my head.”
“Said what? I swear I’m so confused. I don’t think anything I said was that funny. It was all pretty depressing to me.”
“You’re wonderful. Everything you said was perfect. But your name is the best thing I’ve heard in forever.”
Confused as hell, I needed instant clarification. “My name is what you think is so funny? What’s so funny about Hale?”
“It’s not just your first name. It’s all of it together. Hale Comet. Your dad must have a great sense of humor.”
Groaning, I fell back onto the sofa and put a pillow over my face. “No, not Haley’s Comet jokes! I thought I outgrew those in middle school.”
He ripped the pillow off my face and kissed my cheek this time. “I’m definitely calling you Haley as a pet name. Just get used to it, mate. This is your future!” He rolled onto the floor in full-blown laughter, and I couldn’t help but join in. I had been relentlessly teased in school for my name until I’d gotten bigger than most of the other kids and they quit. It had been a very sore spot for me, but now, knowing that Alden thought it was awesome and wanted to use it as a pet name, it made all the childhood hurt and angst fade away.
I slid onto the floor in front of the fire with him just as the wind outside howled and a huge pop sounded outside, leaving the room in darkness except for the glow from the firelight. Alden’s laughter calmed, and as I went quiet, too, I was instantly aware of the change in the atmosphere in the room. His face was flushed, and the firelight kissed his skin. Just as soon as the electricity had gone out, it switched back on, but who knew for how long?
“Why don’t I clean up out here, and you go get a quick shower while we still have hot water? I’ll make us some dessert, and we can sit and talk some more before sleep.”
I agreed, but it was hard to tear myself away from the vision of Alden’s smooth skin in the firelight, begging me to lick every inch. I slipped into the bathroom and turned on the shower as hot as it would go, then slid in and let the heat melt my stress and worry away. We had talked and it had been good. He’d even called me his mate. Did that mean we were on the same page? Were we going to do this thing? I had no idea what all mating entailed other than this was the one person fate had chosen for me and me alone. The hot water slid along my skin, and the thought of Alden’s skin in the firelight instantly perked up my abused dick. It was still sore from the slight shock earlier, but I’d be lying if I said the slight sting didn’t add a certain something to the pleasure as I stroked my cock and imagined all the things I wanted to do to Alden on that blanket by the fire. I was getting so close and about to hit my climax when a soft knock on the door stopped me and pulled me back from the edge.
“I’ve got everything ready, and I put you a robe on the counter. I hope it fits.”
Wait, he’d come into the bathroom to drop the robe on the counter, so he must have seen me. My cock twitched at the thought of sweet Alden getting a look at me on the sly. The longer I was in his presence, the hornier I was getting. If this kept up, we were going to have to have another very important conversation very, very soon. Because it was either talk about it first or ask permission later. As I slipped the robe over my shoulders and tied it around my waist, I noticed it barely hid my interest. As I walked out of the bathroom, I saw what Alden had been up to and knew this was a losing battle. Groaning, I stalked toward the blanket fort of pillows and quilts he had built in front of the fireplace, determined I would ask his forgiveness later for all the dirty things I was about to do to him. Much, much later.
6
ALDEN
Cleaning the dishes and the kitchen had been a good distraction at first, but my thoughts kept straying to Hale in the shower. Was his body as strong as it felt? Did he have a six-pack or a little softness around the middle?
Making quick work of cleaning only took a few minutes, and then I had to decide on dessert. I could go obvious with marshmallows for the fire, but I decided against it. I didn’t love toasted marshmallows, to be honest. They always tasted burned, no matter how little you toasted them. That only left me with the cookies I had bought at the store last week. I put some on a plate, then decided hot chocolate would be perfect with the sugar cookies. While the milk heated on the stove, I looked to the living room and quickly decided a blanket fort would be perfect for us to get to know each other. I threw pillows on the floor and arranged a few quilts over the furniture until the area looked cozy.
I finished up the drinks and put them by the fire with the cookies, then remembered Hale didn’t have any extra clothes to change into. I ran into the bedroom and looked for anything that might fit, but all I had was an extra robe. I slipped into the bathroom from the bedroom to leave the robe and gathered his clothes to start a load of laundry so he’d have some clean clothes for tomorrow at least. I tried not to look when I crept in, but the temptation was too much. Through the steam-fogged glass shower door, I could see the silhouette of his magnificent body and his hand slowly stroking a very impressive cock. I tore my gaze away and gathered the clothes to finish my task. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I put his clothes in the wash, then went back to let him know I had left him something to wear.
I returned to the fort and arranged everything a few different ways until I was happy with it. A thought had kept running through my mind, but I was curious to see if Hale had also realized it. When he came out of the bathroom, the first thing I noticed was that the robe was much too short and much too small to cover everything. In addition to that, the fire in Hale’s eyes spoke to the smoldering feelings that had been building in me for the last hours. I plastered on a smile, leaned back against the sofa behind me, and patted the pillow next to me on the floor for him to join me.
“I made us a fort for our cookies and cocoa. What do you think?”
Before I could offer him either the cookies or the hot chocolate, I was being pushed back onto the pillows and covered from head to toe by a warm and steamy body. Hale braced his arms on either side of my face while his gaze roamed over my face for my reaction. I immediately spread my legs to cradle his body with mine, and I snaked my hands up his sides to find a way to the skin underneath the slippery fabric of the robe. His breathing was heavy, fogging up my glasses, so I reached up and took them off, gently placing them on the sofa cushions above me before returning my hand to grip his side.
“Did you know you’ve been courting me the way a male barn owl would ever since you’ve been here?”
Hale looked confused and about to pull back, but I pulled him tighter and closer and explained. “You’ve been trying to help me around the house since you got here. Then you insisted I bathe first while you provided the meal for me. It’s a classic mating ritual—one gets the nest ready, then the other brings food for the other. We’ve been doing a mating dance this whole day without even realizing it.”
