CHAPTER7
Jackson shook his head, debated going after her and roasting her ass as he heard multiple sculptures shattering against the marble floors.Clearly she was angry.Well he wasn’t exactly in paradise either.
His intention had been to keep her here, willing or not, but common sense prevailed once again.It usually did, which was precisely why he found himself in his current situation.Had he been more impulsive, more demanding, more…well…everything, she would never have run off with Timberline in the first place.
Instead he’d been a bit of a wuss, giving in to her on almost every occasion.Blinded by her beauty, mind-boggled by the love he felt for her, he’d believed that eventually he would win her with gentleness and devotion.What a crock of reindeer turds that plan had been!
She’d needed a firm hand, someone who would call her on her nonsense and pull her mind from the gumdrop and cotton candy world she lived in a good portion of the time.
Growing up in Christmas Village, raised by adoring parents, his Chrissy believed everything would go her way, all of her impulses were good ones, true love would find her and then she would live happily ever after.Sadly, she hadn’t recognized true love when it was right under her nose.
He had.He’d known from the very beginning that she was meant for him.She beguiled him with her beauty, her grace; even her childish antics had amused him to a point.He’d been certain if he waited long enough she would mature, becoming the amazing Elven woman he knew she would be.
Santa had been opposed to their union, firmly opposed, due to Crystalia’s age and wild ways.Friends for years, the argument they had over it was unusually fierce.
“Jackson, Crystalia Wonderland is lovely, and as flighty as a Christmas dove.You’ll be ready to strangle her within months.The girl’s head is so full of romantic notions it’s a wonder moonbeams don’t follow her around like a cloud,” he said shaking his head.
“I don’t care,” Jackson had replied.“She’s funny and full of life.Nothing is beyond her imagination.I find her fascinating and completely adorable.”
“She’s childish and entirely irresponsible!”
“She’ll mature, in time.”
“You are dour and serious, Jack.I know she’s appealing, partly because she’s your opposite, but think about it my friend.What if you have a child?There’s nothing worse than a child raising a child.”
“I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen, Claus,” he had promised.
“There’s nothing sure about Miss Wonderland.No, I forbid it.You can’t marry her, at least not yet.Come and see me in another decade or so and we’ll talk again.”
“No.I’m going to do it whether you agree or not.You don’t know everything, my old friend.I’m convinced she’s the one and I can’t stand by while she chooses another.”
“She’ll have to get permission in either case, and I won’t give it, not to you or anyone else.Trust me.Be patient,” Santa pleaded.
Jackson had tried,but just as he’d feared she’d run off with another, to stubborn to listen to anyone, even her parents.Crushed and furiously angry, he’d cast a spell over the beautiful courtyard he’d built outside Santa’s workshop.The once enchanted garden became a bitter reminder to all who entered of how cold Jackson Frost’s heart now was.Entering risked the life of anyone who stayed for more than a moment.
Santa banned him from Christmas Village and he hadn’t been back in decades, other than to slip in and out secretly to observe the comings and goings.He knew when Crystalia came back and when her son arrived.He knew they had a difficult relationship and on some level it pleased him.The less people in her life, the stronger his position would be when the time came.However, that had all changed when the little elf with the pink hair stole Crystalia’s son’s heart.For the last year, Jackson had been periodically dropping in on Crystalia unannounced.They’d begun to build a delicate friendship of sorts, based mostly on their social isolation.Now that she’d rejoined Elven society that friendship was at risk.He could not wait much longer to show her that he still wanted her as much more than a friend.Soon she would be spending more time in Christmas Village with her son, Wyatt and his wife, and who knew if another male would take advantage of her fragile, lonely state.
Whisking her away to his castle seemed like the best choice.After all, hadn’t Brad Timberline done the same several decades ago?He managed to break her heart, the scars never quite healing, and bitterness kept her away from any competition, but he knew from experience how quickly that could change.
Jackson had been at the Winter Ball in Christmas Village the night she’d attended with her parents.He’d watched her from a distance as she’d become reacquainted with old friends, and he’d watched her son marry the female he loved.
There was no way he could fail to see the admiring glances directed her way, no way he could ignore the males he heard talking about her beauty.History was going to repeat itself if he didn’t take a stand, and quickly.And so he did!
He knew he desired her above all others, loved her above all others, but in less than 48 hours he’d learned it was far worse than that.Crystalia was the other half of him, his soulmate, his destiny, and there was no way in frozen hell he could continue to live without her.
She brought him alive.She burned him, he the frozen elf, the Winter King.The only time in his life he felt warm was when he was with her.Didn’t she understand she was necessary to his very existence?
* * *
Crystalia enteredher bedroom filled with wrath.How dare he take her and use her!Who in frozen hell did he think he was!The Winter King indeed, she thought with a snort.Swiftly she located her freshly laundered clothes and dressed, pulling on her boots and grabbing her parka.
Her hair was wild as she stomped down the staircase and stood in the foyer, tapping her foot impatiently.What had possessed her to get into his sleigh anyway?Damn, he’d been angry with her for more than three decades for running off with a human male.Why did it seem as though he sympathized with her over the last many months he’d been appearing on her doorstep?
He seemed kind, encouraging her to talk to him and listening, really listening as she poured out her heartbreak.She began to look forward to his visits, and tried to ignore the disappointment when a week or two passed and he did not come.She’d anticipated asking him to accompany her to the Winter Ball, hoping to heal the rift between him and Santa, but he did not come.She thought she saw him for a moment when she entered the courtyard, but decided she’d imagined it out of longing.That feeling scared her.The very last thing she needed was a romance with an Elven male who’d avoided marriage and commitment for centuries.She’d do well to stay away from Jackson Frost she decided that night, and now that she’d begun to mend her relationship with Wyatt she would be less lonely.
Then, the very next morning who should show up in her sitting room looking exceptionally appealing!It wasn’t fair.None of it was fair, and it was even worse now that he’d made her his in the most elemental way a male could.Crystalia bellowed his name, her voice echoing through the frozen halls.
“Jackson!”
