Page 15 of Snowed in at Santa's Lodge
Aspen put his face head-to-head with the puppy. “What should we call you? It was pretty frosty and cold today. What do you think? Are you a Frosty?”
And because puppies lick, the pup stuck out his tongue and swiped it across my mate’s chin.
“I’m gonna take that as a yes. Ragnar, I want to introduce you to Frosty.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Frosty. Would you like to come hang out at Santa’s Lodge?”
I couldn’t promise him a home there—there was a possibility he already had one—but every second I spent with him had me hoping that he’d stay with us, that he’d be the mascot for Santa’s Lodge.
If that cute little face didn’t bring in business, I didn’t know what would.
Chapter Twelve
Aspen
“Frosty, go get the ball!” I called out. Frosty was a puppy, but he was not interested in the ball at all. What he was interested in was frolicking and romping in the snow, sometimes to his detriment. Once he leapt into some deep snow and Ragnar had to dig the little guy out, which was a task considering the little guy was the same color as the white flakes blanketing the grounds.
I walked out to an empty spot and lay on my back, making a snow angel. I’d always been jealous of those Christmas movies on TV where people were in love, playing in the snow, and having a picture-perfect Christmas, and here I was, smack dab in the middle of my fantasy. With a cute puppy and a sexy-ass man to boot.
I was one lucky omega.
“What is that smile for?” Ragnar stood above me, one hand on his hip and the other holding Frosty like a football. The little guy looked so small in his beefy hands.
“I’m so damned happy,” I said, being completely honest. “Genuinely happy.”
Ragnar nodded. “I’m so glad, Aspen. You deserve all the happiness in the world.”
“So do you.”
The alpha helped me up. “Let’s get you two inside. I can make some peppermint hot chocolate, and we have those vanilla scones from earlier. I snuck in and started the fire while you two were playing.”
“You are amazing, Ragnar,” I said and, while I had complimented him plenty of times before, he stopped walking and turned to face me.
“I think you are amazing.”
I winked at him. “I know.”
“So damned sassy. I love it.” Before I knew what was happening, he picked me up and put me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I squirmed, trying in vain to get him to put me down, but instead, I got a swift slap on my ass.
“That did nothing to make me behave, for the record.”
He growled and did it again. “That’s good to know. We can test that theory out after you’ve warmed up.”
“You want to spank me?” I asked. I’d never been spanked before, but the thought of my big man laying one of those strong hands across my ass sent a thrill through me.
“If you like that. Sounds fun to me. And if you’re good, I might let you reciprocate.”
I would feel totally safe experimenting with Ragnar. I had never felt like this before. He would never in a million years hurt me. He was the only alpha I’d ever put my complete and total trust in.
We got to the apartment and I lay on the floor with Frosty in front of the fireplace on the fuzzy rug. I listened to him bustle around in the kitchen until the smells of peppermint, cocoa, and milk filled the air.
“That smells divine.”
“Yousmell divine but yeah, this does too.”
“What do I smell like to you?” I asked him. Frosty nuzzled under my arm and fell asleep quickly.
“Christmas,” he answered. He came over with a plate of scones and two mugs of piping hot chocolate.
