Page 18 of Snowed in at Santa's Lodge
He walked around and petted the reindeer, speaking in a soft, kind voice the whole time and making my heart swell with love. My reindeer and I were the same person yet not, and it might be a hard concept for some people—humans—to take in. But not my omega. In a remarkably short time, he’d accepted who I was and my dual nature. Often when the reindeer was indominance, I sort of drowsed in the background. But not today. When my beast bent his knee and invited Aspen to ride him?
He’d certainly never done that for anyone else.
“Whoa.” Aspen braced his palms on our back. “This is so high up.” I didn’t have control, but I trusted that my reindeer would take great care with him.
He walked around the yard, slowly and carefully, letting Aspen get comfortable before trotting into the woods. Even then, he didn’t use the speed he could have, always mindful of our omega on his back and without any particularly good handholds. No mane or anything handy like that. If the two of them were going to do this often, we’d need to arrange some sort of halter or something that Aspen could use to stay on more easily.
But for now, my omega was delighted, patting the reindeer and talking to him in a natural and comfortable way. I was in heaven.
Chapter Fourteen
Aspen
It was Christmas Eve, and all I wanted to do was stay in bed. So exhausted and feeling guilty about it. It was supposed to be one of the happiest days of the year, and at this rate, I was going to sleep it all away.
My original plan was just to sleep for five more minutes when Ragnar got up. But then I was just going to drowse while he took a shower. Shower over, and I moved the goal post to snooze while he made breakfast. And now it was near noon, and I was barely getting out of bed.
I hadn’t even done anything the day before, not really. That was unless you considered taking my car to the shop, or, more accurately, following my mate as he drove my car to the shop. He adamantly refused to let me in it until the heater was fixed. He was adorably stubborn.
I was still trying to figure out the logistics of getting my things here and dealing with the job and all of that, but I wasn’t worried about it. This was where I belonged, and he was who I belonged with. Everything else was gonna fall into place.
After a quick trip to the bathroom and cleaning up, I went to find my mate.
He finishing up making turkey sandwiches. “I was just about to come and wake you up.”
“No need. I finally got my lazy self up.”
“I don’t think you’re lazy. I don’t think that’s what this is at all.” He walked around the counter and kissed my cheek. “You were sleeping so peacefully when I was up there earlier. Glad you got up on your own because not sure I would’ve been able to wake you. You were just too adorable.”
My ears were hot. “Now you’re embarrassing me.”
“Is that what this is called?” He ran his thumb along my cheekbone. “Come eat.”
I’d been craving turkey sandwiches something fierce, and he’d had to go get more deli turkey twice already. There was something about the mayonnaise-turkey combo. It didn’t even matter what bread it was on. Funny thing, I was usually a ham guy, but lately it was all about the turkey.
“What do we need to get done today?” I asked.
“It’s Christmas Eve. What do you think we need to get done?
“Cookies. Cookies. And then more cookies. It’s a Christmas Eve tradition.”
“I like cookies. And I really like no-bake. Are those Christmasy enough?”
“They are now. They can be our new tradition.”
I ate my sandwich, leaving the crust. I’d have felt like a picky little kid about it if we hadn’t taken to discarding our crusts outside for the birds to gather around and enjoy. There was a particular one that seemed to be around a lot. It was a kind of finch. I didn’t know the difference between all of them, but when I looked at him through my phone and zoomed in, he was beautiful.
And if my crust made him happy every day, I was there for it. If any was left over, there always seemed to be a squirrel ready to come get it.
I bit back a yawn.
“Still tired?”
“Yeah, maybe I just need some air.”
“Pretty sure that’s not what you need.” He rubbed his cheek against mine. “But we can go out. Do you want to play in the snow?”
I hadn’t considered that. “Yes, yes, I do.”
