Page 23 of Reindeer Flames
"Thank you so much," she said. "You're going to save Christmas, just like Santa said."
I tried to answer and choked for lack of breath. She laughed and released me, pounding on my back until I could inhale without choking.
"Sorry. We're scraping the bottom of our salt barrel, so to speak. Please tell Santa we won't let him down. He's getting the next batch of chocolate-filled croissants on the house." She bent down. "You'll tell him we need enough salt for Laurie to make her chocolate sauce, yeah?" she whispered in my ear.
"Once I tell him about the croissants, I'm sure he'll agree."
Silver and I went to our separate homes to pack our bags, and then we met at Santa 30's office. It was still eerily quiet without his assistants tapping away on their keyboards and Donner talking to himself while he configured a new route for us to fly during practice.
Once we discussed our flight details and I had the letter for the wholesaler tucked into my overnight bag, I asked, "Where is everyone?"
"Three years ago, we tried mandatory vacations for our most overworked reindeer," Santa said. "This year, we're trying three days of mandatory rest for everyone."
"Except Hart won't be resting," Silver pointed out. "He'll be flying a sleigh to Denmark."
"Yes, but spending time with his fated mate during the Christmas season is the best kind of rest for a flying reindeer shifter." He winked at us.
"We really are fated mates?" I asked.
Silver blushed a deep crimson and bowed his head. "Is that a bad thing?"
"No!" I grabbed his hand and cradled it to my chest. "It's just a surprise, is all."
Santa laughed. "It's only a surprise because you've been ignoring your beasts. No wonder you've been so distracted during practice." Santa slid a set of keys across his desk. On the back was a sticky note with an address I recognized in Denmark. "If you leave now, you'll arrive at the cabin before midnight. Tomorrow, you can fly the rest of the way to Copenhagen, trade for the salt, and return to the cabin before heading home the next morning. I want you well-rested when you return."
"Yes, Santa." Sex with Silver was off the table, then.
"The best rest I've ever had was after a good lay." Santa winked.
Silver barked a laugh and covered his mouth, his eyes bulging as he tried to suppress more guffaws. I stood motionless, my face burning hotter each second. All responses that popped into my head were things Bopp would say, which only made my embarrassment worse.
"Um, I think we should get going," I finally stammered.
"Safe travels!" Santa called as I pulled Silver into his small reception area.
"I did not need to know the Santas were sexual beings." I led Silver down a hallway between the workshop and warehouse until we arrived at the hangar where we practiced takeoffs and landings. "Here are the practice sleighs."
"Santas are elves," Silver said. "Why wouldn't they have sex?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "I guess I've never thought about it. It seems wrong to think about, like imagining your parents having sex."
"Ew. No. Did not need that mental image." Silver laughed. "Still, Santa 30 is hot. I bet he could get anyone he wants."
Santa was hot? I hadn't noticed. I could barely look him in the eye, for fear he would kick me off his team for being a typical Comet. He had wavy white hair covering his pointed ears and a close-trimmed beard that glittered with silver. His narrow face and athletic figure hid how many cookies and sweet drinks he consumed daily. He was pleasingly attractive, but at several inches shorter than I was, he wasn't my type.
I rolled back the tarp covering the nearest practice sleigh. While most were completely flat, this one had a bench seat with storage. "Will this one do?"
"Yes, thanks." Silver followed my every movement as I prepared the harness and hooked it to the sleigh. "I've never been to Denmark," he said after a lengthy silence. "Have you?"
"Not to Copenhagen," I said. "This will be a first for me, too." I glanced over my shoulder at the empty hangar. "The elves must have the day off, too. I'll need your help to buckle the harness."
"Whatever you need!"
First, I had to be naked. For some reason, unzipping my parka and removing my hat and gloves felt different, more vulnerable. Silver had seen me naked, but he hadn't met my reindeer yet.
For his part, my beast rushed to the surface, wanting to rip through my clothes to meet our dragon mate. I unbuttoned my shirt with shaking fingers, which had nothing to do with the cold.
Finally, I stood naked before Silver, my pack tucked inside the practice sleigh's single bench seat. Silver's gaze heated with appreciation as I stepped into the rigging and placed the harness over my shoulders. The rough leather scraped against my chest, and the buckle chilled my skin.
