Page 14 of Christmas Eve with Krampus

Which, if I can believe him, was because he sensed me out in the woods…

I think about that for a second. I think about all of this. I mean, he’s trying to tell me that this was… fated… or some shit. That I was supposed to be here. But he knows I’m only here for three days, right?

Right?

Ruprecht is still watching me closely. “Tell me… are you frightened, Josie?”

I swallow. I don’t even need the tea to tell the truth: “No.”

He blows air through his nose. He doesn’t come out and call me a ‘liar’—but he doesn’t have to. His soft snort does it for him.

He’s wrong, though. I’m not frightened.

I’m turned on.

The muscles in his arm bunch. The sound of skin on skin rubbing finally reaches me, and my jaw drops.

“Are you…” I can’t even bring myself to say my suspicions out loud. It sounds so accusatory, even in my head, but the way he’s slouching a little in his seat…

He is, isn’t he?

“Does this bother you? Demons need release, and I’m used to my solitude. But ”

That’s he’s jerking off under the table while I’m in the middle of breakfast?

Actually… “Not really. You do you, R.”

He grunts a little, then says, “R?”

I shrug. “Ruprecht sounds so formal, and that’s assuming I can even say it right.” And I haven’t been. I’m sure of that. “Krampus sounds like we belong in a horror movie. With what’s going on right now… and you saving me… I thought I’d call you ‘R’. I mean, you keep calling me ‘liebling’, whatever that means.”

“My darling,” he grates out, cheeks hollowing. “You are my liebling. I will be your R. As for this… think nothing of it. Once I find my release, I’ll regain some more control. I’m sure you need to relieve yourself. I have a hot spring on my land nearby, as well, if you’d like to bathe. But, forgive me, liebling…” His pace picks up, his breath coming a little harder than before. “I must do this now.”

Think nothing of it? Poor Ruprecht. He just confessed that I’m the first female he’s seen in who knows how long. Not only that, but he has this idea that I was meant to find him. And instead of making a move to be intimate with me, he’s spent the morning with his hand… including now, when I’m barely a few feet away from me.

And, from the sound of it, he’s been taking himself in hand more than a few times since I fell asleep in his bed.

Think nothing of it? As if I can.

My gaze can’t help but follow the motion of his arm, but the tabletop blocks me seeing anything that’s going on beneath it. I’m not so pervy that I’ll duck to get a peek without his consent, but, oh, is the urge there.

Ruprecht’s brows furrows. “I’m sorry, my Josie. I was trying to be discreet.”

“Don’t be,” I whisper. “I want to see.”

“Are you certain? You don’t know what restraint you are asking if you are playing with me.”

Am I sure? Never looking away from Ruprecht, I pick up my mug. I take another swallow, making sure he sees me do it, then set the mug down.

My voice ringing with truth, I tell him boldly, “I want to see.”

CHAPTER 5

CHRISTMAS EVE

For a split second there, I’m sure he’s going to refuse. After spending centuries by himself in the woods, he’s probably not bold enough to put on a shower in front of a woman he just met—and my libido is pretty damn happy to be proven wrong when Ruprecht swallows roughly, then pushes his seat away from the table before standing up.

He doesn’t leave. Instead, he moves around so that he’s standing a few feet away from my seat.

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