Page 13 of Christmas Eve with Krampus

Oh, hell no.

“What are you doing? Hang on, where are you going?”

“Outside,” his his clipped answer. “I will return.”

“Wait. You’re not going to chain me up again, are you? To keep me safe?”

I don’t do air quotes because I’m pretty sure the immortal demon will have no clue what they mean, but it’s obvious that I don’t think waking up with my arms stretched over my head left a good impression on me.

He laughs ruefully, though he stays seated. “Liebling… if only you knew how safe you really are. If you knew what I wanted to do to you, slumbering in my bed like my very own Christmas angel… The chains kept you from being taken from me, but they also reminded me that you don’t deserve to be punished by mating with one like me.”

Mating.

Mating.

He means fucking, doesn’t he?”

I open my mouth. The words stall, and then I think: screw it. Grabbing my tea, I swallow a gulp. It’s still warm, the minty taste pleasant, and it only just hits my gut before I’m blurting out, “I don’t think sleeping with you would be a punishment. In fact, going to bed wet and horny last night… that was more of a punishment than anything else.”

Ruprecht’s eyes darken. “You would’ve welcomed me?”

I didn’t say that. I also didn’t not say that.

And now I don’t say anything at all.

A small growl sounds in the back of his throat. “Drink your tea, Josie.”

I raise my eyebrows. “So I can’t lie to you?”

“I’ll be fair. I won’t lie to you. Do you know what I’d give to have been welcomed into that bed with you last night? How long I’ve waited for you?”

For me? “The council made it clear they don’t let too many women into Blackmoor. Even fewer men. If there aren’t any female monsters, you’ve probably been celibate for a while, huh?”

Centuries…

The linen on his pants rustle. “I told you, my Josie. I will not lie to you. It’s not that there are no other women in Blackmoor that’s kept me from having a female in my bed. It’s that I’ve spent as long as I’ve existed in this incarnation waiting for a mate.” His shoulder moves, his angle in his chair shifting, but his eyes stay locked on my face. “For you.”

I blink. “For me?”

“Ja. There is a reason why you are, liebling. Why the council allowed you in particular to walk through our woods. Why the elves tried to take you first… and why I was woken from my slumber, drawn to find you on such a night past Krampusnacht. I never have before, but I dreamed of the moment I would. Because it’s you, Josie Butler. You’re the mortal female I’ve been longing for.”

Okay.

Um.

What?

“It’s not me,” I try to say. “You just think that because I’m the girl the council picked. But it was between me and another one. Caitlin, okay? I got lucky. That doesn’t mean… whatever you think it means.”

Right?

Ruprecht lets out a hollow chuckle. “I’d agree with you, but from the moment I caught your scent on the snow, my body has reacted to you. And since I can’t claim my mate, I’ve had to make do. I’ve gone outside to find release. I would go now if you ask me to.”

I don’t. Instead, I ask, “What is Krampusnacht?”

His expression tells me that I surprised him by asking. Whether it’s because I don’t know or because I want to know, I’m not sure, but he waits a few seconds before answering me.

“The sixth of December is the feast for St. Nicholas. The night before belongs to me. Krampusnacht. That’s when I hibernate… unless I have cause to waken.”

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