Page 1 of Trapped in the Christmas Cabin

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KLAUS

“Can’tbelieveIhave to wear this!”Klaus’exlooked down at himself in disgust.“Itlooks ridiculous—I’mtoo old for this shit!”

Theoutfit he was wearing was a red coat and trousers, both trimmed in white fur.Blackboots, a wide black belt with a silver buckle, and a long white beard all went with the red and white suit, butKlausabsolutely refused to wear the beard.

“Youlook great asSanta!”his companion protested.“Imean, ifSantawas seven feet tall and muscular.Actually, you look more like a sexy, stripperSantathan the traditional kind,” she added with a musical laugh.“Anddon’t say you’re too old—Santaissupposedto be old.That’swhy he has a long white beard.Besides, your name isKlaus—how much more perfect could it be?”

“Myname is pronounced like ‘house’—not like your mythological present giver, whose name sounds more like ‘claws’,”Klauspointed out, glaring down at her.

KelliDaviswas aGoodWillAmbassadorfor theKindredMotherShip, where they both lived and worked and she was always “looking on the bright side” of things as she put it.Shewas what the humans called a “glass is half full” kind of person—an optimist, in other words.

Klauswas the exact opposite.Eversince his wife had died ten years before, he had seen only the dark side of life.Beingpaired withKellias herProtectorcould be trying at times—especially when she attempted to put a positive spin on what was obviously a negative situation.Or, if not exactly negative, then at least extremely fucking annoying, he amended to himself.

“Idon’t want to beSantaandIdon’t see why it’s fucking necessary,” he growled.

“That’swhat theQuestarionsasked for,” she reminded him.“I’mdressed asSanta’sElfand you don’t see me complaining even thoughI’mway too old for this outfit.”Shespun around in a little circle and grinned up at him, looking annoyingly adorable,Klausthought.

Hehad to admit she looked great in the outfit their alien benefactors had sent.Thedark green dress molded to her full curves and the red and white striped stockings looked great on her legs.Herlong dark brown hair—which looked wine-red in the sunlight—was in loose waves around her shoulders and her big gray eyes were gorgeous.Notto mention the fact that her softly curving lips looked incredibly kissable…

Klaushad to make himself look away for a minute—damn it, why did she have this effect on him?Hewas supposed to be herProtectorwhen she went on goodwill missions for theMotherShip—that was all.Hedidn’t want to be attracted to her.

Hedidn’t want to, but he was.

Forthe whole past year, since she had been assigned to him,Klaushad been fighting his feelings.Feelingshe hadn’t had to deal with for ten long years, sinceMirandahad died.Afterhe lost his wife to a quick-acting and incurable cancer he had made a sacred vow that he would never even look at another woman again.Thatpart of him was dead and buried—he was sure.Andfor ten years, it seemed he was right—he had no interest in anyone female.

AndthenKellicame along.

Thecurvy little human had gotten under his skin at once, thoughKlaushated to admit it.Shewas always smiling and singing or humming to herself.Shehad a bright, sunny personality and was the kind of person that other people gravitated to naturally.Eventhough she’d moved to theMotherShiponly a year ago, she already knew more people thanKlaushad met in half a lifetime of living there.Itwas so damn irritating.

“Idon’t give a damn about theQuestarionsand their stupidChristmasvillage,” he snapped.“Justbecause we’re visiting doesn’t mean we should have to dress up like characters fromEarthmythology.”

“Butthat’s half the fun of it!”Kelliprotested.“Itgets you in theChristmasspirit!”Shepointed at the long white beard which he had pointedly left off.“Aren’tyou going to put that on?”

“MaybeIdon’t fucking want to get in theChristmasspirit,”Klausgrowled.“Andno,I’mnot fucking wearing that thing.It’llmake my real beard itch.”

Hestroked his neatly trimmed black beard as he spoke.Justlooking at the fake beard, which would reach halfway down his chest if he put it on, made him feel itchy and irritable.

Kellisighed.

“You’reso grumpy!Imean, even more than usual for aBeastKindred.Isyour costume too itchy inside?Isit rubbing you the wrong way?”

Thewhole damn situation was rubbing him the wrong way,Klausthought.Hedidn’t want to go to a strange planet and spend the night in close proximity to a woman who was tempting him to break his vow—it wasn’t right.

NotthatKelliwas tempting him on purpose.Sheprobably had no idea how he felt about her, he reminded himself.Toher,Klauswas just her gruff and growlyProtector—the one charged with making sure she was safe when they went on missions to visit new planets and meet new species.Shehad no idea that every word she said in her soft, musical voice, every gesture she made, and every flash of her eyes—even her sweet, feminine scent drew him like a magnet.

Soit wasn’t her fault, but it was still irritating.

Klaushad no idea how he was going to get through this night onQuariaFour, where theChristmasVillagetheQuestarionshad built was located.Hewould just have to do his best to keep his distance from the curvy little human until they could get back home to theMotherShip.

Hehad no idea how difficult that would prove to be.

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KELLI

Geeze, he’s really grumpy today!Kelliwatched herKindredProtectorfrom the corner of her eye as he prepared to land their ship onQuariaFour.AsaBeastKindred,Klausalways looked kind of scary, and somehow the red and whiteSantasuit he was wearing made him more intimidating, not less.

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