Page 28 of Wrong Number, Right Santa

He was close. So very close.

“Come for me, my love. Let go.” I licked the spot where I planned to mark him and then reached between us to stroke his engorged cock in time with my thrusts.

One, two, three jerks, and Dario tensed seconds before his climax slammed into him, his hot cum spurting between our bodies. The pulsing of his body wrapped around mine had me hurtling over the edge. My knot expanded, locking us together.

As my knot grew, my head fell, my lips sealing against his flesh, marking him as mine, completing my half of the bond as his teeth sank into my neck, making him fully mine.

“Mate.” There was so much more to say than that, but it was all I could manage to get out.

“Mate.” He licked the spot where he’d just marked me. “Mine.”

“Yours. Always.”

Chapter 21

Dario

It was Christmas week and work in the village had reached a fever pitch.

Chris barely made it home each night. He’d have a bite to eat, kiss me, and rush off, often taking his dinner with him. But whereas many people celebrated the big day on the twenty-fifth, once my mate returned home at dawn, he was on vacation.

I’d been going back and forth to my job, and the first time it happened, my head spun at being in one place and a second later being somewhere different. Now I was sorta used to it, though my beast said he got airsick and had to nap afterward.

But I’d started my holiday, and while Chris was so busy, I decided to decorate the house. The problem was this was Santa’s home and he visited houses worldwide, so he’d seen every decoration imaginable. I had to come up with something unique.

When Chris snatched fifteen minutes for a shower and to eat a sandwich, I asked if there was anyone who could help me with Christmas decorations.

“I want it to be a surprise when you walk in. It’ll be like nothing you’ve ever seen.”

He paused at the doorway, shoving the last of his sandwich in his mouth. “Should I be worried?”

I bopped him on the nose. “Do you trust me?”

“One hundred percent.” As he dashed out, he yelled he’d ask a retired elf, Wyn, to assist me.

I was hunched over my tablet with Max asleep at my feet when a loud knock disturbed my concentration. An elderly elf stood at the door, the bell on his hat tinkling in the wind. I ushered him in and thanked him for helping me.

“It’s my pleasure. Any elf who’s worked for Santa adores him, and we are indebted to him. Not many people on planet earth can say they’ve worked for Santa.”

After offering Wyn cocoa and cake, we got to planning.

“I love light, especially as it’s the dead of winter. And Santa’s house should be spectacular.”

“I agree. Santa never decorates his house because he doesn’t have time.”

He added that Chris usually slept all Christmas Day and beyond, which was understandable. Flying across the world and delivering presents was exhausting, not to mention the work leading up to the big day.

“Let’s start with the outside.” He sketched the house on his own tablet, his stylus speeding over the screen at a dizzying speed. He draped the roof in lights of green, pink, purple, and a touch of orange. I’d seen those lights on the sleigh ride with Chris.

“They’re the northern lights.”

He nodded and said he’d add a touch of magic so they glowed just as the real ones did.

I was thinking of having lanterns on either side of the path, but that was a little ho-hum rather than ho-ho-ho. I mentioned my idea to Wyn, and he suggested ice lanterns with candles inside.

“Won’t they melt?” The temperature was well below freezing, but with the addition of the candles, I imagined droplets of water tamping down the flames.

“Not these ones, don’t worry.”

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