Page 25 of Donner

"Artillery shell," I said.

"A bomb?"

"It sounds like a bomb, but it's harmless."

"We'll see how well I can hear tomorrow," he said. "I don't like this."

Another boom rattled the windows behind us, but then the sky lit up with three different explosions of color: red, green, and purple.

"Ooh. Pretty." Jax relaxed against me and watched as color popped all over the night sky. I changed the angle of our seat back so Jax could see them reflected in the water, too. I'd never seen fireworks over water before, and this was breathtaking.

All manner of aerial displays filled the air, from high-flying rockets to bursts that changed color as they burned. Jax clapped his hands at the first display to change both color and direction. He pulled my arms closer around him at every loud burst, but he seemed to like the ones that whistled and spun.

When the final loud burst of explosions settled into the night, Jax sighed with disappointment. "That's it?"

I glanced at my fitness tracker. "We've been out here twenty minutes. That's not bad."

Jax hopped off the chair and dragged me to my feet. "We'll have to make our own fireworks, then."

The knot of his robe caught on my jeans as he tried to press closer to me. He snorted and untied it, letting the sides fall open as he attacked my mouth. He grabbed onto my neck and pulled himself up, twisting his legs around my waist.

I carried him back inside like that, almost dropping him in the pool when I slipped on a wet spot. We made it inside and collapsed on the couch, both laughing. When Jax's gaze caught and held mine, the lust smoldering there stopped the breath in my throat.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked.

"I love that you keep asking me instead of taking what you want," Jax said.

"What do I want?" I teased. I was open to anything at this point if it involved more of Jax's mouth on me and more of his hard cock rubbing against mine.

"I saw it in your gaze on the dance floor." Jax's breath was warm in my ear as he kissed my jaw. "You want to be my alpha."

Mine,my eagle agreed.Mate.

"I want you to be happy," I said. If Jax wanted to be my omega, only for his vacation, then I wasn't going to stand in his way. He seemed as lonely as I was, and if I could keep him from being lonely, even for a few days, it would be my sole purpose for the rest of his vacation.

Jax leaned his head on my shoulder and hugged me even tighter. "I am happy when I'm with you." He laughed. "It's strange, isn't it? I've known most of my friends my entire life, but I always feel like I can't be myself around them."

"In what way?"

"They have expectations about what it means to be an elf," he said, "or what it means to be a reindeer. You … don't."

I laughed. "True. I don't know any other reindeer or elves, let alone someone who is both. Or neither?"

I felt Jax's lips curl upward against the side of my neck. "Both. And neither."

"I suppose I should be worried I don't meet your expectations of a golden eagle shifter, but I don't really care. I've never met one."

"Neither have I," he said. "It's nice to make your acquaintance without any preconceived notions on my part, either." He leaned back to meet my gaze. "You're strong, kind, and smart. Everything I want in an alpha."

"I could say the same about you," I said. "You also beat yourself up too much." I tried to keep the judgment from my tone, but he was too hard on himself. "What if the only expectations you're trying to meet are the ones inside your own head?"

"Oh, no," Jax said. "My coworkers tell me when I do something that another reindeer wouldn't do. Then, my elf friends turn around and tell me I'm acting like a stubborn reindeer when I don't want to go along with their ridiculous plans."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. He'd been assertive in deciding what he wanted, but I had yet to butt heads with him the way he claimed they handled reindeer disagreements. "You? Stubborn?"

"I can be, yes." He laughed with me. "So far, we're perfect for each other. When I'm passionate about something, you don't seem to care either way." He batted his eyes at me. "I don't think I've stumbled across anything you're passionate about, yet."

"That's not true," I said. "I'm pretty passionate about you."

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