Page 6 of Donner

"You shouldn't be drinking right now," he said. "How is your head?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling a little dizzy." I didn't think I could make the elevator work with the way my head swam.

Beau took charge, then, sweeping me off my feet again and carrying me into the hotel. He found my wallet in my pocket. (I swear it magicked to the size of a playing card when not in use. That's the only way it could fit.) When the elevator arrived at the penthouse suite, Beau whistled. "Wow. You banging your boss or something?"

"What?"

"You said he paid for this place. Must be nice."

I laughed. "He's a jolly old elf."

Beau frowned at me. "Like,Lord of the Rings?"

"Like he's a Santa Claus."

"Oh." Beau gave me one of those looks that said he was going along with my silliness even though he didn't believe me, or maybe he thought I'd hit my head too hard. I recognized that look. I used it with Derek all the time.

"Here, let me take a look at you." He led me to the nearest couch and sat me down. He peered into my eyes in the near-dark, and then turned on the nearest lamp and looked again. "Do you have a headache?"

"It's mostly gone," I said. "I feel strange, though. My head's still spinning."

"What kind are you?" Beau asked.

"Kind?"

"Of shifter?"

I'd never had to tell anyone what kind of shifter I was. In Christmas Village, you were either a reindeer, an elf, or another shifter who expected us to be either reindeer or elves. Beau had already told me he was a golden eagle, though, so I returned the favor. "Reindeer."

"Santa … you told me the truth?"

I nodded. "Is that bad?"

He chuckled, again warming my core. "Not at all. I'm glad Christmas is a big enough business to pay for all this." He gestured around the room, and my head swam as I tried to follow his hand.

He noticed and hefted me off the couch in yet another bridal carry. "Let's get you some water and see what the medicine cabinet has for you."

I leaned into his chest again, soaking in his heat and luxuriating in his scent of pine and predator. I'd never paid much attention to birds of prey before. They were rare in our part of the world, tending to stay further south, even in the summer. I could imagine the majestic creature he would be in his shifted form.

My head spun again as he sat me down on the bed and propped pillows behind my back. "Keep the light off. I'll grab you a glass of water and whatever I find."

"There's some headache medicine in the side pocket of my bag." He first reached for the compartment with my underwear, and I felt a little self-conscious. "Not that one. The other side."

"Got it." He set the bottle on the nightstand. "I'll be back with the water."

I struggled to stay awake long enough to scarf a couple of pills and a large cup of water, and to exchange phone numbers with Beau, with a promise to text him when I woke up.

"Sorry," he whispered. "I have to get back to work."

"I'll shift when you leave," I said, "and then I'll see you at the club tomorrow night."

"Text me first thing in the morning. If I don't hear from you, I'll have housekeeping check on you." The steel set of his shoulders said he meant it, too.

"I will text you," I promised.

I waited until the elevator had closed behind him to strip out of my clothes and shift painfully into my reindeer beside the bed. Even though I'd told him I was a reindeer, I didn't want him to see me like this. My body healed and my head cleared within a minute, but I was exhausted when I shifted back.

This was not how I'd expected my first night of vacation to go. I fell into bed naked, but how I'd arrived there vastly underperformed my expectations. It would have been nice to get to know Beau a little better, but I was far too tired and not even a little in the mood, even after I'd healed.

---