Page 20 of Witch's Bells and Mistletoe

“It will do,” I admit. “I suppose I know who to bring the rest of my things to,” I add with a sly grin.

She laughs as I hoped she would. “It can’t be that much as I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wear more than the same few pairs of pants and a selection of shirts. I think I can manage.”

“You seem to forget how easily I destroy clothes,” I remind her, drawing another chuckle from my mate as she stands and goes to put her sewing kit away.

Taking that as my cue to get back to it, I pull on my sweater and grab the comb to groom my hair. I create several ornate braids around my horns and leave the rest flowing smoothly down my back before turning to my mate for her approval. Katherine is all smiles as she picks a speck of lint off my chest and makes a soft humming sound in her throat. She doesn’t say anything, but she doesn’t have to. I can see the appreciation in her eyes and in the way she smooths her hands over my chest and arms. I want more of those touches because I’m a greedy dragon, but I can wait.

I’m in a warm glow, however, as I follow her down from our room to the main floor and into the ballroom where this event is being carried out. An enormous tree has been erected in front of the large windows that span across one wall with numerous wrapped boxes beneath it that Katherine informs me in a quiet whisper are likely just wrapped empty boxes when I give them a curious look. Guests are already mingling, a number of them clustered around the long tables against one wall. One holds several of the large urns marked for coffee, decaf and hot chocolate, while the other two tables are loaded with all kinds of sweet baked goods. I typically don’t care for bread, pasta, and most grains, but I do enjoy pastries and the little sweet treats that are made. Especially cookies.

I salivate just a little as I spot cheerfully sprinkled green, blue, and red sugar cookies in the shapes of bells, snowmen, snowflakes, and cute little reindeer I want to bite the heads off of. Katherine immediately notices the direction of my attention and nudges me playfully.

“Go ahead. Just try to save some for the other guests,” she teases.

I give her a brilliant grin and lean to nuzzle her cheek, planting a light kiss on her soft skin before I head toward the table with a delighted twitch of my tail. The cookies are seductive sirens, but I ignore them long enough to grab two cups and fill them coffee before loading a plate with sugar cookies. I add to the pile some sort of crumbly fruit filled pastries, chocolate crinkle cookies that I recognize because Katherine baked some last year, and fruitcake because I have fond memories of stealing it from human households in the sixteenth century. I simply can’t go a winter holiday season without fruitcake. It’s not quite as good as sugar cookies but a fair second place.

Katherine gives my plate an amused glance as I join her near the tree and hand her a cup of coffee. By this point most of the guests have drifted toward the end of the ballroom where the carolers have begun singing, their voices lifting in Carol of the Bells. I pick up the chunk of fruitcake, my wings unfurling with a flow dragon fire to fold around my mate lovingly as I bite into the sweet, rum-laced confection. I groan quietly with pleasure and offer Katherine a bite, eager to feed my mate. She leans in and takes a bite from the cake held in my hand, thrilling me down to my core.

How I love this female!

I show her the best way I can, by holding her snugly beneath my wing while we listen to the performance and enjoy our treats. I have to hold my wing at a low angle so that I’m not obstructing her view any and loose enough so that I’m not interfering with her ability to enjoy her coffee and the treats I’ve gathered for us, but for me it is a perfect night. I purr quietly with pleasure as one song turns into another as the snow falls in the low evening light outside, and part of me wishes that I can make this moment last forever.

Preferably with fewer strangers crowded around us, but either way the moment is pure winter magic to me as I lean down and rub my cheek against the top of my mate’s head. The only thing that would make it better is if we were home with the coven, and I feel a momentary pang of homesickness that I haven’t felt since I was chased from my homeland. I realize that I don’t want this sort of solstice. I don’t want holidays abroad. I want them snug in our nest with our family—and the entire coven by extension—around us.

I hold back a bark of laughter with the realization. Katherine was so worried that I would want her to leave coven home and here I am eager to return even though I have the one thing I thought I wanted—having my mate all to myself. It is strange but it fills me with contentment. I can’t wait until this vacation is over and we can go home—together.

Chapter 15

KATHERINE

I yawn softly as my eyes focus on the snow falling outside the window that’s just barely visible around the edge of Adeon’s wing. The morning light is weak, which could be due mostly to the snowfall but likely also to the early hour. Either way, it doesn’t matter much to me as I snuggle further into his embrace and relish the way his wing slides down to curl tighter around me. I decide that I can happily while away the entire morning right here, but it’s the banging on the door that makes me stir from beneath Adeon’s wing. Adeon jumps from the bed, his scales brightening with his dragon fire.

My eyes zero in on his tail flicking angrily as he stalks stark naked to the door. All six foot five—not including the horns—of rudely awakened dragon is heading right for whatever poor person is at the other side of the door. I slip out of the bed and pull on my robe so that I can hurry after him. Adeon doesn’t even seem to notice that he’s naked when he throws the door open with a snarled, “What?”

The young man in the hallway freezes and pales noticeably as he stares. His throat works as he swallows nervously.

“I… I’m sorry to d… disturb you. Do you h… have a few minutes to spare?”

My dragon growls grumpily, obviously in no mood to listen. His wings widen to block me, but I gently hip check the male and give him my most charming smile when he turns a sharp gaze back at me.

“I’ve got this, Adeon. Why don’t you get put something on and start up the coffee for us before you give the bellboy here a heart attack?”

“It’ll just be a minute,” the bellboy says in a rush. “We’re just checking in with all the guests, I swear.”

Adeon gives him a suspicious look and harrumphs before stalking back to the bed. With one grouchy dragon out of the way, I turn a polite smile on the young man still waiting anxiously at the door.

“It’s all right. What’s your name?”

He swallows again but slowly straightens. “Andrew. Andrew Harper.”

I incline my head in greeting. “Nice to meet you, Andrew. I’m Katherine, and you’ve met Adeon. Now how is it we can help you?”

He flushes a little, no doubt because, though I’m more covered than Adeon, my silk robe leaves quite a bit of legs and cleavage visible. I have to give him points for keeping his eyes firmly locked onto my face, though he relaxes noticeably now that Adeon isn’t glowering down at him.

“Again, I’m sorry to disturb you, but the staff have been asked to inquire as to whether you’ve seen any sign of a couple of our carolers—Mindy and Sharon?” he asks as he hands me a page with two photos printed on it.

The girls look like they are about fifteen or sixteen years old, and immediately my heart goes out to them and their frantic family.

“They were supposed to ride back down to town with a mutual friend and their family, but the girls never met them at the entrance, so they assumed that they got a ride with someone else in the group.” He fidgets in place, looking stressed. “There’s been no sign of them at all. It’s like they just were wiped off the face of the Earth and everyone from town is in an uproar. We haven’t told the guests yet, but it’s only a matter of time. The hotel owner has been alerted and is already on his way to do damage control, but we are hoping that guests might recall seeing them. Perhaps outside the hotel?”

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