Page 11 of Bah Humbug Mate

Noel had run back to her herd when Dash’s kiss had rattled her. She had thrived in the herd system. Even when your parents were angry with you there was always someone to talk things through with. That had not been the case this time. No one—not a single person—had been willing to even talk to her.

“Well, at least you came to your senses and came home,” her father had snarled.

“I haven’t ‘come home.’ I’ve come to get my things to move them to Mystic River. Dash is my home now. He’s generously offered to help the herd and I can continue to work in the shop during the season and do the marketing the rest of the year,” she’d said, digging in her heels and refusing to tell them the true circumstances of her engagement.

“If you do this, there’s no coming back.” Softening, her father took her hands in his. “How can you want to tie yourself to him? He won’t even call himself a reindeer. He denies his legacy with every breath he takes.”

“You’re wrong. Dash doesn’t even know he has a legacy. His family and entire herd were wiped out. His grandmother searched for him for years and didn’t find him until it was too late. She left everything to Dash. He’s modified that to ensure her herd is provided for and will continue to have the territory that is rightfully theirs.”

“He calls himself a caribou.”

“I know he does. He doesn’t understand. I can help him with that.”

Her father shook his head, dropping her hands.

“No. I forbid it. You will remain with the herd.”

“I won’t.”

With her mother crying and the herd gathering outside their home, Noel had packed her things—at least those things she could take with her—and prepared to leave. Her heart was breaking, but at the same time, it was building anew.

Dash was her fated mate. He might not know it; might not believe it, but he was. They were destined to be together. She’d just have to believe enough for both of them until he could see the light for himself. Then and only then would she try to convince him of the true inheritance and legacy his grandmother had left him.

She walked through the small house and headed for her snowmobile and the small sled attached to it. Her mother was nowhere to be seen; her father turned his back and wouldn’t even look her way.

As she secured the load to the sled, her mother’s sister grabbed her arm and said, “She couldn’t bear to see you leave. I hope you’re happy that you broke your mother’s heart.”

Noel had really had it with her aunt and the rest of them. “Maybe. And maybe none of you will ever speak to me again, but somehow, I think when that money hits the bank accounts none of you will be in favor of sending it back.”

She wrenched her arm away from her aunt, slung her leg over the snowmobile, started the engine, and headed toward the ferry that would take her back to her new life. The life that always was supposed to have been.

So now she waited. Too nervous to simply stand around and do nothing, she began to tidy things up in the shop—not that they needed tidying, but her mind was in too much of a tizzy to do nothing. She hadn’t meant to let it go a week. Every day she ignored the texts and phone calls, thinking herself a coward for doing so.

Finally, earlier today, she couldn’t stand it anymore. She’d responded to his text. Instead of berating her, he’d offered to pick her up so they could spend some time together. She knew they needed to act engaged. If she was going to help her ungrateful herd and help Dash protect his herd’s great legacy, they needed to make this marriage work. Ten years was a long time.

Maybe it would be all right. Maybe this misunderstanding—for lack of a better word--was just a stumbling block. All mates had their travails and trials, right? She had almost convinced herself they could get things back on track. When she heard the ‘sleigh bells jingling, ring ting tingling too,’ her spirits lifted. It was ‘lovely weather’ for a sleigh ride with Dash.

She headed outside after setting the alarm and locking the door behind her. The sleigh was smaller than the one he’d used on the night of the holiday dance. This one was pulled by two horses and reminded her of the one from the films made in the 1940s and 50s. Noel was a sucker for films like Christmas in Connecticut, White Christmas, and Miracle on 34th Street. She watched them every year. For her they were part of the holiday.

She waved, feeling rather silly as the sleigh came into view. She was all smiles and sentimentality until she saw Dash’s face. This was not the face of a happy reindeer-shifter. He seemed grumbly and his body language indicated he was on edge, but as he caught sight of her, his mood seemed to lift. He all but fell out of the sleigh in his haste to get to her and wave the driver off.

“That wasn’t as suave as I intended,” he said, drawing her in for a brief but intense kiss.

He seemed uncertain and went to take a step back. This is where she’d lost him the last time. This time—far more sure of him and her feelings—she stepped into him, bringing her hands up to frame his face and pulling him back down for a far more lengthy and intimate kiss. It only took a fraction of a second for Dash to exert his dominance and take control of the kiss.

He was far better at this stuff than she cared to admit, and Noel sighed happily as she realized how much she had missed him. As he pressed his lips to hers, arousal flashed through her system. The kiss wasn’t overly sexual in nature, but it was deeply sensual and she could feel her toes curling in response. There was something intoxicating, and, she suspected, addictive about Dash Samuels. She wondered if he knew that—he was so clueless about other things. And stubborn. He was stubborn about not knowing the things he didn’t know.

Dash’s tongue slid over hers as his hand came up to tangle in her hair. She felt trapped in his embrace and in this situation, but oddly safe and optimistic at the same time. It made no sense whatsoever, and she didn’t care. She was just happy to be back in his arms.

“I missed you,” she said as he ended the kiss.

“I missed you too,” he said awkwardly.

Noel realized he, too, was swimming in uncharted waters. They were in this together and neither of them had any experience, but all that mattered was that they were not alone. He helped her into the sleigh, teetering on the edge and almost falling backward. Noel reached for him to pull him inside, making him land in her lap.

“I hoped you were falling for me, but this wasn’t really what I had in mind,” she teased.

Dash chuckled and got to his feet, tucking a luxurious robe around them both as he took his seat beside her. “I am, you know. Falling for you.”

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