Page 21 of Return of the Nutcracker Prince

“If a human eats too many sweets, she getsfat.”She spat the word out as though it were dirty, her chin dropping to her chest as she looked away.

Gently, Klaus lifted her face to look him in the eye.He couldn’t bear to see this beautiful creature think poorly of herself.“You’re perfect just the way you are.”His breath caught at the vulnerability in her eyes.The moment hung suspended in time as the magic orbs floated lazily around them, bobbing up and down.

He caught himself starting to lean in, then remembered he shouldn’t kiss her.Clearing his throat, Klaus forced himself to break the moment.“Was there anything else you wanted to see?”

Clara gave herself a small shake.“There was...something on the fairy cake at supper tonight — Trixie called it a gumdrop?I had never seen them before!”

“Ah, the gumdrop and jellybean bushes are down this way.”

“Jellybean?What is that?”

“It’s another sweet.It’s like a gumdrop but smaller, with a smooth shell.”

He led her on a tasting tour of the gardens, past the bushes of lemon drops and the fallow candy corn fields.The chocolate limes and oranges blew her mind, although she was full by the time they arrived at that part of the orchard.So he ate most of those, feeding her a section of each.

“Are those cotton plants?In a garden?”

“Not quite,” Klaus said as he plucked a tiny, pale blue puff of sugar and popped it in his mouth.“It’s candy floss.”

Loaded up on sugar, they meandered back to the courtyard, hand in hand.“The plants in this section are native to the Land of Flowers.We transplanted them generations ago.”

Then Clara pointed out the bench under the arbor.“My legs are quite tired after all that walking.Shall we sit?”

Klaus hesitated, yet he realized asking was necessary.“Are you sure you want to sit there?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”Apparently feeling bold, Clara let go of his hand and sank down beneath the greenery.

He stepped forward, drinking in the sight of those luscious curves, her plump pink lips, her blonde hair.Klaus sat down next to her on the bench, the mischievous, selfish side of him not saying another word, just pointing up at the mistletoe hanging above them.“That’s why.”

Her pale throat extended as she looked upwards.“Oh.”

He licked his suddenly dry lips, lifting a clammy hand to brush her cheek with the backs of his fingers.“Do you remember… our first?”

Clara’s pupils dilated, her voice breathy when she whispered, “Yes.”

“But you thought it was a dream.”

Her eyelashes kissed her cheekbones.“Yes.”

“I — I’d like to do it again.”

She blushed a pretty pink, her gaze falling to the ground once more.“It’s bad luck not to, right?”

He slid so close he could feel the heat of her thigh even through their several layers of clothes.

“First, I’d like to tell you a story.”

Chapter 7

“Mypeoplehavealegend about the goddess that created our realm.Asteria, our Mother Goddess, fell in love with a god named Arus.But he was the God of the Underworld, and she was the goddess of life.They could only see each other from afar.Asteria and Arus thought they could never be together.

“However, as the goddess of life, all of creation could communicate with her.The little mistletoe vine spoke to Asteria and told her it would protect her in the underworld if she wore it in a crown while she visited with Arus.

“In thanks, she blessed the mistletoe plant and declared it would mark true love forevermore.So that’s why we kiss underneath it.If your first kiss happens under the mistletoe, my people believe that it’s a sign you’re meant to be with that person.”Klaus rubbed his lips together before he spoke again.“I’ve only ever kissed one person like that.”

Relief and warmth flooded Clara’s chest, and her voice came out in a squeak.“Me as well.”

His fingers kept stroking her cheek, and she nearly purred like a cat.“Clara, may I…”

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