Seduced by Santa (3 page)

“No problem, Doctor. I take it I’m okay to take her home now?”

Candy didn’t say anything to him as they prepared to leave the hospital, instead concentrating on the discharge procedure with the cutest little frown on her face. Rhod tried to ignore the sexy pout of her pursed lips as she concentrated, and stayed quiet to let her deal with all the paperwork and forms that she needed to sign. But he made sure he was close. Just in case. She’d taken a pretty solid knock to the head, and there was always the chance that the concussion was worse than they’d thought. If she looked in danger of face-planting on the floor, he’d be there in a nanosecond to catch her. Wrap her in up arms that had never felt as strong as when her delicate frame was sheltered within their embrace.

She didn’t want her family to know. Strange.

Lounging with one shoulder against the wall, he studied her as she went through the forms. The staff had asked her again if she wanted them to contact her family. Again she declined, a flash of irritation in her unusual eyes. It was quick, barely noticeable before she got it under control. Something the hospital staff, overworked and already rushed off their feet with the new cases piling through the doors, missed. But watching her, he caught it.

Kane. Kane…

The name rang a bell but he couldn’t place it. Her coat in his hands, Rhod scanned his memory of the recent cases to go through the agency. Had the name cropped up as something to do with a job? He was good with lists. Had to be really, with the family he came from, but his excellent memory came up blank. The only Kane he knew of was Kane Incorporated, and he highly doubted anyone from that family would be slumming it down in the rougher areas of the city.

He shifted; transferring his weight from foot to foot and barely stopped his lip from curling. He knew the sort. The Kanes were the kind of family he’d hated to deliver to when wearing the red suit. Pristine fireplaces in showcase rooms in the expensive mansion with far too many rooms for the amount of people who lived in them. Showy gifts to go under the tree, ones he could tell were purchased by the father’s PA and wrapped in store and without an ounce of thought in them. Presents given to spoilt brats whose sense of entitlement overshadowed their common sense, and who wailed that their lives were ruined if they didn’t get the latest tablet, PC or smart phone.

The sort of ungrateful assholes that’d made him hang up the red suit and head out into the world to seek alternative employment. Which was where Iliona and the PPA had picked him up. Seemed elves were in high demand for personal protection work.

Finally Candy was done. Pushing off from the wall, he wrapped the overlarge coat around her and led her out toward where he’d parked the car. Used to the North Pole, the bitter cold that greeted them was nothing more than a pleasant breeze for Rhod. It had started to snow; fat, white flakes danced in the air to an unheard tune before drifting down to the already frost covered ground.

Christmas was coming. Feeling the potential in the air Rhod paused for a moment, closed his eyes and listened. Yes, there…just on the edge of hearing. The sound of sleigh bells as they shifted slightly on their racks, ready to be harnessed up for the big event, and the soft wuffling of the reindeer as they dozed in their stables.

The Call had started.

Every Claus the world over would feel it. That need to open the brightly painted box, the one they’d all been given on attaining manhood, to pull the thick leather belt from within. Just a plain belt with a heavy silver buckle, but the gateway to so much more. Way too big for his trim waist, he couldn’t wear it any other time of year. It wasn’t meant for any other time of year. Just Christmas.

As soon as he put the belt around his waist, the magic took over. The red suit enveloped him, changed him…he went from being plain old Rhod Claus to being the big man himself. Santa Claus. One of many, he and a legion of his relatives took to the skies on Christmas Eve to deliver all the presents. He understood the magic on the belts, but he’d never figured out the reindeer. How every Santa ended up with a different sleigh but somehow the same, awkward pain-in-the-ass reindeer he had no clue.

Shaking his head, he ignored the feeling. It was the same every year. The urge to drag the box out from its hiding place and put the belt on. Every year, unable to face kids with no Christmas spirit and an over-inflated sense of their own importance, he ignored it. Volunteered…no,
begged
Iliona to let him work Christmas.

He opened his eyes and looked down at the petite brunette at his side. A smile flirted with the corners of his lips as he offered her his arm. Perhaps this year though, he’d take a little time off…

Chapter Three

“So, you going to tell me what Sebastian Kane’s daughter is doing slumming it and working in one of the roughest areas of the city?” Rhod’s rich, deep voice issued from behind Candy, filling her tiny kitchen as she made drinks for both of them. “Or for that matter, why you told that doctor I was your boyfriend? You could be at home with a gaggle of servants catering to your every need…”

He trailed off as she turned towards him, a murmur of thanks on his lips as she handed him a steaming mug of hot chocolate and shooed him through into the equally tiny living room. Her place wasn’t much. A small apartment on the fourth floor, it was crammed into the corner of the building. The entire thing would have fit in her bedroom at home. But the large curved corner window and antique fireplace gave it a charm her designer-decorated - and above all impersonal - bedroom back at her parents’ mansion just couldn’t match.

This place was hers, through and through. From the warm cream paint on the walls right through to the brightly striped rug in front of the fire that she’d picked up from one of the seasonal craft markets, she’d picked everything herself, rather than leaving it to the professional team her mother insisted on using.

“Yeah, and ruin everything I’ve fought for over the past three years? Not a chance. Please, have a seat.” She gestured to one side of the big, squashy sofa in front of the roaring fire. She lifted an eyebrow at the flames, trying to focus on them rather than the sensual grace of Rhod’s large body as he lowered himself into the seat next to her. No man had a right to be that sexy. It had to be breaking some kind of universal law or something.

Forcing herself to stop watching, in case he caught her with her tongue out or something equally embarrassing, she turned her attention to the fire. In full flame, it blazed merrily despite the fact they’d barely been in the apartment above five minutes.

“How on earth did you manage that?” she asked, watching him over the rim of her mug. “It always takes me an hour to get the fire anywhere close to that.”

He didn’t just sit, he lounged with that big cat sort of grace some large men had. Of course, she realised he wasn’t human. No human moved the way he and his partner had done when they’d come to her rescue in the alley. He hadn’t gone furry so he wasn’t a wolf, and vampire just didn’t seem to fit him. She’d seen a couple of vampires during her time with the chapel, and their skin was weird. Flat, almost devoid of colour, not flushed with health and almost glowing in the firelight as his was, as though the fire itself reached out to caress him. That was all well and good, but as sexy as he was, if he started to sparkle, she was so kicking his butt out the door.

“It’s all in the wrist action,” he said with a grin and lifted his hand.

As he snapped his fingers, the air shimmered. Golden dust sparkled for a second before zipping through the air to light the candles on the mantelpiece.

Her jaw dropped. “Ohh…dayyyum. Claus. You’re an…”

She looked back at him and blinked. He’d moved, leaving the empty chocolate mug on the side table by to the sofa as he settled into the space next to her.

“Elf. Yes,” he supplied, reaching out to take the mug from her suddenly numb hands. She didn’t resist, all her attention on him. Elves, especially winter elves, were among the rarest of the paranormal creatures. Suddenly his lack of jacket, despite the freezing weather outside, made sense. Claus. His name was Claus, which meant he wasn’t just a winter elf, but a Christmas elf…

“Elf, huh? So you’re one of the guys who makes the presents for the kids…something like that?” Her lip twitched a little at the edge before she could stop it. The temptation was just too much. “Let me guess, embroidery? Doll making?”

His lip quirked as he moved in, close enough that she could feel the heat of his body against hers, even through the plain shirt and jeans she wore to work at the Chapel. Instinctively she wanted to curl up against him, feel all those hard muscles against her softer curves.

“Something like that.”

His words were low, the deep rasp of his voice a whisper against her senses as he swept a thumb gently over the skin at the side of her lips. The tension and awareness that had been simmering between them since he’d picked her up in the alley and they’d ended up nose-to-nose surged back in full force.

“Candy…” His eyes, so green and intense, darkened as he flicked a glance down at her mouth. “I’m going to kiss you. I’ve wanted to since—”

He didn’t finish the sentence, instead cutting it off as he leaned forward to press his lips against hers. Her eyelids fluttered closed, her breath held in the back of her throat as anticipation shivered through her.

The first touch was feather light, his mouth warm and firm against hers as he moved in. A large hand threaded through the loose hair at the nape of her neck. She murmured in pleasure at the feel of strong, gentle fingers as he tilted her head for better access to her lips.

Slanting his head, he moved his mouth over hers. Back and forth in a mesmerising caress. His cologne, deep woods and sharp citrus over an underlying note that she knew instinctively was pure male, surrounded and held her captive as he pulled her against him.

She didn’t argue. Instead, she slid her arms around his broad shoulders to hold him close and parted her lips a little in invitation. The surprised rumble from the centre of his chest made her smile, but he wasn’t slow in taking her up on her offer.

His tongue sought hers, sliding in a slow dance of sheer heaven. Heat blazed through her, warming her blood, cycling through her veins to settle in her stomach. A nervous, aching, fluttery knot that urged her to press closer, take more.

Shifting on the sofa, she ran the fingers of one hand through his hair and used the other to stroke along his jaw. Just as she’d wanted to do earlier. His stubble prickled her fingers, then against her cheeks, as he slid an arm around her back and half turned to press her against the plush cushions.

She moaned her approval of the idea, loving the feel of him over her. Tilting her head, she allowed him greater access to the tender skin of her throat. His lips whispered over her neck and found the sensitive spot behind her ear that sent shivers right down to her toes. By the time he pulled back, she’d lost all sense of space and time, her breathing ragged as she looked up at him.

“I have to stop.” He groaned, the look in his eyes dark and dangerous, the corded muscles in his arms bunching as he held himself over her. His gaze searched her face, as though memorising each and every little detail. Normally she’d have felt self conscious at so much attention. But his expression was rapt, not analysing. He looked at her as though she was the most fascinating thing in the world.

She couldn’t help it. She did the full on girly thing and pouted, sliding a hand down to play gently with his collar. “Why?”

The heat and lust in his eyes flared again, sending an answering tremor of need through her frame. Fuck it. She hooked a finger into the open collar of his shirt, rolling the button between her thumb and forefinger. Popped it open as she watched him. The firelight caught the edges of his hair, turning the dark curls into a fiery halo. Mussed up and sexy as hell, it would look just as sexy on her pillow in the morning.

He bit his lip. Strong, white teeth mangled the plump flesh, the simple move so erotic it stole her breath away. Concern flared in his eyes for a second as he whispered his fingertips over the taped cut at her temple.

“Sweetheart, you were injured. If I-” He paused and took a shuddering breath to regain his composure. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

She laughed, the sound low and amused. “Rhod, I’m a big girl and contrary to my oh-so-embarrassing wobbly-knee incident in the alleyway, I won’t break.”

Her voice lowered as she lifted up to reach his lips, whispering against them. “I promise. I just want to…to…” She faltered for a second, fire crawling over her cheeks as she tried to verbalise what she wanted. Taking a deep breath, she looked him directly in the eye and smiled.

“I want you.”

Three little words blew away any composure, any resistance Rhod had left. If indeed he’d ever had any against this charming little sprite of a human. He uttered a low curse in elvish and dropped his weight a fraction. The move pressed her curvy body into the soft cushions as he tried in vain to school his reaction.

Lust raced through his body. White hot and uncontrollable, it surged down his spine, tightened his gut and wrapped around his cock and balls in an iron embrace. He was stiffer than a bloody flagpole, his dick so hard and ready against the zipper of his pants he was surprised the damn thing hadn’t broken free already.

Trying to be gentle, he took her lips again. He tried, but it was no use. This time the gloves came off. He pried her lips apart with a hard sweep of his tongue and drove within, seeking the honeyed depths he’d tasted before. Tasted once and become addicted to instantly. He knew, no matter how many times he kissed her, it would never be enough. He could spend an eternity kissing her, and his soul would still yearn for more. For everything she could give.

She opened to him immediately, so naturally all his arguments were swept away. Their kiss, the way her body cradled his between her parted thighs even as his larger form covered hers protectively, felt right. Perfect. Fated.