Hung by the Fire (Operation Reindeer Retrieval Book 4) Read online

  His delight in the new discovery was obvious, and she was able to see some of the energy that she associated with elves. The only ones she had ever met helped to lash them to the sleigh every year. Those elves were jovial, but they spoke to each other and Santa, and seemed to forget that there were sentient beings inside the beast bodies.

  When Xander pushed his paper tray aside, he smiled blissfully. “I can see the attraction for that food truck.”

  “I am sure that they are delighted.” She chuckled, gathering up their discarded trays and getting to her feet to drop them into the recycling bin. She wiped her hands clean and tossed the napkins into the trash.

  Xander came up behind her and fired his own napkins into the trash along with their empty soda cups.

  “Ready to get back to work?” He smiled.

  “I am. Tomorrow is my day away from the observatory, so I will see you on Friday.”

  He seemed a little surprised. “You are taking a day off so close to the shower?”

  “I am working from home, as per my contract. If you can find my place, you are welcome to come over for coffee.”

  “You aren’t going to give me any additional clues as to your location?”

  “It is across the highway from the observatory. I can’t be more precise than that.” She wrinkled her nose. “I can always find my way home.”

  He sighed. “I will have to do my best.”

  They returned to the observatory, and as he helped her from the car, she smirked. “Bring food if you come out tomorrow. I haven’t gotten the hang of cooking yet.”

  Xander’s grin stayed on his face all the way to the doors of the observatory.

  He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her skin. “Have a good night of calculations, Violette.”

  “Have fun stalking in the shadows, Xander.”

  She waved at him and headed inside where her team was waiting with updates.

  There was work to be done and darkness was coming. Time to look to the stars.

  Vi sat out on her porch in a long jersey tank dress and a kimono-style robe with her laptop on her thighs. The sound of an approaching vehicle made her smile.

  It appeared that Xander had found a way after all.

  He pulled up on a dirt bike, and the box strapped to his back made her mouth water. He had brought takeout.

  She set her computer down and walked over to the edge of the railing. “Congratulations. You found me.”

  He looked around. “I have to say that this is the most unusual home locale I have yet to observe.”

  He parked the bike, putting it on its kickstand, and he walked over to her.

  She was still leaning on the railing when he kissed her. Her eyes widened in shock, and she debated what to do next. Reaching up and holding his head to hers seemed like the right thing to do.

  He tasted like cinnamon. It was the strangest thing, but he tasted like heat. Unwilling to fight her instincts, she pressed closer and held on.

  Xander pulled back and looked down at her. “I did not intend for things to escalate this quickly.”

  She looked down, and she had wrapped one leg around his and was holding him against her. “Well, there is something to be said for instinct.”

  “Would you like to continue this inside?”

  Vi grinned. “After dinner. I am assuming that you brought food in that pack.”

  He nodded. “I believed that was the wisest course.”

  “Excellent. Dinner first, but I have a special spot to have it. We are going upstairs.”

  She had an evil smirk on her lips as she got plates and cutlery together on a tray with a pitcher of lemonade.

  She led the way through her home, up the stairs, through her bedroom and out onto the deck that overlooked the surrounding lava fields beyond the small clump of trees gleaming and rippling in the sunlight.

  “This is... incredible.” Xander set the box on the table she gestured to. He looked around in wonder. “You can see for miles.”

  “Yup. I can even see the observatory if I want to.” She walked to the edge of the railing and looked out at the waves of black, rippling stone and crumbled raw edges.

  “Well, Timothy made the food, and the papaya salad is supposedly hot enough to melt its way through your spine. He was prodigiously proud of that.”

  Vi laughed. “Then, let’s eat and enjoy the view.”

  The table and chairs had been a nightmare to set in place, but on her rare days off, she didn’t regret it. Getting it here had been a treat, but she had cheated and used her other form to haul the furniture across the field. It might have blown her cover, but she counted on no one looking for her yet. A little shifted shape and cargo transport never hurt anyone.

  She settled across from him, and he laid out the food, carefully arranging the papaya salad next to her. It was as amusing as it was strategic.

  They enjoyed a meal in the sunshine with the rippling black stone surrounding them on all sides. When they sat back with the dishes cleared, they both sighed in unison.

  “This is definitely a magical place.” Xander looked around them and shook his head in wonder.

  “It is. And when I leave, it will disappear and be absorbed by the next lava flow. It will be gone in a matter of hours.”

  He looked around again. “That is rather sad.”

  “I know, but that is life on an island with an active volcano. It takes what it wants.”

  “That is a good idea.” Xander got to his feet and came around the table, hauling her to her feet.

  She grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck. “It sounds like an excellent idea. I don’t need to check on the images from last night until after nine.”

  “That leaves me with four hours.”

  She stroked her hand through his hair. “I am sure that we can find something to occupy our time until the night is upon us.”

  He didn’t let her continue her chattering. His mouth came down on hers, and he wrapped her against him until only a sandwich of fabric separated them.

  Vi held tight to him, and he started to move his hands over her back until he cupped her butt and pulled her against him. Her time in the human world was short, and she didn’t want to miss out on what was appearing to be the build up to some interesting sex just because she wanted more foreplay.

  The heat from his mouth and the cinnamon taste of him quickly became all the foreplay she needed when he bent her back against the railing and the sky spun above her.

  He moved her robe aside and sucked on her left breast through her clothing.

  Vi let out a hot moan and threaded her fingers into his hair, holding him there when he would have moved to the other side.

  When she was shaking, she let him move. He moved to the right side, and the heat of the sun warmed the damp spot on her dress.

  Violette sighed and pressed her breast firmly into his mouth. He pulled her dress up to her hip, and his hand clenched when his touch wasn’t impeded by underwear.

  She smiled and tugged on his head to bring his mouth to hers again while she slid a hand along the front of his jeans to unsnap and unzip them. His cock sprang into her hand, and she stroked the hot and throbbing length as his kiss turned feral and he worked a finger into her.

  She knew she was wet. She had felt soaked since he had driven up on the bike. The effort he was making on her behalf touched her deeply, in several ways. Right now, she was interested in getting touched by something more than a finger.

  He stepped back, his chest working heavily, and he turned her to face the expanse of glittering black. He tucked her skirt up around her hips.

  Xander couldn’t see her grin, but when he pressed into her, her moan carried out and over the horizon.

  She arched and pushed back, using the handrail to get the balance point that let her work against him in an equal reaction to his inward thrusts.

  She shivered as he filled her and kept his cock working against the sensitive interior of her channel. Her breath ca
me in gasps while her body bucked in rhythm. Sweat coated her skin, dripping down her face to land between her palms. She was on fire, and she loved every minute of it.

  Her fever rose to a pitch that culminated when she locked in place and let out a low, rattling moan.

  The air left her in a rush, and she heard the hardwood under her hands crack.

  Xander held her hips and drove himself into her, pressing tight while he groaned through gritted teeth.

  She panted in the heavy tropical air, the sweat and scent of sex was just as earthy as the wilderness surrounding her little house. It fit right in.

  Xander wrapped his arms around her. “That happened a little faster than I anticipated.”

  She turned her head and spoke over her shoulder. “It seemed just right to me.”

  He chuckled and withdrew from her. Her dress fell around her with a decorum that belied the activities of the previous minutes.

  “I suppose that a shower is too much to ask?”

  She chuckled and turned to face him, grunting lightly as he pulled her against him. “I have a shower. Come on, it is downstairs.”

  She led him down the stairs and out of her house.

  “I thought we were having a shower.”

  Vi looked at him. “You have come to the island for months at a time and you haven’t showered outdoors?”

  “No.”

  “Wow. This will be a treat.” She led him around to the back of her home, and she removed the layers of clothing that she had on.

  He blinked at her, and she gestured. “Don’t wait. Strip.”

  She hung her clothing over a rack attached to the wall, and she stepped onto the raised stones of her shower stall. It wasn’t really a stall, it was a showerhead extruding from her house with a box filled with soaps and shampoos attached underneath it.

  She started the shower and brought it up to a comfortable temperature.

  She let the water run over her, and when she turned her head, Xander stepped into the wide spray, gloriously naked.

  He was all golden. No tan lines. He was lovely to behold.

  As he stepped into the water and the sunlight sparkled down onto him, he caught fire. The water droplets caught the sun and shattered into a thousand minuscule shards that turned into mist.

  Eventually, she cleared her throat. “You are hogging all the tepid water.”

  He grinned. “You are right. It does feel wonderful though. Definitely not something that you can do at the workshop.”

  She laughed and changed places with him, wriggling with the feel of the water on her skin. She delved into the soapbox and slid the bar over her breasts and down her belly. Vi watched his eyes on her as she soaped all the spots that had felt sweaty, and she rinsed out her hair under the spray.

  When she was done, she switched places with him again. He wriggled happily, and she stepped aside as he took full advantage of the height of the cascading water.

  He started to hum a bright tune as he turned from side to side and confiscated her soap. He scrubbed front and back, enjoying himself in the extreme.

  Chuckling, Vi stepped back and let the sun dry her. It was nice to see him enjoying something that had escaped him, though he was free to come and go as he pleased.

  She left him to the shower and the happy noises he was making, heading inside with her clothing and his. She gave it a quick rinse with some water and brought the clothing back outside to hang on the line.

  He finished his shower and looked around for a towel.

  “Is there a way to dry off?”

  She chortled. “Stand in the sunlight. The stars aren’t just for looking at.”

  He took a few steps away from the house and extended his arms to take in the light. His skin dried quickly.

  She checked on their clothing and nodded when they were already on their way to mildly damp. “If you want to cover up, we can, but if not, we can have some lemonade on the upper deck.”

  “That sounds delightful. After you, m’lady.”

  “You just want to stare at my ass.”

  “It is a lovely view; who wouldn’t enjoy it?”

  She chuckled and led the way into her home once again. The rest of the afternoon was suddenly filled with promise.

  They were curled in her bed, and she was working on the images that had been forwarded.

  “What are you doing?” He rubbed his chin against her temple.

  “I am verifying the results that the team has calculated. It may just be Christmas magic, but I am in charge of the team and its discoveries.”

  “I noticed that there was a bit of tinsel around the office.”

  “A bit? They used so much, they were in danger of compromising the telescope.” She laughed and leaned against his chest, her breasts flattening with the pressure. The snowflake that he wore was front and centre, between his pecs. She felt the prickle of magic on her skin as they snuggled.

  A thought occurred to her. “Hey, don’t you have to be running security at the observatory?”

  “Well, there is a team in place, but since I am the one who hired my company to watch over it, I think I deserve a day off.”

  She smiled and kept working. “I thought it must be something like that. You were far too comfortable in your tux the other day. It only makes sense, I suppose, that you would have a long-term persona.”

  “All of the elves of the naughty-or-nice list have a life that they can step into.”

  “Lucky you.” She sighed and finished her correspondence.

  “What do you do in the off time?”

  She snorted. “We file your reports and try to keep ourselves from going insane. Some years we succeed, some years we don’t.”

  He stroked her hair and caressed her arms. “How did you enter the workshop?”

  “I was recruited. There aren’t a lot of reindeer shifters born in the world, but Santa can sense it when each one of us appears.”

  “Rudolph is the youngest.”

  “Well, yes, but she was the first. It used to be just her pulling the sleigh, but as the population expanded, more reindeer were needed. He pulled us out from across space and time. Ru has been with Santa since Mrs. Claus was still around. I think they were friends. The rest of us came in the order of the song. I was the fifth reindeer. I appeared in the sixteenth century. I was sold to Santa as a toddler and raised at the workshop.”

  “Huh. Here, we thought you were all more like sisters.”

  “Nope. We are a family. Ru is firmly in charge, no matter what we choose to do.”

  He was quiet for a moment. “On another semi-related subject, will you come home with me?”

  She snorted and put her laptop aside. “I will, on the twenty-third. Until then, I have things to do here.”

  He paused. “Just like that?”

  “Just like that.” She didn’t tell him that it was always their intent to get home on time. Ru wasn’t going to fly alone.

  It had been a clever plot. Scare Santa into paying attention to his team and get them some social interaction. It was a simple plan, but it had taken nearly a decade to complete.

  Santa had stopped harvesting the snowflakes of Christmas, so when Ru had come up with the plan, she had been able to sneak the snowflakes into her safekeeping until she had enough for all of the team. She had worked out the method to get their collars off so that the monitoring situation would show them all in the archive. Ru wore each band on her own body as the team left. They owed her a debt they could never repay, so they had tried to make it up for her in their letters to Santa. Santa couldn’t reject a plea from the pure of heart, and who had more Christmas in their hearts than Santa’s own reindeer?

  Xander held her in his arms. “Why do I think that I have just been played?”

  She twisted until they were facing each other. “Because I am guessing that you are a very smart elf.” She softened it with a kiss.

  He wrinkled his nose. “That sounded patronizing.”

  She grinned. “V
ery smart.”

  He sighed. “Will I ever know the truth?”

  “You will. I will say this. I didn’t look for you, but once I saw you, I knew that we would be a good match. Santa has skills.”

  “You knew I was an elf?”

  “No, not until the lava fries. I just knew that I asked for someone who could love the stars as much as I could, and here you are.”

  “How do you know I love the stars?”

  She stroked his cheek. “I see them in your eyes.”

  He got a bashful expression on his face, and she kissed him softly. “Let’s get some actual sleep. Tomorrow, I have to prep for the meteor gala that the director signed me up for. Looks like I will have to play in fancy dress and explain a falling star.”

  “Is that what was in the email?”

  “One of them. Weren’t you reading over my shoulder?”

  “I was too busy staring at the love bite I left on your breast to read anything.”

  Violette chuckled and settled in his arms. The night was good for something other than stars after all.

  The gala was underway, and everyone was waiting.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to witness the Cor-Tin-Xen meteor shower. Please join me out on the deck and take turns at the telescopes. You will all know when the event begins. Feel free to ask the staff any questions you have, and enjoy the show that the universe has provided.”

  Her gown rustled as she led the way out of the auditorium and onto the observation deck where the small telescopes were mounted and waiting. The donors were excited, and they milled out into the night, ready to watch the stars fall.

  Violette was on duty, so Xander kept his distance until the rocks skidded across the atmosphere and caught fire. The moment that everyone was fixated on the shower, he wrapped an arm around her, and she leaned against him.

  They watched the stars fall, and she felt a profound sense of peace. She had gotten what she wanted, had gotten what she wished for. As a Christmas wish, it was early, but it had arrived just in time to fill her with the holiday spirit.

  The childlike delight and wonder on the faces of those around her fed her own soul. It made her envy the elves who got to see this every year.