AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Both options have their merits,” I said.
Leven shrugged.
I twisted to face him, yet he didn’t meet my stare. “I’m sure Tatum has considered all options. It kind of makes sense that we all stick together.”
Leven huffed and pushed off the wall to walk away, but I grabbed his wrist. “What are you so pissed about?”
“I don’t agree.” He pulled his hand free from mine. “I’ve seen similar missions go haywire. What if he’s out there watching and planning to split us up? One wrong move and he’s got you. He’ll kill you without hesitation.” His brow wrinkled in a dozen lines and worry crammed behind his gaze.
The darkening of his voice troubled me because if he was this worried, maybe we should reconsider the whole plan again. But the more I thought about it, the more I hated the idea of splitting up from the men. Being around all three felt safer.
Yet the fear lining his words reminded me of the times I’d lived in foster homes. Everything in my life always came back to my parents and what they’d done to me. I feared they’d find a way to hurt me again. So was Leven’s reaction to the plan due to his past and less to do with me?
“I’ve lived my life with the fear that my parents would one day kill me.” The words were sour on my tongue, but if I wanted him to open up, I had to be willing to do the same. For too long, I’d kept the past hidden, and in a strange way, it was liberating to unleash those dark memories.
“Why would your parents ever want to kill you?” He turned to face me.
This was the time I’d normally shy away and make a lame excuse to change the topic, but staring deeply into his eyes, I wanted to be honest. To finally tell another person about my past so I didn’t have to pretend to be someone else. That sometimes I’d snap, or I’d feel trapped and claustrophobic for no reason, that I yearned more than anything to have a normal life without always looking over my shoulder. I gave Leven a quick rundown of my horrid parents, my upbringing, their imprisonment, foster homes, and right down to arriving at this place. Okay, it was an extremely fast rendition, but I couldn’t stop the babbling. And he simply listened and somewhere along the way, he’d taken my hand into his.
He drew me into his arms. My head reached his chest, and he wrapped me into his arms. “No one will hurt you again.” His embrace tightened, and I let myself melt against his rock-hard body. I inhaled his musky, sexy scent. If being protected involved such closeness, well, I needed it twenty-four-seven. I couldn’t deny I was attracted to Leven, in fact to all three guys, and I normally pushed people away. But with these three, I desired nothing more than to have them touch me all over.
“Three years and two months ago, I took my parents and sister on a trip into Alaska,” Leven began, but he didn’t release me, so I stayed locked in his arms, listening.
“Before we arrived, Krampus ambushed us. He demanded I take him into the Workshop undetected or he’d kill my family. I was stupid and called his bluff. I made the worst mistake of my life.” Leven’s words hung in the icy air, and I looped my arms around his waist, holding him, well aware that such a loss was like having your insides scooped out with a rusty bulldozer.
“That’s so fucked up. What the hell is wrong with Krampus?” I lifted my chin to look up at Leven, meeting his darkening gaze. His cheeks were rosy from the cold, and all I thought about was taking him inside and holding him until all the sorrow ebbed from his body. But I knew better than anyone that such darkness never left. I just learned to live with the grief and blame and not let it own me. Some days were easier than others.
“Krampus is an original enchanted being. No one knows how old he is. History says Krampus and the first Santa were both created by the gods of heaven to bring cheer to the world. They were brothers meant to uphold the balance of joy at Christmas time, to bring families together, to elicit smiles from children who weren’t fortune enough to receive gifts from family. Krampus kept the troublemaking kids in order. The pair was inseparable and both lived at the Workshop. But something went wrong one year, and legend explained that Santa fell gravely ill. On his deathbed, one of the elves who worked in the shop put on Santa’s hat as a way to cheer him up, but when Santa died, the elf, still wearing his hat, drank a glass of whiskey to salute his passing and kissed him as a final gesture.”
“He became the next Santa, didn’t he?” I said.
Leven nodded. “He felt the power surge through his veins at once, but ever since then, the hat keeps finding a new owner every thirty to forty years, even if the previous Santa is still alive. It’s as if the hat just can’t find the right owner. And now it’s become a custom to find the next heir to the sleigh.”
“I’m guessing Krampus is pissed he’s been stuck living all this time on his own?”
“Well, the first elf Santa banned Krampus from the Workshop because he never treated elves well. Since then, Krampus has been furious and threatening to take back the throne he claims belongs to him. And in the last few years, his attacks have escalated. He’s angry and maddened by the rejection from the Workshop. He only thinks of bloodshed. The time for peaceful talks is long over.”
Processing everything he’d told me left me stunned because he was right. Krampus would never stop fighting, yet part of me pitied him for losing his brother, then being outcast from his home. Anyone would be pissed. But that didn’t excuse him killing innocents, such as Leven’s family. The bloodshed had been going on for so long now, and both sides were seeking retribution. And here I was part of that cycle now. So how safe was Britta?
My thoughts circled to Leven doing a circle similar to my grandma to ward off evil. But if Santa and Krampus had been brothers, had they been the representations of the good and evil sides of humanity?
“I’m so sorry about your loss,” I said.
Leven tucked a finger under my chin, lifting my head to meet his eyes. He stared with such intensity that I let myself fall into the pools of his green irises, which were like a clear lake in a dark forest. He had that kind of face that would stop me in my tracks if I ever passed him on a sidewalk. His nonchalant gaze and soft smile probably made women fall for him. There was something of the warrior in him that made my heart rush. And he knew the impact he had on women by the light twitch at the corners of his mouth.
I couldn’t help but blush, and a genuine grin spread across his face, morphing him from gorgeous to absolutely divine. Now my entire body flushed because he was a man I could stare at for eternity.
When he leaned closer, my breath caught in my throat. His lips grazed against mine, soft and passionate, his fingers digging into my back with a desperation that did delectable things to my insides. My world vanished instantly. I closed my eyes and all I could feel was his touch and warmth.
I raised myself on tippy-toes and met his kiss, opening my mouth for him, accepting his tongue. I loved how sweet he tasted, almost like candy canes. We mashed together, chest to chest, his teeth gently gnawing on my lower lip. I slid my hands to the back of his neck, pulling him toward me. Our breaths tangled together, and my whole body craved more of him—he was intoxicating.
He lifted me with ease off my feet and pinned me to the wall, his hardness pressed against my lower stomach, despite the layers of clothes between us. His hand sailed over my stomach and up to my breast. He pinched my nipple, kneading me. I swallowed the groan of pleasure.
“Leven,” I breathed into his mouth, and he kissed me hungrily. His body pressed against mine harder. I clenched my thighs together.
My whole body tingled with urgency to have more of him, and all I could picture was him naked in the sauna and how divine he’d looked.
Someone cleared their throat, and Leven broke our kiss, but he remained over me, protective.
Tatum and Jax watched us from the doorway, wearing grins, or was that arousal in their eyes? My face burned up at having them catch us kissing.
“We’re about to leave,” Tatum said. “Get ready. Nickie, you may want to put on warmer clothes.”
They both headed down the path toward the woods while Leven turned back to me. Our faces were less than an inch apart, and his lips brushed my ear as he spoke. “We’re not finished here by a long shot.”
He kissed my nose, my cheeks, and my mouth, then he pulled away, taking my hand. I walked alongside him, hand in hand, unable to believe that I’d feel such a strong attraction and arousal in a time when grief swallowed me. But being near Leven eased the agony, and for the first time too long, my loneliness was bearable.
