5. Cole

Chapter five

Cole

My foot taps against the wooden floorboards of my home office as I wait for Jasper and his… companion to arrive. He was vague on the details of why he’s bringing a human here, but I trust him enough to know there is a reason, and a good one.

Despite his ever-present exuberant disposition and constant jokes, Jasper wouldn’t do anything to willingly hurt someone. Nevertheless, I don’t know what to expect and that in itself is making me uncomfortable.

I go through the names on my screen and compare them to last year’s data, making projections for this coming Christmas. The fact that there even is a Naughty List, and that my father put me in charge of it, still boggles my mind.

Nick, my older half brother, is Santa and gets to make kids happy. My job is to make sure there’s enough coal to be stuffed in the stockings of the kids that didn’t make the cut. I hate this fucking job, but someone has to do it. Apparently, that someone is me.

The sound of voices outside my house has me looking up from my screen, not like I was actually getting anything done anyway with curiosity bubbling under my skin. I elect not to look out the large window behind me, marching directly for the front door.

Before anyone can knock, I throw the door open, the sleigh bells on my simple teardrop wreath clanking with the movement. My heartbeat quickens as I look for Jasper, for his kind eyes, his curling horns, his bright smile. I've missed him, and my body instinctively leans forward, craving his embrace. But impossibly, all thoughts of my krampus dissolve as I lay eyes on the most stunning creature I've ever seen.

Framed by the tall pines covered in a fresh layer of snow, stands a woman with raven hair and eyes the color of a frozen lake. In them, I can already see us ice skating, not knowing if I’d be able to concentrate on the movement of my feet or getting lost in her eyes that hold more secrets than my own.

I keep my face passive, flicking my eyes to Jasper and the shit-eating grin he’s sporting before settling on the woman who spells trouble with a capital T. She assesses me just as blatantly as I do her, her eyes roaming appreciatively over the ink visible beyond the sleeves of my black T-shirt and the holly design on my neck peeking out above my collar. Her full red lips tip up in one corner and there’s so much she’s saying with that single expression that my cock grows hard instantly.

Out of nowhere, images flood my mind. Images of her on her knees, wrapping those pretty red lips around my cock, infiltrate my mind. Her, begging me to come all over her tits. Her, next to Jasper, both of them bent over the foot of the bed, begging me to fuck them. Them, together as they follow my instructions on what and where to touch. All three of us together and in a hundred different positions.

I blink myself back into the moment, and step forward, thrusting out my hand for her to shake, “Hey. I’m Cole.” I’m surprised how steady my voice comes out and that none of my thoughts have verbalized.

“I’ve heard so much about you, Cole. I’m Natalie.” Her husky voice travels straight through my eardrums and embeds itself somewhere in my brain, ensuring I’ll never forget it. Only one other person has ever had such an instantaneous effect on me, and I glance at him as he gives a tiny one-shouldered shrug.

Natalie is drowning in a familiar sweater that can only be Jasper’s, the sleeves so long they cover her fingers. She shucks them back—revealing nails painted as black as the T-shirt I’m wearing—and lifts her dainty hand to shake mine.

When her soft skin touches mine, it’s like a jolt of heat sears itself from my gut right through every single vessel in my body, leaving a tingling sensation rippling across my skin.

“Did you feel that?” I ask Natalie, not quite ready to let go of her hand yet. A rather odd feeling of wanting to embrace her comes over me, to dip down and smell her hair, to taste her skin. I keep my expression neutral, though, choosing to only raise my brows a fraction as I wait for her answer.

Natalie nods slowly, also making no move to withdraw her hand from mine.

I look to Jasper where he’s practically vibrating with excitement.

“Yup,” he replies, popping the p .

Natalie narrows her eyes at me, then glances over at Jasper. “Um, can we have this conversation inside? It’s a little cold out here.”

I survey the tiny skirt she’s wearing, the tattoos peeking out under its hem, and the bare skin of her thick thighs dotted in goose bumps. Oh fuck, how pretty she would look with my fingers digging into those thighs as she straddles my lap.

“Fuck. Of course. Sorry.” I kick the door wider behind me and step back, pulling her in by the hand I’m still gripping. Realizing I might be too intense for her, I let go and gesture to the living room. “Take a seat. Anywhere. There are blankets on the couches. Use those to warm up until I can organize something for you to wear.”

Jasper watches Natalie as she makes herself at home and burrows under a fluffy white blanket before he steps up, giving me a sheepish grin. “Hey, Cole.”

“You’ve got some explaining to do.” I close the door behind him, ensconcing us in the warmth of the house.

Jasper swallows and I note the traces of stress in the dark circles under his eyes. Underneath the cheery front he puts up for the rest of the world, Jasper feels deeply. It’s one of the qualities I admire in him. That, his magnetic smile, and his perky ass.

“Yeah,” Jasper says. “I’ll tell you everything I can. We don’t really know much yet either.”

I take Jasper’s hand and wiggle the glamour ring off his index finger. He closes his eyes as his horns pop into existence above his head then laces his fingers with mine.

“There. Does that feel better?” I ask as I rub my thumb over the indentation from his ring.

For a fraction of a second, when Jasper opens his eyes, he lets me see beyond the remaining walls that we have both erected between us. My heart accelerates as I try my utmost to keep my emotions from my face, wanting to remain calm in the center of this unknown situation we have found ourselves in.

With my free hand, I put his ring in the melted snowman bowl on the console table, not wanting him to even think about it until he leaves again. Then, aiming to restore a shred of normalcy to our dynamic, I place my hand between his shoulder blades and lightly shove him forward.

“Go make our guest feel welcome.”

Before joining them in the living room, I check the thermostat and turn it up a little. Thankfully, the magical realm around the North Pole has regulated the temperature so it doesn’t dip too low or heat up according to Earth’s fluctuating seasons. Rather, winter remains the only season and a layer of thick snow covers the ground at all times. I keep my house warm enough to be comfortable, but it must be quite an adjustment if they came straight from the Caribbean.

I take a moment to observe Natalie and Jasper from my vantage point in the entryway. They make quite the picture as they sit together on the dark gray couch in front of my bookcase. Each hunter-green hardcover in my collection has been painstakingly rebound by me, the titles foiled in gold along the spines. I find the process of rebinding books to be oddly therapeutic, and the visual just as stimulating.

There’s an unbelievable chemistry between Jasper and Natalie, something that mimics my own attraction to both of them. Jasper’s body angles toward Natalie, his arm on the back of the couch, hand hovering close to her shoulder as if he’s practically restraining himself from reaching for a lock of her hair.

Natalie is much the same. She’s kicked off her boots, and her legs are drawn up and tucked under the blanket. Her attention is trained on Jasper as he tells her a story, one hand waving animatedly through the air to emphasize a point he’s making. But the way Natalie angles her head as she’s listening, tells me she is monitoring me in her peripheral vision.

Good. This means she’s very much aware of her surroundings and not some naive woman blindly trusting two monsters. Trust needs to be earned and I intend to show her we’re as safe as she wants us to be.

“Has Jasper offered you anything to drink yet? Coffee? Hot chocolate?”

“Not yet. He’s been regaling me with tales of mischief you two have gotten up to. But I wouldn’t say no to a caffè mocha.”

“Whipped cream?”

There’s a stretch of silence as my question hangs in the air. Maybe I didn’t intend such an outright innuendo, but it’s good to test the waters.

Natalie looks me directly in the eyes. “Yes.”

I arch a brow at her. “Sweet tooth?”

“I’m afraid so.”

Jasper’s broad smile is infectious and my own lips quirk up.

Natalie’s gaze pinballs between the two of us. “What am I missing?”

Jasper lays a hand on hers, his eyes alight with excitement. “You’re in good company, that’s all. We love sweet things too. How do you feel about spice?”

“Spice? Like add-a-shot-of-whiskey-to-my-coffee spice? Or spicy food in general?”

“Either or.”

Natalie purses her lips and narrows her eyes as she surveys us. Jasper is almost bouncing in his seat as he waits for her answer. I’m scared he’s going to tackle her into the couch cushions and lick her from head to toe if she answers in the affirmative. On second thought, that would make a very pretty picture.

Perhaps he could—

“I like some bite to my food. Why?”

“You’re perfect.” The words fall from Jasper’s mouth on a whispered exhale, his eyes so hopeful it makes my heart ache. I need to get to know Natalie more to make up my own mind, but something deep within me echoes the sentiment.

I don’t know what happened on that island or how this stranger ended up on my doorstep, but something tells me I’m in for an adventure.