15. Merry

Chapter 15

Merry

My eyes snapped open as something pounced on my feet.

It was a ferocious beast, and their eyes locked on mine. There was a snarl and claws until I reached out and grabbed Holly.

Kissing her head, I asked if she was hungry, and she meowed in response. I’d prefer to stay in bed, with a sleeping dragon beside me. Not that he was in dragon form. The house would have collapsed if he were. Nope, my dragon shifter, my mate—though we hadn’t marked one another—was spooning with me.

I pulled on underwear because of sharp kitty claws and blew Hernan a kiss. He didn’t wake, and I was disappointed, thinking we could nuzzle in the kitchen while I fed Holly.

While the kitten was scarfing her food, I made hot chocolate and put a candy cane in each one instead of a stirrer. Leaving Holly playing with a mouse—the toy version because I hated mice—I carried the two mugs into the bedroom.

Hernan was stirring, and I placed his drink on the nightstand and crawled into bed. Mmmm, chocolate and candy, a perfect combination, though not as good as a Merry-and-Hernan one. I almost spit out my drink thinking what if my mate had been named Christopher.?

Merry and Christopher, the bad jokes would have been year-round.

“Hey, sleepyhead.” I kissed his shoulder.

“Mmmm, something smells good.” He hauled himself up and planted a kiss on my mouth. “Tastes good too.”

“Adding a candy cane takes it to another level.”

He trailed kisses over my jaw. “I’m sure, but I’m not talking about what’s in the mug.”

My cock engorged, and I almost spilled my drink when my mate stuck his tongue in my ear.

“Holly was hungry this morning.”

“She’s not the only one.” His teeth grazed the soft part of my ear, and I shivered. He took the mug from my hand and sipped, and when I made a face, he responded with “sharing is caring.”

“Get your own,” I quipped and jerked my chin at his drink.

“This is so Christmasy.” He twirled the candy cane in the hot chocolate and licked it. “Kiss me.”

Our lips met, and the sugary sweetness mingled with the velvety goodness of chocolate. There was the added bonus of Hernan’s taste blending with the yumminess.

A flying furball landed on Hernan’s lap, but his shifter reflexes saved the bed, himself, and Holly from being splashed.

“Good morning.” He kissed Holly’s furry head, and she purred and snuggled into him.

“Can I get a cuddle too?”

Putting an arm around my shoulders, he pulled me close. “You’re a perfect fit.” He kissed my head and took another sip of his drink.

“Are you referring to how I fit against you like this or how you fit inside me?” My mind went back to our sex marathon last night, and goosebumps crawled over my skin.

“Might be both.” He winked. “But to make sure, we should test out that theory again today.”

My cheeks reddened, and I almost spat out my mouthful of hot chocolate.

Hernan drained his cup. “Hungry?”

If he was asking about sex I’d say yes, but if he was offering to cook breakfast, I’d agree because I was starving. All-night sex was hungry work.

“Are you asking about wanting eggs and toast or your length in my hole?”

“Might be both. Egg version first followed by the snuggle one,” he suggested.

I climbed out of bed and swayed my ass while walking to the kitchen. Damn, I was still wearing the briefs. It would have had more impact if he’d witnessed my bare butt.

“There better be more than snuggling.”

“Maybe we should rethink that and have sex first.” He bounded after me with Holly trying to trip him up.

“Too late. You missed your chance.” I opened the fridge and removed butter, eggs, and sausages. Cooking wasn’t my forte, but I could wash up and set the table, or trays if we were eating in bed.

“Confession time.” I took a banana from the fruit bowl and peeled it. “I can’t cook. Organizing I can do, but I’ll burn the toast, undercook the bacon, and break the eggs.”

“Oh nos! Whatever shall we do, Holly? He can’t wait on us hand and foot,” he whispered in the kitten’s ear before nodding and making listening noises. “We agree, you can stay.”

“Phew.” I wiped my brow.

“But I’m not sure if I can cook breakfast.” Hernan tapped his lips and made a weird face.

“Why not?” We’d have to eat peanut butter sandwiches if I was making the meal.

“Your ass is distracting me.” He smacked it and took me in his arms. “I love your adorable elf underwear.”

“I can take myself into the bedroom because I’d hate for you to ruin breakfast.”

“Don’t you dare.” He plonked me on a stool. “Stay put and entertain me.”

“Nah, you can entertain me.” Hernan was naked because he’d dashed out of bed, so I had the best view in the house.

But there were other important issues we had to discuss or that I had to reveal. We weren’t marked, but I figured that was a technicality.

“I need to tell you where I came from. I couldn’t do it until we were certain we were mates.”

“An elf pack? Didn’t we talk about this?” He was frying the bacon and didn’t turn around.

“Nope. I did live with a lot of elves, gnomes, reindeer shifters, and Santas.” There, I said it, and it felt good not to be keeping that a secret.

Hernan turned, the spatula in his raised hand. “Did you say Santas, as in plural?”

“That’s right.” I filled him in on life at the North Pole and how no one in the outside world was supposed to know. “One Santa can’t deliver all the gifts.”

“You just blew my mind, Merry. More than one Santa.” He flipped the bacon, and I enjoyed his ass jiggling.

I giggled. “I can blow something else later.”