Chapter 3
SILVER
Sex with Hart was even better than I'd dreamed, though I worried I'd messed everything up. My beast was too close to the surface after he'd teased me with his tongue, and he took over, holding Hart in place and riding his cock from beneath him.
When he pulled away while we were still knotted together, I thought he was trying to leave. His cock was big for a reindeer shifter, but I'd been with a couple alpha dragons back home, and he had nothing on their length and girth. If he wanted to pull out, knot and all, he couldn't hurt me.
Instead, he blew my mind. He wanted me to come again? I'd already come twice tonight. My cock tingled with oversensitivity from the air currents in the room. Still, this was Hart. If he wanted me to dress as a giant cookie with a hole cut out for my ass, I would.
Yes, that was something one of his cousins had offered as a Halloween costume I should consider. They'd overheard me and Gold talking about the party and volunteered their own ideas, each of them worse than the last.
Hart was true to his word. He hadn't steered me wrong yet. I loved the thrill of being with him, if only for tonight. Even if I found out his cousins had put him up to this, it would still be the best night of my life.
He rolled his hips, and his knot burrowed deeper inside me. The pressure against my prostate was exquisite. I wiggled my hips, and he slid further inside, increasing that pressure until I swore my cock would burst. I reached for it, but Hart batted my hand away.
"Here." He rubbed his fingers around my slick entrance, gathering up the excess that had pooled before he'd buried his knot inside me. "Let me."
I nodded, and he wrapped his slick-covered fingers around my base. He slid them up the shaft, and I arched my back into the touch, trying to shove my dick into his hand while also shoving his knot further inside me.
"You're so sexy like this, laid out on my knot." He gazed down at me with half-lidded eyes as he continued his slow and steady thrusts, moving his hand in time with his hips.
I was already so close to coming. I growled as my release neared, the sensations rushing along my spine like an out-of-control train.
"That's it," Hart said. "I can feel you around my knot. So tight. Come for me, Silver."
My spine bowed of its own accord, and my cock tried valiantly to shoot for the stars, though the closest it came was just below my left nipple. Each shot was molten pleasure until I was spent.
I collapsed against the bed, and Hart followed me down, his mouth claiming mine, his sweat mingling with my cum. He pulled my tongue into his mouth, and his knot seemed to spread even more. He hummed around my tongue, sending delightful shivers down my spine.
Too soon, his knot shrank, and his cock slipped from me. He buried his head in my pillow beside my neck to hide a yawn.
"You can stay the night, if you want," I whispered.
"Can't." He sighed and lifted himself up on his elbows. "I have practice at dawn."
I nodded. "I have to pull the day's cinnamon rolls out of the freezer at three."
He blinked at me. "When?"
I rolled my neck to look at the clock. I'd gone down to the party at nine, but it was now almost twelve. "In three hours."
"When do you sleep?"
I tried not to laugh at his incredulous look. "I took a nap tonight because I wanted to go to the party. I'm usually in bed by seven."
He shook his head. "And I thought the Santas had a rigorous schedule. You start every day at three in the morning?"
"Gold and I switch every week. When I open, she closes, and vice versa."
"That still seems really early," he said.
"I love it. Christmas Village is so peaceful in the early morning. I can fly to work without anyone pointing and staring."
"You fly to work?" He grinned. "I would get up early to see that. I bet you're magnificent."
I tried to turn my head, to bury it in my pillow, but he grabbed my chin and held me in place. "Say it. 'I am magnificent.'"
I scoffed, and his scowl deepened.
"I am … " I swallowed hard. My body didn't believe me. "Magnificent," came out as a croak.
His face softened into a grin. "This was a ton of fun. Thanks for taking me back to yours."
Here it came, the moment he would let me down easy.
"I would love to take you on a date sometime."
"What?" It must have been wishful thinking. He didn't say what I wanted to hear, did he?
"Dinner sometime between the hours of five and seven, of course, or maybe some night when you don't have to open."
I opened my mouth to ask the same question again, but he pressed his finger to my lips. "Think about it. Monday's my day to pick up Santa's order, so you can let me know then."
I shook my head. "No way. I'm …" His bright smile dimmed with each word. I'd said all the wrong words out loud. "Yes! Yes, I'd love to."
"Wonderful." His bright smile returned, and then he leaned down to kiss me.
The weekend passed in a blur. By the time Monday rolled around, I'd convinced myself I'd slept right through my alarm and never made it to the Halloween party. My hookup with Hart had been nothing but a wild and wonderful dream.
When the gorgeous reindeer alpha approached the counter to place Santa 30's order on Monday morning, I couldn't meet his gaze. I was so embarrassed, certain he didn't even remember me.
"Hi, Silver." The smattering of pink across his cheekbones hinted at more than our standard morning greeting.
"Hi." I adjusted my cap on my head.
He smirked. "No rats up there today, I see."
"Nope." My chest lifted like it was filled with helium, and I was about to fly up into the air like a giant dragon-shaped balloon. We'd met up at the party. It had been real.
I jotted down the order as he read it off his phone. "I'll have it ready for you in a moment."
"I was hoping we could talk while your sister made the drinks." He pointed to the large pass-through window, where we could both see Gold swaying to whatever music she played in her earbuds.
"Gold!" I had to shout a couple of times to get her attention.
When she saw Hart, her eyes widened for a moment, as though she hadn't believed my Halloween hookup story, either.
She recovered by the time she whipped through the swinging door, tossed her gloves into the trash, and pulled on a new pair.
"Hart-eyes Comet, is that you?" she asked, giving Hart her best teasing smile. "You've had my little brother tied in knots all weekend." She winked. "Emphasis on knots."
"Don't mind her," I whispered. I led him to the table in the corner where we could sit out of the way of prying sisterly eyes.
"I'd love to have you on my knot again," Hart said as he slid into the booth seat.
I almost choked on my own saliva. "You what?"
"Was that too forward?" The pale pink across his cheekbones spread down his neck. He shook his head. "Forget I said that. I want to take you out, and your early bedtime kinda puts a damper on sex."
"I wouldn't be opposed to more sex." My voice was so low and gravelly, I didn't know if he could even hear me.
"Good." He grinned at me. "But first, what date and time work best? Where do you want to go? We've been training from dawn until dusk, but we'll start late-night runs next week, if an earlier time would work better?"
"Either is fine with me," I said, though my beast wanted to suggest the sooner the better.
The bell over the door dinged repeatedly. Only one customer stood beneath it and shook the door back and forth to alert us to his arrival: Bopp Comet.
"Hey, Cuz! I heard I might find you here!"
Hart groaned and rolled his eyes for my benefit, since his back was to the door.
"Why are you two sitting here? Shouldn't the help be working on Santa's order?"
I bristled. This guy always got under my skin. By "the help," he obviously meant me. "I own the place," I reminded him. "That means I choose who can enter my place of business, and who I serve."
"No need to get all riled up, lizard breath. I'm not ordering, just giving my cousin a message. Tinsel had a great time on Sunday and would like to see you again."
I swallowed hard, hoping it would stop the horrible ringing in my ears. Did I hear him right? Had Hart gone on a date on Sunday after spending the wee hours of Saturday with me?
"He's hot for your knot!" Bopp continued. "You should totally go for it!"
Hart stared at me, his mouth half-open, head slowly shaking from side to side. Finally, I understood what all my favorite books meant when they said someone looked like a deer in headlights.
"I knew it." I sighed and pushed to my feet, shoving the table a little harder than necessary against Hart's chest where he leaned over it, the hand closest to the window outstretched toward me, like he wanted to stop me. "Both of you need to leave."
"Silver—" Hart's face was a mask of anguish.
"You should audition for the Christmas pageants," I said. "You're a great actor."
"I'm not acting!"
Gold stood at the counter behind an overstuffed bag of goodies and a two-carafe carrier for the team's hot chocolate and coffee. Her eyes widened when she met my gaze, and then she called, "Order up!"
"So what should I tell Tinsel?" Bopp asked. "You want to see him again, don't you?"
"Wait for me outside." Hart glared at his cousin, and my heart shattered into a million pieces. None of it had been real, and now he was already dating someone else, all while still trying to date me.
This was my order and my sale, but I couldn't bring myself to approach the cash register. Instead, I fled to the back room to hide the tears streaming down my cheeks.