Read What the Sleigh? for Free Online

nothing about beings from the pole should surprise her. Once Nick had a fix on her general location, he’d be able to track her, especially this close to the big day and with freaking Christmas magic putting her place on the map like an emergency beacon.
    She leaned one shoulder against the door frame and looked him up and down, trying to keep face impassive. He was still as sexy as she remembered, those deep blue eyes offset perfectly by his dark hair. Designer stubble surrounded lips that were carnally full and far too lush for such a masculine face. But they didn’t appear out of place, nothing about him did.
    “Uh.” He looked down and shuffled from foot to foot, as though he couldn’t think what to say. Instead, he looked up to spear her with a look, then whisked a bunch of flowers out from behind his back. “I wanted to apologize.”
    She blinked, total surprise holding her in place. Her gaze flicked from the flowers, a bunch of gerberas of all things, to his face and back again.
    “I’m sorry?” The question slipped out before she could stop it. Who could blame her? Nick was famous at the Pole for never apologizing, for anything. Even if he was wrong, he just flashed a charming smile, using his looks and family connections to get out of trouble.
    No smile curved his lips now. Instead, his expression was sincere.
    “I wanted to say sorry for earlier,” he clarified, his voice quiet as he took a step forward, holding the flowers out to her. Automatically, she took them, reaching out a gentle finger to touch the pale pink petals. Wrapped in delicately printed cellophane and pink tissue paper, there wasn’t so much as a poinsettia, or glittery fir cone amongst them. He’d brought her something without a hint of Christmas in it at all. The gesture was so thoughtful tears prickled hot needles into the backs of her eyes.
    “Earlier?” Great, she was reduced to one-word answers, but for the life of her she couldn’t figure out what he meant.
    “Yeah.” Color hit his high cheekbones, but he held her gaze. No cheeky little grin, no flippant comment. “I let your partner needle me into changing. I should have considered how the magic would affect you…with you having been so long away from the pole. It can’t have been easy for you.”
    The tears at the back of her eyes forced themselves to the front. She blinked them away hastily.
    “No. But it wasn’t like I had a choice.” The words weren’t spoken harshly, or with malice. She was tired of it all. Tired of being away from home, tired of feeling heartsick…tired of being strong all the time when she felt anything but. Finally, she shrugged, looking down at the beautiful flowers. “You just get on with it, don’t you?”
    He moved closer until she could feel the heat of his body through her clothes; a comfy jumper and yoga pants…she wasn’t exactly dressed to impress.
    “Rudi…” he whispered her name but she dared not look up. Her defenses had been stripped away. If she looked up and met his eyes, then she’d probably do something stupid. Like give in to the impulse to kiss him.
    He eased a finger under her chin, gentle pressure making her lift her face up to his. Then he sighed softly. “Rudi, look at me.”
    “No.” She shook her head, eyes squeezed tightly shut. It was something she hadn’t done since she was a child. In the days when not being able to see something had meant it didn’t matter, it didn’t exist. “I can’t.”
    “Can’t or won’t?” he’d leaned down so his words were whispered against her lips. She felt them as well as heard them. Her heart sped up as his scent wrapped around her. Deep inside, her deer moved restlessly. It remembered him, recognized him as their male, their alpha, and keened softly to have him near again.
    “Won’t…can’t…don’t know.”
    She made the mistake of opening her eyes, only to be captured by the dark blue of his. Midnight velvet with sparkles of gold around the pupil. The