“You absolutely have to come to the ball.” Dara’s words allowed no protest. The curvy woman looked Angel up and down, then beamed. “And don’t say that you don’t have anything to wear. I bet one of my dresses should fit you just fine.”

Angel looked around for Jonathan, hoping that he would come to her rescue, but he was busy playing with Dara’s two-year old son, Leo.

“How do you feel about purple silk?”

“Silk,” Angel repeated, feeling stunned. “Umm...sure?”

She’d never worn silk before. Or gone to a ball. She did at least know how to waltz, but that was it.

“That’s settled, then,” Dara exclaimed with satisfaction.

A moment later, Angel found herself dragged away, while Jonathan promised he’d watch Dara and Henrik’s son. And ten minutes later, Angel stared into a mirror, feeling utterly overwhelmed.

She barely recognized herself. The ball gown Dara had made her try on was a stunning, deep purple, the silk light as a feather. It flowed down her body, glistening in the light, the brown of her skin rich and warm against it.

Tentatively, she turned—and the dress turned with her, flaring at her hips while showing off the generous curves of her breasts.

She looked good.

She liked her curves, but she’d never thought that she could look like this.

Not like a happy but awkward girl in her prom dress.

In this dress, she looked like a woman sashaying down the red carpet, a movie star ready to take hold of her Oscar or attend a gala.

She didn’t look like the old Angel who hadn’t even been able to find a job after college.

The woman currently looking back at her was all grown up, confident, and sexy as hell.

The sort of woman you’d expect to dance the night away with a man like Jonathan...

“The ball’s always one of the highlights for our guests,” Dara explained. “It’s my favorite part of our winter season—together with the cookie decorating classes we do with the kids. Oh, and of course our Christmas tree, and our big Christmas dinner, and—”

“Stop!” Angel said, holding up her hand and laughing. “I’m jealous enough already. This place is incredible. You’re so lucky.”

Dara gave her a chagrined look, laughing as well. “Sorry. I really do love our winter season. It’s so much work, but it’s worth it. The Snow Castle was closed down when I arrived here for the first time. We’ve worked hard to get it back to where it is now. I’m still so in love with this place. I can’t shut up about it.”

“You’ve done an incredible job,” Angel said softly.

She turned in front of the mirror again. The dress flared out, then settled around her curves, sleek and silky and expensive-looking. “And this is gorgeous. Are you sure?”

“We don’t get dragon visitors very often,” Dara said. “And I know what it’s like to stumble into this world as a human. At first it doesn’t seem real. And then you wonder if you can ever feel at home in the shifter world. But Henrik was the best thing that ever happened to me. Henrik, Leo, and the Snow Castle.”

Angel took a deep breath, still staring at herself in the mirror. And the confident, sexy woman staring back at her knew what she wanted.

“All right. A ball it is. Thank you.”

Dara’s smile widened. “This will be so much fun!”

***

When Angel entered the ballroom by Dara’s side that evening, she found herself surrounded by lights and gleaming decorations in the shape of golden stars and silver snowflakes.

There were crystal icicles decorating the walls and a huge chandelier illuminating the large room. Everyone around them had dressed up as well—and just as Dara had promised, everyone was wearing a mask.

Angel had put on a mask of peacock feathers, which Dara had given her. For a moment, she worried—what if Jonathan didn’t recognize her like this?

Then something that felt like an invisible force made her turn towards the left corner of the room. And there, where huge doors led out onto a balcony, Jonathan stood.

She recognized him right away. He wore a mask decorated with white feathers and glittering snowflakes—but she would have recognized his eyes anywhere. They were shining as he looked at her, filled with light, and as she watched him, his eyes widened.

Then he came towards her, his eyes still awed as he held out his hand.

“You look beautiful,” he murmured, his voice rough. He bent over her hand to kiss it, like someone out of an old movie. “May I have this dance?”

Jonathan looked stunning in a simple, black suit that showed off his broad shoulders.

She’d felt a little self-conscious before she’d entered the ballroom. Whatever movies liked to pretend, in real life, the curvy, black klutz never turned out to be a long-lost princess.

But then Jonathan pulled her into his arms, and she realized it didn’t matter.

None of her fears mattered.

She belonged here, dress or no, because she belonged into Jonathan’s arms. If this gorgeously decorated ballroom had been an old barn, she’d have felt just the same, as long as she was dancing with Jonathan.

In time to the music, she floated through the large room, her gown twirling around her as Jonathan took her around in elegant circles. From the corner of her eyes, she caught glimpses of the other dancers.

Gowns, jewelry, candles, the beautiful decorations—everywhere she looked, the room glittered in silver and gold. It truly felt like she was dancing in a dream.

When the song stopped, the band playing on a small platform immediately began another.

Angel couldn’t even say how long they’d been dancing when they finally stopped. It felt like it had been only minutes, only she was breathless, her face hurting from smiling so much.

Across the room, she could see Dara in Henrik’s arms, still twirling among the other dancers, moving as gracefully as if they’d been born to dance together.

“Ready for a break?” Jonathan asked. “They have mulled wine outside.”

“Sounds wonderful.” She couldn’t take her eyes off him.

For all that he claimed that his dragon’s power had utterly drained away during the years in the ice, his eyes seemed alight with a mysterious force now.

Perhaps it was just because she wasn’t used to anyone looking at her like this. But even now, something about him felt special. Powerful.

And as his hair gleamed in the light of the chandelier, she found herself hoping that one day soon, she’d get to see him as a dragon again. Because his dragon had to be beautiful.

The balcony outside was surprisingly warm. All around the balustrade, large heaters stood, giving off a pleasant warmth Even so, Jonathan took off his jacket and draped it around her shoulders, shrugging off her concern.

“If there’s one thing being an ice dragon is good for, it’s not freezing to death in winter. My dragon loves this weather.”

He held out a hand. It had stopped snowing earlier in the day, but just then, a perfect, fat snowflake landed right in the center of his palm.

A moment later, another followed, and then another, until it was gently snowing once more, snowflakes dancing all around them in the light of the tiny fairy lights strung around the large balcony.

“Did you just make it snow?” she asked breathlessly. “I thought you couldn’t use your powers.”

Jonathan laughed and shook his head. “That wasn’t me, I promise. But I still know if it’s going to snow. My dragon knows the snow and the wind and the ice. Even now, when I can’t shift. The snow feels like—like a friend. Soothing. Kind.”

“Your friend just landed on the tip of your nose.” Grinning, she reached out and brushed the snowflake away with a fingertip.

Jonathan was right—he really didn’t seem to mind the cold. His nose was surprisingly warm, while Angel was glad for his jacket and the heaters.

In a corner of the balcony, not far from them, suddenly music began to play. When they turned towards it, they saw that a young woman in a warm, woolen dress had just made her way onto the small dais there with her violin.

Unlike the cheerful waltz played by the band inside, the notes of the violin were low and sweet. Angel didn’t recognize the song, but the melody was beautiful.

As the woman played, more and more snow fell. Jonathan fetched them two mugs of the mulled wine. Surrounded by the scent of cinnamon, cloves and allspice, Angel leaned against Jonathan, looking up into the starry sky as the woman continued to weave her melody all around them.

Angel smiled faintly when the song came to an end. The violinist moved straight to a different piece without stopping.

This one Angel recognized right from the first few notes.

White Christmas, played slowly, almost sadly, by the single violin.

Angel closed her eyes, listening, Jonathan’s embrace warming her. The notes of the violin seemed to soar, floating gently through the air like the falling snowflakes.

She’d never realized just how much yearning was hidden in that song. She liked Christmas, even though she thought it was mainly for children. But until this moment, Angel had never understood what it was she’d been yearning for herself.

This job had seemed like a fun way to spend her winter, earning money house-sitting while getting to experience a peaceful, quiet Christmas in the snow.

But what good was a Christmas like that if you couldn’t share it?

With Jonathan’s arms around her and the spices of the mulled wine warming her, she found herself dreaming along with the song. Dreaming of a white Christmas spent together with Jonathan, in a home of their own.

There’d be long walks through the snow, with candles in their window, and a tree they’d decorate together. Christmas dinner with their family, and decorating cookies in the shape of stars and trees and little dragons.

A white Christmas surrounded by snow and ice, but where she’d never feel lost or cold.

When the song ended, she sighed, reluctant to open her eyes as the spell faded away.

She applauded together with the handful of people who’d gathered on the balcony. Jonathan’s arms around her tightened, and he pressed a kiss to her nape.

The violinist smiled at her—and then she lifted her instrument again, and the first notes of Hark the Herald Angels Sing filled the air.

“Let me know when you want to head back inside,” Jonathan said. “I don’t want you to get cold.”

Angel smiled as she shook her head. “I’m perfectly warm.”

And not just because of the Snow Castle’s large outdoor heaters and Jonathan’s jacket.

Pressed against him, she could feel his warmth seep in even through the layers of fabric. Everything still felt like a dream—almost too good to be true.

But at the same time, it was hard to deny the reality of it. With the hard planes of his masculine body pressed against her, he felt like the most real thing she’d ever known.

As if it were the past years and those horrible months of repeated failure that had been the dream.

Maybe she wasn’t meant for the boring but safe IT route her family had wanted her to take. And maybe she’d also never get the job she’d studied for, running some small department at a museum, teaching visiting school kids.

But that didn’t mean that she had to throw away all of her dreams.

She had no idea what a dragon shifter dreamed of. And she knew that Jonathan had lots of regrets about his own past.

But maybe they could move past all of that together. Build a new life, find a new dream.

Find their own little White Christmas.

Jonathan touched her cheek, smiling as he wiped away yet another snowflake.

At the gentle touch, she felt another surge of warmth. His touch made little pinpricks of heat burst beneath her skin, her heartbeat coming faster as she looked at him, entranced by the way his eyes shone. They were brighter than the stars in the night sky.

Then he kissed her again. The melody of the violinist wove around them, surrounding them as if someone had wrapped them in layers of soft silk.

In the coldness of the night, the heat of his tongue nudging her lips was shocking. She gasped softly, clutching at his shoulders.

He still smelled of the spices of the mulled wine, warm and comforting, and she knew that there was only one single thing she’d wish for this Christmas.

To feel like this until the end of her life. To spend every future Christmas in her ice dragon’s arms.

***

Angel had never been happier about getting to stay in a luxury suite.

Because it meant that the dogs were sleeping curled up on cushions in their living room—and that they could sneak past them, hand in hand, and then hastily shut the door of their bedroom before clingy Lola could come after them and demand to sleep on the bed.

They’d been interrupted once before. Now, still giddy from the hours of twirling around the ballroom, Angel wouldn’t let anyone—or anything—interrupt them again.

“Careful,” she said, giggling softly when she nearly tripped over her gown.

Apparently some things never changed—she might look smoking hot in it, but the second she was alone with Jonathan in her bedroom, she revealed herself to be the same hopeless klutz she’d always been.

Like turning back into a pumpkin when the clock strikes midnight. Fortunately he already knows I’m no princess.

“I’ve got you,” he said, his voice escaping him in a deep, playful growl.

Effortlessly, he picked her up to carry her the remaining five steps to the bed. She giggled again and kicked her legs.

Maybe she was no real princess, but damn, it felt good to be treated like one just once in her life.

“This time,” he murmured when he put her down, “nothing and no one’s going to interrupt us. No wolves, no blizzards—and no Diego.”

“Shh.” She pressed her finger to his lips. “Don’t say his name or he’ll hear you.”

“The dire wolf?” His eyes gleamed teasingly as he joined her on the bed, reaching out for the zipper of her silk gown.

“Diego,” she said, then hastily covered her mouth with her own hand, giving him a look of playful annoyance. “Hey, you tricked me!”

“I think Dara’s assistant tired them out when she took them for a walk. They look as if they’re going to sleep for a week now.”

“They better.” Angel moved back up to her knees and held up her arms so that Jonathan could pull off the gown.

She shivered in pleasure at the sensation. The silk felt incredible against her skin. It was the softest, smoothest sensation she’d ever felt.

And with every inch of her skin that was exposed, Jonathan’s mouth followed along, pressing kisses to her side, the top of her breast, her collarbone, her shoulder.

Carefully, he put the gown down on a chair next to the bed. And then he reached out for her again, his hands sliding around her back until he found the fastening of her bra.

Slowly, he unhooked it. Angel leaned back onto the bed, loving the way the sight of her generous curves made his eyes go dark with desire again.

“You’re wearing too much,” she teased as she stretched out on the huge, soft bed. She wasn’t exactly an expert when it came to luxury resorts, but the sheets beneath her felt as soft and smooth as the silk of her dress.

Teasingly, she began to draw her panties down.

Jonathan was still staring at her, his eyes dark and hungry.

“Your shirt,” she reminded him, laughing as she shook her head. No one had ever looked at her like that.

It was more than just desire. More than just need—although even now, her body was pulsing with yearning for his touch.

He looked at her as if she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. As if he couldn’t believe that she was here with him, when really it was Angel who’d never, ever expected to find herself in a bed with silk sheets, and a man who made every single inch of her skin burn with desire.

He laughed, softly and hoarsely. “Sorry.”

His eyes were still riveted to her as he began to carelessly unbutton his shirt.

She’d seen him naked before—but this time, with nothing and no one to distract her from the view, she felt heat spread through her until her entire body was taut with need for him.

In the soft, warm light that filled the room, his chest was a tantalizing vision of hard muscles. His pecs were broad and smooth, the muscles of his stomach beneath rippling, a perfect six pack that begged to be explored by her fingers.

Instead, she kept watching, her breath catching in her throat as he dropped his hands to his jeans and popped open the button.

When he pulled them off, she could see that he was just as aroused as her, his erection dark with blood and hard as steel.

She could barely wait anymore—but instead of finally drawing her into his arms, he trailed his fingers up her ankle, all the way up to her knee.

There, he bent his head down, his lips brushing a kiss to her skin.

Little by little, he worked his way up, kissing every inch of her thigh—and moving so slowly that she thought she was going to die from need before he’d even make it to where he was obviously aiming for.

She could feel that her folds were already wet with need for him, more of her arousal dripping from her the longer he took to tease her.

Still, she wouldn’t have stopped him for anything in the world.

No one had ever taken so much time with her. And no one had ever made her feel so good. Just the sensation of his lips against her thigh sent ripples of need through her, her clit throbbing with desire.

And when he finally reached her folds, his finger gently exploring her while his tongue followed his fingers, she dimly realized that she was moaning, her thighs splayed wide open in surrender.

One of his fingers slipped inside her. She bit her lips to keep quiet at the sensation that only made her yearn for more—for him, inside her, filling her.

And then his tongue licked up to where her swollen clit was throbbing, circling it teasingly as she arched beneath him.

“Oh, god, please,” she gasped, burying her fingers in the sheets as the heat inside her rose, the touch of his tongue driving her on and on.

Then his tongue touched her clit, caressing her demandingly as he slipped a second finger inside her, crooking them just so.

Climax rushed over her so suddenly it felt half like drowning, half like being carried away by a storm. Ecstasy tore through her with sudden intensity. Her body tightened around his fingers again and again as pleasure pulsed through her, so overwhelming that she almost forgot to breathe.

“I’ve wanted to do that since I first saw you,” he murmured, finally releasing her to move up on the bed.

Breathlessly, she watched as he reached out for the nightstand, then pulled out a small, square packet of foil.

“So did I...” With a sigh, she reached out to run her hand down his arm. “And there’s more I wanted you to do.”

“Oh?” he asked teasingly as he ripped open the foil. “Anything in particular?”

“You know exactly what I want,” she muttered, watching with appreciation as he smoothed the condom over his erection. “Don’t make me beg for it.”

He chuckled as he moved back over her, his eyes gleaming. “Maybe you would like to?”

Another wave of need ran through her at her words. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close. “I want you to have me, to claim me. I want to feel you deep inside me. Please.”

He groaned. She could feel his cock pulsing against her thigh, so hard and hot that it took her breath away.

And then his hips came forward, and he began to slide inside her.

The sensation was incredible. She was so sensitive now that she had to dig her nails into his shoulder to keep from moaning. And then he pulled out slightly, only to push in deeper, and a helpless sound of need broke free from her throat anyway.

“Is this what you had in mind?”

He could still talk, the bastard, but she was gratified to hear how breathless he sounded, his words little more than a growl escaping his chest.

On his next slide in, she gasped, wrapping one thigh around his hip. He made an approving sound, pushing in even deeper.

His skin was hot against hers as he moved, damp with perspiration. With every thrust, she could feel the muscles of his body tensing against hers, his breath hot and fast against her throat.

She was gasping for breath, holding on for dear life as he filled her again and again. The friction drove her almost insane with need.

Her inner muscles were clenching around him as if to keep him inside her forever, her body aflame with pleasure—and then he slid his hand between them. His fingertip found her overstimulated clit, and she dimly heard herself cry out as pleasure came rushing through her with all the force of sudden lightning.