“Oh, fuck,” moaned Candy, raking her nails through Cain’s hair.

Candy came around Cain’s cock, hard. She’d needed this release. They’d spent all day baking. They were hot, sticky, and tired, but they were never too tired to go at it like a pair of rabbit shifters.

“You close?” Candy whispered into Cain’s ear.

“No,” said Cain. “The job ain’t done ‘til it’s done. I need you to come one more time for me. Then, I’ll take my shot. Just let the professional handle this.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call a romance novel model and a gigolo the same thing,” said Candy, leaning back as Cain kept pounding into her.

“Oh, trust me, we have more in common than you might think,” said Cain. “We both know exactly how to make women wet with desire.”

Cain ran a finger up Candy’s slit, rubbing his thumb against her clit in small circles as he leaned in to whisper into her ear.

“We both know about your dirtiest fantasies,” said Cain. “Your…kinkiest desires.”

Cain reached under his pillow and pulled out a pair of handcuffs, metal, no fur lining.

“And what exactly do you plan on doing with those?” asked Candy.

“Exactly what you’ve been reading about in all those naughty books,” said Cain. “You may have saved me from becoming a beast, from true mate madness…but I’m still madly in love with you, Candy, and that means I want to mate you, like a beast. And trust me — from the looks of those books you’ve been reading, you want this beast, don’t you, my beauty?”

Candy gulped. She felt her cheeks burn.

“How did you find out?” asked Candy, turning away.

“Imagine my surprise when I saw my own face staring back at me from my e-reader,” said Cain.

“Shit,” cursed Candy. “I knew we never should’ve combined our accounts. How long have you known for?”

“Let’s just say…I’ve taken a few jobs knowing you’d buy the books,” said Cain. “What did you think I was doing in uniform for the last three months?”

“Three months?” squeaked Candy. “Cain!”

“It took me a while to study the character,” said Cain. “Want to assess my acting skills?”

“Cuff me, Officer Larson,” said Candy, sticking her wrists out.

Cain smiled. He put the metal bracelets on Candy and shut them. He put the key on top of the nightstand.

Cain cuffed Candy and pulled something else out of the nightstand. It was a hat. The hat was identical to the one he wore on the Officer Larson romance novels. It wasn’t the same one, from the photoshoots, but it was the same make and model.

“Fuck,” cursed Candy.

“Now, are you going to curse at me, Miss Candy, or are you going to give me the information I want?” asked Cain.

“I refuse to speak to you without a lawyer present,” said Candy.

“Trust me,” said Cain. “A lawyer can’t help you right now.

“I have a boyfriend,” said Candy. “If you’re trying to get in my pants, you’re going to have to get through him.”

“A boyfriend, eh?” asked Cain.

“Yes,” said Candy. “Actually, a fiancé, see?”

Candy flashed her big engagement ring at Cain.

“Now, I don’t see your fiancé around here, do you?” asked Cain.

“No,” said Candy with a wicked grin, spreading her legs for Cain. “I don’t suppose I do. Maybe you and I can…make a deal?”

Cain slid in and entered Candy. Candy wasn’t quite sure where to put her hands. She couldn’t easily put them behind her head.

Cain dipped his head between Candy’s shoulders so that her arms were around his neck.

“Now, what sort of a deal do you propose?” asked Cain.

“I’ll give you the information you want,” said Candy. “I’ll tell you where my fiancé stole this big, fat diamond ring…but only if you make sure I don’t get implicated.”

“I get it,” said Cain. “You need me to…get you off.”

Cain thrust into Candy, hard. He felt her writhe beneath him. She was a big woman, real big, but compared to Cain, she was a peanut underneath an elephant’s foot. Fragile. Breakable. Delicious. Dirty.

Cain pulled out and pushed back in, slower, searching, looking for the spot. He could find it with his fingers. Finding it with his cock was another thing. His cock was sensitive, but when he was that aroused, it was hard for him to concentrate.

Cain finally felt it. He brushed against it, back and forth, over and over, while Candy moaned, tossed, and turned.

The brush of Cain’s cock against her G-spot was too much. Candy came around Cain, hard. Her pussy started milking his cock like Cain had tried to milk Candy for information during their roleplay session.

Cain couldn’t resist. He tried. He thought of everything he could to make himself less aroused. He was used to doing that in his line of work, either making boners go away or keeping them up as long as possible without bursting. A photo shoot was one thing. That was work. This was play, and Cain knew that when his body was in pleasure mode, all bets were off. He felt his balls rise and his cock’s head twitch.

Finally, Cain came, pulling out of Candy and laying back on the bed.

“That’s all I’ll be thinking about at the next Officer Larson photoshoot,” said Cain with a sigh of relief.

“Hello? The next photoshoot? What about right now?” asked Candy, lifting up her wrists. “I need you to take these off me unless you want me wearing them to Clan Marron Thanksgiving. That’d make one Hell of a first impression.”

“Trust me. I got you something sexy to wear to wear to Thanksgiving,” said Cain, undoing Candy’s cuffs and putting them back on the nightstand.

“Sexy?” asked Candy, rubbing her wrists. “Is that the first impression you want me to make?”

“I’m a sexy man, wearing sexy clothes, with a sexy fated mate,” said Cain. “Makes sense she’d be in sexy clothes too. You’re the beauty, after all. I’m just your beast — your downright sexy beast, but a beast nonetheless. You, you’re gorgeous, Candy…and just as you’re not afraid to let the world see your big, bad beast…I’m not afraid to let them see my beauty.”

“Okay, okay, you win,” said Candy. “I’ll put whatever you bought me on, and wear it to Thanksgiving, no questions asked. Just, for the love of pie, don’t say the word ‘sexy’ again.”

“Including this?” asked Cain, pulling out a black velvet jewelry box.”

“Oh, no, what did you have to do to afford this?” asked Candy.

“Just look sexy, as usual,” said Cain. Cain opened the box. Inside was a necklace. The necklace had four birds on it. The bird charms were in a variety of artistic styles. There was a rustic style bird in black. There was a songbird in a cubist style. There was a small bird in an art nouveau style. There was a final bird with many colors that reminded Candy of festivals.

“What is this?” asked Candy.

“One bird for each of the countries I want to take you this next year,” said Cain. “A blackbird, for England. A nightingale, common across Europe, but standing for Spain on this necklace. A small ortolan, for France. Finally, a myna bird, for India.”

“You sure I don’t look like a huge frikkin’ dork?” asked Candy.

“Oh, trust me, you do look like a dork,” said Cain.

Candy gave Cain a playful punch on the shoulder while balancing the tray of cranberry cornbread muffins on her lap.

“These sweaters were your idea,” said Candy.

“I know, and they’re dorky,” said Cain. “I like it. I like being goofy with you. Keyword? With you. I wouldn’t wear this without you.”

“You don’t think that readers want to see a romance novel model wearing a goofy cartoon turkey sweater reading ‘Gobble Gobble?’” asked Candy.

“Not unless he’s with his fiancée who’s wearing an apple sweatshirt reading ‘Bobble Bobble,’” teased Cain.

“What the heck does ‘Bobble Bobble’ mean?” asked Candy.

“I think it has to do with bobbing for apples,” said Cain. “Don’t think about it too hard.”

“I think you like this sweater on me,” said Candy.

“Oh, what tipped you off?” asked Cain.

“The way it makes my apples ‘bobble bobble,’” said Candy, jiggling her ample curves.

“Woman, you’re gonna make me crash this car,” said Cain.

Cain pulled into the Clan Marron lodge parking lot and parked before getting out to help Candy out of his red sports car.

“Well, well, well,” said a familiar voice. “Cain Pellichero, did I spot you speeding?”

“This year, it’s because I’m excited to be here,” said Cain, pulling in Emily for a hug. “Emily, meet my fated mate, Candy. Candy, this is Emily. I told you all about her.”

“You’re the one with not only four mates, but four kids, right?” asked Candy. “And, you’re the one I owe for me having met Cain in the first place. Thank you so, so much.”

“Don’t mention it,” said Emily. “I’m not as nice as I look. Cain was such a jerk, it was my pleasure to kick his ass into shape. Looks like he needed some sugar and spice to sweeten himself up. Guess you could say he needed a little ‘Candy.’”

“I like you already,” said Candy. “You like cranberry and cornbread?”

“Yes and yes,” said Emily, peeking into the tray Candy was holding. “Let’s get those muffins inside…and try and keep them out of the hands of my stud muffins and my mini muffins.”

Candy and Cain followed Emily into the lodge to put down the tray of muffins.

“Emily, the question on everyone’s mind is…who’s going to go to Camp Kringle this year?” asked Candy

“Keep this between us, but…it’s going to be Connor, Connor Brian,” said Emily.

“I’ve never heard of him. What’s his deal?” asked Candy.

“He’s a pilot,” said Emily. “He’s traveled the world but hasn’t found his mate. I’ll bet my last slice of pumpkin pie that he’ll find his fated mate up at The Wreath, just like Cain did.”

“You think you can get him to go willingly?” asked Candy.

“No frikkin’ way,” said Emily. “Cain, the council needs you in their chambers. I’ll handle wrangling the pilot.”

“How will you do it?” asked Candy.

“It’s pretty easy,” said Emily with a grin. “You hear that?”

Candy listened. There was a low rumbling sound that she hadn’t noticed, but that was definitely new.

“What is that?” asked Candy.

“I’ll put it this way: Connor loves to make an entrance,” said Emily. “Give us fifteen minutes and Cain and I will be back and will explain everything.”

Emily walked away from Candy and out the door leading from the lodge’s main hall to a great lawn that lead into the forest. Suddenly, a man came down on a rope, dropping into the center of the green from what Candy realized must be a helicopter, like an angel descending from the heavens, or falling off the top of a Christmas tree. He was wearing a helmet and aviator glasses with tactical pants and a black turtleneck. That had to be the man Emily was after. Candy watched as Emily made small talk with the man before leading him into the hall, past Candy, and down the very hall Cain had disappeared down both a few minutes before and a year ago.

Candy smiled to herself as she watched Emily work her magic on the handsome man. That werebear may have been an experienced pilot, but he had no idea what kind of a ride Santana Claus and Krampus had in store for him.