Connor was woken by a firm kick to his bed.

“Get up,” ordered Krampus.

“I don’t work for you anymore,” grumbled Connor.

“One – false, you’re my bitch until the end of Christmas, and it’s Christmas Day,” retorted Krampus. “Two – you sleep in my cabin, you do what I say.”

“Love to see you try to pull that shit on Avery,” grumbled Connor. When he cursed, his mark didn’t burn – after all, he’d managed to get off of The Naughty List already.

“Speaking of Avery, get ready,” said Krampus. “Don’t think I’m going to go easy on you because it’s Christmas. Daddy needs his coffee and hot buns.”

“Hot buns?” asked Connor, quirking a brow.

“You know what I mean,” growled Krampus. “Get that boat in the water in the next ten minutes.” Krampus tied some spare ribbons to his ribbon ball while waiting for Connor to get his shit together.

Noel woke up bright and early on Christmas Day.

Noel did not like waking up bright and early, not on any day – including Christmas Day. As a baker, waking up bright and early was just part of the package, and on Christmas day, it was part of the Christmas package.

“What?” asked Noel groggily. She got up and walked to the door.

“Hey,” said Finn, after Noel opened the door. “Your boss is here – she said she had to ask you to help with work today.”

“Today? But I’m not scheduled to help today – yesterday was my last day,” said Noel.

“I know, but she said she really needs the help,” said Finn.

“Okay, give me fifteen minutes,” said Noel, shutting the door.

Noel got showered and changed and walked to the living room, where Avery was chatting with Noel’s seven brothers.

“Noel! Hi! Thanks for agreeing to help out today – I’ll make sure you get double overtime pay for this,” said Avery. “A big order just came in, and I need help filling it.”

“No problem,” said Noel. “I guess we’ll head back to Miami later than expected, but that should be fine, right, guys?” Noel’s brothers nodded in agreement.

Noel and Avery headed to Bear Claw Bakery on foot. Noel walked with Avery to the back of the bakery and put on her apron.

“You had quite a night,” commented Noel. “Krampus said you had too much eggnog.”

“Thanks for helping me get back home,” said Avery.

“The person you should thank is Krampus,” replied Noel. “He’s the one who handled everything. He must really like you, to put up with that – no offense.”

“He does?” asked Avery.

“He has to, right?” asked Noel. “Anyway, how were things at The North Pole?”

“You missed quite the party,” said Avery. “Pandora got me this cool marble rolling pin.” Avery rolled out the sugar cookie dough with the gray and white rolling pin. She went into her cupboard for cookie cutters and spotted a set of cookie cutters Krampus had given her the year before as an extra gift – along with making her car even more frikkin’ magical. Was Noel right? Did Krampus really have feelings for her?

“Don’t see why you can’t do this yourself,” grumbled Connor as they walked up the steps to the patio, both still wearing the clothes they’d worn the night before.

“I’m a demon – can you blame me for going mad with what little power Santana allows me?” asked Krampus. “Help Noel set out the treats for Avery’s guests. I want to make sure Avery isn’t too hungover from last night.”

“Noel? But I –” protested Connor.

“You’re my bitch today, act like it,” demanded Krampus. “Be professional.”

Connor sighed. He walked into the back of the bakery.

“Hello?” called Connor. He heard the bakery go silent. He went to the bakery area, where Noel had stopped working.

“Noel,” said Connor bluntly.

“Connor,” replied Noel, equally bluntly.

“Krampus told me to help you,” said Connor. “What’s the move?”

“Avery wants some pastries and coffee set out for some guests of hers,” said Noel. “I can handle it.”

“So can I,” said Connor, grabbing a finished tray of pastries and carrying it out to the cafe. The cafe hadn’t properly been set up to handle whatever party Avery was hosting, so Connor took the liberty of moving some rectangular chairs to form a buffet.

“Typical male,” muttered Noel. “Doing things without being told. Full of beans, even this early in the morning.”

“You sound like one of my sisters,” said Connor, talking to Noel through the ‘window’ between the baking area and the cafe area.

“Your sisters?” asked Noel, setting out some mugs. “I didn’t take you as the type to have sisters.”

“What do you mean?” asked Connor.

“You’re not exactly the sensitive type,” said Noel.

“No, I’m confused because you met them,” said Connor.

“Wait, what?” asked Noel, walking to the back of the bakery. “What are you talking about?”

“Those seven women that came down to help with the deliveries, they’re basically my sisters,” said Connor. “I’m the oldest of three brothers, all a year apart. Jason and Derek were just as wild as me, so my parents had to call in the big guns to babysit us. They talked to the Clan Elders and connected with a sorority at a local college. The sorority happened to have a bunch of shifter ladies who weren’t afraid to kick some shifter butts into shape, and spank us when necessary – with my parent’s permission, of course.”

“So they’re not your sisters,” said Noel, crossing her arms.

“They practically are,” said Connor. “They babysat my brothers and me from when I was seven until…well, I guess when I was eleven or twelve, four years later. With three boys around, my parents had to hire seven sitters – two for each of us, plus, an extra to manage the others.”

“There’s really nothing going on there? Like, no harem situation?” asked Noel.

“What? No, eww,” said Connor. “Sorry. I shouldn’t say ‘eww,’ given your situation.”

“What does that mean?” asked Noel.

“Well, you’re in that big harem of your own,” said Connor.

“Where? I don’t see’m. Are they waiting for me somewhere?” asked Noel.

“Come on, really?” asked Connor. “Those seven guys that showed up, promising to show you a ‘great time’ – they’re your mates.”

“Eww,” said Noel. “A thousand times, eww. Disgusting. Gross. Ugh. Those are my brothers.”

“They are?” asked Connor.

“My parents had a thing for adopting kids,” said Noel. “They adopted all seven of my older brothers – all shifters, and then, there’s me, the only non-shifter of the lot. We grew up together – played a lot of beach volleyball with our eight-person squad. Those aren’t my mates. Gross. Don’t let them hear that you said that.”

“I guess both of us made some assumptions,” said Connor.

“Yours was worse than mine – Connor, you knew you were the first guy to kiss me! How would I be in a harem with seven men and still be a kissless virgin?” asked Noel.

“You’re a virgin?” asked Connor.

“Don’t make a big deal out of it,” said Noel.

“So if we’d just talked to each other about all this, then…maybe we would’ve avoided a lot of needless heartbreak,” said Connor.

“What do you mean, ‘heartbreak?’” asked Noel. “You’re not the one whose heart was broken, Connor.”

“Always with the bickering,” said a voice. It was Annie, Connor’s eldest ‘sister,’ accompanied by none other than Noel’s oldest brother – Arlo.

“What’re you doing here?” asked Noel. “Arlo – weren’t you and the boys supposed to be on the road already?”

“Annie, I didn’t realize you stayed in town,” said Connor.

“Well, Avery invited us to the after party, so of course, we all had to make it,” said Arlo.

“Would be rude not to,” insisted Annie.

In streamed the rest of the siblings and they all seemed to be paired up – just as Annie and Arlo were paired, so were Bonnie and Bastian, Cassie and Cassius, Dellie and Damien, Ellie and Edgar, Fannie and Finn, and even Ginnie and Gilliam.

“Wait…when you guys were talking about the girls you met in town…” Noel started.

“You knew about this?” asked Connor, a hand on his hip, turning to Noel.

“My brothers said they found their fated mates, but I didn’t want to know who they were, because, oh, I don’t know – I was kinda nursing a broken heart, Connor!” said Noel.

“Well, we would’ve told you, Connor, but you were busy working, and we didn’t see you when we were at The North Pole,” said Ginnie. “We only got there in time to see you take off! When you landed, you were off like a shot.”

“I went to your place last night,” said Connor.

“Bullshit,” said Noel.

“I swear, I did – right after I was done with The Ride,” said Connor. “One of your brothers sent me away – said you didn’t want to see me.”

“That…may have been me,” admitted Damien sheepishly.

“Damien! What did you do?” asked Noel.

“I heard that Connor gave you trouble and didn’t want him to ruin your holiday,” said Damien. “I went home earlier with Dellie, to, uh, celebrate the holiday properly, privately, and this guy shows up banging on the door! What would you have done? You weren’t even home yet. Where were you, anyway?”

“Uh…out,” said Noel.

“What?” asked Edgar. “You? Miss Goody Two Shoes? Out? Where?”

“Miss Goody Two Shoes? I thought you were the Miami’s headmistress of curves, conqueror of men,” said Connor.

“This one?” asked Cassius. “Are you kiddin’ me? She had a higher GPA than all of us combined – and that’s not just because she went to frikkin’ business school and knocked it out of the park.”

“She what?” asked Connor, raising an eyebrow.

“I came up to The Wreath to work at Bear Claw Bakery because I want to start up my own bakery line, okay?” hissed Noel. “I didn’t want anything serious when I came up here, because I knew it was a temp job, and because I didn’t want to, well, you know – get attached or something. But, then I met you, and…”

“And what?” asked Connor.

“And I got so attached that, on Christmas Eve, I decided that I didn’t want to go to the Christmas party at The North Pole – because I still thought you had a harem,” said Noel.

“Wait, a harem?” asked Edgar. “Who’s in his harem?”

“Well…” Started Noel, looking over the line of women.

“Oh my goodness, eww,” said Fannie, throwing her hands up.

“Connor is like a little brother to us,” said Dellie. “You know we’re like a decade older than him, right? Like. What?”

“Look, a gal sees seven gorgeous shifters who are willing to hang out with this bad boy, and that means they’re either family or something else,” said Noel. “Besides…it’s not like Connor didn’t make assumptions too.”

“What kind of assumptions?” asked Finn, cracking his knuckles.

“He, uh…thought I had a harem too, a harem of men,” said Noel sheepishly.

“And who’s in this so-called harem? A bunch of those ice elementals or Christmas elves? Those dudes are jacked,” admitted Bastian.

“Uh…well, maybe it’s better left unsaid,” said Connor, not meeting Bastian’s gaze.

“Oh, bro, gross!” said Bastian. “Dude, that’s our sister – we changed her frikkin’ diapers, bro. Gross. Okay. There’s something seriously wrong with the two of you for not just, talking this out.”

“Bastian’s right,” said Bonnie, arm around Bastian. “How complicated does it have to be? ‘Hey, I like you, you like me, what’s the deal?’”

“You know, Connor has never been one to communicate well – or play well with others,” said Ellie. “Makes sense he’d be against a harem – never was particularly good at sharing.”

“You think that’s bad?” asked Edgar. “This one time, in first grade, Noel brought spaghetti to class, and –”

“Not the spaghetti story!” begged Noel. “Please! Anyway. As I was saying. I was feeling sad for myself and, uh…I decided I’d rather be with you, even if you had a harem – which obviously, you do not – than not be with you. I’m not exactly experienced in relationships, so…I thought it might be worth a shot. Krampus took me up to The North Pole, but you were gone.”

“Are you kidding me?” asked Connor. “Noel…the reason I was gone was that I had flown back to The Wreath, to tell you I was willing to give the reverse harem thing a shot, just to be with you.”

“Are you kidding me?” asked Gilliam. “You two kids. Hopeless.”

“So what now?” asked Noel. “Neither of us is in a harem, and after today, neither of us will be at The Wreath.”

“How would you feel…about doing market research for your bakery line in the state of Washington?” asked Connor. He reached into his pocket, pulled out the silly looking red ring box, and popped it open.

Noel’s hands flew up to her face. Her eyes welled with tears. Was that really Connor, knee to the ground, looking up at her and offering her a ring?

“Connor…are you saying what I think you’re saying?” asked Noel.

“Noel – apparently, I haven’t been clear about the way I feel about you, so let me be clear,” said Connor. “Let me put all this out in the open. I want to be with you, forever, for the rest of my life. Since the moment I met you, you’ve captivated me. You’re equal parts sassy and sweet. You care about others and bring people together to do big things, great things, and I want to be part of those projects of yours in the future. I want to be with you forever, Noel…so will you take this ring, and soon, very soon, become my wife?”

“Of course I will, Connor,” said Noel, wiping a tear from her eye using her free hand as Connor slipped the comet-shaped ring onto her other hand. “Connor…when I came up here, I came up here to learn about business. What I learned was about what makes businesses like Bear Claw Bakery special – heart, and a bit of Christmas magic. You made me believe that maybe, just maybe, I can help spread a bit of that magic to others too, and for that…I will always, always love you.”

All of a sudden, Krampus and Avery burst through the back door of the bakery.

“Connor! You’ve managed to make someone believe in Christmas magic, and for that, you get off of the –” started Krampus. “Shit. We already did that, didn’t we? Then why did I feel as if something changed?”

“Your chest,” said Noel. “It’s glowing!”

Connor unzipped the top of his tactical suit. The mark on his chest had changed yet again. Now, instead of reading ‘Nice,’ it read ‘Very Nice!’, complete with exclamation point.

“Well, I’ll be,” said Avery. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

“That doesn’t mean you get anything special,” said Krampus. “You still have to give back the company car, Connor.”

“What car?” asked Connor.

“Your shift, numbnuts – and I do mean numbnuts. I know how cold it can get on The Ride, practically made me sterile,” grumbled Krampus, pulling the magical snow globe out of his pocket. “Here.”

Connor looked at the snow globe. So much had happened since the first time he’d touched it. He found himself a little sad to be parting ways with Comet and his reindeer shift, but he knew that this had always been a temporary thing, like a snowflake landing on a warm mug of cider.

Goodbye, friend, said Connor.

What makes you so sure this is goodbye? asked Comet.

But Krampus said – started Connor.

Krampus says a lot of things, said Comet. When Christmas magic is involved, well, you never know what might happen.

“Well?” asked Krampus. “On with it!”

Connor touched his hand to the snow globe. Rivulets of green and gold wove through Connor’s fingers as sparks of red flicked through the air. Connor swore that he could smell the scent of freshly cut pine and hear the sound of twinkling bells as he felt the exchange of power take place.

He’d left his bear in the snow globe on Christmas Eve morning before Krampus had taken him up North. He heard the familiar roar of his bear, and it comforted Connor like a warm blanket by a fireplace. Finally, the bear was home.

“Before you go, here.” Krampus reached into his pocket and pulled out a green velvet bag. He passed it to Connor. Connor opened the bag. Inside, there was a green wooden pickle.

“What is this?” asked Connor.

“Put it on your tree every year,” said Krampus. “One day, The North Pole may need you again – and if we’re ever in a pickle, well…that’s how you’ll know.”

“Okay,” said Connor, reaching out and shaking Krampus’ hand. “Thank you for helping me relearn my values, and for being part of the journey that lead me to my mate. I –”

“Look, kid, you’re gonna make me cry and smudge up my guyliner, so as a Christmas present to me, why don’t you two kids get lost while your siblings get ready for their rides home?” asked Krampus.

“Is that what all this is for?” asked Noel. “Avery!”

“I had to come up with some reason to get you to talk to Connor!” said Avery. “In the end, you two didn’t just get Connor off of The Naughty List. You two learned the true meaning of Christmas is spending it with family – and that family comes in all shapes and sizes. Don’t worry – now that you two are together again, you get the day off, fully paid, of course – with that overtime I promised. Just get out of here and have a Merry Christmas, Noel…and Connor, the clock is ticking, so you two should bail on this party before that clock is up.”

“You mean…” Connor started.

“Don’t make me spell it out for you,” said Krampus. “Nothing’s more awkward than giving a fully grown werebear the sex talk. Claim her, Connor. Don’t waste any time. Merry Christmas, you crazy kids.”

“Noel, just drop the keys off in the mailbox when you’re done,” said Avery with a giggle. “Bye now! Have a very, very Merry Christmas!”

Noel and Connor slipped out the back door and made a beeline for Noel’s car.

“So to claim me, you have to –” started Noel.

“Yes,” said Connor. “We have to have sex. I have to make you come – and we need to reach the climax at the same time. If you’re my fated mate, my mark will tell us.”

“How?” asked Noel.

“I’ve heard rumors, but never seen it happen for myself,” said Connor. “Apparently, it’ll change.”

“I see,” said Noel, pulling out of her space and driving down the road to her rental. She parked in front of the rental, opened the door, and before she could drop the keys into the mailbox, Connor had scooped Noel up in his arms.

“So where am I taking you?” asked Connor.

“The bedroom’s that way,” said Noel, blushing.

Connor carried Noel to the bedroom. She was still wearing her winter coat and work clothes.

“We need to get these off you – that is if you’re ready,” said Connor. “I didn’t know you were a –”

“Connor. I’ve been waiting to share my gift with someone special for a while now,” said Noel. “I’ve wanted that person to be you ever since, well, ever since we met – but before, that was for selfish reasons, so I could ‘get it over with,’ be done with being a virgin. Now…it’s because of something more important. Love. I want you, Connor. Don’t hold back – just because I’m a virgin, that doesn’t mean I haven’t, uh…taken my curves for a test ride.”

Noel reached up and unzipped Connor’s tactical suit top. She ran her hand over the mark on Connor’s chest.

“What do you think it is?” asked Noel.

“A plane – obviously,” said Connor. The symbol on his chest was shaped like a plane as seen from above, complete with two sets of wings and a pointed tip.

“Is that why you became a pilot?” asked Noel.

“Yes,” admitted Connor. “I needed a high-paying job, to send money back home to my folks because raising three boys wasn’t cheap. Turns out that I love flying. I never bothered to seriously try and find a mate. After all, flying seemed like that was my true calling in life, until…”

“Until what?” asked Noel softly.

“…Until I met you,” said Connor.

“What kind of plane is it?” asked Noel.

“You know…I don’t rightly know,” said Connor. “It’s pretty generic, isn’t it?”

“What I don’t get is why the wings are clipped,” said Noel.

“Clipped?” asked Connor.

“Yeah, see?” asked Noel, opening her fingers to make a ‘V.’ She rested her hand on Connor’s chest so that the tip of the mark lay in the space between her two fingers. The tip of the plane and the edges of the wings all lined up along her fingers.

Noel looked from the wings to her fingers and realized that both the plane and her fingers made two familiar shapes, shapes she’d seen the day before.

“Connor…that’s not a plane,” said Noel.

“What?” asked Connor.

“Stay right here,” ordered Noel.

Noel went to the kitchen table. Craft supplies were strewn over the table. Noel grabbed a piece of white paper, a pair of scissors, and a black marker. She went back to the bedroom.

“Pull off your top and hold still,” ordered Noel.

“Whoa,” said Connor, putting his hands up after removing his top. “What’s going on? You about to cut my cock off?”

“No, smart one – I told you, I know what your mark is,” said Noel. Noel folded the white paper up into a familiar base that split the paper up into six triangles. She unfurled the paper and placed it over Connor’s chest. She lined up the tip of one triangle with the nose of the plane and lined the paper up so that the two sets of wings were nestled right in the lines.

“Well, I’ll be,” whispered Noel. She went over the lines of the mark with black marker, filling them in.

“I still don’t understand what you’re doing,” said Connor.

“Just…watch,” said Noel. Noel refolded the paper and showed Conner the symbol, outlined on one of the triangles on the paper. Then, Noel took the scissors and started to make little snips. All that was left on the paper was the shape of the ‘airplane.’

“Watch,” ordered Noel. She unfurled the paper, revealing that she’d made a paper snowflake, using the outline of Connor’s mark as her pattern.

“You mean all this time, it was a –” started Connor.

“Look over there,” ordered Noel. “Look.” She pointed to her end table, where, in a picture frame, she had a single paper snowflake encased under the glass, the snowflake she’d made on Christmas Eve with her brothers.

“It’s the same snowflake,” whispered Connor. “Noel…”

“We have to be fated, Connor,” said Noel. “It’s already past noon. You need to claim me, and fast.”

“Babe, I told you – to claim you, I need to make you come, hard,” said Connor. “Let me make your first time special. Consider it a little Christmas present from me to you.”

“From the looks of things, your package is not so little,” said Noel, gripping Connor’s cock through his pants.

Connor undid his belt and lowered his pants to the floor. He was wearing a pair of red boxers with a green pine tree pattern on them. The trees weren’t decorated, but Connor did have a pair of thick ‘ornament balls’ in his pants.

“Babe,” said Connor, rubbing his temples while Noel rubbed his balls. “Just let me focus on you, on getting you ready.”

“Don’t assume I’m not ready,” said Noel, crossing her arms.

“Trust me – I can scent it out on you, and I know you need to be wetter if you’re going to take this,’ said Connor, holding his cock in his hand. “You’ve played with toys, but the real deal, well, it’s different. You have any toys this big back home?”

“No,” admitted Noel

“That’s what I thought,” said Connor, pulling Noel close and giving her a kiss on her forehead. “Now, let’s get you out of those clothes.” Connor took off Noel’s shirt, unhooked her bra, and slipped it off her curves, revealing her thick, luscious plus-size body.

Connor moved his hands down Noel’s curves, massaging her flesh in his hands, feeling her curves without any fabric to keep her soft body away from his muscular form. He made his way down to her pants, which he undid, and he pulled them off from the waist, shimmying them down past her thick hips. Connor took off Noel’s panties – which were Christmas themed, with tiny presents on them.

“Perfect,” said Connor. “Now that you’re in your Christmas best, I can get to work. How do you like guys to go down on you?”

“Well, uh…I wouldn’t know,” said Noel shyly. “I never really thought about that – about anything other than kissing and straight-up sex.”

“Babe, oral’s half the fun,” said Connor. “Lean back, get those legs on my shoulders, grab a pillow, and don’t be afraid to shout – or carol, if you want to keep up the holiday spirit.”

Connor put Noel’s legs up around his shoulders. He pulled Noel down the bed. Noel reached up and grabbed a pillow. She stuck it behind her back and held it, nervous about what was going to happen. She had no idea what to expect from oral. She’d read articles about how to please a man, but no articles on how to be satisfied by a man.

Connor ran his finger up Noel’s slit. Noel shuddered beneath Connor’s touch. She’d touched herself before, but being touched by Connor was different. When she felt herself, she knew what was going to happen. She could predict every stroke of her fingers ‘round her clit. With Connor, all bets were off. She had no idea what he’d do – or what he could do.

Connor gently opened Noel’s petals. He breathed down her slit. Noel felt Connor’s warm, humid breath against her body and shuddered again.

“You nervous?” asked Connor.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t,” admitted Noel. “But…it’s just new and different, is all.”

“Then hold on to the sheets, because we’re just getting started,” whispered Connor. Connor pressed a single finger into Noel, seeing what she could take. He gently pressed the digit inside of Noel while he pushed his tongue against her clit, softly.

“I can handle more than that,” insisted Noel.

“Give me time to work my magic,” ordered Connor. “When I enter you, I want you to be grabbing me, Noel.”

“Like this?” asked Noel, gripping Connor’s head in her hand, gripping his hair.

“No, babe, not like that,” said Connor.

“Then how?” asked Noel.

“I told you – you’ll see, in due time,” said Connor. He slipped a second finger inside of Noel. He felt her tighten around him and smiled to himself. He licked his lips and tasted Noel around them. He wanted more. He hungered for more.

Connor pressed his mouth back against Noel’s clit, rubbing it with the broad side of his lounge, spinning it in wide circles.

“Fuck,” said Noel breathily. “I must taste good.”

“All that time spent in the bakery must’ve made you turn so sweet,” said Connor.

“Do I taste like my famous sugar cookies?” asked Noel.

“No,” said Connor. “You taste better.”

Noel had one hand gripping the sheets, the other, wrapped around the back of the pillow and pressing the pillow against the back of her head. With every moan, her hair slid over the cushion in tendrils, like icy rivers carving their way through a glacier.

Connor inserted a third finger. He was surprised to find Noel could take three of his fingers – he was a big man, with big hands to match. He felt her pulse around him and wasn’t quite sure if that was Noel’s actual pulse or the pulse of pleasure running through her veins. He removed one of the fingers.

“No,” protested Noel. “Put it back in. I need it, Connor. I need you.”

Connor stood up and slid the tip of his cock out from the waistband of his pants.

“You think you can handle this?” asked Connor, rubbing the exposed tip of his member.

“More,” begged Noel. “I need more, Connor.”

Connor lowed his boxers by a few inches, exposing more of his cock. “This much, for starters?”

“No, Connor – I need the whole thing. I need all of you,” said Noel. She sat up and reached for Connor’s dick, but, with a single gentle push to her shoulder, Connor sent Noel backward onto the bed.

“Now, now – what did I tell you about letting me handle all the heavy lifting, princess?” asked Connor. “You’re not the only one who’s wet and wanting.”

Connor rubbed Noel’s thumb over the tip of his cock. Noel felt Connor’s heat beneath her thumb. She felt the surprisingly soft but firm flesh of the head of the cock. She smiled to herself. It reminded her of a marshmallow.

Connor took Noel’s hand and guided it to her mouth, putting Noel’s wet thumb right in her mouth. Connor’s cock may have felt like a marshmallow, but it wasn’t sweet – it was salty. She licked her thumb clean.

“Not bad,” said Noel. She reached for Connors’ cock again and felt it harden beneath her hands. She started to get in position to put her mouth on the tip, but Connor stopped her.

“Don’t you want a blowjob?” asked Noel.

“I do – but Noel, I’m so close, I might just burst,” said Connor. “Seeing your head bob up and down on my cock, feeling your tongue lick all the way from the part of my balls to the tip of my cock, well, just imagining all that brings me to the edge. I need to make you come, at the same time as I do.”

“Then get to work,” ordered Noel sassily, leaning back on the bed and snuggling up with the pillow behind her head

Connor pressed the tip of his cock against Noel’s entrance. She had said she was a virgin, and Connor didn’t doubt her, but Noel hadn’t bled. Hopefully, that meant she could take what he was dishing out.

“Noel – I need to warn you,” said Connor. “I can control myself when I’m doing stuff like eating you out, but, fucking, well, that’s a-whole-nother game. My bear – it might, well…take over.”

“Show me, Connor,” said Noel, pulling Connor’s head down so she could press her lips against his. Her tongue entered his mouth. She felt something parting the petals hiding her pleasure canal. She could feel Connor’s hands caressing her lush curves. One hand was on one of her breasts, the other, cupping one of her ass cheeks. There was no question as to what Connor was using to split Noel in two.

Connors cock slid down into Noel like Connor had pushed down the sledding hill with Noel on Christmas Eve’s Eve.

“Ooh!” squealed Noel, her legs moving on their own, not knowing whether they ought to spread for Connor or grip his waist tightly.

“I think I just opened my best Christmas gift ever,” said Connor, biting his lower lip. “Noel – hold on to those sheets, babe. It’s time for you to go on another sled ride.”

Connor grabbed Noel’s ass in his hands. He tried to resist his urges, but he couldn’t. The beast had taken over. Connor was close to claiming his mate, so close he could literally smell it – the scent of Noel’s arousal for him. Arousal was one thing. An orgasm was another.

Connor clawed his nails into Noel’s butt, leaving wide red marks on her thick butt. Noel let out a gasp as Connor raked her body with the same fingers that had been inside her just minutes before. She arched her back. Connor’s hands moved up Noel’s back, gripping her as he pistoned in and out of her, holding onto Noel as if she were a single pine tree in a combination blizzard and tornado.

Noel moved up to kiss Connor, but Connor’s hands pushed her back down as he felt her breasts. With her breasts, he was only slightly gentler, because he was shocked at how creamy and smooth they felt underneath his fingers.

Noel let out a moan as Connor cupped her breasts, which were too big for Connor to cup, even with his large hands. His hands were rough from the time spent working as a lumberjack. They were made rougher still by his paw marks – the bear paw marks that appeared on his hand whenever he had his bear shift. Noel took one of Connor’s hands and held it, looking at it. She traced the lines of the bear paw marks with a finger and then, held her hand to Connor’s hand, look at just how small her hands were compared to Connor’s. Noel was a BBW – a big, beautiful woman – but compared to Connor, she was teeny.

Connor’s body took in all the feedback Noel gave Connor and figured out the key to making her come, hard. Noel wanted it hard and fast. She didn’t want Connor to hold back.

Connor moved in and out of Noel hard and fast. With every stroke in and out of Noel, he felt her body react to his. With every touch of his hands, he felt her get closer to her climax. He felt her twitch around his cock and knew that Noel had to be close.

“Fuck,” moaned Noel. “Connor…I need this, I need this bad. So…close…!”

“I’m taking you all the way, baby,” said Connor. “Remember when we flew? Together, in the air? We could only do that because you let go of the sled. Now, I need you to let go of whatever’s holding you back, whether it’s fear, stress, nervousness. I need you just to be you, and I need you to come for me. I can’t hold back much longer.”

“Oh, Connor,” moaned Noel. Connor had fucked her harder and faster than she’d ever fucked herself, with her toys, but she’d been able to take it. The only thing she couldn’t accept was being denied a climax. She reached up and touched Connor’s chest. She felt the mark and for a second, thought about what she’d thought about the whole time – about whether or not she was Connor’s mate. She was sure she had to be, that it had to be fated, but…until they both came, there was no way of telling. The one thing that could give her closure could go one of two ways. Either she was Connor’s fated mate, or, she wasn’t. Not knowing meant that there was still a possibility that Noel was meant for Connor and that he was meant for her.

“Come for me, babe,” ordered Connor. “Don’t hold back. I need you to come for me.”

Connor bit down on Noel’s neck, nibbling her lightly while sucking her skin into his mouth. He swirled his tongue around her supple skin. His bear roared – it could sense that Connor was close to claiming his fated mate.

Connor’s love bite broke Noel’s train of thought, her anxiety about whether or not she was really his mate or not, and that bite set her free. With her train of thought having gone ninety degrees off the rails, Noel was taken out of her head. Connor was like the prince in that story who woke the sleeping princess – and if memory served, Snow White also had seven protective older brothers. Now, Noel could focus on the sensations happening to her body.

Noel felt Connor run his hands over her full back and rake her body with his fingers, digging into her curves. Noel gripped Connor’s big, muscular back with her nails and let out a loud shout as she came around Connor’s cock.

Connor felt Noel close down around him. Finally, it was time. Finally, he could let loose the load. He splashed into Noel, sliding back and forth inside of Noel’s wet canal as he made it even wetter.

As Connor and Noel came at the same time, Connor’s eyes flashed bright amber, like a soft, warm white Christmas light. Noel put her hand on Connor’s chest and watched as it started to glow bright white. The black airplane mark tripled in size. To the left and right, another set of airplane marks appeared, in bright white. Then, suddenly, the image ‘mirrored,’ with three sets of airplane-shaped marks appearing below those three marks. The five new airplane-shaped marks glowed bright white, while the black airplane-shaped mark in the center of Connor’s chest turned bright gold.

“Connor…that mark,” started Noel. “That’s not an airplane at all. It was the paper snowflake I made – this whole time, it just had to be unfolded like, well, a paper snowflake! We are meant to be together – and you’ve had a piece of my family tradition on your chest this whole frikkin’ time! Well – part of the time.”

“I don’t need some silly mark to tell me you’re my true love, Noel,” said Connor, pulling Noel close to kiss her on the forehead.

“I can’t believe that after all this drama at The Wreath, things are finally settled – I’m your mate, and you, well,” said Noel, lying down next to Connor. “You’re the best gift I got this Christmas.”

“So what’s next for us?” asked Connor.

“Well…I’m not really into the whole ‘long-distance’ thing, but until we can be together, I guess that’s what we’ve got to do,” said Noel. “I have a crazy idea, though.”

“How crazy is it?” asked Connor.

“Why don’t you come back to Miami with me for a week and trade the cold snow in for some hot sand, trade the cocoa for some Cuba Libres?” asked Noel. “I have my own place. We could talk about our plans for the future before we temporarily go our separate ways, and nobody could interrupt us.”

Noel ran her fingers over Connor’s chest. She traced around the snowflake shaped mate mark. She couldn’t believe that together, she and Connor had finally cracked the code of his mate mark, figuring out who the heck he was meant to be with, after all these years. Fate had a funny way of working things out in the end.

“That sounds like the perfect start to our happily ever after,” agreed Connor.

And it was.