Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 190(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 127(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 190(@200wpm)___ 152(@250wpm)___ 127(@300wpm)
She’d expected just a peck on the mouth, but it seemed that her taunting words had made Klaus feel he had something to prove. With a low growl, he pulled her closer and deepened the kiss, sending shivers of desire running through her whole body.
Kelli moaned softly and opened her lips, inviting him in. The big Kindred took her invitation and soon she was tasting him—a wild, deep flavor that was tinged deliciously with a ghost of the hot chocolate they’d both been drinking earlier.
Suddenly her heart was pounding even harder and her nipples felt tight. God, who knew that she and her grumpy Protector would have so much chemistry? Kelli couldn’t remember having a kiss this exciting since…well, since ever. Her ex, Mitch, hadn’t been a very good kisser at all. And because she’d been married so long, she hadn’t kissed anyone else since college.
Just as she was really getting into it and threading her hands through Klaus’s thick, black hair, which she had always fantasized about, there was an audible click and the cabin spoke again.
“Romantic kiss detected—I am now open for your enjoyment,” it announced.
They pulled apart and Kelli took a step back, panting.
“Oh, uh…” She wasn’t sure what to say but when she looked up at Klaus, his golden eyes were blazing.
“How was that for a kiss, sunshine?” he growled.
“It was good—really good,” Kelli admitted. “I…um…”
“Come on,” he said, cutting through her confusion. “Let’s go have a look inside so we can get back to the ship.”
“You promised we’d stay unless there was anything weird,” Kelli protested, following him into the cabin.
“And you don’t think kissing to get the door open counts?” He threw an incredulous look over one broad shoulder.
“Let’s just look around and then we can discuss it,” Kelli suggested.
She couldn’t understand why he was so eager to leave. The way he’d been kissing her, she would have thought he wanted to take her straight to bed—and she wouldn’t have tried to stop him! Who knew her grumpy Protector was such an incredibly passionate kisser?
She followed him into the cabin, ready to argue some more, but what she saw made her stop.
The Christmas Cabin was adorably cozy.
The front door led into a living room area that had a fireplace on one wall and a big, overstuffed couch with a red and white checked throw across its back. Sitting across from the couch was a sleek entertainment screen that was presently playing images of candy canes and Christmas candies.
The floor was hardwood but there were several rugs that looked hand-braided on the floor to add warmth and there was a large, real Christmas tree in the corner decorated in red and green and gold with a beautiful glowing star perched at its tip.
“Just look at this place!” Kelli spun in a circle and inhaled deeply. “And breathe it in!”
The scent of the Christmas tree’s pine needles mixed with the scent of apples and cinnamon and possibly sugar cookies, which was drifting from the back of the cabin, was mouthwatering and nostalgic a the same time.
“It’s all just so Christmassy,” Kelli sighed happily.
Klaus gave her a bemused look.
“You really love this holiday, don’t you?”
“What are you talking about? Of course I love it—Christmas is the best. “Come on—let’s go see the rest of the cabin!”
Kelli grabbed him by the hand and tugged him further into the cozy interior. But before she had gone two feet, the voice of the cabin spoke again.
“To optimize your Christmas Cabin experience, please fill out this checklist of Romantic Christmas Scenarios you wish to include,” it said. “Please note that all selections are final and cannot be reversed so choose carefully.” And then, to Kelli’s surprise, a glowing list appeared in the air right in front of her.
“Hey, what in the Seven Hells is that?” Klaus asked, frowning as he looked over her shoulder. “What are ‘romantic scenarios anyway?”
“You know—like tropes you find in a romance book or a romantic movie,” Kelli explained distractedly. She was too busy reading the list written in glowing letters. After each line there was a box, which she assumed she could check if she wanted to include that particular scenario.
The list read like this:
Kissing Under the Mistletoe
Lights Go Out—(candles and firelight only.)
Forced Proximity (only one bed)
Snowed In (at least for the night.)
Touching Required (nothing works without help)
Maximum Romance!
The first part of the list was fairly self-explanatory to Kelli—she was an avid romance reader—but the last two entries were somewhat confusing. What did “Touching Required” mean?
“I don’t understand any of these,” Klaus growled in her ear. “What the fuck is ‘Maximum Romance?’”
As he spoke, he reached over Kelli’s shoulder and tapped the box beside the last entry on the list. A glowing checkmark appeared in the box…and then all the other boxes beside the other entries suddenly lit up with checkmarks as well.