This was him. She just knew it. Granny was totally right. The small bundle in her arms chirped and she looked down to see the baby penguin she’d rescued stirring and struggling to be free of her scarf.
“Shh,” she cooed to the animal, ignoring the curious look of the strange man who was destined to be hers.
“Candy is a food not a name,” he returned and shook his head, “what is that there?”
“This is Fluffy,” she said and turned her precious bundle around so he could see for himself.
The little chick, chirped and struggled to be freed, so Candy let her down on the floor, watching her closely as she sniffed and waddled across the cold ground.
“I found her wandering outside and figured she was better off with me. Her parents must’ve been killed to leave her behind,” she whispered as the small chick climbed on the bedroll that the strange man had casually tossed next to the fire earlier, “and, yes, Candy is food, but it is my name too,” she stated, a small smile played at the corner of her mouth while Fluffy burrowed into his sleeping bag.
“That is my bed, small aquatic bird,” he frowned and his brown eyes glittered like cinnamon sugar in the flickering light from the fire he’d built inside the small cavern.
Too bad she hadn’t thought of that herself, it would have helped her to revive the small creature faster. As it was, she’d wandered for hours through the frozen wasteland that was the real North Pole after leaving Santa’s Magical Christmas Village.
Fluffy seemed to like the sleeping bag and Candy had half a mind to follow the bird inside the bedroll. But she still wasn’t sure of her welcome.
“What are you doing here?” He asked, his eyes flicking from her to the penguin.
“Oh, well, I thought it would be a good idea to have some shelter before the blizzard hits.”
“What blizzard?” He scoffed as if surely he would’ve known if a blizzard was heading his way.
She’d spied a lot of gadgets in his packs and wondered at them while he set about taking care of his dogs and himself. He was clearly new to the arctic, but he seemed caring and smart. Certainly, handsome, she thought and felt her cheeks blush.
With rugged good looks, and sun-kissed bronzed skin he was devastating, she realized. Even if his ears were decidedly round. That was a feature she could overlook, she thought as she took in his magnificent form in his bulky attire.
“That blizzard,” she replied and lifted her hand, pointing to where the wind was currently trying to rip through the plastic sheet barrier he’d set up.
The Huskies whined in their pen but settled down as she walked over to their pen, humming a Christmas carol, and bent to pet them. Candy had worked in the reindeer barn long before she’d been promoted to toy research and development.
“Such good puppies,” she said and scratched the lead dog’s ears which resulted in a happy puppy tongue licking her ungloved hand until it was sopping wet.
“Yes, they are a fine team,” he answered and she turned to see he’d crossed the cave floor and was now standing right behind her.
“Oh,” she gasped and saw he held Fluffy in his hands.
“This bird is for cooking?”
“No!” She yelled, and took Fluffy back, “I told you I rescued her from the cold. She is not for cooking.”
“I see,” he frowned as she replaced the small animal back on his bedroll.
“She is defecating on my sleeping bag,” he growled, and Candy blushed as she looked down to see the small penguin had in fact left a little poopy on his bedroll.
Oopsies.
“Oh, uh,” she didn’t know quite how to respond.
He grunted and took the small metal package that had been heating on the fire and held it out towards her.
“You require food?”
“Um, yes, I would love to share with you,” she smiled widely.
This is promising, she thought and stole a glance at Fluffy who’d made a veritable nest in his bedroll. The exhausted chick nodded out immediately after and Candy noted the small, chewed piece of salmon jerky that she was sure the man had snuck to her when she wasn’t looking.
“What’s your name?” Candy asked.
The man seemed to grow taller as he turned to face her with his hands on his hips in his white snow-pants and thick thermal shirt having removed his parka. His bronzed skin was smooth and clear and he had short-cropped hair and no beard or mustache that she could see. He was uniquely handsome in her opinion, and if Granny Elf was right, he was hers.
The very thought had her toes tingling in her snow boots. Candy had never seen anything quite like him.
“I am Medjed, Warrior and Guard to the House of Osiris. I have been called Demon, Demigod, and the Sword of the Underworld. Most recently, I have been called friend by the Wyvern Protection Unit and I freelance for a secret government agency which has sent me here to the arctic to explore certain anomalies.”
“Oh, uh,” she had no idea how to respond to that, but it didn’t matter because he was still going.
“I have been an assassin, a guardian, judge and jury. I have seen and meted out more death than you can imagine, sweet innocent, but I am loyal. I have been just recently released from an unjust confinement, but I am a fast learner. I do not know a lot about the modern world, but I do know one thing for certain—”
“Yes?” She swallowed.
“You are my mate!”
His brown eyes flickered in the dim fire and Candy felt the truth of his statement all the way to her toes. She wanted to scream and clap like she’d just won the lottery, but hey, what girl, or she-Elf, was going to give in to a man who boldly made a statement like that?
“Sheesh, wow. Okay, buddy, well I mean I have to say that is some fluffing line to land on a gal you don’t even know,” she snorted, and sat down crisscross applesauce on a blanket she’d snagged from his sled when he wasn’t looking.
“It is merely a fact, rohi, but yes, thank you, I want to know you better,” he purred and stalked over to where she sat, handing her a spoon to go with the packet of the rehydrated hot stew.
“What’s that you’re calling me?” Candy asked trying to ignore the blush that stained her cheeks.
Christmas Elves had a knack for blushing anywhere from pale bubblegum pink to full on holly berry red and she was no exception. Her toes tingled, her stomach clenched, and her mouth watered, and it had nothing to do with the stew.
“Eat,” he commanded and handed her a small metal spoon, “you will need your strength.”
Candy almost choked on a piece of carrot before she handed him back the pouch. They were sharing after all, she took a sip from the water bottle he extended to her and wondered what she should say next.
“Mm, you smell like evergreens and cranberries,” he growled as he leaned in and took a deep, long breath up against her neck.
“I do? Um, okay, thanks,” she scooted away, “I think we should talk?”
For some reason, that came out as more a question than the statement she’d intended. Candy had spent hundreds of years waiting for the man of her dreams and here he was, but why was she so dang nervous.
“Rohi, I have waited an eternity to find you,” he said as if reading her fears, “I can wait a few moments more before I take you in my arms and stake my claim. Will it please you to talk with me first?”