My holiday short story was released today! It’s Notice, part II, but I think it’s also a piece that stands on its own. Mistletoe is about love and trust and finding both in a world that needs a lot more of both.
Here’s the Blurb:
Dragon-shifter Varian Kendall would rather face a sword than have to pick out a Christmas present for his flamboyant lover, Josh. But this is their first real Christmas together, and he knows he must find something special to go into the red, lacy, fishnet stocking Josh has hung by their tree. But what Varian comes up with is only one of the surprises waiting for them on Christmas Eve.
And here’s the Except:
I opened my wings and sprang off the roof into the frosty air. It was much easier than taking off from the ground. I had the power lines memorized, and I knew that even though the radar from the nearby airport would detect me, I would register only as a flock of birds. I did a quick circle high above the neighborhood to make sure I hadn’t disturbed anyone. It was so late and cold that nobody was outside, and my wings were silent as a bat’s in the air. All stayed quiet. I felt safer flying on dark winter nights than in the summer, and tonight, there was not even any moon to worry about.
Satisfied we’d escaped detection, I stroked harder, picking up speed and gaining elevation at the same time. The air was very still, perfect for flying. Above us, the stars burned close enough to touch, little twinkling crystals of pure fire. Below us, the lights of Burlington spread out, the greens and reds of the holiday interspersed with the white streetlights, the orange glow from parking lots, and the occasional moving points of red and white made by cars. We flew across two worlds — the sky and the land — and were part of neither, and of both, at the same time. Mostly, we were just together.
“So beautiful,” Josh said, taking his hands out of the loops and leaning low along my neck, caressing me. “I am so lucky you chose me, Varian.”
I couldn’t answer, but in reality, I knew I was more lucky that he’d accepted me. I was a lover who’d embroiled him in danger and death last fall, forced him into secrecy, changed his life, and generally not treated him as well as I could have until I’d wised up. I was a lover who’d hatched out of an egg, for God’s sake. A lover who bought him a — I couldn’t even think it. When he saw what I’d gotten him for Christmas, he was probably going to reconsider everything.