Total pages in book: 12
Estimated words: 11248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 56(@200wpm)___ 45(@250wpm)___ 37(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 11248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 56(@200wpm)___ 45(@250wpm)___ 37(@300wpm)
**Cold of Night is a Thorne Hill Christmas novella**
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
CHAPTER 1
“Should I be worried?” Lucas cocks an eyebrow.
“Normally I’d say no, but this is getting a little out of hand,” Kristy replies with a shake of her head, swinging her blonde ponytail back and forth.
I turn, hand hovering in the air as I telekinetically add another piece of garland to the chandelier above the dining room table. “I’m right here, you know.”
“Oh, we know.” Kristy picks up Pandora, one of my familiars who takes the form of a pretty calico cat, who’s doing a good job avoiding eye contact. She has let me know before just what she thinks of my over-the-top Christmas decorations. “You went all Elsa with the Christmas tree in here. It’s kind of hard to miss.”
Looking back at the garland, I use magic to get it just right and stand back, smiling at the chandelier.
“I didn’t freeze anything. I just made the flocking on the tree look a little more realistic and sparkly. What’s the point of being a witch if I can’t use my powers to spread holiday cheer?” My hands settle on my stomach, feeling the small baby bump. “It’s the most wonderful time of the year, after all.”
Lucas comes up behind me, hands folding on top of mine. He pulls me against him, lips going to my neck. I close my eyes and lean back, feeling his cock press against my ass. He’s not hard right now, but that thing is still impressive and makes me want to take him by the hand, drag him upstairs, and cast a silence spell on my bedroom since Kristy is here. I always want Lucas, but these damn pregnancy hormones are making me as horny as a teenage boy.
“Did your matching Christmas pajamas come in yet?” Kristy asks with a pointed grin.
“They’re supposed to arrive tonight, though I don’t know if Scarlet’s will fit.”
“You bought Christmas pajamas for your hellhound?” Lucas asks incredulously.
Kristy laughs. “You’re surprised?”
“I should be, but no. And I still haven’t agreed to wear anything.”
I spin in his arms and give him my best puppy-dog eyes.
“You’re really going to deny your pregnant wife Christmas cheer? — Oh!” I gasp. “You can tell me tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago because you’re old!”
His brow furrows, and he opens his mouth to say something but stops, looking from me to Kristy. “I’m either missing something or she’s officially lost it.”
“It’s part of a song,” Kristy tells him.
“See?” I poke his firm chest. “Though, I won’t argue that I haven’t lost it with everything going on.”
My mind clouds with dark thoughts and, for a split second, I can feel the crown of hellfire burning around my head, vividly remembering the night I accidentally crowned myself Queen of Hell in order to save Lucas and Kristy from a powerful demon. It’s not just my declaration of being the current ruler of Hell that scares me, but it’s the fact that I want to feel that crown of fire again.
I want to wield that much power.
I want the demons to tremble before me...
Blinking, I hook my hands around Lucas’s neck, mentally singing Christmas carols in my head to distract myself from how a part of me longs to be the Queen of Hell, going into the family business in some aspect since Lucifer is my uncle.
Maybe I am losing it.
“I can’t believe you never celebrated Christmas before,” I say to Lucas, forcing my thoughts away from that dark place.
“Once I became a vampire, nothing of that sort mattered to me anymore. Though once Christmas started becoming more commercial, it did make it easy to be invited into houses full of people I could—”
He stops, noticing the way Kristy is looking at him. He knows I fully accept his murderous past, but it’s a pill that’s still hard for my friends to swallow.
“Celebrate with them...” he quickly adds.
“Sure,” Kristy says under her breath, letting Pandora jump out of her arms, gracefully landing on the dining room table and then shifting into shadow-form so she can slip out the back and go hunt in the woods with my other familiars Binx and Freya.
“What about when you were human?” I ask, letting my hands slide down his chest.
Lucas shakes his head. “This is a first for me.”
“I’m surprised Eliza didn’t make you buy her Christmas presents.”
“Oh, she did.” Lucas’s hands land on my waist. Eliza is his only vampire progeny and is very spoiled by Lucas. “But we didn’t do any of this.”
“Get used to it,” Kristy chuckles, and Lucas and I break apart.
I open a box of delicate glass ornaments and carefully pick up a silver bulb. Lucas goes into his office to get some work done while Kristy and I add the ornaments to the garland.
“You’re going downtown for the Holiday Festival, right?” Kristy asks once we’ve hung up the last ornament.