Caribou's Gift

By

Eve Langlais

A Kodiak Point Novella

Copyright © September 2014, Eve Langlais

Cover Art by Aubrey Rose © September 2014

Edited by Devin Govaere

Copy Edited by Amanda L. Pederick

Produced in Canada

Published by Eve Langlais

1606 Main Street, PO Box 151

Stittsville, Ontario, Canada, K2S1A3

http://www.EveLanglais.com

ISBN: 978 1927 459 60 7

Caribou’s Gift
is a work of fiction and the characters, events and dialogue found within the story are of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, either living or deceased, is completely coincidental.

No part of this book may be reproduced or shared in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including but not limited to digital copying, file sharing, audio recording, email and printing without permission in writing from the author.

Damn it, a man had his pride and a caribou a certain majestic presence, all of which could wind up ruined if he abased himself to play a simple-minded reindeer in the town’s Christmas parade.

No way was he wearing damned tinsel in his antlers.

Like hell was he sporting a red nose and pulling a sleigh.

But he changes his mind when he meets the woman in charge of the event.

Single mom, Crystal, is doing her best to offer her daughter the best Christmas ever. It’s their first in Kodiak Point, and she’s not about to let some vain jerk ruin it for her little girl.

If playing dirty is what it takes…then bring on the Christmas games.

As Crystal and Kyle butt heads—and lips—they discover more than goodwill this holiday season. They’re gifted with a second chance at love.

You know Boris and Travis, and Brody and Reid,

Guys who kick butt and go to extremes.

But do you recall,

The most vain ex-soldier of all?

The answer was spoken firmly. “No way. Not happening. Never in a million years.” Reid could ask all he wanted, but Kyle refused to abase himself that way. A buck had his pride and a duty to his man card after all.

“Aw, come on. Think of the children,” Reid, his clan alpha, cajoled.

“Think of me!” Kyle exclaimed. “Do you grasp what you’re asking?”

Mirth sparked in his friend’s gaze. “Yes. And I know it’s not an easy mission. Nor a pleasant one.”

“Why not add humiliating and emasculating to the list? I won’t do it. I’d rather you punished me.”

As leader of the clan overseeing all who resided in Kodiak Point, Reid could very well punish Kyle for his refusal. But in this instance, Kyle wouldn’t budge.
Bring on the punishment.

It wasn’t his fault the town was one reindeer short for the upcoming Santa Claus parade. An older, domestic buck had the nerve to croak a few days early leaving them with a team of eight instead of the needed nine. So of course, everyone looked to him. He had to admire the size of his alpha’s balls that Reid would dare ask him to take the open spot in the team pulling Santa’s sleigh. Admire but still refuse.

Pretend he was a reindeer indeed. Caribou were majestic creatures compared to that simple minded, domestic beast. But there were some people—
good thing they’re my friends or I’d have to kill them
—who seemed to think it was okay to ask him to play the part of one just because he possessed a rack. So did a moose, but he didn’t see anyone asking Boris if he wanted the part. Then again, the fuse on Boris’ temper was pretty short. He’d probably shoot anybody who asked.

Mission #732: Improve my reputation as a badass so people don’t make stupid requests.

To those who wondered, while some preferred keeping mental notes, Kyle resorted to thinking of things in terms of missions, a throw over from his military days. Some he completed successfully, such as Mission #713, getting Betty-Sue to give him a piece of her famous apple pie. Success! Others he failed, like Mission #714, his attempt at getting a second piece resulting in bruised knuckles from her infamous wooden spoon.

Travis, Reid’s younger cousin and son to the indomitable Betty-Sue, tried to help. “Dude, it’s not that bad. Think of it as an acting role.”

The bear cub knew to duck before Kyle’s fist connected. A shame. “Acting is for—”

“Woodland creatures and humans. So you keep saying,” Reid repeated with a roll of his eyes. “You know, I could order you.”

“I’d prefer to get my ass handed to me by a bear.” He’d rather take a beating than deal with the laughter of his buddies. Ex-army soldiers did not dress up as reindeer with tinsel in their antlers, flashing lights embedded in their harness to pull a sled with a much-too-jolly walrus, who didn’t need a fake beard to play the part.

“Scrooge.”

“Guilting me won’t work,” Kyle replied dryly.

“Says you.”

“Yes, says me. I don’t feel the least bit guilty about saying no. I’m sure the sled will be fine with only eight deer pulling it.”

“I can’t believe you’ll deprive them of the most famous reindeer of all.”

“Bite me.”

“Ha, like I’d waste my palate on a tough and conceited beast like yourself. But I will throw you to the wolves or, in this case, a cougar,” Reid stated.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m talking about you explaining your refusal to Crystal.”

“Who the hell is Crystal?”

“She’s a recent newcomer to our town and willing volunteer—”

“Because she didn’t know any better,” Travis snickered.

“—in charge of making the parade happen. I’m going to let you explain to her why your vanity is more important than doing your part for the children of the community.”

Tell a cougar he wasn’t going to play the part of a stupid reindeer? “No problem.”

Reid slapped him on the back. “If you say so, my brave friend.”

Implication? A cougar with too much attitude. Still not an issue. He could handle any old biddy.

I’ll just tell her there’s no way…

Hello there.
A pretty shiny thing entered his line of sight, and all thought left his suddenly blood-deprived brain. Well, all intelligent thought disappeared, but a new mission formed.

Mission #733: Who was the hottie with the hip-hugging jeans showcasing a heart-shaped ass? Reid would probably know. He knew everyone in town, even most strangers.

“Hubba. Hubba,” Kyle said, followed by a low whistle. “And just who is that delectable creature?”

Reid smirked. “The woman you are admiring, dumbass, is the one you’re about to say no to.”

No? Why would I say—

Oh.
Oh.
Damn. Bloody Reid. Well, if he thought a cute face—and hot bod—would change Kyle’s mind, he was wrong. He would resist her allure. Tell her a firm, yet not too stern, no. Then he would find a way to get her to go out with him, because she was seriously hot.

“Crystal.” Reid waved her over, and the goddess with striated brown and blonde hair, an amazing rack—not the pointy kind but the pillowy ones—and creamy skin came over to them.

“Alpha,” she said softly.

“Like I’ve said before, we don’t stand on strict ceremony in my clan. Call me Reid. You’ve already had the misfortune of meeting Travis.” The young grizzly grinned at her and winked—which made Kyle’s inner beast growl.

Growl? Since when did his caribou know how to growl or show signs of jealousy? Yes, the broad was hot, but still, he’d yet to even talk to her.

Put up your rack, we’re not charging anyone,
he admonished his animal.

Reid swept his arm past Travis to Kyle. “And this is the guy I was telling you about. Our one and only caribou.”

How her green eyes lit at the announcement, and the smile that curved her lips tempted Kyle to the point he missed part of the conversation, his blood-deprived brain tuning in only at the words, “…so glad you’re volunteering to help.”

“Whoa.” Kyle held his hands in a stopping gesture. “About the whole reindeer thing…”

Reid snickered. “And this is my cue to leave. Come on, Trav.” With Travis miming gestures of throat slashing and silent, eye-crossing death throes behind Crystal’s back, a chuckling Reid and the cub with a death wish, walked away, leaving Kyle alone with Crystal.

She gushed. “I’m sorry, was I babbling? I didn’t mean to. I’m just so nervous. After the kindness Reid and everyone else has shown bringing me into the clan, I’m determined to give something back starting with making this parade a success. Something everyone can enjoy. It’s so kind of you to volunteer.”

“About the parade and stuff, see it was Reid who kind of volunteered me to play a reindeer.”

“He did. Thank you so much.”

Ouch, talk about having to carefully extricate his tines from the thorny bush Reid had rammed them in. Kyle almost winced as he spoke the next words. “Yeah, don’t thank me yet because I’m going to have to decline.”

Super happy face, meet utterly disappointed one. The light in her eyes died, and her smile disappeared. “What do you mean decline?”

“See, I’ve got a certain reputation to uphold, and playing the part of a reindeer clashes with that. I’m sure you understand.”

“Sure I do. You’re vain.” And yes, she dared give him a condescending smirk.

Seriously? He’d killed men for smaller insults. But she was a woman. Sigh. That meant no punching, but more talking. Maybe if he explained? “I’m not vain. I just don’t want people to make fun of me.”

“Because you’re vain. Got some peacock in your lineage?” She mocked him so sweetly it took a moment to grasp her insult.

“Hey. That’s not nice.”

“Neither is your stupid reason for not helping out in the parade. I guess it’s not really a surprise, though. I should have expected it from your type.” Again with the disparaging tone.

“My type?” His brows rose. “Exactly what type is that?”

“A full-of-yourself jerk. I know all about guys like you. All tattooed up with big muscles thinking you’re the hottest thing on two legs.”

Four as well, but he didn’t say it.

“You’re used to getting what you want with a smile and not giving a hoot about who you might hurt in the process.”

“Um, is it me, or are we talking about more than just me here?” Someone had deep-seated man issues.

“None of your business. I’d say it was a pleasure meeting you, but that would be a lie. Thanks for nothing.”

With that pert verbal slam, she turned on a heel and stalked away, sweet ass swinging.

I think I might have ruined my chances of getting into those pants.

For some reason, it bothered him more than he would have thought.

Of all the egotistical things! Crystal couldn’t believe the nerve of the man, refusing to participate in a parade because he thought playing the part of Rudolph was beneath him.

What kind of jerk said that?

Kyle did. Stupid, arrogant, good-looking, built-like-a-god, jerk.

It just went to show that where her man-dar was concerned she still needed a slap. Hadn’t she learned her lesson where good-looking guys were concerned? The only thing they cared about was themselves. They didn’t give a damn if dozens of children would end up disappointed. They didn’t consider the fact any mirth aimed their way would be the good-natured kind. They just couldn’t handle anything they considered a blow to their pride.

A shame because had Kyle shown himself to be a different kind of guy, she just might have enjoyed some blowing—the hot kind, that came from breathless kisses.

There was no denying that despite his vain nature, the man oozed with sex appeal. Totally got her motor running. Probably knew his way around a woman’s body. Which meant, he was so wrong for her.

She’d come to Kodiak Point to escape one psycho ex—whom she’d dated for much too long because she thought with her libido instead of her head.

I can’t do that again.

Not when it had ended so badly for her and her young daughter.

Poor Gigi. She still hadn’t quite recovered from the nastiness of their break up. It was only the mention of the parade, which culminated in Santa being drawn down the main street of town with his eight reindeer,
“And Rudolph!”
Gigi exclaimed, that brought some of the sparkle back to her eyes.

A sparkle Crystal would do anything to have back on a regular basis.

Surely there had to be a way, even on short notice, to find something or someone that could play the part?

Alas, when she’d approached Reid after she was notified they’d lost the reindeer who would have counted as Rudolph, the only person Reid could think of who could even remotely pull off the role was Kyle.

And he’d made his position clear.
Too good to be a reindeer indeed.
If she ever caught his caribou ass out in the wild, maybe she’d let her cougar play with him a while. A few scratches might not change his mind, but it would make her feel better.

But not as good as I’d feel if I was scratching his naked back in my human skin.