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🎄Welcome to Chapter 9 🎄 
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🎄Hey Daredevil!🎄
Okay fine, Mrs. Fargone made it out alive. Your wish is my command. 
We have a pivotal moment this chapter and for those of you that like the closed door romance to have a nice open window near the door, I have a NSFW version of this chapter just for you. Because of potentially being flagged by email providers, my website or even this newsletter provider, in order to read the spicy version of the chapter, I'm going to have to trouble you with going to Book Funnel to read it. It will only sign you up to get this newsletter, so nothing will change for you. 
As always, hit up the poll at the end to decide Glacius' fate!
 
This is another LOOONG entry, so make sure to click READ MORE if you see it at the end of the email.🎄
Table of Contents is after the Chapter, in case this is your first time in or you need a refresh! 
Also, as an aside, I have a few books that I've enjoyed from my friend and fellow author Tara Sivec that I'd like to highlight below. 
 
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© 2024 Debra Anastasia. All rights reserved. This material is the intellectual property of the author and cannot be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without express written permission. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author. (Best read on a desktop)
 

CHAPTER 9 Maybe a Bracelet
 
Kris
 
“Oh no.” I didn’t know how to stop someone from choking on nothing. I put my hand on her elbow. 
 
Lila came to her other side. “I’m so sorry. Was that ice keeping you alive?” She put her hand on Mrs. Fargone’s other elbow. 
 
Mrs. Fargone went from gripping her throat to grasping our arms. 
 
Finally, she took deep breaths, exhaling with audible sighs. 
 
After a few beats, she steadied and pat our arms. “Thank you. Remember, that a santa and his weresecretary are magic together.”
 
I noted that Sonnet was still asleep. I pointed to her. We just had a woman nearly choke to death in the same bed and the girl had not even stirred. 
 
Lila followed my finger and I watched as the realization occurred to her as well. Lila stood and sat on the bed next to her sister, shaking her awake. 
 
“Sonnet. Wake up.” 
 
“It’s not time for school.” Sonnet put her hands out and pushed on Lila’s face and shoulder.
 
Lila ducked under her sister’s reach and pulled down her arms. “You’re home for the holidays and you don’t even live with us during the semester, so are you okay?”
 
Sonnet scrunched up her face and rolled over. 
 
Mrs. Fargone stood up and faced us. Looking much better. Much younger, too. “After an encounter like she had with Glacius, she’ll be tired for a while. But she’ll be okay-- you got the pendant off of her.”
 
Lila didn’t look convinced. 
 
“If you want to take her to the hospital, I’ll help you.” I wasn’t about to let all of this mayhem hurt someone if I could help it. 
 
Sonnet propped herself up on her elbow and looked at her sister. “I’m fine. I feel fine, I’m just tired. Let a bitch sleep for crap’s sake.” 
 
Lila lifted her sister’s hair off her shoulder. “You can sleep. It’s okay.” 
 
Mrs. Fargone walked to the windows. “Glacius may find us.”
 
“What does that mean?” I came closer to Mrs. Fargone, trying to spy what she was seeing out the window. 
 
“It means that he’ll want to make sure you’re converted to the new ways. Making sure to meet with the companies. Increase Christmas profits.” She let out a huff.
 
Inside I felt a sadness that was bigger than my own. Eras old sadness. Like watching a magic wand get snapped in half, and all the things it could do die.
 
“I don’t want that.” I wasn’t even sure who I was but I knew how I felt. 
 
Out of my peripheral vision I could see Lila still fussing over Sonnet. 
 
Mrs. Fargone turned and looked up at me. “That’s good. You’re the last of the pure line of Santa's. The best case scenario is you and Lila sticking together, making sure to communicate. Stay off the ice--whether it’s smoking or wearing it.” 
 
“I think that’s something we can do. When will I remember who I am?” I needed to have some resolution to calm myself down. 
 
“When love reaches your soul. Deeply. When someone very kind gives herself to you.” Mrs. Fargone’s eyes flashed. 
 
Sex. She was talking about sex. And then I got her drift. Lila. Lila was going to have to fall for me so I could find me again. 
 
Oh, this was about to get messy.
***
 
LILA
 
After I had tucked Sonnet in again, I put my hands on top of my head. All that we’d gone through was swirling in my head. Fargone Reality. Couldn’t believe this all started with my crappy job. Fargone. 
 
Wait. All of the sudden I had a question, a discrepancy. It was so obvious I couldn’t believe I hadn’t asked it yet. 
 
“Your last name wasn’t Fargone, and your boss’ name was. So you didn’t end up ever with your santa?” 
 
Mrs. Fargone cuddled her own arms. “I protected him. But we didn’t love each other like that. It was devotion. My boss and I did end up getting married. We had Darren.”
 
That made sense, but felt like there was something I was missing. 
 
Kris must have reached a conclusion before I did. “Are the weresecretaries and the santas supposed to end up together?” 
 
Mrs Fargone shrugged. “Maybe. I think it really depends on the situation. Things have been iced over since Glacius turned.” She let loose with a huge yawn. 
 
“Listen, I have to get some rest so I can get to Alaska on my flight. I’m sure you have a million questions, and if we have more time in the morning, I’ll be happy to answer them for you.” She eyed the other side of Sonnet’s bed. 
 
Now that she was mentioning it, I realized I was exhausted as well. “Can we trust you to let us sleep?”
 
Mrs. Fargone gave us a small smile. “I’m done running. You young ones will catch me anyway. And you know what flight I’m getting on, too. Safe to say we are all in this now.” Mrs. Fargone reached under the sleeve of her sweater and pulled off a bracelet with white and red beads and a candy cane. “This will help Kris get through tasks easier.” She held it out to him. 
 
Kris took the bracelet with thanks and slipped it on his wrist. Before walking over to the adjoining door and waiting for me. 
 
“Okay. We’ll see you in the morning. Early. We will grab a few hours. And I’ll be back in to check on Sonnet.” It seemed like the most reasonable decision, so I walked through the adjoining door and was faced with the single king sized bed. 
 
Behind me Kris spoke up. “Well, can’t believe we didn’t think of a bracelet. Curious to see if it works.” He unzipped my dad’s velvet tracksuit and put it on the back of the chair. He glanced in the mirror and I stared at him. Nothing changed. “Could it really be as simple as wearing a Christmas-colored bracelet?” 
 
“For our sake I hope so.” I took off my velvet tracksuit jacket as well. “Maybe it’s a special bracelet.”
 
“Wait, can I try something? It involves taking off my clothes again.” He snapped the band on the tracksuit pants.
 
I shrugged and turned around, waiting. 
 
I heard him exclaim, “Oh wow.” Then another, “That’s fantastic!”
 
I was tempted to peek, but stood strong. 
 
Still, I had to say something. “Is this what you say to yourself every time you get undressed?”
 
I heard a light chuckle. And not like a laugh from a Santa commercial, but a slow, deep man chuckle. 
 
I heard the bed creak and the shuffling of the sheets. 
 
“Okay, before you turn around, I know how this looks and I swear I’m not trying to be the creepiest guy you’ve ever met. But the less Christmas stuff I had on the more normal my thoughts became.” I heard more readjusting. “Okay. You can turn around.”
 
When I did I knew I was going to see Kris in the bed. I wasn’t wrong. He was propped up with the pillows sitting against the headboard, the blankets covering his lower half. 
 
He held his palms up and winced. “Sorry. So sorry. This seems like a real douchebag move. I promise, I’d never put you through this normally.”
 
He was a girl’s dream come true. He could have been sitting on the cover of a romance novel, abs and biceps and that beautiful face. 
 
I knew I should set his mind at ease that I trusted him even though we had only known each other a short period of time. And that I liked the view. Instead, I was speechless. 
 
I walked over to what would be my side of the bed if we had ever slept in this style of arrangement before and got in carefully. I didn’t want to disturb his blanket. Okay, I did want to disturb it. 
 
The minute I got in he faced me. “Oh no.”
 
“What?” I looked around the room to figure out his problem.
 
“This is going to sound so bad. And we wouldn’t want to be on the naughty list. Coal.” He ran a hand down his face. “I’m going to need you to take off your Christmas stuff as well. The holiday thoughts are getting back in my head like Santa down a chimney.” 
 
I rolled my eyes at him. “Funny how this is working out.” 
 
He put his hand over his heart on his chiseled chest. “I promise.”
 
And I knew. Maybe I was the only person in the world other than Mrs. Fargone who would understand. 
 
“Okay. Close your eyes.” I got back out. 
 
“Of course. And I’m so sorry.” He slapped his hands over his face.
 
I shimmed out of my pants and looked at my top. It had a little christmas tree on the label. What were the odds of that? My bra? It had a Holiday red lace detail. I slipped it off as well. My simple white panties weren’t trying to advertise any holidays, so I risked leaving them on. 
 
Once I was back in the bed and my chest was covered, I let him know. “Okay, is that better?”
 
I watched as he took his hands down and his shoulders relaxed. 
 
He tilted his head back. “So much better. Thank you. I’m so sorry again. The holiday stuff in my head was getting so loud I felt like I couldn’t get my thoughts to string together.”
 
I felt bad for him then. This was all frustrating and was requiring me to think on my feet. He wasn’t sure who he was and was navigating the same things while dealing with Christmas carols or whatever in his mind. It gave me a thought.
 
“I wonder if that’s what the weresecretaries are here for? Like, it makes sense now if the santas are hyper-focused on the holidays, someone has to micromanage the other stuff. You get the magic thoughts and I get to make sure we have what we need.” I tucked the top sheet under my armpits.
 
He glanced over at me and then bit his bottom lip. After slowly releasing it I heard him under his breath, “Oh my God.” 
 
I saw the sheets moving on their own, and soon enough both of us were regarding a pretty substantial tent near his legs.
 
***
KRIS
 
Well, she knew I was attracted to her. My body was making it very, very clear that it understood the most gorgeous, selfless lady I’d ever met was topless next to me. 
 
I gazed at her. “How did we end up here?”
 
I could hear who I had to assume was Mrs. Fargone starting to snore in the other room, deeply. Sonnet had been a soundless sleeper thus far. 
 
She gave me a soft smile. “This has to be the weirdest week of my life. For sure.” She turned her shoulders towards me a little. “How’s the memories? Are you remembering anything now that you only have the bracelet on?”
 
I loved the trust she had in me. That she knew she was safe here. I couldn’t remember my life before the Santa thing. I knew I’d never hurt a person. And certainly not a woman. Somehow, she knew this. Sensed it or something. This connection was really intense. I felt I could ask her now, that we were both vulnerable. Something that was really concerning me. Totally nothing to do with the Christmas tree I had raised in the bed, either.
 
“Do you think I’ll ever be back to normal? Like being able to live a normal life?” I pulled up my legs a little so I wasn't feeling as exposed with my north pole. I knew I had some hope from what Mrs. Fargone had said, but that was contingent and possibly a hope, not a certainty.
 
“Aw. Damn. This has been a lot. And one thing after another. I do think you’ll be okay. And I’m not going to let you face this alone.” She put her hand on my cheek and I leaned into her touch. 
 
“Thanks. That means a lot to me right now.” I covered her hand with my own and closed my eyes.
 
“Hey. This might be crazy but I think I need to kiss you. Would that be okay?” I opened my eyes and saw Lila waiting for an answer. 
 
“I love the idea that you need to kiss me, but no pressure on that at all. I know we only have this one bed.” I held my breath. 
 
I wanted to kiss her since I met her --which wasn't long ago, but certainly felt like a million years. 
 
She shook her head and then winked. “Hold on.” 
 
Lila got out of bed and tip-toed over to the adjoining door. With one hand covering her breasts. I was too much of a man not to look. 
 
Her curves were deadly. The hips, the little belly, her soft thighs. She locked the door and then turned with a look of determination and a shade of lust on her face. All tiredness evaporated. She was right. This is just what we needed. 
 
CLICK HERE
CLICK HERE
 
I splayed out underneath him and he flopped down right on top of me. His weight was what was keeping me from floating away on my happiness. 
 
He nuzzled into the nape of my neck. ‘You are the magic.”
 
I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him to me. I wanted him safe. I wanted him here, with me. I actually couldn’t picture a future without him in it. 
 
***
LILA
 
I was cuddled into Kris’ chest, his massive biceps holding me in place. I felt warm. I felt happy. And I fell asleep in his arms. 
 
When I woke up, I was still warm, but the same could not be said for the walls of the hotel room. They had been a soft blue when we went to sleep, but now they were glistening in frosty white. I sat up and looked towards the window. Instead of being able to see out of it, it was frosted completely. 
 
“Kris?”
 
He gave a satiated grunt. 
 
“Kris we have a problem.” I turned to face him and put my hand on his white jawline stubble.
 
“Hm?” His beautiful eyes opened before he smiled at me. 
 
“I think he’s here.” I pointed at the walls. “Glacius.”
~~~
 
Author's Note: Huge thanks to Carol Sonnet and Michele MacLeod for the beta! 

So my friend and fellow author Tara Sivec has some great holiday reads for you below! Click the cover to go to the Amazon page. 
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Quick reminder, if you want some free swag and you need a free book plate, Dad Anastasia has your back! 
Free free to email him with the amount of plates you need! <3 debraanastasiadad@gmail.com
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Lots of love,
 
 
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