Nice and Naughty Read Online Free PDF Page B

but now that she had proved that the years had, indeed, passed for her as well as for him, he was delighted by the transformation.
    When he had first sought a forest spirit to imprison, he could not have imagined this result.
    Santa lay back with Ru in his arms and closed his eyes. He hoped she was right about the reindeer being willing to return under the right circumstances. Otherwise, he was screwed.
     
    * * * *
     
    Santa had shifted them so that they were under the covers. He smiled and pressed a kiss to her temple. “Hello, Ru.”
    She grinned. “Hello, Santa. We will need to change the archive. The girls will need some privacy.”
    He blinked. “Do we have time?”
    She shrugged and tapped her fingers on his chest. “I have started the archive on the changes. It is going to be a snowflake pattern. I think it will be quite nice.”
    “You are making changes to my workshop without telling me?”
    “I am making changes to the team’s quarters. They are my concern, and now, their mates fall under my responsibilities. Even though they are from the nice-and-naughty list.”
    He brought his hand down lightly on her hip. “It is the Naughty-or-Nice list, as I have been telling you for centuries.”
    She smirked. “Whatever.”
    “So, you expect the elves from the list to stay here at the workshop? They were only available because I called for them.”
    “No, I expect them to live wherever they lived before this. I just expect them to take their reindeer with them.”
    “You want to let them leave again?” He raised his brows in surprise.
    “I want to encourage them to leave again. They were born human; they need humans to be around them so that their hearts don’t grow cold and lost in duty.”
    “Are you in danger of that?”
    She smiled as he stroked her cheek. “No. But I am not human. I wear this body for communication and now for intimacy. I still prefer my animal forms.”
    He sighed. “I will have to work at keeping you in this shape. I am guessing you will need enticement.”
    She grinned. “It sounds like an excellent idea to me.”
     
    Sadly, Santa had had to spend the next day on logistics, so Ru spent her time expanding the archive with points and chambers on each side of the eight-sided building. The girls could come and go in any form they wished, with complete privacy. Or, they could gather in the central common space and trade stories.
    This would always be their base of operations, but it was not their only option, not anymore. That was the purpose of her efforts on their behalf. She wanted to get them excited about the world. It wasn’t as easy as she thought, but she was pretty sure that it had been managed.
    Lying in Santa’s arms that night, she felt the moment that Dasher took flight. The others launched moments later from wherever they had been during their sabbatical.
    Her team was headed home.
    Ru smiled and tucked herself against her ancient elf and held tight. Tomorrow was going to be one helluva party.
     
    Ru got up and dressed, wearing a loose cloak and nothing else. She gathered eight other cloaks from the archive and went to stand in the central landing area before Santa was even awake.
    From different points in the sky, light appeared, and the reindeer ran through sky toward her.
    They were all there, and each one had a panicked and exhausted elf on her back.
    The ladies landed on four hooves, and the moment their partners dismounted, Ru stepped forward. She handed a cloak to each one of them.
    The girls grinned and covered up. When Ru had finished her rounds, she was swamped with hugs.
    After the hugs came the questions, and Ru answered what she could while their amused partners introduced themselves. Several of the men were long-term placements, and the locals did not know them.
    The men caught up, and Ru looked at Dancer. “Yes, things did get resolved here. There has been alteration in the status quo, and I think that the changes will be to your liking.”
    Dancer