Christmas
Swan
The
Twelve Days of Christmas #7
by
Catherine Lievens
Genre:
M/M Paranormal Romance
Print
Length: 67 pages
Publisher:
eXtasy Books
Publication
Date: December 13, 2019
Naked
and unconscious probably isnāt the best way to meet your mate for
the first time.
Curtis
didnāt expect to meet his mate while he was face-first and naked in
the snow. He supposed he hadnāt exactly met Manuel that way since
heād been unconscious, but that was probably not the best first
impression.
Manuel
wasnāt sure what to do with the naked, gorgeous man, but he took
him homeāand Curtis ran away.
But
now small gifts have started appearing on Manuelās doorstep, and he
knows theyāre from Curtis. With Christmas looming so close and
Manuelās mood being so dark because of his motherās recent death,
heās not sure what to do about itāor about Curtis. Curtis seems
to be intent on gently pushing his way into Manuelās life, though,
and Manuel doesnāt exactly mind.
Curtis
closed the workshop door, leaving his father behind. His father was working on
the back of a chair, and he wouldnāt stop until he managed to get rid of the
kink that was bugging him. Curtis, on the other hand, was done sanding the
coffee table his father has asked him to make, and he was ready for lunch.
He walked from the workshop door through the backyard, the snow crunching under his feet. He shivered, wishing heād grabbed his jacket that morning when heād left his parentsā home. He hadnāt thought heād need it, since the workshop was just on the other side of the back yard, but apparently, he was wrong. It was colder now than it was earlier, and that meant more snow was coming.
He stumbled through the kitchen door, shivering.
āMind your feet, Curtis,ā his mother snapped from where she was standing at the stove.
Curtis took a step back, stood on the carpet, and took off his boots. He padded toward his mom in his socks and kissed her cheek, stealing a carrot stick from the pile she had while she was distracted.
āWatch it, boy, or you wonāt have lunch.ā
Curtis laughed and held up his hands. āSorry. Iām going to go wash up.ā
āYou do that. I donāt want you sprinkling wood dust all over my food.ā
Curtis kissed her cheek again, stole another carrot stick, and danced out of the way when she tried to smack him playfully. He was still laughing when he left the kitchen, but he stopped when he saw two of his brothers standing in the entrance taking their boots off. Jack was grinning like a loon, while Andy elbowed him in the ribs. āMaybe we should move back in with Mom and Dad,ā he told Jack.
āIt does look like Curtis is happy to live here.ā
They knew how to hit right on the sore spot, didnāt they? Curtis crossed his arms over his chest. āItās temporary.ā
āYeah, you already told us that. You donāt look like youāre trying to find your own place, though.ā
āItās only been a few weeks.ā But theyād been a balm on Curtisā soul. Heād spent so long away from his family, visiting only sporadically, that he wasnāt looking forward to moving out yet. He understood why Jack and Andy found it funny, though. They were twenty-five and twenty-three, and theyād left home a few years back. They still lived nearby, close enough to come over for lunch when they didnāt feel like cooking, which from what Curtis had seen, was almost every day.
āA few weeks too many, eh?ā Andy asked. He winked, but Curtis wasnāt amused.
He pushed past his brothers and grabbed his boots, shoving his feet into them. āTell Mom I went for a flight at the lake.ā
āCurtis, come on. We were just joking around,ā Jack tried, but Curtis ignored him.
He loved his brothers, all six of them, but sometimes, he couldnāt stand them. Growing up with a bunch of boys meant all of them continuously got teased. Curtis had been used to it once, but heād been away from home for too long. The fact that his brothers thought it funny that he was living with their parents also hurt, because they knew why he was there.
Curtis left the house, taking his coat with him this time. He was going to have to strip to shift, and he wasnāt looking forward to it, but in the meantime heād be as warm as he could be, considering that everywhere he looked, there was snow. That was something else he wasnāt used to anymore.
He still remembered the spot where his parents took him and his brothers to shift when they were kids, so that was where he headed. There was a big tree there, and Curtis left his clothes at its base, shivering hard when his feet touched the snow on the ground. He dumped his jeans on top of the pile heād made and rushed toward the lake, shifting before his human skin could touch the freezing water.
He soared. Heād always loved being a swan, mainly because it meant he could fly. It made him feel free, and for a moment, he could leave his troubles behind and stop thinking about them.
That never lasted long, though. Once he was in the air and the first moment of happiness was over, thoughts crowded his mind again.
He missed Danny. Heād realized he hadnāt loved Danny in a long time when Danny had broken up with him, but he missed the familiarity, the routine, coming home to someone and spending time with them. He was still trying to get used to this new life of his, but it was weird.
Knowing he wouldnāt be able to forget his problems even in flight, Curtis steered back toward the shore of the lake where heād left his clothes. He landed a few feet away from them, still buried in his thoughts, but he noticed the prints in the snow just in time to move when the fox jumped toward him.
The fox had to be hungry. That was the only reason Curtis could think of for it to attack him when he was so much bigger, too big for the fox to deal on its own.
Yet the fox managed to hurt him.
Curtis knew it was because heād been distracted, but that didnāt make it hurt less. The fox closed its jaw around Curtisā wing and sank its teeth into the flesh there. Curtis bugled and swatted the fox with his other wing, hitting him in the face. The fox let go, and Curtis ran, taking flight again.
He walked from the workshop door through the backyard, the snow crunching under his feet. He shivered, wishing heād grabbed his jacket that morning when heād left his parentsā home. He hadnāt thought heād need it, since the workshop was just on the other side of the back yard, but apparently, he was wrong. It was colder now than it was earlier, and that meant more snow was coming.
He stumbled through the kitchen door, shivering.
āMind your feet, Curtis,ā his mother snapped from where she was standing at the stove.
Curtis took a step back, stood on the carpet, and took off his boots. He padded toward his mom in his socks and kissed her cheek, stealing a carrot stick from the pile she had while she was distracted.
āWatch it, boy, or you wonāt have lunch.ā
Curtis laughed and held up his hands. āSorry. Iām going to go wash up.ā
āYou do that. I donāt want you sprinkling wood dust all over my food.ā
Curtis kissed her cheek again, stole another carrot stick, and danced out of the way when she tried to smack him playfully. He was still laughing when he left the kitchen, but he stopped when he saw two of his brothers standing in the entrance taking their boots off. Jack was grinning like a loon, while Andy elbowed him in the ribs. āMaybe we should move back in with Mom and Dad,ā he told Jack.
āIt does look like Curtis is happy to live here.ā
They knew how to hit right on the sore spot, didnāt they? Curtis crossed his arms over his chest. āItās temporary.ā
āYeah, you already told us that. You donāt look like youāre trying to find your own place, though.ā
āItās only been a few weeks.ā But theyād been a balm on Curtisā soul. Heād spent so long away from his family, visiting only sporadically, that he wasnāt looking forward to moving out yet. He understood why Jack and Andy found it funny, though. They were twenty-five and twenty-three, and theyād left home a few years back. They still lived nearby, close enough to come over for lunch when they didnāt feel like cooking, which from what Curtis had seen, was almost every day.
āA few weeks too many, eh?ā Andy asked. He winked, but Curtis wasnāt amused.
He pushed past his brothers and grabbed his boots, shoving his feet into them. āTell Mom I went for a flight at the lake.ā
āCurtis, come on. We were just joking around,ā Jack tried, but Curtis ignored him.
He loved his brothers, all six of them, but sometimes, he couldnāt stand them. Growing up with a bunch of boys meant all of them continuously got teased. Curtis had been used to it once, but heād been away from home for too long. The fact that his brothers thought it funny that he was living with their parents also hurt, because they knew why he was there.
Curtis left the house, taking his coat with him this time. He was going to have to strip to shift, and he wasnāt looking forward to it, but in the meantime heād be as warm as he could be, considering that everywhere he looked, there was snow. That was something else he wasnāt used to anymore.
He still remembered the spot where his parents took him and his brothers to shift when they were kids, so that was where he headed. There was a big tree there, and Curtis left his clothes at its base, shivering hard when his feet touched the snow on the ground. He dumped his jeans on top of the pile heād made and rushed toward the lake, shifting before his human skin could touch the freezing water.
He soared. Heād always loved being a swan, mainly because it meant he could fly. It made him feel free, and for a moment, he could leave his troubles behind and stop thinking about them.
That never lasted long, though. Once he was in the air and the first moment of happiness was over, thoughts crowded his mind again.
He missed Danny. Heād realized he hadnāt loved Danny in a long time when Danny had broken up with him, but he missed the familiarity, the routine, coming home to someone and spending time with them. He was still trying to get used to this new life of his, but it was weird.
Knowing he wouldnāt be able to forget his problems even in flight, Curtis steered back toward the shore of the lake where heād left his clothes. He landed a few feet away from them, still buried in his thoughts, but he noticed the prints in the snow just in time to move when the fox jumped toward him.
The fox had to be hungry. That was the only reason Curtis could think of for it to attack him when he was so much bigger, too big for the fox to deal on its own.
Yet the fox managed to hurt him.
Curtis knew it was because heād been distracted, but that didnāt make it hurt less. The fox closed its jaw around Curtisā wing and sank its teeth into the flesh there. Curtis bugled and swatted the fox with his other wing, hitting him in the face. The fox let go, and Curtis ran, taking flight again.
Catherine
is the creator of several series, most of them paranormal, including
the Whitedell Pride Series and the Gillham Pack Series. While she
graduated in translation, she decided to go the writerās way
because it was more fun to create her own stories and
characters.
Sheās
been living in Italy for more than twenty years, but sheās a
daughter of the NorthāBelgium to be preciseāand she misses it so
much that sheās already planning to move back.
She
loves pizzaāprobably too much āher pets, and of course, books.
She sneaks some reading time in her schedule every time she has five
minutes free from writing, demands from her various pets and son, and
lastly, housework.
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