Working in the greenhouse, Chelsea was watching the first snow she had seen come down on Reka 5. It kind of made her miss Earth, family, and Christmas traditions. Captured for slavery, she was grateful that she had been saved by the Tallean Mercenaries and placed on Reka 5 for their continued protection. Chara, a Tallean who worked with Chelsea in the greenhouse, sensed her sadness and told her they had a holiday coming up soon also – the winter solstice. Some of the humans had even celebrated Christmas at the same time. Chara loved the lights the most. The door flew open and a tall, broad Tallean came in with a pile of machine parts in his arms, so Chara directed him to put the load in the back. He grinned at Chelsea, but his long, sharp fangs scared her. Chara saw her reaction and assured her Tradgek would never hurt her. He leaned toward her, sniffed, and started to purr.
Bianca dragged Chelsea to the cafeteria where they were meeting to plan a Christmas celebration. Angie told them the jobs available, like putting up lights or getting the trees distributed. Since the trees were by the greenhouse, Chelsea signed up for that. Angie told her she would send someone to cut down the trees and drive them to the locations, so she was all set. Then she would decorate them. She hadn’t realized the trees were OUTSIDE the fence where the wildlife often would attack. Luckily Tradgek showed up as her partner, and he was a guard who routinely kept the creatures away.
Once again, being near Tradgek was affecting her, his spicy scent stirring strong feelings that made her nervous. He called her his “little bird” because that was how the birds acted when confronted with something that scared them. When the dragus pack attacked, Tradgek kept her between him and the creatures as he battled them. When he defeated all four, he stalked toward her. But those teeth and claws were to keep her safe. He would not harm her, and he dropped to his knees and held her. It wasn’t until after she kissed him and he said they should finish and get back inside the fence that she thought she probably should not want this alien with his claws and fangs. What had she been thinking?
This was a cute story for Christmas, watching how the humans and Talleans had started to merge their traditions together. Chelsea was relaxing more around Tradgek, but still wondering if she should avoid him. Grab your copy and see if this can be a wonderful Christmas of love for them. The honorable, protective male would be the perfect gift for her if she could just put her fears aside and love him back.