Beary Merry Xmas
By
Tianna Xander

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When Lara follows two turtledoves into the woods, she expects to die. Instead, she finds two gorgeous shifters who are hot enough to die for.

When Lara’s car breaks down, she starts walking, even when logic dictates she stay with her car. After walking for miles in the cold Scottish Highlands in December, she follows a pair of unlikely prophets in the form of turtledoves into the woods. Why not? The way she figures it, she’s dead anyway.

When Duncan and Jamie follow two turtledoves who just won’t take no for an answer, they find the most beautiful woman they have ever seen, sleeping as though she were some fairytale princess. A snowstorm, two rescues and an unexpected infant later, they all must decide if they belong together or if this was nothing more than a holiday filled with magic.

Lara scowled. Why didn’t the two voices just leave her alone? “Shuddup, will ya?” She was able to fall asleep and the two idiots with the big mouths wouldn’t leave her alone. Something niggled at the back of her brain. It was something important, but she just couldn’t remember what it was.

“Come on, lass. Wake up. You’re suffering from hypothermia. Ye dinnae want tae die out here, do ye?”

The deep voice moved through her, warming her in places long forgotten, and Lara started to shiver just a bit. She smiled, though her teeth chattered. “I don’t wanna wake up. I like the sound of your voice. You have a sexy Scottish accent. I could sit here and listen all day.”

“She’s definitely not herself,” one of them said with a chuckle. “Something tells me if the lass was in her right mind, she wouldnae be telling us our voices are sexy. It would give us ideas.”

“Speak for yourself, man. I already have ideas. She’s a bonnie lass, isn’t she?”

“Aye, that she is.”

Grumbling, Lara cracked an eye open and glared at the two men who stood in front of her, smiling down at her as though they were two cats and she was a bowl of cream. “You two have to be the rudest men I have ever had the misfortune to meet.” She stared up at them, her vision blurry as they continued to laugh down at her.

Unfortunately, they were as gorgeous as they sounded with their thick Scottish accents and deep rumbling bass. Both were tall and dark if you didn’t count the highlights the one had in his hair. One had twinkling blue eyes, the other a gray-green that took her breath away. Both of them were large, very large. Their wide shoulders tapered down to narrow waists and hips to legs that rivaled the tree trunk she rested her back against.

“Tell me, lass, are ye warm?” The man with the sapphire blue eyes squatted down in front of her.

“Yes, damn it. I was so cold and when I fell asleep, I got warm. Then you two had to come along and wake me up.” She crossed her arms and sat up, though it was difficult to do so. The more she moved, the more she began to shiver. “Now, I’m cold again, thanks to you.”

Reaching out, the man began to massage her arms. After a minute or two, he stood, unzipped his coat and pulled her to her feet, wrapping his arms around her, he drew her into the warmth of his embrace. “Ye feel warm because you’re body temperature has dropped. You’re freezing tae death, lass.”

Now, her teeth were chattering and she was so cold, she could barely stand it. Lara burrowed deeper into his coat, soaking up his warmth.

“One of us has tae change, Jamie. We’ll never get her back home in time tae save her otherwise.”

“I’ll do it, Duncan. After I change, set her on my back and cover her with your warmth. Between the two of us, we should be able to keep her alive long enough tae get her back home.”

What were these two goons talking about? Change into what? Lara didn’t much care. All she cared about at the moment was the warmth that continued to soak into her as she stood in this strange man’s embrace.

After a moment, blue eyes, which she thought the other called Duncan, turned her around, picked her up and sat her on the warmest fur rug, she’d ever seen. “Oh, my God!” She gasped when she realized it wasn’t a rug, but a real, live polar bear. Stiffening, she tried to climb off the bear’s back but couldn’t. Duncan held her in place, sandwiched between his body and that of the giant bear. Soon, the warmth began to soak into her again and she calmed, realizing that the bear wasn’t growling, snarling or otherwise acting aggressive.