A wolfe in winter the or.., p.8
A Wolfe in Winter (The Original Sinners Companions),
p.8
SEVENTEEN
Somebody give my girl Sheridan Stratford the role of Axl in the Guns N Roses biopic already. Take my money!
— @lord_griffin
Griffin’s tweet included a thirty-second video clip of Sheridan dancing and kissing another woman at a Halloween party in New Orleans hosted by a man who once ran the most infamous BDSM club in New York City.
By eight A.M. the day after the party, the clip had been shared two million times.
It was five million after Axl Rose’s official Twitter account shared it.
The press got on the story immediately. The New York Post, that bastion of truth, rationality, and fairness, reported that the Halloween party took place at the home of “infamous sleazeball” Kingsley Edge. There was a smattering of grumbling from mothers who swore they’d never let their daughters watch anything Sheridan was in ever again.
Many, many, many, many, many men, however, said they were going to start watching Nolita now as long as Sheridan got to dance on it.
And Buzzfeed, of course, collected the best replies to the original tweet, including someone reminding the world that “Axl Rose” was an anagram of “Oral Sex.”
Much was made of the fact that Sheridan herself hit LIKE on only one reply, three little words, from the mysteriously named account @mrbwolfe.
That’s my kitten.
PART 3
A WOLFE AND A KITTEN IN WINTER
Fourteen months later…
EIGHTEEN
Sheridan famously replied to Griffin’s original suggestion that she play Axl in a biopic, Good idea, but I’d rather do Broadway than film.
So much was made of her response that, six months later, she won the part of Maria in the new Broadway revival of The Sound of Music. “Stunt-casting,” they called it in the trades.
Opening night, after she blew the audience away with her performance, the trades called her something else: a “Triumph!” Her mezzo-soprano rendition of “My Favorite Things” quickly became a hit on New York’s Christmas radio stations…though why that song was considered a Christmas song, the world and Sheridan would never know.
Was it sweet getting rave reviews in a Broadway musical?
Yes.
Was it delicious getting a groveling apology email from her agent, the one who’d dropped her a week after the video went viral?
Definitely.
Was it electrifying getting Tony buzz so loud she could barely hear herself think?
A thousand times yes.
But what was better than them all put together was seeing Brad in a three-piece suit waiting for her in the wings after her debut, two dozen pale pink roses in his hands. His arms tight around her, holding her close, whispering in her ear, “You were perfect, kitten. I’m so proud of you.”
When Sheridan ran back to her dressing room for her coat, she ran into Elena Marquez, the nineteen-year-old ingénue who played Liesl Von Trapp.
“Is that your dad?” Elena whispered, glancing at Brad. “He’s…wow.”
Sheridan replied with a smile. “That’s not my dad. That’s my Daddy.”
Luckily the show gave her Christmas Day off. She spent it alone with Brad in his house in Westchester, naked, under a fur blanket in front of his stone fireplace. The Carpenters’ Christmas album played softly in the background. They both had a strict personal rule against doing kink on Christmas, but they still made love all morning after opening presents. Sheridan gave Brad a trip to northern Quebec to go wolf-tracking. Brad gave her an opal and diamond cat pendant on a gold necklace and an envelope she wasn’t supposed to open until later.
“Is it later yet, sir?” she asked as she stretched out across his chest. His fingertips lightly scored her naked back. After getting her cat necklace, she’d kissed him, which led to more kissing, which then led to making love on the rug by the tree. But now that that was over, she wanted her other gift.
“I suppose it’s later. But is it later enough?” Brad asked.
“If not, I’ll scream.”
“You’re not allowed to scream,” he reminded her. “You have two shows tomorrow for the Christmas crowd.”
“Right, right.”
“You’re not even supposed to be talking.”
True. To preserve her voice, Sheridan and the rest of the cast had been advised to speak as little as possible on their days off. Not a problem for her and Brad. They found a thousand ways every day to tell each other, “Good morning,” “I love you,” and “Take off your clothes.” The important things didn’t need words.
Sheridan leaned up and reached across his body for the envelope. He slapped her hard on the ass. She yelped—silently, of course. He grabbed the envelope from under the tree for her.
“Good things come to those who wait,” he said.
With a quiet sigh, she laid her head back on his chest and gazed at the tree. An eight-foot balsam fir, Brad had cut it down himself from a Christmas tree farm outside of town. She’d gone with him and picked it out two Mondays ago. Broadway performers always got Mondays off. He looked so sexy and rugged in his fur-collar coat with his ax that the first thing they did when they brought the tree home was to make love underneath it.
Afterward, she laughed softly.
“What?” Brad said.
She lifted her head and said, sotto voce, “You didn’t even have a tree the first time I came here. No lights. No tree. Nothing. And now…”
Now his big stone cottage was practically a winter wonderland. A thousand lights were hung on the tree. A hundred glass balls in red and gold. Lights on the house. Candles on the mantel.
“The first time you came here was December twenty-eighth. That was supposed to be my wedding day,” he said.
She didn’t say anything, and not only because she wasn’t supposed to talk.
“I only agreed to meet you for a session,” he said, “because I needed a distraction. Good distraction. I hope you distract me for the rest of my life, kitten.”
Sheridan kissed him on the mouth. No words were necessary.
He grinned at her, a deliciously delectable hungry wolfish grin. “Okay, now you can open it.”
Her hands shook as she opened the envelope. There was nothing inside of it but another envelope. Cream-colored with red printing that read, The Sherry-Netherland.
The Sherry-Netherland? The famous five-star apartment hotel with the gargoyles right across the street from Central Park? Sheridan loved the place. Who didn’t? She’d been there for lunches, meetings, and even a wedding.
Wait…
Sheridan looked at Brad, who only waved his hand, telling her to get on with it.
She opened the envelope. Inside was a note with nothing written on it except a date: January 17th.
“Are we staying there in January?” she asked, forgetting she wasn’t supposed to speak.
“Meeting with the hotel’s wedding coordinator. Unless you’d prefer a church wedding. The Sherry has gargoyles, but there’s a nice old chapel in town—”
Sheridan held up her hand. She needed a moment just to feel this feeling. She’d almost forgotten what it felt like, this feeling that even when it was cold outside and the snow was falling, she would be inside—safe and warm.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “What about Lola?”
“She knows I was going to ask you. She likes you, and eventually, she’ll love you if you give her enough time. Especially if you get her tickets to The Lion King next time she visits.”
He brushed a lock of hair off her forehead and tucked it behind her ear.
“When I come home,” he said, “even when you’re not here, my footsteps don’t echo. The emptiness is gone.” Then he grinned. “Come on. We’ll make an amazing wolf pack. First wolf pack led by a wolf and a kitten.”
Sheridan laughed. “First time for everything.”
“So yes?”
“Yes, sir, Mr. Wolfe. Yes.”
They celebrated their engagement as couples madly in love have celebrated from the dawn of love, lust, and time. Meanwhile, Karen Carpenter reminded them that every day was a holiday when they were together.
And outside, the snow began to fall and fall and fall.
The End.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tiffany Reisz is the USA Today bestselling author of the Romance Writers of America RITA®-winning Original Sinners series.
Her erotic fantasy The Red—the first entry in the Godwicks series, self-published under the banner 8th Circle Press—was named an NPR Best Book of the Year and a Goodreads Best Romance of the Month.
Tiffany lives in Kentucky with her husband, author Andrew Shaffer, and their two cats. The cats are not writers.
Subscribe to the Tiffany Reisz email newsletter:
www.tiffanyreisz.com/mailing-list
MORE WINTER TALES
In this follow-up to the Original Sinners collection Winter Tales, USA Today bestseller Tiffany Reisz presents five heartfelt, romantic—and naughty—stories set during the holiday season.
In the title novella, it’s the UnHoly Trinity’s first Christmas in New Orleans. Mistress Nora decides she, Søren, and Kingsley need to celebrate with a very special gift-giving game—not a boring White Elephant exchange, but a Black & Blue Elephant exchange where the gifts hurt as much to receive as they do to give. And Nora already knows exactly what she wants…
This collection also includes the Original Sinners novellas A Winter Symphony and A Midwinter Night’s Dream, as well as the short stories “A Christmas Maggie” and “A Beautiful Thing.”
EVEN MORE WINTER TALES
Return to USA Today bestseller Tiffany Reisz’s Original Sinners series with Winter Tales, a collection of three fan-favorite Christmas novellas plus a novella exclusive to this anthology.
THE SINNERS SERIES CONTINUES
Tiffany Reisz’s USA Today bestselling Original Sinners series returns with the long-awaited sequel to The Queen.
The Priest is the beginning of a new era for Reisz’s Original Sinners series, and the perfect jumping-on point for new readers.
eBook, Paperback, Hardcover, and Audio
START THE GODWICKS SERIES
Mona Lisa St. James made a deathbed promise that she would do anything to save her mother’s art gallery.
Just as she realizes she has no choice but to sell it, a mysterious man comes in after closing time and makes her an offer: He will save The Red…but only if she agrees to submit to him for the period of one year.
“Deliciously deviant… Akin to Anne Rice’s ‘Beauty’ series.” — Library Journal (Starred Review)
eBook, Paperback, Hardcover, and Audio
MORE BOOKS BY TIFFANY REISZ
The Original Sinners Pulp Library
THE AUCTION
IMMERSED IN PLEASURE/SUBMIT TO DESIRE
THE LAST GOOD KNIGHT
LITTLE RED RIDING CROP
MISBEHAVING
MISCHIEF
THE MISTRESS FILES
SEIZE THE NIGHT
Full-length Original Sinners Novels
THE SIREN (Book #1)
THE ANGEL (Book #2)
THE PRINCE (Book #3)
THE MISTRESS (Book #4)
THE SAINT (Book #5)
THE KING (Book #6)
THE VIRGIN (Book #7)
THE QUEEN (Book #8)
THE PRIEST (Book #9)
The Original Sinners — The Chateau
THE CHATEAU (Book #1)
THE RETURN (Book #2)
The Original Sinners — Stories
THE GIFT (previously published as SEVEN DAY LOAN)*
PICTURE PERFECT COWBOY: AN EROTIC WESTERN ROMANCE
SOMETHING NICE*
The Original Sinners — Collections
THE CONFESSIONS: COMPANION TO THE QUEEN
MICHAEL’S WINGS: COMPANION TO THE ANGEL
WINTER TALES: A CHRISTMAS ANTHOLOGY
Gothic Romances
THE BOURBON THIEF
THE HEADMASTER*
THE LUCKY ONES
THE NIGHT MARK
The Godwicks
THE PEARL
THE RED
THE ROSE
Men At Work
HER HALLOWEEN TREAT
HER NAUGHTY HOLIDAY
IAN’S FORBIDDEN DREAM GIRL*
ONE HOT DECEMBER
* ebook only
A Wolfe in Winter copyright © 2022 Tiffany Reisz.
All rights reserved. No part of this publications may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, 8th Circle Press, Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A.
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living, or dead, is purely coincidental.
Cover design by Andrew Shaffer
Front cover image, back cover image, and interior images used under license from Shutterstock.
www.8thcirclepress.com
First Edition
Tiffany Reisz, A Wolfe in Winter (The Original Sinners Companions)
