Elven Lord for Christmas: The Elven Lords, #1

By Lisa Kumar

Sanclen hates everything about Christmas. Too bad he's stuck as Santa until he "earns" his repentance. But when Santa's Orb reveals the elf's newest torment – a mandated case he's to solve – he has no choice but to go into the seething heart of humanity: the abode of a sexy single mother and her child.

Mari can't believe she found a lunatic hiding in her adopted son's room. The arrogant man claims to not only be an elf but also Santa. Admittedly, he's a fine specimen of male beauty. He doesn't look anything like Old St. Nick nor does he resemble the little toy makers the North Pole is famous for. 

After Sanclen spirits them away to Claus Village in Antarctica, she and Sanclen trade barbs and struggle not to fall in love. But he's running out of time to find out what lies at the heart of his case if he wants to save the young family that has come to mean so much to him.

This is a novella of approx. 15,000 words and has been previously published under the title of Santa for Christmas. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lisa Kumar
• Release date: Nov 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393566243

Lisa Kumar

I'm a wife, mother, and romance writer who grew up in small-town Indiana. I studied psychology in college and have worked off and on in the mental health field over the years. I now reside in the suburbs of Chicago with my husband and our two sons. When not spinning tales of romance and fantasy, I can often be found with my nose buried in a book. I also love going for walks with my youngest son and taking Zumba classes. One of my stories, Bound to the Elvin King, won Ind'Tale's 2015 RONE award for best Sci-Fi/Fantasy.  You can find me on: Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/lisa_kumar Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lisankumar

Book preview

Santa for Christmas

Sanclen hates everything about Christmas. Too bad he’s stuck as Santa until he earns his repentance. But when Santa’s Orb reveals the elf's newest torment – a mandated case he’s to solve – he has no choice but to go into the seething heart of humanity: the abode of a sexy single mother and her child.

Mari can’t believe she found a lunatic hiding in her adopted son’s room. The arrogant man claims to not only be an elf but also Santa. Admittedly, he’s a fine specimen of male beauty. He doesn’t look anything like Old St. Nick nor does he resemble the little toy makers the North Pole is famous for.

After Sanclen spirits them away to Claus Village in Antarctica, she and Sanclen trade barbs and struggle not to fall in love. But he’s running out of time to find out what lies at the heart of his case if he wants to save the young family that has come to mean so much to him.

Dedication

MANY THANKS TO MY FAMILY and friends. May the coming year bring much joy to all!

CHAPTER 1

STUPID HUMANS, SANCLEN muttered. Stupid toys. Stupid Christmas. The Orb resting before him on the table glowed brighter, a reminder of his latest duty. He sneered. Those nuisances never went away. How could they? He was effing Santa after all. There’d never be a break for him.

The walls of the audience room, white like everything else in his life, taunted him with this fact. He was royally screwed, all thanks to the Imperial Council. Damn those old geezers. They had no idea of what they’d done—now and for the last five hundred years. And now this—this newest torture. His sneer grew bigger. Hell, they knew exactly what they’d done and now did. Why fool himself otherwise? And this newest injustice? It was premeditated. It was too sadistic to be otherwise. He knew it to the depths of his dried-up soul.

The Orb squawked like a chicken, forcing his attention back to it. Damn Santa’s Orb for acting like a hormone-driven elven woman stalking him. But the situation could be worse. The seeing glass could act like a human woman swimming in hormones. He shuttered. Humans of any kind, even the female variety, were better avoided, no matter how attractive. Not that many women would want a roll in the hay if they saw him in his glamour. He growled.

The glamour that turned him into a fat, old jolly man aroused the most hate and derision out of all his punishments. But he was cursed to serve...mankind until he found the being who could help him break free of it. And according to the Imperial Council, that person would change his life with the most disgusting emotion of all: love. Like that could happen anyway. What Elven woman would want to come to this hellhole, except for the ones already stuck there? He had bedded all the ones who’d wanted a good lay.

But who said Santa lived in the North Pole? He scoffed at those ridiculous human fairy tales. Couldn’t they get anything right? He was in a worse place, a much colder one: Antarctica. The barren wasteland of ice and snow encapsulated Claus Village. He hated the fricking cold. It was his own white hell. He couldn’t have devised a better punishment. No budding spring, hot summer, or vibrant fall, and worst of all—no beautiful women. If he were Catholic, he’d say he was buried in purgatory.

And now the damned Orb wanted its due. Well, it could shove its demands u— He froze as the damned thing’s glassy surface lost its hazy patina. A rippling image appeared in its place, soon calming like a pebbled-disturbed pond. Why did he have the sinking suspicion he was the pebble sinking to the bottom of the abyss, forever hidden by the tranquil waters? He closed his eyes with a "harrumph." He’d not watch his destruction.

But the Orb mocked him and played that infernal Christmas music, the one with the bells. He picked it up and flung it against the wall. Glass shattered pleasingly, and shards flew through the air. He smiled. Then the fragments reversed in direction and collided together at the original place of impact. The grin slipped off his face. Damn it. The dumb thing never stayed broken. His people’s magic ensured that. Too bad his magic was bound against it.

The Orb gently thudded to the ground and rolled toward him. The sound of a marble on wood assailed his ears. The seeing glass hit his boot, and he looked down. Once again he froze. The image was startling in its clarity. And it boded trouble for him. Human trouble, sexy trouble, in