“I want you,” she whispered.
“You want me to what?”
Her cheeks bloomed with red and she took a deep breath. “I want you to fuck me.” A burst of come shot from my dick at her dirty words.
“Do you want it filling your womb, Kristen?” I asked, wanting to hear her admit it. “To get you pregnant.”
The red deepened even more and she dropped her gaze for a moment before looking up at me through her long lashes. “Yes.”
I grunted my approval and grasped her hips. “Then ride my cock, kitten. Take what you want.”
“Merry Christmas, kitten.”
Kristen was clearly not a morning person and she pried one eye open to give me a lopsided glare, making me laugh. Damn, she was adorable and so sexy all mussed from sleep and boasting the love bites I’d left all over her creamy skin, marking her as mine.
“I’m not five, we don’t have to rush down to the tree at the ass crack of dawn,” she grumbled.
Another chuckle shook my chest as I whipped the covers off and my eyes hungrily perused her well-loved, naked body. “It’s after ten, kitten.”
She frowned and opened her other eye, craning her neck to see the clock on the nightstand. Then her brows lifted in surprise before she smiled sheepishly. “Whoops. I didn’t mean to sleep so late.”
I rolled her to her back and blanketed her with my body, caging her head between my arms. “I wanted you to rest. I wore you out yesterday and you’re bound to be sore today.” I couldn’t keep the smugness out of my tone as I thought about how she would feel me inside her all day. “Besides”—I placed one hand over her soft belly and smirked—“you’re probably growing another life in there.”
She rolled her eyes and poked me in the shoulder. “It’s not going to happen that fast, crazy man.”
“I fucked you all day yesterday and filled you with my come over and over. There’s no way one of my guys didn’t hang the fuck on and knock you up.” I grinned at the thought and kissed the tip of her nose, ignoring her second eyes roll. “Come on, kitten. Let’s see what Santa left you.”
Kristen let me help her up and into another of my shirts. I took her hand and led her from the room, down the hall and into the great room where the tree was now surrounded by a shit-ton of presents.
Her eyes bugged out and she started worrying her bottom lip. “What’s wrong?” I asked as I ran a soothing hand down her back. Whatever it was, I would fix it.
“Are these all for me? I—um—only got you one present.”
I turned her to face me and cupped her cheeks. “I didn’t know it, but all I wanted for Christmas was you. That’s everything, kitten. It’s better than if there were hundreds of presents with my name on them under that tree. Because this gift is forever”—I winked at her—“I get to open it any time I want.”
The tension is her shoulders released for the most part, but I could see she was still a little uncomfortable with the volume of presents under the tree.
“How about we just open the three most important ones and if you want me to send all the rest back, I will. I’ll always give you anything you want, kitten.”
Her mouth tipped up into a sweet smile and she nodded. I settled her on the couch before retrieving the three most important boxes under the tree and returning to sit next to her.
They were all small, about the size of a ring box. Kristen eyed them thoughtfully and when she glanced up, there was a spark of hope in them. I handed her the first one and she ripped into the paper, making me laugh. She lifted the lid and took out the key ring with several keys dangling from it. She cocked her head and looked at me curiously.
“I’m not going to spend another night away from you, kitten. Those are the keys to your new home.”
Her mouth dropped open a little but her face was awash with pleasure and she dropped the keys in her lap before throwing her arms around me. “Yes! I’ll move in with you!”
I hugged her back and kissed her forehead. “It wasn’t a request, baby. But, I’m glad you agree.”
I handed her the second box and she opened it eagerly. The box contained tickets and an itinerary for a trip to Tahiti, leaving the day after tomorrow. “We’re going to Tahiti?” she exclaimed with a huge grin.
“Since you’ve always wanted to visit there, I thought it would make a great honeymoon.”
Her head whipped up and her face was almost frozen in shock, except for her eyes blinking owlishly. “A what?” she managed to choke out.
I handed her the third box. She looked a little frustrated for a moment, clearly wanting to talk about my comment, but I just shook my head and pushed the present into her hands. She sighed and tore off the paper revealing a robin’s egg blue box.
When she opened it, she looked crestfallen at the sight of a small piece of paper, rather than a ring. She unfolded it and while she was reading it, I pulled a four-carat diamond ring out of my pocket and knelt on one knee.
“An appointment at the courthouse this afternoon…I don’t underst—” she broke off with a gasp when her head lifted.
“Kitten, it only took one for me to know you were mine. My heart knew I loved you before my head. I know it’s fast but this is forever and I don’t want to waste a single second of our life together. I love you. So, I made an appointment at the courthouse and I’m going to marry you. Every Christmas I’ll be celebrating the day you were tied to me in every way.”
Tears were streaming down her face but her lips were spread in a bright, beautiful smile. “I love you too, and of course I’ll marry you!” she shrieked as she threw herself into my arms.
I grunted as her body slammed into mine and laughed when I couldn’t hold my position and we tumbled to the ground. I quickly rolled her under me and slipped the ring on her finger. “It wasn’t a question, baby. We are getting married. But if it makes you feel better to pretend you had a choice, have at it.”
Kristen rolled her eyes but then she giggled and her eyes shined bright with happiness. I pushed wayward strands of her hair behind her ear and lowered my head down for a kiss filled with every ounce of love and passion that I felt for her.
For the first time since my parents died, Christmas held all the joy and magic it had when I was a kid. I’d found everything and I hadn’t even known it was missing. And, I was looking forward to next year and spending the holiday with our first child and if I was particularly persuasive, with another baby in my wife’s belly.
When I pulled back, Kristen’s skin was rosy and her eyes were sparkling making me want her all over again. “Merry Christmas, kitten.”
“Merry Christmas.”
Epilogue
Kristen
Four Years Later
“Another white Christmas.” I stared out my bedroom window as my husband came up behind me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and nuzzled agains
t my neck, nibbling on my sensitive skin.
“Your favorite,” he breathed into my ear before tilting my head so he could capture my mouth in a deep kiss.
As soon as his lips pressed against mine, I lost myself to the desire that always roared to life inside me when we touched. It had been this way since the first day we met, and the years which had passed had done nothing to diminish our need for each other. When he lifted his head, it took me a moment to get my breath back enough to whisper, “I love the snow, but it’s not my favorite part of Christmas. You are.”
He turned me around and cupped my cheeks with his palms, staring down at me with dark eyes full of love. “And you’re my favorite part of every day.”
A tiny whimpering sound came through the baby monitor, and both of us turned to look at the LCD screen sitting on the bedside table. Our four-month-old baby girl wriggled around in her crib and let out another complaint that neither of us had already come running to rescue her. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think Noelle heard what you said and now she’s gearing up to pitch a fit because everybody knows your little princess has you totally wrapped around her tiny finger. She doesn’t like to share her daddy, not even with her mommy.”
I grumbled that last bit, and flashed him an exaggerated pout. He brushed his lips against mine again before pulling away to say, “It’s only fair since our two little hellions are momma’s boys who glare at me any time I get too close to you.”
I twined my arms around his neck, “Christopher and Gabriel have long since learned nothing keeps their daddy away from their mommy.”
We both shook our heads at the sound of stomping feet in the hallway. “Not that it’s stopped them from trying,” he grouched as they banged their little fists on our bedroom door.
“Mommy! Daddy! Hurry up!” they shouted, with a jiggle of the locked doorknob. “We’ve been waiting in our beds forever until Noelle woke up so we could come get you to open presents!”