Last Christmas (Private 0.60)

"You okay?" Thomas said groggily. He kissed the top of her head, and she raised her face to his. Flickering

light from the candles on his desk bathed them in warmth.

"Better than okay." She smiled, tracing the outline of his arm with her fingertip. The sound of her own voice

surprised her. There wasn't a trace of self-consciousness, of worry, in her words. Or her body.

Ariana Osgood was finally calm. Perfectly, blissfully calm.

"Me too," he murmured, stroking her hair. He looked into her eyes with a fixed gaze, concentrating only on

her. As if nothing else in the world could possibly matter to him more. As if nothing could tear him away

from her. Not Daniel, or the threat of being expelled, or their dysfunctional families. He wanted to be there

with her. Completely.

She felt herself melting into him. The tension that had built up inside her over the past hours-over the past

several years, really-had vanished, leaving her weightless. Free. Her breathing slow and even. She wondered

if this was what happy felt like.

149

"Pretty quiet," Thomas observed, his fingers trailing down her bare back. Goosebumps rose along her skin.

"Just thinking," Ariana said softly, resting in the crook of his arm. She had imagined what this moment would

be like for so long that she could hardly believe it actually happened. She had always fantasized about

meeting the perfect guy, about falling perfectly in love. Being the heroine of her own novel. Living Happily

Ever After.

But Thomas wasn't perfect at all. He was sarcastic and messy and he said the wrong things. But he knew what

it was like to grow up the way she had. And he didn't fault her for it.

"Thinking about?" Thomas prompted her.

"About how this is what I need." It was exactly what she meant, and she felt safe enough to say it. No masks,

no pretending.

She kissed him lightly on the lips, then on the nose. He tasted like maple syrup. "Mmm, breakfast," she

laughed, pulling away from him and licking her lips.

Thomas grinned. "You taste pretty good too."

He showered her with a series of quick, biting kisses that trailed from her lips to her neck. She pushed him

away, and he fought back, pressing his hand against the back of her neck and pulling her into him.

"Don't think you can get away so easy," he said into her ear. "Now that I've got you, I'm not letting go of you

anytime soon."