The Lone Wolf (Wolf 3)

“Open it.”

After he gave me that handsome smile, he slid his thumb under the wrapping and ripped through the tape. He pulled it apart until he got to the white box underneath. After ripping through more tape, he opened the lid and revealed the wine-colored collared shirt.

“I know it’s not fancy like the stuff you normally wear…”

He held up the shirt and examined the front, the sleeves stretching down. “I love it.” He set it down again and popped open all the buttons so the shirt would come loose. He pushed his arms through the sleeves and got it on before he buttoned the front once more. “Fits perfectly.”

It did look good on him, just as nice as his designer clothes. Sometimes, I used to picture what my life would be like, how I would spend the holidays with my husband. I imagined buying him presents and watching him open them under the tree. Fantasy was never as good as reality…but this was. It felt right. It didn’t feel like this was an arranged marriage neither one of us wanted. Now it felt like we were two people deeply in love…spending Christmas together. “It looks nice on you.”

“Thank you.” He came to my side and sat beside me against the couch. One arm moved over my shoulders, and he leaned in to kiss me, his lips tasting like the wine we’d been drinking. His hand supported the back of my head as his mouth moved with mine, giving me more than just a simple kiss.

The flames were warm against our skin even from this distance, and the smell of pine needles entered my nose and made it feel like Christmas. But neither of those were as magical as the kiss we just shared. It felt like a fairy tale.

He pulled away and allowed his fingers to explore my hair, his eyes full of affection and something deeper. “Now open yours.”

I grabbed the small box and set it in my lap. “I already know what it is.”

“Do you?” he asked, his smile widening.

“Lingerie, obviously.”

He chuckled. “Open it and find out.”

I ripped through the wrapping and opened the box underneath. Inside was a black picture frame. Inside was a picture of us…on our wedding day. The photographer got a picture of us dancing together, his head bent down to kiss me. I remembered the moment perfectly. All the guests clanked their spoons against their glasses and enticed us to kiss, so we did. In that moment, I’d felt the jolt of attraction, the undeniable chemistry that started to burn our first day as husband and wife. I remembered that kiss so well, I could actually still feel his lips against mine. My eyes couldn’t pull away from the picture because I was so entranced by the memory. “I love it…”

“I love it too.”

I stared at it a bit longer before I turned my gaze back to him, not even aware of the tears that were in my eyes. “So sweet…”

“I guess I can be sweet…for you.” His fingers brushed the hair away from my face so he could get a better look at me. With a new expression he hadn’t shown in the past, he watched me for a long time, a mixture of a million emotions deep in his gaze.

If I hadn’t known it before, I certainly knew it now… I loved this man.

He leaned his forehead against mine then closed his eyes, embracing me in front of the Christmas tree and the fireplace. Our gifts were quickly forgotten as we became wrapped up in each other, cherishing the silence as well as our gentle breathing. We were tender and loving, and it seemed like I wasn’t the only one that felt this way…like I wasn’t the only one deeply in love. Maverick had been a different man when he became my husband, and he’d slowly morphed into someone I couldn’t live without. He was strong, brutish, and stubborn, but he was also loving, devoted, and affectionate. His rough edges became soft like pillows, and all the hostility he possessed turned into something kinder.

His fingers massaged my hair, gently playing with it as he held me close. “I love you.”

My eyes were closed, but I pictured the way his lips moved as he said those words. The sound of his voice was so beautiful, just like the sound of the crackling flames in the fireplace. His tone was deep and masculine but also sincere, and the words were the sexiest thing I’d ever heard him say. It made me warm from my fingertips to my toes.

When I opened my eyes, I felt the tears slip down my cheeks. “I love you too…”

He pulled away so he could look at me, so his thumbs could catch my tears. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t the best husband when we first got married. But I’ll be the husband you want every day for the rest of my life.”