He was beautiful to her.
He pumped into her hard, and she saw the tension leave his face. She laughed when he growled and turned her so that she was on her back, and he was still connected, still thrusting until the end.
“I love you.” She wrapped her arms around him and held him tight. “Forever and always.”
He smiled and kissed her mouth before he rolled off her and took her into his arms to snuggle. “You are the love of my life. I knew it that first time I greeted you and mispronounced your name.”
She laughed. “Who would be named after a tire?”
He smiled and kissed her again. “You were cute when your green eyes narrowed, and then they lit up and you bowled me over with that beautiful Irish lilt to your voice. I knew I was in love then.”
“I have to admit, when you turned fifty shades of red for mispronouncing my name, I had a devil of a time keeping my distance from you.”
“I know.”
She laughed. “You did not.”
“Yeah, I did. How would we have gotten here if it wasn’t so?”
“Hmm, your private ski lessons? I can’t decide if that’s when it really hit me, or when we were making the snow sculpture, and just in sweet fun, you kissed my nose. Or when we fell asleep on the couch watching A Christmas Story. But I knew then that keeping my distance wasn’t going to happen.”
He sighed. “I’ll second that. We were meant to be together. Merry Christmas, honey.”
“Merry Christmas, CJ.” She couldn’t sleep though. Well, maybe she dozed. She kept waiting for CJ to get out of bed and put her packages under the tree! But he didn’t.
Instead, he made love to her two more times.
* * *
CJ felt the mattress move, again, as Laurel slipped out of bed early the next morning.
“Where are you going?” As if he didn’t know.
“To see what Santa brought.”
“I’ve got a present for you right here.”
She glanced at his erection tenting the sheet and smiled. “You can give that to me later.”
He smiled as she slipped on a soft, robin’s-egg-blue robe, her red hair cascading about her shoulders, and then headed out of the bedroom. He couldn’t believe how many times she’d left the bed in the middle of the night to see if he’d tucked her presents under the tree. He’d thought she’d never fall asleep, though making love to her two times during the night hadn’t helped him carry out his Santa mission.
He groaned when he saw it was still dark out, then climbed out of bed, put on his navy blue robe, and padded down the stairs.
She was poking around at the presents he’d finally managed to put under the tree. Well, except for one.
She was crouched in front of the brightly colored packages, grinning. “What is this? It weighs a ton.”
“Open it and see.”
She opened the package and beamed at the blue-and-white ski boot. “You’re taking me skiing again, but this time I have my own boots.”
She was just like a little kid, and he loved seeing her excitement. Christmas had never been quite like this—and it was the best.
Then she rummaged through the packages to find the other. Inside the second ski boot was an envelope. She tore it open and smiled. “Free private and personalized ski lessons for a lifetime.”
He hadn’t even opened his first present from her when she came over to thank him. She leaned over to kiss him, her robe gaping enough for him to see her mouthwatering breasts. In the next instant, he was pulling her down on top of his lap; then she was pushing him onto his back, untying his robe, and spreading it wide like a blanket.
He was still fully aroused and she smiled. “I love you, and this is the best Christmas ever.”
And it had barely begun. She untied her robe and tossed it aside, then lowered herself onto his cock and began to ride him. With the lights sparkling on the tree, two packages unwrapped, and a hot she-wolf making his dreams come true, he couldn’t have loved Christmas more.
“Forget waiting for this Christmas present. I didn’t give you yours yet.”
“This is the best one yet,” he said, and then there were no more words as he brought her to climax and gave her yet another Christmas present before she collapsed on top of him and hugged him tight.
“Here I was looking for presents under the tree when I could have just found them in bed.”
He smiled.
Then she hurried to get off him, pulled on her robe and belted it, then handed him some of his gifts. When she gave him his first present, he pulled her onto his lap to open it, because it wasn’t the gift, but the giver that made his Christmas so special. He opened the package and saw the picture of him, his brothers, and their father and mother at a happier time in their lives, and he looked up at her with tears in his eyes.
“I found it in your father’s things. I had Jake take the original and refinish it and then framed one for you and each of your brothers.”
He kissed her soundly. “Thank you. I’ll cherish your gift to me always.”
“I…I hope your brothers will love it too and won’t be upset that I did this. I worried about it the whole time I was getting them ready.”
“They’ll love it. Thank you.”
Then she gave him another present, and he said, “Your turn next.”
“I opened two.”
He chuckled. “Two ski boots.”
“And skiing lessons for a lifetime.”
He smiled and was starting to open the present when she found one of the ten-thousand-dollar bills in her next present. “I thought you put them all in the bank.”
“I did. Until right before Christmas.”
“You gave some to your brothers, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. They’re sure to be surprised. I usually don’t spend that much on them.”
She laughed. “I bet they’ll be shocked.” She stared at the bill, not believing it.
“You can do whatever your heart desires with the money. Fix up the basement of the hotel, redecorate the house—whatever you’d like.”
“Take you on a trip to Ireland.”
“I thought they got rid of wolves over there,” he said, smiling.
“They don’t know about us.”
“It’s a deal.”
He finished opening his present. “A book on how to create snow sculptures.” He laughed. “Planning this early to win next year’s competition, I see.”
“Absolutely. I’m all ready for a winning streak. And we have lots of snow so we can practice. But we’ll have to do it in the backyard so no one sees what we’re working on next.”
“Speaking of snow, do you want to look outside and see if it snowed last night? Maybe we can get in a snow-fort building contest and have a snowball fight later.”
She laughed. She got up, crossed the living room to the back door, and peeked out the blinds. “Ohmigod, CJ. You got me skis and poles!”
Standing upright in the snow, her skis sat in front of his taller ones, their pole straps looped around the skis, indicating they were together, now and forever.
He joined her at the door and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight against his body and nuzzling her neck. “I don’t know about you, but all this Christmas is wearing me out. Did you want to go back to bed for a while?”
She turned and slipped her arms around his waist. “This is the best Christmas ever.” And with CJ in her life, she knew it would only get better. She was glad to have found their aunt alive and well, and that her sisters were even beginning to date. She thought a friendship with her cousins had promise. But most of all, she loved the pack, Silver Town, and CJ.
She broke free and said, “Let’s take a break from Christmas.” She headed for the stairs, but he began to chase her and the thrill of the hunt had her squealing and bounding up the stairs before he could catch her.
He did anyway, swinging her in his arms in their bedroom and collapsing with her on the bed. “You really didn’t believe I’d forget about your presents for Christmas, did you?” he asked, smiling at her.