Page 59 of Dirty Little Christmas

I brought her to Big Bear as planned. We've spent the last two days playing in the snow and then warming each other up afterward. It's been perfect. For the first time since Ma died, there's magic in the air. Christmas feels like something truly worth celebrating. The girl in my bed is worth celebrating.

"Wake up, sweet December."

"Mm," she moans, pressing her face to my throat. "Did Santa come?"

I chuckle quietly. "Yeah, he did. Do you want to see what he brought you?"

"I already know what he brought me."

"What's that?"

"You," she sighs.

Christ, I don't know what I did to deserve her, but I'm going to keep doing it.

"And spankings."

I press my lips to her crown, scowling. "Santa isn't spanking you, December. I'm the only one who gets to touch that luscious ass."

"Uh-huh."

"Open your pretty eyes, and you can see what he brought you."

December isn't a morning person, especially when I've kept her up half the night making love to her, but she reluctantly rolls onto her back and peels her eyes open. She blinks when she notices the little blue box on her nightstand.

"Open it," I whisper, pulling her up into a sitting position.

She reaches for the box with shaking hands and peels the bow off.

"Marry me," I whisper in her ear when she flips the box open to reveal the three-carat diamond engagement ring nestled inside.

"Alaric," she gasps, turning wide eyes on me.

"It's what we both want for Christmas, angel." I brush her hair back from her face, smiling. "I worked out a deal with Santa. I told him if he'd have his elves get this ring ready in time for me to give it to you today, I'd spend the rest of my life making you happy. Santa came through, so now you have to say yes so I can uphold my end of the bargain."

"So, you bribed Santa, huh?"

"I did." I pluck the ring box from her hands to slip the ring out. It fits her finger perfectly. "I'm not even sorry about it, sweet December. Fuck." I press my lips to her shoulder, staring at the ring on her hand. "You look good wearing nothing but my ring."

She holds her hand up, scrutinizing it, and then she smiles over her shoulder at me. "Oh, I can think of one way to make it even better," she whispers, rising to her knees. The blankets fall from around her as she crawls into my lap.

"Yeah? What's that?"

"Me naked, wearing your ring, pregnant with your baby," she says, looping her arms around my shoulders.

"Goddamn," I growl, my dick throbbing at the thought. I press my mouth to hers, tipping her over onto her back and following her down. "You're right. That'd definitely make it better."

"Then get busy, Mr. Parrish," she breathes, staring up at me with dark, hungry eyes. "Because I believe I asked for rosy-red cheeks for Christmas."

"Oh, you're getting them." I yank her leg up over my hip, capturing her nipple in my mouth. "You're definitely getting them."

"Then my answer is yes," she moans. "I will marry you."

"You look happy," Blaze says, eyeing me over the rim of his beer later that night. He and Georgia came for dinner. So did Jillian.

"So do you," I murmur, watching as the girls whisper back and forth on the couch. I have no idea what they're talking about, and I'm not sure I want to know. But my girl is happy. She's been walking on air all day long. It feels good as hell to know I helped put that look on her face.

Surprisingly, so did her stepfather.