Chapter Twenty-Four

Emily

“How are you feeling, my love?” Jasper asks.

He's smiling down at me as we stand outside in the hallway. Through the ballroom doors, I can hear the sound of music and voices raised in laughter and good cheer. It's a good feeling and happiness washes over me.

But, so does my anxiety. I grip his hand a little too tightly, but if he notices, he doesn't say anything about it.

“Good,” I say and nod. “I'm good.”

He cocks his head, arches an eyebrow, and gives me a doubtful look. I just smile at him, fake it 'til you make it, right? But, Jasper knows me better than that. And he just looks at me, his eyes boring into my soul.

“Okay, maybe I'm a little nervous,” I finally admit. “And maybe a little sick to my stomach. But that's probably to be expected, all things considered.”

He brings my hand up to his lips and places a kiss on it. His eyes twinkle from the Christmas lights adorning the hallway. Cleaned up and in his tuxedo, with a look of absolute love in his eyes, Jasper has never looked more beautiful to me and my heart swells just looking at him.

“Okay, well if for any reason, if it gets to be too much and you want to slip away, just say the word,” he says.

“Thank you, Jasper,” I say, feeling a warmth inside of me growing.

Jasper opens the door, letting me step inside the ballroom first. He's right behind me and I am instantly overwhelmed by the sights and smells. The ballroom has been transformed into a winter wonderland and given my love of all things Christmas, it makes my heart and soul smile.

The aroma of cinnamon and clove are heavy in the air, lending a sense of warmth to the room. Logs blaze in an enormous fireplace on the far end of the room. The fire burns almost as brightly as the riot of color stemming from the thousands of Christmas lights that are everywhere in the room.

A fifteen-foot-tall Christmas tree stands in the center of the room, adorned with classic white lights lending an air of class and sophistication. Ornaments hang from the branches, most of them look to be either glass or are homemade, carved from wood from the looks of it. And there is a mountain of presents piled high beneath the tree.

The music of I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas, fills the room, but you can hardly hear it over the laughter and buzz of excited chatter. My heart swells with happiness as I take it all in and I can't help but smile so wide, I fear it will split my face in two.

“You guys really know how to celebrate Christmas,” I say, my eyes wide with a childlike wonder.

“Yes, we do,” Jasper replies. “Come on, let's mingle a bit.”

I tighten my grip on his hand a little bit, intertwining my fingers with his. And as we walk through the ballroom, I notice a few curious eyes on us. People stare, and I can't help but notice some of them whispering amongst themselves. The further we walk through the ballroom and the more eyes I see on me, the more hushed conversations I hear, the more self-conscious I become. I feel myself tense up and my pulse begin to race as I worry about what they might be saying.

As if he could read my mind, Jasper pulls me close, resting his head on top of mine. It's a small, simple gesture, but one that fills me with a reassurance that's much needed in that moment.

“Don't worry about them,” he says. “They're just surprised to see us together, that's all.”

“I hope so,” I mutter.

“I know so,” he replies.

Olivia and Luca are tucked away in a corner near the fireplace, cozying up together. The way Luca looks at my sister reminds me of how Jasper looks at me. There is nothing but pure love and adoration on his face and it fills me with joy. I'm so happy my sister found somebody who completes and complements her so thoroughly and as I look up at Jasper, I feel a rush of warmth and happiness that I have too.

“We should probably tell them first,” I say, biting my lip. “I'd hate for my sister to hear it through the grapevine rather than from us directly.”

“Good idea,” Jasper says.

We stop for some hot cocoa and a gingerbear cookie. Yes, it's a gingerbread cookie shaped like a bear instead of a man. It's adorable, but I almost felt guilty biting into it. After fortifying ourselves, we head across the room to where my sister and Luca are standing.

Olivia looks up at us as we approach, her head cocked to the side, a small grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. She shares a quick look with Luca and their smiles grow even wider.

“Well, what do we have here?” she asks, looking pointedly at our interlocked hands.

“Yeah, so I guess I should tell you that Jasper and I have been together for a little bit now,” I say. “I'm sorry we kept it a secret from you. I just wasn't –”

My sister rolls her eyes and laughs out loud. “Oh, really? You two are together?” she laughs. “Talk about the worst secret ever. Come on, Emily. Anybody with eyes saw you two making googly eyes at each other a long time ago.”

My mouth falls open and I stare at her. “And you never said anything?”

She shrugs. “I didn't want to press you,” she says. “I figured that you'd say something when you were ready to tell me.”

My cheeks turn a shade of red I'm sure isn't found in nature as I stare down at my hot chocolate. Jasper is smiling wide and shaking his head.

Olivia leans closer and whispers in my ear. “If you want to know a real secret,” she says, “there's peppermint Schnapps over at the bar, and it is delightful in hot cocoa. Just sayin'.”

My cheeks grow warmer, and the color on my face undoubtedly deepens. I look over at Jasper, hoping that he'd bail me out. Instead, he just shrugged as if to say, now was as good a time as any. I know he has no reservations and is ready to tell the world everything. It's just taking me a minute. But yeah, I guess now really is as good a time as any.

“Olivia, there's something else I – I mean, we – need to tell you,” I say. “I can't drink.”

She looks at me, a curious expression, “What do you mean?”

I clear my throat and feel my heart actually beating harder than when I'd been face to face with the Wendigo. I meet my sister's gaze and feel my legs grow week and my body start to tremble. She looks at me, concern on her face, but she remains silent, waiting for me to speak at my own pace. Jasper gives my hand a soft, reassuring squeeze and when I look into his eyes, I find the strength inside of me.

“Olivia, Luca,” I say. “Jasper and I – well – we're pregnant.”

Olivia looks at me in stunned silence for a moment and then her face brightens. She squeals loudly, making everybody within earshot turn and look at us. My sister grabs me and pulls me to her tightly, crushing me in her bear hug. She squeezes the bejeezus out of me, almost making it hard to catch a breath.

“You mean – I'm gonna be an aunt?” she squeals. “I'm really going to be an aunt?”

Her voice carries well over the music and I'm sure everybody in the hotel – not just the ballroom, but the whole hotel – can hear her. The heat in my face flares like a bonfire and all I can do is nod.

“Well, we've just got Christmas miracles coming from every direction,” Luca says, reaching out and taking Jasper's hand. “Congrats, man. I'm happy for you.”

Having my sister's blessing means the world to me. And I know Jasper feels the same way about having Luca's approval. Having stepped out of the shadows and letting everybody know not just that we're together, but that we're going to have a baby too, actually feels good. It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

All around me, I hear murmurs of happy approval and people come by, most of them I don't even know, to congratulate us. Olivia is ecstatic, almost bouncing up and down where she stands as she chatters on about plans for the baby and me. She's talking a little too loud and a little too fast, and I suspect some of that has to do with her Schnapps-infused cocoa.

Jasper squeezes my hand, and I look up at him. He looks so incredibly happy in that moment, that my heart nearly bursts with joy.

“So, the happy news is out,” she says.

I turn and am face-to-face with Winter. Her long, snow white hair flows around her like tinsel, catching the glow of all the Christmas lights in the room, turning it shades of red and green. It's an odd effect, but somehow seems to add to her beauty. She's wearing a floor-length, form-hugging, burgundy gown with white fur around her neck, and she looks absolutely radiant.

“Congratulations, to all three of you,” Winter says and raises a glass of champagne to us. “May health and happiness be plentiful in your lives.”

“Thank you,” I say and smile. “Thank you for everything, Winter. Most especially for keeping this one safe.”

Her laughter is a rich, musical sound. “It's not an easy job. He's hard-headed,” she says. “And if you ever need somebody to come down and put him in his place, you just call me, Emily.”

“I've got you on speed dial,” I say.

“Hey, this is Christmas,” Jasper says. “Can we suspend all the men bashing until after New Year's?”

Holly and Merry suddenly appear beside Winter, their white-blonde hair glowing beneath the Christmas lights like Winter's. They smile at me and Merry hands me a small gift-wrapped package.

“This is from the three of us,” Merry says, patting my hand.

“Don't open it until Christmas though,” Holly adds.

“You carry a special life in you,” Merry says.

“An extraordinary life,” Holly says. “A true holiday miracle.”

“We look forward to renewing our friendship with you and your little one for years to come,” Merry says, giving my hand a gentle squeeze.

“I look forward to it as well,” I say. “Thank you for everything.”

The room around us suddenly falls quiet, and only the Christmas music echoes around the room. I turn and look around, trying to figure out why everybody had stopped talking. And then I saw the reason. Standing at the entrance to the ballroom was none other than Sheriff Richards. He stood there awkwardly, holding a gift in his hands.

I watch as Asher walks over to him, and the two men share a surprisingly friendly smile and shake hands. Asher and Rose usher Richards toward the bar. I catch the Sheriff's eye and he gives me a tip of his cap, mouthing the words, “thank you,” to me. With Green dropping out so suddenly, Richards retained his position. And even though he ultimately didn't need me to help him win an election, it was nice to be recognized anyway.

With that balloon of tension popped, the lively atmosphere and buzz of conversation fills the room once more. All seemed to be going well, and people started talking once more. Winter, Merry, and Holly drifted away to mingle with the rest of the crowd, leaving Jasper and me standing alone together once more.

“Wow, that's a sight I never thought I'd see,” I said.

“I think we softened the man up,” Jasper adds. “I think he might be coming around.

“Will the Christmas miracles never cease?” I ask, a smile on my face.

“Not sure if the peace and warm, fuzzy feelings are going to last with Richards,” Jasper shrugs. “But for tonight, let's just enjoy it. It's Christmas, after all.”

I couldn't agree more.

ooo000ooo

With the party in full swing and everybody halfway – if not considerably more – down the path to being totally sloshed, Jasper and I slipped out. Given that I can't drink and still feel a little out of place in general, I was starting to get a little overwhelmed. Jasper, being the amazing man he is, must have sensed I was feeling off.

“Come with me,” he says, taking my hand and leading me out of the ballroom.

“Where are we going?”

“You'll see.”

We step out of the hotel and into the cold night air. I pull my jacket around me tighter and see the world around us covered in a light dusting of snow. Lazy, fat flakes drift down from the sky and with eyes wide, I giggle like a little girl.

“We're going to have a white Christmas!” I squeal.

“Looks like it,” he says.

Jasper seems to revel in my happiness and excitement, letting me savor the first snowfall. We laugh and run around like idiots, trying to catch the snowflakes on our tongue. The air is crisp and cold, but it all feels exhilarating. Jasper wraps an arm around me as we walk down the street. I let him lead since I have no idea where we were going. But, as long as I was with him, it doesn't really matter.

When we reach the familiar trailhead we take to reach our normal meeting spot, I know where he's taking me.

“Jasper,” I laugh. “This is how we got into this mess in the first place.”

He pulls me close and kisses me. His lips feel hot against my cold skin, and seems to be warming me up from the inside out.

“And I couldn't be happier about this beautiful mess,” he says. “I figured that with us being out now, we aren't going to be needing our secret place anymore. So, I kinda thought that maybe we'd give it one last go? Just for old time's sake?”

His eyes are pleading with me, and I know there is no way I could say no to that face. I let him guide me along the path until we arrive at the spot where we'd made love countless times before. The same spot we'd very likely conceived of our child in.

“Somebody was prepared for this,” I say.

Jasper shrugs. “Like a Boy Scout,” he says. “Always prepared.”

On the ground beneath the trees in our secret spot is a thick, warm blanket. There are also small glass globes with candles inside of them. Jasper quickly bends down and lights them all, casting our small, secret hollow, in a soft orange glow.

The snow is falling a bit harder now, and the grass outside of our hollow is coated with a thin layer. Icicles hang from the branches and there's a fresh white dusting everywhere. The orange flame sparkles in the icicles and they reflect the light, creating a sense of warmth. It's a winter wonderland indeed.

“It's so beautiful,” I whisper, utterly amazed at the scene around us.

Jasper takes my hands in his, rubbing them together to warm them up. I can see a look of apprehension on his face. But, before I can ask him about it, he drops down to one knee and my heart nearly explodes in my chest.

“I know you thought I only brought you out here to have my way with you,” Jasper says.

“Yeah, I kinda figured that was the case.”

“There's actually another reason I brought you here,” Jasper says. “To our special place.”

“Oh?” I ask, feeling a swarm of butterflies battering the inside of my stomach.

“Emily, I thought about asking you at the ball, but decided against it. I wanted this moment to be perfect – as perfect as you are for me,” he says. “And I wanted this moment to be for us. Just you and me. I'm selfish and didn't want to share it with anybody else.”

He kisses the knuckles on my hand as he slides a ring onto my finger. Before he can even finish the question, I'm already jumping up and down, practically screaming.

“Yes! Jasper,” I say. “Of course, yes!”

I pull him up by his shirt, needing to touch him, to kiss him. Needing to feel his body pressed to mine. Our kiss is fiery and passionate, so much emotion and energy pouring through us and into the other.

“So, you'll marry me then?” he asks, a sheepish grin on his face.

“You know I will,” I say, standing on my tip toes to kiss the snowflake that had landed on his nose. “There's no one I'd rather have at my side.”

“You're my partner-in-crime,” he says. “Always and forever.”

“Always and forever,” I whisper back, nuzzling my head into his neck.

There are so many unknowns right now. Unknowns with me and with our child, that it scares me to even contemplate it. If I'm some genetic blend of creatures and Jasper is a bear, what will our child be? Will he be healthy? Will he be a monster? So many questions and so few answers.

But, I know that with Jasper by my side, no matter what happens, we will find a way through it. Together. I feel incredibly lucky, knowing I couldn't have asked for a better father for my child.

Jasper lifts my face in his hands and kisses me. His lips feel like fire against my cold lips, and when he opens his mouth, he shares his warmth with me. Breathing it into my lungs as our tongues swirl and dance together.

Our kiss grows more passionate. More intense. And I feel the fires within me igniting, burning ever higher. Jasper does that to me. With nothing more than a look, he can make me feel crazed with desire. His smile sets off a chain reaction within me – one that usually ends with him inside of me. I can't help it. The man just turns me on.

I fumble with his belt as I remove it and toss it to the ground hastily as he unzips his pants for me. It's freezing outside, so the idea of getting completely naked is out the window. But, that's fine. We don't need to be completely naked to make love. Jasper pulls his pants down just enough for me to reach in and take his thick cock into my hand. I grip it tight, making him moan as I start to stroke him gently.

Jasper takes a seat on the blanket, propping his back up against the trunk of the tree. I look at him by the light of the candles and smile. He's so damn beautiful to me.

“Come here,” he says.

I give Jasper my hands and he pulls me down onto his lap, making me straddle him. I push the dress I’m wearing up around my waist and let it settle down over my legs as I sit astride him. Jasper takes my face into his hands and gives me the deepest, most passionate kiss I think I've ever had. When he finally pulls back, I have to take a moment to catch my breath and stop the world from spinning.

I give him a smile and grind myself against him. I feel his hard cock pressing against my warm, wet opening, only the sheer material of my panties separating us.

Reaching down, I slip my hand under my dress and slide my panties to the side. Gripping his cock good and tight, I guide him to my tight little hole and rub the head of his stiff prick against my clit. The sensations are immediate and intense. I throw my head back and cry out as I rub him against my clit harder and faster. I'm stroking his cock at the same time I'm teasing my clit with it, and Jasper's moans blend with my own, echoing around through the darkness around us.

I can feel my juices running out of me. Feel them making my hand slick as I continue jerking him off. The desire in me builds and builds, driving me half out of my mind. Finally, I can't take it anymore and slip the head of his hard rod into the velvety folds of my pussy. Even that small bit sliding into me sends ripples of pleasure through me.

And when I lower myself down on him, inch by glorious inch, feeling him stretching me open wider, I bite my bottom lip and stifle a scream. It's a pinch of pain surrounded by a wave of sheer bliss. Jasper's cock fills me up completely. It stretches me open and satisfies me in ways no other man has done before. He's so thick and hard that when he's fully sheathed in me, I feel him pressing against my cervix.

I slowly start rocking back and forth on top of him, moaning softly as I feel him moving within me. With our bodies united, and moving in rhythm with one another, I feel my clit rubbing against his pelvis, and it makes me moan loud.

Jasper slides his hands under my dress, cupping my ass as I ride him. His mouth never leaves mine and we kiss hard, our tongues darting within each other's mouth, the fires of passion burning ever brighter inside of us.

Jasper pulls me down, hard, impaling me with his thick cock and hits a sweet spot inside of me. My head falls forward and I dig my nails into his shoulders as I cry out.

“Oh Jasper,” I gasp. “Yes, yes, yes.”

The cold no longer fazes us. We're completely oblivious to it. The only thing that matters in that moment is our bodies, united together. Doing what they were supposed to do. I rock back and forth, bouncing myself up and down on his hard dick, reveling in the waves of sensations that roll through me. Jasper's hands are on my ass, his fingers kneading my skin, and he's kissing my neck. And as I fuck him, I feel myself growing ever hotter. Ever wetter.

He thrusts his dick upward at the same time I'm pushing myself down. He drives himself into me deeper than he's ever been and I swear, I see my vision start to waver as I'm overwhelmed by the heat and the passion. I throw my head back and cry out.

I feel it building within me. It’s like a wave out on the ocean – slowly but steadily building, rushing to shore, and when it gets there, it's going to come crashing down with thunderous force. That's what having Jasper's thick member deep in my pussy did to me.

As I writhe on top of him and he continued to plunge into the depths of me, I shudder and moan his name over and over again. The wave is starting to rise, growing ever more powerful, and my movements start to become frantic. Almost desperate.

Jasper, gripping my ass good and hard, starts thrusting himself upward, driving his prick into me hard and fast. The look of pure desire and passion in his eyes consumes me, but I can see an almost crazed need in them. It’s almost as if he needs to go deeper and deeper inside of me. He pulls me down on his rod even harder, trying to plunge to even deeper depths.

And the sensation of having him so deep inside of me feels so amazing, I don't want it to end.

My entire body tightened up, my toes curled, and I was hit hard by a wave of pleasure that nearly sent me toppling off my lover. But he held onto my hips, held me in place, and continued thrusting into me as I bucked wildly on top of him.

We've lost the rhythm and our movements are frantic. We're grunting and growling, thrusting our bodies together, desperate to absorb every ounce of feeling from one another. Our gentle lovemaking has turned into desperate fucking. I loved that we could have both and one is just as pleasurable as the other.

I throw my head back and cry out as Jasper drives his thick rod into me deep and hard. My pussy spasms around him, and his breath catches in his throat. His thrusting is growing more desperate, more frantic, and his breathing is growing ragged.

Jasper and I are both shaking, our cries blending together, echoing out into the night. I low growl escapes his throat as he drives himself into me one last time. And when I feel his thick cock beginning to pulse inside of me, the pleasure comes crashing down over me like an avalanche. My body spams, my pussy gripping his cock hard and tight. As I feel the rush of his warm seed filling me up, I scream out his name, digging my nails hard into his shoulders. Jasper throws his own head back, crying out as he shoots his warm load deep inside of me.

Together, we cling to one another, our bodies hot against the cold of the night. Our breath comes out in thick plumes of steam and the glow of ecstasy envelops us as we ride out the last few waves of pleasure. Together.

I lean forward, pressing our foreheads together and gaze into his bottomless, soulful eyes and feel my heart swell to the point of bursting.

“I love you with everything in me,” I say.

“And I love you with everything in me,” he replies.

With snow flurries drifting to the ground around us, the chilly air upon my skin, I've never felt happier or more hopeful for the future than I do right now. I lean forward and place a soft kiss upon his lips and then smile.

“Merry Christmas, Jasper Neville.”

THE END