“Merry Christmas.”
My eyes open as Declan kisses my neck, making me smile despite the early morning sunlight filtering into the room. I’ve never been so excited to be up this early.
I’ve also never been this excited for Christmas.
This is the first Christmas in twenty years I’m going to spend with people who love me and genuinely want to be with me. It’s my first Christmas with family. It’s my first Christmas at home.
That alone is worth celebrating.
But first. . .
I roll over, intent on doing a little “celebrating” of my own before I have to start cooking for tonight. I’m going all out since I missed Thanksgiving. Ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, pies, rolls—I’m doing it all.
I kind of have to, since Declan’s been bragging to his dad about my mad cooking skills.
Declan’s smiling down at me, his hair crazy from sleep, and—oh, God, the dimples. . . The dimples are in full force this morning.
That grin of his is infectious and has my mouth curving into a smile as I scoot closer, running my hand down his abs.
We’re both still naked from last night. In fact, we’ve gotten into the habit of sleeping naked every night this past week, ever since his rematch with Kerrigan and the explosive sex that followed it.
Our dry spell is officially over, and it’s ah-mazing. We’re like rabbits that just woke up from a coma, making up for lost time.
We literally can’t get enough of each other. In the bed, on the floor, on the couch, in the shower—hell, one time we did it on the kitchen counter. I even got him to take me from behind last night.
He was hesitant at first, but after I offered to use my vibrator on my clit while we did it, he was game, so long as we did it in front of a mirror. He wanted to see my face while he fucked me, to make sure I was okay the whole time.
And I was.
Deciding to include the mirror was genius of him. Not once did I have any negative flashbacks, because I could see Declan’s face the whole time. I knew it was him touching me, gripping me, moving inside me.
I loved it. My bossy, dirty-talking Declan is back and every filthy second of it has been phenomenal.
Declan’s breath catches, his dimples deepening as I touch his cock.
“Again?” he asks.
It’s been our favorite word this week. Along with “harder” and “faster.”
I nod, feeling him harden in my hand with every stroke. Smiling up at him, my lips brush his in a teasing kiss. “Deck my halls, Declan.”
He throws his head back and laughs. “If you insist.”
I move the covers away, about to climb on top of him, when my eye catches something on my hand.
Something shiny.
And big.
I freeze, holding up my left hand as I gape at the sparkly cushion-cut diamond on my ring finger. The tiny diamonds in the halo setting make it seem dainty, even though this rock could easily sink the Titanic.
Slack-jawed, I glance back up at Declan. “What the hell is this?”
“That’s your engagement ring.”
“I can see that,” I say slowly. “Why is it on my finger?”
He reaches between us and taps my nose. “Because we’re engaged, silly.”
Uh, since when?
A laugh tumbles out of me. “I’m sorry, did I sleep through your proposal? Because that doesn’t count. You have to ask me while I’m awake.”
“I’m not asking you at all.”
Wait, what?
I frown, trying to wrap my head around his logic. “You’re not asking me to marry you,” I reiterate. Then why did he say we’re engaged? And what’s with the giant rock on my finger?
A ghost of a smile lifts his lips. “Nope. Asking would imply there’s a chance you could say no. So I’m not asking. I’m telling you to marry me.”
The line from our second date pops into my head, and I smile. This proposal is totally befitting my beautiful, cocky, tattooed fighter. And I wouldn’t want it any other way.
He threads his fingers through mine, glancing down at the ring. “My Pops used to tell me that if I started a fight, I’d better damn well win. He said there’s no shame in walking away from a fight, but there’s shame in letting your mouth write checks your ass can’t cash. I took his advice to heart and haven’t taken on a fight I knew I couldn’t win.”
Declan’s eyes meet mine. “That’s why I never fought the spark between us. I knew it was one fight I’d lose. I also knew it was the one fight I couldn’t walk away from.” The corner of his mouth kicks up as he cups my face, brushing my lip with his thumb. His touch feels electric and makes my whole body hum. “Even then, you had your claws in me, Kitten. So my only option was to change the game. Instead of trying to fight my feelings, I decided to make you mine. You were my opponent. Your heart was the prize. And like I said before, I’ve never lost a fight.”
Flippin’ crazy.
My chest tightens not only at his words, but also at the way he’s looking at me right now. This man fucking loves me, flaws and all. I see it written all over his face, and I see it in everything he does.
I press a kiss to the pad of his thumb. “Thank you for fighting for me.”
“Thank you for giving me something worth fighting for.”
God, this boy and his words. . .
I pull him toward me and kiss him, eager to show him just how much I love him, when he pulls back.
“Wait.” Declan climbs out of bed, saying, “Before we get sidetracked, let me give you your Christmas present.”
“There’s more?” I sit up, enjoying the view as Declan struts into the closet, naked. “Babe, you didn’t have to get me anything else. Seriously. This is already above and beyond.”
“I did have to get you this,” he calls out from the closet. “And it’s not just for you. It’s for all three of us.”
All three of us?
I frown, trying to think of what he possibly could’ve gotten for all three of us that’s small enough to hide in the closet. Because I dang sure didn’t see any presents in there.
He comes out a second later, wearing sweatpants and a hoodie. He’s holding a small, rectangular gift box in one hand, and my clothes in the other.
My confusion only grows when he hands me the clothes first.
What the hell does he have planned?
Whatever it is, it’s the complete opposite of how I thought we’d spend the morning, which was naked and sweaty.
I eye him suspiciously, taking my yoga pants and sweater. “Can you grab me some underwear?” I ask, climbing out of bed.
“You won’t be needing those.”
Declan never thinks I need them.
I roll my eyes and shoot him a look, which makes him laugh.
“I mean it,” he says. “We’re not going anywhere. I mean, we can, if you want to. But I hadn’t planned on it.” He frowns. “Although you might want to,” he says to himself, as if he’s coming to some sort of realization.
Again, what the hell?
I’m standing here, naked, with my clothes in my hand. The suspense is killing me and I’m starting to get impatient. “Do I need underwear or not?”
Declan opens my underwear drawer and tosses me a pair of panties and a bra. “Just in case.”
When I’m finally dressed, Declan hands me the red gift box. It has a big white bow in the center of the lid. The box feels light. I’m tempted to shake it and see if it rattles.
What would the baby need that could fit inside this tiny thing?
I take off the lid and sitting inside on fluffy, cotton padding is a key fob emblazoned with the Land Rover logo.
My brows furrow as I lift it out of the box.
Is this. . .? Did he. . .?
When I glance up at Declan, his smile confirms everything.
“You didn’t pick one out, so. . .” He shrugs unapologetically.
I take off running through the apartment to the front door and throw it open. Stepping onto the landing, I peer over the rail to the parking lot below. Parked next to Declan’s ’67 Impala is a sleek, black SUV.
That was definitely not here yesterday evening.
Declan appears beside me a moment later with a second key fob in his hand. With the push of a button, the car purrs to life and my whole face lights up.
A car with remote startup will come in so handy this winter. And next winter, when I’m lugging around our little midget.
I turn to Declan as fifty different emotions flit through me. Tears burn my eyes, but I’m smiling so wide my cheeks might split. “That doesn’t look used.”
He laughs and shrugs. “It’s not.”
That beautiful, thoughtful, generous bastard. I love him so fucking much.
I throw my arms around him, hugging him fiercely as tears spill down my face. I don’t know what I did to deserve this man and his kindness, but I will be forever thankful that I walked into his gym on that fateful day, because it changed my life.
Declan changed my life.
He saved me, when I didn’t even know I needed saving.
I let him go, wiping my eyes. “You set the bar too high. All I got you were stupid handcuffs.”
Declan grins. “That’s exactly what I wanted, Kitten.”