“I am not,” he says in a tone that suggests he’s offended that I would think such a thing.
“Just making sure.” I smile, tracing my finger over his lips. “So, underneath the tree, huh?”
He smiles and wraps his arms around me, standing with me effortlessly in his grasp.
Laying me beneath the tree, he makes quick work of unwrapping me like his very own present. He explores every inch of my body with his mouth until I’m begging him to fuck me. Only when he knows I’m about to lose my mind does he sink inside me.
CHAPTER 33
AVA
“Get up, get up! Santa came!”I rustle Valen from where he snoozes like Sleeping Beauty beside me. I bounce on the bed, my excitement bleeding out of me.
I don’t care if I’m a grown woman—Christmas will always be exciting to me.
Normally he’s awake in the mornings, sometimes even absent from the bed, but our escapades last night must’ve done a number on him. I feel bad. It seems like every time we fuck lately, he has a harder time pulling himself back from the urge to seal the mating bond. We haven’t had a conversation about it since last time, but it’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him to just do it. I know he’s holding back for me, which is super sweet, but I think I’m ready for that next step. We’re inevitable, so why wait?
“Hmm?” Valen mumbles and shoves a pillow over his head, like a human male rudely awoken from his slumber.
I climb onto his lap, straddling him, and set my hands on his smooth, hard chest.
“Santa left presents under the tree! You have to get up.” I push him a little harder, but it’s like trying to move a boulder. Muscled abs flex underneath me, and I remember the sensation of running my fingers over the chiseled surface just last night.
One slitted brown eye peeks out at me from under the pillow, but he makes no move to get up.
“I seem to recall being in a similar position where you refused to get out of bed when I asked,” he rumbles and I roll my eyes.
“You wanted to watch the sunrise from the roof and it was early o’clock. I’m all good with watching the stars at night, but your girl is not a morning person,” I reason while shifting my weight to straddle his lean hips. His lips quirk up at myyour girlcomment and he tosses the pillow off his head. His brown hair is adorably rumpled.
Leaning down to pepper kisses on his bare chest, I preen at the way he shivers under my touch. “If you get up, I’ll make it worth your while after presents. One of them might even be something we’ll both enjoy,” I singsong and gasp as he stands more quickly than I can track and carries me out to the living room.
I laugh at his primal hold and the heat that now simmers in his eyes. Pom Pom yips at our entrance and zooms around the room like he too has been waiting to open gifts.
Last night, we cuddled on the couch in Christmas sweaters and had a classic movie marathon. My parents and I always had the tradition of opening a gift the night before Christmas, so I gave Valen one from my hidden stash. It was a small stack of books I thought he’d like to read, given his affinity for the library. I thought about getting him a Kindle, but he’s mentioned loving the feel of holding a physical book. One of thebooks may or may not have been a certain vampire book that shaped so many of us in the early 2000s because I wanted to see how he’d react.
I didn’t expect him to get me anything, but after I gave him the books, he disappeared for a second and returned with a pretty makeup bag with all of my favorites. He even included the perfume I was running low on. Knowing he paid such close attention to me made my heart happy.
“I still don’t understand this Santa Claus thing.” He opens a cabinet and grabs my favorite mug. He easily goes through the motions of making my favorite coffee, even adding the perfect amount of sugar and cream. “You tell human children a strange bearded man breaks into their house to leave gifts? Does that not terrify them?”
“No.” I shrug, sliding onto the stool as he passes me the cup. “It’s tradition. He’s nice and brings presents.”
He shakes his head. “I still do not understand.” I eye him and he corrects himself. “Idon’tunderstand.”
“Good job.” I lean over and kiss him. “We’ll watchThe Santa Clausemovies later and I’ll explain more, but come on, I want to open presents.”
Hopping off the stool, I scurry over to the tree. A small amount of coffee sloshes out of my mug and Pom Pom is quick to lap it up. Oops. The last thing we need is the energetic pup to be bouncing off the walls even more than he already does.
“There are more gifts here than there were last night,” Valen says accusingly, joining me on the floor.
“I went a little overboard,” I confess. “But it’s your first Christmas. You deserve to be spoiled.” He caught me sneaking out of the bedroom to place them last night but let me have my fun and didn’t try to ruin the surprise.
“You should not…” He shakes his head, rubbing absentmindedly at his jaw. “This is too much. I don’t deserve this.”
“Oh, Valen, baby.” I reach for his hand and squeeze. “You deserve this and so much more.”
He doesn’t look like he believes me. I’ll make it my mission to show this man—vampire—that he deserves the world. I find myself hugging him more often than not nowadays because I know he needs the reassurance.
“Here, open this one first.” I pass him a gift. I’ll save the best for last.
