Gabriela’s frown eased. “He told you that?”
Her daughter nodded. “I don’t think he’s scary. I still want him for my dad.” She grinned and leaned closer to Gabriela. “I’ll be the only kid in school with a demon dad.”
Gabriela laughed; her little girl was hopeless. “He’s not a demon. And not your dad.”
Yet.
She caught her bottom lip with her teeth. Broxen wasn’t Ana’s father yet, but…Gabriela wanted him to be. Even with today’s revelation. It hadn’t changed what she felt for him.
I want you for my mate, and I want Ana to be my kit.
Though it wasn’t loud, a rustling sound at the front door made Gabriela start. She looked that way to see the top of the tree jutting in through the doorway. Broxen ducked and stepped across the threshold, carrying the tree in fully. His footfalls were heavy on the floor.
He was tall enough that he had to duck through most doorways, but now Gabby recognized what she’d seen but never questioned—he always dipped his head quite a bit lower than seemed necessary. She had simply assumed it was one of those better safe than sorry situations, that he’d hit his head a few too many times to want to chance it anymore, but now she knew it was because he had horns.
You were supposed to get something to stand the tree in.
“Oh. Sorry, Broxen.” Gabriela gave her daughter’s knee a gentle squeeze and pushed herself to her feet. She hurried into the kitchen to search the cabinets for a large, sturdy bowl, though she wasn’t sure if that would work. While she was kneeling to check under the kitchen sink, she recalled the bucket she’d seen in the laundry room.
“One sec!” Gabriela closed the cabinet, stood up, and jogged the short distance into the laundry room. She retrieved the plastic bucket from the corner, filled it partially in the deep sink, and hefted it out into the living room.
Broxen was standing just inside the front door, holding the five-foot-tall tree nonchalantly.
Even if it didn’t seem to be a burden to him, Gabriela felt bad making him stand and wait. But that made her wonder…how strong was he? He’d flung that mountain lion away like it had been a rag doll, and that thing had to have been over a hundred pounds, and every time he’d lifted her he’d done so like she was weightless.
“Where do we want it?” she asked, shifting the bucket to her front to grasp the handle with both hands.
Broxen turned his head, running his gaze across the living room and dining room, but before he could offer a response, Ana hopped down from the sofa and ran to the carved bear in the corner.
“Here,” she said. “Next to the bear.”
“Fine with me,” Broxen said, meeting Gabriela’s gaze.
Gabby swallowed thickly. She quickly looked away and carried the bucket to the spot Ana had indicated. “I’ll get your lunch ready. How’s a peanut butter, banana, and honey sandwich sound?”
“Good. Can I have chocolate milk, too?” Ana asked.
“Yep.”
She cast a glance back at Broxen before she made her way into the kitchen. As she took out all the items needed to put the sandwich together, she listened to the soft rustling of the tree as Ana and Broxen discussed how best to stand it.
“This side is fuller,” Ana said. “Turn it this way.”
“Like this?” Broxen asked.
“Well…now it’s leaning.”
“It’s going to lean. It’s standing in a bucket.”
“But that makes it look tired.”
“It’s had a rough day.”
“You’re right. Mom, is there like…a spa day for trees or something?”
Gabriela’s shoulders shook as she tried to hold in her laughter. “Maybe. We’ll…give it an aspirin.”
“Do trees get headaches?” Broxen asked, clearly confused.
“It’s supposed to help with the…water flow?” Gabriela’s brow furrowed as she spread peanut butter on a slice of bread. “You know, I’m not really sure, but they always tell you to do it when you go to tree lots.”
“Are we going to make ornaments?” Ana asked. “I think it’d be happier if it wasn’t naked.”
“It’s not naked,” Broxen said. “It has all these prickly things. Needles.”
“It’s supposed to be a Christmas tree. We have to dress it up. You wouldn’t go out to dinner in your underwear, right?”
Broxen huffed. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Just trust me, okay?”
“Why don’t you draw and color some ornaments, and we’ll cut them out to hang on the tree?” Gabby suggested as she placed banana slices atop the peanut-buttered bread.
“Okay!”
Gabriela squeezed some honey onto the banana and peanut butter and put the two pieces of bread together. She cut the sandwich in half down the middle—because Ana was particular about which way her sandwiches were cut—and mixed a cup of chocolate milk. Picking up the plate and cup, she made her way into the living room.
Ana was already sitting at the coffee table with a stack of paper and her box of canyons, TV turned on to a kids’ arts and crafts video. Gabriela set the plate and cup down on the table.
Ana looked up from her drawing and smiled. “Thanks, Mom.”
Gabriela returned the smile. “You’re welcome.”
When she straightened, she turned her attention to Broxen. He’d removed his coat and boots, and was standing by the tree, watching Gabby and Ana. When he met her gaze, there was something in his eyes—a hesitance, a longing, a hint of sadness.
She was putting distance between them, and he felt it.
He didn’t take his eyes off Gabriela as she walked over to him. Reaching out, she slipped her hand into his and stepped back, giving his arm a tug.
Broxen didn’t resist. Gabriela led him into the bedroom, where she guided him to move in front of her so she could close the door. For a couple seconds, she stood facing the door, steeling herself. She had no idea what she was about to learn. No idea how she’d managed to remain calm through the drive home, no idea how she was calm now.
But when she turned toward Broxen and looked up at him, she saw the same man who’d moved into this house a year before. The same man who’d always been so kind, who’d always helped when he could, who’d always been there when they needed him.
The same man who’d said he wanted her as his own.
“Can you…remove it?” she asked.
Vague as that request had been, he understood. That strange, hex pattern coursed over him again, fading rapidly hex-by-hex to reveal the true Broxen, to reveal his red skin and his beautiful, glowing, inhuman eyes. This time, she felt no fear, no uncertainty, no confusion. Only curiosity. Only…fascination.
Gabriela ran her eyes over him, taking him in. He had been a gorgeous man in his human form, but strangely, she was finding this new look…more appealing. If anything, she found this Broxen sexier.
“Were you ever going to tell us?” she asked. “Were you going to tell me before…before we…” Heat flooded her cheeks as she once again thought back to that morning, to him lying atop her, grinding against her pussy.
He lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck, briefly offering her a glimpse of his claws. “Yes. Eventually. After what you’ve been through, I didn’t want to scare you.”