“Christmas is all about kids. The first year I realized Santa wasn’t real, the magic went away. But … this is the first time I’ve felt it since I was a child. I’m excited they’re excited.”
Thane stared at me, his expression unreadable.
“What is it?” I repeated.
He shook his head and placed the gift bag down near the presents. I could see a couple of wrapped parcels inside.
“Where did that come from?”
Thane turned and winked at me. “Santa.”
“Are those for me?”
He grinned. “I couldn’t not buy you a Christmas present or two.”
Staring at them greedily, I whispered, “What are they?”
His soft laughter filled my ears as he wrapped his arms around my waist, drawing me back against his chest. “You’ll have to wait until the morning to find out like all the other good girls and boys.”
Desire flashed through me, sudden and intense, and I blamed my damn hormones and the utter irony of how turned on I got when I couldn’t do anything about it.
Well … I could do something about it.
Turning around his arms, I looped mine around his neck. “We’re done here. Time for bed.”
“Already?” He frowned. “You don’t want to sit for a bit?”
“I’m tired,” I lied.
His disappointment was adorable and made me feel all warm and fuzzy. I loved he wanted alone time with me, even when it wasn’t about sex. The stubborn man definitely cared about me. I just had to get him to admit it. But not during Christmas. The holiday was all about Eilidh and Lewis.
Taking the kids’ filled stockings upstairs, we crept into their rooms to drape them over the end of the beds as was tradition among the Adairs. I held my breath the entire time, afraid I’d wake them.
When we were done, Eilidh and Lewis none the wiser, we stopped outside Thane’s bedroom door, and he sighed before whispering, “I guess this is good night, then.”
Smirking, I pushed him through his bedroom door. “Not quite.”
Thane’s eyes lit up as he stumbled backward into the room. “I thought you couldn’t.”
I closed the door behind us and lowered myself to my knees in front of him. “I can’t … but that doesn’t mean I can’t give you an early Christmas present.”
“Fuck,” he muttered, his expression darkening with need as I unzipped him. “What did I do to deserve this?”
I couldn’t answer. I was too busy making his Christmas Eve extremely memorable.
Afterward, as Thane tried to catch his breath, exerted not just by my generous mouth but by the effort of being quiet, he pulled me to my feet and pushed me toward the bed. “You’re sleeping with me tonight.”
Shocked, I gaped at him. Since I’d moved into the house, Thane had always visited my bed at night and left after we made love. We’d not spent the night sleeping in each other’s arms since the morning after we’d made love all night. And even then, we’d only fallen asleep together out of pure exhaustion.
I suspected I knew why Thane never stayed the night with me, even though my insecurities wanted me to think he was using me. However, I didn’t believe that.
Not now.
Now that I knew how Fran died.
I suspected Thane was afraid to go to sleep with me in the bed with him because of how he’d found Fran. And that broke my freaking heart.
“Are you sure?” I tried to keep his hands at bay as he attempted to undress me, wanting to make certain he wasn’t pushing himself beyond the boundaries he’d needed for so long.
Emotion roiled in his gaze alongside a fierceness. “Yes.”
“The kids will wake up first, though.”
“They won’t. They’ve never woken up before seven on Christmas Day. You know they’re good sleepers. And I’ll wake you up early so you can slip out.”
“Thane—”
He kissed me, cutting me off, then murmured against my lips, “I just want to hold you.”
When he undressed me down to my underwear, no bra, I quirked an eyebrow, my heart pounding in my chest. “Really?”
Thane gave me that boyishly wicked smile as he pushed me onto the bed. “If I can’t be inside you, I can at least feel you naked against me.”
I huffed, but I really didn’t care. I wanted to fall asleep in his arms more than anything. “Will you set the alarm?”
“I will,” he promised.
By the time he got undressed, set the alarm, and climbed into bed beside me, I was giddy with anticipation. This, to me, was just as great as sex. His muscular arm pulled me back into his chest, and I hit his steely warmth. The hair on his legs tickled mine, and I curled my foot around his calf, entangling us. He buried his face in my neck, cupped my breast possessively, and relaxed completely into me.
Certain that he was okay about this, I relaxed too.
Pure contentment lulled me into a deep, deep sleep.
“Ree-Ree.”
I moaned as a familiar voice cut into my dreaming.
“Daddy?”
An arm laid heavily over my waist. I felt the tickle of Thane’s beard on my shoulder and the throb of his morning erection against my ass. I pushed into it with a moan.
“Ree-Ree, Daddy, wake up!”
I tensed and the arm around me tightened too.
No.
No, no, no.
“Santy’s been! Wake up!”
A tug at the duvet had my eyes flying open and my hand reached out to grab hold of it to keep it covering me and Thane.
Eilidh stood at my side of the bed, staring at me with those big, curious blue eyes. They danced with her inquisitive impatience. “Why are you in Daddy’s bed?”
“Fuck,” Thane muttered into my skin.
Think fast, think fast, think fast.
“Uh, well, I must have fallen asleep here waiting for Santa.”
Her eyes widened. “Did you miss him? ’Cause he’s been! He filled my stocking and there are lots of nice things in there I want to show you!”
I winced at her loudness but covered it with a smile. “Why don’t you go back into your room to wait for me and your dad? We’ll be right in.”
“But—”
“Eilidh-Bug …” Thane lifted his head from my shoulder. “Do as Regan says. Wait for us in your room, sweetheart.”
“Okay!” She began backing away. “But hurry, Daddy!”
Once the door slammed shut behind her, both of us jumped out of bed.
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.” I frantically pulled on my clothes.
“It’s fine,” Thane said, though his expression belied his calm. “She doesn’t understand what she saw, and she’s too excited to care or remember.”
“Are you sure?” I trembled as I pulled on my sweater.
“Positive.” He strode around the bed and put his hands on my shoulders. “Just act normal and she’ll forget about it.”
I nodded, but as I followed Thane out of the room, I feared I wouldn’t be able to pretend. It wasn’t just that I worried about Eilidh being confused by finding me in bed with her dad. I was angry and depressed that after everything that had passed between me and Thane, we were still sneaking around like we were doing something wrong.