"You going to stay for a while?" I run my fingers through his chest hair, not looking at his face as I try to pretend the question is light. It's not. We said a lot of I love yous and talked about how we wanted to be together last night, but we didn't talk about today and how'd we make all that happen.

"Nothing is getting me out of here." His hand comes to my face and he tilts it to make me look up at him. "Unless you want a bigger place. We can look into something else. I don't care where I am as long as I'm with you."

A giant smile breaks across my face. I just want to be with him, too. I love that he didn't even ask if he could stay here. He just is and that's that.

"I like the sound of that," I agree. We can iron out all those details later.

"We'll look more into it after we get married."

"Married?"

"Yeah, married, baby." He takes my lips in a soft kiss. "I can't wait to show you off. I'd be crazy if I didn't tie you to me as quick as possible. h.e.l.l, I'd do it today, but I'm guessing that would be mighty hard being as it's Valentine's Day."

"I completely forgot. I didn't get you anything." The holiday had kind of slipped my mind after he showed up. But it wasn't like I had plans today anyways.

"You got me everything, and I'm going to spend the rest of my life proving to you that I'm worthy of you."

My eyes fill with unshed tears.

"Oh, s.h.i.t, baby, don't cry." Gripping me under my arms, he pulls me so I'm straddling him.

"I'm the one unworthy of you. You've given me something I thought I could never have. Made me open up to life. Filled me with confidence."

"And I don't know what I would have done without you," he counters. "I had no plans. Nothing for when I was done with the Marines. I was a little lost. You found me, baby." He cups my face with both hands. "You showed me I had something when I was done. A home to return to."

"I love you so much."

"I love you, too, baby." He kisses me, still holding me in place. The kiss is sweet and lazy, and it makes me sigh into his mouth. I'm going to spend the rest of my life kissing this man...and doing so much more to him.

"Is that a yes?" he asks when he pulls his lips from mine.

"Yes!" I squeal, wiggling in his lap "Good, because my baby might already be growing inside you."

I'd thought about that last night, too. I'm smiling so big I think my face might crack in half.

"You like the sound of that?" He grabs my hips, stopping me from wiggling all over him. His c.o.c.k is already hard against my p.u.s.s.y.

"More than like," I admit.

He reaches over to the tray he placed on the bed and grabs something off it. When he hands it to me, I see it's an envelope, like all the others he's sent to me over the last year.

"Open it. There's something I've been wanting to tell you from the first letter you ever wrote me."

I take the letter from him, and his hands grips my hips again.

"I was afraid it would scare you away. Now I got my hands on you, I'll never let you go. It's time for you to see what I knew the day I got your first letter."

I open the envelope, pulling the letter out.

Only three words are written on the page.

PS You're mine.

Epilogue.

Mark

Twenty years later...

"You okay, baby?"

Katie nods next to me and sniffles a little as we watch our son graduate from Marine Corps basic training at Parris Island.

"It just happened so fast."

I hold her a little tighter as we watch the ceremony-one I'm all too familiar with. Michael has always been just as headstrong as I am, so when he said he wanted to enlist, the decision was made. I'm proud that he's decided to serve his country and see the world. I just think he'll always be our baby boy, and we can't see him as anything but a toddler.

"Just think, with the twins graduating high school next month and heading off to college, we're going to have the whole place to ourselves." I nuzzle her neck a little and manage to sneak a giggle out of her.

"OMG. Grody."

"Dad, we're right here. Vomit."

The girls, Daisy and Summer, roll their eyes and go back to watching their big brother graduate.

Pressing my lips to Katie's neck, I give her a soft kiss in the place she likes so much. I feel her shiver, and then I whisper against the skin there. "I got a letter yesterday before we left."

"Oh, you did?" Katie acts innocent, pretending not to know anything about it.

"Yes, I did. It's strange. After all these years, mysterious letters just keep popping up for both of us. Hmm. I wonder who could be sending them to you and to me. It's strange they don't sign them. They just write dirty fantasies."

I feel her giggle again, and the girls look back at us, giving us warning glares.

Katie leans over and whispers in my ear. "I think we should just do what they say, just in case. You know, for science."

I look into her eyes. She looks exactly the same as she did the first day I saw her. So beautiful and so perfect. She complains about her stretch marks and b.o.o.bs since the babies. She talks about finding wrinkles and covering up cellulite. But I don't ever see what she's talking about.

All I see-all I've ever seen when I've looked at my Katie-is my home. She's been the one since she sent me the first letter, and she's been mine ever since. So now when I put the postscript at the bottom of our letters, I tell her what I always wanted to say.

PS You're mine.

THE END.

Noelle's voice has captivated Alex, and she's become his greatest obsession. Since he hired her to read audiobooks, listening to her is the only thing that makes his lonely world bearable. Thank G.o.d she's never seen him. His scars would only scare her away.

Alex has starred in every fantasy Noelle's had since she first heard his voice over the phone, and reading erotica samples to him only fuels her desire. Listening to him on the other end of the phone is the best part of her day, and she's willing to do anything to please him.

On Christmas Eve a storm comes through, sending Noelle in search of her reclusive boss. Once she's at his cabin with no place to go, there's only one way to keep warm.

Warning: This is the sweetest, cheesiest, most Christma.s.sy book ever! It's filled with late-night confessions, dirty deeds, and a lifetime of love. If you love this time of year, I've got some cheer for you!

Copyright 2015 by Alexa Riley. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email to http://alexariley.com/ Publisher's Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author's imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, inst.i.tutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

Edited by Aquila Editing For everyone who has an inner Buddy The Elf... Happy Holidays!

Chapter 1.

Noelle

"'Please," she begged. "I need to feel you inside me now. It's been too long." Annabelle pleaded with Sam before taking matters into her own hands, grabbing his hard c.o.c.k and guiding it to her wet p.u.s.s.y. Wanting to make them whole once again, to never be apart from the only man she'd ever loved. Would ever love.

"I'll give you what you want. Just give me what I want," Sam demanded, pulling back just a little from her, the head of his c.o.c.k barely touching her opening. She knew what he wanted, and she was sick of fighting these feelings. She'd find a way to make them work, no matter how different their worlds were.

"I love you. Only you." She gave him the words he wanted because they were true. She knew it down to her soul.

Samuel thrust home into her welcoming body, his hard c.o.c.k just as hungry for her as he was."

The heavy breathing through the phone pulls me from my narration "Mr. Lockwood, are you okay?"

"Alex," he grunts, sounding irritated with me. "Say it."

"Alex," I whisper. He's been correcting me for months now, but for some reason I always still say 'Mr. Lockwood.' It reminds me of who he is-that he isn't a friend I'm talking to on the phone. He's a client and nothing more, no matter what my late-night fantasies tell me.

I hear a grunt, then the line goes quiet. I wonder if he's mad at me, and I inwardly curse myself. I had steady work before I started narrating books for his company, All for You, but with him offering me more and more projects, he's been my only client for well over two months now. It sounds silly, and I'm sure I can get more projects elsewhere, but I like working for him. He handles things a little differently than most clients I work with, but I like his way. Seems I like a lot of things about Alex, despite knowing very little about him.

The silence hangs in the air as I wait for him to speak again. His words do things to me. Things they shouldn't. I've somehow latched myself onto him recently. Waiting for our daily calls has now become a little bit of an obsession, one I'm sure my mother would tell me was just as unhealthy as my lack of a social life.

"Hmm," I mumble, trying to break the uncomfortable silence. I can't bear the tension, but all I hear is his heavy breathing, something that reminds me of the many erotica books I've read. The hero would breathlessly pant into the heroine's ear after a hard round of s.e.x. It's a sound I've never actually heard myself, but I find myself imagining what it would be like if Alex made the sound in my ear, his body on top of me.

"I think that's enough for today," he finally says, his deep voice rolling over my skin like a warm rough caress, like it always does when he speaks to me. If anyone one should be narrating a book, it's Alex. He has a voice like I've never heard before, and I've heard many in my line of work. Voices that are supposed to be the best aren't anything special compared to his.

"Okay, Mis- Alex," I correct myself quickly, once again making myself look like an incompetent fool who can't remember anything. "I'll have the Scott book sent over this afternoon. Just a few more touches and it will be finished. Then I'll start on this new one, if you liked the sample I just did."

Alex likes to do the samples over the phone and also likes to check in daily on my project status, something that's not normal with audio work. Almost everything could be done over email, but Alex says he likes to do it this way. For what he's paying me to voice audiobooks, I'm happy to jump through hoops for the projects. Okay, that's only partially true. I would jump through the hoops, but our phone calls mean more to me than just work.

Sometimes our calls dip into personal life, mainly about me and my life. Every now and then, I find myself rambling on, and he just listens. Maybe he's really polite and feels sorry for me for having to carry on conversations with someone who is virtually a stranger. Though he doesn't feel like a stranger anymore.

"That sounds perfect. I have a lot going on tomorrow, so I want this taken care of tonight and off both our to-do lists," he says, slipping back into business talk. It's crazy how he does that. Sometimes I wonder if maybe he has a crazy s.e.x life, because my narrations always seem to run on the dirty side and they never affect him.

I usually end up in a pile of goo when we we're done, with hard nipples and wet panties. We'd hang up and I'd have my hand down my pants before the line even cleared. It wasn't narrating the books that turned me on. I've been doing romance narrations for years. Normally I did them alone so no one would hear. But somehow, reading aloud to Alex has me beyond turned on. It could be that the pieces he selects for samples are always the dirtiest parts, or it could just be him.

I told myself it was because Alex was playing with me. I thought maybe he even had a little crush on me like I did him, but after time went on, he never seemed affected. He never tried to be more friendly to me like I was with him, and after a while I thought maybe I made it up in my head. My mother always told me I live too much inside myself, and it seemed to have happened again. I'd built something up in my mind that wasn't really there. Worse, the thought of not having this interaction anymore was terrifying in some weird way.

"Okay. I'll send the file right over." I try to keep my tone just as causal as his, but I'm still chewing on the fact that he has a lot going on tomorrow. It's Christmas, so I should expect him to be busy. All I have planned is a TV dinner and Netflix.

"Have a merry Christmas, Noelle."

"You too, Alex." I hit End on the call, promptly wanting to disconnect from him. I drop the phone onto my desk and bring up my emails. I want to go ahead and send the file, but my internet won't connect. After restarting the modem and my laptop, I make my way over to the window while everything reboots.

It really is a perfect Christmas Eve. Snow has already begun to fall, and the Christmas lights on my tree behind me reflect in the window. It's as if they're mocking me. My house is decorated like I'm hosting a Christmas party tomorrow. There isn't a spot that isn't covered in some kind of Christmas decoration. Why I do this to myself, I have no idea.

I'm an introvert and always have been. I made a couple of friends in college, always preferring to have my nose deep in a book. But since then they've dropped off one by one, slowly losing contact over time. No one wants to be friends with the girl who rarely leaves the house.

Who knows where my parents are this time of year. No one likes to travel more than they do. I still have no idea how I came from such social b.u.t.terflies. I like things small and intimate, and I always wanted to spend a Christmas like that with my parents. When I was a kid, my mom would go all out, kind of like I did in my own home, but she always filled the day with people I hardly knew.

It's almost laughable now. I hate how she'd do that, but now here I am in a house all made up for Christmas and not one soul to spend it with. I'm not sure which is worse.

My mind wanders back to Alex, wondering what his plans might be. Would he have a special person to spend his Christmas with? The thought sends an irrational surge of jealously through me.

Maybe I can come up with a reason to get in touch with him, or just call to wish him a merry Christmas. I chastise myself for the silly idea. Considering how fast he got off the phone moments ago, he probably has plans tonight.

Growling at myself, I pull my hair from my ponytail to relieve some of the tension I'm feeling.

Pull it together, I tell myself. I'll finish this project for Alex, get into my Christmas pajamas, eat those cookies I spent all day baking and decorating, and watch my favorite holiday movies. I will not let myself have a pity party.

Chapter 2.