“You look wonderful,” she said from where she was curled up on the sofa, cuddling with Binky.
“Cullen put your clothes out. Do you need help getting into them?”
Unknown to her, Cullen had ordered her a dress from the closest town. The top part was sleeveless, tight, and a deep blue color. But from the waist down it puffed out and the skirt part had a wintery Christmas scene on it, complete with Santa, sleigh, and reindeer. She absolutely loved it and was really sad she wouldn’t get to wear it.
“No, I’m fine.”
Marcus frowned. “Where’s Cullen?”
“Getting some air. Don’t worry, he said he would be back to take you.”
“To take me? Not us? Are you upset that he’s not coming to the party?” Marcus came over and sat next to her on the sofa. “It has nothing to do with you.”
“I know,” she told him with a smile. “I know about his mom dying. I know it’s not about me. I’m not upset with him. But I also don’t want to leave him here on his own, you know?”
“But you love Christmas.”
“I love Cullen more.”
“Aw, that’s so sweet. But kind of dumb too.”
“It is not.”
“It is too. You can’t give up something you love for Cullen. He would hate that. You have to come.”
“I don’t,” she said stubbornly.
Marcus narrowed his eyes at her. “Yeah, you do. So get your butt in those clothes.”
“You’re not the boss of me.”
Marcus let out a rude noise. “I’m older, remember?”
“Still not the boss of me, buddy. And I’m not going to the Christmas party.”
“And why aren’t you going?”
She jolted, then looked over at where Cullen walked into the room. How had she missed him coming in the door?
“I’m just going to put some more cologne on, but just so you know, she has some idea that she can’t celebrate Christmas anymore because you don’t like it.”
She stuck her tongue out at Marcus’s back as he closed the bathroom door.
“I’d put that tongue away before I put it to good use,” Cullen told her, making her blush. Walking in, he kneeled in front of her, putting his hands on her thighs. “Is Marcus right? Is that why you haven’t been wearing your headbands? Or humming Christmas carols to yourself?”
She bit her lip. “I don’t want you to be on your own on Christmas Eve. I know why Christmas is so hard for you and I don’t need any of it.”
“Yeah, you do.”
“Cullen—”
“No, listen to me. I want you to have this Christmas and every Christmas. And if we have kids, I want them to have magical Christmases like I did every year before my mom died. And what’s more, I want those magical Christmases too.”
“You do? But your mom…”
“Wouldn’t be happy with me for how I’ve shut everyone out for years. She would want me to live the life she didn’t get to have. And she would’ve loved you, Ivy. So much.” Leaning in, he kissed her gently. “So let’s get you dressed. Santa is waiting.”
“Can Binky come too?” she asked shyly.
“Of course. Although, has he been a good boy this year?”
She gasped. “Of course he has, Daddy.” She held Binky tight. “Don’t listen to him, Binky. I’m sure that you’ve been very good this year.”
Fifteen minutes later, they stepped into the decorated event room. Santa was already there, sitting on his chair and handing out presents to every Little who came up to him. People were chatting and smiling and kissing when they stepped under the mistletoe. Marcus moved toward the short line of Littles waiting, then turned back to her. “Aren’t you coming?”
She shook her head shyly. There wouldn’t be a present for her.
“Go,” Cullen urged her with a wink.
Still feeling a bit odd, she walked over with Marcus. As they waited, she looked back at Cullen, who was smiling at them both. Then he turned to talk to Sadie, who was next to him. She was the last in line and when it was her turn, she stepped up and sat carefully on Santa’s lap. She held onto Binky tight.
“Hello, Little Ivy. Have you been a good girl this year?” Santa asked.
“I’ve tried to be.”
“I’d say you have been since I have two gifts for you.” He reached in and held out a small box. She took hold of it. Then a far larger gift that was more difficult for her to hold.
“Here, let me help you, baby.”
She glanced up gratefully at Cullen as he took both gifts. “Now, what do you say to Santa?”
“Thank you, Santa.”
“You’re welcome, Little Ivy.”
As she walked away, she spotted Derek. He winked at her. She’d already told him that she couldn’t take the job, and he’d told her that there would always be a place on the Ranch for her if she needed it.
Much as she appreciated that, she knew she wouldn’t need it. Because she now had a home. With the man she loved with all her heart.
Sitting with Marcus on the floor, she grinned as he ripped off the paper, revealing a remote-controlled digger.
“Yes! Just what I wanted.”
“Open your gifts, baby girl,” Cullen urged.
Biting her lip, she attempted to rip off the paper. Suddenly, Cullen sat behind her, drawing her between his open legs. Reaching around her, he helped her rip off the paper. Inside was a box. She opened it and inside was a key.
“This is the key to our house,” Cullen explained. “Which is now also your house. I’ve added you to the deed. Should anything ever happen, you’ll always have somewhere to live and no-one will kick you out.”
“Th-thank you,” she told him, nearly crying at the gesture.
They ripped the paper off the bigger present and she gasped as she looked down at Bart. He’d been glued back together. Not perfectly. Not even close, but it was obvious that someone had taken the time and care to do the best that they could with what had been left of him.
“You did this?” She turned her head to ask Cullen.
“I helped,” Marcus said. “We did it in one of the rooms in the Littles’ wing while you were working. What do you think? I know it’s not perfect.”
“It is perfect,” she insisted. “It’s absolutely perfect, just like the two of you.” She leaned forward and kissed Marcus’s cheek before turning on her knees and hugging Cullen as tight as she could. “I have gifts for the two of you as well.” She struggled to stand and Cullen stood, then helped her up. “They’re in the storage room. I’ll be back.”
She’d hidden them there, knowing that there wasn’t anywhere she could hide them in their suite. And even if there was, Marcus would still probably find them.
When she returned to where they still sat, she handed Marcus his gift first. “I didn’t have a lot of time to find something, so I hope you like it.”
Nerves filled her as he frantically ripped into it.
“I hope it wasn’t fragile,” Cullen said dryly.
Marcus drew out a dark blue T-shirt with a picture of a yellow digger on the front.
“Keep calm and keep digging,” he said, running his finger over the front of the T-shirt. “I love it.”
She smiled as he hugged her tight.
Then she turned to Cullen and handed him the gift she’d bought for him. She’d had a bit of help with it. He drew out the leather belt which was coiled up.
“You trying to tell me something, baby girl,” he teased.
“What? No.”
“Jeez, you’re brave, buying him something he could use on your butt,” Marcus told her with a grin.
“Son of a nutcracker,” she muttered. “That’s not why I bought it. The inside has something on it.”
He uncoiled it and found what she’d had engraved on the back.
This Daddy belongs to Ivy. Now and forever.
“I love it, baby girl,” he told her, running his finger over the words.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Come here.” He drew her onto his lap and kissed her.
“That’s my cue to get lost,” Marcus said dryly.
Cullen drew back and frowned up at him as he rose. “Where are you going?”
“Take Ivy back to the suite and have a party for two. Don’t worry,” he said before Cullen could protest. “I’ll get someone to bring me back later like a good boy.”
Cullen still took the time to hunt down Nanny J and make sure that someone really would escort him back to their room. Marcus just rolled his eyes, smacked her cheek with a wet kiss, telling her not to do anything he wouldn’t do, then disappeared before she could retaliate.
Brat.
She grinned.
They waved good night at several people on their way back to their room. When Cullen stepped back to let her walk in first, she came to a sudden stop, gasping in delight. Someone had set up a small Christmas tree in the corner of the room. It wasn’t heavily decorated. But it did have some twinkling lights and a star at the top. Then she noticed Mr. Grumpy Face staring out of the Christmas tree at her.
“Mr. Grumpy Face, what are you doing in there?” she asked, stepping forward to check on the gnome. Then she whirled toward Cullen and spotted Gnomes Better sitting in an open bedside drawer. In fact, as she looked around, she saw all of her gnomes positioned around the room. She set Binky down on the bed as Cullen put her gifts under the tree.
“Who did this?”
“What do you mean?” he asked. “Clearly it was the gnomes. They must have set this all up.”
She just shook her head, then giggled. “Clever gnomes.”
“Very clever,” he said warmly as he stood and moved toward her. “You like what they did?”
“Oh yes, I like it a lot,” she murmured.
“Good.” He grabbed her hips, drawing her against him. “We’ve got an hour or so to ourselves, whatever shall we do?”
“Hmm, well, we could watch a Christmas movie.”
He lifted her onto the bed, then followed her down, pressing his hands onto the mattress on either side of her head. “We could. Or we could do something else. Something that involves stripping you naked and licking every inch of you.”
“Cullen!” she said with fake-shock. “Not in front of the gnomes.”
“Oh, I’m sure they’ve seen much worse.”
She smiled as he stripped her, kissing every inch of skin he revealed.
This was her own Christmas miracle. Her happy-ever-after.
Epilogue
Davis Richards could barely keep the gloating smile off his face as he walked through the law firm offices. Soon, he would be a partner. And he’d finally have the power and respect he deserved.
As soon as he’d gotten the call to come into Michael’s office, he’d known what it was about. Michael was one of the named partners, and Davis had just brought them a huge account. There was no way they wouldn’t make him a partner now. And it was about damn time. He’d worked his butt off over the years for this. At first, he’d thought it was Ivy holding him back. She wasn’t corporate enough, smart enough. But after he’d divorced her, he’d realized how much everyone liked her.
Nobody liked Angela.
But that didn’t matter, since she’d left him too. She was going to regret that when she heard he’d made partner.
Michael’s assistant waved him in. He opened the door and stepped in, shoulders back and chest out. Michael glanced up at him, nodding. That was when he noticed the other man standing there.
Davis walked over, hand held out. “Cullen, so good to see you. Are you here to finalize moving to our firm, then?”
“Actually, no,” Cullen said, ignoring his hand.
Davis frowned in confusion and dropped his hand. Every time he’d met with the other man, he’d been friendly if a bit cold. But Davis expected that from one of the top ten richest men in the country.
“Right. Can I help with something?”
Cullen turned to Michael. “I’m sorry we won’t be able to do business, Mr. Greigs.”
Michael frowned, glaring at Davis.
“What? Why not?” Davis asked, that happy glow fading as panic flooded him. “I thought it was a done deal.”
“It’s not done until the paperwork is signed,” Cullen stated as there was a knock and the door opened.
The cold billionaire’s face lightened as he looked over Davis’s shoulder at whoever was there. Confusion filled him as he turned and saw who stood there.
“I-Ivy?” he stuttered. “Why are you here? What do you want?”
She looked amazing. She was dressed in a blue dress and her hair lay in soft curls around her head. Had she always looked like that? So radiant? Happy?
“There you are, baby. Ready to go?” Cullen asked.
“Baby? What do you mean, baby?” Davis demanded.
Cullen held out his arm, and Ivy slipped her arm through it. Davis noted she wasn’t wearing gloves. He stared from her to Cullen as dread filled his stomach.
“Mr. Greigs, if you’d like to know the reason why I’m not moving my accounts to your firm, it’s because of Davis. He messed up. Big time. Good day.”
What…what was happening…had he just…had he ruined him? And why was he with Ivy?
“Davis, sit down,” Michael said in a cold voice. “I think it’s time we discussed your role in the firm.”
“Is it terrible that I felt pleasure in that?” Ivy asked as they stepped out into the underground parking lot.
She leaned against Cullen as he steered her toward the waiting town car. She knew that as long as he was here, she was safe. And loved.
“He deserved everything he got,” Cullen told her firmly. Stopping at the car, he turned her to him and leaned in to kiss her. “You’re happy?”
“I’m happy.”
He waved away the driver who’d gotten out to open the door. Cullen had hired Lee to drive her around. She also suspected that he doubled as a bodyguard. Lee was built. Really built and the way he held himself spoke of military training.
The past few months had been amazing. There had been some learning curves, of course. Cullen was very protective, and she had to be patient with him while making sure that he didn’t put her in a bubble to keep her safe. She’d been looking at enrolling in college again after deciding she wanted to pursue teaching as a career once more. Both Cullen and Marcus were behind her all the way. This was what it was like to be truly loved. And it was amazing.
Cullen opened the door and helped her into the back of the car. There was a partition between the front and back, giving them privacy. Cullen followed her in, doing up her belt before pressing the intercom button. “Head to The Grove, Lee.”
The Grove?
“We’re going shopping?”
“Yep,” he replied.
“I don’t need anything more, Cullen.” He and Marcus had gone a little crazy buying her stuff. Her side of the large walk-in-closet was full of clothes, shoes, and handbags. Then there was the room they’d turned into a playroom for her and Marcus.
“Who said we were going for you?” He sent her a teasing wink.
“I thought you had to go back to work?”
“I have some time.”
Cullen worked hard, but he always made time to spend with her.
“Thank you for what you did,” she said to him. “I wish I could do the same to your ex.” She frowned, thinking of that bitch.
“Raquel? Oh, don’t worry. Raquel is already living a very miserable life. After I broke things off with her, I made certain of that.” He sent her an evil smile.
God, she loved this man. She undid her seatbelt. She wanted to be close to him. She’d also recently read about this scene in a book she wouldn’t mind acting out.
“What are you doing?” he asked with a frown, reaching for her seatbelt. “You can’t undo your seatbelt. That’s not safe.”
She pouted. “But I wanted to suck you off in the car.”
His eyebr
ows rose. “Really? What brought this on?”
“I read about it the other day. And, well, is it weird that watching what you just did with Davis turned me on? Does that make me a terrible person?”
He buckled her in, then grabbed her chin lightly. “You could never be a terrible person. But you’re also not sucking me off in a moving car. You need to be belted in.”
“Daddy, I’ll be fine.”
“No. Do I need to get you a special seat? Hmm, maybe that isn’t a bad idea. I’ll have to see what’s available.”
“What? No, I don’t need a special seat.” What was he talking about? A baby seat?
Lord help her.
“Watching me turned you on, huh? Spread your legs. Did you do as you were told this morning?”
“Yes,” she breathed out, widening her thighs. Reaching over, he ran his hand up the inside of her leg to touch her bare pussy.
“No panties. Good girl. That means you get a reward.”
“I get to come?”
“When I give you permission.” He ran his finger up and down her slit. Over her clit.
Please. Please.
“You are nice and wet, aren’t you? Tilt your hips. That’s it.” He drove two fingers deep into her pussy, thrusting them in and out.
“Oh, please, Cullen. I need more.”
“Shh, I’m going to give you more. Just be a good girl and stay nice and still. That’s it.” Drawing his fingers out, he flicked her clit again.
Once. Twice.
She shuddered. “I need to come, please.”
“Not yet. You can wait a bit longer.”
She couldn’t. She really couldn’t.
His fingers thrust into her once more. He was killing her. So mean.
Then he pulled them out and firmly tapped her clit.
“Come for me, Ivy. That’s it. Good girl,” he praised as she shuddered through her orgasm. He lightly brought her down, then pulled his fingers free.
She looked over as he sucked on his fingers. “Yum.”
Ivy gave him a lazy grin. “Sure you don’t want some help with that, Daddy.” She nodded at his erection.
“Not yet. Later.”
He grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket. He’d probably put it there, knowing he was going to do this. Cullen loved planning things out.
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