Russ had bought the property off of Ian, cleared the original house off the foundation, and made himself a new home shortly after retiring from the military. Our home was modest, but I loved it. I loved the man who had built it with his own bare hands, too. Two bedrooms, a bath, kitchen, dining room, and den made up humble living quarters for our family of three. It was an honest to goodness log cabin tucked away at the edge of a huge lot.
Trigger, our dog, bounded over to greet us with a few loud barks. Russ used to be the handler for the huge German Shepherd when they were both active duty soldiers in the Army, but now they enjoyed retired life.
“Hey there, boy. Who’s a good boy?” I asked, giggling as he danced around in front of me for attention.
God, the time is passing so quickly, I thought as I rubbed his dark cheek. Stray hairs of silver stood out on our dog’s chin that weren’t there when Russ and I first began to date.
“You mind getting the stand ready and clearing a spot for me?” Russ asked. “I wanna get the trunk leveled and trim the branches down first.”
“Sure,” I replied. I stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek then bounded inside with Trigger on my heels. Once I shrugged out of my jacket, I punched the start button on the coffee brewer for Russ and boiled water to enjoy a cup of tea.
Then I cleaned, rearranging the living room, gathering up toys from the floor, and tidying up the general mess accumulated over time by a couple with a small child.
Thirty minutes later, Russ brought our tree to its new home in the living room.
“See? Exactly like I said — perfect.” I filled the holder with fresh water. Russ helped me to my feet and we both admired our tree. Add some ornaments, tinsel, and lights, and it would be the best Christmas tree in Quickdraw. The best tree, because we’d found it together.
Russ snuck up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. “Sure is. It’ll be pretty as a picture when we’re done with it. But I think decking out the tree can wait a little bit. I’d rather undress you.”
“Feeling a bit randy, are we?”
“What?” He tugged my shirt out from my jeans and skimmed his fingers over my belly. “You got to see me naked. Fair is fair.”
I twisted around in his arms, butterflies in my stomach. All it took was a touch from my husband to set my every nerve aflame. Each time we made love was like the first time — wild and animalistic, raw passion. The sparks never died between us. My tummy tensed as an electric tingle slid down my spine, the sensation ending between my thighs. I squirmed, rubbing them together, anxious to dampen the increasing desire pooling in my core.
“Mm… I’m so glad you’re home, Russ,” I whispered against his mouth.
Distance truly did make the heart grow fonder. Russ had been gone since two days after Black Friday, leaving me and our son alone for nearly two weeks while he, Ian, and the rest of their squad completed a top secret mission in Russia.
I’d hated it when he left, but he’d assured me his role was imperative to the safety of the rest of their team, so I had no choice but to grin and bear it, counting down the days until their return. He was their Russian linguist, after all.
“I missed you so much, Dani.”
He unsnapped my jeans and rolled the clinging fabric down my legs. I trembled with anticipation as his warm breath kissed over my thighs.
A tiny squeak left me when his lips grazed over my mound and playfully flicked the cotton strip covering my pussy. The fabric was wet already.
I stepped out of the jeans and kicked them aside as Russ straightened up. One touch from my hand confirmed he was rock hard, the thick girth beneath my fingers guarded by a tough layer of denim. Since his return from abroad, no amount of sex seemed to make up for the separation.
Russ shoved me against the wall and hoisted me up without even grunting. I felt weightless in his arms, light as a feather. I giggled when his mouth skimmed over my throat, then he breathed me in, inhaling my scent and driving me wild with the low growl he made. It was like a shock of electric current over the hardening tip of each breast, making my nipples unbearably sensitive to the circling of his fingers over my full bosom.
And of course, the doorbell chimed as my husband opened his jeans. Seconds later, another melodic bell rang through our home and tore the wind from my sails.
“Crap.” I sagged back against the wall and sighed, needing more than a visitor to discourage the heat pulsing in my core.
“Goddammit,” Russ complained with me.
“That’ll be Sasha with the baby,” I murmured to him. I ran my fingers through his mussed hair then sighed.
I loved my boy, but he had a way of interrupting us even when he wasn’t technically in the house!
Russ let me down to my feet and glanced over my naked legs. “Maybe I should answer the door.
I tapped him on the prominent bulge advertising his erection. “You’re no better off than I am. Maybe not this time.”
He grunted at me and ambled off to have a few drinks from his coffee mug while I wiggled into my jeans and fastened them. The bell chimed a third time and childish giggles filtered through the door.
Our childless friends took turns stealing our toddler and taking him on day-long adventures. Today it had been Sasha, another member of the shapeshifting squad. She was a blonde with an athletic build suitable for tennis or women’s triathlons. I used to envy her until I became comfortable in my own skin. Now she was one of the women I could count on whenever I needed a moment of R&R from being a mom. My relationship with Russ had surrounded me with great people.
A second family.
I opened the door to find her on the porch with Mateo in her arms. He had a big grin on his face, sticky cheeks, and a blue tongue colored by whatever she’d given him.
“Hi, Dani!” Sasha chirped.
“Mama!”
“Hey, girl. Oh, there’s my baby. Come here,” I cooed as he stretched out to return to me. I took him into my arms and hugged him tight. “How was he?”
“He was great. We went to the zoo together then stopped at Three Spoons for little frozen yogurt cups.”
“I can see.” Mateo touched my cheeks with one of his hands. I kissed his face. “Thanks for taking him while we got the tree in order.”
“Oh, it’s no problem. Any time,” Sasha assured me. “Anyway, I better go. Bye, Russ!”
“What, you gone already?” Russ asked. He stepped up behind me, which prompted Mateo to abandon me for his father.
“Yup. I’m gone. I have a date with a new doctor so…” She smiled uncertainly.
My brows raised. “A doctor from your hospital? Doesn’t that court workplace drama?”
“Oh, no. He works at another hospital in the medical center. New doctor, as in fresh out of his residency. Doesn’t believe I’m a day over thirty,” she said while chuckling. “I feel like I’m robbing the cradle.”
“I thought you were a lioness, not a cougar. Anyway, good luck with him.”
We hugged and Sasha jogged down the stone path to her Corvette. I watched the lioness shifter drive her sporty little red car away and prayed quietly for her.
“Do you think she’ll find her special mate soon?” I asked.
“I hope so. She’s been waiting as long as the rest of us.”
“Well, half your team is settled now. I mean, what are the odds?”
Russ chuckled. “Some shifters go their entire lives without ever finding their forever mate, darlin’. I was lucky twice. And you know Ian’s practically ancient. Poor Leigh is lucky he still has some get-up-and-go in his bones.”
I swatted him. “You’re horrible. None of you look your age anyway. I wouldn’t think Ian was a day over forty.”
“Hey, he’s the one fussing about his silvering hair.”
I ran my thumb over his chin. “Ian is a bald eagle shifter, he’s lucky it’s the white color and not literal baldness he inherited from his animal form. Besides, he’s not the only silvering one, because you and Trigger
look awfully similar these days,” I teased, referring to his gray whiskers.
Mateo giggled and copied my movements, patting his father’s stubbly jaw. Russ rolled his eyes and carried our son to the bathroom to clean him up. While he handled parental duties, I set out the decoration boxes near the tree.
My two favorite boys returned a few minutes later with shiny clean faces. I stared at Russ’ smooth shaven jaw and tried not to laugh.
“No more sticky cheeks, just the way I like you,” I said as I scooped Mateo up and peppered his chubby cheeks with kisses. His warm, sweet laughter filled the room. With a final, exaggerated smooch on his nose, I set him down on the couch.
“Lights first. I have white and multicolored.”
Russ and I spent the next fifteen minutes stringing twinkle lights around the tree while Mateo clapped and tried unsuccessfully to name the various colors. He gave up, bored with the game, and turned his attentions on his toys.
I stole a glance at the man beside me. “So what do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas?”
Russ crouched beside a box of ornaments and shrugged. “Got everything I need.”
“I didn’t ask what you needed, silly. I asked what you wanted. There’s less than ten days until Christmas and I feel like I never find you anything good to go under the tree that doesn’t fire ammunition.”
“Guns are great. I like ‘em.”
“But I always get you guns, and I want to get you something you love.”
He grunted and rose with a few ribbons of gold and silver tinsel. “You and Mateo are more than enough. And Trigger.” He glanced at his dog. Trigger had plopped down on the couch to patiently let Mateo crawl all over him.
“Trigger really loves him,” Russ commented. The corners of his mouth raised into a gentle smile, its appearance and his fresh shave lifting years from his face. “My dad used to say every little boy deserves a dog.”
“My dad thought so, too, but we never had dogs growing up.”
“Why not?”
“He didn’t have boys, silly. Daddy bought us cats instead,” I said, chuckling. “My dad’s weird and old-fashioned. Anyway, cats are what I grew up with and loved. I miss having one.”
“It’s a shame Trigger won’t be around forever for Mateo.”
A somber mood threatened to overshadow our decorating session until I snuck away and swooped back into the room with snacks for the boys.
Russ had given me an amazing idea, and I had a crazy, irresponsible kind of plan.
— — —
“Will she be weaned and ready to leave her mother by Christmas Eve?” I asked, practicing my poker face. I didn’t want to appear too eager, or worse, creepy, like I had an ulterior motive to purchasing one of her babies.
A small brown and black fuzzball sniffed my boots and gnawed on the laces. Trigger remained at my side, sitting still as a statue despite the young shepherd investigating the pair of us.
I had spent days torturing myself over whether to visit a rescue or to find a reputable breeder. In the end, I decided we’d benefit the most with a puppy to grow older with Mateo. Trigger wasn’t young; if we were fortunate, we’d have another four to five years with him.
My chosen breeder lived on a sprawling farm located a half hour from San Antonio. Along with raising German Shepherds, she also ran a rescue and fostered mixes of the breed in her spare time. I’d considered adopting one of the older shepherds, and I thought I would wrangle Russ over to return after New Year’s if he enjoyed our new puppy.
We could manage three dogs, couldn’t we?
“Actually, these three are weaned, but I’d like to hold on to them for another week or two for socialization,” Melissa said. The breeder was a kind woman who appeared to genuinely love the animals in her care, and that meant a world of difference to me.
“That’s great.”
“Normally, I don’t adopt the babies to new homes around this time of the year because of impulse Christmas buyers, but I understand your situation is a little unique. You say Trigger was a bomb dog?”
“Yes. He’s trained to locate IEDs, but these days his biggest responsibility is looking after our son and keeping him out of trouble. I understand if you’d like to hold off, or take a deposit only until after the holidays, but I’d really love to have her while we’re all home from work to bond.”
Melissa didn’t answer me right away. Her lips pursed, a thoughtful expression worn on her plump face. “He’s remarkably well behaved.” She crouched down in front of Trigger and offered him her hand. Instead of sniffing it, he placed his paw over her palm and gave her a canine grin.
In less than a half hour, he won the breeder over with his sweet behavior, I’d written a check for a deposit from my personal account, and we were on the long road home from San Antonio.
“Now remember, boy, you’ve got to keep our secret.”
Trigger answered with a single, soft woof.
“Good boy. Now to keep our cover, let’s go get you groomed. You can come home smelling like gingerbread. I hear it’s their special seasonal fragrance.”
In the backseat, Trigger whined.
“Oh fine then, no gingerbread. Mateo would only slobber on you anyway.”
Trigger and I finished our day out with a visit to the groomers and a walk through the store afterward. We picked up a few pet-worthy treats and supplies for our Christmas puppy, which I wisely tucked away at my old bank office with my friend Laura.
Everything was shaping up for the perfect holiday surprise.
TWO
Christmas Eve
Dani
I wanted to make our Christmas Eve a night Russ wouldn’t forget any time soon. I primped and preened in front of the mirror a few times while Jada styled Leigh’s hair with curling irons. We’d coordinated our outfits, wearing sexy holiday-themed sweater dresses with tightly clinging bodices.
Leigh had no qualms about kicking her husband out of their bedroom, and the three of us had taken it over to plan and do last minute gift-wrapping together. She served us generous glasses of wine as I helped her catch up on wrapping her little girl’s presents.
After setting another box aside, I tucked a lock of dark hair behind my ear and studied my reflection again at Leigh’s vanity table. “Do you think the elf ears are a little much?” I asked.
She and her hubby shared a gorgeous, spacious room, and it used to be mine a few years back when I rented Ian’s place. Enormous sliding glass doors let out onto a second floor balcony where Ian liked to perch in his eagle form — a new addition to my old home along with a fresh coat of pale peach paint with white trim.
“Pffft, no. Elf ears are never too much,” Leigh said with a laugh. She twisted around in the seat to admire the loose, golden spirals resting over her shoulders.
“Sasha’s on the way,” Ian called through the door. “Russ and I are gonna go pick up Gram for the party.”
“Drive safe!” I called back. “They said there might be frost tonight.”
Leigh pranced to the door and cracked it open enough to steal a kiss. “Love you, hon.”
“You three are behaving awfully hush-hush.” Ian’s stance shifted in an effort to see through the narrow space. “What’s goin’ on in here?”
“We’re all naked and oiling each other,” Jada cracked.
Ian paused for a moment. “Nobody invited me.” The faux offense in his voice made Leigh giggle.
“You should have said we were waxing,” I whispered to her. “He would have rushed away then after all the plucked chicken cracks the guys have been making at him.”
“I heard that,” Ian said. “All right. Fine. Guess we’ll take Sophia and Mateo with us, so try not to burn the house down while we’re gone.”
Once he was gone, we exhaled sighs of relief and returned to our gift chatter. “How’s the puppy doing at your place?” I asked Jada. Leigh circled around to refill my wine glass, then she lit a scented candle, filling the room with the fragrant aroma of g
ingerbread cookies.
“She won’t leave Taylor alone. She chases him through the house nibbling his feet and pants legs all day. He’s never been much of a dog person, so he doesn’t know what to do with her.” She grinned. “It’s been great.”
The visual amused me too much, and a chortle of laughter caused a little moscato to go down the wrong pipe. I coughed until heat suffused my cheeks and Leigh arrived to pat me on the back.
“I still can’t believe you bought him a puppy. It’ll be good for Trigger, too,” Leigh said.
I chuckled. “If she doesn’t wear the poor guy out. She has a lot of energy.”
“Guys?” Sasha called from the foot of the stairs. “I passed Ian in the driveway.”
“Come on up!” Leigh answered.
Sasha knocked on the bedroom door before she peeked in. Leigh waited in ambush and snagged the lioness by the arm, pulling her inside. I passed her a glass of sweet wine.
“Wow, you girls look great.”
“So do you!” Leigh exclaimed. Sasha had donned a gold top under a dark green drape front cardigan, paired with skinny jeans and beige ankle boots. “I love your new haircut! The bob suits you.”
Ian and Leigh made the ideal match, her bubbly and open nature well-suited to his benevolent personality. It wasn’t possible to ask for too much from either of them. And she was always full of compliments.
Sasha set a giant tote bag on the bed and spilled its contents over the comforter. “I already wrapped a few presents for you guys and placed them under the tree. Uh, then I ran out of paper.”
Jada laughed and stretched out another sheet of holiday gift paper. “We have plenty. Pass me that… Is that a box of ammo? What the hell?”
“What? Russ said he’s been looking for some. This shit was over ten dollars a round.”
We laughed a few moments longer about my husband’s obsession with ammo then returned to wrapping the loose gifts and applying festive labels. Everyone but me had given him some item related to a firearm. Even Ian and Leigh opted for gifting him a Browning M2, the expensive rifle so pricey my eyes almost bugged out of my head.
Sugar, Spice, and Shifters: A Touch of Holiday Magic Page 71
