11. Abigail

11

Abigail

A bigail was fuzzy with food and drink and the exhaustion of a long, amazing day, but couldn’t even think about sleeping. She couldn’t drag her eyes off her husband long enough to blink, let alone nap.

Opal and Hank had all but pushed them out of their home after they gave Jasper his birthday present: a night at one of the vacation cottages farther along the valley. Quiet, and remote, and just for the two of them.

They were there now. If Abigail had been capable of looking anywhere but at Jasper, she was sure she would have exclaimed over how adorable it was. She knew what these cottages were like: cozy and quaint and perfect.

But she didn’t need to look to know how perfect this was.

“Our friends and your sister got together to do this for us?” she asked as they walked up to the cottage.

“They did.”

“Those fiends. Don’t they know they’re meant to plan and scheme things like this?”

“I mean, this was definitely a scheme.”

“Just one that worked?”

“ Your scheme worked.” Jasper unlocked the front door. The room beyond was warm, the air scented with a hint of cinnamon. “You got me to stop stressing out about making Christmas the biggest and best ever.”

“Barely. At the last possible minute. Anyway, so did yours. Because I don’t know if you noticed, but we just had the best Christmas ever.”

“Did we?” He frowned adorably. “Because I feel like Christmas isn’t over yet.”

“It’s your birthday now.” She tugged him down for a kiss.

“Ohhh,” he murmured against her lips. “I see. And this is happy birthday for me?”

“ Yes ,” she said firmly. “And—”

Jasper pressed a finger against his lips. “I already know what I want for my birthday,” he said, and kneeled in front of her.

She laughed with surprise. “We haven’t even closed the door!”

“Close it, then,” he retorted, his voice muffled.

She scrambled to shut the door behind them and he wasted no time pushing her against it. She was wearing her outdoor clothes—and then she wasn’t, with a speed that made her wonder if Jasper had developed new magical powers.

“Shouldn’t we find the bedroom—”

“All in good time.”

He pulled her shoes off, then her pants and underwear, and buried his face between her legs. Her knees almost gave out. He huffed amusement and kissed her clit.

Sensation jolted through her. “Jasper!”

“I remember someone asking me to let them enjoy themselves the way they wanted.” He looked up at her, and the sight of his eyes dark with lust and love stole all the breath from her lungs. “Won’t you let me have my turn now?”

She nodded. She’d barely nodded when he picked up one of her legs and placed it over his shoulder. He nuzzled the inside of her thigh. “You’re right, though.”

“What am I right about?”

“We don’t have to rush. We have all the time we need. All this time just for us.” He kissed her thigh, slow and worshipful. “No need to rush.”

This time, when he put his mouth between her legs, he was so careful and controlled she almost collapsed from anticipation, not shock.

She eased back against the wall, trying not to let her legs shake.

“I should do this every day,” he muttered to himself in between licks. “Why don’t I do this every day?”

“L-life gets in the way?”

“Life needs to re-prioritize,” he declared, and then probably said a few more things. She wasn’t listening. She couldn’t listen. Her body had re-prioritized—all her senses to Jasper’s touch, and his mouth, and the little darts of lightning that coiled inside her with every suck and kiss. She ground herself against him, going on tip-toes to get the right angle, to open herself up to him so his tongue could dive deeper, his fingers could find—

She cried out as the coiled lightning inside her struck, again and again. She lost her balance but Jasper was waiting for that. He caught her, holding her tight in his arms until the last shuddering aftershock of orgasm relented and she slumped into his embrace.

He looked entirely too pleased with himself. She mock-scowled and jabbed him in the chest. “We barely got in the door!”

“I know. I’m terrible. I didn’t even take my boots off.”

“You didn’t—” Her eyes widened in actual outrage and he laughed out loud.

“But you’re right. We should be sensible about this.” He stood up, helping her get to her feet too, and then extravagantly wiped his mouth with a wicked glint in his eye. “We should explore the cottage, first. Make sure we know whether the heating controls are. Check to see if the fridge and pantry are stocked, or whether we need to call for delivery—”

“Absolutely not,” Abigail growled. “I’ve finally got you to myself, we are not calling anyone else over to interrupt.”

“Even for dinner?”

“We can starve.”

He smirked, drawing her into his arms. “I don’t think there’s any risk of that.”

“And we don’t need to change the heating. It’s plenty warm in here. In fact, if anything, I think you look too warm.” She tugged on his jacket and dragged it open and down his arms. “We’d better fix that.”

“Can’t wear my shoes into the house.”

“You’re the one who left them on!”

When she finally had him more suitable dressed—or rather, undressed—she took her time getting an eyeful.

“Actually, I would like to check out the kitchen,” she said, tipping her head to one side. “Give me a minute?”

He caught up with her before she made it three steps, wrapping strong arms around her and laughing into her hair. “I’d prefer to give you something else. But it will take more than a minute.”

“Promises, promises.”

It took hours. She was sore in the best way, exhausted into bliss, and—though she wouldn’t have thought it possible, after the Christmas feast earlier—she was hungry.

They took their time picking out morsels from the fridge. They took their time in the walk-in shower and the bath big enough for two. They laughed, and talked like they hadn’t in years, about everything and nothing and redoing their own bathroom with their own massive bath, and relaxed into each other’s company as though they had no other cares in the world.

The rest of the world was still out there. Everyone and everything they loved. Ruby, and their friends, and Christmas in Pine Valley. And it would still be there when they left this perfect jewel of a moment of time for themselves.

It was everything she hadn’t known she’d needed. Except she had known, hadn’t she? Her friends had seen right through her. She wanted Jasper to be happy—and she wanted this. A chance to remind them both of who and what they were for each other, as husband and wife, as fated mates, as two people still disgustingly, deliriously passionate about each other.

She sighed and rested her head on Jasper’s chest. They’d found the bedroom, at last. It had taken a while. And several detours. Which was impressive, given the cottage only had about four rooms total, but they’d managed it.

She counted on her fingers—wet room, kitchen, living, bath—okay, with the bedroom that was five, unless you counted the pantry as a separate room…

They’d used their time well, anyway.

She nuzzled against him. “What do you think? Was that a happy enough Christmas for this year? And birthday. Christmabirthday. Birthdaymas.”

“More than enough.” He kissed her, then turned his head to glance at the clock on the bedside table. “And we still have a few hours left.”

“Oh?” She could barely keep her eyes open. “In that case… maybe it hasn’t been a good enough Birthdaymas.”

He laughed. “Who’s overworking themselves now?”

“It’s not work… ”

“Rest.” He kissed her again, on her lips, on her nose, on her forehead. “It’s been perfect. You’re perfect. Happy Christmas,” he whispered to her. “Thank you for trying to steal it from me.”

She let her eyes fall shut. “Happy birthday,” she murmured. “Thank you for letting me try to steal it.”

She lay in his arms, the most magical place in the world, at the most magical time of the year. Her heart was full to bursting. The future held more joy than she knew what to do with—but with her family, and her friends, that wasn’t going to be a problem.

That joy was all of theirs to share, and to make bigger and stronger in all the years to come. Without hiding what they wanted, or what they were worried about. By trusting one another and trusting themselves that they deserved all the love and joy the life they built together would bring them. At Christmas, and every other time of year.

A Note from Zoe Chant

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed A Gift for the Christmas Dragon as much as I enjoyed writing it – I had so much fun returning to Abigail and Jasper, and playing with the idea that even with a mate bond, chaos and misunderstandings are still only a few well-meaning decisions away.

Please consider reviewing A Gift for the Christmas Dragon, even if you only write a word or two. Reviews and word-of-mouth are the most powerful tools indie authors like me have for letting readers know about our books.

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Looking for your next binge-worthy romance read?

Have you read the entire A Mate for Christmas series, and want more cozy small-town shifter romance? Try my Hideaway Cove series, starting with The Griffin's Mate .

After something with a bit more action and the occasional explosion? Check out my Shifter Suspense series, starting with Claimed by the Panther !

If this was your first visit to Pine Valley – read on for a sneak preview of Abigail and Jasper's first book, A Mate for the Christmas Dragon.