Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 154379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
I edged back, sending Piper a knowing grin before I turned my attention to Finn.
“Who in the world could that be?” I drew out as I moved for the door, still hobbling a bit. I opened it to Otto who was fully dressed in a Santa outfit, a fake beard on his face.
“Ho, ho, ho!” he called even louder as he came stomping into the cabin with a giant bag slung over his shoulder.
“Santa?!” Finn popped onto his feet. Excitement blazed from him as he bounced in the air. “You come see me?”
“That’s right. I heard there was a good little boy staying here. Wait, are you a good boy?” he asked, blue eyes glinting as he glanced at me and Piper.
“I a good boy.” Finn bobbed that precious head.
So fuckin’ cute it felt like my chest was going to implode.
Could feel Nelly’s grin radiating from the kitchen.
Happiness spilling out of Piper.
The fact that they got to share a real Christmas with Finn for the very first time.
No longer having to run because they were free.
“Ah, sounds like I came to the right place,” Otto said as he moved around the couch to Finn. He knelt on a knee and pulled out two big presents and set them under the tree before he wrangled a red trike from the bag. It had a giant red bow on the handlebars.
Finn squealed. “I got a bike wike my Feo?”
Fucking joy, man.
Didn’t really know what that was until right then.
This shimmery peace coming over me.
“Ah, yeah…had a hunch that you might like a bike like your Theo.”
“You ride wif me, my Feo?” Finn patted his chest.
“Absolutely, little man. I’ll definitely ride with you.”
Would spend my life beside this kid. Teaching him every good thing I could. Loving him. Protecting him.
Otto looked up at me.
A deep knowing flowed out of him.
The triumph that came with finding what was meant to be.
He rose, and he reached out and squeezed my shoulder. “Looks like you’ve been a good boy, too, but you’ve already got everything you need.”
Then he turned and slung the bag back over his shoulder. “I’ll be on my way, I’ve got a couple more kids on my list, Maci and Nolan.”
He sent me and Piper a wink before he strode for the door, singing, “Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night.”
The door clattered shut behind him.
And as I curled my arm around Piper’s waist and looked down at Finn who climbed onto his trike, jerking at the handlebars without going anywhere, Nelly in the kitchen making what she said was her famous clam chowder, I knew Otto was right.
I had every single thing I needed.
Piper – One Week Later
“This is it.” Theo grumbled in that low voice as he glanced at me. He squeezed my hand as we stood in front of his cabin. Finn was in his other arm, hooked to his hip.
I peered up at him.
Taking in the severe, foreboding angles of his striking face. Intensity rolled off him. His presence more commanding than anything or anyone I’d stumbled upon in all my life.
In it, I’d found the greatest peace.
Sanctuary and joy and ecstasy.
I inhaled a shaky breath. The only thing it served to do was drag his aura in.
Mossy woods and crisp snow and the faint vestiges of warm, smokey leather.
And there would never be any mistaking that undercurrent of sex.
But it was what was bound within it that held me.
Secured me.
His love and his loyalty.
That stark ferocity that promised he would forever stand at our sides. Fight for us the same way as I would forever stand for him.
“This is it,” I whispered.
“You getting cold feet?” Theo let go of the tease. The man smirking my way as we stood at the threshold of our new home.
Our forever home.
Whether it was within the walls or not, that’s what this represented.
“I got co-wed feet,” Finn said in his adorable drawl, kicking out one of his snow boots.
Theo chuckled.
Low and dark and deep.
It sent a soothing rush of calm over me.
“Well, we’d better get inside before we stand out here freezing to death, yeah?” he said.
“Thank the lord. Thought I was gonna turn into a popsicle standing out here in the cold,” Nelly muttered under her breath as she shuffled around us, carrying her overnight bag.
The rest of our belongings had already been brought over by Kane and Theo.
She went right for the door and tossed it open.
“Make yourself at home,” Theo called behind her, a hint of sarcasm coloring his voice.
“Plan to, and this time you’re really not going to be able to drag me out of here,” she tossed out from over her shoulder before she disappeared inside.
Light laughter vibrated in my chest, and Theo chuckled. “We have our hands full with her, don’t we?”
“No, wif me, my Feo.” Finn bounced in Theo’s hold.