Her Christmas Lumberjack (Crave County: Lumberjacks Love Curves)

Epilogue

AURORA

I join my husband on the couch, his arms looping around me as we watch our kids open their presents. It’s Christmas morning, and they’re both practically vibrating with excitement, tearing up the wrapping paper with savage delight.

“Cool!” Elijah cries, inspecting his new binoculars and instantly jamming them against his eyes, looking all around the room. “Woah, I can see you so close up!”

Millie sits cross-legged beside him, struggling with a piece of sticky tape. Elijah sets down his binoculars to help her, and she gasps with delight when she sees her present. It’s a kid-sized costume of Rapunzel from Tangled, Millie’s favorite movie.

“Can I wear it now?” she asks, eyes wide. “Please, please, pretty please?”

“Sure you can, sweetie,” Nolan says. “See if it fits, then I’ll cut the tags off.”

Millie puts on her dress, spinning around. “It fits! It fits!”

Rudolph plays with the torn up paper as the kids work through the rest of their presents, and their happy exclamations make me smile.

“Sounds like we did good this year,” Nolan whispers, kissing my cheek.

I melt against him, breathing in his familiar masculine scent. “I think you’re right.”

It’s been several Christmases since Nolan and I first met. We moved in together almost immediately, and although Liz wasn’t thrilled to hear I was quitting, she was grateful for my work on the Thorne case. Samuel dropped off the radar once Liz confronted him about the bogus will, and we haven’t heard from him since, which is just how I want to keep it.

With the help of the glowing references Liz gave me, I was accepted into law school and studied part-time while working as a legal assistant in the nearby town of Winterdale. It was a busy period, especially after the kids came along, but Nolan went above and beyond to support my dreams. He did so much for me, and finally, after four years, I graduated from Denver Law. Six months later, I passed the bar exam just like I always wanted. Now I have my own law practice in Cherry Hollow, working for myself and setting my own hours. I love my new small-town life, and living out in the woods is so peaceful after all those years in Denver. This place is my home now, and it truly feels like I belong here.

When the kids have finished opening all their presents, they rush toward us, and we hold them tight.

“Thank you, Mommy! Thank you, Daddy!” Millie says.

“And thank you, Santa!” Elijah adds.

I grin at him. “You’ll have to write Santa a thank you card. We’ll mail it to the North Pole.”

“Awesome!”

Nolan gets up off the couch and ruffles the kids’ hair before he heads to the kitchen and brings back one last present, loosely wrapped.

“There’s one more gift waiting for a very special someone,” he says, crouching down. “Rudolph! Come here, boy.”

At the sound of his name, he bounds forward, panting excitedly. Nolan sets his present down and Rudolph tears it open with his teeth to reveal a squeaky dog toy in the shape of a reindeer. He sniffs it, then takes it in his mouth, chomping on it eagerly.

“Merry Christmas, buddy,” Nolan says.

The kids throw their arms around Rudolph, petting him affectionately. “Merry Christmas, Rudolph!”

After we rescued our sweet border collie all those years ago, we took him straight to the vet once the roads were clear. He had no chip, and he was undernourished after his time as a stray, but we fed him up and now he’s happy and healthy.

“Right, who wants to watch a Christmas movie before we go see Uncle Declan?” I ask.

“Can we watch Elf?” Elijah says.

“Yeah, Elf!” Millie chimes in.

“Elf it is.”

I turn on the movie and the kids sit glued to the TV as Nolan and I head to the kitchen where the radio is playing festive songs. There’s no cooking to do this year—we’re having dinner at Declan and Margot’s. It’s our family tradition; we swap each year and I love our big family Christmases together. But out of everybody, I think Nolan loves Christmas the most. Losing his dad was a huge blow for him, but now that he’s had more time to process his grief, he’s full of holiday spirit every year. Nothing makes him happier than bringing a smile to our faces on Christmas, and the kids have helped him fall back in love with the farm. They’re enjoying the same kind of childhood that Nolan and Declan had—long afternoons spent running through the trees and skating on the lake. He’s an amazing dad, and the best husband a woman could ask for.

“How are you feeling, sugar?” he asks, reaching for a chocolate from the box on the side. “Having a good Christmas?”

“Always.”

He smiles at me, resting his hands on my waist, eyes molten as he says, “You’re so damn beautiful, Aurora. How’d I get so lucky?”

After all these years, Nolan still knows how to take my breath away. Age only makes him sexier, more rugged, and I wrap my arms around his neck as he leans in to kiss me. He tastes like chocolate, and his beard scratches my chin, making me shiver. As his tongue glides into my mouth, the song on the radio changes, and Frank Sinatra’s voice fills the room.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Let your heart be light

The familiar verses make me smile against Nolan’s lips, and I pull back to look at him.

Our song.

We sway to the music, holding each other close as the kids laugh at Elf in the living room, their voices making my heart squeeze. Nolan and the kids are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. My perfect family.

“I love you, Aurora,” my husband says, cupping my cheek as the song ends.

“I love you too.”

He’s about to kiss me again when our son’s voice calls to us, “Mom! Dad! Come watch! Buddy is going to New York City!”

We grin at each other. “Coming!”

I grab the box of chocolates off the counter, about to carry them into the living room, when Nolan stops me, his arm tightening around my waist.

“To be continued,” he says, eyes twinkling. “Tonight.”

A familiar shiver of anticipation runs through me, and I nod. “Tonight.”

Then we head into the living room and join the kids to watch the movie.

After a wonderful dinner at Declan and Margot’s, when we’ve played all the games and eaten all the food we can, we head back to our cabin and put the kids to bed. They fall asleep pretty much instantly, burned out from the day’s excitement, and Rudolph curls up at the end of Millie’s bed, still holding his new toy as he drifts off.

“What a day,” I say, giggling as Nolan scoops me into his arms and carries me to our bed.

“Did you have fun, sugar?”

“So much fun. It was perfect.”

“It sure was.” His eyes roam my body as he sets me down on the mattress. “But the fun’s not over yet.” With a growl, my husband climbs on top of me and starts to take off my shirt with urgent hands. “Fuck, I’ve been waiting all day for you, beautiful.”

Desire pools between my thighs as he strips me naked. After having two kids, my body has changed, my curves thicker and plumper. But Nolan seems to find me sexier than ever. He is insatiable, never keeping his hands off me for long, and I love it.

“I’ve been waiting for you too,” I tell him, grabbing at the buttons on his flannel shirt.

He makes a deep noise in his throat. “I was watching you all night. You looked so fucking sexy, Aurora. God, these curves drive me wild.”

Once he’s shirtless, he kicks off his jeans and boxers, and I stare at my husband’s body. He’s as big and brawny as ever, towering over me like a giant. His cock is hard and thick, and I feel a familiar throbbing deep inside me as Nolan gets on the bed, lying on his back.

“Ride me, sugar,” he growls, pulling me on top of him. “I need you.”

He holds the base of his cock, keeping it in position as I sink onto it, taking every delicious inch with a sigh of pleasure. It feels so good, and I shiver as Nolan reaches up to rub my pebbled nipples.

“You’re so beautiful.” He runs his hands down my body, stopping at my hips which he grips onto tightly, helping me move. I go slow at first, finding my rhythm before raw need takes over. With a moan, I move faster, slamming my body up and down on my husband’s thick cock.

“Good girl. Fuck, that’s it.”

Nolan starts to buck his hips in time with my movements, driving up as I push downward, going deeper than ever.

“Oh, yes!” I sob, trying to stifle my cries. “Nolan!”

I’m panting, my tits bouncing as I look into my husband’s eyes, our gazes locked as our bodies slap together in a brutal rhythm.

“Look at you taking your husband’s cock,” he grunts. “You like that, sugar?”

“Yes!”

My body is trembling, slick with sweat. Nolan reaches for my clit, rubbing it fast as his cock thrusts into me again and again, and I grip onto his shoulders, throwing my head back. I can feel pleasure building between my legs, a bubble ready to burst.

“Eyes on me, Aurora.”

My husband loves to make eye contact during sex, and it drives me wild. It feels like he’s looking into my soul as he claims my body, and as our eyes lock, I feel myself coming undone.

“Come for me, sugar.” His voice is a deep growl, breathless with need. “Be a good girl and come on my cock.”

With a shuddering cry, I let go. Pleasure bursts between my legs, the world turning white as a snowstorm as I collapse on top of Nolan, trembling against his muscular chest. Wave after wave washes over me, taking my breath away. After a couple more deep thrusts, my husband lets out a groan and fills me with his cum, wrapping his arms tight around me.

“My perfect wife,” he murmurs, breathing hard. “I love you so fucking much.”

I lift my head to look at him, smiling wide, still dazed from my orgasm. “I love you too.”

And I mean it with all my heart. My husband is everything to me, and in some ways, I have a lot to thank Samuel Thorne for. If he’d never faked that will, Liz wouldn’t have sent me to Mistletoe Christmas Tree Farm. I would never have met Nolan, and our Christmas love story would be nothing more than a daydream. But what we have is so much more than that. It’s real and forever, and as I look into that ruggedly handsome face, I know my whole life will feel like Christmas with this man by my side.

“Merry Christmas, Nolan.”

Those blue eyes crinkle as he smiles, and it still gives me butterflies after all this time.

“Merry Christmas, Aurora.”