Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
Gabriela sat cuddled beneath the blanket with Ana on the couch, watching Beauty and the Beast. She couldn’t help but smile at how the movie had taken on a new relevance to her.
Of course, the details were different; Broxen had saved them from a mountain lion instead of a pack of wolves, and though he was often reserved and had a tendency to be terse, he wasn’t grumpy and coarse like the Beast. Then there was the matter of him being a demon-like alien masquerading as a man rather than a man cursed to live as a beast.
And haven’t I always been disappointed, even as a child, over the fact that the Beast changed at the end of the movie?
Now Gabby had her very own beast who meant to take her as his mate.
But where was he?
Not for the first time, she glanced toward the front door.
Broxen had left early this morning, right after breakfast, saying he was going to Boise in search of Christmas decorations.
Over eight hours had passed since then, and he still wasn’t home.
Snow was lightly falling outside, and the highways could be dangerous even in clear weather. Worry gnawed at her.
I don’t even have a phone to call him.
Broxen had ordered her a new cellphone, but it wouldn’t arrive until after Christmas.
Ana’s giggles drew Gabby’s attention away from the door. The movie was at the scene where the furniture had come to life to defend the castle. Gabriela smiled and smoothed her hand over her daughter’s hair.
Broxen is fine.
But no matter how many times she told herself that, she couldn’t stop fretting over all the things that could go wrong during his trip. So much had happened recently, and the thought of losing him…
Gabriela’s stomach knotted and cramped.
Nothing is going to happen to him. Nothing.
“Are we going to make cookies for Santa?” Ana asked, turning her head to look up at Gabriela.
“We’ll bake some chocolate chip cookies for him tomorrow so they’re fresh.”
“The best kind. Especially when the chocolate is all warm and gooey.”
“Mmm. I agree.”
“Are there carrots for the reindeer?” Ana turned her face back toward the TV.
“Yep. You know I wouldn’t forget them.”
The front door swung open, startling Gabby and Ana.
Large, clumped snowflakes blew in on a gust of wind.
Gabriela turned her head, and her heart leapt when she saw Broxen’s big, broad-shouldered, muscular body filling the doorway.
Ducking his head, he stepped inside, carrying multiple shopping bags with red Target logos. He kicked the door shut behind him.
“Broxen!” Ana threw off the blanket, jumped off the couch, and raced toward him. He had to hurriedly shift the bags out of the way as she threw her arms around his waist and hugged him tight.
Gabriela’s relief was immense and immediate.
She stood and followed her daughter’s suit, wrapping her arms around Broxen’s chest and pressing her face against his coat.
The melting snow on his coat wet her cheek, but she didn’t care.
He was safe. He was home. She breathed in his spicy pine scent, which was currently mixed with the crisp smell of winter, and sighed contentedly.
He chuckled, producing a rumble in his chest. “I missed both of you.”
“I missed you, too,” Gabriela said, rubbing her cheek against his chest.
“Me, three. Now what’d you get?” Ana asked, pulling away with a bright smile. She was nearly vibrating with excitement.
“Everything they had left,” he replied with a smirk.
Gabriela drew back, glancing at the bags hanging from his arms. She held her hands out. “Let me help with those.”
Broxen met Gabriela’s gaze, and that lustful gleam sparked in his eyes as he looked her over. “I’m fine, female.”
Gabriela’s breath hitched, and heat flooded her core. She never would have imagined being called female would be so sexy, but spoken in his rough, rumbling voice, that word was enough to wet her panties and make her weak in the knees.
“Are the blinds closed?” He didn’t look away from her. There was so much wicked promise within his eyes.
“I’ll get them,” Ana said, running to the front window.
As soon as the blinds were closed, that hex pattern shimmered over Broxen’s skin, and Gabriela’s prince became the beast again.
It was still hard to believe that such alien technology—that aliens—really existed.
It was a shock to see the changes overcome him so swiftly, but she was growing more and more accustomed to it.
And she had no doubts now; he was more attractive in his natural form.
She was turned on by a beast with horns, claws, fangs, and a tail.
Broxen set the bags on the living room floor.
Ana plopped down and started pulling things out of the bags.
There were giant and tiny red velvet bows, ribbon in a variety of colors, fake wreaths, garland, a golden tinsel star tree topper, ornaments of all kinds—colored bulbs, sculpted food, balls and players from different sports, cartoony people, animals, and more.
One bag was filled with packages of tinsel, and two more were stuffed with boxes of Christmas lights, almost all of which were the warm white kind no one seemed to buy.
There were also metal reindeer that looked like polished gold, stuffed snowmen and Santas, some that sang and danced when Ana pressed their buttons, a white tree skirt with multi-colored polka dots and pom-poms around the edge, and three stockings—one in the traditional red and white, one with green stripes and the letter Z on the front, and a knitted Star Wars R2-D2 stocking.
Almost none of it matched. It was the kind of stuff you usually saw on the shelves after Christmas, the stuff that always ended up on clearance.
“Wow. There really is a little bit of everything,” Gabriela said with a laugh.
“Can we decorate now?” Ana asked, clutching a pickle ornament as she looked up at Gabby and Broxen.
“Yes,” Broxen said, removing his coat, “but only if you’re lead decorator.”
“You got it.” Ana rose to her feet. “This is going to be the most beautiful tree ever.”
Gabby grinned. Maybe not the most beautiful, but it would be the best tree they’d ever decorated.
“We should put the lights up first.” Ana plucked up two of the boxes of Christmas lights and held them out to Broxen and Gabriela.
As she accepted the lights, Gabriela exchanged a glance with Broxen, and he gave her one of those disarming, fanged smiles before he took the other box from Ana and stepped toward the tree.
Gabriela stared after him, and her affection for him only grew during that moment, becoming so vast and deep that she knew affection was no longer the right word. Her feelings for him were so much more than that.
This…this was love.
She didn’t know how it had happened so fast, but it was real.
People always talked about love at first sight, sometimes with enthusiasm, but more often in ridicule.
They’d call it lust. Gabriela wouldn’t deny the lust was there, burning like fire in her veins, but what she felt was so much deeper.
And no one had the right to judge her for it or tell her it wasn’t real.
I…love Broxen.
Gabriela’s heart fluttered, and she smiled wider.
With Ana’s direction and assistance, they decorated the tree.
They laughed and smiled throughout, especially at some of the ornaments Broxen had bought—particularly the one that was just a cat’s hindquarters with a raised tail and a tiny pink butthole.
They wrapped the tree in strands of lights, tied on one of the big red bows, and hung all the ornaments they could fit on the branches, including all the ones Ana had made herself.
Trash from the packages built up around the coffee table, pieces of plastic and cardboard tossed aside to be cleaned up later.
Gabby couldn’t deny the joy of this. The decorations themselves didn’t matter, their lack of coherence made no difference.
The only important thing was that she was doing this with Ana. That she was doing it with Broxen.
They were doing this as a family.
The little director of decorations allowed her assistants great freedom of expression when it came to the items that didn’t go on the tree, though she offered a few suggestions.
Before long, they had wreaths, garland, and bows hung up all over the living room, dining room, and kitchen, and little Santas, snowmen, and reindeer scattered all over.
Ana hurried to the tree to put on the tree skirt, fastening it around the trunk just above the rim of the bucket.
The polka-dotted fabric hung down like an actual skirt—or maybe a little more like a circus tent—with the rainbow pom-poms dangling against the side of the bucket, the bottom few inches of which remained exposed.
When Ana returned to the dwindled stockpile of decorations, her eyes widened. “Ooo, tinsel!”
As she tore open one of the tinsel bags, Broxen picked up another, studying the contents with a more thoughtful and serious look than any tinsel had likely received since it was first invented.
“What do we do with it?” He opened the package and slid out the piece of cardboard that held the silvery strands in place, brushing a finger through them.
“We throw it all over the tree,” Ana said with a big grin, “and maybe a few other places, too.”
Gabriela picked up another bag of tinsel, smiling down at it.
She and her parents always put tinsel on their tree when she was young.
Ever since then, a Christmas tree without it had never seemed quite right, but still…
“This stuff makes a big mess, Broxen. We don’t have to put it up if you don’t want to. ”
Broxen held up the cardboard, letting the strands of tinsel dangle down from it. “How big a mess?”
“Like we’ll still be finding pieces of it scattered around the house this time next year.”
He laughed and lifted hand, sweeping his hair back between those curved horns. “That’s all right. Whenever we find a piece, we’ll think of today, right?”
The way he looked at her as he said that, the way he smiled… There was that fire in his eyes, yes, but there was something deeper, too. Caring. Affection.
Love? I know he wants me, but…does he love me?
Gabriela stepped closer to him, close enough to feel the heat radiating from his body. She tilted her head back and smiled up at him. “Right.”
Broxen leaned down and nuzzled her hair, drawing in a deep breath. He groaned softly. “I truly did miss you, Gabriela.”
“I missed you, too,” she whispered, closing her eyes. “And I was worried.”
He cupped the back of her head with one of his big hands and brushed his lips over her forehead. “It’ll take a lot more than holiday shoppers and some snow to keep me from you, my mate.”
My mate.
She shivered. God, she loved hearing that.
She sighed and brought up a hand, pressing her palm to his chest, over his heart. “I’ll hold you to that.”
“You better not be sucking tongues again,” Ana said.
“Not yet.” Broxen’s chest vibrated with those low, rumbly words.
Gabriela opened her eyes and laughed as she glanced at her daughter. Ana was staring at them with skepticism.
“I was just…making Broxen look a little more festive.” She reached into the bag of tinsel, drew out several strands, and hung them over the root of one of his horns. The silvery strands mixed with his hair and sparkled from the light hitting them.
Ana laughed.
Broxen lowered his hand from Gabby’s head and straightened, looking down at her with a smirk. “So, is this like a snowball fight now?”
Gabriela arched a brow. “Not unless you really want a mess. There shall be no throwing of the tinsel unless it’s onto the tree.”
He raised the dangling tinsel in his hand and glanced at it from the corner of his eye. “Hmm.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.”
“But I like the sound of you draped in this…and nothing else.”
“Hello! Kid right here,” Ana said. “Let’s get this stuff on the tree before you two start kissing.”
Both Gabriela and Broxen laughed.
When they were finally done decorating, and Broxen had hung the stockings—with care—at the fireplace, they stood back and looked at what they’d accomplished.
Gabriela tilted her head. “You know…it really is a beautiful tree.”
“Told you!” Ana said, flashing a grin.
The tree was still leaning to the side, causing many of the ornaments and the tinsel to hang at an angle, the plastic bucket was still clearly visible under the bottom of the tree skirt, and none of the decorations matched, but it was bright, and sparkling, and Gabriela loved it.
Broxen wrapped his arm around Gabriela and pulled her into the shelter of his body. She leaned against him and hugged Ana.
It wasn’t a perfect tree, but it was their tree.