Festive Seduction: The Holiday Engagement Series Page 3

  Philip lifted his hand from under the blanket. Nestled in his large palm was a little jeweler’s box. The world seemed to freeze for a second. Jade’s heart leapt into her throat, her lungs burned for oxygen and tears prickled her eyes.

  She’d seen the box before. A long time ago. So long she’d thought she must have dreamed it.

  He lifted the top of the box and the firelight glinted off a gold antique emerald ring, surrounded by a circle of smaller diamonds. The same ring she’d seen at a store in Aspen on a mountain bike trip they’d taken the first year they’d been together.

  “Marry me.” He didn’t ask, but Philip rarely did. It was the confidence and authority she loved about him.

  “Really?” She folded her hands over her mouth. While she’d always known Philip was her rough-around-the-edges Prince Charming, she hadn’t expected this. Not now. She’d always assumed he needed more time.

  “Yes, really.” He freed the ring from the box, letting it drop to the floor.

  Jade couldn’t form words. They caught in her throat, all wanting to tumble out at once. Instead, she thrust her hand at him and held her breath as he slid it on her finger. The cool metal and the weight of the stone were real. Not figments of her imagination. This wasn’t another daydream. Philip was asking her to marry him. Well, telling her, but that wasn’t the point.

  “It fits,” she said in wonder.

  Philip smiled at her, his hair sticking up on one side, an ease settling around him that had been missing these last few weeks. The stress lines disappeared, and for a moment, he was the man he’d become and that reckless boy she’d fallen for all wrapped up in one.

  “You still haven’t said yes, yet,” he reminded her.

  “Yes. Yes! Are you crazy? Yes.” Jade launched herself at him. He caught her and they rolled on the rug until they bumped into the sofa, limbs and bodies entwined. This was the perfect Christmas.

  Philip sat down on his side of the bed and stole a glance at Jade, curled up on her side. She stared at her finger, wiggling the ring with her thumb, unable to leave it alone.

  As much as he wanted to be happy and in the moment the truth weighed on him. He had to be totally and completely honest with her. If they were going to take this next step of their lives together, she deserved that much.

  He eased the boot of his prosthetic leg off and propped it against the wall next to the bed. He rolled the sock off the remaining part of his leg and knee, and laid it on the floor. Those two tasks drawn out as long as possible, he slid between the sheets and rolled toward his fiancé.

  Fiancé. He liked that word, but not as much as he’d like calling her his wife.

  “Hi,” she whispered, snuggling closer until she could peck his lips.

  Losing himself in her kisses sounded like a great idea. It was also a perfect way to put off what he had to tell her. He gently pushed her back, so he could see her face in the starlight coming in through the window next to the bed.

  “I want to tell you something, and I understand if you’re upset with me.” It felt as if his stomach were churning rocks in his gut. He hated this.

  “Okay.” Jade blinked up at him, her gaze open and trusting.

  “I was going to propose to you last year. If the accident hadn’t have happened, I’d have asked you a few days later. I hadn’t planned it out, but I was going to. Afterward, it wasn’t that I didn’t love you, I just couldn’t ask that kind of commitment of you. I didn’t know what the future would be like…” Words failed to capture the sense of loss and anguish, doubt and self-hatred he’d struggled through in those early weeks. If she’d have left, he wouldn’t have blamed her. Hell, he wanted to leave himself sometimes, but she’d kept him there.

  “Sh.” Jade kissed him briefly. “I knew you had the ring.”

  “You—what?”

  “Who do you think gets the mail, silly?” In the near darkness, her eyes danced with mischief and secrets.

  “You knew?” And she’d stayed with him. Patient. Loving. His greatest cheerleader. She’d seen him at his worst, when he wanted to pull the plug on his future, and she’d stuck with him.

  “That’s what I said.” She smoothed her hand over his cheek. “If you’d have asked me to marry you after the accident, you’d have been asking a different person than I am now. We’ve changed. We’ve gotten closer. We’ve seen the best and the worst of each other. And we’re still in love. I love you more now than I loved you then. I don’t care that you waited. All that matters is you are the man I want to spend the rest of my life jumping out of airplanes with, diving off cliffs and climbing mountains. You are my hero.”

  Philip had no words. She’d taken them all. He gathered her to his chest and hugged her tightly, burying his face in her curls and inhaling the scent of her shampoo.

  She’d waited for him. She’d been his strength when he had none. And still she loved him. It was enough to bring him to his knees, were they not lying down. To think, he’d have the rest of their lives to show her it was worth it, and every Christmas they could celebrate the blessing of new beginnings. After all, it was during the holiday season they’d met. Even his accident had brought them closer. And now, it marked the point of commitment to stand as a team, together, for all time.

  “I wonder how we’re going to beat this Christmas,” he muttered into her ear.

  Jade sputtered and laughed. “Kinky bells, kinky bells.”

  Philip leaned back, his gaze narrowed as a wicked idea came to him. “You know, I never told you to stop singing.”

  Jade grew still, her eyes round.

  Merry Christmas, indeed.

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  The Holiday Engagements Series.

  She wants forever, but it might be too much to ask for when her Dominant’s passions push her limits.

  He wants to provide for her every wish, but when it comes to love, he needs her to show him the ropes. Two switches. One Rope. Forever.

  Thank you to my readers. I am constantly humbled by your support. You make this the best job in the world.

  Book List

  Bayou Bound

  Picture Her Bound

  Duty Bound

  Bound by Her

  Bound Memories, part of the Hot Ink anthology

  Bound & Tamed, part of the Taming the Alpha set

  Other BDSM Titles

  Committed

  Bound with Pearls

  Collar Me in Paris

  So Inked

  Under His Skin

  The Harder He Falls

  His Marriage Bargain

  Good Guys Wear Black

  Hot Tango

  Line of Duty

  Standalone Titles

  Flirting with Rescue

  Personal Adventures

  Dream Vacation (free read)

  How Zombies Stole Christmas

  Anthologies

  High Octane Heroes

  Midnight Ink

  For the Love of a Soldier

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  It can never be said that Sidney Bristol has had a 'normal' life. She is a recovering roller derby queen, former missionary, and tattoo addict. She grew up in a motor-home on the US highways (with an occasional jaunt into Canada and Mexico), traveling the rodeo circuit with her parents. Sidney has lived abroad in both Russia and Thailand, working with children and teenagers. She now lives in Texas where she splits her time between a job she loves, writing, reading and belly dancing.

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  Copyright © 2014 by Sidney Bristol.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.

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  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

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  Festive Seduction by Sidney Bristol -- 1st ed.