“You’re here, you’re really here,” he whispered over and over again. My entire body shuddered and I couldn’t speak, too overcome with the emotional overload of seeing him again after so long. I could only nod and cling to him as though my life were depending on it.

And this, being held by him, was the only place I ever wanted to be. I couldn’t ask for a more perfect Christmas.

8

I couldn’t believe this was real!

Maggie.

She was here, in my f**king arms. I thought I had progressed to full on visual delusions. I was questioning my recovering mental health for the whole thirty seconds it took for me to cross the room and touch her.

I could smell her.

Feel her.

She was here.

I pulled back and looked down into the most beautiful face I would ever see in my entire life and I thought I would split in half with f**king happiness. Joy like this didn’t live inside of me very often. But when it did, there was only one person who could put it there.

And she was smiling up at me with tears in her gorgeous brown eyes.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked, shaking my head, completely undone by this moment.

Maggie raised her eyebrows and gave me a look. “Wow, you sure know what to say to the gal who traveled over a thousand miles on Christmas Eve to see your sorry ass,” she teased, pinching my side.

I cupped her face in my hands. “I am so blown away right now, sorry if I suck and can’t put into words what I’m feeling. I just can’t believe you’re here,” I said softly.

Maggie’s face softened and her lips stretch into a smile that tore me apart in the best way possible.

She wrapped her arms around my neck, her fingers slide into the hair at the base of my skull. She leaned up on her tiptoes so that her lips were just touching mine. Our noses brushed together. Her eyes sparkled as they looked into mine.

“Merry Christmas, Clay,” she whispered.

“Merry Christmas, Maggie,” I whisper back and then I tightened my arms around her waist and pulled her forward, pressing my mouth to hers. I groaned deep in my throat at the moment of impact. Her lips parted and my tongue danced inside.

Touching. Tasting. Devouring.

And just like that, I was home.

My hands swept up her back as I fit her body to mine. She tasted like peppermint and that indefinable thing that was all Maggie and made my gut twist and my dick instantly harden.

This thing between us had always been so much more than physical. It was emotional and spiritual. Passionate and f**king overwhelming. But the attraction that surged between us hadn’t waned in the months we had been a part. If anything, it burned hotter and stronger than ever before.

Maggie tugged my shirt out of my shorts and pushed her hands up my stomach, scraping her nails along my skin. She moaned loud into my mouth and I had a faint recollection that we should probably slow down. There were reasons that this was not a good idea right now, but hell if I could remember why.

I pulled my mouth away from Maggie’s and she tilted her head back as I ran my tongue along the column of her throat, dragging my teeth as I nipped at her skin. Maggie started to frantically unbutton my shirt, tugging it off my shoulders.

My fingers were on the button of her jeans when I heard a door slam downstairs and I instantly stilled. Shit. Shit. Shit.

I grabbed a hold of Maggie’s hands as they started on the zipper of my shorts. “Baby, please. Just stop a second,” I pleaded, sounding like I had run a damn mile.

Maggie pushed my hands away and resumed trying to get my zipper down. Her heated eyes met mine and she kissed me…hard. “We have waited seven months for this, Clay. How can you ask me to stop? Why would you want me to?” she asked and I hated to see the doubt and insecurity start to take the place of the desire on her face.

I grabbed her hands and brought them up to my mouth. I kissed her knuckles and then turned them over to kiss the soft skin of her open palms. I skimmed my nose along the wild heartbeat in her wrist, just below the dark ink of her tattoo.

“I want this, so much. But there are rules here. I can’t...I can’t do this here. Mags, I’m so sorry, but I could get thrown out. We’re not allowed overnight guests. But maybe I can call Roberta…tell her what’s going on. Fuck, maybe she’ll have half a heart and give me some slack,” I rambled.

Maggie was here. Finally. After all this time and I would be damned if she would sleep anywhere but next to me.

Maggie squeezed my hands. “Stop stressing, Clay. You know me, I plan everything. I’ve got a room for us. We’re spending Christmas together, I promise,” she said, grinning.

I grinned back, wrapping my arms back around her waist and lifted her up, swinging her around. “I love you so f**king much, Maggie May Young,” I declared, kissing her soundly before setting her feet back down on the floor.

And then a thought hit me. “Wait, Ruby’s coming into town tonight. She’s coming here and we’re going out to dinner. I can’t ditch her,” I explained, feeling my bubble burst a bit. It’s not that I didn’t want to see my aunt, but the thought of sharing my time with Maggie with anyone, even Ruby, was intolerable.

Maggie laid her check against my chest, right over my heart. “I’ve spoken with Ruby already. She’s planning to come up the day after Christmas. She wanted to give us time to be together. Just us. So it’s you and me, baby. Our first Christmas together.”

I couldn’t help it, I started crying. No, not in a bitch way. It was silent and understated, but yeah, I was crying.