Page 18 of Silent Night

“Hanging around till the twenty-seventh with her?” he asks. “That’s when her flight home is.”

Only two more days. I never thought I’d be thankful for anything this asshole had to say, but knowing she’ll be leaving soon is useful. It’s more reason to go, because she will too eventually. Stealing from this place may have turned into stealing the very thing I couldn’t ever keep, so it’s a welcome reminder.

“Tonight, actually.” For the first time, I tell something truthful to Bentley, but I’m looking to Hayley when I say it. “For now, I’m only here to have a nice Christmas.”

EIGHT

HAYLEY

“For now,I’m just here to have a nice Christmas.”

I get the sense that Saint’s had very few of those throughout his life. Maybe none at all.

I still can’t believe he’shere. My thief in the night has come out of the shadows and into the stringed holiday lights, pretending to be the man he’s lying to Bentley about being.

I’m practically on his lap so if he can feel my nerves, he’s doing a damn good job of hiding it while he and Bentley talk. My stepbrother tosses veiled insults and doubtful questions at Saint whose lies come naturally. Too natural, and it makes me question the little I know about him.

Suddenly, this is all feeling too real. I’m finding myself wanting to take Saint away from Bentley and learn everything there is to know about him, except Saint and I can’t be in that kind of relationship. Hell, we’re not even in a relationship. He’s my dirty, little secret andshouldbe a horrible mistake.

I stare at the side of his face while he talks, wondering when the last time he interacted with others like this was. Surely, a guy on the move doesn’t hang out in people’s homesoften.

Unless he does. Each town he stops in, he picks a girl, manipulates her into being a good fuck, robs her place, and ditches town.

Saint catches me watching him and the smile he shoots my way, the blistering stare tells me he’s not lying. Thatheisn’t a lie.

“Well,” Bentley says gruffly, “not sure why baby sis invited you considering we’re not really having a regular holiday since our parents ditched us.”

“That’s fine.” Saint drops a kiss to my forehead. “I’m happy to be here either way.”

Bentley grumbles and downs his drink. “Fuck this, I’m out to go visit a friend who’s also alone today. I don’t need to see some asshole violating my sister.”

“Not your sister,” I call out as he disappears toward the front door.

The moment we’re alone, Saint drags me over his lap, my thighs bracketing his hips. “What the hell is wrong with you? I thought you were leaving.”

Hurt flashes through his eyes, but before I can explain what my question meant, he replies, “I tried. Made it to the edge of town before turning around. Didn’t like how he was touching you yesterday, so I’m making a point.”

It might be wrong, but my heart skips a beat. He did this for me. Because he sees Bentley as a threat, even if I know he’s harmless. All bark, no bite.

“The point being?”

“That you’re mine. Temporarily, of course.” His teeth graze my neck, enticing a shiver from me and a hungry look from him. “I also realized, despite what I said last night, I’m already damned so why should I deny myself from the only gift I actually want?”

“That being…?”

His palm presses into my back as he sits straighter, meeting me halfway. “You.”

He steals my mouth in a bruising kiss, his hands tearing at mysweater, yanking it over my head. He tosses it to the side, making me shiver. His hands travel up my spine until reaching my bra. He unhooks it, drawing it away from my body.

“Saint.” My eyes dart to the door. If Bentley were to come back, this isn’t how I’d want him to find us.

“Relax,” he whispers, knowing my precise concerns, and his hands meld with my hair. “I promise he won’t see you.”

He kisses me again until I’m breathless, mindless, and senseless, panting with desire. My hips move over his on their own accord until I feel his erection through his jeans and he rewards me with a groan.

One hand shifts from my hair to my hip and in a sudden, quick swoop, he’s standing with my legs around his waist and walking me away from the couch. As quick we stand, he lowers to his knees, placing me on my back in front of the Christmas tree.

Saint leans back on his knees, gazing down at me. White tree lights create dots all over my skin, but he doesn’t seem to care.

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