Page 85 of Here Comes Santa Paws

Roman grunted and collapsed onto his stomach. I followed him and plastered my body along his, thrusting. He reached back and cupped my head in his wide palm.

“Come for me, Elias. Give it to me.”

With one last thrust, I pushed deep inside and came in an explosion that had my vision blinking out and my limbs turning to wet noodles.

After cleaning us both up, I snuggled against him under the covers.

“Got any plans for New Year’s Eve?”

He kissed my forehead. “Nope. What are we doing? I’m sure there’s some sort of party in town.”

“There is, but we don’t have to go to it. We can celebrate at home together.”

He pressed his finger under my chin, tilted my face, and gently kissed me. “I appreciate that, but I’m comfortable with a party. You do enough talking for both of us.”

“Hey!” I pinched him.

He laughed. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to those coming more freely. The laughs and the smiles.

“But seriously”—his tone was thoughtful—“you make me feel included without forcing me to be someone I’m not.”

“That makes me so happy, but promise you’ll tell me if you’re ever uncomfortable. You’ve got a reputation to uphold as a grumpy bastard, and I don’t want to ruin it.”

“I’m your grumpy bastard.”

“Aww. Stop it. I can’t go again, so don’t try sweet-talking me.”

More of that cherished laughter.

After cuddling for several minutes, Roman shifted. “I should check on Carol and make sure the puppies are okay.”

“Good idea. Then maybe we can watchNational Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.”

“Now that’s a Christmas movie I can get behind.”

About ten minutes later, we had the movie started and were cuddled on the couch with a plate of Christmas cookies between us.

“You’ve sure taken to the dog thing pretty quickly.” I snuggled in close under his arm.

“I suppose a childhood of wanting one paid off.”

“Kind of funny to think you went from no dog to agreeing to short-term fostering to adopting a dog and dealing with mine to helping care for five puppies for the next two months. We are so outnumbered.”

Roman straightened and gawked at me. “Two months?”

Epilogue

ELIAS

The next Christmas Falls Festival season

“Do you think we should put the giant candy canes in front of the porch pillars or angle them toward each other to make a heart in front of the tree?” I pointed to the tree in question at the far corner of the yard of the house we’d moved into over the summer.

We’d begun sleeping in the same place most nights after Christmas last year but had decided to hold off on making any official moves for a while. Both of us were nervous that Roman would get antsy—me more than him—and we wanted to hold out to find a place that would be big enough for our furry family.

We kept communicating, and miraculously, Roman was thriving in Christmas Falls. He’d made friends—some of mine, but also a group of his own—and managed to work with his supervisor to create a new dream position that gave him even more time to visit patients in their homes. He’d helped Gramps fully recover from his hip replacement and supported Nancy through a fractured foot after she accidentally tumbled downa couple of steps while chasing the puppy she’d adopted from Carol’s litter—the little bonded bestie to the puppy Gramps had adopted.

They’d moved into our old duplex and lived in Roman’s half while using my old place as Nancy’s quilting and crafting retreat. The woman had an entire bedroom full of fabric.

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