Page 54 of Her Purr-fect Christmas Mate

He shot her a weary smile. “I wish she could find a way out. The way I have.”

“Maybe she will. We can give her time. But first…” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him as snowflakes began to fill the air. “Home?”

“You already think of my apartment as home?”

“I think of anywhere I can get you naked as home.” She grinned at him, and his answering smile sent a shock of joy straight into her chest. “But that apartment? I’ve got to be honest. Your awful apartment makes me almost understand wanting to raze a place to the ground and salt the earth behind me.”

“If it’s that bad…” He leaned in close, and this time, the touch of his mind against hers wasn’t an almost-touch. It was sure and gentle and loving. *Why don’t we do something about it?*

14

Mordecai

Duskfelllikeablanket over Christmas Eve. As the light faded, Mordecai woke in the ruins of his bed, more thoroughly content with his life than he had ever thought possible.

Peony stirred beside him.

“Merry Christmas, my love,” he murmured.

“I want you to say it again.”

“Merry—”

“The other bit.”

He kissed her. “My love.”

Her smile was pure feline. Satisfied and smug. He could practically hear her purring.

“How long is the drive to your parents’?” he asked.

Her eyes sprang open. She swore. “It’s morning already?”

“Peony—”

“We’re already late!” She jumped up.

He pulled her back into bed. “It’s still evening.” He kissed her, gentle and then not gentle at all. “We have time.”

They had significantly less time by the time they made it out of bed.

When they finally left, darkness had not just fallen, it had pulled the covers over itself and gone to sleep. Peony put the address into his car’s GPS, then explained that it would only get them three-fourths of the way there “because of all the magic or something—it’s a pain in the butt”. She settled into the passenger seat, relaxed and happy and glowing with a particular satisfaction that made him feel very smug.

Snow had settled all around. The city was already shaking it off, but as they left behind the brightly lit streets and tall buildings, the world outside the car quieted. Fields and hills were wrapped in white blankets, content in their winter lullaby for now—but beneath it all, a low hum of anticipation.

To his surprise, Mordecai’s own heart was humming with the same anticipation. Facing the holidays without a certain level of dread was a new sensation. One he could get used to.

One hewouldget used to, with Peony at his side.

However… there was still one loose end to tie off.

Does she even realize it?

He could simply not mention it. Two days ago, he wouldn’t have. He would have noted it, like a hole in his heart, and built up walls around it, letting it fester until the rot took hold completely. But Peony had changed him. He could be open with her.

Perhaps that’s why she HASN’T mentioned it,he mused. The Peony he’d first encountered would have torn at his walls like the unholy offspring of a Valkyrie and a siege engine. But since he’d let her in, she’d softened. And—though it still galled him to admit—he needed her softness.She doesn’t want to risk hurting me by breaking down any of the walls still standing.

It is a little bit hilarious, though,his dragon suggested.

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