Holding Out For A Holiday Hero

Epilogue - Number One

“I don’t need a tree. I don’t need decorations. I only need Jake. He’s the only present I’ll ever want.” – True Blakely

“Yeah, sweets, that’s nice of you to say, but where the hell do you want me to put this big-ass tree?”

– Jake Hale, new official fan of Christmas trees

The bad guy had been locked away. Braden Wallace wasn’t going to be causing trouble for anyone else, not for a very long time. Perry had managed to retrieve the data on the battered hard drive, and True and Aliyah had been able to give the cops an inventory of all the items that were missing from the museum.

True was safe. She didn’t have to fear what waited in the shadows. She didn’t need to look over her shoulder any longer. A good thing because she was very, very much focused on the future.

With Jake.

Her ex-husband had sobered up and left town. He knew they were done. When she thought of Richard and how she’d felt about him, those emotions paled in comparison to how her body and heart just seemed to belong to Jake.

When the gun had swung toward him…when Braden had taken aim at him…

“True? You ready?”

I don’t want to think about that time again. But in that one, terrible instant, she’d realized something very important.

She loved Jake Hale.

Jake stepped in front of her. Or, rather, glided. Very, very awkwardly.

She grabbed him before he could fall onto the ice. “You do not have to do this,” True told him.

“I promised you an ice-skating date.” He regained his balance. Mostly. “We are having an ice-skating date.”

He’d rented out the entire rink for them. Brought wine. Strawberries. He’d confessed that he might have a slight strawberry addiction.

Christmas music played from the rink’s speakers. Beautiful lights hung around the place. The whole thing kinda looked like something from a Hallmark movie.

Then Jake fell on his ass.

And he took her down with him.

She was laughing as she landed on top of him, and he laughed, too. His laughter was rich and deep, and it warmed her whole body from the inside, out. His hands were on her, she straddled him as he pressed against the ice, and True just had to say, “I love you.”

Her words stopped his laughter. Jake shook his head. “Just because I said it…you don’t have to give me the words. I know it’s soon, I know it’s?—”

“ I know that I love you. And you’ve only said the words once to me. Though, technically, I think you said them when you were talking to Braden.”

“Bastard.”

“Agreed.” She waited. She also made no move to climb off him.

He stared up at her. “I love you.”

That’s what I wanted to hear. She kissed him. Quick. A dip of her tongue into his mouth. Then she rose to her feet, being very careful to keep the blades of her skates away from him. “If you can catch me, I’ll give you a night you will never forget.”

His gaze blazed. “True.”

She helped him up. It was the least she could do. Then she let him go. “Catch me.”

“Don’t tease.”

“I’m not teasing, it’s a promise.” She turned away from him, but she didn’t rush off. What would be the point in that? True wanted to be caught.

A moment later, his arms closed around her. His warmth sank into her. “Got you.”

Always.

She shifted position so that she could take his hand. They skated around the rink and the lights gleamed and the music played and…

“Merry Christmas, sweets,” Jake told her.

She stopped skating. She turned in his arms. “Merry Christmas, Jake.”

“How about we make a vow? No more murders at Christmas? No more life-or-death moments? Just…you. Me. All the happiness we can stand.” His lips curled into a half-smile.

The sexiest half-smile in the entire world. “I can stand a whole lot of happiness,” True assured him. She curled her hands around his shoulders. “Especially when I’m with you .”

“Are you ready for your present?” True called.

Jake was in bed, naked, and waiting for her. Hell, yes, he was ready. The woman basically had to breathe, and he was ready.

The cops had given him the all-clear to go back inside his condo. True had come with him. They’d gotten a new tree. One somewhere in between Charlie Brown size and the monster they’d had before. One they’d decorated together.

That decorating had been fun. In his mind, he could see them doing that routine every year. And maybe one day, they’d have kids to help them with the tree trimming bit. A little girl he held up so she could put the star on the top. A boy who raced around the tree to help them put the garland in place.

And I want them to love Christmas as much as their mother does.

“Jake?” True poked her head out of the bathroom. “You didn’t say you were ready.”

“Trust me, sweets, I can’t get more ready for you.”

She flashed her mega-watt smile at him. The one he felt driving right into his heart. Then she opened the bathroom door fully and stepped out to give him his present.

I was wrong. I can be more ready. Because he’d just leapt out of the bed and rushed for her.

True laughed as he lifted her into his arms. She wore the smallest, skimpiest bit of nothing panties he’d ever seen in his life. That—and a Santa hat. His dick could not wait to drive inside of her.

“The underwear is edible,” she revealed as she brushed a kiss over his neck. “Want to guess what flavor?”

“I have not been good enough for this.” No way.

“Strawberry.” She lightly licked him.

Yeah, he was done.

He took her back to the bed. Lowered her onto the mattress and helped her get rid of the underwear. He shoved her legs apart and his mouth feasted on her. Licking and stroking. Kissing. Devouring.

“Jake!”

He freaking loved it when she screamed for him. He didn’t stop with her first orgasm, though. After all, he did love strawberries.

And he loved eating her right up.

She twisted and heaved, and he enjoyed his favorite treat in the entire world and when neither of them could stand it for another moment, he sheathed his dick in a condom and drove straight into her straining core.

She clamped around him. Her nails sank into his arms.

He withdrew.

She arched against him and slammed up to meet him as he thrust back into her. Somewhere in the condo, Christmas music played.

He didn’t care about the music.

Didn’t care about anything but barreling toward the insane release that he knew waited for him. With the taste of True and strawberries on his tongue, he drove relentlessly toward his climax.

She came again for him, and the ripple of her inner muscles sent him over the edge. He erupted into her, and the orgasm was so powerful that he felt it in every cell of his body. It rocked through him. Consumed him. Pleasure swept them both away.

Merry Christmas to us.

Slowly, his lashes lifted. He stared down at True. Her breathing rushed out, red stained her cheeks, but she was smiling at him.

True Blakely. In his bed.

His.

Her smile flickered. “I’ve been meaning to ask…did you really carry an old picture of me around?”

He was still balls deep in her. “Sweets, I’ve carried you in my mind since you were sixteen years old.” But, yeah, he’d carried an actual picture, too. One he’d cut out of the yearbook. A reminder to him that there were good things in the world. Good people. No matter how dark things had seemed…how dangerous the battles had become…

Good people were out there.

People worth protecting. People worth fighting for.

Her hand rose and pressed to his cheek. “Tomorrow is Christmas Day.”

Yeah, it was. But he didn’t need some jolly man in red to bring him anything. He already had everything in the world he could possibly want.

He wasn’t the poor kid looking at others and hoping and dreaming any longer.

He was the man who had everything.

Every-damn-thing he needed. Wanted. Craved.

And, hell, if there was a real Santa out there…and not just the spies who lined the streets like the cute kid had told him…

Thank you. You gave me more than I will ever deserve.

“Merry Christmas, Jake,” True whispered.

“Merry Christmas, sweets.” His head turned, and he brushed a kiss over her palm. “Merry Christmas.”