Page 23 of A Beastly Christmas Cheerful
I’m no longer able to fight it, and I close my eyes, but right before I slip under, I swear I hear Marley tell me he loves me. Maybe my new Christmas wish will be that his love isn’t only a dream.
Chapter Sixteen
MARLEY
It’s Christmas morning, and I’ve been up for a couple of hours making sure everything is perfect. When I’ve got it all ready, I go to the bedroom to wake Belle up.
She’s still asleep with her arm stretched out to my side of the bed like she was looking for me. A warm feeling spreads across my chest at the thought of her seeking me out, but I had to get started on some things before I got her up.
“Merry Christmas, beauty,” I say as I kiss her shoulder.
Belle is sleepy as she turns over and mumbles something about me coming back to bed. As much as I’d love to bury my face in her pussy, I’m hoping to do that a little later.
“Don’t you want to see if Santa came?” As soon as the words are out of my mouth, Belle’s eyes pop open, and she jerks awake.
“It’s Christmas!” She sits up so fast she almost headbutts me, but luckily I dodge her in time.
“Here,” I tell her, holding out one of my shirts for her to put on.
“Are you sure we can’t have a naked Christmas?” She wiggles her eyebrows at me seductively.
“Maybe later, but first I have something I want to show you.”
Once she’s got my shirt on, I lift her in my arms. She makes the sweetest little squeal of excitement as I carry her through to the living room but don’t stop by the tree. Instead, I go to the front door and put her on her feet.
“What are we doing?” She watches me pull on my boots and then hold out her shoes for her to put on.
“We’re going outside for a minute,” I say as I grab the blanket I laid out for her and wrap it around her.
The cold air is brisk this morning, but it stopped snowing last night. It’s beautiful in the morning light and makes everything sparkle. My heart is beating hard against my chest as we walk onto the porch and then down the stairs.
“Belle, having you here has been the most magical, most important time in my life,” I say when we get to the last step.
She smiles as she looks out at the snow, but when she sees the driveway, it starts to fall. “Marley, did you dig out my car and plow the road?”
“I did,” I tell her, and her smile falls away completely.
“So you want me to leave?” Tears form in her eyes, and I rush to pull her into my arms.
“No, that’s not what I’m saying.” The words get mixed up as I try to get them out. “Not at all, Belle.”
“But why would you do this unless you wanted me to be able to leave?” She sniffs. “This is not what I told Santa I wanted.”
It’s hard for me not to laugh at that as I cup her face. “Look at me,” I tell her, and her eyes find mine. “I love you, Belle.” Her face stills like she’s in shock, and I bend down to kiss her parted lips.
“You love me?” she says, and I nod. “Then why are you making me leave?”
“I’m not, Belle. I’m just doing a terrible job of explaining my grand gesture.” I sigh as I try again. “I’m saying that I love you, and I want you to stay here with me. Forever. I came out here this morning and used my snowplow to clear the driveway and then I dug out your car. I did it so you would have a choice. I didn’t want to beg you to stay with me because you didn’t even have a way to turn me down.”
“Wait, you had a plow this whole time?” Her eyes widen.
“I did, and honestly, I thought about not using it so I could kidnap you and keep you here.”
“Maybe you should have gone with that as the grand gesture,” she mumbles more to herself.
“I love you,” I say again because now I can’t stop. “I want you to stay here with me, but I want it to be your choice. Not because I forced you into it.” I think about last night and how many times I came inside her. “We might have made a baby last night, and if that’s the case then I’ll take care of you and our child, but I don’t want you to stay here because you feel sorry for me or out of an obligation I forced on you.”
I stayed up most of the night fighting with myself. I knew that I had to tell her how I felt and that she deserved the chance to walk away from me if that’s what she chose. I’m hoping that she feels something for me, enough that if she wants to leave that maybe one day she’ll come back.
