Releasing the doorknob, she ran across the room and scrambled to sit next to him on the bed. He winced at the pain she caused by dipping the mattress, but in truth he didn’t mind it at all. To have his daughter near him, he would suffer a lot worse than that.
“You sure are pretty for a man.”
O’Connell smiled at her words. No one had ever said that to him before.
She reached out one little hand to touch his eyelid. “You do have eyes like mine. Mama told me you did.”
He cupped her soft cheek, amazed at what he saw in her face. It was so strange to see parts of him mixed in with parts of Catherine.
Never in his life had he seen a more beautiful little girl. “We get them from my mother.”
“Was she pretty, too?”
“Like you, she was as pretty as an angel.”
“Diana!”
He started at Catherine’s chiding tone.
“I told you not to disturb him.”
“I’m sorry, Mama.”
“She’s not disturbing me,” he said, dropping his hand from her face.
Catherine shooed her out anyway. At first he thought she’d leave as well, but she hesitated in the doorway.
“Why didn’t you tell me who you really were?” she asked.
He stared at her. “I liked the man you saw me as. To you, I was a decent man, not some no-account outlaw drifter. The last thing I wanted was for you to change your mind about me and hate me.”
“So you lied to me?”
“Not really. I just didn’t tell you everything.”
She shook her head. “I always knew you were hiding something from me. I was just never sure what. Funny, I used to think it was another woman you loved, not a lunatic brother.”
He gave her a hard, meaningful look. “I could never love anyone but you.”
“Do you mean that?”
“On my life.”
And then she gifted him with one of those loving smiles that had kept him warm on the coldest days. “So tell me, Michael, where do we go from here?”
Epilogue
Christmas Eve. Two years later
“Hey, Pa, where do we go from here?”
Michael looked up at nine-year-old Frank’s question. After Catherine had given him his second chance, the two of them had decided to adopt the orphans she’d been keeping. And every day of the last two years, he had spent every minute making up to her for the time they had been apart.
She would never again have cause to doubt him, and he reveled in the blessing of his family and home.
“I think you’d best be asking your mother that question,” he said to Frank. “Catherine?”
“It’s the big white house at the end of the street,” she said as she waddled up to them beside the train station.
Michael grinned at the sight of her pregnant body. He’d missed seeing her carry Diana, but he was definitely enjoying her now.
The way Catherine figured, they had two more months before the baby would join them. Just enough time to visit her parents with their passel of children in tow, and then make it back home in time for the little one’s birth.
Four of the orphans still lived with them. Five children total with Diana. Michael smiled as he watched all of them climb aboard the wagon he had rented.
He’d always wanted a big family.
“You nervous?” he asked Catherine as he draped a comforting arm over her shoulders. She hadn’t seen her parents since the day they had eloped almost seven years before.
“A little. And you?”
“A little.”
Even so, he was too grateful for his life to mind even a lengthy visit at his in-laws’. He still found it hard to believe Pete had lied to save him.
“I’ve ruined your life enough, Kid. This is one place I think I’d best go to alone,” Pete had told him.
Pete would be in prison for a long time to come. Maybe it would make his brother a better man.
All he could do was hope that one day his brother would find the peace that had always eluded him.
Michael placed a tender kiss on Catherine’s brow as he took Diana’s hand in his and helped her up into the wagon.
Every day for the last two years, he had been grateful that his wife had stood by him, even though it was the last thing he’d deserved.
“Thank you, Cathy,” he breathed as he helped her climb into the wagon seat.
“For what?” she asked.
“For making my life worth living.”
Her smile warmed him to his toes. “It’s been my pleasure, Mr. O’Callahan. Merry Christmas.”
And a Merry Christmas it would be, too. For in this life, there were second chances, and this time, Michael wouldn’t waste the one he’d been given.
Don’t miss the next League: Nemesis Rising novel
BORN OF LEGEND
Coming May 15, 2016
It is in the darkest hours of a universe’s past that their legends are born and their heroes rise.…
Sherrilyn Kenyon’s next e-short story:
HOUSE OF THE RISING SON
Coming January 5, 2016
About the Author
New York Times bestselling author SHERRILYN KENYON is a regular in the #1 spot. This extraordinary bestseller continues to top every genre in which she writes. More than 60 million copies of her books are in print in more than one hundred countries. Her current series include The Dark-Hunters, The League, and Chronicles of Nick. Her Chronicles of Nick and Dark-Hunter series are soon to be major motion pictures. You can sign up for email updates here.
Also by
Sherrilyn Kenyon
THE DARK-HUNTERS
Fantasy Lover
Night Pleasures
Night Embrace
Dance with the Devil
Kiss of the Night
Night Play
Seize the Night
Sins of the Night
Unleash the Night
Dark Side of the Moon
The Dream-Hunter
Devil May Cry
Upon the Midnight Clear
Dream Chaser
Acheron
One Silent Night
Dream Warrior
Bad Moon Rising
No Mercy
Retribution
The Guardian
Dark-Hunter Companion
Time Untime
Styxx
Dark Bites
Son of No One
Dragonbane
THE LEAGUE
Born of Night
Born of Fire
Born of Ice
Born of Fury
Born of Defiance
Born of Betrayal
OfficialSanctuary.com
Thank you for buying this
St. Martin’s Press ebook.
To receive special offers, bonus content,
and info on new releases and other great reads,
sign up for our newsletters.
Or visit us online at
us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup
For email updates on the author, click here.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
A Dark-Hunter Christmas
Prologue
Chapter 1
Santa Wears Spurs
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Epilogue
About the Author
Also by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Copyright
These are works of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in these short stories are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
WINTER’S NIGHT. Copyright © 2013 by Sherrilyn Kenyon. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover Image © Guschenkova/Sh
utterstock
The Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-08536-8 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9781250085368
Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].
First Edition: September 2015
Winter's Night Page 8