My Christmas Gift
C.M. Steele
Copyright ©2016 C.M. Steele
All Rights Reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, copied or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without written expressed permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is purely coincidental.
Cover design: C.M. Steele
Cover Image: Lindee Robinson Photography by Lindee Robinson
Models:
The use of actors, artists, movies, TV shows, and song titles/lyrics throughout this book are done so for storytelling purposes and should in no way be seen as advertisement. Trademark names are used in an editorial fashion with no intention of infringement of the respective owner’s trademark.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or if it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it to the seller and please purchase your own copy.
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior express, written consent of the author.
This book is intended for mature adults only. Contains sexual content and language that may offend some. Suggested reading audience is 18 years or older. I consider this book as Adult Erotic Romance.
Contents
My Christmas Gift
Copyright ©2016 C.M. Steele
Chapter 1—Titan
Chapter 2—Paige
Chapter 3—Titan
Chapter 4—Paige
Chapter 5—Titan
Chapter 6—Paige
Chapter 7—Titan
Chapter 8—Paige
Chapter 9—Titan
Chapter 10—Paige
Chapter 11—Titan
Epilogue
Dirty Lessons
C.M. Steele
Copyrighted © 2016
Chapter 1—Jake
Chapter 2—Kaci
Chapter 3—Jake
Chapter 4—Kaci
Chapter 5—Jake
Chapter 6—Kaci
Chapter 7—Jake
Chapter 8—Kaci
Epilogue
Chapter 1—Jake
Chapter 2—Kaci
Chapter 3—Jake
Chapter 4—Kaci
Chapter 5—Jake
Chapter 1—Titan
I looked out of my office window. I’d been on the phone for the last hour talking to a witness. It was already pitch black outside and according to my watch, it was only six. The sun set at four thirty these days, so it felt like it was already midnight. It was three days before Christmas and I realized that I needed to get a move on or I wouldn’t make it to the mall in time. I had to go shopping for my best friend and his family. I was working on a case that had me out of town for the week and I dropped the ball on shopping. They were having me over on Christmas day to celebrate the holiday with them.
I hit the remote start on my truck and started to close down my office. I worked as a Private Investigator after retiring from the Special Ops branch of the Military. With the money I saved, I managed to set up a nice place in the Southside of the city and hired two other PIs. I’d been running the business for almost two years and it has been going smoothly. Our caseload was picking up every month. We had all different types of cases but lately it was cheating spouses and cold case murder investigations that the families wanted answers to. Everything was going to have to wait until I was back in the office on Monday. I gave my people the holiday off and I was joining them.
Slipping on my coat over my thick sweater, I walked to my truck. Most of the snow that had hit hard on Tuesday had already melted, so it was nice and dry. There was more snow expected on Christmas day, but for now it was dry, brisk night. I was hitting up the nearest mall because it had several stores to choose from. I hoped to all hell that I could knock out all my shopping at once.
I didn’t have any family, so all I had to get was three gifts, one for my best friend, his wife, and their son. I never knew my bastard father, even though I knew of him. He was married when he messed around and had me. I had a half-sister I never met in person but knew everything about. She was married with a kid and living in Naperville with her husband. Her parents divorced when her mom found out about the other two kids he had with someone else. They knew about me but decided I wasn’t worth getting to know. Not that I gave a fuck, but it made the holidays lonely until my buddy had a family. Now little Jacob and his wife Kaci were my family, too. I was starting to feel envious of him and his good fortune. I hadn’t dated in several years because I didn’t have the time or patience, but it was wearing on me as I watched Jake’s life do a complete one-eighty. Every night going to bed feeling the love and security from a loving woman is what I wanted. In the new year, I would start looking for the future Mrs. Carter.
The trip to the mall took longer than expected because traffic was a nightmare. When I finally made it to the entrance of the parking lot, I was stuck again. There were people pulling in and out of parking spots. Not afraid to walk far, I parked at one of the furthest spots. I had less than two hours to shop, so waiting and circling the lot wasn’t an option.
I texted Jake earlier to find out what they all wanted and, of course, he said nothing at first, but when I told him that I wasn’t going to take no for an answer he gave me a few sizes but really no ideas. The Disney Store was where I was going for little man. I think he was the easiest to shop for since, really, all I needed to focus on was the age requirement and get him anything for a one year old. Well, he was almost one, but he was a smart big boy already, so I was looking for something for a baby.
The mall was crowded. Seriously jammed packed with people doing their last-minute shopping. I knew tomorrow would be worse and the reason why I was doing it tonight. There was no way I could tolerate a bunch of people in a mad dash to find the gifts they needed to get.
I walked into the Disney Store, and they had a whole display of stuffed animals and characters from their cartoons. Jacob was way too young to see these movies or shows, but they were plushy and one day he would grow to love a lot of them. I scooped up about ten of them and a couple of tee shirts and tossed them into their store shopping bag. The line was long and it wrapped around the store. I closed my eyes because this was part of the battle. They had four cashiers so the line was moving quickly, but it was going to be at least ten minutes. I was standing around a display of Star Wars toys when I saw a Santa display through the entrance. It was all decked out for a photo op, but the beautiful display wasn’t what I was paying attention to; it was the brunette little elf. She looked pretty young, but I would say at least eighteen. Well, I hoped she was an adult or I was going to be in serious trouble. The sexy Santa’s little helper had on a Christmas green dress that barely covered her ass with a pair of candy cane tights. Her elf hat didn’t detract from her beauty like most would believe. She was one of those women who could wear any hat and make it sexy. I was definitely going over there to talk to her as soon as I got out of this store. Fuck getting gifts for Jake and Kaci. I guessed I would have to mak
e a trip tomorrow.
All I knew was that I couldn’t let her get away without knowing everything about her. That was the most seductive elf costume I’ve ever seen. Not that I saw a lot, but uber sexy wasn’t appropriate for little kids to be seeing. When I looked at how long that line was, I noticed there weren’t as many young kids as there were teenage boys and grown men. I mentally snarled at every one of them. I wanted to shove them into the fountain, then snatch her up and out of the mall. She turned as though she heard my thoughts and gasped when she made eye contact with me. I was huge at six-four and two and fifty pounds with broad shoulders, so she couldn’t miss me, even with all these people passing in between. She hadn’t taken her eyes off of me and that was a very good and very bad thing. Her bright green eyes popped brighter with her green dress and my cock paid close attention to it. I noticed everything about her, even the catch in her breath when I gave her a smile. Over the years, I’d learned to read people, even from a distance. And one thing was for sure, she was into me, too.
My line was taking forever to get through, and I didn’t know how long that Santa get up was going to last, so I was getting more agitated by the second. I wanted to drop the items and just go see her, but I looked at my watch and it was only seven forty-five. Even if it ended at eight, I still had fifteen minutes to get over there. The line started moving faster which made me happy, but that left me with one huge problem; I couldn’t see her anymore. My view was blocked by the large wall behind the registers. As I waited, I thought about how I was going to make my move. It had to go perfectly because there was something about her that was playing with a part of me I never gave women—my heart. It was jumping out of my chest harder than when I was in battle or on a covert assignment. The thudding in my chest was so strong that I couldn’t hear the woman calling me to step up to her counter. The woman behind me tapped me on the shoulder that shook me out of my sudden stupor.
“Sorry, I was lost in thought.”
“No problem. It happens especially when you’ve been waiting in line,” the cashier said. “Wow. You’ve picked out a lot of these. Many kids or a lucky few?”
“Just one. He’s still little so I thought it would be a good gift.”
“How old?”
“Almost one.”
“Wow. Usually it’s the mother’s out shopping for Christmas.”
“He’s not my son.” I could tell where she was going with this. She was curious if it was my kid. I saw that she looked at my hand. Many women played that same game with me. I just wasn’t the type to give in. Learning to read them made them less desirable. Not because they were boring, but I knew what they were after, babies and a family. Until I saw Jake’s happiness and got to know Kaci, I had no idea women like her existed anymore. It looked like my new year’s resolution was going to be starting sooner than later. I wanted the little elf and I was going to get her as soon as I got out of this line.
I paid for my stuff and hurried out of the store. The line was still pretty long. I saw the sign say that it ends at nine. That gave me an hour to make my move, but why wait? The line was too long for me to wait in. I had no intentions of sitting on Santa’s lap. I wanted her on my lap. When I started walking on the red carpet, I caught some shit from some guy in line with his kid. I get he was frustrated, but I wasn’t cutting in front of him, really. I was after the side show.
“The back of the line is over there.”
“Do I look like I’m going to sit on his lap? I’m not here for Santa, so chill out.” I walked past him because I wasn’t going to get into a fight over nothing, especially in front of kids.
She stopped mid-sentence to look at me. The mother that she was speaking with turned to see what caught her attention. When she saw me, she said something to my little elf. “Holy hell. Where can I get one of him?” It was loud enough for me to hear. I tried not to laugh when a red tint struck my woman’s face.
“Excuse us,” I said to the woman. She opened her mouth to say something, but she decided it was better to close it and grab her son. I thanked her and turned to my little green sweetheart.
“Hello, beautiful. What’s your name?” I asked getting closer than she was comfortable with. She blushed, but she didn’t try to step away from me. I could feel the energy passing between us. The chemistry was there and I wasn’t going to let her try and fight it.
“It’s Ellen,” she remarked, pointing at her name tag.
“Ellen the Elf? Don’t lie to me, sweetheart. I want to get to know you and I’m going hold up the line, especially for that jag off right there, if you don’t tell me the truth.” I pointed at the guy who was being a dick to me.
She giggled softly. It was super freaking attractive. Her face was even more beautiful close up. “Well? What’s it going to be?” She bit her lower lip nervously. I wanted to kiss those smiling, plump, glossy lips.
“It’s Paige,” she whispered, swaying her hips just a bit. There was something innocent about her. It wasn’t just the costume or the scenery. She had a softness inside that was visible from the outside. I wondered if it was because she was young. Hoped to fucking hell she wasn’t too young.
“How old are you, pretty Paige?”
“I’m twenty.” Okay. She was legal and mine for the hunt.
“Give me your number,” I demanded. “I knew from the moment you looked at me that you were interested. It was my job to read people, and you, sweet thing, are an open book. So give me your number.”
“Are you going to hold up the line?” she asked, shaking her head and smiling.
“You got me there.” I shrugged. I was going to do just that. A man needed to stick to his guns. I wasn’t going to punk out. I wanted her more than I thought possible. I wondered if this was what Jake went through when he first saw Kaci. The uncontrollable need to stake my claim flowed through me. I felt insanely territorial at the moment.
“Fine, then.” She rattled off the number to me which I put in my personal phone. Then I pressed talk. I had to make sure she wasn’t trying to play me. I was surprised when her ass started ringing to All I Want for Christmas by Mariah Carey. She had pockets on that tiny dress.
“You have a man?” I asked, closing in on her space even more. I didn’t give two shits if she did, but I wanted to know what kind of woman I was dealing with. She didn’t flinch. Instead she stepped closer, trying to be tougher than she was. I found it to be adorable, especially in her little outfit.
“No. I gave you my number, didn’t I?” Yep. Paige was a sweetie.
“That doesn’t stop everyone.” There were too many who wouldn’t think twice to give me their number even if they were married. Several of the clients that came in were just as shady as the husbands they asked me to investigate. I never took any of them up on their offer, but that didn’t stop them from trying.
“Does it stop you?” she asked, arching her brow and twisting her lip.
“I don’t do cheating, sweetheart.”
“Can we continue already?” that jackass said behind us. I didn’t tell them to wait for me. She was only handing out the damn candy canes.
“Sure, go ahead,” I said to the grumpy fuck.
Handing the bucket of candy canes to the camera elf, I pulled her away from the scene. “What time are you done with this nonsense?”
“In an hour,” she said, pointing to the sign.
“I’ve got some shopping to finish, but once I’m done, I’ll be waiting for you.” I walked away so she didn’t get yelled at in public, because I’d have to choke a motherfucker who spoke to her like shit.
“Why?” she asked curiously. Did she think I was just fucking around?
“So I can make sure you get home safe,” I offered. It was what I had planned, but that didn’t mean that I wasn’t aiming for much more.
“Okay,” she said. I don’t think she believed me.
“Promise?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said. I walked back and grabbed the bucket.
I look
ed right at the other elf and the Santa and said, “Don’t give her any shit about this.” Then I walked away. I still had some shopping to do. If I got to spend more time with her, I was going to manage my time right and make sure I finished all my shopping tonight while she was busy. Besides, I had a new person to buy something for—something special.
For the next hour, I rushed around the mall hunting for gifts. I found all their gifts and rushed out to put my things in the truck. Hurrying back into the mall before they closed the doors, I walked up to the display that was now empty. Shit, they had cleared up for the night. I looked around and there she was coming back with her bag in hand. “Damn, I thought you ran out on me.”
“No, I figured if you were serious you could wait until I got back.” Wow, she had confidence and sass now. I liked that, too. It seemed I liked everything she did. I had to be careful. I was falling for her and really fast.
My phone rang. It was Jake and I forgot that I sent him a text to call me. He was probably too busy fucking his wife to talk to me. That was the only time he dragged to call me. Holding up a finger asking her to wait, I answered the call. “Hey, Jake.”
“Sorry it took me so long to call back. Is everything okay?”
“It is, but I wanted to ask about gifts. It’s cool though. I already finished shopping. I’ll call you tomorrow.” I was lying because I was standing next to Kaci.
“Everything good?” he asked, knowing that I couldn’t talk about why I originally called. I wanted his opinion on how to tie this one down.
“It’s great,” I assured him.
“Okay, bro. But call me if you need anything.” He hung up, seemingly distracted. I bet he wasn’t done with Kaci yet but felt guilty for not calling me. The man couldn’t get enough of his wife. Looking at Paige, I finally understood unshakeable lust.
I turned back to her and took her hand in mine. “Sorry about that. I had to take that call,” I remarked sheepishly. For the first time, I wasn’t interested in talking with Jake. All I had on my mind was getting Paige to want me the way I wanted her, which was more than I had ever expected.
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