by West, Naomi
When Ian had gone through all his gifts, it was Sara and Saxton’s turn. Saxton loved the new shirt and knife Sara had bought him, and the picture Ian colored for him. Sara opened a new bracelet and some expensive perfume she’d passed on months ago because of the high price tag. When all the gifts were opened and being enjoyed, Saxton pulled Sara into a tight hug.
“There’s one more gift I have for you.”
He sat up and pulled a small box from his pocket. Her heart started racing when she saw it. Was it what she thought it was?
He held out the box on his palm with a crooked grin. “Hope you like it.”
She took the box, unsure. Didn’t seem like much of a proposal. She cracked the box open and took a breath. Her heart sank when she saw what was inside, then did a small leap. She picked up the key and raised an eyebrow at him.
Saxton grinned. “You’ll have to come to the garage.” He hopped to his feet, beaming, and held out his hand to her.
Sara put her hand in his and motioned to Ian. “Come on!”
They went to the garage and before Saxton opened the door, he made her close her eyes. He led her into the garage, stopped her, and said, “Okay, open your eyes.”
She faced a brand new sparkly Harley. It was black with magenta swirls painted down the sides. A helmet sat on the seat, matching the paint job of the bike.
“My own Harley!” She stuck the helmet on and climbed on the bike’s seat.
Saxton had been teaching her how to ride. She’d found it far more enjoyable than she thought she would have. The feeling of the wind around her, running over her skin, the road zooming by, was exhilarating. They’d discussed getting her her own bike, but hadn’t made any serious plans. Turned out, Saxton had been planning this all along, she guessed.
“Do you like it?” he asked.
“I love it! I want to take it for a quick spin!”
He chuckled. “Dressed like that?”
He gestured to her fleece pajama bottoms and socked feet. She didn’t even have a coat on, but she put the key in the ignition and felt the rumble of the engine as the bike started. She listened to the bike for a moment and Saxton went to open the garage door. When she saw the cold winter sky ahead, she pressed down on the pedal and took off.
She toured around the block, the frigid air biting through her thin pajamas. The rush of the speed and knowing this bike was hers outweighed the cold. She never thought she’d be a biker chick. Not in a million years. But once she started riding, there was no going back. She’d even gotten her own leather jacket a few months ago, courtesy of Saxton. She loved it when they went on rides together, and now that she had her own bike, they could go for much longer rides.
She turned back into the driveway, shivering. Later, when she was dressed properly, they could go for a better ride. This was enough of a taste for now, but she was cold. She stopped the bike and hopped off.
Ian clapped his hands.
“Sweet,” she said as she pulled off her helmet. She went to Saxton and wrapped him in a tight hug. “I love it. Thank you.”
“I’m glad.” He kissed her and hugged her back. “Let’s get inside. You’re freezing.”
They resumed their places in the living room in front of the tree.
“How about a fire?” Saxton asked.
“Perfect.”
Sara poured two cups of hot, fresh coffee, wrapping her fingers around her mug to thaw them out. She sat and set the mugs on the coffee table while Saxton gathered wood and stacked the pieces in the fireplace. He got the fire going and came to sit beside her. Sitting together, sipping coffee in front of the fire, watching Ian play with his toys, life felt absolutely perfect.
Well, almost perfect. She tried to ignore the ping in her chest. When Saxton had taken out the small box, she thought for sure it was a ring and he was going to propose. The bike had been an amazing surprise and she loved it, but that little fake out had made her realize just how much she had wished he’d proposed. Maybe it was time to bring it up and start talking about it. Maybe she could ask him in a way that didn’t put any pressure on him. Just a sort of, hey have you ever thought of getting married, type of thing.
Saxton got up to poke the fire. He turned around and looked at Sara and Ian. He had a kind of strange look on his face.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing… I, umm…” He scratched the back of his head and looked at the floor.
“Saxton? What’s wrong?”
“Umm, can we just… Ian, can you come sit down for a minute?”
Ian looked up from the floor, where he’d been playing with a pile of action figures. He grabbed a super hero and climbed up on the couch beside Sara. They both stared at Saxton.
Saxton shifted his weight and let out a hard breath. “So, I wanted to talk to you both about something.”
Sara’s heart raced, but not in a good way. This felt strange. Like he was going to say they should move across the country or he wanted to break up or something bad. He looked terrified and it made Sara uneasy. She swallowed hard and took Ian’s hand in hers.
“What’s going on, Saxton?” she asked.
“I thought that, since we all live here now and it’s pretty good, I mean, I think it’s been pretty good, right?”
“Yeah…” she said, not sure where he was going with this.
“So, maybe we should make it more... Permanent?”
Sara sat up straighter. Her heart jumped again, but this time with excitement. “Permanent?”
“If you want to. If you don’t, that’s okay, but I was thinking…” He turned and patted the space on the mantel behind the photographs Sara had put there months ago of the three of them. He picked up another small box and faced her again.
“I was thinking, maybe…” He opened the box and got down on one knee. “Maybe you would want to marry me? And make a family with me?”
Sara squealed and leaned forward to kiss him. Tears filled her eyes and she kissed him several times, then said, “Yes!”
Saxton let out a breath, visibly relaxing as he did. “Geez. That was hard.” He chuckled and his hand shook as he pulled the ring from the box.
“As long as this is okay,” he said to Ian. “Is it okay if I marry your mom and become your stepdad?”
Ian nodded with wide eyes.
Saxton slipped the ring on Sara’s finger and she looked down at it. The center was a large, round diamond. Several smaller diamonds surrounded it in a circle, all set on a thin silver band. It was gorgeous. More than she could have ever hoped for.
“Wow,” she said. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he pulled her off the couch, and into his lap.
“Thank you,” he said. “Thank you for loving me and wanting me like that. For forever.”
“Thank you for wanting us.” She knew it had to be harder coming as a package deal. He wasn’t just becoming a husband, he was becoming an instant father. No ramp up time, no growing up with the baby, learning along the way as she had gotten to do. They might have more kids, sure, but Ian was already here. She’d thought she’d be a single mom forever. That maybe someday when Ian was grown and left home, maybe then she’d find someone. But to have Saxton now, to have time to have more kids and a bigger family—a real family like she’d never had before—was a complete dream come true.
“So, you’ll be my dad now?” Ian asked, the awe obvious in his voice.
“Stepdad, yes,” Saxton said.
“What does that mean?”
“It just means that Saxton isn’t your biological dad, but he’s just like a dad in every other way,” Sara explained.
“So…” Ian made a confused face.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Does this mean I’ll finally have a dad like the other kids in my class do?”
Sara and Saxton exchanged a look. Ian had said many times that he was sad he didn’t have a dad when all the other kids in his class did. He didn’t understand why he didn’t and why he c
ouldn’t get one. Being able to give him a father figure was deeply important to Sara, and her eyes filled again as she saw the hope glimmering in Ian’s eyes.
“Yes, baby. You’ll have a daddy now,” she told him. Ian’s face slowly changed from confusion to joy. He jumped off the couch and threw his arms around Saxton and Sara. “This is the best Christmas ever! I got a daddy for Christmas!”
When Sara cleared her tears enough to look at Saxton, he, too, had tears in his eyes. He grabbed Ian into a tight hug. “You’re the best Christmas gift I could have ever asked for.” He reached his other arm out to pull Sara in close. “And so are you,” he whispered. “This really is the best Christmas ever. I have everything I could have ever wanted.”
THE END
Books by Naomi West
Click any of the covers below to go straight to the book page!
STOLEN: The Vanguard MC
I STOLE HIS BRIDE AND PUT MY BABY INSIDE OF HER.
Wyland West should’ve learned a long time ago: Do. Not. F*ck. With. Me.
But he stuck his nose where he didn’t belong, and now he’ll pay…
With his most valuable possession: his fiancé.
I’m going to break her. Mold her. And make her scream my name.
The new District Attorney, Wyland West, is a spiteful S.O.B.
He’s got a hard-on for stomping out people like me.
Rebels.
Bikers.
Bad boys.
He wants to clean the streets, whatever the hell that means.
But what he doesn’t know is that he doesn’t run this city…
I do.
And I’m not about to let a bastard like him take over without a fight.
He wants to f*ck with me?
Fine.
I’m going to f*ck him right back.
Starting with what he holds most dear…
His beautiful bride.
She’s gorgeous, alright, but by the time I’m through with her, she’ll be a naked, broken mess.
By the time I’m done, she’ll be addicted to my c*ck.
Dependent on my lips.
Hungry and desperate for one more taste of my seed.
But Wyland is more stubborn than I thought.
He’s trying to burn my world to the ground unless I give her back.
Do your worst, you son of a b*tch.
Once I stole her, she became mine forever.
SOLD: Jagged Souls MC
Every piece of her belongs to me now.
I’m on a hunt for my best friend’s killer.
But I couldn’t pass up the chance to purchase a woman like her.
She and her son are my possessions now…
And I will use them both as I please.
I saw her on stage and I had to have her.
Blond, gorgeous, innocent –
I needed that body in my bed.
Beneath my hands.
Submitting to my touch, my taste, my commands.
But just as suddenly as she comes into my life, she disappears.
No big deal.
I have bigger fish to fry.
Like finding out who left my best friend slaughtered and disgraced.
But this search for revenge has been dead end after dead end…
Until Sara comes back.
Could she be the thing I’ve been looking for?
Maybe there’s more to her than meets the eye.
Maybe she was a better purchase than I realized.
Maybe…
Just maybe…
She’s the key to ending this nightmare.
But the girl with the porcelain skin is like a china doll:
I’ll have to break her to find out what’s inside.
RELEASE: A Bad Boy Hitman Romance
By the time I’m finished, she’ll be begging for her release.
I’m going to hunt down Abby Winters and make her pay for her crimes.
The things she did got my brother locked up on death row.
It won’t bring my brother back home safe, but forcing Ms. Winters to her knees might help ease my pain.
I hope she’s comfortable down there. This will not go quickly.
My brother doesn’t deserve to be rotting away in a jail cell.
What he did wasn’t his fault.
It was that g*ddamn drug they gave him.
He was a veteran suffering from PTSD, and those Big Pharma rats sold him on a pipe dream.
What they failed to mention was that their “miracle cure” would send him spiraling out of control.
My brother is my world, and they took him from me.
Or rather, she took him from me.
Abby Winters.
CEO of Pharma Vitae.
And the woman responsible for this whole f*cking mess.
Nine times out of ten, people like her get away with their crimes.
But for once, I’m going to make things right.
I’m going to kidnap the prissy little b*tch and make her plead for my mercy.
I’m going to take everything from her, just like she took everything from me.
Her pretty, puckered lips…
Her soft, pale curves…
That last flash of innocence in her eyes…
All of it belongs to me now.
And I’m never letting go.
Hawk’s Baby: Kings of Chaos MC
He may be a killer, but I can’t say no to his touch.
Hawk Millard is not a good man. He’s a felon, a biker – and maybe even his brother’s killer.
But in the wake of Hugh Millard’s murder, Hawk is the only one who can care for Hugh’s infant son.
As a private investigator, I’m determined to get to the truth, by any means necessary.
Even if I have to sacrifice my body to Hawk to get there.
Hugh Millard’s death still haunts me.
I was the detective assigned to his case, but the official answers never seemed to hold water.
So I quit the police force and struck out on my own.
I have to know what happened.
And Hugh’s brother seems like a damn good place to start asking questions.
But he’s not a man who takes kindly to strangers.
I move in next door, hoping to sneak my way into his life.
If only I’d known how that would end up.
Before I know it, I’m helping Hawk care for his baby nephew by day.
By night, I’m stifling my moans in dark hallways while Hawk’s hands and mouth roam across my body.
It’s wrong, I know.
But he just does something to me.
Awakens something I can’t control.
Uncages something that refuses to go back inside.
It’s not all fun and games, though.
I’m in too deep, mired in a world where I have no business mucking around.
There are killers out there, and people eager to come after what’s left of the Millard family and fortune.
They’re the kind of people who see someone like me as little more than a roadblock… an obstacle to be disposed of.
The only safety I can find is in Hawk’s arms.
But as I learn more about Hawk and his past, I realize that that might be the most dangerous place of all.
Outlaw’s Baby: Devil’s Edge MC
I want to tie her to the bed and make her beg for my forgiveness.
Ivy Simmons might look like an angel, but she’s just another desperate wreck.
I don’t need more people looking to me for help – caring for my son is enough of a handful.
Then she gets both herself and my boy kidnapped.
Now, I have to hunt down the bastards who took them… and then I’m take her body as payment for my troubles.
This motel is a hellhole, but it’s home for now, ever since my MC’s rivals decided to burn down my house.
My son and I made it out alive, but we’re stuck here until further notice.
It’s n
ot all bad, though.
The girl next door is hot as hell, with an air of vulnerability that only makes my arousal stronger.
Better yet, she wants my help, and I want hers.
She needs cash; I need a babysitter for Josh while I plan next steps with my MC.
It’s a win-win…
Until she’s dumb enough to let my enemies sniff them out and pounce.
Now, I’m hauling ass down the highway, trying to get back my son.
I can only think of one thing:
Once he’s back in my arms, Ivy is going to pay.