Naughty or Nice (Wintermore #1)

by Sophie Snow

What is happening to me? What is this? There’s not a chance in the world that I’m attracted to this man in a Santa suit.

“What do you want for Christmas? You’re getting an extra special present for coming home this year.” I open my mouth to protest but close it before anything spills out. There’s only one want on my list right now, and asking Noelle would be wholly inappropriate. But she did say she owes me. What’s the harm in asking? “I’d like permission to seduce your uncle, please.”

“I can’t wrap that. But you should. You getting knocked up by my uncle would make Christmas pretty awkward.” “Is that a yes?” Her phone vibrates, and she glances at it. “Brunch is ready.” She stands up, but I give her an expectant look. “Fine. It’s a yes, but you still need to give me a Christmas list so I can actually buy you something.”

“Please let me help, sugar.” Her eyes widen almost imperceptibly for a second before she narrows them. “Does that work for you?” “What?” “Saying ‘sugar’ in that Texas drawl of yours to get people to do what you want.”

yeah, I get it. The suit, the power, the ‘he sees you when you’re sleeping’ thing. There’s something kind of hot about the thought of Santa just sitting by the fire, watching you sleep, deciding if you’re naughty or nice.”

What are the odds that the biggest Christmas hater I’ve ever met has a goddamn Santa kink?

“God,” I whimper against his lips. Henry chuckles, his soft beard and mustache tickling my sensitive skin. “Santa’s just fine, baby.” Holy shit. “Santa,” I whisper, and Henry groans.

“Good girl,” he murmurs against my lips, moving me over his thigh in a circular motion that shatters me.

“I’m not five-three. I’m five feet. Almost. I’m four-nine” He laughs like I’ve surprised him, cupping my face without even bending because his arms are so long. “I know, sugar. I have eyes.” “Right. But what I mean is… This?” I point from his cock to me. “Not going to fit. Zero chance.” Henry shakes his head, a cocky, well-earned smile spreading over his face. “It’s going to fit, baby.”

I can’t get hooked on this. I can’t get hooked on him. But that doesn’t stop me from wishing I could.

The second the door closes behind them, I pull my wallet from my pocket and turn to Bobbi. “Can you charge all of this to my card before she comes back in and gets pissed off at me?” I hold out my card, and Bobbi plucks it from my fingers, chuckling. “You know her well.” Not as well as I’d like to.

“You’re making it difficult for me to do the things I should and not the things I want to. It’s a problem for me.” And it’s a problem for me how much I like hearing that.

He looks at me with a soft, uncertain smile. “You brought me to a Christmas restaurant? You must hate this.” “I knew you’d love it,” I reply, ignoring the part where I definitely hate it. He doesn’t, and I like that.

“I’m okay with it hurting later if it means I don’t have to hide how much I care about you now.”

My fuckin heart is breaking

“Rora asked me before she approached him. You know Rora; you know how rare it is for her to be interested in someone. And usually when she is, she’s halfway around the world and we have no idea if she’s safe. Uncle Henry’s a good guy.” “She has a point, honey,” Kate chimes in. “We’re not upset, Henry. We’re just surprised, is all.” “I’m upset,” Charlie grumbles, but the heat is gone from his voice.

“I can’t blame you for being upset. I understand how important she is to you, and I know how this looks. But she’s important to me too. I’ve only known her for two weeks, and she’s already so important to me. I want to do right by her, and that means trusting her judgment when she says she’s comfortable with my age.”

“You’re welcome, honey. Have the best time; Henry’s going to love it. Oh, and don’t worry about Charlie. He just needs a little time to process. I know you’re not really our baby, but we’ve always considered you one of our own; you know that. It’s hard for him to admit you’re all grown up. We just love you so much.”

God, let her be the death of me. It would be a fucking honor.

the firelight illuminates her body, but it’s not nearly enough. I fumble with the battery-powered lantern on the nightstand until it lights up the room. Rora opens her eyes, catching me watching her. “Enjoying your new hobby?” “Havin’ the time of my life,” I say, yawning and reaching for her. “Can’t we stay in bed a little longer?”

“Sitting down.” I set my coffee on the deck, then pat my lap. Rora rolls her eyes, but they twinkle as she settles on my lap. “If my lap is here, that’s where you should be sitting, baby,” I murmur, brushing the spot behind her ear with my nose. She smells smoky and sweet and fucking perfect.

“And up here… I don’t know, maybe it’s stupid, but I feel like I can here. Like we can just be here, in this moment, and we don’t have to think about what happens when we go back.”

“It was the middle of November, the lowest temperatures I’d ever experienced, but I couldn’t sleep one night, so I went for a walk around our campsite and I saw the aurora for the first time.” Rora barks a surprised laugh. “Seriously?”

When I open my eyes, Rora’s brow has furrowed. “November twenty-third?” “Yeah. Why?” She tugs her bottom lip between her teeth. “It’s quite the coincidence, is all. November twenty-third, twenty-eight years ago—the first time you saw the aurora, and the day I was born.” There’s no way. “Are you fucking with me?”

I can feel written all over my face. Better shock than everything else I’m feeling; my mind screams at me that there’s been a thread of fate tying us together all this time. A cruel fucking thread, all things considered. “That’s some coincidence,” I agree, hoping that she can’t see just how much it’s tearing me up.

“Do you have a place like this? Somewhere you can just be?” I can see it on my face on the tiny screen; I found it. And it turns out it’s not a place after all. It’s her.

“It’s what you didn’t do. If Rora dropped these off before we woke up, that means she’s not planning to come over today. You had one job!” That really clears things up. “And that job was…?” Noelle rolls her eyes like I’ve missed something obvious. “Make Rora fall in love with Christmas, so she would spend the day with us.”

Sure enough, she’s fast asleep when I step into her bedroom. I grab the tote bag she uses to carry her camera around from the chair by the door and cross the room, taking her phone and Switch from the nightstand and tucking them into the bag. Her blankets are tangled around her feet, which makes it easy for me to hoist her into my arms.

She blinks, bleary-eyed, as I carry her from the room, starting down the stairs. “Am I being kidnapped?” she asks, her voice groggy. She sounds completely unconcerned by the idea. I chuckle. “If you were, you’re doing a terrible job of fighting back, sugar.” “My kidnapper smells good.”

“I’m still half asleep,” she protests, gripping my plaid pajama shirt as I take the porch stairs two at a time. I push open the door and walk Rora into the kitchen, setting her down in front of my family. Have they just been waiting? I swear not one of them has moved. “Merry Christmas,” I say, presenting Rora like a present.

I’ve desperately needed—the bag I have now is great but bulky, and not ideal for smaller shoots. But the practicality of the bag isn’t what has me choking up. It’s hand-painted, my happy place front and center: the cabin. Above the painting of the cabin, the aurora borealis has been painted, almost identical to my tattoo, except it flows all the way up the bag strap. On the front flap, my name has been embroidered in shimmering golden thread. It’s beautiful.

I wasn’t sure if the gold…” he babbles nervously. Understandable, I suppose, considering the fact that I’m sitting here silently, feeling so fucking seen, wondering how I’m supposed to just say thank you when… Fuck. I run my thumb over my name, embroidered perfectly considering it was Henry’s first time, and clear my throat. “I’m going to need everyone to cover their eyes for a second.”

“Thank you,” I say, softly enough for only him. “This is the nicest, most thoughtful gift anyone has ever given me. I love it, and I…” I lose a shaky breath. “I love that I’m going to have my place with me when I’m traveling, yes, but I love that I’m going to have a little piece of you even more.”

The realization is deafening, clanging through my brain like thunder. No matter how much of a lost cause this is … I want to keep him.

The first thing I asked her to teach me was how to grow flowers, and when she fell asleep, I looked up how to send them to her. If she was serious about us playing together when we’re traveling, I’m going to send her virtual flowers every damn day. I’ll do anything it takes to keep in touch with her.

She presses her lips to my forehead, tears running down her face and onto mine. “Three weeks. We only met three weeks ago. I want this, I do, but we hardly know each other. Not enough to take that kind of leap.”

The front door opens as I’m stamping my boots on the Welcome Ho Ho Home! doormat. Noelle searches my expression, her face falling at what I’m sure is a tear-stained mess. “You okay?” I try. I swear I try to keep it together. But she opens her arms, inviting me in for a hug, and I crumble. “Nope,” I sob, accepting the hug.

This is the first time it’s come up between us. Girlfriend. I like that. Good, because I don’t think I can stop. I’m considering tattooing it on my forehead. Don’t do that. The Santa hat will hide it at Christmas. Maybe your cheek? Perfect. Can’t let anyone assume I’m not taken.

“Great. Can I take your last name?” “Stanley.” She furrows her brow as she scans a list of names. “I don’t have any Stanleys. Are you with the group from Glasgow uni?” “No, I’m a guest of Dr. Whitten.”

Her eyes light up, and she sits back in her chair, giving me a once-over. “You must be Aurora. I swear I feel like I already know you. Henry talks about you so much.” She rummages through a box of name tags and hands me one. “He put you under his last name.” Noelle chokes on whatever she’s eating, and I have to tune her out to pay attention as I’m directed to the right door.

“He put you under his last name?” she squeals in my ear as soon as I walk away from the desk. I inspect the name tag, and sure enough: Aurora Whitten. “What was that you were saying about him not liking you anymore? Tell me...

Rora’s sitting in my lap, where she belongs, and everything is right in the world. I tighten my arms around her, just breathing her in.

“And every inch of me, inside and out, is all yours. You own me, heart and soul, baby.”

“I would have a hundred babies with you, sugar.” “I was thinking maybe one or two. You’re going to want to go all out for Christmas, and there’s only so many stockings we’ll be able to hang from Charlie and Kate’s fireplace.” I roll over, pinning her to the mattress with my thighs. “Are you telling me that when you think about our kids, the first thing you think about is Christmas?”

She widens her eyes as if realizing that she’s voluntarily talking about Christmas without complaining. “Shit. It is. God, I’m not going to be able to hate on Christmas once we have kids, am I? I’ll need to make the most of it this year in case it’s my last chance.” She’s thinking about us having kids that soon? I’m already trying to talk myself down from finding a way to remove her implant right this second. I swear she makes me lose all reason, and I fucking love it.

“You want to practice getting me knocked up?” She licks her lips, and I still. “Fuck,” I whisper. “If Santa is your thing, I think I just figured out what mine is.” “A breeding kink, huh? Interesting…” Rora lies back, her eyes blazing as she spreads her legs. She trails a finger down her stomach. “If you want to practice putting a baby in me, you better fill me up even more. I want to be dripping with you.” As if I could ever say no to that.

We’re going to try to make it to Wintermore for Christmas so we can spend some time with you both together. But you hate going home for Christmas. Mom True, but we love you more than we hate Christmas. Dad And Henry made it sound not so bad.

“Sugar, I could never get bored with you. Whether I’m working in an airport or a dingy hotel, if I get to fall asleep with you all over me, then I have everything I need.”

“This past year has been the best year of my life, baby. As hard as it was to be away from you, I love that we got the chance to really get to know each other and I got the chance to fall harder and harder in love with you. But next year? It’s going to be so much better.”

“Getting to raise a family with my favorite person in the world and watch her do her dream job at the same time isn’t giving anything up. Rora, I don’t want you to compromise on your dreams for one second, whether that’s a family, your career, or both. We’ll find a way to make it work, and our kids will grow up watching their mom have it all.”

“I woke up one day,” Charlie said, smiling down at her, “and realized there was nothing that mattered more than her. Nothing I wouldn’t do for her. Because, in the blink of an eye, she was my whole world. And I was so sure I’d never feel that way about anyone again until you and Noelle came along. And then Rora. It makes me feel like the luckiest man in the world to get to have that kind of love four times over.