Holiday Bride (Wolf Brides Book 4) Page 6

  Ukiah belted out a laugh. “The soft city boys don’t look like this?” he asked, eyes dancing.

  “Ukiah Dawson, I can say with utter certainty, there is no one else like you.”

  Was that a blush on his cheeks? He smiled at the street ahead of us, where people were bustling toward the church at the end of the lane.

  “You’re feeling pretty proud of yourself right about now, aren’t you?” I asked him.

  “Maybe.” He leaned in and whispered against my ear. “You like the way my body looks, but you also like the way it feels against yours.”

  Ooooooh, that made all the witty flirty thoughts in my head flitter right out of my ears. He nipped my ear gently and then straightened back up and walked beside me, talking about the chill in the air like he hadn’t just struck me dumb with his wicked talk.

  Memories of last night flitted across my mind. I remembered everything with such clarity. Every touch, every sigh, every moan, every thrust into me. Every bite, every lick, every word he said to me…

  “You have a naughty look on your face,” Ukiah informed me. “Compose yourself, woman, before the preacher sees you and changes his sermon to ‘Avoiding Unholy Thoughts.’”

  I giggled and pressed my gloved hand against my cheek, to try and pull out some of the warmth there. “Well say something unsavory then. Get my mind off of last night.”

  “I stepped in horse crap today. I’m thinking of breeding ponies next spring. Luke has to wear his Christmas long underwear tomorrow too, so we all get to be uncomfortable.”

  I held onto his arm tighter and sidestepped a huge pile of snow. “That doesn’t make me uncomfortable. In fact, I am wearing a new scandalous dress under this jacket that Kristina made me. It’s bright red and shows far too much up top.”

  Ukiah let off a hungry growl that made my insides flutter. “Back here for a couple days and corrupted already.”

  I wanted to say something flirty and witty back, but Mandy Shaefer, who I went to school with years ago, squealed out, “Maya, is that you?” and came hustling toward us as best she could with her pregnant belly leading the way.

  She greeted me and Ukiah like old friends and as she and him talked, I got lost in the moment just watching them. The foundation here was still the same. The people here were still good and kind. I couldn’t see Cotton’s from here, but I thought of it, because it suddenly saddened me that Mandy’s baby would never know what a Christmas celebration at Cotton’s was like. Or Sunday pot roast there, or staying until the restaurant closed, catching up with good friends. It had been the glue for this town in some ways. Even the Dawson brothers and their brides had slowly won over the town by showing up to Cotton’s, and building relationships while they dined.

  “What’s wrong?” Ukiah asked, frowning down at me as we followed Mandy toward the church doors.

  “I was thinking about Cotton’s.”

  “You miss it?” he asked over the sound of his boots crunching through the snow.

  I nodded somberly. This was a happy day, I didn’t want to be sad, and I sure didn’t want to take away from Ukiah’s good mood. “It was a really special place. It’s just a little strange that the children of this town will never know that home feeling there. Do you know what I mean?”

  Ukiah patted my hand that was resting in the crook of his elbow. “You learned to love cooking there. And not just cooking, but the atmosphere you could create around a meal.”

  “Yes! Okay, you do understand.”

  “It’s not the same in your restaurant in Boston?”

  “Oh gads, no. Not even close. It’s more about how much money we can make there, not the art of a meal, or good conversation, or ambiance.”

  “Good,” he said.

  What a strange response. But before I could ask him more, we were pulled into the church, because Christmas Eve services were beginning.

  In this one, the men sat on one side of the room and the women on the other. Ukiah walked me to the row where my mother and the Wolf Brides sat as the murmured chatter of the room went silent. Everyone’s attention was on us, I could feel it. This town hadn’t seen us together in years though, and it was probably a shock. Ukiah and I were grown now, and very different from the children we’d been.

  I sat next to my mother, and watched Ukiah make his way to the men’s side, where he sat next to Luke. Luke had his head leaned back and seemed to be openly sleeping. I hid my laughing with a cough.

  The sermon started and I looked around at all these people I’d grown up knowing. Most of them, I knew their entire family histories, tough times they’d weathered, good times they’d flourished in. And I realized how much I’d missed every single thing about this place. At the time I’d left for Boston, it had felt so necessary to escape Ukiah’s growing indifference. But now that I understood that he was only trying to set me free for a life he thought I deserved more, it cast a different light on the town that had built me. Now that he was showing me his heart, and letting me in, Colorado Springs felt even more like home.

  As the preacher spoke on about the kindness of hearts at Christmas time, I tried to imagine leaving this place in a couple of days, and it hurt. Just the simple thought of getting back on a wagon and saying goodbye to Ukiah was an ache that consumed me.

  Everything had changed.

  Ukiah was watching me from across the room. His slow smile lifted the very corners of his lips, and my heart pounded harder. Handsome man.

  Everything had changed, but not on its own accord. It was Ukiah who had changed it all.

  There was magic in this place again, and I could admit something big to myself now.

  I didn’t want to go back to Boston.

  Chapter Nine

  Maya

  “You look beautiful,” Ukiah murmured low to me. “I like the way you look happy here.”

  I bumped his shoulder, and squeezed his inner elbow gently as a silent thank you for a compliment that filled my heart. How could any one person feel as much joy as I did tonight?

  In the town’s tradition, Christmas carols lifted on the wind as we walked through the streets singing. We were almost back to my parent’s home, but I didn’t want to say goodbye to Ukiah yet. “Do you want to come inside and spend Christmas Eve with us?” I asked him.

  “No.”

  I dropped my gaze to the snow as the sting of rejection slapped my soul.

  “I have something else planned,” he said softly.

  “Oh. I completely understand.”

  “You don’t…” He pulled my arm in tighter, pressing my knuckles to his ribs. “But you will.”

  The Dawsons were walking just in front of us, along with my parents, singing the chorus of Hark the Herald Angels Sing with the rest of the carolers, but they slowed and stopped right in front of us.

  Lucianna turned around and limped toward me. She was crying, and I didn’t understand as she hugged me up. Was she hurting? Perhaps the caroling was too much for her.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  Tears in her eyes, Lucianna eased back and nodded, and then she turned me toward the buildings on the side street.

  Cotton’s was lit up from the inside.

  Confused, I took a few steps forward, frowning at the building. The boards had been removed from the windows, the snow swept off the front porch, and the sign was gone. It had been replaced by a simple painted wooden board that had been nailed to the door. I couldn’t read it.

  Ukiah’s nostrils flared and his eyes were such an intense gray when I looked up at him. Lantern in one hand, he took mine in the other and led me to the stairs of Cotton’s.

  At the door, he lifted the lantern.

  The small sign read, Maya’s.

  Shocked to my bones, I turned and asked him, “Ukiah, what have you done?

  He held out his hand, and resting in his palm was a single key.

  “I don’t understand,” I squeaked out.

  “Open your present,” he murmured, eyes sparking brighter.<
br />
  With shaking hands, I took the key from him and unlocked the door, then pushed it open. The creak of that door was etched into my memory. It was just the same. And inside, the chairs had been taken off the tables, and everything cleaned of dust. Lanterns flickered on the long bench tables, the ones where this town had eaten together merrily for so many years.

  Behind us, the carolers had stopped their journey and were continuing the song. The town was standing there, holding songbooks and lanterns, crowding the street, and at the edge of the porch were the Wolf Brides and their mates, and my parents.

  “You were happy in this place,” Ukiah said low. “You mentioned it so many times in your letters, and I started saving for a better life just in case you ever came home. And you did. So, I talked to the bank, and I bought the restaurant, hoping you would say yes to what I’m about to ask you.”

  I cupped my hands over my mouth in shock as I realized what he’d done for me. Two tears streamed instantly down my cheeks. “Ukiah,” I whispered raggedly.

  “I have one more present.” He pulled a red and green box from the nearest table and handed it to me. “Open it.”

  Overwhelmed with emotion, I pulled the lid off, and gasped at what I found inside. It was two stacks of letters. One was mine—all the letters I’d sent him after I’d left this place. But as I thumbed through the second stack, he explained, “I responded to every single letter, Maya. I was just afraid if I sent them to you, you would come back here before you were ready. I wanted you to see both lives you could have, and then make the choice which you wanted more. I read everything you sent at least a dozen times each. I just couldn’t bring myself to send you my responses, and alter the course of your life.”

  “This is better,” I whispered, fingering the edges of his top letter, my name and Boston address scribbled across the envelope. “You let me find myself, and you were always here waiting, weren’t you?”

  He nodded.

  Strong man. Could I have done that for him? I didn’t know. It was a patience I didn’t think I possessed. This was love that he’d shown me. Deep love, to set me free and then hope that I came back to him someday. His silence took on an entirely different meaning, and it broke my heart in the best way.

  “All I got you was a painting of a rabbit.” I let off a thick laugh as I set the box on the table next to us. “You know…since I can’t hunt them myself and give you the poor dead critters.”

  He chuckled and brushed a curl from in front of my face. “It’s perfect. It’s your present for my wolf, isn’t it?”

  The tears were flowing and my voice would shake if I answered, so instead, I nodded.

  Softer, he said, “It’s you saying you accept all of me…isn’t it?”

  Another nod from me.

  “Then it’ll be my most cherished gift.” He pulled my waist in closer, and he searched my eyes, pulled my hands away from my face. “You’re all my wolf ever wanted, Maya. You understand me, and are patient with me. You make me want to be a better man, and it takes something special to change a person like that. I don’t want you to go. I want you to choose me. I want you to stay here and build a life with me. I don’t have a ring, it’s not a tradition my people follow, but if you need one, I can save for it. For now, you can have my heart, my protection, my body, soul…” He looked around the restaurant. “This place to remember how much I care for you. Maya…will you stay with me? Will you be my mate?”

  Breath hitching, I asked, “Are you asking me to be a Wolf Bride?”

  The smile on his face reached his inhuman eyes, and he nodded. “I sure am.”

  “Yes,” I rushed out, melting against him. “Yes, yes, yes, I’ll stay with you. I’ll be your mate.” I sobbed, my face against his chest. Over the sound of the beautiful Christmas carol floating through the restaurant, I uttered, “It’s what I’ve always wanted, Ukiah. You’re what I’ve always wanted.”

  He hugged me up tight and rested his cheek against my hair, swayed gently as I gripped onto his shirt and thanked the heavens that my life had turned out like this.

  “She said yes,” he called out.

  Outside, there was the deafening chaos of cheering. I was pulled from Ukiah and into my mother’s arms for a hug, and then Lucianna’s. “I told you that someday you would be mine,” she murmured thickly.

  Kristina pulled me in next, and she was talking, but I couldn’t understand any of her words. All of my focus was on Ukiah, who was in Gable’s embrace. His father was saying something low in his ear, and he looked so proud of his boy. Ukiah’s lips were pursed, and when he looked at me, his eyes were rimmed with tears.

  His heart was breaking in a good way, too. I could tell.

  I love you, I mouthed.

  And he said it back, and my heart was so full.

  Luke was yelling for the carolers to come on in and celebrate Christmas eve with eggnog.

  “Did everyone know about this?” I asked my father as he hugged me.

  “Ukiah told us about it this morning. We’ve been in a flurry, taking shifts cleaning this place up and gathering food and drink for tomorrow’s feast.”

  “Tomorrow’s feast?” I asked.

  “Apparently you were attached to Christmas Days in Cotton’s.” He twitched his head toward Ukiah. “Your mate is going to make that happen for you. Along with your mother and Luciana, Lorelei, and Kristina. You are very loved, Maya.” He squeezed my shoulder and made his way toward the kitchen. “I have a bucket of eggnog to make,” he said over his shoulder with a wink at me.

  The Christmas celebration at Cotton’s—newly named Maya’s—started now, apparently.

  It was the second greatest gift I’d ever received.

  The first?

  I looked at Ukiah. My Ukiah, looking back at me like I was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

  The best present was him.

  If you like these characters…

  more of their story can be found in

  Wolf Brides

  Wolf Bride (Book 1)

  Red Snow Bride (Book 2)

  Dawson Bride (Book 3)

  Also connected to this series…

  Bears Fur Hire

  Husband Fur Hire (Book 1)

  Bear Fur Hire (Book 2)

  Mate Fur Hire (Book 3)

  Wolf Fur Hire (Book 4)

  Dawson Fur Hire (Book 5)

  Chance Fur Hire (Book 6)

  New Release from T. S. Joyce

  Kaid Ranch Shifters

  Steal Her Heart (Book 1)

  Newsletter Sign-Up

  For new releases, exclusive sneak peeks, and giveaways, sign up for T. S. Joyce’s Bear Shifter Romance Newsletter HERE.

  More Series from this Author

  Keepers of the Swamp

  Swim Deeper (Book 1)

  Dig Deeper (Book 2)

  Bite Deeper (Book 3)

  Daughters of Beasts

  Novak Grizzly (Book 1)

  Beck Bear (Book 2)

  Ash Bear (Book 3)

  Sons of Beasts

  Son of the Cursed Bear (Book 1)

  Son of Kong (Book 2)

  Son of the Dragon (Book 3)

  Red Havoc Panthers

  Red Havoc Rogue (Book 1)

  Red Havoc Rebel (Book 2)

  Red Havoc Bad Cat (Book 3)

  Red Havoc Guardian (Book 4)

  Red Havoc Bad Bear (Book 5)

  Harper’s Mountains

  Bloodrunner Dragon (Book 1)

  Bloodrunner Bear (Book 2)

  Air Ryder (Book 3)

  Novak Raven (Book 4)

  Blackwing Dragon (Book 5)

  Kane’s Mountains

  Blackwing Defender (Book 1)

  Blackwing Wolf (Book 2)

  Blackwing Beast (Book 3)

  Bears Fur Hire

  Husband Fur Hire (Book 1)

  Bear Fur Hire (Book 2)

  Mate Fur Hire (Book 3)

  Wolf Fur Hire (Book 4)

  Dawson Fur Hire (Book 5)
/>
  Chance Fur Hire (Book 6)

  Saw Bears

  Lumberjack Werebear (Book 1)

  Woodcutter Werebear (Book 2)

  Timberman Werebear (Book 3)

  Sawman Werebear (Book 4)

  Axman Werebear (Book 5)

  Woodsman Werebear (Book 6)

  Lumberman Werebear (Book 7)

  Fire Bears

  Bear My Soul (Book 1)

  Bear the Burn (Book 2)

  Bear the Heat (Book 3)

  Gray Back Bears

  Gray Back Bad Bear (Book 1)

  Gray Back Alpha Bear (Book 2)

  Gray Back Ghost Bear (Book 3)

  Gray Back Broken Bear (Book 4)

  Lowlander Silverback (Book 5)

  Last Immortal Dragon (Book 6)

  For More From this Author

  Check out her The Official Reading List of T. S. Joyce

  Or visit

  www.tsjoyce.com

  or

  T. S. Joyce’s Amazon US page

  About the Author

  T.S. Joyce is devoted to bringing hot shifter romances to readers. Hungry alpha males are her calling card, and the wilder the men, the more she'll make them pour their hearts out. She lives in a tiny town, outside of a tiny city, and devotes her life to writing big stories. Foodie, bear whisperer, ninja, thief of tiny bottles of awesome smelling hotel shampoo, nap connoisseur, movie fanatic, and zombie slayer, and most of this bio is true.

  Bear Shifters? Check