Page 116 of Filthy Fae

“Welcome,” Cody said, releasing me and stepping away quickly. He looked so tense I was sure he was going to grind his teeth away to nothing if he didn’t stop clenching his jaw so tight. I hated how uncomfortable he looked, and I was determined to get everyone to relax by the time Christmas was over.

Holden slid his arm around my waist, giving me an adorable, giddy grin as he walked toward the kitchen with me. My head swam, and I thought I might faint. Of course it would be Holden who would ask. After Maria, Waylon would never ask a woman to marry him. And Sawyer…well, he was Sawyer. He just wasn’t the type.

We stepped into the kitchen, and my heart nearly stopped. Standing at the head of the table was Lidia, and standing beside her was Haley.

I screamed and flew across the room and threw my arms around my best friend forever, my BFF, my partner in crime…literally.

“You’re here,” I said, pulling back and wiping at tears. “You said you couldn’t come.”

“It’s more fun to surprise you,” she said. “Though after last time, I had my doubts.”

I rolled my eyes toward Lidia, trying to silently communicate that it wouldn’t be cool to tell the guys’ mother that she’d found me buck-ass naked the last time she’d visited.

“That never gets old,” Sawyer said with a grin.

“Yeah, don’t blame me,” Haley said. “It was all their idea.”

“Merry Christmas,” Holden said, shuffling his feet and smiling shyly. Haley had visited once, and though the guys all liked her, she could be a little much for my gentle giant Holden.

I turned to Waylon with a glare. “That’s where you were tonight, wasn’t it?”

He didn’t say anything, but the corner of his mouth twitched just the slightest bit.

“You should have seen her,” Sawyer said, throwing an arm over my shoulders. “I thought she was going to drag us all down to the bar and blow your cover.”

“I saw a little,” Haley said, flicking her black hair back. “Fuck you, Waylon Westling.”

The guys all burst into howls of laughter.

“Hey,” I said, poking a finger into Waylon’s stone slab of a chest. “You don’t have to live with this impossible man. You don’t get to judge.”

“You really think I’d go down to the bar when there’s a blizzard blowing in?” Waylon asked, shaking his head. “I figured you knew me better than that.”

“Well, I did think it was a little weird that you weren’t out wrangling cows,” I said. “And that it was you and not Sawyer who had gone out. But I figured you were just trying to ruin everyone’s Christmas by being the Grinch.”

Waylon slid an arm around my waist and squeezed almost painfully hard. His voice dropped, and his eyes locked on mine. “And did I ruin your Christmas?”

“No, you big jerk,” I said, tears springing to my eyes all over again. “You made it the best one yet.”

12

Amber

It really was the best Christmas ever. That night, we stayed up drinking wine and eating cookies and chatting around the blazing fire while the snow piled up outside. Haley flirted outrageously with Cody and regaled the guys with embarrassing stories of my youth. Lidia drank too much and regaled us with embarrassing stories of the guys’ youth. Sawyer refreshed our empty plates and glasses and toasted all our fails, both mine and theirs. Holden sat by his mother and murmured for her to drink less and stop monopolizing the conversation. Waylon sat in his chair off to one side, ever the observer, a whiskey in one hand and a watchful look in his eye.

Cody met Haley’s flirting with stoic indifference that could have rivaled Waylon’s, though his quiet laughter joined in with ours, mingling perfectly. He was part of the family, and a warmth built inside me when I saw him lounging on the rug, leaning up on one elbow with his legs sprawled out by the fire. He looked like he belonged here, and I had a feeling he did. One Christmas together wasn’t going to fix what he’d done, but maybe time could. He could prove himself over the next year, and by next Christmas, he’d have smoothed all the edges his betrayal had caused, and he’d be a perfect fit.

At around midnight, Lidia was hammered, and Holden helped her off to bed in the guest room. She scolded us all the way up the stairs, giggling and insisting that we go to bed or Santa wouldn’t come. I showed Haley to her room, the one that used to be Holden’s. Cody took Sawyer’s room without comment about where Sawyer would be. We weren’t usually so obvious when Lidia was there, but with two extra people in the house, we’d run out of bedrooms.

When I stepped out of Haley’s room, I turned to find all three of my stepbrothers in the hall. Holden emerged from the guest room, and Sawyer turned away from the room where he’d left Cody. Waylon stood at the top of the stairs, his eyes locked on mine. Oh, boy. After walking in on us earlier, only his iron will could have held him back all night. Waylon liked to watch, but he also liked the payoff at the end. I could imagine how tightly wound he was right now.

Part of me wanted to turn around and head straight back into Haley’s room, to stay up a few more hours talking to her and let Waylon take care of himself. But when he gave a quick jerk of his chin toward the bedroom, my clit throbbed and heat rushed between my legs. I tiptoed down the hall past Waylon. My heart raced as we passed Lidia’s room. I slipped into the last bedroom, the big room where the four of us often slept. The door clicked softly behind us, and then I was swept up into a pair of muscular arms. Sawyer’s hands circled my body, raking up the front of my thighs. Before I could even comment on his haste, he’d pulled my panties aside and drove a finger deep into me.

“You’re already wet,” he purred in my ear.

With a shudder of pleasure, I threw my head back against his shoulder. Another hand slipped in beside Sawyer’s, and I felt the warmth of a man’s body looming over me before I opened my eyes. Waylon stood in front of me, not waiting and watching this time. He dragged my panties further aside and watched Sawyer’s finger plunging into me.

Waylon slid his fingers into his mouth, wetting them before bringing them down to spread my lips wide. He rubbed his knuckle back and forth across my sensitive clit, smearing his fingers though my wetness until I was gasping and rocking frantically against his fingers. Holden stood watching, but I reached for my more reserved cowboy, not wanting him to be left out. While Waylon kept me wet, and Sawyer slicked his finger faster and faster into me, I drew Holden’s zipper down and grasped his cock. He sucked in a breath, and my mouth watered when I felt the familiar drop of wetness on his tip. “I want you in my mouth,” I said.