“This will be the best Christmas present he could ask for. You’re the best Christmas present I could ask for too.”

  “I’m ready to mate you and make it official. I finally found a cat that is just the one for me and you’re not getting rid of me ever. I love you, Emerson.”

  “Hell, yes! I should have asked you sooner.”

  She chuckled. “Now, is the perfect time. Your uncle isn’t here. The guys are gone. The resort is empty. We have the whole place to ourselves. You can clean up the cabin after we get some important business done and I can write some more in my book, once I’ve made the cake.”

  “Absolutely. Man, I’m glad I had decided to quit the job and came home to meet you.”

  “I’m glad I wasn’t dating anyone when I arrived.”

  “With your family, the bad guys didn’t stand a chance.” He took her hand and walked her to the bedroom.

  She was ready to race him there! She hurried him along until they were in the bedroom, and then there was no stopping them. They were kissing and then tugging off each other’s clothes at a frantic pace as if they were afraid someone would show up and they’d have to quit what they were doing. She was so ready for this, the commitment, the connection, cherishing the love between them.

  Even stripping each other of their clothes was pure pleasure, heightening the sensations of touching and kissing. Cold air swept over their skin as they continued to strip off their clothes.

  He pressed kisses over her throat and down to her breast, whisper-soft kisses that made her ache for him and desire him in the most intimate of ways. His hand caressed her other breast and she loved the way he made her feel, sexy, complete, desired.

  She ran her hands up his abs and caressed his nipples with her thumbs. They pebbled and he moaned.

  “I am so lucky to have you,” he whispered against her ear, kissing it softly.

  “Oh, I feel the same way about you.” She licked his nipple and then the other, kissing them and then kissing his hard chest. He was a wonder to feel up, and she would never get tired of running her hands over his delicious abs.

  Then they were in the bed, naked, her on top of him, rubbing against his full-blown erection, loving the feel of him beneath her. He was exhilarating and her heart was hammering it was beating so hard. She heard his beating just as hard.

  He ran his hands over her thighs, smiling up at her, his eyes dark with desire, but then he moved her onto her back and spread her legs. “You. Are. Beautiful.” His fingers found her sensitive center and he began to stroke her. “And mine.”

  She lifted her hips to feel the strength of his strokes, escalating the tingling sensation between her thighs. She so needed this, needed him in her life. She could haven’t loved him any more than this. Nothing she’d done over the years was more important than taking this step in her life.

  He trailed slow, heated kisses over her belly and she shivered with intense need, running her hands over his arms, feeling his biceps flex beneath her fingertips. His fingers created a heated rhythm deep inside her that intensified the passion until she was ready to freefall.

  As she climaxed, she shouted his name, “Ohmigod, yes, Emerson!”

  He smiled and was on top of her, kissing her, his hot mouth on hers, tongues tasting and teasing. He was divine.

  And then he was easing into her like a hot male cougar who was ready to mate his she-cat all the way, no more waiting.

  Pleasure enveloped her as he pushed into her deeply, and aggressively thrust and nearly pulled out and thrust again. She enjoyed the hard length of him imbedded deep inside her, his warm, appealing lips pressed against hers again.

  He pumped into her and she tightened her inner muscles around him as she clung to him. He held himself still and peppered kisses all along her breastbone and then her jaw, moving to her lips and she kissed him hard. He began thrusting again. And he came with a guttural cry and kissed her long and hard, thrusting until the end.

  He rolled off her and pulled her into his arms, hugging her naked body against his and she felt wonderful, the bond between them unique and exquisite.

  “That was only the beginning,” he promised her, stroking her arm. “Want to take a hot shower together?”

  “You read my mind.” She was definitely up for more! Christmas had come early—for the both of them. She couldn’t believe she had agreed to be Emerson’s mate so soon after meeting him, but nothing would have dissuaded her from making that decision either.

  Chapter 18

  “Before your uncle gets on his flight, did you want to call him and tell him we’re staying at cabin five?” Jessie said, kissing Emerson’s shoulder, not wanting to leave the bed for anything. That was so not like her.

  “I thought you were going to tell me you wanted to reveal to my uncle that we are mated.” Emerson kissed her forehead.

  She smiled. “I think it will be more meaningful if we do it in person. The same thing with my family.”

  “Okay, I’ll call him and tell him we’re moving to the cabin.” He got on his phone and called his uncle. “Hey, Uncle Paul, before you get on the plane, I just wanted to tell you that we’re going to stay in the cabin Jessie normally stays at.”

  “Are you sure? You must have already settled into the house. I’m fine with staying at the cabin.”

  “Yeah. We’re sure. That’s the way we want it.”

  “Okay, that’s fine with me.”

  Emerson knew his uncle would be more comfortable in his own home and he was glad he didn’t object. Emerson was damn glad he hadn’t gotten rid of any of his uncle’s clothes or personal items. “We’re looking forward to seeing you tonight. We’re so thrilled you’re alive and well.”

  “Yeah, I’m sorry about that, but I’m so glad you’ve quit that job and you’re home for good. I’m just about to board the plane. And, uh, thanks for saving me from my mistake in going to Florida to stay with Robbie. I was going to have to find other lodging before long.”

  Emerson laughed. “We would have been happy for you if it had worked out, but I’m glad you’re coming home and we’ll have fun having Christmas with Jessie’s family.”

  “I look forward to it. I’ve really got to go now. I’ll see you and Jessie soon.”

  Then they ended the call and Emerson said, “Okay, he’s fine with it.” He got out of bed and started to dress.

  Now that Emerson was out of the bed, she didn’t have any reason to stay there. She slipped off the mattress and pulled on a pair of panties. “Did he suspect anything? About us?”

  “I think he figured I would tell him if we had mated or had agreed to it.” He gave her an appreciative look as she fastened her bra and he finished dressing and sighed. “Okay, I’m finally off to clean out the cabin and get it ready for us to move now.”

  “Let me know if you need me to help you with anything.” She pulled on her jeans and then her sweater and began stripping the bed. He quickly helped her.

  Then she followed him out of the bedroom and into the kitchen where she began bringing out the ingredients to make the cake.

  “I will. After I finish straightening up the place, I’ll help you move over some of our stuff.”

  “If I had been talking to your uncle, I would have told him.”

  Emerson chuckled. “Can’t keep a secret, eh?”

  “Not one that’s this good.” She smiled, kissed him, and let him get to work while she began to make the cake.

  Though she hadn’t told her family yet either.

  He found the cabin the CSF agents was neat as a pin, the beds stripped, and the bath towels set neatly next to the door. The kitchen was clean, and there was nothing that he had to do in there. He really appreciated the guys. He grabbed the dirty laundry and headed to the laundry room they used for the guests. He started the wash. He needed to get the sheets from the master bedroom and the guest room Jessie had slept in and their towels also to wash.

  When all the laundry was done, he began hauling some of his bags over to the house while Jessie paused in writing her story to pack her bags, then bundled up and started carrying them outside, but Emerson hurried to help her on the way to the cabin.

  “Hmm, so which bedroom are we taking over here?” she asked.

  He’d already changed the sheets on the bed and brought over fresh towels and he was ready to try the new bed out with her, but he needed to get them moved over and they would take some food and drinks to snack on. He knew they would be having meals with his uncle at the house so no sense in moving it all over there.

  “It’s your choice,” he said.

  “Then the one I chose to begin with. I always stay in that room. It’s got a prettier view of the woods.”

  “Okay, that sounds good to me.”

  Then they set things up and Emerson had to get the rest of the clean sheets and towels out of the dryer and change the bath towels and sheets out in the house.

  She glanced at the clock.

  “It’s about that time. We have enough time to change out my uncle’s sheets. Are you ready to pick up Uncle Paul?” Emerson asked.

  She smiled. “I hope he’s happy when he learns what we’ve done.” She helped Emerson make up the beds in the house—Uncle Paul’s and the guest room’s.

  “He’s going to be thrilled we’re mated when he learns of it. You’ll have to call him Uncle Paul too.”

  “I will be happy to. And the fresh cake is ready for him, so we’re all set.”

  When they finally arrived at the airport, Emerson could sense Jessie’s excitement. He was glad she was thrilled to be with his small family. He hoped he would get as good a reception from her family, but he was glad he and Jessie hadn’t waited.

  They went to baggage claim and waited for Uncle Paul to arrive. As soon as she saw him, she waved, smiling. Emerson smiled broadly at his uncle and hurried to help him with his carryon luggage.

  They hugged and Emerson said, “Here I thought you were a cougar. You’re a fox instead, setting me and Jessie up.”

  “Did it work?”

  Emerson just smiled and took him to see Jessie. “Yeah, it did.”

  “You are in so much trouble,” Jessie said. “I’m not letting you off the hook for scaring us to pieces.” She gave Paul a warm hug and he hugged her back.

  “Just promise me you’re going to stay with Emerson and give up all those rogues you’ve been mixing it up with,” Paul said. “She’s told me about every one of them when she’s come to visit and I figure she needed my rescue as much as you did, Emerson.”

  “Oh, yeah, that’s for sure,” Jessie said. “Merry Christmas early. We’re mated, if you hadn’t already guessed.”

  “Halleluiah. It’s about time. And the little ones, when they come, I’ll be bouncing them on my knee, and they can call me Grandpa.”

  Jessie smiled. “That works for me.”

  “I totally agree,” Emerson said.

  “So how’s the book coming?” Uncle Paul asked, while they waited to get his luggage off the baggage carousel.

  “Good. That’s why I decided to mate Emerson.”

  Emerson laughed, and he felt his ears burn a little. Paul was smiling.

  Jessie’s cheeks were flushed and she looked like a blushing bride. “I mean, he was great about giving me the quiet time I needed to write. I don’t know what else you could be thinking about.”

  Emerson and his uncle shared smiles. He decided not to mention to his uncle that she was basing the hero in her story on Emerson.

  “Okay, so now who all am I supposed to be meeting in Yuma Town?” Uncle Paul asked, sounding intrigued.

  Emerson hadn’t been sure if his uncle would really be interested in meeting any of the single, she-cats in Yuma Town, so he was glad his uncle would give them a chance.

  Jessie told him about a couple of women that she knew fairly well. “There are others too.”

  “You want to run the resort, don’t you, Emerson?” Paul asked as he pointed out a couple of black bags on the conveyer belt. “Those are mine.”

  Emerson grabbed them.

  “Yeah, I do. I told you I would do it as soon as I quit the job and as soon as you wanted to retire. Do you still want to retire? I don’t want you to feel like you have to give up the resort to me just to keep me from going back to the kind of work I was doing,” Emerson said. “I’ll help you run the resort in any event, I’m staying for good.” He wrapped his arms around Jessie’s shoulders and squeezed. “And Jessie is happy to stay with me, which makes me the happiest cougar alive.”

  “You’re lucky to have her. And yeah, I want you to manage the resort. I’m looking forward to just goofing off.”

  “You deserve it, Uncle,” Emerson said.

  “You do and I made you another German chocolate cake,” Jessie said.

  “I should have known you would have made me a special cake. I’m surprised Emerson hasn’t eaten all of it by now. German chocolate cake is his favorite too.”

  “Well, we both did and then when the CSF agents came, that was the end of the cake.”

  “Well, thanks for making me another. So when are we going down to Yuma Town?” Paul asked.

  “It’ll take us two days to drive down there. We can all go in one car—”

  “No. I’ll drive my own car,” Paul said. “Just in case I decide to stay a while.” He winked at Jessie as they got into Emerson’s car.

  Emerson smiled at his uncle. He’d never seen this side of him and he truly got a kick out of it. He was hoping his uncle would find a woman who suited him and vice versa.

  “We thought we would leave in a couple of days,” Jessie said.

  “Okay, that sounds good.”

  “Hey, Luke told me you could have a hitman after you though, Emerson. When you said you had decided you were no longer working for the business you were in, I asked Luke and Nathan if they knew why. So they told me, some Smith character had betrayed you. Maybe I should stay here and watch your back. He said he and Nathan would. And another of their sleuth members, Barrett,” Paul said.

  “They’ll be good as backup. I’d rather you be somewhere safe.”

  “And Jessie?” Paul asked, sounding concerned about her as they drove back to the resort.

  “I’m staying with Emerson to help him out in case he’s attacked and I have to see to his wounds,” Jessie said.

  “Oh, you’re referring to Luke hitting him. I hadn’t told him to do that. They were just supposed to scare the two of you so that you would stay with Emerson for protection. Of course I had no idea some guy was after Emerson on his last mission and put you both at real risk, so that’s what you might have believed was going on.”

  “Not when we thought they were bear shifters,” Emerson said.

  “Luke said this Smith character may be the same one who set up Barrett’s team,” Paul said.

  “It looks that way, though we can’t be sure. I need someone to sketch his picture to see if it’s the same man.”

  “Jessie draws pictures,” Paul said.

  Emerson glanced at Jessie, surprised.

  “Not like that. Not as a sketch artist. Sure, I draw from photos or people I see, but I don’t think I could do anything from just a description,” Jessie said.

  “We can give it a shot,” Emerson said. “It would be better than nothing.”

  “All right. While you make dinner, you can give me the guy’s description, and I’ll draw it.”

  Paul chuckled. “She’s got you cooking the meals?”

  “I often cook so she can write.”

  “I’m glad you are, Emerson,” she said.

  When they got home, they unloaded Paul’s bags and he sighed to be home. Emerson was thinking that his uncle might not really want to relocate and that meant finding a she-cat who wanted to live up here. Emerson wanted his uncle to be happy, no matter what he did.

  “Oh, you made a snowman. I love it. Now I know Jessie was right for you,” Paul said. “I don’t think you have made one since you were a teen.”

  “You’re right. We had a bunch of Cougar Special Forces special agents helping us,” Emerson said. “We had fun.”

  Jessie brought out her phone and showed Uncle Paul some of the pictures of the men making snow angels.

  Paul laughed out loud. “This is great. I love it.” He smiled to see all the Christmas decorations up. “Thanks for decorating the house and Jessie’s cabin. I didn’t think you would do that.”

  “Jessie had a big hand in it. If she hadn’t wanted me to give her decorations for her cabin, we would never have gotten this far.”

  “It was one of the things that made me wonder what was going on with you because you always decorated for Christmas before Thanksgiving,” Jessie said. “It made me think something wasn’t right.”

  “Yeah, that was one of the clues I left for you.”

  They laughed.

  “You could have left your emails on your computer or your password to get into it even somewhere that I would have remembered to look. It took us forever to finally get it, thanks to one of the agents,” Emerson said.

  “I figured you might check to see if there was something important in there,” Paul said.

  She warmed up some wassail for them and then sat down at the dining room table to draw the picture of Smith while Emerson made them steaks, fried potatoes, and broccoli.

  Even Uncle Paul came over to help him peel potatoes.

  “Okay, so Smith has a cleft in his chin, narrow eyes, he’s black-haired, kind of a long face, and—” Emerson said.

  “His ears jut out,” she said.

  Emerson glanced over at her.

  “You told me that when you first talked about him to me.”

  “Right. His ears stick out. He’s got a prominent nose.” Emerson came over to look at the picture she’d drawn so far. She was doing such a great job, he thought she ought to work for a police department. “That looks just like him.” She was frowning at the picture so hard, he said, “Jessie?”

  “I dated him.” She looked up at Emerson. “Remember I told you in the beginning when you gave me his description that he sounded a lot like a guy I dated? The one I rarely saw. That’s him. Samuel Cathines.”