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Brandon was here too, and this time around he was taking on the program with determination—not planning to skip out for an easy fix to his problems. Noah was working with him to take care of the animals, hoping that working with them would help my brother the same way that they helped him.

“Yeah,” I said. “Me too.”

“We have time to take a nap,” he said with a wink. “Before we have to go over to the lodge.”

“I like that idea.”

“Maybe I can see how fast your gift will go.”

I laughed, holding up my hand. It had been a whim. When I’d seen it, I’d known it was right. “Are you sure you like it?”

“I love it.”

The black band around his wrist looked like a watch, but it wasn’t. It was linked to the silver band that now rested on mine. If you tapped the faces of the watch, a light pulsed—synced to the other’s heartbeat. The bands picked up the wearer’s pulse and transmitted it to the other.

Both of us now needed that reassurance when we were apart. With the exception of the most isolated and desolate places in the world, they would work.

“Really?”

Noah tapped the face and watched the light pulse, a smile he wasn’t even aware of on his face. “Yes.”

Gently, he picked up Velcro and set him aside before pulling me over to straddle his lap. “I love being able to carry your heart with me,” he said, pulling me in for a kiss.

“Me too.”

I sank into him, letting him push my robe off my shoulders and kiss the pulse point at my throat. “It’s like I’m doing this all the time.”

“You can’t say that,” I breathed. “I’ll be turned on every time I see your pulse.”

He laughed, sucking on my skin. “You don’t think that’s my plan?”

My robe ended up on the floor, his fingers sliding under the hem of my camisole and up my ribs. “What’s your plan for right now?”

“Christmas seduction.”

“It’s working.”

He smiled, pulling me tight to his chest. “I love you. So much.”

“I love you t—” I didn’t get the words all the way out before he was off the couch and carrying me to our bedroom to show me how fast he could make my pulse race.

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