Page 72 of Bonded By Christmas

I’m still getting the hang of picking out her feelings in the bond, but I think she was about to decline out of habit, only to realize she really does want to be carried.

Her waves fall around her shoulders as she nods. “That sounds nice. Can we grab my slippers on the way through?”

I chuckle, scooping her up. “You got it.”

She could ask for a panda, and I’d have to find a way to rob a zoo and learn how to build a habitat enclosure in the backyard.

Fuck.

Here’s hoping she never asks for a panda.

Chapter Thirty

Lacey

Christmas music plays softly in the background as the four of us decorate the tree. It dawns on me that I have no gifts for them, which is probably going to make Christmas rather awkward.

Wilder comes up behind me as I stretch to hang a bulb on one of the higher branches. His warm hand lands on my middle as I manage to get it hooked on the limb I was eyeing.

“I would have been happy to lift you,” he coos, brushing his fingers over my abdomen.

“I probably should have left the top branches for you guys.” My hand falls to his, and I interlink our fingers, glancing over my shoulder at him.

His stubble is thicker than it has been. It’s more of a short beard than a five-o’clock shadow, and it makes him even more deliciously handsome.

“Nah, I love seeing you hanging the ornaments we haven’t touched since my mom was alive,” he murmurs, leaning down to kiss my temple.

My stomach tightens.

I hate that he had to experience that kind of loss, and I’m even more emotional that he brought them out after keeping them packed away for so many years.

“She had beautiful taste in Christmas decor.” I wish I was better at knowing how to put someone at ease, but I spin in his hold, wrapping my arms under his. “The train set was hers too?”

“It was,” he agrees. “And the entire Christmas village that we have yet to unpack, but I don’t want to overwhelm you when there’s so little time until the holiday. It might be best not to go overboard, considering we don’t know how out of it you’ll be for Christmas. There’s always next year.”

“If this damn tinsel doesn’t take me out first,” Grim grumbles from over by the fireplace.

I twist to face him and laugh when I see the shiny strands hanging from his beard. “Yeah, maybe we can put that back in the box.”

“It’s probably not safe when you have animals with more intrigue than brains, anyway,” Callum says, laughing.

“I’m sorry. Do you have pets I don’t know about?” I turn to the other side, quirking an eyebrow. “If so, why haven’t I been introduced to them?”

Cal laughs. “Not yet, but I’m always willing to expand the family.”

Why is he so good at blocking his emotions in the bond?

How?

Grim grunts, ripping the tinsel from his beard. “We have gingerbread houses to make. Let’s focus on that.” He does his best to block something from spilling through our connection in the bond, and I get even more suspicious.

If they have sweet animal faces I could be squishing, they better introduce me to them, and fast.

“Something is wrong with mine,” I say, frowning as the frosting melts off the side of the roof of my gingerbread house.

“It looks cute to me.” Callum shrugs. “I see what you were going for with the icicle lights. Those drops of frosting pull it off perfectly.”

“I think it’s supposed to be dripping snow,” Grim says, scratching his beard.