A Shifter Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page A

could not help but
raise a brow, then silently chided herself that she'd even spoken
to him again.
    "Yes, I had three. But it's all taken care
of, and what's left of my possessions is on the porch. I can't wait
to begin our life together, love!" He stood, rushed outside, and
began to carry in boxes and suitcases. "Shall I put these in the
guest bedroom for now?"
    "I never said you could move in!" she
exclaimed.
    "Where else would I live, Kaitlyn? My life is
here with you now." Jaxson gave her that twinkling eyed look of his
before leaning in for a kiss.
    Kate turned her face away before his lips
touched hers. "If you stay, you're sleeping on the couch."
    He chuckled. "I can't even sleep in the guest
bedroom, love?"
    "It's no longer a guest bedroom."
    "Really? What is it?" His brows drew together
in thought.
    "See for yourself." When he walked away to
the bedroom, she pushed herself off the couch.
    "Kaitlyn, there are children's things in
here." He walked back into the living room and paused at seeing
her.
    "Wow, you're smarter than you act," she said,
placing a hand on her belly. She had been thin all her life, and
the second the baby started growing, he took up more and more space
so that she looked further along than she actually was. At four
months, she looked at least six months or more. Stretch marks were
going to be a bitch!
    "You…" he trailed off, his mouth left hanging
open.
    "Didn't I tell you? Oh, that's right, you
knocked me up and then ran off in the middle of the night. No way
to contact you, no way to know where you were. Anyway, this baby is
mine. I will raise him, and nurture him, and you will never see
him. This is the part where you disappear and I never see you
again." She pointed to the door.
    "We're having a son?" he whispered. He ran
across the room and dropped to his knees in front of her, splaying
his hands over the swell, kissing her belly.
    "No, no," she tsk'd at him. "My son. You
don't have a son…or maybe you do, but it isn't this one." Kate put
her hands on his forehead and attempted to push him away.
    "Kaitlyn, please," he begged. "I didn't run
away from you. I was just preparing to move here full time. You
don't have a phone. And I knew if I tried to tell you in person I
had to go away for a bit, that my resolve would crumble and I would
wind up staying, delaying the start of our lives together."
    "Yeah, sure. You think I will ever trust
anything you say? Never again, Mr. Barnes." She managed to pull out
of his hold and backed up, though he kept following her on his
hands and knees. It seemed eerily like when he had followed her
home the day they'd met, except he was on his feet that day. She
backed against a wall, and his hands returned to her belly.
    "I will spend the rest of our lives making
this up to you and our son. I swear." He kissed her belly once
more. He grabbed her left hand, fished the ring out of his pocket,
and slid it on. "Marry me, Kaitlyn."
    Kate looked down in utter shock at the large
sapphire surrounded by diamonds. "N-"
    He stood up and kissed her before she could
say no.
    She whimpered into his mouth, the addictive
taste she had craved for so long was better than she remembered.
Her inner horse whinnied, and she could swear she heard a soft purr
too, inside her head. Our son.
    Jaxson picked her up and carried her to their
bed. "Merry Christmas, my love."
    "And Happy New Year." Kate tugged him down on
top of her.

EPILOGUE

    Every day since Christmas, Kate always woke
thinking that today would be the day her mate disappeared on her
and the baby. Every day, she was pleasantly surprised to see that
Jaxson was still there.
    The addictive mating bond they shared, along
with her rapidly expanding belly where their son grew, cemented
their love.
    Ian Jaxson Barnes was born on May 18th.
    Kaitlyn Kalei became Mrs. Barnes on June 5th.
And yes, she was Hawaiian, not Asian as her mate had once
assumed.

 
A SPECIAL THANK YOU

    I hope you enjoyed my cute little shifter
story. This