On Christmas morning, the sun shone through the window, heating my back. My head was on Ashton’s chest, and his arms were securely around me. A happy sigh left my lips. This is already the best Christmas ever, and I’ve only been awake for ten seconds!
I snuggled closer to him and looked up at his face. He was still asleep and looked like a dream because he was so beautiful. Pressing my face into the side of his neck, I breathed him in. It was like sensory overload as his unique scent filled my lungs and made me moan breathlessly.
He shifted slightly, and a lazy kiss was planted on the side of my head.
Excitement bubbled up inside me because he was awake and I could give him his presents. I’d already forwarded the other gifts that I’d bought – the main one being to all of his friends back in LA. The gift that I’d bought for Ashton would be better with a group of friends going too. I had no doubt in my mind that he was going to love it.
I pulled back to look at him again, and he grinned at me. “Good morning, Baby Girl. Merry Christmas,” he whispered as he bent his head to kiss me. I smiled against his lips and rolled on top of him, before sitting up and smiling excitedly.
“Merry Christmas to you too. Can I give you your present now?” I asked excitedly.
A wicked smile crept onto his lips as his hands slid up my thighs, over my hips, and settled on my waist with his thumbs on the skin just under my breasts. “Oh yeah, I would love my present,” he purred suggestively. Desire built inside me quickly, and the gift giving was long forgotten as I dipped my head and captured his lips in a soft kiss. Before things could progress, he rolled so that he was hovering above me. “I was joking, you know. I’d like to give you your gift too,” he said, laughing.
I nodded, too lost in the moment to stop. “Maybe later,” I muttered, guiding his mouth down to mine again as I wrapped my legs around his waist.
One intense lovemaking session later, I watched as he climbed out of the bed and fumbled through one of our suitcases before plucking something out of the side pocket and strutting back to the bed. I’d been more organised and already had mine placed under the bed where I could reach them. I leant down, picking them up, unable to keep the smile off my face.
As he settled back into the bed, we exchanged gifts. I nodded to the two things in his lap. “Do yours first, I want to watch you open them.” I didn’t actually care what he’d bought for me, he didn’t need to have gotten me anything at all, I already owed him more than I could ever give him for what he’d done for my life in the last four months.
He smiled worriedly. “You promise that you didn’t go crazy? You agreed not to go overboard.”
“I didn’t go overboard,” I confirmed. Well, I didn’t think I did anyway, but he may have a different idea about boundaries and limits. I pointed to the cheaper one. “Do that one first,” I chirped.
He picked it up and slid his finger under the tape. My nerves were frazzled; he was being so slow, I was sure he was doing it on purpose. As he pulled the paper off, his eyes widened and a beautiful smile stretched across his face. “Oh God, Anna, I love this!” he enthused. I smiled down at the photo of us that I’d put into a silver frame. It was one of the ones from my father’s birthday party; I’d purchased it from one of the photographers.
I grinned. “I have a couple of others at home too, but I only brought one with me because of the ridiculous baggage allowance restrictions,” I chimed in.
“This is the best thing that you could have gotten me,” he gushed, leaning in and kissing me softly.
I chuckled knowingly. “Yeah, until you see that one,” I teased, pointing to the rectangular, gold, flat present. He picked it up quickly, ripping it open. As he pulled out the sheet of paper inside and saw that it was a trip itinerary, he looked up at me warningly. “I hope that you’ve included yourself on whatever this is,” he said before he even unfolded it.
I sighed, knowing he would be difficult about it at first. “Ashton, don’t start freaking out and panicking. No, I’m not going because it’s really not something that I’d enjoy. Just get over it, alright?” I stated, trying to look stern but probably failing miserably because I actually loved the fact that he worried about me so much. “Smile, please? I’m so excited about this, please don’t ruin it for me,” I begged.
He sighed and nodded, finally looking down at the printed sheet in his hand. As he read it over, I saw the tension leave his face as he read the details of it. “Holy shit! You’ve arranged for a driving weekend for me and my friends? Shit, Anna, this is incredible!”
I grinned and chewed on my lip as I nodded enthusiastically. I knew he would love it. It was a weekend of driving in a Formula 1 car, with actual tuition and lunch with one of the McLaren-Mercedes drivers. Once I’d had the idea of it, my father had pulled in a lot of strings to make it possible. Luckily, it was off season for the Grand Prix, so that made it possible.
“Tell me that’s not better than a photo,” I prompted, smirking at him.
He laughed, shaking his head. “Okay, yeah, you got me. Thank you so much for this, it’s amazing, seriously overboard, but amazing,” he sighed, and his eyes tightened. “But you’ll come too, right?”
I groaned, knowing that this was where it got difficult. I knew he wouldn’t like being two and a half hours’ flight away from me. “I don’t want to go. I booked this for you and your friends, and you can relax without me being there. This really isn’t something that I’d enjoy.”
He reached out and touched my cheek softly, his eyes betraying his anxiousness. “I don’t want to leave you.”
I sighed at the puppy dog face that he pulled. “Please don’t do that face at me! I’ve arranged for a guard to come and replace you for the weekend. It’s just two nights. Please? Come on, you love this, right? Your friends are gonna love this too,” I pleaded desperately.
He sighed and looked down at the paper. “I really, really love this. Thank you,” he said gratefully.
An excited squeal left my lips as I threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck tightly. “Yes! I knew you’d love it!”
He laughed quietly. “Why are you so excited? This is my gift, not yours.”
I sighed happily and pulled back to look at him. “Yeah, but I love giving you things.”
He nodded. “Yeah, don’t I know it,” he muttered sarcastically. “But you know what?” He bent forward and cupped my face in his hands. “This,” he said, kissing me on the lips tenderly, “this kiss would have been enough to make this the best Christmas I’ve ever had,” he stated, his eyes sparkling and showing me the truth of his words.
My heart melted to a puddle at his sweet words. “Well, in that case, now you’ve had the kiss and get to go to drive a fast car!”
He shook his head, laughing incredulously. “You are just too perfect, Baby Girl,” he stated, looking at me softly. Perfect? Yeah right, I’m not; I’m moody, bitchy, needy, and aggressive! “Your turn,” he said, handing me a flat present the size of a birthday card.
I smiled gratefully. “Thank you.” I silently prayed this would be something we could do together. Tearing it open eagerly, I saw a Christmas card inside. When I opened it, two tickets for Usher’s concert tumbled out into my lap. Shock resonated through my body as my mouth dropped open. They must have cost him a fortune. “Ashton…” Tears welled in my eyes because of how thoughtful this was. Usher was my favourite. “This is…” I was lost for words.
He smiled, leaning forward and wiping the tear away as it fell down my face. “You’re very welcome.”
I swallowed, running my thumb over the little official silver hologram. “You are so thoughtful; this is fantastic. Thank you.”
“So, who you gonna take?” he asked, smiling at me.
I laughed and pretended to think about it. “Hmm, I think maybe I’ll ask Rosie,” I joked.
“Good choice. I would have gone for Rosie too,” he winked at me playfully.
I literally threw myself at him, knocking him flat onto his back as I kissed him passionately. When I broke the kiss, I looked at him in awe because he was just so special. “This is the best Christmas, ever,” I whispered truthfully.
He stroked his hand down my back softly. “I’m glad you’re having a good time.”
“I’m not having a good time, I’m having the best time of my life here with you,” I corrected, smiling ecstatically.
His hand tangled into the back of my hair as he tilted my head back and kissed the tip of my nose. “I got you something else too,” he whispered.
My overeager, hormone ridden body was already imagining things that he could do for me as a present. I raised one eyebrow, pressing closer to him. “Oh really? And would this thing involve your tongue doing sinful things to my body?”
He laughed wickedly and shook his head. “No, pervert!”
My mouth dropped open in shock as heat spread across my face because obviously I’d taken his comment the wrong way. “Oh.”
He was still laughing as he rolled us to the side and reached into the drawer beside his bed, producing a little, red velvet jewellery box. “That wasn’t the gift that I had planned, but I can absolutely do that after if you want.” He grinned at me and my blush deepened. “This is what I actually meant.”
My breath caught in my throat as he held out the box to me. “Why did you buy me something else? The concert tickets were already too much,” I whispered, watching his face, just marvelling over him like I had done hundreds of times before.
“Just open it,” he instructed.
I gulped and took the box, sitting up on the bed as I ran my fingers over the soft, velvety material. Lifting the lid slowly, I saw a beautiful pair of emerald stud earrings. My hand unconsciously went to my matching necklace and rubbed over the emerald stone that I hadn’t taken off since the day that he’d put it around my neck. Air rushed out of my lungs because of how precious the earrings were. The sun shining through the window made them sparkle and cast green shadows over my chest and wrist. I looked up at him and couldn’t speak. No one could be this perfect, could they?