Chapter 219: Asher
She’s still soft and flushed from the way I just made love to her, one leg tangled over mine, her cheek against my chest like it’s her rightful place. Her fingers trace circles against my ribs, feather–light. My breathing’s starting to even out, and hers too that sleepy rhythm she gets when she’s close to slipping under.
But I don’t want to let her sleep yet.
Not when everything about this night feels like it’s on the edge of something bigger.
…
Not when I have more of her to see.
I shift gently, brushing her hair back. “Don’t fall asleep on me, princess. I’m not done with you yet.”
She groans, stretching like a cat. “I just gave you everything.”
I grin. “And I’ll take everything again. But first- I slip out of bed and pull on some sweatpants. “Couch.”
She squints at me. “Couch?”
“Trust me.”
She throws on my hoodie – the same one she steals every damn time – and I carry her out, arms looped around her thighs like always. The fire’s still glowing low in the hearth. The tree lights blink slow and warm, casting golden shadows across the living room.
She curls up beside me on the couch, legs pulled into her chest, bare toes brushing against my shin.
“If we’re doing gifts, then I want to go first,” she says.
“You want to give me my gift first?”
She nods and reaches for her bag near the tree. She pulls out two boxes, one wrapped in dark blue with gold ribbon, the other in deep red with silver stars.
I raise a brow. “We said one.”
Her eyes sparkle. “So we did.” She nods toward the tree. Two boxes are sitting there, both in my handwriting, both for her. “Looks like you forgot too.”
She’s not wrong.
I smirk. “Touché. Alright, which one first?”
She lifts the red one. “This one’s not a real gift. Not really.”
I pull the ribbon loose. Peel back the paper.
I pause.
It’s a stuffed bear. A little beat–up. Familiar.
My brows lift as I recognize it. “Sergeant Cuddles?”
She bites her bottom lip, smiling. “The very one.
“From the fair?”
“The day I found out I got the role. The day Tyler…” She doesn’t finish. Doesn’t need to.
My grip softens on the plush fur. I remember that day, I remember her trying to play tough. I remember the way her eyes lit up when 1 handed her this stupid bear.
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Chapter 219: Asher
“You kept it.
She shrugs. “Of course I did. He’s been next to my pillow every night. But I figured… maybe he should be here now. In your new home
My chest clenches. Not from pain, but from something deeper. From the way she said your home and he belongs here, and the way the doesn’t be much I want this home to be hers too. Always.
I lean over and kiss her not rushed, not hard. Just… steady. Like something final and important. “Thank you,” I murmur against her mouth. “You know In promoting him, right? Sergeant Cuddles is officially in command of the fireplace.”
She giggles, nestles into my side.
Then she hands me the second box. The blue one. And everything about her body language shifts.
Her spine straightens. Her hands wring a little in her lap. She’s biting her lip harder now- not playful, but nervous.
“What’s in here, sweetheart?” I ask.
She swallows. “Just… open it.”
I do.
It’s heavier than I expected.
Inside, resting on black velvet, is a pocket knife. Compact. Beautiful. Black handle, silver blade. The kind of craftsmanship you don’t see often anymore. pick it up. It’s perfectly weighted. Smooth in my palm. Cold.
And then I turn it over.
One word, etched in dark, clean lettering:
Night.
My breath leaves my lungs.
I stare. For a moment, all I can do is stare.
“I” she starts, quiet. “Boomer and Rooster helped. I asked them if anything of Night’s was still around. They… pulled some strings. This was his. It was logged. We got it back, and I thought-” She shrinks into herself. “You don’t have to keep it if-”
I kiss her.
I kiss her so hard she gasps against my mouth, then melts into me. I cup her jaw, kiss her deeper, until we’re both breathless and she’s looking at me like she’s not sure what she just did – but she does know what it means.
I pull back just an inch. “Penny. Princess. This-”
My throat tightens. I press the blade against my palm again, not enough to cut, but enough to feel the weight of it.
“He always carried a blade,” I say. My voice is rougher than I want it to be. “Even when we trained. Said it made him feel steady. He could be blindfolded in a blackout and still get this out faster than anyone else. Used to say—” My jaw flexes. “Used to say, ‘you never know when you’ll nee
She blinks fast. Her hand is wrapped around my arm now, grounding me.
yourself free.“”
I run my thumb over the engraving. “He didn’t get much back. Not his vest. Not his boots, Not even his tag, not in one piece. But this–this is his. Penny….
Her voice is soft. “Then it’s home now. With you.”
I close my hand around it.
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Chapter 219. Asher
A knife that saved a man’s life more than once. That rode through the dark of deserts and jungles and held his breath In ton mang wak shouldn’t be here. But it is.
Because of her.
Because this girl – this impossible, radiant, stubborn girl
knew what it would mean.
She doesn’t know it, but I’d take this knife and carve a vow into stone with it if I could. I’d write hers beside my name. I’d cut out every part of and that still. thinks I’m not allowed to have her.
1 kiss her again, and when she smiles, I memorize every piece of it.
“Merry Christmas, soldier,” she whispers.
I shake my head, half in disbelief. “Merry Christmas, Princess.” Then I rest my forehead against hers and say it again because no one’s ever given me something like this. Not in all my years. Not in all my lives.
And then, because I can’t help myself, I whisper what I’ve been thinking since I first unwrapped her heart:
“I love you, Penny Vales. So goddamn much it terrifies me.”
She smiles like she already knew.
And I think…
That’s the real gift.
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