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  Releasing the doorknob, she ran across the room and scrambled to sit next to him on the bed. He winced at the pain she caused by dipping the mattress, but in truth he didn’t mind it at all. To have his daughter near him, he would suffer a lot worse than that.

  “You sure are pretty for a man.”

  O’Connell smiled at her words. No one had ever said that to him before.

  She reached out one little hand to touch his eyelid. “You do have eyes like mine. Mama told me you did.”

  He cupped her soft cheek, amazed at what he saw in her face. It was so strange to see parts of him mixed in with parts of Catherine.

  Never in his life had he seen a more beautiful little girl. “We get them from my mother.”

  “Was she pretty, too?”

  “Like you, she was as pretty as an angel.”

  “Diana!”

  He started at Catherine’s chiding tone.

  “I told you not to disturb him.”

  “I’m sorry, Mama.”

  “She’s not disturbing me,” he said, dropping his hand from her face.

  Catherine shooed her out anyway. At first he thought she’d leave as well, but she hesitated in the doorway.

  “Why didn’t you tell me who you really were?” she asked.

  He stared at her. “I liked the man you saw me as. To you, I was a decent man, not some no-account outlaw drifter. The last thing I wanted was for you to change your mind about me and hate me.”

  “So you lied to me?”

  “Not really. I just didn’t tell you everything.”

  She shook her head. “I always knew you were hiding something from me. I was just never sure what. Funny, I used to think it was another woman you loved, not a lunatic brother.”

  He gave her a hard, meaningful look. “I could never love anyone but you.”

  “Do you mean that?”

  “On my life.”

  And then she gifted him with one of those loving smiles that had kept him warm on the coldest days. “So tell me, Michael, where do we go from here?”

  Epilogue

  Christmas Eve. Two years later

  “Hey, Pa, where do we go from here?”

  Michael looked up at nine-year-old Frank’s question. After Catherine had given him his second chance, the two of them had decided to adopt the orphans she’d been keeping. And every day of the last two years, he had spent every minute making up to her for the time they had been apart.

  She would never again have cause to doubt him, and he reveled in the blessing of his family and home.

  “I think you’d best be asking your mother that question,” he said to Frank. “Catherine?”

  “It’s the big white house at the end of the street,” she said as she waddled up to them beside the train station.

  Michael grinned at the sight of her pregnant body. He’d missed seeing her carry Diana, but he was definitely enjoying her now.

  The way Catherine figured, they had two more months before the baby would join them. Just enough time to visit her parents with their passel of children in tow, and then make it back home in time for the little one’s birth.

  Four of the orphans still lived with them. Five children total with Diana. Michael smiled as he watched all of them climb aboard the wagon he had rented.

  He’d always wanted a big family.

  “You nervous?” he asked Catherine as he draped a comforting arm over her shoulders. She hadn’t seen her parents since the day they had eloped almost seven years before.

  “A little. And you?”

  “A little.”

  Even so, he was too grateful for his life to mind even a lengthy visit at his in-laws’. He still found it hard to believe Pete had lied to save him.

  “I’ve ruined your life enough, Kid. This is one place I think I’d best go to alone,” Pete had told him.

  Pete would be in prison for a long time to come. Maybe it would make his brother a better man.

  All he could do was hope that one day his brother would find the peace that had always eluded him.

  Michael placed a tender kiss on Catherine’s brow as he took Diana’s hand in his and helped her up into the wagon.

  Every day for the last two years, he had been grateful that his wife had stood by him, even though it was the last thing he’d deserved.

  “Thank you, Cathy,” he breathed as he helped her climb into the wagon seat.

  “For what?” she asked.

  “For making my life worth living.”

  Her smile warmed him to his toes. “It’s been my pleasure, Mr. O’Callahan. Merry Christmas.”

  And a Merry Christmas it would be, too. For in this life, there were second chances, and this time, Michael wouldn’t waste the one he’d been given.

  Don’t miss the next League: Nemesis Rising novel

  BORN OF LEGEND

  Coming May 15, 2016

  It is in the darkest hours of a universe’s past that their legends are born and their heroes rise.…

  Sherrilyn Kenyon’s next e-short story:

  HOUSE OF THE RISING SON

  Coming January 5, 2016

  About the Author

  New York Times bestselling author SHERRILYN KENYON is a regular in the #1 spot. This extraordinary bestseller continues to top every genre in which she writes. More than 60 million copies of her books are in print in more than one hundred countries. Her current series include The Dark-Hunters, The League, and Chronicles of Nick. Her Chronicles of Nick and Dark-Hunter series are soon to be major motion pictures. You can sign up for email updates here.

  Also by

  Sherrilyn Kenyon

  THE DARK-HUNTERS

  Fantasy Lover

  Night Pleasures

  Night Embrace

  Dance with the Devil

  Kiss of the Night

  Night Play

  Seize the Night

  Sins of the Night

  Unleash the Night

  Dark Side of the Moon

  The Dream-Hunter

  Devil May Cry

  Upon the Midnight Clear

  Dream Chaser

  Acheron

  One Silent Night

  Dream Warrior

  Bad Moon Rising

  No Mercy

  Retribution

  The Guardian

  Dark-Hunter Companion

  Time Untime

  Styxx

  Dark Bites

  Son of No One

  Dragonbane

  THE LEAGUE

  Born of Night

  Born of Fire

  Born of Ice

  Born of Fury

  Born of Defiance

  Born of Betrayal

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  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  A Dark-Hunter Christmas

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Santa Wears Spurs

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Also by Sherrilyn Kenyon

  Copyright

  These are works of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in these short stories are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  WINTER’S NIGHT. Copyright © 2013 by Sherrilyn Kenyon. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

  www.stmartins.com

  Cover Image © Guschenkova/Sh
utterstock

  The Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

  ISBN 978-1-250-08536-8 (e-book)

  e-ISBN 9781250085368

  Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].

  First Edition: September 2015