Free Knight and Sleigh: An Erotic Lucien Knight Christmas Novella by Kitty French

dog.  
    Sophie couldn’t have known it, but it wasn’t the first time Lucien been given a husky pup for Christmas. He’d been just six years old last time around, but he vividly remembered his parents’ hushed, excited whispers as they came into his room early in the morning with the bundle of fur, a purple ribbon tied around his neck. Lucien didn’t have any siblings, but he’d never been lonely from then on, because Ivar had been his playmate, his guardian and his secret-keeper.  
    Turning away from the window, he went in search of Sophie.  
     
    Sophie sipped the measure of brandy she’d poured herself and watched the puppy sleep in the basket Henrik had left with him, his paw over his face. He really was the cutest little thing, a ball of velvety, silver-tipped fur with dark ears and a stripe running down his back to his bushy tail. His eyes, when he opened them, were clear marine blue, and his huge paws suggested that they might have quite the dog on their hands when he was older.  
    If he stayed, that was. Had she overstepped the mark? Lucien had once mentioned that he’d had a husky as a child and she’d hoped that this little guy would be a welcome addition to his adult life, but it felt horribly as if she’d misread the situation completely.  
    She looked up when Lucien came into the room, and watched him glance first towards the dog basket and then come and take a seat beside her on the sofa.  
    ‘Thank you,’ he said, a simple phrase that was frustratingly difficult to read.  
    He wasn’t angry; that was a start.  
    Though they’d been to Norway several times and Sophie was growing to love both the country and the person it revealed to her in Lucien, being here in the cabin had rendered him somehow more difficult to gauge all over again.  
    ‘He doesn’t have to stay,’ she said, softly. ‘Henrik knows he was going to be a surprise, he's already agreed that he’s able to take him back if needs be.’  
    Lucien studied the pup and sighed heavily, shaking his head.  
    ‘He’s not going anywhere. His home is with me now.’  
    Sophie almost envied the ease with which the dog had won his place under Lucien’s protection; she’d trodden a far more difficult path herself.  
    ‘With us,’ he said, correcting himself and warming her soul by gathering her into his circle too. Sophie was touched, honoured even. She leaned into him, her head on his shoulder when he settled back into the sofa.  
    ‘Okay?’ she asked, her hand smoothing over his bicep, giving him an in to talk if he needed to.  
    He didn’t answer immediately, and even in his profile it was obvious that he was a man with things on his mind. He shrugged a shoulder.  
    ‘Being here…’ He shook his head, and when he turned to look at her his eyes expressed more than he ever would in words. ‘It’s not how I thought it would be.’  
    ‘Is that such a bad thing?’  
    He frowned, as if he were unsure.  
    ‘No. It’s just… it’s still home, and I didn’t expect it to feel that way anymore.’  
    Sophie didn’t speak, just rubbed his arm, giving him time. If she’d learned anything about this man over the last year, it had been that words didn’t come easy for him when it came to expressing emotion.  
    He had the biggest of hearts and the truest love, but he’d become so used to hiding his feelings that letting them out was like wrestling a bear. It was testimony to the depth of his love for Sophie that for her, he tried.  
    ‘My mother loved it here. Most of my memories of Christmas have been built in this cabin. I don’t know what this is…’ he said, his hand on his chest, as if he were describing a physical pain rather than a feeling.  
    ‘I feel…’ he tried again and then shrugged, helpless. ‘Happy, Sophie. I feel happy. Part of a family again.’  
    He made the simple emotion sound as if it were totally alien to him.  
    ‘Our family. You, me, and that damn cute bloody dog,’ he