Belle loved December in Maine. It was cleaner than the city, and besides that, she had her own apartment with her own tree and her own presents under the tree – and her own boyfriend naked in her bed while the snow fell outside. It was a Christmas miracle. Well, a two days before Christmas miracle. Christmas Eve eve? Whatever, she was happy and sated and calm.

"Hey," she said, nuzzling into his neck while he lay there in a post-coital daze. "It's snowing."

"So it is," he said softly, pulling her closer before he pressed a kiss to her forehead. It was so nice and warm here in his arms, she never wanted to get dressed again.

"I should probably go," he said after a little while longer. "Neal and Emma will wonder where I've been."

"So?" she asked him, stretching out and resting her chin on his chest. "Stay the night. Neal knows what we get up to, and I'm sure they'd appreciate the privacy."

"It's tempting," he said with a sigh before pushing her gently off of him. "But I have to go home."

She stretched out languidly, not bothering to cover her breasts as he got out of bed and started collecting his clothes from her floor.

"It's so cold outside though," she whined. "Just stay."

Joshua pulled his boxers on and smiled at her and she sat up and tried to look as appealing as she possibly could.

"He's going to worry," he said.

"Then give him a call. He'll worry more if you're out in this weather."

"I work tomorrow."

She wrapped the blanket around her chest and sat up on her knees while he put his shirt on.

"It's Christmas Eve tomorrow," she replied. "Can't you take some time off?"

"I run a store, I can't just take Christmas Eve off."

"But I live closer to town than you do," she said. "And it's just so cold outside."

"It's not that cold," he replied, leaning down to kiss her softly and she wrapped her arms around his neck to hold him in place.

"It's absolutely freezing. You'll catch your death!"

"No it's not."

She let one of her hands wander down to his chest and started undoing the buttons he'd just fastened.

"Will you stay for just one drink?" she said as innocently as she could. He'd already had a handful of drinks with her before the sex, but she just wasn't ready to say goodbye yet, and she didn't generally stay over when Neal was visiting in order to keep things from getting too weird.

"If I have another drink I won't be safe to drive," he replied, kissing her nose and going back to his buttons.

"It's not safe to drive with all this snow. It's gotta be up to your knees."

"You're ridiculous."

"I am not! Think about how sad I'd be if you died in an accident," she said. "Or if you got pneumonia!"

He brushed her hair back off her face, combing his fingers through her hair affectionately. It was so nice to have him here and she was going to tie him to her bed if he didn't change his mind soon. Neal and Emma wouldn't miss him at all tonight, and she would.

"That's a low blow, sweetheart," he said.

"It's the absolute truth."

"Your neighbors will talk, you know."

She smiled then because she could tell she was winning. She was just going to have to give him a little bit more incentive and he was hers.

"Let them talk," she said, tugging his arm and moving backwards on the bed. "Come on, I'll make you some popcorn and cocoa and we can listen to Christmas music and I promise I won't put any clothes on all night?"

"Now who's going to freeze?" he asked her teasingly, but he let her pull him back down onto the bed and settled on top of her. She wrapped her legs around his hips and drew him closer.

"You'll just have to keep me warm, then, won't you?"

He groaned and nuzzled her neck, pressing butterfly kisses to her throat. Yeah, she'd won.

"You are temptation itself, do you know that?"

"Oh come on, Mr. Good Mood," she said teasingly. "If either one of us was led to a life of debauchery I'm sure it must have been me."

He didn't reply, just chuckled and kissed her again. His hand was on her breast and teasing her nipple and she wanted him all over again. She whined and pressed herself into him and he responded by moving his hand down to hook her knee and pull it up over his shoulder so she was spread wide. She could feel his erection through his trousers and she wondered why on earth she'd let him put them back on in the first place, because they were just one more obstacle between her and what she wanted.

"You've got too many clothes on," she said, letting the frustration into her voice as she fought with his shirt.

"Patience, darling," he replied. "I swear, you must be the most insatiable creature."

"Take it as a compliment. And also take your pants off."

He rolled his eyes at her teasingly, but he did roll over enough to free his cock from its confinement and that was really all she'd had in mind. There was something strangely erotic about him still being half dressed when he thrust into her. It made the whole thing feel elicit and exciting, and it didn't take her long at all to be screaming his name in ecstasy. God, her neighbors were going to start banging on the wall again but she couldn't care less at the moment. He was staying, and she was going to make him get her evicted if she had her way. She could find another apartment, but not another boyfriend who could make her feel like this.

After they were done (again), she wrapped herself around him tight with her legs around his and her arm thrown possessively over his chest, not wanting to give him another opportunity to try to leave tonight.

"I love you," she said softly. Her heart was still banging against her ribcage from the sex, but it still skipped a beat every time they said that. It was still a fairly new development in their relationship, in spite of everything else they'd done. Somehow, it had been an easier thing for him to buy her a job than to tell her that he loved her and she'd been the one to do it first on the night he helped her move into this apartment. He'd looked shocked, but it hadn't taken more than a second for him to recover enough to return the sentiment and give her a kiss that curled her toes.

"I love you, too," he replied, tangling his fingers in her hair. She could hear his heart beating in his chest with the same accelerated rhythm as hers. "You know," he continued. "We could avoid all this drama next time."

"Oh?"

She raised her head enough to look at him and he had a weird little nervous smile on his face and she just wanted to kiss it back off.

"Yeah, you could move in with me, you know."

Well, that was certainly new. He'd never even suggested that he'd been considering a step like this, and as much as she wanted to she also definitely wanted to string him along a little bit first.

"I don't know," she said. "Where would all my stuff go?"

"You don't have that much stuff."

"I know, but I've seen your place and it's already pretty full. Where would you even put me, for that matter?"

"I'll put you in my bedroom, you maddening woman."

"That's definitely an idea. But if I'm going to stay there forever I think you'll need to get a much bigger bed."

"Oh for Heaven's sake…" he rolled her over and pinned her wrists over her head in one quick motion. "Just say yes so I can kiss you."

"What are you going to do if I say no?"

"Convince you," he said before his expression softened again. "Please just say yes, Belle. I want you there."

"Of course I'm going to say yes," she replied. "But you can't blame a girl for doing a little bit of bargaining while she still has the upper hand."

"You always have the upper hand. I'll do whatever you want. We'll throw out whatever you like and you can have a bed that would make the Queen of Sheba blush if you'll just come stay with me."

"Yes," she said at last, straining up to kiss him quickly. "Yes, I'll move in with you."

His face broke into a smile and she was just so happy it felt like her heart might burst when he kissed her again. It was really the best Christmas Eve eve Belle thought she'd ever had.