Claimed by the Alien Bodyguard - Tiffany Roberts Page 0,89

to him with a crease forming between her brows. Her heart sped just a little, and her stomach fluttered; it must’ve had something to do with the way he was looking down at her. What was he doing? What was this?

As Broxen withdrew his hand from the stocking, he sank onto one knee. His hand emerged holding a jewelry box that looked so tiny in his big fingers. His tongue slipped out to wet his lips. Draping the stocking over his thigh, he took hold of the box’s lid and pried it open.

There was a necklace inside—a silver unicorn with a mane of glimmering stones, wrapped around a larger pink teardrop gemstone. Broxen held it out to Ana. “Ana…will you be my daughter?”

Ana looked from the necklace to Broxen, eyes rounding and shimmering with tears as her features crumpled. She nodded and threw her arms around his neck, squeezing him tight. “Santa really did grant me my Christmas wish. I love you.”

Broxen’s arms engulfed her in an embrace, one of his big hands cupping her head.

Gabriela covered her mouth with a hand and met his gaze, recognizing his love and affection for Ana in his eyes. She knew that her daughter could want for a no better father.

Ana turned her head, kissed his cheek, and drew back wearing a big smile. Broxen released her.

“My dad,” she said.

He grinned as he removed the necklace from the box and carefully wrapped it around Ana’s neck. His thick fingers fumbled with the delicate clasp for a few seconds before finally getting it closed. When it was in place, he looked up at her. “My daughter.”

Gabriela’s chest constricted.

“This is the best Christmas ever,” Ana said, pecking another kiss on Gabby’s cheek before stepped away and lifting the unicorn pendant off her chest to stare at it in wonder.

A gentle touch on Gabriela’s leg drew her attention back to Broxen. His tail stroked her thigh before trailing down to wrap around her ankle.

“I’m not done yet, female,” he said. He slipped his hand into the stocking again, keeping his eyes locked with Gabriela’s all the while. Drawing in a slow, deep breath, he took out another jewelry box, this one slightly larger than the first.

“Broxen,” Gabby breathed.

Broxen set the stocking on the floor, rested the little box on his palm, and took delicate hold of the lid. “Gabriela, my mate”—he slowly lifted the lid—“you are mine in all ways but this. Will you be my wife?”

The ring, tucked in its dark velvety cushion, had an elegant white gold band with tiny diamonds inlaid upon it and a single, larger diamond at the center that sparkled brilliantly.

Gabriela looked up at Broxen, grinned, and threw herself at him. He caught her, but her momentum carried them both to the floor atop the pile of wrapping paper and bows. His arms banded around her, holding her on top of him.

With a laugh, she lowered her lips to his ear. “You were in my butt. Of course I’m saying yes!”

Broxen’s laughter was deep and rolling, thrumming into Gabriela through her chest. “Every way, female. I needed you to be mine in every way.”

“Guuuuuys,” Ana whined. “No tongue sucking!”

“Look away, Ana,” Gabriela said with a chuckle. She brushed the long strands of hair from Broxen’s face, tucking them behind his horns, and caressed his cheek. Her heart was overflowing with love. Lowering her head, she pressed her lips to his. “Merry Christmas, Broxen, my mate and husband-to-be.”

He hummed, his violet eyes aglow, and turned his head to kiss her palm. “Merry Christmas, Gabriela, my everything.”

Author’s Note

Thank you so much for reading Claimed by the Alien Bodyguard! We hope you enjoyed it.

We meant to release this a lot sooner, but after Rob and I ended up with Covid-19 in November (we’re doing fine now, no worries!), we fell a little behind schedule, and of course this story ran longer than we planned (no surprise!), but it’s here, it’s out, and we hope you all loved Broxen, Gabriela, and Ana. We had so much fun writing them. They are such a sweet family.

And if you loved it, please, please, please leave a review. **Puppy dog eyes**

…did it work? Haha!

So! Fun (or maybe not so fun?) fact about the fire in this book: it’s actually based on the house fire that destroyed my parent’s house in 2009.

My parents were not home at the time (dad was working, mom was at the gym), but my brother was there, having moved back in with them.