Stars, Snow and Mistletoe: A Holiday Naughty List Collection

by S. J. Sanders

  “Are you ready for your next gift?” Nor’Ak asked the assembled party.

  “These furs are heavenly,” said Elisabet. “What could be better?”

  “Food,” said Ib’at, his long fangs glistening in the light of the flames dancing in the air.

  “And more,” said Bre’ol. As if to emphasize his words, he lumbered out into the night and returned a moment later, arms laden with small, wrapped parcels.

  Ignis went to stand at Clea’s side. He wrapped his arm around her as they both broke into at the sight of Ib’at and the other Elots gently shooing the Earth women away from the parcels, making them sample the many types of food first.

  He glanced around at everyone in the structure and realized for the first time that Nor’Ak and Lila were missing. He pointed out as much to Clea, who only smiled knowingly.

  6

  Nor’Ak

  The sounds of feasting and merry-making drifted out of the wide hut Ib’at and Quintus had made. But Nor’Ak was too distracted to wonder for long what sorts of things were happening in the structure.

  When he’d asked the tiny female Lila if she would venture out into the snow with him, he’d half expected her to decline. Though he’d felt the call of her body, he had not known if she felt the same. But here she was now, her delicate hand in his as they walked into the darkness.

  “How f-f-far are we going to g-g-go?” asked Lila.

  Nor’Ak stopped and pulled her close against his chest. “Are you cold?”

  She looked up at him through her lashes, her pale hair blending in with the snow that surrounded them. “I am afraid to say yes.”

  Nor’Ak let out a barking laugh. “And why would you be frightened of such a thing?”

  “I don’t want to offend you.”

  Nor’Ak placed his hands on either side of her face, his claws tangling in her hair. “You could not offend me, my beauty.”

  Lila shivered against him. Nor’Ak looked down at the woman to see the glimmer of tears in her eyes. His heart seemed to still in his chest.

  “What have I done?” he asked, tilting her head up to better look into her eyes.

  “The Hub,” she said softly, her lip quivering. “The place we were before . . . it wasn’t a good place. There were . . . creatures, very different from you, who used to . . . hurt me.”

  Nor’Ak growled. “Who hurt you, my beauty? I will end them.”

  Lila shook her head and sniffled. “They are already dead.”

  Nor’Ak nodded his mighty head. “This is good. They deserve death.”

  “You . . .” said Lila, as if she wanted to speak. But she fell into silence. Taking a deep breath, she tried again. “You aren’t like them. The creatures who did awful things to me.”

  “I never laid eyes upon these foes, but I will believe you if you say I am not like them.”

  Lila’s lips curled into a soft smile. “When the Hub was destroyed and we were all finally free from that life, I told myself I would never . . . be intimate . . . with another creature for as long as I lived.”

  “Oh,” said Nor’Ak. He disentangled his hands from her smooth, pale tresses and stepped back. “I understand.”

  Yes, he understood. But his heart still felt raw. He’d wanted so much for Lila to choose him, to want to mate with him and mother his offspring. To be his ice maiden. And yet, I understand her sorrow. I can feel it almost as if it were my own. It is a great, deep well of misery.

  “No, you don’t,” said Lila as she stepped forward, stretching her arms high to wrap around his neck. Her fingers traced the muscled arc of his neck, reaching back to tangle in his mane.

  “That is how I felt then, when I was afraid. When I felt less than human. But here with you,” she laughed, her breath fogging the air between them. “With you, all I want is to be close.” She shifted her hand, reaching down between them. A thrill went through Nor’Ak’s body as her slender fingers brushed against his sex. “As close as two beings can be.”

  Nor’Ak growled, a primal sound of yearning and hunger. His entire upper body sagged and rose with the fearsome power of his breaths. It took all he had to hold himself back. Gods, he wanted to sink into the warm he could feel radiating off her in waves. But he would hold back until he was sure.

  His woman deserved that.

  “Are you certain this is what you want?” Nor’Ak asked as he traced his claws down her spine, delighting in the way it made her shiver.

  Lila looked up at him, her own chest heaving. She licked her lips, her hand gently stroking his cock. “More than anything.”

  7

  Lila

  A violent thrill tore through Lila’s body as Nor’Ak growled again, the sound rumbling down into her own chest and making her quake. The creature who wrapped his thick, muscled arms around her was more powerful than any she had beheld before. And despite her own misgivings—her own hatred of aliens for so long—she had to acknowledge the way her body was crying out to the Elot. She craved Nor’Ak more than heat. More than food.

  More than life.

  The creature reached down, his broad hands cupping her ass as he lifted her into the air. She wrapped her legs around his waist, shaking as his long, serpentine tongue jutted out from between his lips to caress her neck. Her jaw. She opened her mouth, welcoming him greedily.

  Lila slid her lips up the cold, blue appendage, rushing in and retreating as if it were a cock in her mouth and not his gloriously thick and flexible tongue.

  What else can he do with that thing? she wondered, her hands reaching up to flank Nor’Ak’s thick neck. With her thumbs, she traced the chiseled line of his jaw, reveling in the pure, brute strength of his physique. Everything about the Elot screamed power, and she longed to see just how much her body could take.

  Shifting, Nor’Ak reached up with one hand and stilled Lila’s head, his cool, firm lips crashing into hers. He sampled her tentatively at first, his tongue retreating into his mouth so he could toy with her lips. But then he grew more eager, his mouth devouring her as if he were starving for her kiss. She giggled as his sabreteeth tickled her chin as they slid across her skin with each movement of his lips.

  She shivered then, and Nor’Ak stopped.

  “Why did you stop?” she asked, her pelvis grinding against the bulge between them, begging him to continue his exploration of her body.

  “You are cold,” said the Elot plainly, as if that was the most obvious thing in existence.

  Lila’s teeth chattered, and she fought to still them. “S-s-so? We are on a planet made of ice. Of course I’m cold.”

  “Ignis said your kind can perish in the cold,” said Nor’Ak with a frown.

  Lila laughed. “Trust me. What we are about to do . . . it’ll warm me up in no time.”

  “No.” Nor’Ak set her down on her feet, leaving the cold air to assault her form all sides once more. She quaked at the absence of his touch, even though his flesh was barely warmer than the frigid air that swirled around them.

  As Nor’Ak went to turn away, her heart dropped into her stomach.

  “P-p-please,” she said, her body shaking. “Don’t go.”

  The Elot looked over his shoulder, a savage grin on his face. “I will never leave your side again, woman. I only mean to make you warm.”

  Lila crossed her arms over her chest, hoping the action would generate some heat. It didn’t.

  “How are you going to do that?” she asked.

  “Like this.”

  Nor’Ak cast his arms wide, and the snow in the air froze in place. Lila stared up at the immobile flakes, mesmerize by the sight. If it wasn’t for the laughter and the music in the distance—One of the Elots must have brought an instrument, she thought hazily—she would have though Nor’Ak had stopped time.

  When he lowered his arms, the snow rushed down around them, each flake merging and melding until they stood within a large, crystalline dome of glittering ice.

  Lila blinked, astounded at how much warmer it already was
with the wind blocked.

  “It will get warmer still,” said Nor’Ak, as if reading her mind. “As soon as our bodies join, there will be more than enough heat for us both.”

  Lila shivered at the Elot’s words, but then she frowned. “Wait. I thought your kind did not like the heat?”

  Nor’Ak grinned, stepping close to Lila. He ran a claw down the front of her jumpsuit, making the material rend. It fell to a heap at her feet. The Elot drank in the sight of her body and growled again. “We like heat that is of our making.”

  Lila smiled up at him, biting her lip. “Let’s generate some heat then, shall we?”

  It had been a long time since Lila had had another creature caress and lick and suck her body for her own pleasure. And as Nor’Ak’s tongue coursed around her nub, she wondered if any one had ever gone down on her nearly so well.

  She doubted it.

  His sabreteeth pushed against her thighs as he lifted his head, sending his tongue flicking over her clit again. She groaned, her hands reaching down to clutch at the smooth horns protruding from his skull. As Nor’Ak lowered his head, sending his tongue snaking inside of her and making her pulse race, Lila slid her hands up and down the length of his horns, finding the action almost unbearably erotic.

  Nor’Ak’s head bobbed against her, his tongue retreating and plunging in deeper and deeper with every stroke. He wrapped his hands around her thighs, pulling her closer to his mouth. He growled as he tasted her, calling back his tongue only to send it coursing forward a heartbeat later.

  Lila’s hips rose and fell of their own accord, grinding against Nor’Ak’s face as he growled again, the vibrations traveling down the length of his sweet, sweet tongue. She gasped as his claws elongated, digging into the flesh of her thighs as he pulled her closer still, his tongue straining to reach her inner depths.

  Seeing the way her body reacted to his growl, he released a longer, lower rumble. As the reverberations traveled into her channel this time, Nor’Ak pushed his head forward, sending his tongue stretching deeper. The tip flicked upward, and Lila’s hands traveled into his mane, pulling his face closer . . . closer . . . helping that glorious tongue as best she could. He growled once more, forcing the tip up to that sweet spot again, this time flicking it until Lila’s toes curled into the snow and her spine arched away from the ground.

  Nor’Ak let her ride her wave of pleasure, pushing her to the brink of madness by his unrelenting tongue.

  When at last she sagged against the snow, he pulled his tongue free, lingering to lap at her juices. She shivered at the cold of his absence and the feel of his mouth coursing over her mound to lick at her arousal.

  Her heart pounded in her chest, and sweat blossomed across her body.

  Nor’Ak pulled her to her knees, a small chuckle rumbling in his throat. “I told you it would soon be warm enough for the both of us.”

  Lila looked at him hungrily, her eyes traveling to the huge, ice blue protrusion between Nor’Ak’s legs. Her channel clenched at the sight of it.

  She looked into his eyes. “Do you want me to . . .?”

  “No,” said Nor’Ak firmly as he bent low to plant a kiss gently against her forehead. “We have waited long enough. To delay any longer may undo me.”

  Lila moaned as his lips moved from her forehead to her jaw, traveling down the length of her neck to kiss her breasts.

  “What are you going to do to me?” she asked breathily as Nor’Ak grabbed her hips, his lips still teasing her nipple. She opened her mouth and ran her tongue across one of his smooth, translucent horns. I need him, her mind raged as Nor’Ak’s hand reached up to pull at her hair, sending her head craning backward and her chest thrusting forward. I need all of him.

  His hand lowered from her hair, his claws grazing her flesh and making her moan. He looked up at her then, his irises glowing a vibrant, intense shade of blue.

  “You are mine now,” Nor’Ak said, his gaze penetrating hers. “I mean to claim what is mine.”

  The words made chills erupt across Lila’s body. Her creature grabbed for her hips again, this time turning her in the snow until she faced away from him. His body was against her back before she could exhale, his gloriously generous cock eagerly poking against her.

  She leaned against him, her arm lifting and drifting to clutch at the back of his neck. “We are different species, you know,” she said teasingly. “Do you think you know where to put it?”

  Something cold and slick slithered across her shoulder, making her shiver.

  “My tongue figured it out quickly enough,” rumbled Nor’Ak against her ear. “I supposed my cock will do so as well.”

  Lila let out a laugh that quickly morphed into a moan as Nor’Ak guided his shaft under her body. It was his turn to tease her, then, sending his cock to travel up between her folds, sliding in her juices. Always missing her entrance.

  But her beast knew where it was, and knew it well, for every time his cock would slide past the opening to surge up against her clit, Nor’Ak’s thumb would dive into her, his claw retreated into his finger so as not to harm her.

  When he surged past her entrance for the third time, Lila reached down and grabbed his erection, her hand slipping over the cool flesh easily. Nor’Ak moaned as she slid her hand up and down, up and down, sending her palm coursing against his expanse as she thrust her ass backward to grind against him. He reached around and cupped her breasts then, his sabreteeth nuzzling the side of her neck as she caressed his cock. Vibrant blue fluid the same shade as his eyes began to gently spurt from the tip.

  Lila marveled at the beauty of it all. Her body felt on fire as she worked her hands and her slit against Nor’Ak’s length, sending herself to the brink of ecstasy from the friction and the sound of the Elot moaning her name. When he pressed the tips of his fingers around her nipples and twisted, Lila cried out and cast her body into the snow, her ass in the air.

  “Please,” she begged as Nor’Ak lowered himself against her. Her breaths came in ragged bursts, her channel clenching and throbbing. Her fingers curled into claws in the snow. She looked back at the Elot, pleading. “Please take me. I am yours. Your woman. Your mate. Forever.”

  “My ice maiden?” rumbled Nor’Ak as he pressed his tip against her opening.

  Lila moaned, easing her hips back, her body craving Nor’Ak’s cock like it craved air or food or water. But he grabbed her hips again, keeping her still.

  “Say it,” he purred, his hand reaching around to stroke at her clit, the tip of his finger rubbing around it in circles, pressing and retreating. Teasing. Again. “Say you will be my ice maiden for all time.”

  “Yes,” breathed Lila as she pushed back against the Elot once more. “For always.”

  Nor’Ak bent low and planted a kiss on her spine. Then, he slipped his cock between her folds once more, coating it in both their arousals.

  He eased inside her then, the head pressing against her opening until her body relented, letting the Elot seat himself deep inside. He hit her favorite spot without even trying, thrusting against it again and again as he worked them both into a rhythm that turned the snow in their crystalline cave into slush.

  8

  Clea

  An indigo moon hung over head as the women regaled the Elots with winter tales from Earth. The creatures liked the story of the Ice Queen especially, as Clea assumed they might.

  Like the others, she and Ignis sat atop a wide, plush fur hide. She watched as her mate played with their son, who was finally awake after his long nap. Her gaze drifted to look at the creatures in the strange ice structure, each sitting close to the Earth women and even the Ardan generals.

  We are going to be okay, Clea realized with a start. Her eyes misted at thought. It had been so, so long since things felt normal. Even when she was pregnant on Arda, safe in Ignis’s grand palace with guards at every door, something always felt off. Wrong. But here, on this ice planet that reminded her so much of Earth, seeing her people coexisting with not one
but two alien species, Clea knew things would turn out alright.

  “They have to,” said Ignis in that strange way he had taken to reading her thoughts. He tickled Kyus, making the babe laugh. “We have a son, now. How could the universe not be perfectly aligned?”

  A smile tugged at Clea’s lips. “I love you. You know that, right?”

  Ignis glanced up at her, his smile still wide and easy. But his brow was furrowed. “Of course I know that, my love. And I adore you. Were you aware?”

  Clea laughed. “I suspected as much.”

  “Tell us about your winters,” said Ib’at then. “What do you do for fun? What is it like? Are your snows like our snows?”

  “Not in the slightest,” said Marisol, giggling as she took another sip of the strong wine the Elots had brought with them. “I’m not sure anywhere in all of Earth is as beautiful as this place.”

  “Do you truly like it?” asked Ib’at, his eyes sparkling.

  Marisol nodded, her lips pressed against the cup again.

  “There goes another one,” whispered Ignis.

  Clea gave him a knowing smile. It was good to see that the women were drawn to the Elots. She’d been feeling guilty that she was so happy with Ignis while the other women were so alone. “I hope they all find joy. Mates, even.”

  Ignis thrust his chin to where Lucius and Mei sat huddled in a corner. “I think my generals are going to help in that regard.”

  “You are all fine people . . . er, creatures,” said Julienne, her French accent made heavier by the wine. “And I am pleased to be here and not aboard that wretched Hub any longer. Or that damnable fire planet. No offense.”

  Ignis laughed. “None taken.”

  “But do you know what I miss about Earth?” asked Julienne dreamily as she held her cup out for Quintus to refill. “The holidays. Especially the winter ones.”