Stars, Snow and Mistletoe: A Holiday Naughty List Collection

by S. J. Sanders

  A soft groan answered her, followed by a gasp and a low buzzing.

  The sound was lovely, a mix of a purr and deep cricket song. It echoed the vibrations that she still felt deep in her bones. Her body thrummed along with it.

  A body lay in the road, illuminated by a ghostly halo of indigo and violet. She picked out all the unfamiliar things first; the fur and the crumpled wings strewn across the frozen earth. Not human. Not anything of earth. She stumbled back when it moved. A sound of pain rippled through the snowy forest. That might not be a human, but it felt pain.

  She drew forward on impulse to help and sooth that pain. The being was huge, but there were familiar, human features. There were two arms and legs for example. Without clothing there was no mistaking his gender. This was a male. A naked, inhuman male.

  Good lord in heaven.

  On impulse, driven by more than her embarrassment or desire to provide the guy some modesty, she hurried forward, pulling off her jacket. He had to be freezing without any clothing except the extraordinary cowl of fur around his shoulders that matched the color of the snow under him.

  His mouth opened and closed with panting breaths. She could see long, sharp fangs gleam in the glow of his luminescence each time. As she came closer, his tongue licked across his lips and his glowing green eyes widened with surprise.

  A magnetic tug yanked her toward him. She needed to help him. It was her fault he’d been smashed into the road.

  “Hey there, buddy. I’m Gloria. I’m so sorry.” Her jacket was a joke considering his size, and she wanted to shield his groin—damn, the man was way too interesting there—but needed to keep his upper body warm. Thankfully the jacket managed to reach from the center of his sculpted chest to his cock and hid it from her wandering gaze.

  Out of sight was out of mind.

  Right.

  Except how could she not dwell on that?

  He was equipped with a Swiss Army cock.

  The eye-full-and-a-half she’d gotten in the darkness provided more questions than answers.

  Gloria’s imagination spun wildly, and her curiosity demanded more information.

  Human men did not look like that. How in the world did that work? Clearly their females had enough orifices to handle that? Three? Were there more than three? She wasn’t so pervy that she’d stared that long enough to get details in the dim light of the luminance.

  She had plenty of interesting toys in nonhuman shapes, but she never thought she’d have a chance to compare them. As a joke, Jeff had even gotten her the Alienator when she complained about her sexual experiences. It had nothing on the real thing.

  Stop it Glo, maybe that’s not even his junk.

  She had to focus. The alien was in pain and needed help, not some kinky human woman sleazing all over him.

  She stared at his body, smoothing the material over his broad chest. She realized she was petting him when the corner of his mouth quirked up. His unusual features jumped out—his large, glowing eyes angled up at the corners and were dark lined, as though painted with a thick brush. His skin was pale rose-gold with the various irregularities in his flesh that gave it a rippled texture, like sand blown by the wind. There were hollows in his cheeks, angular cheek bones, a sharp, jutting chin and a thin nose. Feathery antennae gleamed bronze in the dim illumination. The antennae were long and elegant where they curled back against his white-blond hair, like peacock feathers. His hair looked more like a mane and it blended into the ruff around his shoulders.

  He didn’t speak as she took in all his oddness, just watched her. It dawned on her that he found her just as strange. Maybe he found her chin too blunt, her eyes too small and her nose too large.

  Finally, he lifted a trembling hand and covered hers, flattening it over his solid chest. The low, steady beat of his heart thumped against her through the jacket.

  She couldn’t bring herself to draw away. It wasn’t that he held her captive; she simply had no impulse to do so. Not when the energy pulsed stronger between them. His glowing eyes closed and he let out a long, shivering breath.

  Each hand had six long, powerful fingers and a small, hooked appendage with a savage looking claw. It flexed like one of the fingers and brushed against her skin with obvious care. The other fingers curled around hers to keep her palm close against him.

  He felt cool against her freezing fingers and she worried that he’d been out in the elements longer than was healthy for him. “I have to get you off the road. Someone could come and crush us both. Do you understand?”

  At her voice, his eyes snapped open and although he searched her face, he didn’t acknowledge what she’d said. When she pulled her hand back his smile melted away and the skin above his brilliant eyes creased with a very human-like concern. He didn’t try to restrain her, instead balling his long fingers into the fabric of her jacket where she’d touched him.

  She felt a deep yearning when she lost contact with him. That’s probably why she put her hands on his bare shoulders instead.

  “Can you stand? We need to get you up,” she encouraged by pulling against his shoulders to indicate he should try to sit up.

  The smile returned but instead of sitting up, both of his arms wrapped around her and he pulled her down to him. With a startled gasp, she found herself chest to chest with him.

  “This is not the time for this, you know that. Right? I mean…I don’t even think our parts are compatible.”

  And why did that reality make a pang of disappointment radiate through her chest?

  Probably because, even with his strange appearance and the wings, her body reacted to him like it hadn’t to anyone before.

  He just smiled and nuzzled his face against the crook of her neck, breathing her in with what sounded like contentment. That motion sent a wild thrill through her that filled her chest and spiraled all the way down to her stomach and pooled, warm and liquid between her thighs. And then the low, buzzing rumble whispered against her. She felt it bone deep everywhere his body touched hers.

  She shouldn’t feel this aroused when the guy could have internal injuries, possible hypothermia and who knew what else thanks to her plowing him over in her stupid car.

  The crumpled wings against the snow trembled with the sound until the alien uttered a pained groan and his grip on her lightened.

  “Wait. Wait. Let’s get you out of here. We’ll get you somewhere warm.”

  Jeff’s place was the safest to lay low, but getting there was a problem without her car. Getting anywhere warm would be tough.

  She put a hand to his chest and pushed back carefully. His arms fell away but one hand remained resting on her hip. Again she put a hand to his shoulder and pulled, slowly waving her free hand toward herself in the familiar ‘come here’ gesture.

  This time he understood her wishes. His features twisted and he trembled as spasms of pain ran through him but he was able to get upright. His wings slowly pulled up from the snow, though it was clear they were painful to adjust.

  What she thought were leathery wings were actually not bat-like at all. They were stunning butterfly wings. No, moth wings. Because they were wet and slightly rumpled, she couldn’t make out their pattern, or if they’d been damaged. Soft light glowed from them in faint blues, as though radiating his pain. Behind him the glowing radiance remained smeared against the snow, as though the dust had been brushed off, or washed off, by the snow.

  The craving to touch them was almost overwhelming. What would it feel like to smooth her fingers over the surface? Would her hands come away covered in the powder? There was a primal longing to be covered in the glitter of them. That, too, was something to process later on. Wow, she had a lot to unpack in the morning.

  He watched her with interest, unsmiling and wary. She wondered if it was forbidden to touch them. His wings trembled and the rumbling sound started up again. He leaned toward her, angling his shoulder so one of his wings was closer to her. A small, uncertain smile tugged at the corner of his full lips. She
had the distinct impression that his desire to be touched was nearly as intense as her own to grasp onto him.

  Without giving herself time to change her mind, she reached out and smoothed her fingertips along the rounded edge of the extended wing. It felt like warm velvet and the glittery powder shimmered against her skin as it coated her flesh. The cold wind against her skin intensified to icy fingers of desire and everywhere a snowflake landed was a point of pleasure. Her eyes fluttered closed as a moan escaped her, echoed by a rougher, deeper sound from the alien.

  The scent of nutmeg, cloves and hazelnut tickled her senses, as though spices were being stirred up along with the glittering powder. At her touch green and blue sparkles swirled between snowflakes in the darkness. Embers of lust were also settling over her. They threatened to ignite into actions she’d regret in the morning.

  A sound disturbed the silent forest, tearing her away from the moment. With an effort she jerked her tingling hand away. A car was coming. Looking over the alien’s shoulder, she could already make out the headlights lighting up the trees not far away.

  Disappointment stabbed through her. She didn’t want the moment to end, but they had to get out of there. She reached for his shoulder and gave a little shake against him as she scrambled to her feet. “We have to go. Come on!”

  He was so large that it was easy for her to slip under his powerful arm to help offer some leverage to him. She might not be a tall girl, but she was strong enough from a life helping out around the family ranch. Tonight she was glad for her thick build; there was something for the towering male to balance on as he awkwardly pulled himself to his feet.

  Concern flickered across his features and he shook his head savagely when she tried to coax him to lean on her. He resisted until he put weight on his leg and a snarl of pain escaped him.

  “See! Don’t be a hero, just lean into me. I can take it.” She glared up at him and he glowered back through the expression of pain. Then he blew out a huff of breath and his arm tightened around her, pulling her firmly to his side before gingerly easing some of his weight onto her.

  He grunted and shuffled his big feet, knocking snow around as he adjusted, trying to protect her from the worst of his weight. She noticed the dark stain where he’d been lying and narrowed her eyes up at him. His movement made her jacket slide down his body, exposing his muscular chest all the way down to his lower abs. Before he could flash her, she hastily grabbed for the garment. His grin widened as he peered down at her and pressed in close as she fumbled to knot the cloth around his hips.

  God, he smelled divine. The baked-Christmas-cookies aroma enfolded her. The scent tickled her nose and ran chills from the back of her throat all the way to her sex. She wanted to lick every inch of him to see if he had a creamy icing center.

  Christ.

  Her heart quickened as her stomach tightened in a delicious pang of pleasure as she felt what the fabric, leather and wool hid from her view—movement, rippling and nuzzling against her upper belly as his cocks stiffened. The light glittering along his wings brightened, aqua hues bleeding into pale mint and lime.

  “I think you’re damn sexy too, but don’t get any ideas. You’re hurt.” She tied the arms of the jacket, making a loincloth with it, and hoped that his wings would at least cover his bare ass.

  For the first time in her life she was thankful that she wasn’t a delicate, fine-boned little thing. As it was, it was a challenge to guide him through the snow and wind, toward the mountain side of the road so they could avoid getting hit. Again.

  “If we are really lucky, it will be Jeff. He’ll have come to investigate the light in the sky. That would be almost perfect because I don’t know the first thing about taking care of an alien. That was blood back there. Right? You didn’t want me to see it, but you can’t hide it by just kicking snow over it. Good try, though.”

  He tilted his head, clearly listening to her, but she was pretty sure he didn’t understand a word she said.

  Just another thing that made them completely incompatible.

  She couldn’t bring this guy home for Christmas. Hi family, this is my moth lover.

  Talk about a long distance relationship.

  Why the hell was she thinking about that?

  Because she was helping guide a monstrous alien across a snowy mountain road before they got killed. Nothing else would ever be the same after coming to grips with this situation. It had nothing at all to do with how exquisite he felt against her. Her thoughts had gone to her alien meeting her huge, annoying family on Christmas because she’d banged her head way too hard on the steering wheel.

  She would ignore the fact that she’d just thought of him as hers.

  Strange that the vehicle was coming so slowly up the road. A light skimmed back and forth across the ground as though searching the forest. The engine sounded loud and guttural, like diesel, but this wasn’t a logging route. The thing coming up behind them sounded like one of the heavy-duty trucks.

  The back of her neck prickled with a warning and she tried to hurry their progress to the side of the road. She wanted to get into the trees and hide from whoever was coming up behind them. A primal instinct screamed that whatever was coming up that road was not friendly. Beside her, the alien stiffened and uttered a low hiss as he struggled through the snow in bare feet.

  What the hell was he doing out in the snow buck naked? Did they not have shoes on his planet? “Where’s your craft? Ship? Vessel?”

  He was looking back over his shoulder, his hisses deepening to dangerous growls as he bared his teeth.

  The powerful floodlight skimmed back and forth behind them before fixing on their backs. The brightness of the beam sent their shadows sprawling along the snowy ground in jagged black peaks.

  “This is the forestry service. Stand where you are.” A voice boomed over a loud speaker.

  Like hell she was just going to stand there and wait for them to swoop down on her. All of Jeff’s stories came back to her in gory detail. Finding herself at the center of one wasn’t nearly as amusing. Forestry service her ass, that was the Enforcement crew.

  “Put down your weapons and hold your hands in the air. We are investigating an explosion in this area. If you do not stop and put your hands behind your head, we will take your refusal as a criminal act.”

  Yeah, that sounded really Forestry-like to her.

  When she pulled against her alien, he jerked a look at her, fangs bared and eyes glowing even brighter than before. When their eyes met, his expression melted back into concern and he lifted a hand to cup her cheek, the terrifying, feral beast melting back into something slightly more human. “We have to go,” she urged and gave another pull against him.

  Thankfully, he didn’t resist. Teeth gritted and fangs bared, he lurched in the snow in the direction she guided. He was so heavy and she struggled to support him without her feet sliding out from under her. They weren’t making fast progress.

  There were no gunshots, but the roar of the truck’s engine revved louder. She imagined it barreling toward them at high speed, throwing a wake of slushy snow to either side of the vehicle.

  The truck rushed up on them and the shot rang out. Beside Gloria, her alien jolted, falling against her with a terrible roar of pain and anguish. He fanned open one of his wings, using it to shield her and the bullet ripped right through the membrane, sending glittering particles flying into the darkness. Brilliant emerald sparkles twinkled before dying, fading to silvery gray dust before her eyes. She felt the dust sprinkle across her face and neck as she struggled to keep the huge alien upright as his legs went out from under him. His glowing eyes met hers and she saw fear and confusion in his gaze before they rolled back and his thick lashes fluttered closed.

  Voices screamed at her to get down. Get on her knees. Get on her stomach. Drop her weapon. Put her hands above her head. Put her hands behind her neck. Men ran to her, yelling and barking their commands. They shoved her and as she fell, powerful hands grabbed her arms
and shoulders painfully. They tore her from under the weight of her alien.

  Her alien.

  He fell to the snow like dead weight, his gorgeous body sagging bonelessly to the cold ground. She fought against the strangers who dared to hurt him, wanting to tear them apart. A red hazed overwhelmed her as she clawed and kicked and struggled with the black-clad men.

  How dare they!

  She struggled until a fist struck her face. As she fell back, the furious voices tangled together in a confusing mangle that made her head swim.

  Sprawled on the snow, she could still feel him around her; the scent of his deliciously spicy musk filled her senses. When she moistened her cracked lips, she tasted the nutmeg and hazelnut mixing with her spilled blood. Dazed, she could only gasp for the breath they’d knocked from her. They savagely tied her wrists together behind her back before the world around her went black.

  2

  Gloria woke in darkness. They’d shoved a thick cloth over her head. It stank of sour breath and body odor and was so thick that it made breathing difficult. Sweat ran down her face, stinging her eyes and soaking the fabric of the hood blocking out the world.

  She lay on her side, every fiber of her body aching. The side of her face from jaw to the crown of her skull radiated a fiery pain where she’d been punched

  They’d tossed her like a sack of meat rather than a human being.

  The worst agony was the longing deep in her bones. The sensation was like a bruise radiating from those places that had trembled in response to meeting the alien. How long ago had that been? Was he dead? The possibility sent a spike of anger through her and boosted her, renewing the desire to stop them.

  Had these men, or men like them, been responsible for what happened to her friends?

  She wouldn’t let them bury her the way they had so many other things in the past few years.

  She tested her bonds and found them still solidly fastened around her wrists behind her back, but after some creative wriggling she was able to sit upright. Another struggle allowed her to scoot back until her spine and shoulder touched what felt like the corner of two walls. There were hard surfaces like tile or concrete all around her. It didn’t feel like bars.