An Office Alien Christmas Collection (Office Aliens Book 5)

by V. C. Lancaster

  They took turns. Bia went first, her family watching, enjoying her happiness. She got a bag of coffee she’d never had before from Ro, and a necklace from Maggie. Til gave her a bracelet, a big Balin cuff in purple and gold. Kez gave her a mix of things. There was a new coffee mug, some silk sashes she could make outfits from in the traditional Balin style, gold Balor ear cuffs with chains and charms, and a book of Earth’s most interesting places, with grand panoramic photographs of mountains and ruins.

  Bia loved it all. She didn’t think she was reading too much into it when she took the coffee mug as a sign that he knew her, really knew her, and loved her, human eccentricities and all. She didn’t have to be the perfect Teissian for him, he supported her in the things she liked, even if he didn’t understand them himself. And the clothes and jewellery told her he thought she was beautiful, without prioritising her Balor blood or her Balin upbringing. And as for the book, she knew he wanted her to pursue her dreams, to broaden her horizons and see the world. Maybe she could talk him into visiting some of these places with her. She was sure she would love to see them in real life, with him by her side.

  She squealed in joy as the wrapping fell away from every gift, no match for Teissian claws. She hugged Til and blew kisses at Kez where he lounged on the grass. He tried to act cool, but she could see in the way he kept running his hand over his already-flat crest that he’d been worried about her liking his gifts.

  After Bia it was Til’s turn. She only had presents from Kez and Bia, not knowing anyone else who was doing Christmas, and Bia was surprised to see Kez had actually bought his mother-in-law two gifts. Til tutted as she unwrapped them, as if she was only going along with it under duress. Bia had got her a large spotted pink blanket that cooled itself down, since Til often complained it was too hot in California and she couldn’t sleep at night. Kez got her a pillow with all the markings of a TV remote, with buttons that actually worked.

  “Since you keep losing it,” he grumbled, stroking his crest down again. Til just cackled. Her other present was some kind of toy, a big black box fitted with coloured lights that flashed until their button was pressed. Kez had to show her how to use it, and in the process thoroughly hypnotised them both, until they were both just staring at the machine, frozen. Bia took it out of Kez’s hands and put it to one side. Maybe Til would still enjoy it as a distraction, even if she didn’t play it as a game.

  After they blinked and came back to themselves, it was Kez’s turn to open his presents. Til had given him a sharply-hooked dagger carved from the bone of something. Bia didn’t recognise it, or know what he was supposed to do with it exactly, but she guessed it was some traditional Balin thing she didn’t know about. She hadn’t spent much time with any Balin other than Til on Teiss. It seemed to mean something though, because Kez looked lost for words, and Til patted his arm in understanding. Maybe it was something he’d missed out on too, being half-Balor and rejected by his clan.

  He then opened a carved box from Ro and a belt from Maggie, a tasselled gold rope that Bia squinted at, feeling a twinge of jealousy at another woman giving her mate a gift to wear, but she didn’t say anything. Maybe she would just have to give Kez a belt herself.

  When Bia had been thinking of gifts for Kez, she’d had to be very restrained. She wanted to get him everything. She wanted to get him coffee, and paint for his claws, and tickets to gigs, but then she realised those were just things she liked. Buying him them as gifts would not convince him to like them too. So then she thought about cologne, or a watch, but those were things humans bought for their males. Kez would hate them. It was hard to ignore everything she could buy, and think, really think, about what Kez would like.

  What did Kez like?

  Her first answer was, well, he liked her. He liked Til, and Ro. He liked the house they had made their home. He liked working, and making deals. He liked to get the upper hand on people. He liked to take care of his family.

  But none of that was stuff she could buy.

  She thought harder. He liked things every Teissian liked, like choba. He liked Balin food. He liked Balor robes, but not the traditional, flashy ones. He liked oil for his scales.

  But none of those would make a special gift.

  She was annoyed with herself for not knowing what her mate, the male she loved, liked. She was closer to him than anyone else, or she should be.

  She was ashamed that she had to start paying extra close attention to him, watching him, as if she didn’t know him, trying to pick apart everything he said for clues. She noticed that on the very rare occasion that he was alone in the house with nothing to do, she’d find him watching basketball when she came in. She realised he never chose what they watched, that she had always assumed he enjoyed criticising her choices so much because he didn’t like any TV.

  So she had nervously taken a chance, and bought him a pair of basketball shorts in the colour of the San Diego Toreros, and a pair of tickets to a game. She didn’t even know his favourite team, or if he had one. From now on, she would ask, and offer to watch with him, but she had been worried about spoiling the surprise of her presents before Christmas.

  She’d put the tickets in a gold envelope, but they didn’t feel like a very fun gift, two rectangles of paper. She knew the stadium was big though. That could be exciting, or Kez might hate it, being surrounded by tens of thousands of humans. She promised herself she wouldn’t expect him to take her if he preferred to take Ro. Perhaps it was a male thing. If she was there, he might end up taking care of her like he always did, instead of enjoying his present.

  She might not know how her gifts would be received, but she had hope. She told herself not to expect the worst for no good reason.

  “Here,” she said, passing him the shorts first. She was hoping they were similar enough to what he already wore to bed that he would like them, even if he wasn’t a fan of the Toreros. She would judge by his reaction whether or not to swipe the tickets back and pretend she hadn’t bought them.

  He unwrapped the white shorts which slithered out of the paper, needing to catch them quickly before they fell on the grass. He unfolded them and held them up to examine.

  “Oh,” he said, but it sounded like a happy ‘oh’. The corner of his mouth twitched up, then back down again.

  “Do you like that team?” Bia asked, fretting.

  He dropped his hands in his lap. “They are terrible,” he said, suddenly animated. “Their point guard-” He cut himself off. Bia wondered why, if he thought she wouldn’t care, or if he didn’t want to be seen to care about anything human.

  “You can tell me. I want to know. What’s a point guard?”

  “…The point guard keeps the ball for their team.”

  “Cool,” Bia said, smiling. “And the Toreros have a bad one? Am I saying that right? I’ve only seen it written down.”

  “You’re saying it right.”

  They stared at each other. Bia thought she had done well, but Kez looked strange, his posture stiff, his tone almost suspicious.

  She reached for the envelope and passed it to him. “Would you like to see them play?”

  Kez took the envelope then shot her another glance before opening it. He pulled the tickets out and read them. “But why? You don’t like basketball.”

  “But you do. Don’t you?”

  He scratched his head as if he had a headache, reading the tickets again.

  “I’m sorry if you don’t want to go. I just thought it might be fun, something new to try. You don’t have to take me, you could go with Ro, or if you know someone else who likes basketball-”

  “These were expensive.”

  “Not really…” Bia hedged.

  “The price is on the ticket.”

  Oh, damn. “Well… you deserve it.”

  He was clearly still struggling with something. He picked up their empty bowls and handed them to Til. “Would you mind taking these inside?” he asked quietly. Usually he didn’t ask Til for anything, he waited on h
er, but she took the bowls and headed back to the house.

  He’d clearly done that because he didn’t want her to see what happened next. Bia moved onto all fours, closing the distance between where they sat.

  “Kez, what’s wrong? Tell me.”

  “I-” He cut himself off with a huff. Whatever it was, he didn’t want to say it, or he didn’t know how.

  “I’m sorry if I did the wrong thing. I’ll take them back and we can forget about it.” She reached for the tickets but he pulled them out of reach.

  “You didn’t do anything wrong,” he said, averting his eyes so he was staring off to the side instead of confronting her. “It’s not that I don’t like them.”

  Bia was so confused. She didn’t reply, waiting for him to say more. Eventually, he found the words for his confession, quiet and small, spoken through a clenched jaw.

  “People like me don’t get gifts like this.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Children like me don’t get gifts like this.”

  Bia blinked. Did he mean… because he was half-Balor?

  “You’re not a child anymore. You’re my mate,” she said with a smile, crawling further into his space to try to draw his eyes but he avoided her. Her smile faltered and she slumped to her knees. “Is it because I’m Balor? It feels weird getting an expensive gift?”

  Finally his eyes flashed to hers, frowning. “No!”

  “Then what is it? I wanted to get you something nice, to show how much I love you, and how much I appreciate everything you do for us!”

  “Exactly! I’m supposed to provide for you! I’m the male! I’m older!”

  “It’s Christmas! It’s once a year! Look, just give them to me. I’m sorry.” She reached for them again, and again he pulled them away and she made a noise of frustration. “Why are they different from your other presents? I don’t understand!”

  “Because I didn’t get you anything like this! I didn’t know I had to! I just bought you… junk!”

  Bia gasped, offended on behalf of the gifts she loved. “They’re not junk!”

  “Yes they are! They’re not worth one of these tickets.”

  “That doesn’t matter!”

  “Yes, it does!”

  “Why?”

  Kez snarled in frustration, tipping his head back as if he was trying to vent it away from her.

  “I love the gifts you got me, don’t call them junk.”

  He seemed to deflate a little, looking down at the tickets in his lap again. “I just wanted you to have a good Christmas. You were so excited about it.”

  Bia dared to put her hand to his jaw, stroking his cheek for a moment. “I am. This is a great Christmas. But what does that have to do with the tickets?”

  “It’s not enough. It was supposed to be for you but now we’re…” He held up the tickets. “Uneven again.”

  “Again?”

  He hissed softly and looked away, but he didn’t pull free from her hand.

  Okay. Bia hadn’t ever got anywhere with him by meeting him half-way. She’d always had to steamroll through his walls just to get in the front door. She’d thought they were better now they were mated, but she sensed he was locking her out, she could practically feel wall after wall coming down between them. But she was spoiled, and she didn’t give up on the things she wanted.

  She crawled into his lap and forced him onto his back, then she lay down on top of him, resting her head on his chest with her legs either side of his hips. Even now, in the middle of some strange fight, she still loved it here, and snuggled in close.

  She gave him a moment to understand that resistance was futile, then she said “Okay, so you’re uncomfortable getting gifts, especially expensive ones, because you weren’t given anything as a child. Your whole life, you’ve had to fight and work and steal for everything. I understand that. But don’t start snapping at me because you’re uncomfortable. I love you, and I wanted to do something nice for you because you’re my mate and I wanted to thank you for looking after me and Til the way you do.”

  He interrupted her with a grumble, but she spoke over him. “So you don’t understand gifts very well and you’re only doing Christmas for me, I get that. But it sounds like you’re saying you have to spend money on me for some reason, and you don’t. Money shouldn’t be a factor between us.” She looked up at him. “Am I right so far?”

  He tilted his face down to her. “I am your mate, I should provide for you.”

  “You do. But you don’t have to. We’re building this life together.” When he didn’t reply, she crawled up his body until she was holding herself up, looking down at him. “I’m not rich, Kez. I wouldn’t have any of this if it wasn’t for you. Why are you talking like you have to pay me back?”

  “Because I wouldn’t have any of this if it wasn’t for you, either.”

  “So we’re doing it together, as equals.”

  “Except we’re not, because you’re young and beautiful and charming, and I am none of those things. Of course I have to earn you.”

  Her heart melted. “Earning me isn’t buying me, Kez, and do we really need to have this conversation again? I thought you understood how crazy I am about you?”

  “Crazy is right, it doesn’t make sense.”

  “It doesn’t have to make sense. Look, do you really think you haven’t done anything to deserve me? We just got out of a heat where you took care of me so well. You always take care of me so well. You give me everything I need.”

  “It’s not enough.”

  “It’s more than enough. Even if you didn’t cook and clean and earn money for us, and drive us around all the time, I’d still want you. I love you.” She stroked his crest with her thumb, then traced the red block of colour under his eye.

  He sighed and put his arms around her waist, linking his hands just over her hips and letting his arms hang heavy. “The fact that you love me doesn’t erase the debt, it increases it. How can I ever balance that?”

  “Love me back, dummy.”

  “I do, but-”

  “Then just shut up and let me love you. That’s all I ever wanted. Don’t you remember? All I ever wanted was for you to stop pushing me away.” She dropped her face to his, rubbing the scales of her cheek against his, revelling in the vibrations for a moment. “So let me give you presents. Let me hold your hand, and hug you, and take pictures of you sleeping – all those little things that annoy you. Stop keeping score.”

  “They don’t annoy me,” he grumbled as if it was hard for him to admit.

  Bia grinned. “I know, you just like to pretend.”

  His hands moved on her back, separating and sliding over her shirt. “I feel like I ruined your Christmas.”

  “You gave me a Christmas.”

  “And then complained about your present.”

  “Kez, look at us. I’m happy. I’ve got you pinned to the ground between my legs and your mouth in kissing-distance. As far as I’m concerned I’m in heaven.”

  He hummed, his hands wandering to her ass. “You’re right, I think I had forgotten that about you. You’re deluded,” he said as if it was a fact.

  She knew he might never see himself the way she saw him, but while that would be nice, she didn’t need him to, not as long as he consented to be her mate and sleep in her bed and give her this great life. She lifted her head, just to remind him.

  “I’m perfect for you, you mean.”

  He slid his hand up to the back of her head. “I think you might be, yes.”

  “…So do you like your presents?” she pressed while she seemed to have him feeling accommodating again.

  He sighed. “Yes, I like them. I always liked them, I just…”

  “Need to be given more presents so you get used to it. Got it.” He groaned and she laughed, but then she turned serious again. “I’m sorry I haven’t given you more presents before.”

  “You have. You used to bring things to my apartment all the time. But I’m not talking about
things you’ve bought. It’s more than enough as it is, I don’t need-”

  “Shh. You can’t talk me out of it.”

  He made a dissatisfied noise, but then he said “Merry Christmas, Bia.”

  “Merry Christmas, Kez.” She leant down to kiss him. They’d just finished their heat and they were both sore, so Bia slid her lips against his slowly, exploring him, and when he opened his mouth, they tangled their tongues together with a relieved sigh, lying on the grass in the shade of a tree strung with tinsel and lights.

  Best Christmas ever.

  Zir

  1

  “What time is it?” Lois whispered when Zir woke her, tugging her body under his. They had maybe ten, twenty minutes before their alarm was due to go off. He could stretch it to thirty with snooze. They could make it. Long, leisurely love-making had been left in the past months ago. Now they had to snatch opportunities as they came, and they didn’t come very often. It had been weeks since they’d managed to both start and finish, and Zir was eager to change that today.

  “Early,” he answered, kissing down her neck. Her body was warm and soft from sleep, and she didn’t try to stop him, she just lifted her hands to his biceps. He quickly unbuttoned her silk pyjamas. If only it had been summer and she’d been wearing her little dress that barely touched her thighs. That was no obstacle.

  “Are the kids awake?” She sounded more alert now as she watched him open her shirt, pulling it open to bare her breasts. He lifted his crest for her, then dropped his hands to pluck her nipples between the velvet of his claws.

  “I do not know. Let’s pretend they are not,” he said, kissing her. He lowered himself over her, her warm softness against his firm scales, and she kissed him back. She caught on to his impatience and started tugging on the loose shorts he wore to bed. He used to sleep naked, but now they had children with a habit of walking in uninvited, Lois made him cover himself. He hooked his claws into the waistband of her pyjamas and pulled them down her thighs. Together they wrestled each other to nakedness, and then he pressed the velvet of his claw over her clit. Before the kids, he could have taken his time. Now, he kept a ticking clock in his head of how long it might take her to get wet enough for him, and how long after that to come, always balanced against how long until the kids needed them.