Anna made a swipe for the Gadjit and he pulled it out of her reach. When she tried again, he simply held it over his head. It was a good thing the conference room had a higher ceiling than most to allow for the projector screen, or he wouldn’t have been able to. They made themselves laugh while they fought like children, taking more stupid photos, until Anna got hold of it again and said “Okay, a serious one now.”
She held the Gadjit up, smiling into the lens, the tree glittering and twinkling in the background. She angled it so Khy only had to crouch a little bit, and he put his arms around her to make it look like a hug, and when she pressed the button, he was smiling. It was a good photo. But the one he took when he seized the Gadjit again and kissed her was better.
They stayed late, almost as if they didn’t want to leave. Khy had expected to be eager to get home and get Anna into bed, but the truth was he was having fun, and Anna was too. They didn’t really go to parties. They went to movies or exhibitions or walks in the park or by the bay. They watched TV at home and wrestled on the couch, and he tickled her until she begged for mercy. They stayed up late, neither of them needing much sleep, and went to cafes for brunch on the weekends. But parties? They didn’t really know anyone who threw parties. The friends Anna had made were too settled, too sedate, and Volon parties were not the same, usually involving drums and bonfires.
He had never seen Anna dance before, not like this, not like she didn’t care. He watched his wife and mate shake her butt and laugh, before dragging him onto the dancefloor and positioning him behind her, holding his hands while she wriggled against his crotch and chest.
“I used to love dancing!” she yelled in his ear, definitely more drunk than tipsy, and he realised he’d stopped drinking and was soberer than she was. “I used to go clubbing all the time in London! You’ve made me boring! I’m boring now I’m married!”
Khy wasn’t sure if he should be offended. Her dancing hadn’t missed a beat as she turned in his arms and moved his hands to her hips, putting hers to his shoulders. She closed her eyes, smiling dreamily.
“You’re not boring,” he told her, finding his tongue.
She shrugged, still smiling. Maybe it was time to go home after all.
“You’re my mate!” He squeezed her ass, making her jump.
“Yeah!” she agreed. “Wow, I haven’t been drunk in like… a year! I’m a lightweight now!” The song changed and she stopped dancing suddenly. “What was in that punch?”
“Do you want to go home?” Khy asked, dipping his face to her level to meet her eyes, concerned.
“What? No!”
He tried a different approach. He moved his mouth to her ear, deepening his voice. “Do you want to come home with me, Anna?”
Her breath hitched. “Ooh, yeah!” she said, grinning, and tracing her nails up the hollow of his throat.
He could remember, distantly, wondering how the hell they had ever found themselves in bed together. With Anna in his arms, touching him, he understood. Of course he had taken her home. Of course he had kissed her on the way, without even noticing the paparazzi taking their photo. Of course he had done anything she’d wanted. She was beautiful, alluring, and thoroughly intoxicating when she wanted him like this.
With his arm around her waist, he led her out.
2
In the podcab home, Anna was all over him, sitting so close she was practically in his lap, leaving half the seat empty. Khy folded his claws against his lips to hide his amusement and faced the window.
She laid her head on his shoulder and sighed happily, her eyes closed. “I’m glad I’m going home with you.”
“Oh? Why is that?” Anna was not generally free with compliments. If he could trick some out of her now, he would.
She reached her far hand over both of their heads to swipe blindly at his crest. “Because. You’re sweet.”
Khy frowned and pulled away from her hand. “Is that all?”
“And you’re… comfy.” She snuggled against his chest.
He would rather be fearsome and devastatingly irresistible, but if sweet and comfy was it, he would take it. He sighed and draped his arm around her shoulders, settling her against him. “You chose a good mate.”
She gave a dark little chuckle. “I did.” She moved her head, and when he looked down at her she was giving him a predatory grin that reminded him humans were meat-eaters. The Volon had learned to hunt bigger game than any other Teissian race, dividing the kill among the tribe on the rare occasions they did, but they had no special teeth for it. Humans had been eating meat since before they were human, and had sharp little spikes just waiting to sink into fighting flesh.
Khy swallowed and shifted in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable in his jeans. Anna’s teeth couldn’t penetrate his scales no matter how hard she tried, and she had tried when he he’d asked, but he loved the burn anyway. It felt like everything falling into place, like permission to continue what he was doing. After all, a female didn’t fight if the male wasn’t worth testing.
Anna accused him of having a ‘kink’, but Khy didn’t care. Her teeth sawing at his thick scales turned him on and she knew it, or she wouldn’t bite him out of the blue when she felt like ‘fooling around’.
She didn’t bite him now though. She just stroked a fingertip down his face and sang “I’m taking you home from the party…” She let her finger drop, then rubbed her cheek over his heart. “Can’t say you didn’t mean it this time.”
Khy’s breath caught, but he forced himself to relax. Anna was drunk, she didn’t know what she was saying. If he wanted to pick at that, he should wait until she was sober. “No, I can’t.”
Anna was quiet for a minute, then she giggled. “Am I being abducted by aliens?”
Khy rolled his eyes. Humans were obsessed. “As someone who has actually been abducted by aliens, I can safely say, no you are not.”
She lifted her head again. “Have you been abducted by aliens?”
“Well… abducted, evacuated, small difference.”
Anna kept staring at him, and he opened his mouth to assure her he was fine, that he had no more traumatised feelings to share on the subject of his evacuation, when she kissed him. Evidently, she had moved on. The kiss was sloppy enough that he turned his face away as she climbed into his lap gracelessly, with little care where her knees or feet were landing. One of her shoes fell off. Why did that always happen?
She was not put off by the loss of his mouth against hers, kissing and mouthing against his cheek and jaw and down to his neck.
“Anna, Anna, you need to-”
She purred against him as if he was encouraging her, and he just gave up, slumping in his seat and letting her fumble at him. Even if it was a bit slimy, it was still sweet, and she wasn’t getting very far with her tugs on his security vest.
“You need to sober up,” he said, slinging his arms around her waist as he waited her out.
She seemed to understand she wasn’t getting anywhere without his assistance, so she whined and kissed him again to persuade him. This time he kissed her back, taking over and capturing her hands in his to still them. He tamed her messy kiss, until she was limp and moaning in his lap.
When the cab pulled up outside their building, Khy had to move Anna off him to open the door and then help her out. He remembered her shoe, and bent down to put it back on her foot while she hopped and held herself up on his bent back. When the cab drove off and he stood up again, she smiled and helped herself to his arm.
“You’re coming to bed with me,” she announced.
“Yes,” he laughed. It was his bed too after all.
He got them inside and into the elevator, enjoying Anna on his arm, even if she was gripping him like she was keeping him prisoner. Once inside their apartment, he put his keys away and she slipped off her shoes with a sigh, then walked away. He watched her, trying to gauge just how drunk she was. She wasn’t staggering. Now she was out of her heels, she was perfectly stable on her feet,
and walked straight. That was good.
She twirled on her toes and gestured him to her by crooking her finger.
“How about some water?” he offered instead, going to the kitchen. “Or some coffee?” He didn’t think tea would cut it.
“No, Khy!” She followed him. “I’m not thirsty! Well, not for water anyway,” she cackled, standing at his side and pulling herself against him, her chin on his arm so she could look up at him. Her thumb stroked up and down on his abdomen.
He poured a glass from the tap anyway and when he held it out for her, she took it with a pout. “Drink that, or I’m not going anywhere.”
“You tyrant,” Anna sighed, but she drank it, and he poured a glass for himself and drained it.
He started opening cupboards to make a cup of coffee. If they were going to have sex, he didn’t want her passing out half-way through. He wanted to sober her up some more and stall.
“Khy, come on…” she moaned, tugging at him.
He turned in her arms and stroked a lock of hair behind her ear with his claw. “Why don’t you go take your make-up off? Shower? Lie naked in the bed for me?”
Her expression had been rebellious, outraged even, but he could see he’d won her with that last bit. Still she pouted. “Shower…?”
He wound a lock of her hair around his claw. “Don’t you want to be all clean and soft for me?”
“Aren’t you just going to mess me up again?” she returned, pressing into him. If he thought she was easier when she’d been drinking, that was clearly not the case. Always arguing.
“That’s different. Now go on. I’ll join you in a minute.”
She made a face but she left him, her arms slipping off him slowly. He watched her go, then made the coffee. He took a mouthful, then grimaced, sticking his tongue out at the foul taste, but he needed it to look credible that he’d made it for himself. He waited until he heard the shower come on to head into the bedroom. He took off his Security vest, but left his jeans. If she couldn’t get those off, she was definitely too drunk to be doing this. He listened carefully in case she fell in the shower.
Despite how they had got together, Khy was not interested in mating Anna if she was too drunk. This time, he did not have the excuse of also being incapacitated. Anna had made it pretty clear, even before the party, that she wanted to have sex tonight, thinking of it like an anniversary, and he was on board with that. She might be acting a lot friendlier than usual, but her movements were steady, her words weren’t slurred, her eyes weren’t crossing. The water, coffee, shower, and extra time should sober her up enough to say no if she’d changed her mind, and he’d kiss and touch her long enough to make sure she knew what was happening.
The shower turned off and a moment later Anna came out, her hair clipped up and a towel around her. She saw him lying on the bed, shirtless, and smiled as if she was pleased he was finally cooperating. Without further preamble, she walked over and straddled his hips. He felt the compass needle of his mind turn to her, arousal rising in him. Her skin radiated heat from the hot water, and though he couldn’t feel it, he knew from the weight that her soft sex was against the zipper of his jeans, hidden by two inches of towel. She reached up and unclipped her hair, shaking it free around her shoulders, and he breathed in the scent of her conditioner raised by the steam.
She leaned into him, but he stopped her. “Here, have some of this,” he said, pushing the coffee mug at her.
She huffed, taking the mug and watching as she swirled it. “Cold coffee, yay. You’re making me jump through a lot of hoops for this.”
Khy bit his lip to keep from smiling because that there was Anna. She was sobering up, which meant he didn’t have to hold back. She tipped back a mouthful or two, then put the mug on the nightstand, and when she leaned forward again, he didn’t stop her. He kissed her as her hands slid over his scales, mapping the muscles of his chest. His crest unfurled. It was nothing new, and yet there was still that small thing inside him that delighted in it, in letting his mate feel his strength. He reached for the edge of the towel and ripped it open, snatching it away from her, making her breath catch before she melted against him, smiling into his kiss.
He ran his hands up her sides, his claws tracing over her back and his thumbs brushing the edge of her breasts. Their tongues tangled together in a familiar dance and for a moment they just held each other as they had a hundred times before. Then he moved his hands to her breasts, cupping and squeezing gently until she wriggled, adjusting her seat on him to push into his hands and rub against his jeans where his cock was hardening. He took his time. He didn’t always. It was Volon nature to like it hard and fast, to pin Anna and make her scream, even if he did have to remind her to bite and scratch at him. But he wouldn’t do that tonight. He didn’t want to take control like that when she’d been drinking, and besides, it was their anniversary. She deserved soft and slow. Loving.
So he touched her breasts as if it was the first time. He didn’t trap her nipples between his claws or trace the swell with the point of his claw, the way he knew she liked. Not until she rocked closer again and moaned his name, frustrated, wordlessly begging him for more. Their kiss broken, her face slack with want, he dipped under her jaw instead, kissing the soft skin there and sucking on her pulse gently. Her hands tightened against his stomach, scratching, and then she was grabbing at his arms, his shoulders, looking for purchase.
As he kissed her neck, he leant her back a little, making room for him to duck down and bring his mouth to her breast instead. He licked over her nipple, and her hand came to the back of his head, stroking the short feathers at the base of his crest. Normally, if she wanted him to go faster, harder, she would pull, but now she just tenderly traced over them with her thumb. As he rubbed his scaled lips over her, she arched into him, and ran his feathers between her fingers just hard enough that he could feel it.
With one hand on her back to support her, and the other on her other breast, he worked her nipple into a hard little peak with licks and sucks. When she started to whimper, he moved to the other one, switching hands.
“Khy…” she moaned, her fingers trailing down his neck, down his spine. “Love you.”
He grunted, surprised she’d said it so early, so easily. Usually he had to be pounding her into the mattress before she forgot herself and their little game enough to say it. Mostly she said it as part of something else, like “You know I love you so stop threatening other men” or “If I didn’t love you I’d be seriously worried about all these knives”. He lifted his head to kiss her lips, meeting her eyes for a moment. They were soft and full of love. He never doubted that she loved him, but he enjoyed their games too much for either of them to wear it out in the open like that.
“I love you too, my mate,” he mumbled into her jaw, kissing her again. He moved his hand to where she sat on his cock, rubbing the velvet of one claw against her clit, testing her wetness. Her little gasp was delicious. “Are you ready for me?”
Anna moaned again and nodded.
“Show me.”
She pulled away to look at him in confusion, but she wasn’t shy. It only took her a moment to shuffle back off his cock and point to the wet patch on his jeans, as if he was the idiot for not being able to tell for himself how wet she was.
His lips twitched in amusement. “That’s not what I meant. Show me you.”
He saw the moment she understood what he meant, and a look of long-suffering indulgence came into her eyes. Then he did smile at her, and she sighed, and lifted onto her knees to pull her sex open, awkwardly trying to cant her hips towards him so he could see the wet pink inside.
He made a show of looking, lowering his head. “Hmm…”
Anna fidgeted, growing uncomfortable, so he kissed her again. “Beautiful. If you can get my jeans open, I’ll fuck you.”
A frown flickered over her face, but she dropped her hands to pop the button at his waistband, her nimble human fingers making short work of it. “You’re really
in a mood tonight,” she commented idly.
“I’m not the only one.”
“What does that mean?”
He thought about how kind and soft she was being, and knew if he drew attention to it, she might stop. “Nothing.”
“Hm.” She might have pursued it if she didn’t at that moment ease his zipper down over the curve of his swollen cock and help it out of the denim. He hissed softly as she took it in her hands, testing before switching to hard strokes. Her eyes flicked to his as he held still and let her touch him. “You’re not normally like this.”
He eased his hands up her thighs. “Well, it’s our anniversary.”
“Is that why I’m on top?”
It was easy for her to question him while stroking his cock, not so easy for him to answer. “Maybe.” He sat up to nibble at her neck again. “Claim your mate, Anna.”
She hummed in agreement, then let his cock go to pull his jeans open and as far down as they would go. She got into position, sliding his cock through her folds as she rocked her hips. She put her hands on his chest, her face above his as she kneeled over him. “You sure?”
He understood why she was asking. Sometimes he put her on top of him to make a point, but he could count those occasions on his few fingers. She knew he preferred to pin her with his body as he drilled her to the edge of her limits, but maybe she wasn’t the only one feeling soft and accommodating.
“I’m sure. I want to feel you. I want to watch you.”
With one hand, she pushed him into her, her mouth opening with a little puff of breath forced from her.
The pleasure of it was vicious, the tight, slick heat of her slowly swallowing his cock. His lip curled with it, his leg twitched and his toes flexed as if he could run from it, claw it into submission, but he knew he could only wait as she pushed down, down onto him.
Her eyes fluttered closed as she came to a seat, her hips twitching to rub her clit against his scales. His hands went unbidden to her waist, ready to lift and lower her as he wanted, but he held off. Instead he just moved them back to her breasts, nudging his claw against her nipple.
An Office Alien Christmas Collection (Office Aliens Book 5) Page 20