“Stop being so negative,” Clear told him. “And remember that you promised to come.”
“Yes, yes—I’ll be there.” Strong waved him off. “But not unless you let me finish these reports. You go on to the party and I’ll see you soon.”
“See you soon,” Clear echoed his Brother. And putting the lid back on his present, he left their suite and headed for the reception hall where the Mother Ship’s Administration Department Christmas Party was being held. It included the Marketing, Accounting, and PR departments and their families, so one of the larger halls had been chosen for it.
As he walked down the hallway, he saw his friend, Sahran heading in the same direction. Sahran was a tall Blood Kindred with white-blonde hair and pale blue eyes. He was carrying a white cardboard gift box like the one Clear held, but he also had a roll of long, shiny, silver paper in one hand.
“Sahran, going to the party?” Clear greeted him.
“Oh, hello, Clear. Yes, but first I have to stop by my cubical and get some tape to wrap this present.” Sahran brandished the box and the roll of silver paper.
“You’re supposed to wrap them?” Clear felt his stomach drop.
“Oh, yes. I learned that the hard way,” Sahran said grimly. “During Sonja’s birthday celebration when I gave her an unwrapped present. Apparently a gift isn’t acceptable unless it’s wrapped in some kind of festive paper that your female can tear open before she opens the box.”
“But…that seems to add an unnecessary extra step in getting to the gift,” Clear protested. “Wouldn’t it seem that the one who receives the gift would rather get to open it sooner?”
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” Sahran shook his head. “But I’ve learned that some things about humans—especially human females—just don’t make logical sense.” He smiled fondly. “But my Sonja is so lovely that I don’t really mind.”
“Well, I don’t want to give an inappropriate gift,” Clear said, frowning. “Where can I get some of this shiny paper you’re using?”
“Oh, you can use some of mine—I’ve got plenty,” Sahran assured him. “Come with me and we’ll get both gifts wrapped in no time.”
“Thank you.” Clear smiled at his friend. “I appreciate it, Sahran.”
“No trouble at all. Who did you get in the gift giving exchange, anyway?” the Blood Kindred asked as they walked.
“I don’t think we’re supposed to tell, but I confess I drew Melanie’s name.” Clear tried not to smile.
“You look pleased about it,” Sahran noted. “I take it you wanted her name?”
“Very much. I have been what the humans call ‘crushing her’ for some time,” Clear admitted.
His friend frowned.
“I think you mean crushing on her. Or else you can say you ‘have a crush’ on her. Anyway, you’re lucky you got her name with no problems. I had to trade five times in order to get Sonja’s name.”
“Are you supposed to do that?” Clear asked doubtfully.
“Probably not.” Sahran shrugged and grinned. “But I knew it would make her happy.”
“I hope my gift to Melanie will make her happy,” Clear said, eyeing his cardboard box. “Maybe it will convince her to take myself and my brother seriously.”
Strong raised his white-blond eyebrows.
“So you’re serious about courting her, the two of you? You’re hoping to get her to agree to Join and bond with you?”
Clear nodded firmly.
“I am. My brother, Strong, doesn’t believe we have a chance with such a beautiful, mature Elite. But I refuse to give up hope.”
“Well, giving her a properly wrapped gift is a good start,” Sahran said as they turned into their work area. “Here—give me your present. I’ll wrap it at my desk while I wrap mine.”
Clear handed him the white cardboard box and Sahran stacked it on top of his own identical box and headed towards his cubical. The sounds of paper cutting and low cursing drifted through the air to Clear but in a few minutes, his friend was back. He handed Clear the box, now wrapped in shiny silver paper.
“There—now your gift is acceptably wrapped and appropriately festive,” he said, grinning widely enough to show his fangs.
“Thank you.” Clear took the box gratefully and tucked it under his arm. “I can’t wait to see Melanie wearing this.”
Sahran winked at him.
“I feel the same way, Brother. I can’t wait to see Sonja in the gift I picked for her either. Come on—we don’t want to be late for the party!”
Then the two of them headed down the hall, towards the Christmas party.
9
Melanie took a last look in the 3-D viewer before she left for the party. She was wearing a deep red, strapless dress that looked very Christmassy and hugged her curves nicely. But she wasn’t quite sure about the top. The thin red material clung a little too tightly to her full breasts, calling attention to the points of her nipples through the silky fabric.
That was because instead of a bra, she was wearing Sonja’s early Christmas gift to her—a set of float dots.
Float dots were an alien technology the Kindred had gotten access to. They were tiny little antigravity producers which stuck to the skin just under your breast and caused the breast itself to float upwards just enough to defy the pull of gravity. The result was that Melanie’s D cup breasts now looked as perky as they had in her twenties, which was nice. But since she wasn’t wearing a bra, she felt a little bit naked under her dress.
“Don’t be silly!” Sonja had exclaimed when Melanie had hesitantly pointed out that the thin fabric did nothing to hide her nipples. “Everybody on the Mother Ship is wearing float dots now! Girl, I haven’t worn a bra since I got here and believe me, it feels wonderful.”
Melanie had to admit that it did feel great not to have the usual tight straps and bands confining her breasts and digging into her shoulders. But it still felt strange to look in the 3-D viewer and be able to tell that she wasn’t wearing a bra.
What if Clear and Strong were there and they thought she was trying to be provocative on purpose? What would they think of her if she seemed to be flaunting her body?
Melanie knew it was old-fashioned to think that way, but it was the way she’d been raised and it was hard to shake the ideas she’d been brought up with now.
“Free,” she told herself, doing a spin in front of the 3-D viewer. “I need to feel free and embrace new situations and ideas.”
This was another idea she and her therapist had worked on and Melanie decided to take it to heart tonight. She would go to the Christmas party braless and feel empowered, not ashamed of her body. She would—
Just then the holo-caller sitting on the end table beside the couch gave a double ring, which meant a call coming in from Earth.
Melanie sighed, knowing who it must be. Only one person on Earth had her number—her Aunt Marge.
Sitting down on the edge of the couch and being careful not to crumple her dress, she pressed a button to pick up the call.
She supposed she was lucky to be able to get calls from Earth at all. From what she’d heard, it used to be impossible to communicate to the home planet except via Think-me—a device which projected your thoughts directly into the other person’s head and often made them think they were going crazy. Now the holo-caller was available and it was even possible to sync it up with a cell phone down on Earth.
As soon as Melanie pushed the button, a 3-D holographic image of her great aunt’s head was projected above the calling cube. Aunt Marge had short, frizzy gray hair, a face like a wrinkled apple, and thick glasses which she was always wiping on her sweater.
“Melly? Is that you?” the old lady demanded, peering at her myopically, though Melanie didn’t know who else she might think she was calling on the Mother Ship.
“Yes, Aunt Marge. How are you?” She smiled brightly. “I’m about to head out for a Christmas party,” she added, hoping Aunt Marge would take the hint.
&nbs
p; “Well, I won’t keep you then,” her great aunt said, frowning. “Just wanted to know when you’re coming in for Christmas? What time should I have the turkey ready?”
“I’ll be there on Christmas Day,” Melanie promised. “Probably around noon.” The Mother Ship had some of the younger, unmated warriors who didn’t have a mate to spend Christmas with yet, running shuttles back and forth to Earth so that people could be with their families if they wanted to during the holiday.
“All right. Noon it is,” Aunt Marge nodded. “And I hope you’re hungry—store was all outta little turkeys so I had to get a twenty pounder this year.”
“Twenty pounds?” Melanie exclaimed. “Really, Aunt Marge, you don’t have to make such a big meal just for the two of us!”
But she knew it was a losing argument. Every year she tried to keep her aunt from overdoing it and every year they had enough turkey and fixings to feed a whole neighborhood of hungry holiday revelers. It hadn’t been so bad back when she was married to Steve—her ex could put away a serious amount of turkey and stuffing. But now that she and her aunt would be the only ones at the table, so much food would certainly go to waste.
“No use complaining. What’s done is done.” Aunt Marge had a stubborn set to her wrinkled jaw. “It’s already defrosting in my fridge!”
Melanie sighed in defeat.
“All right. You’re the one who’s going to be eating turkey sandwiches and turkey soup and turkey casserole for the next month.”
“I’ll make do,” Aunt Marge said firmly. “And of course, the kitties can eat anything I can’t.”
“Well, that’s true,” Melanie agreed.
Her aunt’s army of cats were always hungry. She was forever lugging home those big, twenty pound bags of cat food and it still never seemed to be enough.
“Was that all you wanted to know?” she asked. “Because this party is about to start.”
“Christmas at noon,” Aunt Marge said. Clearly she was writing it down. “Which means…two days from now.”
“Yup, since tomorrow is Christmas Eve,” Melanie said brightly. “I can’t wait to see you! So if that’s all—”
“That nasty Steve came ‘round here again lately botherin’ me,” Aunt Marge said, frowning. “I told him I’d call the police if he didn’t leave. Never did like him!”
Which was true. She had tolerated Steve when Melanie was still married to him, but now she out right hated him.
“What did he want?” Melanie asked, her forehead creasing with concern. “He didn’t threaten you, did he?”
Her ex had always been verbally abusive but he had only hit her once—which had prompted her to start the divorce proceedings. Well, that and her discovery that he’d been cheating on her for years. But thankfully, Aunt Marge was shaking her head.
“No, but he said he wanted to see you. Had that little floozy of his on his arm. Looks like he got her pregnant—belly out to here!” She was clearly making a motion with her arms that the holo unit couldn’t pick up.
“He did?” Melanie felt her heart drop to her shoes. For years she had begged Steve to let them start a family, but he’d always said they were too busy with their careers.
“Later, Mels,” he’d say dismissively, when Melanie broached the subject. “We’ve got plenty of time.”
There had always been “plenty of time” until there suddenly wasn’t anymore. Melanie’s biological alarm clock had been going off for the past five years and she knew if she didn’t find someone to settle down with soon, she would never have the kids she’d always wanted.
The thought brought Clear and Strong to her mind, but she pushed the idea away. Even if they did have a serious interest in her, they were young guys—there was no way they’d want to be saddled with kids at their age.
I really have to stop thinking of them, Melanie told herself. It would be better to move on and try to find someone my own age…
“…so he finally left,” Aunt Marge said, cutting into her thoughts. “But he says he’ll be back. Wish I kept dogs instead of cats—I woulda set a whole pack of ‘em on him if I had them.”
“Don’t worry about Steve—he just wants to show off his new girlfriend and prove that she’s better than me,” Melanie told her.
“That little whore?” Aunt Marge demanded. “Why, she—”
“Aunt Marge, I really do need to get to this party,” Melanie interrupted her. “It’s for work and I don’t want to be late.”
“All right then, you go on.” Aunt Marge’s holo-head nodded. “I’ll see you soon. Be sure you skip breakfast Christmas morning so you’ll be hungry enough to help me eat this bird!”
“Yes, Aunt Marge.” Melanie blew her a kiss. “I love you.”
Her ancient relative grumbled something that sounded like “love you too” and then the holo finally flickered out and Melanie was free to go to the party.
But as she gathered her present for the Secret Santa exchange, she couldn’t help feeling heavy-hearted. Her ex was finally going to be a father but her own chances for motherhood, or even finding someone to share the rest of her life with, seemed very slim indeed.
10
“Melanie, over here!” It was Sonja, waving for her eagerly from across the large meeting room. It had been decorated for the party, with a huge Christmas tree twinkling with lights in one corner and a table filled with bright red punch and trays of Christmas cookies in another. Christmas carols were playing, though they were hard to hear over the chatter of people talking.
Melanie weaved her way through the crowd to get to her friend’s side. Sonja was wearing a long, silky gown in vivid purple that looked wonderful with her creamy brown skin tones.
“Hi, how are you?” She and Sonja kissed cheeks and she smiled at her friend. “You look great!”
“So do you! Look at you—flaunting your curves. How do you like the float dots?”
“They certainly make the girls a lot perkier than usual,” Melanie admitted, looking down at her chest.
“I know! And we busty girls can use all the help we can get. Not that Sahran complains about my, ah, assets,” she added, giving Melanie a nudge.
Melanie tried to smile, but she felt like her face was broken. The image of Steve and his pregnant girlfriend kept intruding in her mind, sucking away all the joy of the party.
“Hey, what’s wrong with you?” Sonja demanded, looking at her anxiously. “You look like somebody just stomped your kitty cat!”
“I’m okay,” Melanie denied. Then she shook her head. “No, that’s a lie. I’m not okay. I got a call from my Aunt Marge and she said my ex had come around again and she was pretty sure his new girlfriend was pregnant.”
“Okay.” Sonja nodded. “Is that what’s getting you down?”
“I guess so.” Melanie sighed again. “It’s just—when I was with him, he never had time for a family. He kept telling me to wait. And now look—I’m getting close to forty and I’m single all over again. I always wanted kids but…” She shrugged sadly. “It just doesn’t look like it’s in the cards for me to have them.”
“Don’t give up!” Sonja urged her. “All you need to do is find a nice guy to get Joined and have a baby with.” She grinned slyly. “Or maybe a couple of nice guys. Speaking of which, here come Clear and Strong.”
“Sonja!” Melanie hissed and shook her head. “Do not talk about babies in front of them—I mean it!” she muttered to her friend. “Keep it to yourself!”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Sonja saluted sarcastically and smiled brightly as Clear and Strong made their way through the crowd. They were both wearing the Twin Kindred uniform with tight black trousers, tall black boots, and emerald green button-down shirts that looked amazing on both of them.
“Hello and Christmas Greetings,” Clear said as he reached them. Strong nodded but was silent.
“Hi there, fellas!” Sonja smiled at them both. “Oh, will you excuse me? I think I see Sahran waving at me.” And she dove off into the crowd, leaving Mela
nie alone with the two large Kindred warriors.
“Oh, um…hi.” Melanie smiled up at them both. She’d seen Clear once or twice at work in passing the last few days, but this was the first time she was seeing both twins together since waking up-half naked in their bed.
And speaking of half naked, her braless breasts felt vulnerable and exposed, especially when she noticed Strong’s dark blue eyes flicking down to the points of her nipples, clearly visible under the thin red material. He looked away quickly, though, which was considerate.
“May I see your hand?” he asked Melanie. “I just want to be sure it’s all healed up.”
“Oh, it’s fine!” Melanie assured him, holding out her hand. “Even the other spots where the smaller heat beams got me are better.”
“Yes, the nanites were programmed to heal your entire hand—not just that one spot,” Strong murmured. “I’m just glad they did their job.” His warm touch on her skin made Melanie shiver and a tingle ran up her arm.
“Um…it’s a nice party, isn’t it?” she offered rather breathlessly.
“Is it? This is the first Christmas Party we’ve been to, so we can’t tell,” Clear admitted.
“It seems nice to me,” Melanie said. “And they have refreshments,” she added, nodding to the table in the corner with the punch and cookies. “I wonder what flavor the punch is?”
“Why don’t we get some and find out?” Clear suggested. So the three of them moved over to the refreshment table, which thankfully wasn’t as crowded as the rest of the room.
Clear handed Melanie a cup and she sipped eagerly, grateful to have something to do with her hands and mouth.
“Whew!” she gasped, as the red liquid burned down her throat. “Somebody must have spiked it—that’s strong!”
Strong took a sip and nodded.
“Tastes like Fireflower juice,” he remarked and took another drink.
Secret Santa Surprise: Book 29 in the Kindred Tales Series Page 7