Niketas shrugged his agreement as Stelios got up to find the DVD. “Alright. Any reason why?” But Stelios only turned and stared at him for a moment like he’d grown a second head.
“Because it’s Christmas.”
The Alpha turned on the entertainment center, fed the DVD into the player and came back to sit in his spot with the remote. The movie started on its own, and Stelios replaced his arm where it belonged, kissed the top of Niketas’ head and ran a finger along the line where the collar rested against his skin.
“So…Christmas Carol. What’s it about?”
Stelios only shushed him. “Shh. Watch it and find out.”
Niketas rolled his eyes, snuggled a little closer to Stelios’ side and reached for his hot chocolate. He sipped and sighed—good stuff, really, even if he wasn’t much for chocolate most of the time.
Holidays. Huh. He’d never really understood all the fuss, but maybe…maybe if it was going to be like this, he could get into this Christmas thing. His gaze dropped to the ring on his finger.
Yeah.
He could get used to this.
Another Christmas
Chapter One
For days, Stelios had been quiet—too quiet, and now that it was Christmas Eve it was even more noticeable. Last year he’d been wandering around the house humming carols by this time, and though the tree in its corner was magnificent, and the crackling fire in the hearth burned with the same cheerful exuberance, Niketas thought there might be something wrong with his mate.
He wasn’t just silent, he was drowsy, tonight. Stelios seemed content to hold Niketas in his arms and stare at the fire with sleepy eyes, while his hands wandered. The gentle caress of his fingertips kept driving away all Niketas’ own sleepiness, until he turned his head, exasperated, and nipped gently at the Alpha’s chest. “What’s up, huh? You keep touching me, but you look like you’re gonna fall asleep.”
Stelios shook his head, and there was a brighter spark in the blue of his eyes when he opened them. “Sleep? No. I just wanted to hold you for a while. I think you’re going to wear me out later, omega mine…and that wouldn’t be right, would it? It’s supposed to be the other way around.”
The Alpha stretched, then lay his arm along the line of Niketas’ side. The glitter in his eye did nothing to diminish the omega’s arousal. “Sir…”
“I thought about putting the movie on, but I’d rather watch it tomorrow once your pack is gone…or maybe with them. Luka’s going to bring the pups for their first Christmas.”
“I know, you said that last week. Is that why you haven’t been as excited this year?”
Stelios blinked at him, squeezed him around the waist. “What do you mean, I’m still—ah, you mean because I’ve been distracted the last few days? But that’s because I am excited. And right now, I’m just waiting for midnight.”
“Midnight?” A slow, intense fire was kindling in Niketas’ belly. “What’s so distracting it put you off your carols?” He stopped at the look in Stelios’ eyes, and the Alpha caught him under the chin with one hand.
“You. Of course it was you, what else, mate?” Heaving the omega with him, Stelios sat up, pulled Niketas against his chest, into his lap, and kissed him deeply. Soft touches of his lips and tongue startled the breath out of Niketas’ lungs, and when Stelios bit his lip he moaned, hitching himself forward in the hopes that the Alpha’s hands would drift a little further down his back, slide under the waistband of his sweatpants and…
Stelios lifted his mouth from Niketas’ lips, dropped it for a moment to the gleaming collar at his throat, then to the scar on his shoulder, before he leaned back. “So eager. But I’m not giving you your present until midnight.”
Flushed, Niketas turned his gaze to the clock on the mantle before he could help himself. Not even ten yet. Two more hours…like this? Stelios’ low chuckle came as accompaniment to the heat of his mouth running along the line of Niketas’ throat again.
The omega groaned, half exasperated and half pleased. “Sir…why are you…ahh. You don’t have to wait.”
“Yes, I know. But I want to. I was going to surprise you, I didn’t intend to tease you by telling you. After all, you did such a good job keeping your gift for me secret last year.”
Thickness rose in Niketas’ throat. “You…have that kind of present for me?” His thoughts ran wild, wondering, wanting. Of all the things he’d asked for, all the things he liked best, what would it be?
His Alpha was smirking at him, as if he knew exactly which directions Niketas’ thoughts had gone. “You’ll never guess, mate. But you have two hours to try…unless you’d rather I put the movie on after all?”
Niketas snorted. “The movie. There you go again. What movie?”
“Christmas Carol, of course.”
Of course. The reply was too prompt, but the omega still thought his mate was serious. “Are we going to watch that every year?”
“Mmhmm. That’s the point of traditions, isn’t it? I could always make you watch the old one, in black and white. That’s Luka’s favorite.”
Niketas pressed his face against Stelios’ neck. “Please don’t.”
The Alpha laughed, and Niketas lay his cheek on his mate’s shoulder, pressed his mouth against the curve of his throat. “Well, fine. I don’t care, but if you’re putting it on, I want my hot chocolate. Isn’t that a tradition too?” He looked up out of one eye, and caught Stelios’ gaze. “With those tiny marshmallows, if we have ‘em.”
He was more than pleased with himself when he saw the faintest flush dust the bridge of Stelios’ nose, the arch of his cheekbones. Squinting, Stelios looked away. “You remembered that?”
Niketas nodded. “Uh-huh.”
Quick, sharp, the Alpha’s teeth were at his throat, the side of his neck, nipping, biting, sucking at the unbroken flesh while Niketas gasped and submitted, succumbing to the demand of his mate’s mouth on him.
“Naughty. If I wasn’t so set in what I had planned, I’d punish you.”
A shiver fled down Niketas’ spine, but he grinned a little even as he apologized. “Sorry, Sir. It’s just—I like seeing you blush, sometimes. Takes a little work, though.”
Stelios raised an eyebrow at him. “That so? I suppose I can live with that…occasionally. Now, do you really want hot chocolate, or did you just bring that up to be a pain in the ass?”
Still grinning, Niketas shook his head. “No, I want some, as long as you’re making it.”
“Up, then.” Stelios nudged him out of his lap, and the omega stood reluctantly, shivered at the loss of his Alpha’s warmth, and went around behind the coffee table to stand in front of the fire.
“Cold? I told you to wear a shirt and slippers.”
Niketas made a face and turned so his back was facing the warmth of the fire. “Hate slippers, told ya. Not gonna wear ’em. Anyway, I’m not cold, I just got warm lying on you.” He padded along behind his mate as Stelios made his way into the kitchen, and settled on the chair in the corner, his feet tucked up on the rung of the chair and his head on his hand, one elbow resting on the corner table. He tracked the movements of his mate across the kitchen, watching the bare, broad muscles of his shoulders as he moved, the tapering line of his back.
The Alpha’s hair was a dark shadow brushing across his shoulders, the long, loose tendrils of it curling at the nape of his neck. He was humming his carols again, this time one Niketas didn’t know, and watching the milk carefully while he stirred together cocoa and sugar and a little hot water in each of two mugs. The omega got up quietly, and wrapped his arms around Stelios’ waist from behind.
“Do you need something, mate?”
He shook his head against Stelios’ shoulder. “Just this.” Closing his eyes, he kissed a line from one side of the Alpha’s back to the other, rubbed his cheek against him and breathed the scent of his skin.
Stelios hooked an arm around his waist, held him for a moment, then shrugged him to one side. “I have to pour the
milk, hold on—” Steaming, frothy, the milk bubbled into the chocolate and sent a rich aroma wafting through the kitchen.
The Alpha stirred, then rifled through the cabinet until he found a bag of marshmallows and poured far too many of them into each mug. “Here—careful, it’s hot.”
“Thank you, Sir.” He followed Stelios back to the warmth of the couch, but despite what his mate had said, he didn’t move to put on the movie, and the television stayed off. Between sips of chocolate, Niketas couldn’t keep the corner of his mouth from being tugged up. Melted marshmallow had stuck to Stelios’ lip.
Niketas snickered, wiped it away with his thumb and licked it off, then leaned in to lick at his mate’s mouth. He kissed him and tasted Stelios, the chocolate… He explored the Alpha’s mouth with his tongue, surprised at how much he let him control the kiss, relaxed under him with his hands loose at Niketas’ hips.
When the omega pulled back and reached for his mug again, Stelios let him sip—but then his mate was the one tasting him, tracing the lines of definition in his abs, up his chest to the points of his nipples with one hand, while he slid the other into the omega’s hair and held him against his mouth.
“Mmm… Sir.” One kiss became many, until the dregs of his hot chocolate sat forgotten. Niketas closed his eyes, parting his thighs over Stelios’ lap. He rocked rhythmically, just enough to tease them both while the Alpha’s hands brushed up and down his back, slid past his waistband and into his pants to cup his ass, but never more than that.
From Niketas’ mouth, to his jaw, then down to his neck, Stelios kissed, licked, bit—the omega could feel the warmth being sucked to the surface, a tingle of not-quite-pain every time his mate lifted his mouth away and nipped at the fresh bruises.
“Been a long time since I did anything like this. Why didn’t we before?” Both the Alpha’s hands tangled in Niketas’ hair, and he tilted his head back, giving Stelios better access to his throat.
“Too impatient for…ahh. For making out on the couch, Sir. Had me tied up the day—the day we met. Mmm. But this feels good…”
“Impatient because you wanted it. You always do, but tonight…”
“Tonight?” It was only a murmur, swallowed by another kiss, then canceled by his own moan.
“Nice try, mate, but you only have an hour to wait. You won’t get me to tell you before then.”
The omega’s impatient, disappointed groan got him no response. Stelios’ shoulders shook with silent laughter while he claimed Niketas’ mouth again.
~ ~ * * ~ ~
More gently than usual, Stelios nuzzled his mate, but he licked greedily at the dark bruises on his throat.
He caught Niketas by the hips when he started rutting again, holding him still even as he mouthed his way back to the omega’s lips. “Come take a bath with me. Then I’ll bring you to bed and you can have your present.”
The spark of excitement in his mate’s eyes was almost frightening, though only because of Stelios’ own uncertainty. The Alpha was almost, almost sure that the omega would be pleased, but he was equally sure that what he had planned was nothing like what Niketas was imagining.
He thought that a bath, though unnecessary, would give him time to test the waters, and more than that… The warm, lusty scent rising from his mate’s skin was too enticing. The omega had been squirming, rocking, responsive as always, letting Stelios tease him without a murmur of begging or complaint.
If he didn’t get Niketas out of his lap, he was going to end up taking him here on the couch, or on the floor in front of the fire. He could just drive himself deep and… Stelios pulled the omega down onto his erection, and let him feel the thickness of it throbbing between them, how aroused he was, how much he wanted his mate.
Then he let him go, and Niketas stood without being told, looking up at him with hooded eyes as Stelios got up beside him and tugged him along to the bathroom.
Stelios went to the bath, while Niketas stripped out of his sweatpants. It was their little ritual, for him to get everything ready, though the omega knew how to work the bath by now. It wasn’t scrubbing the Alpha was worried about—that was just an extra excuse for closeness. But it would be easier to ignore how much he wanted to be inside his mate with hot water and suds as a distraction.
Niketas didn’t seem to share his opinion. His mate kept touching him all over as they settled into the bath together. At first, soap in hand, it was under the pretense of washing, and then just because he wanted to. He lingered over Stelios’ chest, scrubbing his fingers through the short curls there, brushing his thumbs teasingly over Stelios’ nipples.
It only took a few minutes for the omega’s hands to wander lower. He traced the length of Stelios’ erection from tip to base, before he stroked firmly, the way Niketas knew he liked. Tight, slow, the caress of his fist was a temptation the Alpha didn’t need. Then Niketas let go, slid his hands down to Stelios’ thighs and glanced up from beneath thick, black lashes as if waiting to be reprimanded.
A hint of a smirk turned up the corners of the Alpha’s mouth, and he reached a hand into Niketas’ hair and tugged. “Enough of that for now. Turn around, let me wash your hair.”
“Yes, Sir.”
He settled on the floor of the tub between Stelios’ feet, tilted his head forward and let out a long sigh of contentment as Stelios scrubbed his fingers through the dark curls. “Do you have a guess yet?”
“Huh?”
“About your present.” A shudder moved his mate against his legs, twitched the omega’s shoulders under Stelios’ hands as he slid them down from Niketas’ hair. “Well?”
Husky, hot, Niketas’ voice came out as a low murmur. “Got a lot of guesses, but no idea what you’ve really got planned. And even if I guessed right, you wouldn’t tell me, would you?”
Chuckling, Stelios nudged him forward. “No. Rinse off, now.” He pulled the plug out of the drain, then leaned back out of the hiss and splash of the shower. Hot water and suds ran down Niketas’ body, and Stelios sat back, enjoying one of his favorite views.
While his mate was distracted, he started to wash himself, too, more carefully than usual, then switched places with the omega. Stelios sighed at the beat of hot water against his shoulders, then again at the sudden weight of Niketas’ hands, the pressure of the omega’s damp, hot skin against his back. He slid his palms from Stelios’ hips to his ass, then up. Smirking to himself, the Alpha leaned forward so the curve of his buttocks nestled against his mate’s cock.
“Ohhh…” The omega’s reaction was immediate—that groan, the sudden hardening of his cock, the way he gripped Stelios’ hips tight for a moment. Then he seemed to realize what he was doing and moved his hands up Stelios’ back again. That was all the Alpha needed to make him feel better about his choice of present.
Straightening up, Stelios rinsed quickly, stepped out of the shower and tugged Niketas with him into the steam. “Dry off, I don’t want you getting the furs damp.”
The omega blinked at him, then grinned, a little bit of heat in the curve of his lips, a little bit of ego. “In a hurry?”
Stelios flashed Niketas’ the echo of his own expression, wrapped a towel around his waist and grabbed another for his hair. “Maybe.” He leaned in, licking a drop of water from his mate’s shoulder, then stepped back and opened the door. “Dry off.”
He left before Niketas could point out that he was still just as wet as the omega.
Rubbing roughly at his hair, the Alpha elbowed open the door to their bedroom, tossed the damp towel over the arm of his chair and unwrapped the one around his waist to wipe away the rest of the water.
When he was dry enough he settled himself on the furs, considered his position relative to the door and shifted a bit to the left. Stelios wanted to be sure of what Niketas would see when he came in. The sound of the bathroom door and the omega’s steps down the hall alerted him, and he spread his thighs a little wider. Propping one arm on a knee, he reached down with his other hand to test t
he tightness of his own body with a single finger.
Stelios looked up slowly when the bedroom door creaked open, as if the omega’s reaction didn’t matter, as if he wasn’t waiting for it. But he was, and Niketas didn’t disappoint.
The omega had been roughing up his hair with his towel when he came in, but he stood completely still now, except for the way his cock thickened until it was rigid and tight against his belly. Stelios focused on his mate’s face, on the widening of his eyes, the spark in them.
“You want it so bad?” The words seemed to shock Niketas into motion, and he dropped his arm to his side, clenching his fists around his towel as he took a step forward, as if compelled. Just what Stelios had hoped. Better. “You’re perfect, mate. Come here.”
Niketas tossed the towel on the chair with Stelios’, crossed the half dozen steps between them swiftly, and dropped to his knees.
Chapter Two
Niketas couldn’t stop staring at Stelios’ fingers. Not at his cock, but at the movement of his hand below it. He kept pushing a single finger into his ass, then teasing the rim of his hole with another finger, as if he was going to stretch himself.
The Alpha had never done this, never. It had been more than a year since they’d gotten together, and he had never once seen Stelios touch himself this way. Niketas had imagined it, had fantasized about getting inside his Alpha, having him on his knees for once. How could he not? Stelios was gorgeous, and his mate, and the forbidden was tempting. But he’d never thought he would…
“Sir, are you—”
“Even when I’m offering myself to you, you still can’t call me by my name?”
That jerked Niketas’ gaze up to his mate’s face, and he stared into the blue, smoky glow of Stelios’ eyes for a long minute before he trusted himself to speak. “Offering…yourself?” He had to wet his lips before he could continue. “You mean I can…you want me to take you?”
The Alpha nodded slowly. “I wasn’t sure if you’d want it or not, until you grabbed me like that in the shower, looked at me…like you’re looking at me right now.” Playful, teasing, Stelios put down the leg he’d been resting his arm on, lay back and put his elbow under his head, then spread his thighs even wider. “Merry Christmas, mate.”
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