by Darien Cox
Table of Contents
Title page
Stirring Creatures
Also by Darien Cox
Stirring Creatures
A Village Series Holiday Special
Darien Cox
Stirring Creatures
Copyright © 2016 by Darien Cox
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Cover Art © 2016 by Skyla Dawn Cameron
First Edition December 2016
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Myles began clearing the dinner dishes off the table. Christian’s was wiped clean, which was no surprise. Despite having no fat on that chiseled body, Myles’ boyfriend had the appetite of three large men. Elliot had left half his enchilada, however, so Myles paused before grabbing his plate. “Elliot, you done?”
Frowning at his phone, Elliot didn’t seem to hear him. Elliot still wore a ski beanie over his dark blond hair, and Myles had tolerated it through dinner because he’d been freezing when he arrived. Now Myles ripped the hat off Elliot’s head and tossed it aside. “Elliot?”
Elliot glanced up, then down at his plate. “Oh, yeah. Sorry, Myles. It was great, thanks.”
“You don’t have to do dishes, you cooked.” Christian stood.
“No, I’ve got it.” Myles grabbed Elliot’s plate. “Sit, you have a guest.”
“Elliot doesn’t count as a guest.”
“I’ve got it, Christian. Relax.”
“Thanks, babe. Dinner was great.”
In the kitchen, Myles cleaned up while Christian and Elliot began some new argument over at the dining table. Or maybe it wasn’t an argument. It was tough to tell with this crew. What Myles used to think of as fighting, he’d come to learn was simply the way Christian and his friends spoke to each other, like a pack of testy siblings.
He was grateful he’d made so much food, as Elliot had stopped by unannounced. Since moving Christian into his place a few weeks ago, Myles had been forced to become accustomed to people dropping by all the time. He’d known Christian and his friends spent a lot of time with each other, but until now he’d only seen a portion of it. He hadn’t fully realized just how often they saw each other. But their work life and assignments from their boss had amped up recently, which left Myles with diminished time alone with his boyfriend.
Myles had to adjust to the truth that having Christian in his life full time meant also having JT, Nolan, and Elliot. They were a package deal, and while he’d known this, the magnitude of it was jarring. But he didn’t regret asking Christian to move in. He loved the hell out of him and was thrilled to have him in his bed every night, and every morning when he woke up. But Myles had always been a more private person. As the local sheriff, he had to deal with people all day long, and when he got home he wanted to disconnect from that.
Which was difficult to do with one of Christian’s appendages stopping by all the time.
But loss of privacy wasn’t the first change he’d had to endure to be with Christian, and he was sure it wouldn’t be the last. Like having a dog, he thought as he set Elliot’s unfinished dinner on the floor and watched Cuervo devour it. But he didn’t mind having the big black lab around the house. In fact he’d found he enjoyed spoiling Cuervo almost as much as he enjoyed spoiling Christian.
Myles had always been very set in his ways, but suddenly he found making Christian happy outweighed everything else. He’d never been this stupidly in love with someone, and at the beginning of their relationship he’d worried this would make him weak. Giving in to every whim Christian had, bending over backwards to please him, having to turn his quiet life upside down. But Christian had always showed Myles equal respect, so thus far there’d never been a problem.
“It’s my assignment, Christian,” Elliot snapped. “Just back off with this shit. You’re being ridiculous.”
“It was my assignment last time,” Christian said. “But you ended up stepping in and taking it over. Fair is fair.”
“It’s not my fault Baz came to me instead,” Elliot said. “He was busy when you called on him, then when he got freed up he couldn’t find you.”
“Oh, bullshit. Where could I possibly have been that he couldn’t find me? He’s a fucking alien with high tech surveillance abilities that make the NSA look like a kindergarten class.”
Myles rolled his eyes as he loaded the dishwasher. Not this again. Ever since Christian and his team helped save the Whites’ base in October, interactions with Baz had increased. Ogden, their boss, was not about to lose the advantage, and had been working closely with Baz, the Whites’ half-human hybrid ambassador, to see if he could get something back out of the deal. Humans had basically saved the Whites’ alien asses, so Ogden felt strongly it was time for them to throw humanity a few scraps. The Whites had reluctantly agreed to share some of their advanced technology, hence the more frequent meetings with Baz.
Along with the increase in frequency, contact between the team and Baz had become much more organized. Baz now had a designated cabin on the mountain not far from Nolan and Elliot’s new house, and while he didn’t live there, it was the assigned meeting place when they needed him. After being unable to locate the hybrid during the crisis in October, Ogden determined shouting at the sky was no longer a viable tactic for summoning their ambassador. There were four numbered lanterns, one for each team member. To request a meeting with Baz, whoever’d been assigned by Ogden would hang his lantern outside the front door, so Baz would know who was looking for him. Baz would ultimately light the lantern to let them know he was there and ready to meet.
While human tech was child’s play to the Whites, they were still highly protective of their presence and secrecy, so there would be no text or emails from Baz. The lantern signals were old school, but a step up from their prior method of simply going out into the woods and shouting Baz’s name with the hope that he was listening. The problem now—which was becoming a significant pain in the ass for Myles’ personal life—was Christian being on a tirade because Baz seemed to be avoiding him.
Twice now Ogden had assigned Christian to meet with Baz, and twice Baz had blown him off—then ultimately tracked down JT, Nolan, or Elliot to speak to instead. When it was one of the other team members requesting a meeting, Baz promptly showed up at the cabin. But when it was Christian’s turn? There’d been dead air. And Myles had to live with an increasingly irritable Christian because of it.
Christian was a bit of an enigma, but Myles knew him intimately now. Plenty of random villagers disliked Christian, and he laughed them off with his middle finger in the air. But if someone he car
ed for was pissed at him, Christian didn’t sleep, couldn’t settle until he’d resolved it. It ate at him. A small tiff with Nolan last week had Christian leaving their warm bed in the middle of the night to drive over to Nolan and Elliot’s place to apologize. So safe to say the Baz issue was making Myles’ boyfriend crazy, and it was getting tedious.
Carrying pie and plates to the table, Myles set them down. “Where’s Nolan?” he asked, trying to derail the topic of Baz and distract Elliot and Christian from arguing.
Elliot smiled at Myles. “He’s at the pub. Helping JT get ready for the Christmas party this weekend. Wow, pie? So domestic, Sheriff. Christian, you’ve got a keeper here.” Elliot grabbed a plate.
“Cuervo, get away from the tree!” Christian shouted, and the dog hunched low and slinked away.
Myles smirked. “If you don’t want your dog near the Christmas tree you probably shouldn’t have hung candy canes on it.”
“I like the candy canes,” Christian said. “My mom always hung them on the tree before she died.”
Christian cut the pie, scowling. It was their first Christmas together, so it hadn’t dawned on Myles that part of Christian’s grumpiness might be due to the holiday season. Christian’s mother had died three days before Christmas when he was fourteen, but it obviously still stung. Maybe holiday depression was conflating the situation with Baz and his work life, causing Christian to make a bigger deal out of it than it was.
Myles still loved gazing at Christian. The familiarity of living together hadn’t changed that. Christian wore a black tee shirt that accentuated his body art, scrolling tattoos etched in olive skin, perfectly sculpted arms and gorgeous face. But Myles was tired of seeing that scowl, the tightening of Christian’s eyes.
Myles sighed. “What’s going on with you two? Why are you fighting with Elliot?”
“We’re not fighting,” Christian said.
“He’s mad,” Elliot said as Christian dropped a piece of pie on his plate. Elliot picked his fork up and dug in. “He wants to take my assignment tonight and go meet with Baz,” he mumbled through a mouthful. “Please have my back, Myles, and tell your boyfriend to chill the fuck out.”
Myles sat down and raised a brow at Christian, who did a double-take at him. “What?” Christian set his fork down. “You don’t think it’s just a little weird Baz refuses to take meetings with me?”
“I think it’s probably a coincidence and you’re over-thinking it,” Myles said.
“Yeah,” Elliot said, wiping his mouth. “It was one time, Jesus, chill out.”
“Twice,” Christian said. “It was twice. What did I do to offend him? We worked side by side at headquarters to save the base and defeat the Greys. He was totally normal and friendly and we strategized well together. We got along fine. So what did I do?”
Myles met Elliot’s eyes across the table. “Would it be so bad to let Christian take your meeting tonight? Has he been briefed? Or is it something only you can handle?”
“Thank you, Myles,” Christian said, glaring at Elliot. “We’ve all been briefed, I can handle the meeting just as well as Elliot. It’s basically just picking up a piece of alien tech.”
“Sure, he could do it,” Elliot said. “Christian’s been briefed, but if Baz is uncomfortable with him we shouldn’t push it. This alliance is too important to Ogden and—”
“Uncomfortable?” Christian shook his head. “Why the hell would Baz be uncomfortable with me? He actually told me over the summer that he preferred talking to me over JT! Myles, you were there. Tell him.”
Myles set his fork down, the pie seeming to get stuck in his throat. “Christian. Come on. Don’t play stupid. You know exactly why Baz might be uncomfortable with you.”
“Don’t.” Christian pointed at Myles. “Don’t start that shit again. Baz has no inappropriate feelings for me. He never did. You guys just speculated about that because you’re weird. Besides, Baz has a boyfriend now. Shit, Elliot and Nolan even had Baz and Joff over for drinks last week. Oh, and Elliot, Nolan told me Baz gives you guys fucking hugs now when he says goodbye. Hugs. But he can’t have a professional work meeting with me? It makes no sense.”
“Nolan shouldn’t have told you about the hugs,” Elliot muttered. “I’m gonna fucking kill him.”
“Oh, I see,” Christian said. “Not only do you and Nolan get hybrid-hugs, but now it’s a secret.”
“Christian,” Myles said. “You asked Baz for a hug goodbye over the summer and he said no. So either he’s growing more comfortable with humans, or he didn’t want to hug you in particular. You have to accept that maybe he’s different where you’re concerned, and that it’s possible everyone’s right about the hybrid having a crush on you. Stop being stubborn.”
“I’m not being stubborn. I’m being logical. Baz doesn’t have a crush on me. But he clearly has some issue with me, and it’s affecting my work. I need to resolve it.”
“Christian.” Elliot’s teeth clenched. “Myles is right, you’re being stubborn. Be honest. Are you really worried Baz won’t work with you for some reason or are you jealous the alien gave me and Nolan a fucking hug?”
“Hugs, plural,” Christian said. “Nolan said Baz hugged you guys several times now.”
“If he’d rather not meet with you, we can work around it,” Elliot said. “Just let it go.”
“I can’t! If Baz doesn’t want to meet with me I deserve to know why! I won’t just let it go. Since this alliance is so important, as you pointed out, I have to find a way to fix this.”
“Listen to Elliot,” Myles said. “And let it go.”
“Nope.” Christian shoveled a piece of pie in his mouth and shook his head. “Uh uh.”
Myles couldn’t handle much more of this. If he had to live with Christian, he knew this needed to be resolved. He looked at Elliot. “He has a point, Elliot. If Baz does have some reasoning behind avoiding Christian, it should be looked into, and Ogden should know about it so he can stop giving him meeting assignments.”
“Like you said. It’s a coincidence. Baz has no issue with Christian, he was just busy. He didn’t purposely blow him off.” Elliot gave Myles a hard stare. He seemed to be trying to convey some message, but Myles wasn’t getting it.
“Look,” Myles said. “Even if Baz does have some lingering affection for Christian—”
“He doesn’t,” Christian spat out.
“Even if he does,” Myles continued, “this is a professional arrangement, and Baz should be able to adhere to that. Elliot? Are you listening?”
Elliot was frowning at his phone, lips pursed, green eyes narrowed. He glanced up at Myles. “My lantern’s lit. He’s there.”
Christian flinched.
Myles kept his gaze locked on Elliot’s. “Let Christian go tonight. Please, Elliot. There’s no living with him right now, he’s driving me fucking nuts with this.”
“I’m sitting right here, Myles,” Christian said.
Elliot shook his head and gave Myles another pointed look. “It’s not a good idea.”
“Why not?” Myles asked directly.
“It’s just not.”
“That’s not an answer.”
Elliot sighed and gritted his teeth, setting his phone down. “This is so stupid, you’re making a big deal out of nothing, Christian. I’m sure Baz will show up the next time you get an assignment.”
“If it’s no big deal, why can’t I take your place tonight?” Christian leaned forward and glared at Elliot. “Answer me that, Elliot. Give me one good reason why—”
“Christ, enough!” Elliot shouted. “You know what? Fine. Go, Christian. Meet with Baz. You are so fucking annoying.”
“Are you serious?” Christian’s brows rose. “You’ll let me do it?”
“Myles isn’t the only one you’re driving nuts. But if this fucks something up with our arrangement, you’re gonna be the one to explain it to Ogden.”
“Fine. Deal. Great.” Christian jumped up and ran to get his coat.
“Yeah, yeah.” Christian sat down and pulled his boots on. “Get the thing, secure it, then call Ogden. I’ve got all the details.”
“And what if Baz asks why you’re there instead of me? It’s my lantern on the door, after all.”
Christian zipped his coat up and stood, smirking at Elliot. “I’ll say you were too drunk.”
“Don’t say that!” Elliot frowned. “Just tell him I’m sick or something.”
“Fine. Bye.” Christian kissed Myles, grabbed his phone, then ran out the front door.
Myles stared at Elliot across the table. Elliot held his face in his hands, rubbing his eyes.
“Elliot.”
“What, Myles? You wanted to let him go and you got your way. I agree this needs resolving one way or another, so let’s just see how it plays out.”
“What aren’t you telling me? Is there some issue I’m not aware of?”
Elliot stopped rubbing his face and looked up. “Something happened at headquarters. When we were prepping for the Greys. Right before Nolan and Brett took off for the base.”
“What?” Myles scowled. “Did Christian and Baz not work well together? Did they have a fight?”
“Not sure you’ll want to hear this.”
“Elliot. Talk to me, dammit.”
Elliot glanced down. “Okay. There was no fight. Christian and Baz worked together just fine. Great even. But I had a moment alone with Baz. You shouldn’t have pushed for Christian to meet with him.” His gaze lifted. “I think Baz is still uncomfortable around him.”
“Why? Baz say something to you?”
“Yes.” Elliot nodded. “Baz told me he’s in love with Christian.”
Heat crept up Myles’ face. “He...he said that? Those exact words?”
Chuckling, Elliot shook his head. “You know how Baz talks, it wasn’t exact words, but close enough.”