All I want for Christmas is my Alien: A Christmas Novella (Zerconian Warriors Book 8) Read online

  All I want for

  Christmas is my Alien

  Sadie Carter

  Copyright

  Sadie Carter

  All I want for Christmas is my Alien

  © 2016, Sadie Carter

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

  This story contains explicit sex scenes.

  Cover Design: No Sweat Graphics

  Editor: Ave’s Editing

  Dedication

  To everyone has loved these Zerconian warriors and their mates as much as I have.

  Thank you for reading, for all the kind words and for supporting me.

  Have a wonderful Christmas and New Years.

  See you in 2017.

  Sadie xo

  Chapter One

  “Eww, really. The man has a penis tattooed on his chin. Not that it’s cool to have a penis tattoo anywhere on your body, but seriously, what was he thinking? And she’s really considering a second date with him?” Zoey glanced down at Elodie who lay on a blanket on the floor. “Don’t even think about bringing home a boyfriend who has a penis tattoo.”

  Elodie gurgled at her, smiling.

  Zoey smiled back, love filling her. To think she’d once worried she wouldn’t be able to love her baby. She’d never realized it was possible to feel this much love for a tiny bundle who spent most of her days pooping, burping, crying and sleeping. She loved Elodie so much sometimes it terrified her. Her greatest nightmare was something happening to her little girl. Or to Dex.

  Had there been some tough times? For sure. Endless, sleepless nights. Screaming, crying, countless dirty nappies. Who knew it was possible for a child to get covered head to foot in poo? Zoey sure hadn’t. She’d only just started to feel like she was getting the hang of things. Kind of. Elodie was sleeping more, they had a schedule and Zoey was starting to feel like herself again.

  Too bad her life felt like it had completely flipped upside down. She felt like she hardly saw Dex now. He was so consumed with his new role as Emperor, and she was so busy and tired from taking care of Elodie, that their paths really seemed to cross.

  And she missed him. Really missed him.

  Elodie let out a small cry, grabbing her attention. “Maybe don’t bring any men home at all. At least not for a long, long time. I don’t think your father would handle it well.” She’d thought he’d been overprotective when she’d been pregnant, but that had been nothing to now.

  “Shall we give Granny her makeover now?” She switched off the projector screen and turned her attention to the woman lying unconscious in bed. It was their ritual three times a week to watch that awful reality dating show and then Zoey would give Liula a bit of a spruce up.

  Not that Liula had any idea they were even here.

  Earth’s latest reality show craze was a danger dating show. The female was put into a dangerous situation, and the men vying to date her had to rescue her. According to the presenter, it harked back to the caveman age when women chose partners based on strength, not looks or money.

  Of course, it was all totally fake. There’s no way anyone would voluntarily place themselves in danger, but it made for good viewing. Penis chin might have been the strongest male, but really? He still had a penis tattooed on his chin.

  Zoey reached over and smeared red lipstick over Liula’s thin lips. Giz, who resembled a gremlin with his pointed ears and large eyes, lay curled up next to Liula’s body. She’d fallen into a coma when her mate was murdered and had yet to wake up. Thor had kept her in the medical ward for a while before moving her back to her quarters. She was still monitored twenty-four hours. Aran, a young healer, was sitting out in the living area of her quarters while Zoey and Elodie visited.

  “There, Liula, that looks so much better. What do you think, Elodie? Does Granny look super hot?” Zoey was fairly certain Liula would hate being called Granny, and she knew she would detest the makeovers that Zoey gave her, but maybe if she kept deliberately provoking the old bat she might just wake up.

  Surprisingly enough, she kind of missed the wicked witch. Not that she’d ever admit that aloud.

  Elodie’s face scrunched up, turning red.

  Uh-oh.

  She grabbed the nappy bag and knelt to change Elodie. “You know it must be love when even your pooping face looks adorable,” she told the little girl as she cleaned her up. “Still, if you want to toilet train yourself at any time, feel free.”

  Elodie gurgled.

  “Well, time to go. Say goodbye to Granny.” She held Elodie close to Liula, and the tiny infant smeared some spit on her chin. Her version of a kiss. Perfect.

  “Come on, Giz.” The fluffy, short creature yawned and climbed down, bouncing on his back feet behind Zoey. As they made her way out of the room, Zoey heard voices speaking from the living area. She froze as she saw who was speaking to Aran.

  Fight or flee?

  Then as Harry the Horrible turned it was too late, she’d spotted her prey. Zoey fought the urge to turn and race back into Liula’s bedroom. Harry smiled. Her perfect teeth gleamed.

  Zoey swallowed heavily. Crap, she was going in for the kill.

  Okay, so her name wasn’t Harry, it was Hagartha. Tall and slim, she had beautiful blonde hair that she always kept twisted up. Zoey wasn’t sure of her age, but she guessed she was older than Zoey. Not that you’d know it from looking at her. There were hardly any lines on that perfect face.

  She never had a hair out of place or spit-up on her shirt or a bloated stomach from eating too much. She was perfect.

  Zoey pretty much hated her guts. But not because of her looks—okay not just because of her looks—but because she worked as Dex’s assistant and she got to spend much more time with her mate than Zoey did. Jealousy was an evil thing, and Zoey had it in bucket loads. Didn’t help that it felt like the other woman went out of her way to make Zoey feel inferior.

  Of course, it could have just been her imagination.

  “Oh, you are here. I hope you did not put that terrible paste all over Liula’s face again. You know she would detest it and every time I visit I spend half my time cleaning it off her. I do not know why you think that helps.”

  And maybe it wasn’t her imagination. Zoey gritted her teeth as Aran looked on, shocked. “I think she looks great.”

  “As do I, Empress,” Aran said loyally.

  “Nobody asked you,” Harry sneered at the young healer, making Zoey’s temper stir again. It was one thing to insult her but there was no call to be rude to Aran. But before Zoey could say anything, Harry strode into Liula’s bedroom.

  “Sometimes I wish I had the power to turn people into toads,” she whispered to Elodie, smiling at Aran as she left. “An Empress really should get a superpower, and that would be mine. It would be kind of mean to the other toads, though.”

  As Empress, it seemed like the only superpower she had was making people dislike her. Not the other humans who lived here or the Zerconian males. But she didn’t have one Zerconian female friend or supporter.

  “We’re ready to go,” she said to Boris cheerfully.

  Her attractive bodyguard raised his eyebrows questioningly. He never said anyth
ing. He’d been mute since she’d bought him—to free him—from a slave auction. But he didn’t need words to communicate. He could make his opinion perfectly clear without words. Now that was a superpower. He’d chosen to stay with Zoey as her bodyguard rather than returning to his home planet.

  Zoey was glad, he was part of her little family now. Along with Boris, with his dark skin and missing arm and lethal skills, there was Giz, her furry companion who went everywhere with her. And Rastian, the morose, almost painfully thin man had been a lawyer, but now worked as her assistant.

  And she had her friends. Mila, who was the human ambassador to Zerconia. Kick-ass Willa, with her crazy sense of humor. Quiet, kind Lucy who didn’t have a mean bone in her body. And now, Elika, the powerful witch with a fiery temper and a fierce sense of loyalty.

  Zoey would be lost without them.

  Boris followed her to her quarters. It was kind of crazy to have someone follow her everywhere, but with Elodie’s arrival and the death of his father, Dex was more protective than ever. Which was really saying something. He was one step away from building a panic room and locking her and Elodie inside. She laid Elodie in the small masic she had set up in the room next to their bedroom. It had been a small storage space, but she’d cleared it out, not even willing to contemplate moving Elodie into a room that was further away from them. She set the containment field. Not that the baby could roll over yet, but just to be safe. Then she turned on the projector which lit the ceiling with amazing 3-D images of the night sky.

  “There you go, little one.” Zoey brushed a kiss across her forehead. “Time for a nap. Mummy loves you.”

  Zoey stepped out of the room, and looked around the living area of their quarters. Her smile faded as she saw the single tray of food sitting on the small table in the seating area. Looked like she was having dinner here again. Alone. She could have gone down to the communal dining area of the palace, but then she’d have to get someone to watch Elodie. And, she didn’t want to eat with anyone but Dex anyway.

  Even though she’d always known that one day Dex would become Emperor, it had always seemed like something that would happen in the future. Far, far into the future. And something that could be eased into. Instead, the Coizils had attacked the ship carrying Dex’s parents, killing his father.

  Now, Zoey was Empress, and she felt completely out of her depth. Not that anyone seemed to expect anything more of her. Every time she’d tried to speak to Dex about her new duties, he changed the subject until she’d given up trying.

  Maybe he realizes you’d make a crap Empress. Maybe he knows he’s better off just doing it all himself. That’s why you never see him because he has to do your job as well.

  “Oh, get over yourself, Zoey,” she muttered. “Stop the pity party. Build a bridge, harden up. You’re just tired and being silly.” Somehow the pep talk wasn’t working.

  She slumped back onto one of the chairs on the veranda, Giz climbed into her lap, settling in.

  They hadn’t made love in close to a month. She always seemed to be tired and he was always busy. Didn’t mean she didn’t ache for him. She needed him so badly. Did he feel the same way?

  “Of course he does, he told you so.” It seemed that pregnancy had really knocked her self-confidence. She still had baby weight to lose, her boobs were larger, her tummy more rounded.

  They were lucky if they got to spend ten minutes again without someone interrupting. Either Elodie, needing her, or the rest of the planet needing something from Dex. Maybe it was unfair of her to feel so put-out, but was it that unreasonable to want a bit of time alone with her mate?

  Maybe their relationship hadn’t been that strong to begin with, and all these changes were challenging them. What did they even have in common? He was an Emperor. A warrior. A fighter. A gorgeous, sexy, muscular man with loyalty, courage and honor.

  And she was…well…damn it. Could she not come up with one positive thing to say about herself? She snapped her fingers. “I have nice teeth.”

  She slapped her hand against her forehead. “Will you listen to yourself? Oh, but I have nice teeth. Who cares about teeth? Dex needs someone who is smart and capable and together. Not a total nutcase with a blinding smile.”

  And let’s face it, her teeth weren’t that great.

  “I need to get serious about things. Start taking more Empress duties on.” Crap, that was the last thing she wanted to do. But for Dex, she could learn. “Maybe I’ll even start working out. Losing this baby weight will make me feel more like my old self, right?” She stood up with a nod of her head. Giz gave her a disgruntled look before curling up on the floor. “I’ll start right now with some jumping jacks.”

  She raised her arms in the air and jumped, landing with her legs out. “One, two, three, oh my God, I’ll start tomorrow.” She slumped back in her seat with a yawn. “It’s better to exercise in the morning, right?” she asked Giz, who watched her with a bored look.

  “Tomorrow is a new day. A new Zoey. I’m going to take back my life.”

  ***

  “Zoey? Zoey?”

  “I’m in here,” she called out from her dressing room at the sound of Mila’s voice.

  “Jesus, what happened in here?” Mila asked.

  She turned to look over her shoulder as Mila stared around the room in shock. “I’m looking for something.”

  “What? Your sanity?” Willa asked, coming up behind Mila.

  “Ha, ha,” Zoey replied with a snort.

  “Oh, sorry, I forgot, your sanity disappeared a long time ago.”

  “Yeah, about the time I met Dex. He turned my mind to sludge. Not to mention everything that’s happened in between. Ah-ha! What about this?” She turned, showing them a pair of tight, stretchy pants.

  “Umm, is that your Christmas outfit, cause if it is, then it sucks. Plus, Dex is going to go on the rampage if you walk around topless.” Willa gave her a skeptical look.

  Zoey blew out an exasperated breath. “Of course, this isn’t my Christmas outfit. Wait, what do you mean? What Christmas outfit? The Zerconians don’t celebrate Christmas.”

  “No, but us humans do.” Mila placed her hands on her hips, her face stubborn. “And if the Zerconians want to make humans feel welcome here then they need to embrace some of our traditions. And our little one’s are both human and Zerconian.” She rubbed her tummy lovingly. “I think these Zerconians sometimes forget that we have our own beliefs and heritage. We need to remind them. Plus, it’s Christmas. It’s fun. A tree, some lights, presents, food. Who wouldn’t like that?”

  Willa moved a pile of clothes off a stool and sat. “So, what do you say?”

  Zoey shrugged. “Sure. Sounds good.”

  Willa and Mila shared a look.

  “What?” Zoey snapped, standing, and moving to the other side of her dressing room. Now to find a t-shirt that might work. She didn’t have many clothes left from her old life, but there had to be something here that could double as workout clothes.

  “I thought you would be more enthusiastic, that’s all,” Mila said hesitantly.

  “I am. Sure, I love Christmas. I’ll help decorate and get some presents. We’ve got plenty of time to organize it, right?”

  “It’s the first of December today,” Willa told her.

  Zoey raised her head in shock. “It is?”

  “Yep. And we’ve got to first convince our mates that this is a good idea. It’ll take Koran a while to come around. That man does not like change.” Mila started picking up pieces of clothing and folding them as she talked. Zoey glanced around. It was a bit messy in here. Guess she’d gotten a bit carried away. She reached into the back of the wardrobe and snagged a bright pink, oversized t-shirt. She gave it a sniff. Smelt a bit musty, but it would work.

  “I didn’t realize it was December already.”

  “So, will you talk to Dex about organizing a tree, and we thought maybe you guys could host Christmas dinner here?”

  “Here?” Zoey gaped at them.
“A party here?”

  “It’s the biggest place to have one,” Willa said.

  “And you’ve thrown parties before,” Mila added.

  “No, Liula and her team of minions have thrown parties. I have never thrown a party. What do I know about throwing a party? The only parties I threw were in college, and all you needed was alcohol and music.” Liula had hosted lots of parties in her role as Empress, though. Maybe this was a way for Zoey to prove to Dex that she could take on more duties.

  “Minions?” Willa asked.

  “Little yellow creatures who follow someone evil,” she explained absently as she moved behind the small changing screen to pull on the tight shorts. Dear Lord, had they things shrunk in the wash? She yanked them up her legs, nearly passing out with the effort. Finally, breathing heavily, she got them up over her tummy.

  “Are you okay, Zoey?” Mila asked from the other side of the screen.

  “Yes,” she replied in a strangled voice. She bent over slowly, there was no moving fast in these shorts, and picked up the t-shirt, putting it on. She turned, looking at herself. Not the best fit, but at least the t-shirt hid the wedgie these shorts were giving her.

  “You’re making weird noises. Are you having a fit or something?” Willa asked. “Maybe we should call for Thor.”

  “I don’t need Thor,” she snapped, moving around the screen. “What do you think?”

  The other two looked her up and down.

  “Umm, nice,” Willa replied doubtfully.

  “Are those shorts Lycra?” Mila asked. “I didn’t think you were the Lycra type.”

  “I’m not. But I’ve decided I need to exercise.”

  “Really? Why?” Mila gave her a shocked look.

  “Because if I grow any rounder, I’m going to start bouncing. All I’d need is some bronzer, and I’d look like an oompa-loompa.”

  “I don’t know about bronzer, but your face is turning awfully red,” Willa watched her closely. “Are you going to pass out?”

  “I’m fine,” she bluffed, stretching her arms above her head. “Just thought I’d do some stretches, get warmed up. I figure a five-mile run is a good starting place, right?”