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

  Ignoring Thor who called out after him, he strode out of the room and down the passage towards their quarters. The door slid open, and he walked inside. “Zoey? Zoey! What are you doing?”

  He gaped at Zoey who was bent over, her delectable ass high in the air, legs spread.

  Zoey turned then with a cry, spun, and landed on her ass. “Ow, damn it, Dex. Do you have to sneak up on me like that?”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Stretching. Or I was. Ouch, I think I broke something.” She rolled to the side and rubbed her ass with a pained look on her face.

  “What? Let me look.” He rushed to her side and rolled her over, tugging at her pants.

  “Dex! Dex, stop! What are you doing?” She scrambled away from him, turning to look at him in horror. “What is wrong with you?”

  “I am checking to make sure you did not break anything.” Although the way she moved told him she was well, he still needed to ensure she was. “Show me your bottom.”

  “No.”

  He gaped at her. “What did you just say to me?”

  “Sorry.”

  That was better.

  “No, Your Majesty.”

  He clenched his jaw. “You could be injured.”

  “I fell on my ass. There’s plenty of padding.”

  Dex scowled. “Are you insinuating that your bottom is big?”

  “I’m not insinuating it, I’m stating it,” she replied, irritably. “You could sit a tea-cup on my ass and use it as a table.”

  “Zoey,” he growled.

  “Dex,” she mimicked his growl.

  “I do not like you putting yourself down.”

  “And I don’t like when my cake has fruit in it. Cake is cake. Fruit is fruit. The two should not mix.”

  Dex rubbed his forehead tiredly. “I have an important meeting soon. I cannot miss it.”

  She turned her face away. “Then you should go.”

  Go? Before he made certain that she was well?

  “My own, look at me.”

  She didn’t move so he grasped hold of her chin and moved her face. Tears made her green eyes glisten as she gazed up at him. Alarm filled him. Zoey hardly ever cried.

  He gathered her close, sitting so he could pull her onto his lap. “Zoey, what is it? Have you hurt yourself?”

  “Just my pride,” she sobbed. “I thought I could run five miles, instead after like thirty seconds I was gasping for breath, covered in sweat and as red as a lobster. It was embarrassing, Boris had to help me back because my legs were like rubber.”

  “Why were you trying to run?” he asked, confused. “Was someone chasing you? Who would dare? Did Boris take care of them?”

  “No one was chasing me. I’m trying to get fit.”

  “You?”

  “You don’t have to look quite so incredulous,” she muttered.

  “You should be resting not exercising. No more exercising.”

  “You know; I didn’t think it was possible for you to get bossier until you became Emperor.”

  Bossier? Was she speaking the truth? Had he grown more demanding since his father’s death?

  “I am only worried about you.”

  She looked like she was about to protest then bit her lip. “Do you know this is the first time we’ve been together where we haven’t been talking about Elodie, or the Coizils, or your mother. This fight is almost like normal.”

  “We are not fighting.” That surprised him.

  “Well, not proper fighting. This is more like the arguing we used to do.”

  He supposed it was and he remembered what always followed those arguments. His shaft stirred, his need for her a raging beast inside him, howling to be released. He studied her. She still seemed tired and fragile to him. There were dark circles under her eyes. He should order her to sleep, make certain that she napped. Guilt hit him. He wasn’t taking care of her as he should. There never seemed to be enough time in the day for him to do everything.

  “You should rest,” he told her.

  “Only if you join me,” she replied.

  “Then you would not rest.”

  “I know. That’s the point.” She climbed off his lap and held out her hand. “Come on, Dex. Join me.”

  There were a hundred other things he should be doing, and he didn’t care about any of them at that moment. Standing, he ignored her hand and pulled her up into his arms. She let out a gasp then laughed. The sound was like music to his ears, and he paused, staring down at her.

  “What?” she asked. “Have I got something on my cheek? Oh God, have I had food on my face this entire time? I thought I better get my energy up with a snack before I went for a run. If I’ve had food there this whole time, then I’m going to kill—”

  He dropped his lips to hers, kissing her. He slipped his tongue between her lips, dancing with hers. When he pulled back, she was silent, a small smile on her face.

  “There is nothing on your face,” he told her. “I merely realized that it had been a long time since I heard you laugh.”

  “Oh. I laugh all the time with Elodie.”

  Yes, he was certain she did. Zoey was an amazing mother. Patient, loving, protective. But he hadn’t been around to hear her laughing with their precious little girl. He had barely been around at all.

  “I am sorry I have been so busy lately.”

  She blinked then reached up to brush her hand down his cheek as he laid her back on the masic. “I know you’ve got a lot on your plate.”

  He drew his brows together. What did how busy he was have to do with what he ate?

  “I meant that you have a lot to do. What you do is important and necessary. I just wish it didn’t take up all of your time.”

  He sat next to her, studying her. “I have many duties now.”

  “I know. I don’t mean to be demanding.”

  But she hadn’t been. Not once.

  “You are not demanding, my own. You have every right to want attention and time from me. I know I have been obsessed by thoughts of revenge on the Coizils for what they did to my parents, stealing the Drazum stones was a start to making them pay. It does not feel enough, but it will do for now.”

  “It’s better than out-and-out war, Dex. We have the treaty with Earth to think of. I—”

  He placed a finger over her lips. “I know, my own. Do not worry, I will not do anything rash. And right now, I do not wish to speak of any of that. Right now, all I want to do is strip you bare and join with you.”

  “I think I could handle that.” She grinned, and he realized how much he had missed her smile.

  He ran a finger down her cheek. He adored her so much, his fragile, human mate. Most of the time, though, he did not understand her well. But he was trying to learn.

  “Zoey, I hope you know how attractive I find you.” Since being pregnant she had grown more insecure about your body. “You look as beautiful to me as always. Even more so every day. I find every inch of you more beautiful than I did before. Because this is the body that brought me my beautiful baby girl. This is the body that holds my precious mate. Who along with my daughter is the most important person in the universe to me.”

  He kissed her again. Taking his time, he licked her lips, then took her lower lip between his teeth and tugged. She relented, opening her mouth and he drove his tongue inside, claiming her, owning her.

  Reaching down, he tugged her top up, revealing her bra. “I do not like these contraptions,” he said, pulling at the bra. “They cover you from me.”

  She rolled her eyes but a smile played on her lips. “Unless you want my tits to hang down to my waist they’re a necessary evil.”

  “Take it off,” he ordered arrogantly. “I wish to look at my mate.”

  Yes, her body had changed. Her stomach was rounder. There were some faint scars along her stomach. And she was more beautiful to him than ever.

  As she sat up, reaching for the back of her bra, his communicator started to beep demandingly. Zoey froze.
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  “Ignore it,” she said.

  He stared at her, then to the communicator. He wanted nothing more to ignore the summons, but he remembered the meeting he had scheduled. Once he could have told everyone else to go away while he spent time with his mate. But now he had far more responsibilities to handle.

  Just then, Elodie let out a loud wail and Zoey’s face screwed into a frown. “Seems like we’re both being summoned.” She climbed from the masic, letting her top drop to cover her from his gaze.

  Regret filled him, sharp and painful. He hated seeing the sad look on his mate’s face. She smiled as she picked up their daughter and he joined them, kissing the top of Elodie’s head. “She is growing so quickly.”

  “More and more each day,” Zoey said cheerfully, turning away from him. Her voice might be light, but her shoulders were tight with tension.

  His communicator beeped again, and he scowled at it.

  “Dex, you need to go.”

  “I will come home early tonight. We will finish what we started.”

  She turned, giving him a small smile. “Really?”

  The hope in that one word hit him like a punch to the stomach. Had he really been that neglectful? He strode over to her, clasping her face between his hands. “I promise.”

  ***

  Dex sat staring at his tablet with a frown on his face. His schedule for the next week was full of meetings. He couldn’t honestly remember his father being this busy. But then, his father hadn’t instigated many changes in his years as Emperor. Dex was attempting to bring more humans here to help ensure he didn’t lose too many more of his people to the mating fever.

  He also knew that his mother had helped his father with a few of his duties, although not that many. And Dex wasn’t willing to put that pressure on Zoey. She had enough to cope with at the moment, she didn’t need added stress. She was his mate, and it was up to him to protect her.

  He opened communications to his assistant, Hagartha. He knew Zoey didn’t get on with his assistant, but the old friend of his mother’s had been invaluable. Even if she did take her job very seriously.

  “Hagartha, can you come in here for a moment?”

  “Certainly, Emperor.”

  He had told her to call him Dex, but she was always insistent on being formal. She strode into the room, an attractive woman who was one of the few Zerconian females that had never found her mate. Although she still could. She was a few years younger than his mother and Zerconians lived for a long time. Provided they found their mates. Female Zerconians usually didn’t fall victim to the mating fever, because they almost always found their mates. But the few that didn’t often became melancholy and faded away. It was another reason Dex offered Hagartha this job. Because he knew she would be an excellent assistant, and because he wanted to keep watch over her.

  “How can I be of assistance?”

  “Is there a way of clearing some of my schedule over the next week?” he asked, pointing at his tablet.

  “Is there something important you wished to take precedence?”

  He needed to spend more time with Zoey. He felt guilty over how busy he had been lately, and how little time he had spent with her and Elodie.

  “I would like some more free time with my family.”

  Hagartha didn’t say anything, but her pursed lips told him she disapproved. However, she didn’t have to approve. She just had to make this work.

  “I shall attempt to clear some time for you. Do you need to check with the Empress? Her schedule must be much busier with preparations for this Christmas.”

  That hadn’t occurred to him. How much work had this placed upon Zoey’s shoulders?

  “I do not have much taking my time up. I would be happy to take on this work and free the Empress to spend more time with you.”

  Dex thought that over. Zoey had seemed enthusiastic about this celebration. However, she did look tired to him. Possibly this was more work than she should have taken on.

  “I do not know. This Christmas is quite important to Zoey and the other humans. But perhaps I shall speak to her and offer your services to help her.”

  “Yes. I suppose that would be acceptable,” Hagartha replied stiffly. “Now, I should return to my desk.”

  “Please, return home. We will finish early tonight.”

  “Oh, have you forgotten about your meeting in ten minutes?”

  “It is not in my schedule.”

  “I am certain I put it in your schedule. Perhaps I made a mistake. I apologize.”

  She looked so flustered that he waved her apologies aside. “It is fine.”

  It wasn’t. But Zoey would understand.

  ***

  I promise.

  Huh. Zoey lay curled up on the masic, staring at the door. She should have known better. She clenched her hands then released them. When she opened her hands, they shook. Whether that was with rage or unrequited hunger, she didn’t know. Sometimes this whole mating thing sucked. Right now, she was so angry with him that she didn’t want to want him. But need for him was right there, under her skin, urging her to seek him out and jump his ass.

  Maybe she should do just that. If Mohammed wouldn’t come to the mountain… Zoey stood, she’d find a sexy dress, put on some hot lingerie and…her gaze hit Elodie. Find someone to watch Elodie. Crap. Not that there wasn’t plenty of people who wouldn’t jump at the chance to watch the baby, but at such short notice? So she could go on a booty call?

  And then there was the bulldog. She’d have to actually make it past Harry the Horrible. And Hagartha would know exactly why she was there. And probably take great delight in putting obstacles in her path.

  Zoey sat. Damn it. She hated that she was so hesitant. Once, she would have damned everyone and have done exactly what she liked. But at the moment her relationship with Dex felt shaky.

  It sucked the big one.

  With a yawn, she lay back. Well, there was nothing else for it but to wait for Dex to come home.

  ***

  Dex stepped into his quarters. He rubbed the back of his neck trying to ease the tension. Sitting behind a desk all day did not sit well with him. He was used to action. Preferred it. He rolled his head from side to side. Perhaps tomorrow he could find the time to train.

  A sense of relief filled him as he moved into his living area. The palace was a shared space filled with his people. As it should be. But these rooms, they were home. With his mate and daughter.

  “My own?” he called out quietly. He’d managed to end the meeting early, but he was still later getting home than he had wished to be. Still, he had hoped that Zoey would be awake. As he moved towards the bedroom, he stopped to check on Elodie. He glanced down at his sleeping daughter. Her dark lashes rested against her smooth skin. She was a perfect mix of him and Zoey, with Zoey’s green eyes and his white-blond hair. Her rosebud lips opened, and she let out a tiny snore. He smiled, a rush of protectiveness and love filling him. He would do anything for his family. Anything. Which is why he was determined to ensure that the Coizils never attacked any of his people again.

  They had killed his father, hurt his people. They were a threat to his family. Stealing the Drazum stones had been a start. But he needed to do more without threatening their treaty with Earth. He would continue with the path Rye suggested. Hitting them financially. Already, he had been working to undercut several of their trade agreements.

  All too soon they would learn not to mess with him or his people.

  “I will keep you safe, little one.” He placed his hand over her small body briefly before moving over to the masic where his mate was curled up on top of the covers, fast asleep. He sat and watched her. Her chest rose and fell steadily, her hands were clenched in the bedding, and a frown scrunched up her forehead. Leaning forward, he placed his palm on her forehead.

  “Everything is well, my mate. Sleep.”

  Immediately, she calmed, and satisfaction filled him at his ability to soothe her. He stood and grabbed a blank
et from the bottom of the masic, placing it over her. He did not wish her to grow cold. She obviously needed her sleep. There were dark smudges under her eyes, and her skin was pale. Looking after an infant was tiring and he was not here as much as he should be to support her. Perhaps, he should have taken Hagartha up on her offer. It was obvious he needed to ensure that Zoey relaxed and rested more. Not give her more tasks to do. Hagartha could consult with Mila and Willa to ensure she did everything correctly for this Christmas celebration.

  Pleased to have made that decision, Dex sent Hagartha a message that would be waiting for her tomorrow morning. Then he slid down beside his mate and gathered her close.

  ***

  “No, no, no!” Zoey sat up with a scream.

  Dex jumped up from the masic and moved into a defensive position, his gaze moving around the room.

  “What? What is it, my mate?”

  If fear hadn’t been coursing through her veins from the nightmare, she might have smiled at the sight of her naked mate, standing there, prepared to fight whatever assailant threatened them.

  “Elodie. Elodie.” She rushed over to where Elodie slept, her legs nearly collapsing beneath her as she laid eyes on her daughter. “Oh, God. Thank God.”

  “What? What is wrong with our daughter?” Dex demanded.

  “Nothing. Nothing, she’s perfect.”

  The little girl let out a small whimper then settled once more. Zoey moved back to the masic and sat. Leaning forward, she placed her elbows on her knees and rested her forehead on her hands. She took deep, calming breaths.

  Just a dream. Just a horrible dream.

  “Zoey. Zoey, speak to me. What is wrong?”

  The desperation and worry in Dex’s voice made her glance up immediately. He frowned, his body still tense and on alert.

  “Sorry, I’m sorry. It was just a dream.”

  “A dream? That is why you screamed out? What was this dream about?”

  “It’s always the same dream. You would think I would stop reacting this way, but every time I wake up screaming and sweating, my heart racing so hard I feel like I’m about to have a heart attack.” She placed her hand on her chest and closed her eyes briefly.