Hi !

The 12 Days of Free Alien Romance Giveaway is here!

What's in this email? Keep reading for...

1. At least one totally free book from a fabulous sci-fi romance author
2. A chance to win a cute custom sticker from yours truly
3. The latest episode of my holiday alien romance, All I Want for Christmas is Everything about an alien biker and his human crush

To celebrate DAY 7 of our giveaway, I'm thrilled to share a free book from Victoria Aveline, Choosing Theo!

Being kidnapped by aliens is only the start of Jade's problems. Thankfully, her rescuers, an alien race known as the Clecanians, are willing to protect her, but she has to stay on their planet for one year and respect the rules of their culture—including choosing an alien husband!

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You'll be automatically entered to win a sticker featuring the couple from Stolen by Starlight if you click the free book link above! You don't have to download the book to be eligible. You'll be notified at this email address if you're a winner!

And now for the story...

🎄 All I Want for Christmas is Everything🎄

Content warnings: Catching a cheater, respectful stalking, alien NSFW scenes

Missed an episode? The entire story will be available to download as an ebook in my Facebook Reader Group on December 25.

EPISODE #

7

Ivy woke up alone in a bed she didn’t recognize. The slanted wooden ceiling above her came into focus.

The cabin. Christmas. Tairon.

She sat up, her head reeling from the sudden change in blood pressure. She still had the robe on, but she noticed her bags were on the chair by the bedroom window. He must have carried them up here last night sometime after she crashed out. He must have carried her up here, too, she realized, after she fell asleep on his shoulder.

Like she’d summoned him, his handsome, horned face appeared in the doorway, along with the rest of him, filling the frame. He lifted the mugs he held in each hand. “I thought I heard you awake in here. I found tea in the cupboard. Want some?”

She nodded, feeling a little self-conscious of her sleep-mussed hair. She probably still had pillowcase creases in her cheek, and he looked freshly showered. His long, red-and-gold hair was pulled up in a knot at the back of his head, though he wore the same clothes as yesterday—the snug leather pants and dark-blue T-shirt that left little to the imagination. He set one steaming cup on the nightstand next to her before taking a seat at the foot of the bed. The mattress creaked under his weight as he shifted to face her. “Merry Christmas. How are you feeling?”

“Hungry,” she admitted, sipping her tea. It was plain black tea, unsweetened. Good. They’d skipped dinner last night. Her stomach twisted and snarled when she remembered the bag of baked goods downstairs. “Let me get dressed, and I’ll toast us some bagels. I brought your favorite kind.”

He choked on his swallow of tea, nearly spitting it back in his cup. He inhaled deeply when he’d recovered. “About that. I have a confession…a secret I’ve been keeping.”

“Another one?” She gave a sharp, wary laugh.

He ducked his head sheepishly. “I know my record’s not very good on transparency, but that’s why I need to tell you now. I can’t eat wheat. None of us can. Draak, I mean. We’re gluten intolerant.”

“But you’ve been—” She shook her head, suddenly very aware that Tairon, while kind and thoughtful and clearly well-meaning, was a complete stranger to her. She didn’t even know his biology, let alone his personality. “Every day, you get a bagel. Same flavor for years.”

“Every day, I get to see you,” he corrected. “The bagel is just…an excuse. I order the everything-flavor ones because it’s what you recommended the first time I came in. Do you remember?”

She shook her head, sipping her tea to avoid making eye contact, still processing the fact that, out of all the bagels she’d baked and sold him, over a thousand by her count, he hadn’t eaten even one.

He sighed. “You wouldn’t. It was a big day for me, but it was just a regular morning for you. I’d caught your scent on the street when I rode by—”

“What do I smell like to you?” she asked. Judging by his smile, he didn’t seem to mind the interruption.

“Like apples and butter and brown sugar. Delicious. And when you’re turned on…the apples ripen.” Now it was her turn to choke on her tea, and he chuckled quietly before going on. “I immediately pulled over and followed you into the bakery. You had your hair in two braided buns like Draakish horns, and the freckles on your nose were little bright sparks that lit up my whole insides. I was at a complete loss for words when I got up to the counter. Couldn’t even focus on the menu to order. You were so kind, though, and recommended the everything bagels because they’d just come out of the oven, so I got one. When I came in the next day, you recognized me and asked, ‘You want an everything?’ and—” he broke off, shooting her a look that she already understood.

“You’re not scaring me.”

He gave her a crooked grin and exhaled before going on. “And I desperately wanted everything from you. So I said yes. And the next morning, the same thing. It’s been like my secret message to you all along. Every day, I want everything.”

She smiled into her mug. “So you just…throw them away?”

“What, the bagels?” He chuckled again. “No. I usually give them to the guy who runs the news stand on the corner. He’s a big fan of your baking.”

She raised her mouth from the rim of her mug to make a face at him. “I thought you were a big fan of my baking.”

“Oh, I am. The things you make are beautiful, Ivy, and they smell so good. I just can’t eat them. We Draak produce our flames in our gut, and the gluten tangles up the ignition system, so to speak. I’m sorry to miss out.” He sounded so genuinely remorseful that she reached out to squeeze his hand.

“It’s okay, really. This whole thing is requiring me to rewrite a lot of memories, and I haven’t quite wrapped my head around all of it. And I’m not sure what I’m going to feed you for Christmas dinner tonight. Everything I brought has gluten. I’d meant to stop at for groceries on the way out of town, but yesterday was so weird that I forgot. And all the stores are probably closed today.” Her heart sank as she realized they’d probably need to cut the weekend short.

“Leave it to me,” he said firmly, pushing up from the bed to stand beside her. He squeezed her shoulder and then slid his free hand under her pillow-snarled curls to support the back of her head as she looked up at him, his thumb rubbing a few gentle circles in the sensitive spot behind her ear. “You have breakfast. Relax in the hot tub. Sort out whatever you need to sort out. And I’ll run into town and pick up food. My hive always cooks a big feast for Christmas, and they said it’s fine to come grab some to go.”

“But the roads—” she began worriedly, glancing out the window at the fresh-fallen inches.

He made the purr sound, and a bright flame licked his lips. “I can melt them if necessary. Don’t worry about me. You have enough on your mind. I want to take away every worry that I can.”

“In that case,” she said, standing up and pushing out her bottom lip in an affected pout, “I’m worried I won’t get to kiss you for hours.”

“Ivy, beautiful, give me that sugar,” he murmured, drawing her closer until his mouth found hers. A gentle brush of skin-on-skin at first, but then his forked tongue tested the corners of her lips and took over, stroking over the seam and then dipping between them to flutter against her tongue.

Her nipples tightened against the velvety fabric of her robe and sent a direct signal to her clit, which definitely remembered exactly how that tongue felt. She moaned into his mouth, and he pushed his mug into her empty hand so he could cup her face and deepen the kiss.

Balancing two cups of hot tea, her calves backed up against the bed frame, Ivy was helpless to do anything but submit to the sensation of his mouth on hers, his scented breath mingling with the flavor of the tea as he sucked and savored her. When he finally pulled back, they both were panting.

“You better go before things heat up so much that we melt all the snow and ruin our white Christmas,” she joked.

TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT EPISODE...TOMORROW!

Lots of love,

Sara

https://linktr.ee/saraivyhill