Who Needs Christmas? 7

Shove Your Tree

Twelve elves left the North Pole to be free of all things Christmas

and have been living together for decades. They have gone

without their mates for years, but when the first of the twelve

finds his, the others have hope of finding theirs.

Chiquita is an often socially awkward but caring elf. He hates

Christmas trees and that he may not be able to save his wonderful

mate from the pain he has endured physically and mentally.

Alexi Domitrivich is a former teacher struggling with a life-

threatening condition. Recently this condition has gotten much

worse, but Chiquita could finally be the person to give him hope

for the future and a life filled with love.

Chiquita will stop at nothing to save his mate, but will his efforts

be enough? Will Alexi have to accept his approaching death and

leave behind the love he could have had with Chiquita?

Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Contemporary, Paranormal
Length: 35,342 words

Shove Your Tree

Who Needs Christmas? 7

Joyee Flynn

EROTIC ROMANCE

MANLOVE

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance ManLove

SHOVE YOUR TREE
Copyright © 2011 by Joyee Flynn
E-book ISBN: 1-61926-140-5

First E-book Publication: December 2011

Cover design by Jinger Heaston
All cover art and logo copyright © 2011 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be
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Letter to Readers

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from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also,
thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

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DEDICATION

To my first real Christmas tree as an adult that I got this year: No

matter what the title says or how many times I threatened to pull off
each branch because I couldn’t get the lights right…I really do think
you guys are pretty and smell wonderful.

SHOVE YOUR TREE

Who Needs Christmas? 7

JOYEE FLYNN

Chapter 1

“It’s okay, Alexi,” I said gently as my mate came back around.

“You’re safe. You passed out for a moment there.”

He blinked his eyes at me several times, trying to shake off the

fog of sleep. The deep, deep brown eyes made me want to purr every
time I looked at them. They were so dark that most people would
have thought they were black if they hadn’t been paying attention. I
was though. They were beautiful and so was my mate. And his eyes
expressed everything he was feeling. I’d learned that in the few short
days I knew him.

And he was afraid right now.
“Because none of you are human,” he whimpered and pulled away

from me. I let him put a little space between us on the bed, but he
wasn’t getting any further than that until he heard me out.

“Well, technically that’s not true,” I replied gently as I leaned over

his tall, toned body and placed my hand outside his hip. He’d gotten
far enough away. “Otis is human along with five other mates who live
here. Bren, the policeman, is human. We can’t be bad if there’s a cop
mated to one of us, right? The only ones that aren’t human are us
Smith brothers. And that’s not really our name. Would you like to
know what we are?”

Shove Your Tree

“Mate?” he whispered, but I chose to ignore that right then. I

knew if I explained everything, Alexi would see that there was
nothing to fear.

“We can get back to us being mates later.” I waved it off and

closed my hazel eyes, wondering where to begin. I tended to ramble
whenever I opened my mouth, especially when nervous. Which was
normally when I was around people…ever.

I couldn’t help it. I was so different from my family growing up

and even my brothers now. I was closer to them than anyone else on
the planet, but still, I always felt I didn’t fit in. I didn’t always get
their jokes or know what to say, and I was so much younger than most
of them. A baby in elf standards, so I always felt like the odd man out.

I snapped out of my thoughts and started explaining to Alexi that

we were elves. We were from the North Pole, and we weren’t fans of
Christmas or Santa. And I in particular hated those stupid pine trees
people decorated. All the sap, and sharp needles, and then you had to
make sure they had water. Even the fake ones were…

“Shit.” I sighed with feeling. I’d rambled my mate right back into

passing out. Dumb. Ass.

I stared at my gorgeous mate, pushing a lock of his thick, black

hair off his forehead. Alexi. I wondered if that was Slavic with a last
name like Domitrivich. But then he had the soft, full, curly hair of
someone with Greek descent. I think. I’d never been good at placing
people or figuring out nationalities.

Maybe because it didn’t matter to me ever. I only cared what was

inside a person. I was seeing some guy once, over a decade ago, and
he was always making sure people knew he was Austrian. When we
met, I remember him asking me what I was.

“Human, of course,” I had answered, shocked he might doubt I

was otherwise.

“Well, of course you are, hot stuff,” he said in an accent. It was

heavy but not as if he was just learning to speak English. “Where are
you from?”

Joyee Flynn

“Chicago.”
“No, no, no. Where is your family from?”
“Chicago,” I answered again with a raised brow and nodded as if

that would help him understand. Maybe I needed to speak slower?

“Yes, but what is your descent?”
“Ohhh,” I drawled. “I’m an American.”
“Yes, but where did your family come from before America?” He

looked as if he was getting frustrated, and the feeling was mutual.

“I don’t know,” I lied, knowing full well but not planning to tell

him the truth about being an elf.

“Have you no pride?” he asked, his eyes going wide. “How can

you not know your descent?”

“I have pride,” I huffed and started to get really annoyed at the

audacity of this conversation. “I have pride that I’m an American. I
am a born and bred Chicago-ian. Nothing else matters to me.”

“See, this is the problem with Americans. Back in Austria—”
“How long have you lived in America?” I asked, raising an

eyebrow with a frown on my face, too.

“Twelve years, but—” he answered, but I cut him off again.
“Then maybe you should have realized after living here this long

that Americans don’t like to be told what’s wrong with Americans
from guests in our country. If your country is so great, then why the
fuck are you here? I am an American, and if you don’t like that
answer, too bad. I didn’t fucking ask you. And get over yourself or
leave our country.”

“Why you—” he started.
“Amen, brother,” someone said from behind us. We both turned to

see several sailors from Great Lakes Naval Base standing behind me.
They all gave up a cheer and started singing the National Anthem in
front of my date. He shook his head in disgust and stormed out of the
bar.

“I hate guys like that,” one of the sailors said after introducing

himself to me. I nodded and started subtly flirting with the hottie in

Shove Your Tree

front of me, my date already forgotten. Yeah, I totally went home
with two of the sailors that night and never heard from my Austrian
date again. Fine by me.

“What are you thinking about?” Alexi asked me softly, snapping

me out of the memory. I glanced down into his big brown eyes. This
time he didn’t even attempt to move away from me.

“Nothing important. I’m sorry I ramble,” I whispered gently as I

ran my fingers through his soft hair. I pulled his head onto my lap, a
thrill going through me when he didn’t even flinch. “I get nervous and
can’t shut my trap.”

“I make you nervous?” he asked with a soft smile. I nodded and

realized he was really pale.

“Is this fainting thing normal for you, Alexi?” I didn’t know how

to scan someone’s body like Horse or some of my brothers did, but I
did know how a normal body sounded. I listened in to his heart,
leaning over and noticed something off.

“Yes, unfortunately it is.” He sighed and looked exhausted. “I

have a heart condition, and anytime I’m stressed, my brain doesn’t get
enough blood and I faint. It’s quite embarrassing.”

“A heart condition?” I gasped and pulled out my cell phone.
“He okay?” Horse asked, and I could hear the strain in his voice.

Obviously there had been a little more drama over the last hour or so
since I’d ’ported us out of the library.

“No!” I cried out as I felt panic growing within me. “My mate has

a heart condition. You have to fix him!”

“We’ll be right up, but we’ll use the door. I’ll warn everyone not

to teleport into your room and risk scaring him.”

“Good, yes, good idea,” I mumbled, but Horse had already hung

up.

“I’m not dying.” Alexi chuckled quietly but then got serious.

“Well, not yet anyways. My heart is why I don’t get involved with
anyone.”

“What’s wrong?”

Joyee Flynn

“It’s nothing,” he answered firmly as he went stiff in my lap. I

could almost see the mental walls slamming shut on his feelings. His
eyes lost all emotion, and his face became a mask of indifference.
“Look, I get your brother might be a doctor—”

“No, but he’s a healer, sort of.” I wanted to whimper when he

pulled away and rolled to sit up.

“I’ve been to a cardiologist when I used to have insurance.

There’s nothing that can be done. It’s just a birth defect.” He was
lying. I didn’t even have to read his mind to know he was lying. It
was coming off my mate in waves. That and he really should never
play poker with the way his eyes were darting around the room.

“Don’t lie to me,” I growled, shaking with anger. I held up my

hand to stop his protests. “You don’t want to talk about it yet or don’t
think you know me well enough to give an answer, I can understand
that. But don’t lie to me, Alexi! I’m trying to help, and you have no
idea how it hurts to know you’d so easily lie to me.”

“Hurt?” He scoffed and shook his head as he stood. “We barely

know each other, Sam. Don’t act like we had some passionate,
romantic night and now you’re falling for me, okay? I fainted in your
house, and you brought me up to your room to recover. End of story.”

“Who are you trying to convince of that, Alexi? You or me?” I

asked softly and glanced down at my hands. “And my real name is
Chiquita.”

“No!” he shouted and held up his hands. “Don’t start that again.

You’re Sam Smith. You’re human. Everyone in this house is human,
and that’s final. I’ll be back Monday to work with my student, and
we’re just acquaintances.”

“So I take it Alexi didn’t ask for me to scan him,” Horse said with

a groan from the doorway. I’d been so distracted by my mate’s words
I’d missed that he and Bren had even opened the door.

“No, but his heart sounds funny, and he says he faints a lot.” I

explained and turned back to my mate, who was doing a good
impression of a fish. “You might not be able to deal with what we are,

Shove Your Tree

but please, Alexi. Let Horse just look at you. There are things we can
do that human machines or doctors cannot. Five minutes. That’s all
I’m asking. What’s the worst that can happen?”

He shook his head and lay down on the bed with a sigh of disgust.

I hated to pry, but I did it anyways. “I could get my hopes up again.
Any glimmer of hope I ever have is just squashed out. I just wish my
heart would get on with it and be done. I’m so fucking tired of all of
this. I’m tired of fighting every day to live. And for what? A pathetic
excuse for an existence?”

I exchanged a teary eyed look with Horse and knew he’d been

listening in, too. Normally it was really, really bad form to listen in on
another’s mate. But I knew Horse was clearing his mind so he could
properly look over my mate.

Telepathy and the ability to push thoughts into someone’s mind is

the first talent we acquire after being baptized in magic. Well, real
gift. As kids we all have little ones. Creating bubbles, moving things
with our magic, basic parlor tricks that help us learn how to focus and
use our gifts. When we are around ten, we pick up telepathy.

The funny thing about it is that we don’t turn it on. It’s just there

all the time. We have to focus to turn it off and stay out of people’s
heads.

Horse approached my mate slowly with a gentle smile. “I have the

ability to heal people and am working with the wolf pack’s healer to
learn more. All I’m going to do is scan your body mentally as if you
were having an MRI, okay?”

“Sure, beam me up, Scotty,” Alexi grumbled.
“No, I’m not Scotty. I’m Horse.” My friend looked as confused as

I felt. We glanced at Bren when he started chuckling.

“Is he serious?” Alexi asked Bren.
“Yeah, they’re not into sci-fi movies because they get annoyed by

how Hollywood portrays supernatural beings.” Bren turned to Horse
and me standing on either side of my bed. “It was a Star Trek
reference. He was joking how strange the idea of being scanned was.”

Joyee Flynn

“Oh, yeah, it’s new for me, too,” Horse replied. “I’m going to lay

my hands on your arm, and you won’t feel a thing.”

My mate nodded as Horse sat on the bed and placed one hand on

his shoulder and the other on his bicep. He closed his eyes in
concentration, and I didn’t like the frown that instantly crossed his
face. It felt like hours that I stood there shifting my weight from one
foot to the other, impatiently waiting to know what was going on.

“My gods,” Horse finally gasped as he opened his eyes, staring

right at Alexi.

“So now you know,” Alexi whispered and turned his head away

from my friend with his eyes squeezed tightly shut. “I’d appreciate
you keeping whatever you saw to yourself.”

“No, please,” I begged as I moved onto the bed next to Alexi. “I’ll

do anything you want, just let Horse tell me.”

“Will you leave me alone?” he asked, not looking at me still.
“But you’re my mate.” I wanted to cry. My mate didn’t want me

or our help. “You’re the other half of my soul.” I glanced up at Horse.
“If we mated, his heart would be fixed then, right?”

“Umm, I don’t think that will work with the condition he’s in,”

Horse answered, shaking his head. “In theory, yes, but I think the
magic and stress on the body that happens during the claiming
ceremony would kill him before it could be complete.”

“No!” I cried and took Alexi’s face in my hands. “Let us help you,

baby. Please! I just found you, and we need more time together if I’m
going to convince you to be my mate. Even if you never want me, the
thought of a world without you in it would kill me. I promise we’ll
help you even if you don’t decide to mate with me.”

“I can’t help him, Chiquita,” Horse whispered, and I could hear

the pain in his voice. “We could call Why’s father, but this is way
beyond my level. I could do more damage than good.”

“You helped Justice when he had a brain bleed. You saved Daran

after the vampires got him. What could be so wrong with my mate

Shove Your Tree

that you can’t do anything?” I was beyond panicking now and almost
into hysterics.

“Just tell him,” Alexi said with a yawn. “I’m tired, and as much as

I want to go home, there’s no way I could drive my car this
exhausted. I can’t even keep my eyes open.”

“Okay, you rest, sweetheart,” I replied gently and kissed his

temple. “I’m going to go talk with Horse and Bren while you sleep.
Promise me we can discuss this when you get up?”

“No, I’m done getting my hopes up,” he mumbled. “I give up.”

Before I could even respond, I heard his soft snores letting me know
he was already asleep.

“Come on, brother,” Horse said as he moved around the bed and

hugged me from behind. “You need to see what I did and talk. We’ll
figure out a way to help him, okay? Just give him some time. I’ll get
Box, and we’ll get his medical records.”

“Okay.” I nodded and let my leader, my brother, my friend, guide

me away, my heart feeling heavier every step I took away from him.
Bren closed the door behind us as we stepped out into the hallway.
Minutes later we were in one of the studies, and I had a large glass of
bourbon in front of me.

“Drink that,” my friend commanded, and I did.
“How will that help?” I asked after I was done, in between

coughing fits. “This is not the time to get drunk.”

“Of course not, but they always do that in the movies when

someone’s stressed out or about to give bad news.” Horse acted like
that explained everything, and in a way, it kind of did. He knew this
was going to be bad, and without any other ideas, was trying a human
remedy to help. “Alexi has a heart murmur from two misshapen
valves in his heart.

“That explains the fainting. He’s not getting enough blood in his

body normally, but if he’s surprised or scared, then the heart
constricts for a rapid beat, but his is too messed up to do what it’s
supposed to.”

Joyee Flynn

“And you can’t fix two little valves?” I asked angrily as I

slammed my empty glass on the side table and jumped to my feet.
“Daran had all kinds of issues but you saved him. Just fix his damn
heart!”

“It’s not that simple, Chiquita,” Horse said, shaking his head as

tears streamed down his cheeks. “Don’t you think I’d fix him in a
second if I could?”

I took a deep, calming breath as I stared at my friend. “Of course

you would. I’m sorry, Horse. It just seems so simple to me. Can you
please explain what I’m missing?”

“The size of my heart is different than Bren’s because he’s bigger

than I am, just like a child’s would be smaller than mine.”

“Okay, with you so far,” I agreed as I took my seat again. I leaned

forward with my forearms on my knees and studied my friend while
he spoke. He had the answers I needed here, and I was all ears for
them.

“A heart, from what I know, has certain guidelines, say within

nine to eleven ounces. But each heart can vary. I can look at an
anatomy book and get generals, but if I fix his valves to the same size
in the book, it might not be the right size for Alexi’s heart. I could
make it worse or kill him.”

“Okay, so it’s not just like fixing a broken doorway to a room but

it’s constructing one and the right size door?” I asked after a few
moments of mulling over what Horse had said.

“Yes, exactly.” Horse agreed and rubbed his hands over his face

in frustration. “When I heal, I have to see what I want done. Like
when we make fire in our hands, we have to be able to visualize it. I
can’t see how I’d need the heart to be to fix it. If it was a bone or
something, sure, I could wing it and adjust it later if I got it wrong.
But with a heart…”

“You could kill him,” I finished quietly.

Shove Your Tree

“Yeah, I could kill him, and I think trying to claim him would ruin

his already damaged heart before you would finish and make him
immortal.”

“Well fuck a duck,” I whispered as tears started falling freely. Not

the most elegant response, but really…Was there any good response
to news like that?

Joyee Flynn

Chapter 2

“But you fixed Justice’s brain,” I said, begging him with my eyes

to come up with an idea.

“I hate to say that was much easier,” Horse replied with a tired

sigh. “Yes, it was hard and took a lot of energy. But it was simple in
the fact that it was a matter of fixing what shouldn’t have been there.
That vein shouldn’t have been bleeding, so I made it stop. I didn’t
have to rebuild a damaged vein or reshape his brain.”

“Okay, what do you need?” Box asked as he raced into the room. I

realized Horse must have called him mentally while I’d been
processing all of this.

“We need every medical record for Alexi Domitrivich you can

find. Every doctor he’s ever been to, and we can teleport and make
copies of the records not in electronic file at any hospital. I want
scans, reports, and any test results.”

“That could take weeks, Horse,” Box replied with wide eyes as he

glanced between us. “What’s going on?”

“My mate is dying,” I whispered as I looked at my brother.

“Please, Box. Do whatever you have to. Get the others to help if you
need it.”

“Most everyone went shopping with Otis and Flower.”
“Yeah, I just got a text from Flower,” Bren said, and I realized

he’d been staring at his phone. “We have another problem.”

“Okay, you guys go handle that while Box and I try to find out

what we can. I’m going to get Alexi to help us narrow down the
search and get names of his doctors.”

Shove Your Tree

“Deal,” Horse replied as he and Bren stood. “We’ll be back as

soon as this crisis is averted.”

“Remember the days when our excitement came from gaming

tournaments,” Box said quietly after a few minutes of quiet thought.
“I don’t miss those days, it was boring around here, but I wish the
excitement wasn’t always someone getting hurt or such drama.”

“I hear you, brother.” I agreed with a nod. We discussed the best

way to go about finding all of Alexi’s records and finding my mate a
specialist that could help him. Box had the idea to fuck with the
registry so my mate could get a heart transplant. I went pale.

“No good?” he asked. I loved my friend for the offer, but I knew it

was wrong.

“Alexi would never agree to that. And someone else could die

because we moved him up the list. There’s got to be another option.” I
had a thought then. “He said something about seeing a cardiologist
before he lost his insurance. Maybe he couldn’t get it fixed because he
didn’t have the money.”

“But we do!” Box exclaimed. I went to agree, but there was

someone pounding at the front door. We exchanged a glance,
knowing full well that couldn’t be good. I raced right after him to the
foyer after we both leaped out of our seats. We must have missed the
beginning of whatever was going on because Bren was already mid-
conversation with the policemen on our front porch.

That was never a good thing.
“This man says that his brother, Otis Connor, was abducted from

their hotel room,” the officer informed him. “What’s your relationship
to all of this?”

“Tom,” Bren said, gesturing to Flower, “is my partner’s brother.”
The other policeman mumbled something that sounded like

fucking fags. This was so not good.

“I do not have a brother,” Otis said as he joined us and then froze.

“Master Alfred?”

Joyee Flynn

Seriously? This has to happen right now of all times? I thought to

myself and felt like a selfish shit for it. I chalked it up to the extreme
stress I was under and promised to be extra nice to Otis and Flower
since they had their own heaping pile of drama right then.

“Cut the games, Otis,” Alfred growled. “You’ve caused enough

trouble. Why didn’t you fight this little guy when he took you?”

“H–He, I–I.” Otis looked like he was going to pass out or cry.

Yeah, I’d be right there with him if I was in his shoes.

“You’ll have to forgive my brother, he’s mentally unstable,”

Alfred said smoothly. “He’s been institutionalized in England a few
times.”

“No I have not!” Otis objected loudly, looking pissed. Good for

him! I wanted to cheer get the bastard, Otis, but didn’t think that
would be the smartest thing right then. “You kept me as a slave! You
are the criminal here, not Tom.”

The foyer and front porch broke out in shouting men until one of

the policemen whistled loudly. So not good. As much as I wanted to
get involved and help, there were enough people, and I couldn’t stop
my mind from wandering back up the stairs to my mate. “We’ll settle
all this down at the station. Mr. Smith?”

“Yes,” twelve people answered, and the cop rolled his eyes,

pointing to Flower. Okay, that had been a little fun.

“That Mr. Smith, Tom Smith, needs to come with us along with

Otis Connor. The rest of you stay here.”

“Now wait just a second—” Bren started to say, only to be cut off

by the one who mumbled before.

“You have no jurisdiction here, Griaule.” He smirked at Bren.

“They come with us.”

“Where are you taking them?” Bren ground out.
“We’ll let you know,” the other one answered with a sneer.

Flower was spun around and handcuffed. Shit! This was so getting
out of hand. Several of us exchanged looks with each other as if
confirming no one had a plan. But then I saw Flower and Horse

Shove Your Tree

exchanging looks and knew they were speaking telepathically to each
other.

“I suggest you tell me where you’re taking my client before I end

up in front of a judge with a lawsuit against your police department,”
Daran informed them smoothly. Nice! Right, our lawyer was right
here.

“Your fucking lawyer lives with you?” the cop asked in shock.
“He’s married to my brother,” Flower answered sweetly. And the

cop roughly pulled him off the front porch and to the waiting squad
car. Maybe that hadn’t been the best thing to say.

Horse, Bren, Daran, and Why followed right behind, the front

door shutting behind them. We all stood there in shock for a few
minutes, mouths hanging open and everything.

“We should totally find one of those striped jailhouse costumes

for Flower,” Shadow said with an evil chuckle, finally breaking the
silence.

“At least we know he won’t end up someone’s bitch in the big

house,” Maze added.

“You guys are bad.” I snickered.
“What? It’s not like he’s really going to jail. Horse and Bren will

fix it,” Shadow replied defensively. I nodded and then remembered
what I’d been doing before the latest drama show.

“Box, can you fill everyone in and see if they have any

suggestions while I try and get some more info from Alexi?”

“Yeah, sure thing, brother,” Box answered gently as he patted my

shoulder supportively. I gave him a grateful nod and then raced up the
stairs. When I got to my room and opened the door, I was shocked
that Alexi was sitting by a chair near the window instead of sleeping.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were up?” I asked as I walked over

to join him.

“You scare me,” he whispered, still staring out the windows. “I

know you’re not a vampire because you mentioned them earlier, and
it didn’t seem as if you were one of them. But you’re something and

Joyee Flynn

even more than that, you want to help. I can’t do this anymore, Sam.
I’m tired of all the false hope and following disappointment. Just let
me live whatever time I have left in peace.”

“No,” I whispered in horror as I knelt in front of him and put my

head in his lap. “Please, Alexi. Just give me a few days, that’s all I
ask. Horse doesn’t have enough experience or knowledge to help you
without risking your life. There’s got to be a human specialist or
another elf we know that can save you. Please?”

“Elf? That’s what you are?”
“Yes, I was born in the North Pole in 1930. I left as soon as I was

of age because I didn’t fit in there. I’ve never fit in anywhere, even
with my friends here. I’m quirky and socially inept, but the
knowledge that my mate was out there, somewhere, waiting for me to
find him kept me going. And now I’ve found you. Please don’t give
up on what we could have. Let me help you.”

He searched my eyes for a few moments, giving me hope because

he hadn’t pulled away yet. “An elf isn’t scary. Elves are always
portrayed as nice, gentle creatures.”

“We’re more the horny, oddball kind, but we’re nice, I swear. We

donate to charity, help people when we can without blowing our
cover. We give to Toys for Tots every year. I might have fangs, but
they’re only for you. They came out the moment I smelled your
blood, and I’ll only drink from you to strengthen our bond. It’s not a
bloodthirsty thing.”

“You have to go slower with all this information, Sam, or I’m

going to overload again.” He looked a little pale and had started
breathing heavy. Fuck! Okay, I could keep from rambling for a bit.
Maybe?

“Sorry,” I whispered and lifted my head so I could see him fully. I

covered my hands with his on his lap. “Will you please call me
Chiquita instead of Sam? I want my mate to know the real me.”

“Your parents really named you Chiquita?” he asked, raising one

perfect eyebrow. Damn, my mate was fine.

Shove Your Tree

“No, I named myself,” I answered and rushed to explain when I

saw the confusion on his face. “Elves name themselves at the age of
five when we’re baptized in magic. It was right around the time
Chiquita Bananas came out. I thought the song was catchy and sang it
relentlessly, much to the horror of my parents. So when it came time
to come up with a name, that’s what I choose.”

“That’s the sweetest, silliest story I’ve ever heard.” His smile was

worth any embarrassment I’d ever felt about my name. He had
perfectly straight white teeth that would have made any dentist happy
to have him as a patient. Alexi’s expression went solemn. “Fine, I’ll
give you a few days. But there are some things you need to know
first.”

“Fair enough.” I nodded my agreement, bracing for the impact of

what he might tell me.

“There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to lay my cards

all on the table.” Again I nodded. “I found out about my heart five
years ago. I started to undergo treatment for it, lots of medicines and
talking with surgeons on how to fix it. Then weeks before I was to
have the surgery, a student accused me of raping him, and I lost
everything. I met Daran because he’s a good enough guy to take pro
bono work.”

“You’d never rape anyone,” I gasped, shocked down to my core

that someone could even think that about my mate.

“Are you so sure of that?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at me. I

growled, and he smiled. “How do you know that?”

“No, the man I saw worried about Otis and his past is not some

vile creature that would rape someone, much less a student. You’ve
known Otis a week and risked your job with us to make sure he was
being treated as he deserves.” I shook my head in disbelief. “No,
you’d never hurt someone. I’ve seen in your head enough to know
that without a doubt.”

“Thank you,” he whispered, tears filling his eyes. “I had friends

from high school and college who didn’t even believe me.”

Joyee Flynn

“Then they’re morons,” I replied firmly. “What happened to the

lying brat?”

“I know what he did was wrong.” Alexi sighed. “But I have

trouble hating him. I feel sorry for him. He came from a broken home,
left with a dad who beat him for being a weak fag. I tried to get the
Department of Child and Family Services involved, and the dad
threatened me. The boy fell in love with me, a hero worship for trying
to save him. One day after school was out he came to my class and
got naked, pledging himself to me.

“I didn’t handle it right. I froze up and didn’t know what to do.

Then when he came towards me, my heart acted up, and I fainted.
When I came to, there were people everywhere, my shirt was off, and
the boy was saying I raped him. I guess he’d tried to get me naked
while I was unconscious and someone walked in. He told them he hit
me over the head and was trying to escape. He was scared and knew
what his dad would do to him if he found out that his son really was
gay and not just being accused of it.”

“The kid still shouldn’t have done that,” I grumbled.
“I agree,” Alexi said with a nod. “But after years of abuse, it’s

understandable that he wasn’t right in the head. He panicked, and
once he said the words, he couldn’t just take them back.”

“So what happened?” I asked after he went quiet for a few

moments.

“I demanded a rape kit be given to the boy,” Alexi answered. “I

knew there would be no evidence of sex and there was no condom in
the room. Hell, my pants were still on. The principal had been a friend
and mentor to me. He did the best he could to help and protect me. He
believed me and knew about my heart condition, so my story fit.

“He’d heard about Daran taking tricky cases of gays who couldn’t

get help from anyone else. Daran got me out of the criminal charges,
but the school still let me go.

“The school board didn’t believe me, but since even the arresting

officer had been on my side, they didn’t go after my teaching license.

Shove Your Tree

But I was still left with no job and no insurance. I tried getting jobs in
other school districts and states, but it’s on my record. I do small
tutoring gigs here and there like Flower hired me for Otis, but that just
barely covers what I need. I had to stop taking my medicine, and I
know my heart has grown worse over the years.

“I used to be fine on the medicine. I could still work out, have sex,

normal things as long as it was nothing extreme that would give me
too much of a shock or have me enduring for too long.”

“So human doctors could fix your heart if you had the money for

surgery?” I asked, not even squelching the hope in my voice.

He nibbled on his bottom lip in an adorable gesture that would

normally have my cock perking right up. Under different
circumstances, of course. This was too dire of a conversation to be
distracted.

“I don’t know anymore,” he finally answered. “Maybe? Or maybe

the damage is too far gone.”

“I have money, Alexi,” I said with a whimper, begging him with

my eyes not to be offended or think it charity. “Please. Let’s go see
your cardiologist and have the surgery.”

“Why would you do that for a stranger?” he blurted out and then

slapped his hand over his mouth.

“You’re my mate. You are no stranger to me,” I answered firmly.

“You, Alexi Domitrivich, are the other half to my soul. Don’t you feel
the connection? You may not know me, but I’m not a stranger to
you.”

“No, no you’re not,” he whispered in awe. “From the moment I

met you I’ve felt this sense of home I’ve never had or known before.
You make me feel safe and as if everything is finally going to be
okay. And that’s what scares me most, Chiquita. That’s when shit
storms rain down and my world will fall apart.”

“I won’t let it, and I’ll get you a shit umbrella,” I growled and

moved to straddle his lap. “You are now the most important thing in
the world to me. Mates are sacred to my people. There is no other for

Joyee Flynn

me, and we are hardwired to give our mates whatever they need. I will
love you, comfort you, be there for you, and make you happy always
if you would let me.”

“Interesting first date we’re having here,” he mumbled and then

sighed heavily. “I want to live, but I’m just so tired of it all. I want
you, but this is a lot, Chiquita. Knights in shining armor don’t exist.”

I slowly got off of his lap and stood in front of him. I used my

magic to change my current clothes to a full set of olden armor,
complete with sword. “There. Now they do. I know you’re scared,
and we can take things slow, but if you get worse or die, we’ll never
have that chance. Let me help you even if you decide tomorrow you
don’t want me, okay? No strings. You’re my mate. Please let me give
you what you need.”

“Yeah, don’t just do things like that right now,” he gasped and

clutched his chest as his face went pale.

“Shit, shit, shit,” I swore as I changed my appearance back. “Deep

breaths, baby.” He nodded as I knelt in front of him. We took several
deep gulps of air until he calmed back down. “I’m so sorry. I’m really
socially inept.”

“You’re sweet is what you are,” he replied gently, and my heart

warmed at the tenderness I saw swimming in his dark brown eyes
directed at me. “You react with your heart and don’t always think.
That’s nothing to be ashamed of. And I think you’re amazing.”

I stared at him a moment in disbelief and then listened in his mind

to know he was telling the truth. “Not to look a gift horse in the
mouth, but why the flip-flop on your opinion here?”

“You believed me,” he answered as he cupped my face. “You’re

smart, sweet, adorable while still being sexy, and you want to help me
and take care of me when I need it most. I’d have to be a complete
fucking moron to turn you down.” He ran his thumb over my lip.
“And being around you makes me feel like I’m home. It scares the
shit out of me, but it feels so good, too.”

Shove Your Tree

“I have to kiss you,” I whimpered before slanting my lips over his.

I kept it gentle, trying not to take the intensity level up and risk
hurting my mate. But when Alexi moaned and opened up for my
tongue, it took every ounce of control I had not to strip him naked and
fuck him into next week. I tore myself away from him, gasping for air
as his face fell into disappointment. “We have to stop, or I’m going to
do things you can’t take until you’re better.”

“Oh,” he whispered and then stared down at his hands. “I thought

maybe you weren’t feeling what I was because it was like wow for me
and then you pulled away, so I didn’t know what—”

I took his hand as he rambled and moved it over my hard cock,

and he snapped his mouth shut. “Best kiss of my life, Alexi.”

“Mine, too.” He gave my cock a quick squeeze before letting go.

“We’re going to have to explore that later.”

“Not if it could hurt you,” I said firmly and pulled out my cell.

“What was the name of your cardiologist?” He told me and the
number. I thought it odd that he remembered the guy’s office number,
but I guessed either he had to call in enough before his insurance ran
out or he just longed to be able to call again.

Instead of calling the doctor, I called someone on the board of his

hospital. One who knew my brothers and I well enough to know that
we donated a sizeable amount every year. He assured me that Dr.
James would see Alexi today, but he would need all new tests taken
since the ones on file were too old. We had an appointment for an
MRI in an hour and a slew of other tests I’d never heard of.

I snapped my phone shut and almost fainted myself at the look of

lust directed at me from my mate. “What?”

“I hope you like bossing around the men in your bed like that as

well. It was hot.”

In a flash, I was leaning over his chair so we were nose to nose.

“There are no men in my bed. There is one man, who is my mate, and
I would never betray him. You are it for me, Alexi.”

Joyee Flynn

“I wasn’t saying you would, Chiquita,” he said gently, taking my

outburst in stride. “I was saying the men you’ve been with in the past.
I liked the commanding tone you took, being the big shot like that. I
would never have thought it flipped my switch, but it did, and I was
trying to say I’d like you to use that on me if we’re ever able to be
intimate. Or if you ever want to.”

“Oh yeah I do,” I moaned. I took his hand in mine and pulled him

up to his feet. “Doctor, now. Or I’m going to get on my knees and
worship your body.”

“Yeah, don’t think my heart could take that,” he mumbled in

defeat.

“But it will. Have faith in your little elf,” I said with a warm

smile. “Look forward to all the wicked ways I plan on pleasing you
for eternity.”

“Eternity?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m immortal and mating me will make you immortal,

too.” His breathing went erratic, and I caught him in time. “Damnit!
Shut your trap, Chiquita.” I chastised myself and teleported us to the
kitchen. My big mouth and lack of filter to my brain always seemed
to get me in trouble. I had to be careful or my mate could pay the
price for it.

Shove Your Tree

Chapter 3

“Is he okay?” Box asked as he jumped to his feet. He must have

been filling in our friends because they were all there.

“I sprang the whole immortality thing on him,” I answered with a

sigh. “I got the name of his doctor. We’re going there now for him to
take a bunch of tests and see the guy. So change of plans.”

“Find every cardiac specialist in the world who might be able to

help him?” Box guessed, and I nodded my agreement but added to it.

“And any elf who might have the skills to heal him. Contact the

Council if you have to, but I want options.”

“Consider it done, brother.”
“Thank you,” I said to all of them. “I never doubted for a second

you would all help me.”

“He’s going to be fine, Chiquita,” Idiot said gently as he opened

the door to the garage for me. I gave him a weak smile and sent up a
prayer to the gods listening that it was the truth.

I loaded my mate up in my SUV just as he was waking up. “I’m

sorry.”

“Not your fault,” he whispered, his eyes still closed as he

snuggled into the seat. “It’s happening more frequently for every little
thing. Now you see why there can’t be anything between us.”

“No,” I said firmly after I got in the driver’s seat and pulled out of

the garage. “There can’t be anything sexual between us until you’re
better. That’s a big damn difference. We can have a lot between us
without sex.”

“Why would you even want that?” he asked quietly. “I can’t be a

real partner to you. Even if they can fix me, it will be a long time until

Joyee Flynn

we could do much. It’s been years since I’ve had sex, and even then,
I’m inexperienced for my age. I’m not worth all this effort and
money, Chiquita.”

“Being mates isn’t all about sex,” I answered gently, knowing full

well he was being down on himself and this wasn’t a reflection of the
person he thought I was. “Would I like us to be intimate? Of course.
Do I understand why we can’t and care for you anyways? You bet
your sweet ass I do. All that matters to me is getting you treatment
and giving us more time to get to know each other.

“I understand that just because I say we’re mates some mystical

switch is not flipped in you and you accept me. I want the chance to
woo you, court you, and have a future with you.”

“Sweet talker,” he purred, causing me to chuckle at his antics.
We were quiet for the rest of the drive to the hospital, while we

parked, went inside, and let radiology know Alexi was there. It was
awkward. I knew he was nervous. I could feel it coming off of him in
waves. I just didn’t know how to fix it. What did someone say under
these circumstances?

“Do I get to see your fine, naked ass hanging out of one of those

gowns?” Yeah, wasn’t the best thing to say, but it was the only thing
that popped into my head.

“If you play your cards right.” Alexi snickered and then his face

dropped into a frown. “Never mind. I don’t want to be a cock tease.
It’s been over a year since I’ve even jacked off because the last time I
fainted.”

He couldn’t even spank the monkey? My poor mate! I wrapped an

arm around his shoulder in support and nuzzled his neck. “We’ll fix
your heart, and then we can have wild sex on every surface you
want.”

“Good to have goals.”
“Absolutely,” I purred, and then they called his name. I slid my

hand in his as we followed the guy in scrubs into a smaller room. He
asked Alexi to sit down and brought over a little cart. I realized he

Shove Your Tree

was going to draw blood. I’d seen it enough on TV shows to know
what it was, but I didn’t like it. “You cannot stab him,” I growled
fiercely.

“He has to, Sam,” Alexi said gently as the guy stared at me as if I

was off my rocker. “He has to check my blood and then give me
something so they can see results for the MRI. It’s fine, I swear.” He
eyed me over for a moment, on the edge of my control. “You want to
wait outside for this part?”

“No,” I answered immediately and took a few calming breaths.

“No, I’m not leaving you. I can behave.”

I knew I gave the right answer from the bright smile my mate

gave me. The guy ignored me and went back to work. When I saw a
large needle pierce my mate’s flesh, I had to grab onto the doorframe
to keep myself from tearing the guy’s throat out.

Then he injected something into Alexi, and ten minutes later, we

were back in the waiting room. The guy had said something about
needing to give the isotope time to circulate in Alexi’s system. While
we were waiting, I texted Horse to see what was going on with them.
I figured they were busy when he didn’t give a response.

After another half an hour, the guy came back and took Alexi for

the MRI. It seemed I couldn’t go with him this time, and I really
wasn’t a fan of that. I gave my mate a fake smile and told him I would
be fine.

“What you got?” I asked as I answered Box’s call after my phone

vibrated.

“Dr. James is one of the best in the county. There are a few others

who are ranked as better, but it’s close. If this guy says he can help
Alexi, I’d go with him and call the others only if he says he can’t do
it.”

“Okay, what about the other option we discussed?” I asked

vaguely since there were too many humans around who could have
overheard me.

Joyee Flynn

“That’s a little more complicated.” Box sighed in frustration. “We

don’t get sick, so it’s not like we have many doctors. Shadow’s
looking into a rumor he heard about an elf who works as a human
doctor. Maybe he could heal Alexi where Horse can’t because this
guy knows what the heart should look like without a doubt.”

“Or maybe they could collaborate or something. That’s not a bad

idea. If we could get one of these docs to tell us what Alexi’s heart
should be like—”

“Then maybe Horse can do it anyways,” Box continued for me. “I

don’t know if he will because of how tricky this is. He’d never
forgive himself if something happened to your mate while he was
healing him. I think this is more than we should ask of Horse.”

“I know,” I whispered, scared out of my mind at the other option.

“But what other choice do I have? Do nothing and Alexi dies?”

“Right, good point. We’re going to keep looking into possibilities.

We’ll let you know.”

“Thanks, brother.” We said our good-byes and hung up. I had a lot

on my mind, but I still must have dozed off because Alexi was
shaking my shoulder.

“Time to go talk to Dr. James about the results.”
“Are you okay? Did the tests hurt?” I asked, running my hands

over him, checking for injuries.

“No.” He chuckled as he took my hands in his. “I just lay there

while the machine whirled around me. The bitch part is lying
perfectly still that long, but it doesn’t hurt.”

“Okay, good.” He looked exhausted, but I wasn’t going to

mention that. Instead I replied, “Let’s go get the good news from the
doc.”

“Yeah, don’t get your hopes up,” Alexi mumbled and led the way.

We went through a series of corridors and turns that made me feel like
I was in a rat maze. Especially with the too-bright walls and
everything looking the same. Gods, I couldn’t even imagine coming
to work here every day. I’d lose what was left of my mind!

Shove Your Tree

“Dr. James just got the results,” the receptionist said as we entered

their office. “Let me show you back to the exam room.”

“Thanks,” Alexi said weakly. I nodded my gratitude and followed

her. Once we were in the exam room, Alexi sat on the bed-lounge-
looking thing, and I took one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs. It
was about five minutes later a good-looking, thirty-something man
strolled in and had eyes only for my mate.

“Alexi! I was so happy to hear you were coming back to see me,”

Dr. James announced as he shook my mate’s hand. Yeah, he was
really, really happy about it if his groin was any indication, and I
didn’t like that so much. In a flash, I was by my mate’s side and had
my arm possessively around him.

“Thank you for fitting us in, Dr. James,” I said sweetly.
“Yes, always a pleasure, Mr. Smith. When the director called me,

I made sure to make room for my favorite patient. I did not realize
you would be accompanying him to the appointment. I thought Alexi
knew you through a friend.”

“No, Alexi is my friend,” I replied and glanced at my mate. “My

very special, close, personal friend who I’d do anything for.”

Alexi looked like he was about to swallow his tongue at how thick

I was laying it on. “Oh my god! He’s jealous that Dr. James has a
crush on me. The man’s seen me naked more times—” I let out a soft
growl to let him know I wasn’t thrilled about what he was thinking.
“Right, you can hear me. Sorry. He saw me naked in the professional
capacity only, I swear.”

“Yes, well it’s nice to have friends,” the doc bit out, not looking

very friendly himself. “I tried to be Alexi’s friend when he needed
one most and keep seeing him off the books, but he didn’t want me to
get involved with his drama.”

“Well, it speaks to your character that you wouldn’t have let that

stop you from being there for Alexi,” I conceded. I flipped through
the man’s mind. He was a good guy, really wanted Alexi, but truly
had my mate’s best interest at heart. “I’m here for him now, and Alexi

Joyee Flynn

is allowing me to help him, so tell me what we need to fix him, and
I’ll see it done.”

“Right, about the test results,” Dr. James said gently. Fuck! A tear

ran down Alexi’s cheek that he quickly swiped away. “It’s not good,
I’m afraid. There’s no way to have the valve replacement surgery
anymore that we once discussed.”

“Too many years off the drugs with this condition, right?” Alexi

asked, his voice much braver than I could tell he felt. Damn.

“Yes, I’m so sorry, Alexi.” I knew the doc was speaking the truth.

The man looked heartbroken. “The damage to your heart makes it
impossible.”

I cleared my throat and spoke through my whirlwind emotions. “I

don’t mean to be rude. I swear I’m not. My research told me that you
were one of the best in the country. But like any other profession,
there are always those with more experience. Is there someone else
who could maybe do the surgery still?” There, I thought that was very
civil and not insulting. I hadn’t wanted to offend the doc, just get all
the answers.

“I understand what you’re saying,” he replied graciously. “I

conferred with an associate of mine on the East Coast, and he agreed.
At this point, the only thing that can be done is a heart transplant. The
organ is just too far damaged to be repaired by modern science. I can
get you what you need to get Alexi on the transplant list, but Alexi
and I have already talked about this. Organs are hard to come by,
hearts especially since they’re normally damaged when the donor
dies.”

“I understand. Can I get copies of his new scans and his old ones?

There’s someone I do want to show them to.”

“If it’s okay with Alexi,” Dr. James said hesitantly.
“Yes, of course. Sam’s my partner,” Alexi replied and took my

hand in his. “I’m done trying to find a miracle, but if he wants to keep
looking, I’ve given him my permission.”

Shove Your Tree

“I’m going to put you on several medicines to keep you as you are

for as long as we can while we find you a heart. It should make life
about normal, but you need to restrict your activities.”

“No sex then before I die.” Alexi laughed bitterly, and it

practically broke my heart.

“No, I’m sorry,” the doc said wistfully. “I know you’ve been used

to fainting here and there, but with the detritions to your heart, you
might not wake up from it soon. Your heart could give out in the next
few weeks if you’re not careful.”

“Good to know,” he replied as he slid off the table. “Let’s go,

Sam.”

“Wait, you need to get these filled and take them religiously.” The

doc handed me a bunch of sheets of paper, I assumed the
prescriptions. “Let me get you what you need to get on the
transplant—”

“No, no more,” Alexi yelled and left the room before we could

even react.

“I’ll talk to him,” I said to the doc and handed him my card. “Can

those scans be e-mailed to me please? I’m not giving up even if he
is.”

“No one competent or any qualified surgeon would try to repair

his heart. Don’t let some con man take advantage of the fact you have
money and promise you that he can save Alexi. A transplant is his
only hope.”

“There’s more in this world than you know, doc.” I took a risk and

let my magic flash through my eyes so he’d see the storm of it behind
them.

“What are you?” He gasped.
“I’m magic, doc,” I answered with a smile and let my fangs slide

out. “I’m Alexi’s mate, and I won’t let him die. I will find the right
combination of magic and science that will save the other half of my
soul.” I walked to the door and glanced over my shoulder. “Thanks
for your help, doc, but Alexi’s off the market. You make a play for

Joyee Flynn

him, and I’ll forget you’ve helped him and tear your balls out through
your throat.”

And on that note, I left.
I stepped out into the waiting room and didn’t see Alexi.

Swallowing my panic, I used my heightened senses to track him
down. Everything inside of me was screaming to simply ’port to him
and make sure he was safe. But given the grave news he just got, I
thought it best not to startle him…again.

He was sitting outside the hospital staring out into the crisp winter

day with goose bumps on his arm because he’d left his jacket in the
doc’s office. I wrapped it around his shoulders and sat next to him.

“Now is the time to bail, Chiquita,” he whispered after several

minutes of us sitting there in silence. “I’m dying. I’m sorry you got
stuck with a defective mate, but this won’t be pretty, and I won’t put
you through it.”

“Fuck. That,” I replied adamantly. “Your heart might have a birth

defect and you might be ill, but you are not defective. You, finding
you, are my miracle, and I’m not giving up yet. My brothers are
looking for one of my kind who is a doctor and a healer. This isn’t
over. Horse has limited experience, but he saved Justice from a brain
bleed and Daran from a horrid attack by vampires. This isn’t over.” I
repeated it again so it sank in.

“Okay. What now?”
“Now I get my brothers to move you into our house, my room,

and I take good care of you. We go get your medicine and we don’t
stop fighting until you’re better.”

“I don’t have any fight left in me.” He stood and started walking

to the car, not waiting to see if I’d follow. Which of course I did.

“That’s fine. I have enough fight for both of us.” He nodded and

let me slip my hand into his. “You promised me a few days, and I
understand why you can’t wait until the bottom of the ninth to maybe
get a heart from the transplant list. But I need you to hold on a little
longer, okay?”

Shove Your Tree

“I have a feeling you’d do it even if I say no.” He chuckled.
“Damn right I will.” He gave me a soft smile before leaning over

and brushing his lips over mine.

“Thank you.”
“My pleasure, my mate.” I opened the door of my car for him, and

he paused before getting in.

“I’m starting to like that word as much as I do you.” He climbed

up into the SUV and I closed the door. I couldn’t help the big ass
goofy grin on my lips if I’d wanted to.

Once we were on the road, I thought about a plan of action, but

until I knew more, I really didn’t have much to go on. We stopped at
the pharmacy and got all of Alexi’s meds. I knew he was tired when
he didn’t even put up a fight when I paid for them. He seemed distant
and lost in his own thoughts. I wanted to ask what was going on, but I
decided to leave him be. At least he wasn’t shutting me out.

I’d gotten a text earlier from Horse saying that everything was

fine with Otis, and Captain Mahan and his wife, Jenny, were joining
us for dinner. I guess somehow during the day our policeman friend
figured out what we were, so we didn’t have to hide it in front of
them. Worked for me. Pretending to be human, something I’m not,
can be exhausting.

“Hungry?” I asked after I parked in my spot in the garage. It was

more like a one-level parking garage than a typical house garage. I
think it fit two cars for each of us and some collector cars. I didn’t
really pay attention. Cars weren’t my thing.

“Not really, but I have to eat. Otherwise the meds tear up my

stomach,” Alexi answered quietly. I nodded, understanding this was
hard for him, and we got out of the vehicle.

“Do you know which pills to take when, or should I read all the

instructions?”

“I do, but it’s best you know, too, if you’re going to insist on

taking care of me.” I nodded as I opened the door from the garage to

Joyee Flynn

the house. There was a small mudroom where we kept our washer and
dryer before opening into the kitchen…and lots of chaos.

“Hey, how did it go?” Horse asked as he rushed over to us.
“I’m fucked,” Alexi answered bitterly and took the bag of

medications from me. He turned away to get a can of pop from the
fridge as Horse stared after him with wide eyes.

“So many years off the drugs he needed has deteriorated his heart

even worse. At this point, his only hope is a transplant or whatever we
come up with. They can’t do the simple valve replacements
anymore.”

“Fuck a duck,” Box swore from behind Horse. “We didn’t find

any elf doctors yet, but we’re still looking. I contacted the Council for
help.”

“Thanks, Box.” I went to say more, but I heard a female gasp and

turned to see what was going on.

“Oh my god! You’re Alexi Domitrivich, the child rapist!” she

exclaimed, her hand going up to her throat in a gesture of fear.
“You’re an elf? How could you? Elves are supposed—”

“Shut the fuck up, bitch,” I snarled as Alexi dropped his pop and

clutched at his heart. I teleported the few feet to him, not wanting to
waste time pushing past people. He was gasping funny, his heart
racing, and his eyelids fluttering. “Stay with me, baby. Just breathe
slowly. Everything’s fine, okay?”

He nodded, which wasn’t good since I’m sure he was already

dizzy. My mate tried to do what I’d said, but he must have been too
far gone because he passed out. I caught him, sighing in relief when
his heart started to calm back down at least.

“Shadow,” I said evenly as I shook with anger. My friend

immediately took my mate from my arms as I turned on the woman
who had caused this. I knew I looked scary, fangs out, magic swirling
in my eyes. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? You could
have killed him! I should tear your fucking throat out for hurting my
mate.”

Shove Your Tree

“She didn’t know, Chiquita.” Horse placated as he slowly moved

in front of the woman. I got that, but she should be smacked at least
for her lack of manners. I mean seriously? Just announcing something
like that when it wasn’t your home? I couldn’t think past her hurting
my Alexi, and I wanted my pound of flesh.

Joyee Flynn

Chapter 4

“Besides, my wife is right,” Captain Mahan said firmly, stepping

up to her side. “He is a child rapist.”

“The fuck he is,” I snarled and pointed a finger at him. “I like you,

Mahan. Don’t make me kill you, because if it comes to you or my
mate, don’t ever think you will win. You know nothing about what
happened to him. That kid and his fucking baseless accusations are
going to kill my mate if we don’t come up with something fast!”

“Alexi could never hurt anyone,” Otis said fiercely as he came

over to his teacher. “He is too kind for that.”

“Good someone notices and doesn’t jump to conclusions.” I

turned back to the Mahans. “That kid threw himself at Alexi, and my
mate has a heart condition. You saw how the slightest scare makes
him faint. You think he really could get through raping someone and
not pass out?” They seemed to consider that for a moment.

“That was my defense actually when I got the charges dropped,”

Daran said as he moved up beside me. I was starting to feel as if we
were about to West Side Story rumble in our kitchen, everyone
choosing sides and lining up.

“Besides, this country is supposed to pride itself on making sure

people are innocent until proven guilty. Hell, the charges were
dropped. They didn’t even finish the trial because there was no proof!
He lost his job, his insurance, and then couldn’t afford his medication
for his heart or the surgery. Now it’s too late. He needs a whole new
heart, and he’s too exhausted from everything to even try and hope
anymore!”

Shove Your Tree

“I’m sorry,” she whispered as tears filled her eyes. “I just never

thought a child would lie about something like that and Alexi’s
lawyer got him off on some technicality.”

“Fine,” I hissed and then retracted my fangs. I took several deep

breaths, trying to calm back down. “We just came from the doctor,
and he warned us that if Alexi’s not careful then these won’t be
fainting spells much longer and his heart could give out. So no one
better upset my mate or so help them—”

“Be nice, Chiquita,” Alexi said softly. In a flash I took him from

Shadow’s arms and into mine. “How can you lift me with such ease?
I’ve got at least seven inches on you.”

“I’m magic, my love,” I purred as I nuzzled his neck. “You

okay?”

“Yeah, I just need to eat and take my pills,” he answered, looking

hesitantly around the room. “Everyone knows my past now?”

“We don’t care,” Horse said firmly. “Everyone here has some

kind of shit they’ve gone through and might not want everyone to
know. It happened. It’s not who you are, and we still welcome you
into this family without hesitation.”

“I’m so sorry,” Jenny whispered again as she took a step towards

Alexi. I set him on his feet but kept an arm around his waist for
support. “I didn’t know about your heart, and I didn’t mean to upset
you like that.”

“Yeah, they just happened to leave that part out of the papers

when everything went down,” Alexi replied bitterly. He seemed to
just then notice Otis by him. “You okay? Everything get squared
away?”

“Yes, my old tormentor is going away for a long time, and I

helped the police with that,” he said proudly.

“Well, at least someone got good news today. I’m glad that

bastard can’t hurt you anymore.” Alexi gave him a warm smile and
then nodded to me. “I have a feeling our lessons will be in Chiquita’s
room from now on. I have a sneaky suspicion he’s going to keep me

Joyee Flynn

in bed all the time.” He got the cutest blush when he realized how that
sounded. “Not that my heart can take sex or anything.”

“That blows,” Button blurted out and we all looked at him.

“Sorry. I’m just saying I get how restricted activities would suck but
no sex would kill me.” He slapped himself in the forehead for that
one. “Sorry.”

“Button’s even more socially awkward than I am,” I explained as

I used my magic to clean up my mate’s spilled pop and handed him
another one. “You sit down and I’ll bring you food and your pills.”

“You spoil me.” He chuckled.
“Every damn chance I get.” The drama was over for now and

everyone went back to the meal. When we were all done and Alexi
took his pills, we excused ourselves. I hovered over him as we went
up the stairs to our room and he got ready for bed.

“You’re not joining me?” he asked in a sleepy voice.
“I’ll be back in a bit. I just want to look at those scans and catch

up on what Box found.”

“You’re wasting your time,” Alexi mumbled with a yawn. He was

out for the count before I could even reply. I heard his deep, even
breathing and felt relief that at least he’d be getting some rest after the
day we had.

I ’ported back to the kitchen, smiling a little evilly when Jenny

gave a yelp of shock. Fine, she’d apologized, but that didn’t mean I
couldn’t enjoy a little payback when it was unintentional.

“I thought more about your idea,” Box said as I joined him. “With

Why’s permission, I’d like to contact his dad and bring in one of the
cardiologists. I think the combo of them could be what Alexi needs.
Worst case, we can wipe the doc’s mind if they’re going to be trouble
later.”

“Agreed.” And it was the same thought I’d been having.
“Oh, thank fuck,” Horse cried out and buried his face in his arms

on the table. Bren immediately went to him and hugged his mate
close. He sighed when he saw that we were confused.

Shove Your Tree

“He’s been really upset that he couldn’t help your mate. I think he

was scared you’d still need him to try, and he’s been panicked that
he’d end up killing Alexi,” Bren explained as he kissed our friend’s
hair. “He wants to help, as do we all, but he just didn’t know if he
could.”

“Thank you, brother,” I whispered gently as I wrapped an arm

around Horse over Bren’s. “I know I was asking a lot from you, but I
hope you understand why.”

“I do, and I wish I could fix this,” he sobbed. “I failed you.”
“No!” I gasped and hugged him tightly. “You were honest with

me and I appreciate that. We’ll figure a way to help Alexi. I think the
cardiologist today would get in on this idea. He’s got the hots for my
mate, and while he knows he’s got no chance with Alexi now, the doc
still cares for him and would want to help.” I had another idea then.
“Maybe it doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing thing.”

“What do you mean?” Idiot asked as I glanced around and saw a

lot of raised eyebrows.

“What if Why’s dad could gradually heal Alexi’s heart? If he

could get it back to healthier, then the human doctor could replace the
valves. Then it would be just a matter of healing him after surgery,
right?”

“That’s brilliant!” Box exclaimed, and I looked over at Why.
“Please?” I whispered as I saw the indecision on his face. “He’s

the only one we know that might be able to do it.”

“Of course I’ll call him. Hell, Daran and I will ’port there right

now and talk to my parents. I just don’t know if he can help. I know
he’s powerful but to what extent I’m not sure.” Why’s sympathetic
expression made me want to break down in tears. I knew what he
meant, but I had to keep trying. The alternative was too much to
consider.

“Can I still be excited I’m going to the North Pole or would that

be bad form?” Daran asked sheepishly.

Joyee Flynn

“Be excited.” I chuckled and gave Horse another hug as he

calmed down. “Just don’t linger. Time is of the essence.”

“Got it,” Why said and took his mate’s hand. They vanished right

before our eyes.

“Time to go talk to the doc,” I announced as I stood up.
“You want backup?” Shadow asked as he stepped closer.
“Nah, I think more than one he’s already met might scare him.” I

shook my head as I smiled at him.

“Well, if he says no, then let me know, and I can scare the shit out

of him.” Shadow gave me a wicked grin, and I knew he’d look
forward to it.

“I will.” I stood up and thought of the doc. I ended up ’porting

right in the middle of his living room.

“Holy fucking Jesus!” he exclaimed and got to his feet. The doc

clutched his chest and gasped for air. “Fuck! Don’t do that.”

“You’ll live.” I snickered and rolled my eyes. I looked him over

and realized he was just in pajama bottoms. “Get dressed. You need
to come with me right now.”

“The hell I do,” he replied with wide eyes. “You can’t just pop in

here and boss me—”

“Yes I can,” I snarled, letting my fangs pop out as I moved closer

to him. “Now, you can throw on clothes and be presentable or talk to
a room full of people in your jammies. I’m being patient enough to let
you have that choice.”

“Just talk?” he asked and I saw how pale he was then.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” I exclaimed, throwing my arms up in the

air. “I’m an elf. We’re not going to eat you! We have an idea on how
to save Alexi, and we need a cardiologist.”

“Well, why didn’t you just say that then?” he threw right back as

he crossed his arms over his chest. “You get more flies with honey
than vinegar.”

Shove Your Tree

“Huh?” I asked then held up my hand. “I don’t want to attract

flies. I want my mate to live.” I didn’t wait for him to reply. I grabbed
his hand and teleported us back to the kitchen at home.

“You couldn’t let the man dress?” Box asked with a snicker and a

leer at the good-looking doctor.

“I offered,” I drawled and rolled my eyes. “But he was talking

about catching flies with honey. We don’t have time to figure out his
riddles.”

“I simply meant if you were nice about this instead of demanding

I come with you I might have been more receptive,” he shouted.

“So what, you want money?” I sneered, second-guessing my

earlier opinion he was a good guy.

“I want you to ask!” Dr. James yelled in my face, his red with

anger. “You pop into my living room and demand I come with you
and then kidnap me basically.”

“Chiquita.” Horse groaned and I shrugged.
“We’re talking about my mate’s life, Horse.”
“I know, brother,” he said gently and turned to the doctor. “My

apologies, Dr. James. We are asking for your help. We think we
might have an idea that could save Alexi.”

Daran, Why, and Why’s father, Crab, ’ported back in at that

moment. Why eyed over the doc and glanced at me with a raised
eyebrow. “Did you kidnap him in his sleep?”

“No,” I answered as Dr. James replied, “Yes!”
“No,” I drawled and rolled my eyes. “You weren’t sleeping.”
“Whatever,” the man grumbled and glanced at Horse. “Can I get a

shirt please?”

“Of course,” Horse answered and with a flick of his wrist dressed

the doctor in jeans, sneakers, and a T-shirt.

“Shit!” he exclaimed. “You guys really are magic.”
“We’re elves actually.” Horse chuckled.
“I was told you have a plan?” Crab asked with a smirk. “How can

I help?”

Joyee Flynn

“Let’s go to the media room so I can pull up the scans.” I led the

way and noticed the Mahans were gone, so I assumed they’d said
good night before the next wave of drama for the evening. When
everyone, doc included, was in the large converted ballroom, I booted
up my gaming system and pulled up the scans from my e-mail.

“My gods,” several people gasped.
“Yes,” I whispered and swallowed loudly as I saw for myself how

bad Alexi’s condition was. “My mate is dying. I’m not really sure
how he’s still alive after seeing this.”

“He needs a new heart and he’s running out of time,” Dr. James

said gently as he patted my shoulder.

“Elves are able to use their magic to heal people,” I explained as I

turned to face him. “Horse has acquired the gift but never dealt with
something this severe.” I glanced at Crab then. “That’s hopefully
where you come in.”

“I wouldn’t know where to start,” he replied.
“Heal how?” Dr. James asked at the same time.
I glanced around the room and saw a pair of scissors. I grabbed

them and sliced my forearm open. Horse got the idea and moved up
beside me. He laid his hands on either side of the wound and closed
his eyes. I felt a surge of magic throughout my body and the wound
closed up, healing without a scar. The whole thing took moments and
I was pretty sure we shocked everyone stupid.

Or just Dr. James because I knew most everyone else had seen the

show already.

“Sweet mother of mercy,” Dr. James whispered as he reached out

and touched my arm. “But did that healing affect you?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused until he pointed to his

heart. “Yes, my heart sped up a bit.” I thought about that for a
moment. “So we could only do small increments for Alexi while he
was unconscious. Otherwise his heart could crash.”

Shove Your Tree

Crab stepped up to the monitor and studied the images. “I would

feel comfortable healing muscle a little at a time.” He glanced at Dr.
James. “I mean, that’s all the heart is, correct?”

“Yes, basically,” Dr. James replied with a smile. “All I would

need is for the new damage to be healed, and then I could replace the
valves and Alexi would be fine.”

“And then you could speed his recovery after the surgery,” I said,

glancing from Horse to Crab. They both nodded as they gave me wide
smiles. I turned back to the doctor. “That’s the plan in a nutshell.”

“It would work,” he replied and then turned to Crab. “When you

heal him, would you need to see his heart at the time?”

“No, I would scan his body and see it fully while still in his chest.

You would not have to open him up or anything.” He pointed to the
older scan where Alexi’s heart wasn’t so bad. “This would show me
what I’d need to heal his heart to look like.”

“If I got you an older scan, from when he first came to me, could

you heal it to that point?”

“I believe so,” Crab answered with a nod. “Healing is very visual.

When Horse healed Chiquita’s arm, he saw in his mind what it looked
like before and used his magic to make the cells re-form that way. But
my understanding is they came to me for help because Horse has only
done basic healings.” He gave a slight nod to Horse so we all
understood it wasn’t meant as an insult.

“If he didn’t know what to heal the heart to, he’d be going in blind

and could kill this Alexi. That’s why I still cannot fix these valves on
my own. I could make them too big or still too small and make things
worse.”

“I understand completely,” Dr. James said with a wide smile as he

looked at me. “This will work.” His face fell and he got very serious.
“I care for Alexi. He’s a good man that got dealt a rotten hand in life.
I always hoped one day we could be together. I’ll do whatever I need
to do to help, but you swear to me you will give him the life he
deserves.”

Joyee Flynn

I bowed as I placed my hand over my heart to show my oath.

“He’s my mate. I loved him the moment I found him. He will want
for nothing, live forever, become basically indestructible once I claim
him, and be surrounded by family. His is my first priority always, and
I shall treat him as the gift he is for all our days.”

“I don’t know which to address first,” Alexi said quietly from

behind us. I gasped as the rest of us turned around, his brown eyes
staring right into mine as they filled with tears. “You amaze me. I
want you so much, and I think I fell in love with you the moment you
said you wouldn’t give up on me. No one’s ever fought for me.”

“You’re the other half to my soul,” I replied as I took the few

steps to him and cupped his cheek. “My life is nothing without you.
I’m an incomplete elf without my Alexi.”

“You guys can really fix me?” he asked then. It warmed my heart

that the priority in his mind had been what I had said about him first.

“I think we’re fairly confident this could work,” I answered and

started nibbling my bottom lip. I still didn’t want to give him any
guarantees. “You heard enough to know we’re kinda winging it
though, right? I mean it’s not like we’ve tried this before.”

“I know this has its risks,” he said and kissed my palm. “But the

other option is wait around to die. I like this plan much better.” He
gazed over to Crab and Dr. James. “When do we start?”

“Well, we can’t do this during office hours, but we’ve got to

knock you out.”

“We can do that here,” Crab and Horse said together.
“So let’s do this,” Alexi replied with a smile and turned from me.
“No!” I exclaimed and hugged him from behind. Suddenly I was

shitting bricks in fear. Saving him was a great idea. Doing something
that could risk me losing him right now…yeah, that caused lots of
panic. “No, wait, it’s risky. What if they can’t—”

“Chiquita,” Horse said gently as he rubbed my back. I shook my

head and kept my face buried in my mate’s shoulders, and I started

Shove Your Tree

sobbing. “It’s a good plan, brother. We can do this, okay? We won’t
take your mate from you and there is really no other choice.”

“Would you do it if it was Bren?” I whispered as Alexi turned in

my arms and held me tightly.

Horse glanced at Crab. “I’d trust him above all else. He’s good

and taught me a lot already. I know it’s scary because it’s Alexi’s
heart, but Crab’s right. It’s muscle and he knows how to heal that.”

“And once that’s better, valve replacements aren’t that big of a

deal these days,” Dr. James said gently. “I mean, any surgery has its
risks, but I don’t cut unless I feel the odds are good.”

“I want a real life with you,” Alexi whispered in my ear. “You

came up with the plan and found players that we trust. This will
work.”

“I thought you were out of hope?” I asked. Not to be a jerk, but

he’d been so against trying anything else I wondered if I was
dreaming all of this and him changing his mind.

“I was,” he said gently as he ran his fingers through my short

brown hair. “But then I met this kinda pushy, hot elf who refused to
give up on me. He called me his miracle, and when I was sleeping, I
realized he was mine. I trust you and I’ve known Dr. James for years.
Plus, I saw what Horse did to your arm. That in itself was amazing,
and I have faith again.”

“Okay,” I replied after a moment of searching his eyes. It was all

right there in his gaze. He believed in me and I trusted Crab. “Let’s do
this.”

“We do need to do it in my office so I can take new scans when

we’re done and replace them with the ones that were done today,” Dr.
James said with a smile. “I’m glad I was behind on my paperwork and
didn’t file everything yet.”

“Yeah, procrastination.” Shadow chuckled and looked over at

Crab. “Do you need to take energy from us?”

“Just the oldest would help,” Crab answered and looked at Horse

who in turn pointed to Shadow. “Oh! I thought Horse was the oldest.”

Joyee Flynn

“Normally we don’t tell that I am since I have no desire to be in

charge,” Shadow said with a shrug. “Plus, I’ve not honed my skills as
Horse has, but I’m three times his age, so you’ll be able to draw a lot
of raw power from me.”

“I’d still like to come and learn, give my power if you need it,”

Horse replied sheepishly. “I know Alexi’s not a science experiment—”

“But it’s a great chance for you to grow your knowledge base,”

Alexi said with a smile and a nod. “I understand.”

“Okay, then let’s do this.” I needed us to hurry before I changed

my mind or broke down again. I still held on to Alexi, and Horse,
Crab, and Shadow all reached out to me. Horse held his hand out to
the doc.

“You have to be touching us to teleport,” he explained.
“Un-fucking-real,” Dr. James mumbled as he took my friend’s

hand.

“Good luck,” a few people said while a few others called out,

“See you on the other side!” I nodded and ’ported us back to the doc’s
exam room. We could do this. We could save my mate. We had to
because the other option wasn’t a fucking option in my mind.

Shove Your Tree

Chapter 5

“I swear someone’s been putting LSD in the water,” Dr. James

grumbled as he started gathering things we’d need. We all chuckled
as he left and came back a few minutes later with some portable
machines and more equipment. “Alexi, I need you to lie down.” He
lowered the exam table and my mate gave me a quick kiss before
getting up onto it.

“I’ll be here the whole time,” I said as I held his hand.
“I never doubted that.” The smile he gave me helped calm my

nerves as he rubbed his thumb over the back of my hand. “And when
this is over, we’re going to have hot sex everywhere we can possibly
imagine at least three times.”

“In a week?” I asked impishly as I wiggled my eyebrows at him.

“You’ve not even seen our play room yet. I hope you like to be tied
down.”

“I’ve always wanted to but—”
“Stop getting his heart rate up,” Dr. James chastised.
“Sorry, doc,” we both said. Alexi gave me a wink and took several

slow, deep breaths while the doctor hooked him up to an IV. Then he
pulled Crab and Horse in to show them something, scans I assumed.

Ten minutes later he announced he was ready and would put Alexi

under. I started to feel panicky again and whimpered as I stared at my
mate.

“We can do this, son,” Crab said gently.
“I love you, Alexi. You come back to me and I’ll spoil you

forever, okay?”

Joyee Flynn

“Looking forward to it,” he purred and then gave Dr. James a nod.

The doc pushed a syringe of something into the IV and almost
instantly my mate’s eyelids drooped.

“I’m only giving him sedative to sleep instead of real anesthesia.

We just need him out and calm for a little bit, not fully put under,” the
doctor explained when I looked at him with questions written all over
my face. I nodded and ran my fingers through Alexi’s thick, black
hair. The doc flipped on a heart monitor and everything was ready
then. “Do your thing, gentlemen.”

Crab nodded as he stepped forward and placed his hands over

Alexi’s heart. I let go of my mate’s hand so I didn’t interrupt what
they were doing inadvertently. Shadow and Horse each held on to one
of Crab’s arms with both of their hands and closed their eyes.

“See what I’m seeing?” he asked.
“Yes,” they both answered. Dr. James and I exchanged a look that

clearly said we wished we could see, too.

“Music please,” Crab said with flair and suddenly a radio in the

corner turned on.

“Really?” I growled when I realized it was Gomez’s “How We

Operate.” “You think this is funny?”

“Funny? No,” he answered firmly. “But if the tension doesn’t get

cut in this room a little, we might all explode.”

I nodded as I took a few deep breaths. “Fair enough. I’m sorry.”
“He’s your mate,” Crab said with understanding in his tone. He

focused back on my mate.

Dr. James and I stood there quietly for about five minutes before

the heart monitor started to beep louder. Both of our gazes darted to
that and then to each other.

“Good or bad?” I asked, shaking with fear as to what he’d say.
“Good,” he whispered with a tone of awe. “His heart rate isn’t

picking up pace as if he’s distressed. It’s beating stronger because it’s
healing. It’s working.”

“Thank the gods,” I whimpered as I dropped to my knees.

Shove Your Tree

“I’d say we’re about halfway,” Crab announced another five

minutes later. “Doctor, if you’d be so kind to use your scanner thing
to make sure we’re doing this right, I would feel better.”

“Of course.” He moved into position as they backed away and

plopped down in the waiting chairs. He rolled over another machine
and put some jelly on the edge of a wand. I held back my growl when
he lifted my mate’s shirt. I got why he had to do it, but that didn’t
mean I liked another man touching my mate.

“You guys okay?” I asked my friends and Crab. They looked like

they’d run several marathons.

“Yes, we’re simply expunging more energy than I would have

thought,” Crab answered and looked to Shadow. “I’d suggest a
replacement.”

“I’m fine—” Shadow started to argue, panting the whole time.

Crab held up his hand.

“You’ve done great, Shadow, but you have more than enough

friends that can come here and lend energy. There’s no need to drain
yourself.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, looking at me.
“Are you kidding me?” I gasped as I moved to kneel in front of

him. “Thank you, brother. You have no idea what this means to me.”

He gave a quick shrug. “You’d have done the same for me. Can

you ’port me home? I’m a little shaky.”

“Of course,” I answered, knowing Shadow wasn’t much for

dealing with emotional times. I took us home to the kitchen, thinking
he might want nourishment. Everyone had gathered there to wait for
news. “They think they’re about halfway done, but Dr. James is
checking. Crab took a lot from Shadow and asked for a replacement
instead of draining him.”

“I’m in,” several of my brothers said. It tickled me pink in ways I

could never put into words that they all instantly volunteered. I
wanted Flower since he was the next oldest after Horse, but given
what his mate had been through today, I felt it would be insensitive.

Joyee Flynn

Instead Button and Idiot came with me. We popped right back into the
exam room and saw smiles all around.

“It’s working,” Horse said as he hugged me, spinning me around.

“We’re doing it!”

“Thank the gods,” I cried out again. I glanced over at Dr. James.

“Enough for surgery?”

“We think he might not need surgery,” Crab said proudly. I

gasped and he explained when he saw my shock. “If we keep going
the way we have been, he’ll be able to have the claiming ceremony.
After that, he’ll be immortal and his heart won’t ever give out.”

“You’re sure?” I asked, so shocked someone could have pushed

me over with a feather.

“My boy, I’ve seen the claiming ceremony cure cancer.” He

gestured for his helpers to join them, and they got back to work while
my jaw was still hanging open.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Dr. James said in awe. I

glanced over at him and raised an eyebrow.

“Magic?”
“Well, that, too, but I found an old scan of Alexi’s heart from

when he was twenty. The valves were small but still fully functioning,
and his heart almost looks like that again. I guess there had been some
concern even back then that there was something wrong with his
heart. The doctor then misdiagnosed him and said he was fine.”

He held up a hand when I growled. “The technology wasn’t the

same that long ago, and honestly, I could have missed it as well. Plus,
the valves weren’t as small then.”

“Right, okay. No one’s perfect.” I agreed and tried to calm back

down. Mistakes happen. It was just a part of life.

It took another ten minutes or so before everyone sat down on the

floor in a heap, looking completely exhausted. Crab was the only one
who could find his voice. “We’re finished.”

The doc moved back over and did what he called an echo of

Alexi’s heart. I wasn’t sure what that was, but if it showed the man

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Alexi’s heart, I was all for it. When he was done, he threw up his
hands in the air and yelled, “Score!”

“Really?”
“Yes! It’s amazing! Alexi could run a marathon if he wanted to.

His heart will start deteriorating again though—”

“Not after the claiming ceremony,” Horse said, interrupting the

doc. I gave out an excited yelp and hugged the doc and then every elf
in the room before rushing back to my mate’s side.

“You can bring him back around now, right?”
“Already on it,” the doc replied as he pushed something else into

Alexi’s IV. It took about five minutes for my mate to come back
around, and he was very groggy. But I’d never been so happy to see
his gorgeous brown eyes open.

“Did it work?” he asked, and I could see the fear in his expression.
“You have the heart you had at twenty, Alexi,” Dr. James

answered.

“So we can have sex?” His eyes went wide as his pants tented.
“Yeah, he’s going to fit in well with our family.” Horse chuckled.

“Let’s go home.”

“You guys go ahead and rest. I’ll drop the doc off at home and

we’ll meet you in the play room.” I glanced at Alexi. “I have to ask
my mate something important.”

“He’ll say yes,” Idiot said right before they disappeared.
“LSD in the water and ’shrooms in my salad at lunch,” Dr. James

grumbled as he started putting stuff away.

He unhooked Alexi from the IV but told him to lie still and that

the sedative would work its way out of his system fast and to just
relax until he was done. While he was busy, I went over to the “echo”
machine and used my magic to manipulate the time of the scans. I
figured better safe than sorry.

“This is amazing,” the doc said excitedly as he finished up. “Do

you have any idea how many people you could heal? I mean, how
many elves are there? You could band together and save lives.”

Joyee Flynn

“Or end up in some government testing facilities after people find

out about us,” I replied firmly. I glanced at Alexi and saw the same
concern I was feeling on his face. The doc wasn’t thinking about the
realistic implications if the world learned of elves. “You can’t tell
anyone about us, doc. Ever.”

“Why the hell not?” he asked, shocked and annoyed. “I have to

write an article about this and submit it. It’s astounding!”

“Doc, we’ve lived in secret as a people before humans were even

able to talk. You cannot out us. It’s dangerous. And where would we
draw the line? Who do we save? You can never save everyone.”

“So only Alexi gets saved because he’s your mate?” He sounded

indignant. I understood but there really was only so much elves could
do to help and still have a life. Plus, there weren’t many of us who
knew how to use healing magic.

“Let’s discuss this back at your condo so my mate can relax on

something more comfortable than your exam table,” I answered
smoothly. The doc nodded and took my hand as I grabbed Alexi’s
while pushing a thought into his mind. “I’m sorry, Alexi. I’m going to
have to wipe his memory of what happened. I hope you understand
and don’t think me horrid.”

“No! Never!” He gasped in his mind. “You and your family’s

safety is everything to me. You do what you think is best.”

I gave him a slight nod and ’ported us back to the doc’s place. I

kind of felt bad for what I was about to do, but not enough to think of
a different solution or lose any sleep at night. I quickly dressed him
back in his pajamas and pushed my influence over his mind.

“You never saw us tonight,” I ordered him and he nodded. “You

relaxed, watched your favorite movie on TV, and jacked off thinking
you need to get out this weekend and go pick up some cute twink to
boink. You saw Alexi this afternoon and saw the healing effects of a
case study he got involved with in Switzerland. It’s amazing, but
you’re dropping it and wished him the best.”

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“And I’m married now, so you won’t be calling to ask me to

dinner or checking up on my progress,” Alexi added with a blush and
shrugged. “I was never interested in him that way anyways.”

“Good to know.” I chuckled as I shook my head. I pushed what

Alexi had said into the doc’s mind. I got him tucked into bed and used
my magic to get him to sleep. Then I teleported us out of there and to
my favorite spot in Chicago…Wrigley Field.

“I thought we were going home?” Alexi asked, shivering. I

quickly dressed him in something warmer for end-of-November
weather in Chicago.

“We are, but I have to ask you something first,” I answered and

gestured him to sit down in one of the box seats. He sat down, and I
leaned my ass back against the dugout box so I could face him.

“Of course I want to go through the claiming thing with you.” His

smile was so bright that it amazed me how I could feel the excitement
rolling off of him. “I want everything with you, Chiquita. I want to go
to your play room and have you show me everything you like. I want
to walk to Michigan Avenue, holding hands, and see all the Christmas
decorations. I want us to get a Christmas tree and decorate—”

I hissed and jumped away before I even realized it. His eyes went

wide as his mouth fell open. I took a deep breath and leaned back
where I’d been. “Sorry, I hate Christmas trees.”

“Good to know,” he said with a raised brow. “Okay, no trees then.

And I want an explanation for that later, too. But my point is that I
have a whole new chance at life, and I can’t see it without you in it.”

“I’m glad.” I walked into his open arms and hugged him fiercely,

sliding onto his lap. I had a moment to collect my thoughts now that
he took the question I’d needed to ask out of the discussion, but there
was still a lot he needed to know. “We still need to talk.”

“And Wrigley Field is the best place for that?” he asked gently, no

judgment or teasing. Only curiosity.

“It’s my favorite place in Chicago, and I wanted to share that with

you,” I whispered as I moved into my own chair. “It’s like my

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sanctuary. When I need to think I come here. It’s magical to me and
always calms me.”

“It is pretty.” He agreed as we stared out at the lighted field. We

sat there a few minutes and simply took in the night and silence. It
had been one hell of a day after all.

“Elves are crazy possessive of their mates, and it won’t go away

after I claim you,” I explained, finally breaking the silence. “You can
never be with another after we do this, Alexi. I’m not saying you’re a
cheater, but you need to understand the severity of this. You are right
in that you have a whole new chance at life, and I want you to
understand what you’re about to commit to and not regret not taking a
different path later.”

“Fair enough,” he said after a moment. “Explain it to me then. I

really doubt there’s anything you can tell me that will have me
changing my mind, but I agree I need to know what I’m getting into.”

“Elves take mating very seriously. We see mates as a gift to make

us complete. If I ever betrayed you, I’d instantly be stripped of my
magic by the gods, which is a part of my very essence and would kill
me. You’d keep your immortality and be free of our bond. If you ever
strayed or betrayed me, it could kill me as well. I’m not sure. I do
know that we can’t be apart more than a week at a time without it
affecting me, maybe permanently.”

I glanced over at him then and was a complete bastard as I

listened in to his thoughts. He was shocked there were such frightful
consequences but not worried. He never wanted to be with anyone
else or anywhere that wasn’t near me. I felt tears gather in my eyes.

“You were listening,” he said with a soft smile.
“I’m sorry. I’m not good at reading people and I had to know,” I

whispered, ashamed of myself.

“I understand, Chiquita.” My eyes went wide at that. “You’re

doing the asking here. You’re telling me what you want, saved my
life, and already said you loved me from the moment you realized I

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was your mate. You’re going out on a limb here, and anyone would
want to be sure if they could. I’m not mad.”

“Thank you,” I whispered and wiped my eyes. “I’ll do my best to

control myself at people touching you. When Dr. James did that echo
on you and touched your naked chest, I wanted to rip his throat out.
Other people’s scent on you will drive me crazy.”

“I’m not a touchy-feely person with anyone but you, so that

shouldn’t be a problem.”

“I can control it, but you need to understand how jealous we can

be. And you know you’ll become immortal, but you won’t gain any
magic from me other than being able to teleport to me at any time if
you want. Elves are very sexual creatures. Under the circumstances
when we met it’s been no big thing because obviously your heart
getting better was priority.”

“And now?” Alexi purred as he laid his head on my shoulder.
“I’ve been so fucking hard from the moment you woke up and

smiled at me,” I answered with a groan. “I want to sink my cock in
your firm ass, take you to places you’ve never been sexually, and bite
you to start the claiming process.”

“Sounds good.” He chuckled and placed his hand on my thigh.

“Tell me what the claiming process is.”

“We have to have witnesses,” I said hesitantly. “We have sex

while exchanging blood and ceremonial words that bind us. Our souls
and bodies will mate and from that moment on we become one.”

“Sounds nice.” He ran his fingers over the bulge in my jeans, and

I whimpered as I spread my legs for him. “I have one request before
we go home and do that.”

“Anything.”
“I don’t want our first time to be in front of your family. Will you

take me here? Now? At your favorite place.”

“Oh sweet fuck.” I was on his lap in a flash, my fingers curled in

his thick hair as I slanted my mouth over his. I used my magic to

Joyee Flynn

wave away our clothes as my tongue plundered his mouth. “I can’t go
slow this time, but I promise lots of foreplay in our future.”

“Good, because I’ve been dying to taste that cock I’ve seen

tenting your jeans.” I groaned and mashed my lips against his. We
finally were able to act on the passion that had been growing inside of
us for each other. I stretched him magically, growling in approval at
his gasp and cock twitching against me. I stood and pulled him with
me, turning us and bending him over the top of the dugout on the first
baseline.

“Oh fuck, this is so hot,” he moaned and spread his legs wide for

me. “I’ve never felt so desired.”

“How’s your heart?” I asked hesitantly as I ran my hands over the

firm mounds of his ass.

“Racing and beating better than it ever has in my life.” I could

hear the sheer joy in his tone at his words. That worked for me. “Give
me the fucking I could never have before,” he begged and pushed his
ass back against my hands. “Please, Chiquita!”

“Anything my mate wants.” I lined up my cock with his hole and

pushed inside of him in one long thrust. He cried out in pleasure as
my eyes just about rolled back into my head. I grabbed his hips and
gave a couple of soft jabs to make sure he had adjusted to my nine-
inch-plus cock.

“I feel whole for the first time in my life,” he whispered in awe.
“Because of your heart?” I asked, not sure what he meant.
Alexi glanced at me over his shoulder. “Because the man who

saved me loves me and is inside of me. I’ve never felt this peace and
desire so strongly and at the same time.”

“And we’re just getting started,” I purred. He nodded and braced

his hands better on the dugout as I slammed back into him.

“Oh fuck. I’d forgotten how good sex is, and it was never even

remotely like this,” he declared as I fucked him with everything I had.
I grunted in reply and picked up the pace, taking him as no human
could have. “Yes! Yes! Gonna come without even touching my dick.”

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“Let me bite you,” I whimpered, realizing I’d not asked yet if I

could. Alexi arched his back so I could reach his neck and tilted his
head submissively. My fangs slid out and I didn’t hesitate. I bit him
and drank down his life essence. My mate shuddered and screamed
beneath me, covering the dugout in his cum.

I followed him right over, lifting my head and roaring out my

pleasure as his tight ass milked my seed from my cock. I came so hard
my balls were vibrating from the force. When the last drop left my
body and I stopped shaking violently, I pulled Alexi back with me and
plopped down in one of the seats.

I’m sure it looked silly, a large man sitting on a twink’s lap, but it

worked for us. And it’s not like he was hurting me. I wrapped my
arms around his chest, holding him to me, loving that I was still inside
of him. He leaned his head back on my shoulder, his arms over mine.
I licked the bite closed and the extra drops of blood off his body.

“Best sex in the history of sex ever,” he panted. I smiled at the

comment, thoroughly agreeing with him. I was so in love with my
mate, focused on him and our afterglow, that I was pretty sure we
could have been struck by lightning and I wouldn’t have noticed.
Well…maybe, but I doubted it.

Joyee Flynn

Chapter 6

The next morning I practically attacked my mate when we woke

up. I buried my tongue in his ass, using that little trick Horse taught
all of us to make sure our mates never got sore from sex.

“Oh fuck,” he moaned sleepily. “I’ve never had anyone eat my ass

before.”

“Tastes like chicken.” I chuckled and ducked when he reached

back to slap me. I was so giddy from the night before and the fact that
we’d claimed each other I was slaphappy and acting silly. Alexi
didn’t seem to mind.

“Bawk, fucking bawk,” he mimicked. “Now take your mate!”
“My mate,” I whispered reverently. “I’ll never get tired of saying

or hearing that.”

“Me either.” He smiled widely at me as I rolled him over. “How

do you want your mate? Your healed, healthy, horny mate.”

“Ride me.” I saw his eyes glaze over with complete lust as he

nodded in agreement. Alexi was still stretched out from the marathon
of sex we’d had, but I used my magic to slick him up just in case my
saliva hadn’t been enough.

We moved into position, and I grabbed my mate’s hips to help

guide him down onto my cock. I cried out in pleasure as he let go of
his weight and took all of me inside of him. He gave me an impish
smirk and placed his hands on my chest, plucking my nipples.

“I don’t feel like going slow this morning. I want my heart to be

racing again,” he whispered against my lips. “I love knowing your hot
little body makes my healed heart beat like that.”

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I froze, forcing myself not to listen in on his thoughts. “But that’s

not the only reason you want to have sex, right?”

“Wait—what?” he asked as he stopped moving his hips, his

eyebrows drawn together in confusion.

“You don’t only want me to test out your heart, do you?” I

mumbled as I looked away from him.

“Chiquita!” He snarled and jerked my chin so I had to look at him.

“I love you, you dipshit! Yes, I love that I can do things I couldn’t
before and my heart is healed. But I could go for a jog to get my heart
pumping. I want my exercise routine to be lots and lots of hot fucking
sex with my little elf. Don’t you ever doubt that again or I’ll spank
you and cut you off for a week.”

“Okay,” I squeaked, seeing he wasn’t kidding by the stern look in

his eyes. “I’m sorry. This is new for me and—”

“You’re right.” Alexi agreed and mashed his mouth down to

mine. I got lost in the kiss, practically forgetting my name it was so
good. Alexi took control, running his tongue over mine and coaxing it
to come out of my mouth and into his. When I did, he sucked on it
and then moved to nibble on my lips before delving right back in.

“I am?” I asked after a few moments of panting while staring at

each other. “I’m right how again?”

“Glad I can kiss you stupid.” He chuckled and leaned down to

nuzzle my neck, moaning when my cock grazed his sweet spot.
“You’re right that this is new, for both of us, and there’s going to be
some lingering doubts. I’m glad you told me instead of just holding it
all in. But no, I’m not riding this gorgeous cock to test out my heart.
I’m riding it because I can’t get enough of you, and I love you.”

“You do? Really?” I gasped and not just from his words. Alexi

started to move his hips again.

“Of course I do.” He chuckled, riding me harder. “I wouldn’t tie

myself to you for eternity if I didn’t, heart defect or no heart defect.
I’m not that manipulative. You offered me your love, your body,
everything to you on a silver platter for me. Of course I love you.”

Joyee Flynn

I went to tell him the same, but my orgasm came out of nowhere. I

screamed out his name and shot deep into him as my emotions
swirled around inside of me. My mate loved me! I wiped tears from
my eyes as I rode my peak, thrusting up into Alexi’s glorious body.

“Well hot damn,” he whispered when I was spent, eyes closed as I

melted into the bed like a wet noodle. I grunted in reply even though
I’d meant to ask what he meant. “Who knew saying I loved you
would give you hard-core insta-orgasm.”

“Live and learn,” I groaned as he started riding my still-hard cock

again.

“I love how you never go soft,” Alexi purred as he plucked my

nipples. “How many times could you go in a day, my mate?”

“We can find out,” I joked, smiling up at him as I recovered. My

heart had steadied again, along with my breathing. When he got close
to his climax, his movements started to get erratic and slow down his
progression. I could see he was getting frustrated, and his lack of
experience and years of not having sex were showing.

I braced my feet on the bed and started to thrust up into him hard,

taking him for a ride. His eyes went wide as I hit his prostate every
time, but I could also see the relief in his eyes that I’d solved the
problem. Alexi screamed as he came, shooting his pearly seed all over
my body. I had a second, smaller one, grunting as I overflowed his ass
with my release.

“Need food,” he groaned a few moments later as he slid off of me

and collapsed on the bed. “And coffee. Oh fuck, how long has it been
since I’ve had coffee?”

“Why haven’t you had any if you so obviously love it?” I asked in

confusion, turning so we were lying on our sides facing each other.

“No stimulants,” he answered as he tapped his chest over his

heart. “Couldn’t risk getting the bad ticker all cranked up on
caffeine.”

“Well, good thing you’re all healed and can have as many caffeine

or sugar highs as you want.” I jumped out of bed with a smile on my

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face, sexually sated and thrilled we were going to spend the day doing
everything Alexi couldn’t have before.

“Maybe just more sexual high,” he growled as he raced after me. I

gave a squeal, an honest-to-goodness squeal, as he smacked me on the
ass. I thought he should slap me upside the head for squealing, but
Alexi just laughed.

Ten minutes later we were showered, dressed, and walking down

the stairs to get breakfast from the kitchen. The doorbell rang, and I
had a sinking feeling something bad was on the other side of that
door. I mean, I highly doubted it was anything good at nine in the
morning the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

“Hi, can I help you?” I asked the middle-aged woman standing on

our porch with two small children after opening the door.

“Yes, I’m looking for Alexi Domitrivich. I was told he was

residing at this address now.” She glanced around the foyer and
seemed pleasantly shocked with what she was finding. Again, no
good could come of that.

My mate came up behind me with a confused look on his face.

That made two of us. “Yes, this is where I live now.”

And then something hit me. “Why do those children have

suitcases?” I asked in horror.

“Wade? Jade?” Alexi gasped. I darted a glance at him before

staring at the small humans again. Shit, I groaned mentally when I
saw they had my mate’s eyes and thick black hair.

“Oh, so you do recognize your own children,” the lady said with a

sneer. “I thought you’d never seen them?”

“I haven’t but not at my choice—”
“Kids?” I whispered looking at my mate as if he was a stranger to

me. “You have kids?”

“Yes, Sam, but it’s complicated.”
“Right,” I groaned, and for the first time in my life…I fainted.

* * * *

Joyee Flynn

I awoke a little bit later to Horse taking charge like normal. We

were not in one of the front sitting rooms and a large part of me
wanted to pretend I’d not woken up yet.

“So it’s either Alexi takes these children in or they go into the

system?” Horse asked calmly.

“They are his children,” the woman answered with an annoyed

tone. “But yes, there is no one left besides Mr. Domitrivich.”

“Being the sperm donor doesn’t make them his,” Horse snapped

right back. “Can there be like a trial period? Or does he have to decide
this moment for good?”

“What’s there to decide?” Yeah, she was getting on my nerves,

and I wanted to know more about this sperm donor thing.

“I’d like to talk to my partner when he’s awake before deciding

something that would affect both of us,” Alexi said quietly.

“I’m up.” I didn’t have much of a choice, and it seemed they were

going in circles without me. “Explain to me how you have kids,
Alexi.”

“Look, I have other appointments.” The lady sighed dramatically

and checked her watch. I had a feeling it wasn’t the first time she did
that.

“We’ll take them for the weekend and let you know our official

decision Monday,” Horse informed her and stood.

“And you get any vote in this why?” She sneered as she stood.

“This is up to Mr. Domitrivich only—”

“Lady, you’re in my house, and as the oldest of this family, I get a

vote in everything. Now go to your other appointments and annoy
someone else, okay? We need to discuss this as a family, and I’d like
to talk to the kids and see if this is something they’d even want.”

I glanced at the adorable, very scared-looking twins who looked

so much like Alexi I fell just a little in love with them. They looked to
be about four or five and were a little paler than Alexi. And while
they had his hair theirs was really, really curly.

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“Do you have toys?” the little girl asked.
“Why yes we do,” Horse answered as he knelt in front of her.

“And we have a big TV like a small movie theater that you can watch
cartoons on.”

“What a theater?” the boy asked, but it actually came out more

like “wha a beater.” Okay, so cute.

“I’ll just have to show you later.” Horse gave them a wink and

turned to the lady…I never got her name or who she was working for.
“You can leave now. I’ve got your card, we’ll call you Monday.”

“Fine.” She huffed and grabbed her briefcase. She stormed out of

the room, and I heard a loud, smacking kiss. I turned back just in time
to see the little girl pulling away from Horse.

“Thank you for making the mean lady leave,” she said shyly.

Again it sounded like “ank you for aking da mean wady weave,” but I
got the gist. “Can we stay with you? Grandma and Grandpa went to
heaven.”

“They were mean, too,” the boy grumbled with his arms crossed

over his chest. “They didn’t want us either.”

“You’re going to stay this weekend with us and that way you can

get to decide if we’re mean or not. Does that sound fair?” Horse was
fibbing slightly, but I wouldn’t have had it in my heart to tell two
scared kids either the weekend was more for us to decide if we wanted
them.

“Yes,” she answered and then started fidgeting with her hands.

“Can we have breakfast now?”

“Of course.” Horse chuckled and took each of their hands. “We

live in a special house where little kids can get anything they want for
breakfast. What would you like?”

“Pancakes!” They both shouted and jumped with excitement.
“Pancakes it is then.” He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Bren’s

in the kitchen already. We’ll get them some breakfast while you guys
talk.” He gave me a soft smile of sympathy. “We need to discuss it as

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a family, but I think you know what everyone’s answer will be.
They’re family.”

“Thank you, brother,” I said as I wiped my eyes before tears

started.

“He’s your brother?” the little girl asked as they walked to the

door.

“I have eleven brothers,” Horse answered in a fake whisper. “And

some of them are married like me, so we have lots of people in this
house.”

“But no girls,” she replied in a confused tone. “The mean lady

said she didn’t want to take us to the sick house with all the men. I
don’t understand what she meant.”

“Umm, well, that’s…Bren!” I almost wanted to laugh as Horse

walked faster out of the room and toward his mate. Yeah, I’d want
backup on that one, too.

“I’m sorry, Chiquita,” Alexi whispered as he moved to hug me. I

ducked under his arms, and he looked as if I’d slapped him. “I never
thought I’d ever get to see Jade or Wade.”

“Were you married?” I asked as I moved over to the sideboard

and fixed myself a whiskey. It was really hard for elves to get drunk,
so it wouldn’t be like I’d be falling over or acting stupid with kids in
the house.

“No, never. I never even slept with Doreen. I gave her my sperm,

which I deposited into a cup. Then all the shit went down with my
heart and then the accused rape. I was in lockup waiting for the rape
kit results when they were born. Doreen was one of the people who
didn’t believe I was innocent.”

“How long had you known her?” I asked, shocked that a true

friend wouldn’t have known Alexi better.

“Since grammar school.” He shrugged and looked so defeated I

instantly lost my anger.

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“So you originally were going to help her raise them?” I changed

the tone of my voice to something gentler as he flopped down on the
sofa with his head in his hands.

“No,” he whispered. “I was going to be the cool Uncle Alexi. That

was the plan. Then she cut me out of her life and I never even got
that. She got really bad postpartum depression and committed suicide
when they were a year old. Technically they should have come to me
then but with the media still stalking me after losing my job and my
heart…”

“How could you raise baby twins?” I finished for him. I set my

drink down and sat next to him wrapping my arms around him. “I’m
sorry I freaked.”

“No, I should have told you. I just never thought they’d show up

on our doorstep. And we’ve had so much going on in the whole two
days we’ve been together.” He had a point there. “Everything’s been
moving so fast that it’s not like we’ve had time to relax and tell each
other about our pasts.”

“So they went to live with their grandparents.” I made it a

statement though I wanted him to elaborate on that point. Alexi got
the hint.

“I always hated Doreen’s parents and they felt the same about me.

They would have fought me for custody, and even if I felt I could take
care of the twins, I didn’t have any money to fight them. I mean, I
couldn’t even afford the medicine for my heart. The DCFS woman
said they died in a car crash last week and the twins have been staying
at a neighbor’s house until after the funeral.”

“Do you want them to live with us?” I asked, already knowing the

answer but needing to hear it.

“Yes,” he whispered and shook with silent sobs. “I know we just

mated, and this is too much to bring to your doorstep especially after
everything you’ve done for me and my heart but—”

“Stop,” I said firmly as I turned his chin so he had to look at me.

“I’d do anything for you, Alexi. You’re my mate, my whole world

Joyee Flynn

now. If you want your children with us, then I’m on board. I have no
idea how to act around kids, and we’ve got to talk to everyone else,
but we won’t abandon them.”

“They don’t have anyone else and I am their father.” Hope was

shining in his eyes, and I knew I could never deny him his kids. I
loved him. It was that simple. This would make Alexi happy, so I
would do it.

“Let’s go get to know your kids,” I said with a smile.
“Our kids,” he whispered. I felt my heart flutter as spots formed in

front of my eyes. “Oh shit.”

“No, I’m good,” I panted, trying to fight the panic. He pushed my

head between my knees and I took deep gulps of air. I could do this. I
could be a daddy. Right?

“You gonna make it?” Alexi chuckled nervously as I raised my

head.

“If I get a kiss.”
“Gladly.” He leaned in and gave me a quick but heated kiss.

When we broke apart, I was light-headed for other reasons now.

“Let’s go get to know our kids.” Alexi was thrilled at what I’d

said. He grabbed my hand and practically dragged me off the couch. I
laughed as I followed behind him to the kitchen.

“I love you,” he said quietly before pushing open the swinging

door…and we got a first glance at the circus in our kitchen.

“Can we keep them?” Idiot asked excitedly though shooting his

mate nervous glances. I gasped as I realized how hard this would be
for Shely. He’d lost a son he’d barely known about six months ago.

“Shely?” I said hesitantly.
“I’m okay, Chiquita,” the man answered with a sad smile. “Life

goes on. It will just take me some time to get used to.”

“Yeah, us, too.” I snickered. I glanced at Idiot, who had Jade

sitting on his lap. She was eating ice cream and had more on her face
than she’d probably gotten in her mouth. There was a huge mess

Shove Your Tree

everywhere, and Wade was on Why’s lap with a bowl as well. “Ice
cream for breakfast?”

“It’s not our fault,” Horse said with a guilty look. “They said

they’ve never had any before. Their grandparents were strict Bible-
thumpers or something.”

“That’s Doreen’s parents alright,” Alexi mumbled. He slowly

walked over to the kids and sat across the table from them. “Do you
know who I am?”

“The mean lady said you were our daddy, but Grandpa always

said you were dead,” Wade answered. I could see the hurt on Alexi’s
face, but there was no shock. Wow, he must have really hated
Doreen’s parents as much as they did him. “But you look like us.”

“You’re really smart, Wade. I’m your father.” Alexi looked as if

he was bracing for the fallout.

“I told you,” Jade said and stuck her tongue out at her twin. “He

was in that picture with Mommy Grandma pulled out sometimes.”
She looked at Alexi and then to me. “He’s your wife?”

There were several snickers throughout the room. What might

have started out as Bren and Horse making the twins breakfast
quickly grew to the whole household. I swear we all had radar for
excitement and knew when to come running for it.

“He’s my husband,” Alexi corrected gently. “We’re married like

Grandma and Grandpa, but we’re both men. Is that okay with you?”

The twins shared a glance, and I could hear their thoughts. They

didn’t care as long as I was nice to them and wanted them. I glanced
at Horse and saw a look of understanding on his face.

“It’s the only way for me to know what they want,” he said

sheepishly as he blushed. “They’re kinda hard to understand since I
don’t speak kid, and I had no idea what to do with them. But I second
what Idiot said. Can we keep them? They’re so cute, and Jade wants a
princess room.”

Joyee Flynn

“Is everyone okay with this?” I asked as I glanced around the

room. Everyone nodded with bright smiles on their faces. “This could
cramp your normal style, guys.”

“So what?” Why replied as he waved away the concern. “We

normally keep sex to the play room and our bedrooms anyways.”

“You have a play room?” Wade asked, his eyes going wide. “Is

that where you keep your toys?” Oh dear gods. If the kid only knew.

“Can we see it?” Jade was practically bouncing in her chair.
“No!” we all exclaimed. Then we realized we’d been too loud

when both kids looked as if they were going to start bawling.

“It’s a play room for grown-ups, but we’re going to make you a

play room of your own. How about that?” I quickly said, scared
they’d cry.

“With lots of stuffed animals?” Jade sniffled. Damn, she was cute.

What she’d really said was, “wif wots of tuffed aniemals.” Yeah,
these two would wiggle into my heart in no time if they hadn’t
already. I glanced over at Alexi.

“Yes, with lots of stuffed animals, my love,” he whispered as tears

trailed down his cheeks. I could feel his joy coming off of him in
waves, so I wasn’t worried. I wrapped my arms around him from
behind and kissed his head. We could do this. We could be daddies. I
had to for my mate.

Shove Your Tree

Chapter 7

The way our mansion was set up was like most mansions, I

guessed. The necessities were towards the center, like the kitchen,
media room, sitting rooms, library, and whatnot. Then down the south
wing were the play room, home theater we built, lounge, and storage.
The north wing had most of our studies and private rooms for our
various hobbies.

Down on the very end was where we attached Flower, Button, and

Why’s workshops because they needed additional equipment that we
couldn’t have in the house. For example, the kiln. The basement
housed a lot of storage, the pool, gym, and Maze and Shadow’s
private stash of weapons we’d recently learned about.

The second floor is where we had our bedrooms. There were ten

on each side though we still split up six in each wing. It just kind of
happened that way without discussing it. I guess we figured if we
couldn’t all be in one wing, that we should split evenly. Plus, it gave
us more privacy when we had guests or now those of us who had
mates.

So it ended up being no big deal giving Jade and Wade their own

rooms in the south wing where my bedroom was. The first two rooms
on the left side of the hallway had never been claimed by any of us
because they were adjoining rooms that shared a bathroom. For adults
who weren’t lovers, it wasn’t the best thing…but for kids. It worked
great. And even better, as luck would have it, my room was just
across the hall.

“If you guys get scared, you can either go into each other’s rooms

or right across the hall to us, okay?” Alexi said gently.

Joyee Flynn

“Dis woom uglwy,” Jade whined. Or in adult speak, “this room is

ugly.”

“That’s why we’re going shopping!” Horse exclaimed as he

rubbed his hands together. “I totally get to be cool Uncle Horse that
spoils his niece and nephew.” My eyes went wide at his slip.

“Can I speak to you in the hall, Rick,” I said calmly but

emphasizing his name.

“Oh, don’t worry,” he replied waving off my concern. “I called

Crab and we figured out how to keep the kids from ever telling people
our secret magically.”

“You used magic on my children?” Alexi looked as if he was

going to burst with anger. Yeah, I was right there with him.

“Not okay?” Horse asked as he swallowed loudly. Bren

immediately stepped in front of his mate.

“Shely, Justice, why don’t you show the kids around their rooms

and ask them how they want to decorate them,” Bren ordered as he
gestured the rest of us to go out in the hall. Once we were out there,
he took the lead because Horse looked ashamed and as if someone
had kicked his puppy.

“How could you, Horse,” Alexi growled. “You used magic on the

kids?”

“It won’t hurt them, Alexi,” Bren said gently. “Yes, he should

have talked to you first, but you have to understand the dynamics in
this house. Horse is kinda the boss. He always does what needs to be
done and what’s best for everyone. He’s not used to deferring to
someone’s parent.”

“Fine, I get that,” Alexi replied after a few deep breaths as he

rubbed his hands on his forehead in agitation. “You swear it won’t
hurt them?”

“I’d never hurt cute little munchkins.” Horse sounded offended

and stuck out his lip in a pout. “Crab said they do it all the time to elf
children when they take them out to the human world.”

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“What exactly did you do?” I asked, not sure what he was talking

about since my parents had never left the North Pole with me. The
first time I’d been among humans was when I was of age.

“All it will do is prevent them from telling anyone we’re elves or

we do magic. We couldn’t pretend we were human forever. You
know we’d slip up eventually. This was the only way to keep them
here and not worry about our secret getting out.”

“I understand that, but next time talk to me first,” Alexi said

firmly.

“Yes, of course,” Horse replied quickly, relieved he wasn’t in

trouble anymore. “I’m sorry. I swear I’d never do anything to hurt
them. I just didn’t want all of us to have to hide from them either.” He
paused for a moment while we were all letting this new development
sink in. “Can we go shopping now?”

“Let me ask them a few questions first.” Alexi went back into the

room as Horse nodded and then sighed.

“I didn’t mean to step on any toes,” Horse said quietly to me.
“This is going to take some time for all of us to adjust,” I replied

gently as Bren hugged his mate. “It was a smart thing to do, but now
we all know we need to defer to Alexi where the kids are concerned.”

“So the ice cream was a bad move, too?” Idiot asked hesitantly.
“Yeah, that just means we all need to read up on how to take care

of children,” I answered with a chuckle. There were several nods of
agreement, and I knew tomorrow there would be a ton of parenting
books we’d all be reading.

“Okay, so when we go shopping, I’ll be in charge of getting

research materials since I have no idea what else kids need and hate
decorating,” Shadow announced.

Or the books would be coming today.
“What?” I heard Alexi gasp and in a flash we were all back in

what was now Jade’s room. “What do you mean you only have what’s
in your suitcases?”

Joyee Flynn

“Grandma and Grandpa’s will said everything went to charity,

even all our toys. The mean lady packed one bag for each of us only.
We had to leave everything else behind,” Wade explained as both
their bottom lips quivered as if gearing up to cry.

“That’s great!” Horse said as he clapped his hands together. Alexi

and I both looked at him as if he’d grown another head.

“How? We lost all our toys,” Jade whimpered.
“But don’t you see?” Horse answered as he knelt in front of them.

The twins shook their heads adamantly. “Now we can get you all new
toys for your new rooms to celebrate living in a new house.”

“All new Barbies?” Jade asked hesitantly as if she wasn’t really

believing it.

“Absolutely!” Horse smiled at her as he took her little hand. “And

even toys maybe your grandparents couldn’t get you.” He leaned in
and started speaking in a mock whisper. “I don’t know if you realized
this when you saw how big our house is, but your daddies and your
uncles are rich. We can get you lots of cool toys. And we have a
pool.”

“Really?” They both gasped. Horse nodded.
Wade lost his smile. “We don’t have bathing suits.”
“We can get those, too, then!” Horse turned to Maze. “Check the

clothes in their suitcases for size so we don’t get stuff that doesn’t fit
them.”

“Actually, at their age we should also get stuff for them to grow

into,” Button explained. “I read that children grow like weeds.”

“That may be true but not nice to say,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Well, there are cute weeds,” Button replied, his eyebrows

scrunched together in confusion.

“You’re funny,” Jade said before turning to Alexi. “Can we call

you Daddy?”

“If you want,” Alexi answered, his eyes going wide with shock.

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to until you’re ready,
but I’d like you to call me Daddy when you’re ready.”

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“Do we call you Daddy, too?” Wade asked me. Hell if I knew!
“Why don’t you call Chiquita ‘Dad’ and me ‘Daddy,’” Alexi

replied for me and shrugged his shoulders. “That way we won’t get
confused about who you’re talking to.”

“That’s a funny name.” Jade giggled. “Why your mommy name

you that?”

I glanced at Alexi, who nodded that I could go ahead and explain

everything to them. “Actually, I named myself. See, not all of us here
are like you.”

“Why not?” Wade asked as he eyed me over as if not seeing

anything that made us different. I let my ears go back to their natural
pointy shape. “You work for Santa!”

My friends and I all flinched. Yeah, we weren’t fans of the North

Pole or Christmas after all. “I grew up there, but there were so many
elves that worked for him that we decided to come live here in
Chicago instead.” Okay, slight fib but I wasn’t explaining to a four-
year-old the real reasons. Maybe when they were like twenty.

“Elves aren’t scary,” Jade announced with a big grin.
I glanced over at Alexi with my own smile. “Your daddy said the

same thing when I first told him what I was.” But it seemed the kids
were already bored with the news.

“Toys now?”
“Yes, yes, toys now.” Horse chuckled and took their hands. Alexi

bit his lip as if to argue as everyone filed out of the room.

“If this is about money, don’t even start,” I said as I pulled him

into my arms. “You’re my mate. What’s mine is yours and so on.”

“It never even crossed my mind that I couldn’t provide for them

when I said I wanted them to be here with us,” he grumbled. Oh, that
wouldn’t do! Today was a happy day, none of this sad shit.

“Then good thing you landed a hot, rich mate.” I giggled and

pulled him to the door. “There’s more to providing for children than
money, Alexi. Even I know that. You’re going to love them and teach
them and guide them. That’s what they need more than stuff. Let my

Joyee Flynn

friend spoil them. They need it after what they’ve been through. I
mean kids are resilient, but they really just lost the only parents they
ever knew even if they didn’t like them.”

“Right, yeah, okay, let’s go buy them everything they need,” he

said quietly as if only half paying attention. I’d give him a bit to
process all of them and then if he didn’t snap out of his funk, I’d make
him snap out of it. How? No clue, but I was pretty resilient myself
sometimes.

A few minutes later, we were walking into the garage and into the

middle of an argument. Great.

“I say we take the Hummer. Car seats or not, it’s the best thing to

protect the kids,” Shadow said adamantly

“But the Volvo has those adjustable kid seat belts in the backseat!

That’s got to be as good as those chair things,” Horse threw right
back. They seemed to notice Alexi then and turned to him. “What do
we do?”

My mate looked just as confused, but fortunately, Jade came to

the rescue.

“Grandma had a car like that, and we didn’t use the booster seats

then,” she said, pointing at the Volvo. “We can ride in the tank on the
way home once we get kid chairs, because it’s cool.”

“Totally,” Wade agreed with a voice of awe. Well, that settled

that. Though I wasn’t sure if the grandma had been doing the right
thing letting them sit in the backseat without special child safety seats.
But for now, what else was there to do? And it’s not like we were
driving to Texas. The store was only a few miles away.

Everyone listened to Jade, which was kind of funny in itself, and

we all split off into four vehicles. I knew my friends were coming
because there was fun and shopping to be had. But they were also
tagging along to show their support…which was why they rocked.

And then came the shitty part. I had to drive the Volvo.

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“Not it,” Horse shouted and quickly jumped in the Hummer.

Several others called it out as well and quickly got into any other
vehicle than the one we just stuck the kids in.

“You know the area better and where we’re going,” Alexi said as

he quickly got in the passenger side. I sighed and got in the driver’s
seat.

“You’re making this up to me tonight,” I hissed at him and started

the car.

“Of course, my love,” he purred, and my cock perked right up.

Bad dick! Bad, bad dick! No getting hard when the munchkins were
around! He seemed to listen to reason because he went back down
before we were out on the main road. I’m sure eventually there would
be a time they’d walk in on us making out and I’d be excited while
they were in the room, but I could do without that happening…ever.

We also decided to go to the massive, huge SuperTarget first

instead of Babies“R”Us. For one, at four years old, they weren’t
babies. Secondly, Target had everything.

After I pulled into a spot so far away from any other cars, we

parked and got out. I was just helping Wade out of the backseat when
I heard several snickers behind me.

“Oh shut it,” I growled as he got to his feet and I closed the door.

“None of you were brave enough to even drive the car they were in.”
Yeah, that shut them up real quick.

Fine, I parked at the very far end of the parking lot. So sue me. I

was a new dad basically with twin four-year-olds, and even though
they weren’t my flesh and blood, I was already crazy protective over
them.

When we were finally done with the trek, I laughed at the seven

shopping carts my friends pulled out. “We can come back, guys.”

“Yeah, but the booster car seats will each take up one cart,” Idiot

said with a pout. He did have a point.

“Fair enough.” I chuckled and put Wade in the kid’s seat in his

cart. “You want to ride with your Uncle Idiot?”

Joyee Flynn

Wade’s eyes went wide. “Idiot’s not a nice word, Dad!” Okay, I

should have been focused on the point he was getting at, but all I
heard was he called me Dad. Wow! My eyes filled with tears
instantly, and I was so overwhelmed with emotion I felt my knees get
weak. “Don’t cry, I didn’t yell.”

“I think he’s excited you called him Dad,” Idiot said gently. “And

my name really is Idiot. So it’s okay to say when you’re talking to
me.”

I nodded my agreement, and it seemed to appease Wade.
“Juice box!” Jade squealed from another cart being pushed by

Horse and pointed to the display. Bren hurried to go get some.

“Are they a hundred percent juice?” I asked. He quickly read the

back and shook his head, setting them back on the shelf. I focused on
Jade then. “Those are yucky ones, but I promise we’ll get you the
good ones, okay?”

“You promise?” she asked with that little lower lip sticking out

again.

“Yes, sweetie.” I got a bright smile from her then. Oh yeah, they

were totally going to wrap us around their fingers. We headed right to
the car seats as Alexi wrapped his arm around my waist.

“He called you Dad.”
“I know.” I giggled. “I liked it.”
“I saw,” he whispered as he nuzzled my neck. “I love you so

much, Chiquita.”

“I love you, too, Alexi. Thank you for this gift.”
“Huh?” he asked, snapping out of his tender touching. “What

gift?”

“The twins.” I chuckled and gestured to my friends, who were

currently racing their carts much to the squealing delight of the kids.
“Look at the joy they bring our family. I never thought I wanted kids
until these two with your eyes and hair showed up. I want to love
them and protect them like I do you.”

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“You’re an amazing man,” he said, and then we jogged to catch

up.

“Can I have that one?” Jade asked Horse as we joined them. She

seemed to realize something and quickly blurted out, “Please. Can I
have that one, please?”

“They’re like the most polite kids ever,” Idiot cooed, and I had to

agree. “And so not spoiled brats.”

“Good to know.” Alexi chuckled as he picked out the shirt she

wanted in the right size. “You really like pink, don’t you?”

“Pink pretty, Daddy,” she answered as if it was the same as

informing him the sky was blue.

“And I think pink goes marvelous with theses dark curls,” Justice

said dramatically as he gently tugged on her hair. “Just marvelous,
darling.”

We split up into groups but not before Alexi gave everyone a stern

warning never to let the twins out of sight. I think he was having his
first-time parent scare that the kids could be taken.

“Babe, you gotta chill,” I whispered to him as he nervously

glanced over to the boys section for the hundredth time. Wade was
over there with Idiot, Shely, Button, Box, Justice, and Cave. The rest
of us, minus Maze and Shadow, who were handling booster seats and
parent books, were still with Jade in the girls section.

“Okay, right.” He agreed and took a few deep breaths. “I never

knew this is what parents go through when they take their kids to the
store.”

“I think it gets easier with time,” Horse said gently. “But if

anything should happen, or they get lost somehow, all we have to do
is ’port right to them. They won’t get far.”

“I forgot about that,” Alexi replied with a sigh of relief. He looked

much calmer then and started to enjoy himself.

We filled a whole cart with clothes just for Jade, including “big

girl underwear.” Yeah, we were all thrilled we wouldn’t be changing
diapers and they were already potty trained.

Joyee Flynn

Then we met everyone in toys. I swear my friends were more

excited than the twins were. They kept slipping more and more
LeapFrog learning toys in the cart that Jade and Wade didn’t even ask
for.

Maze and Shadow met up with us in food after we filled another

two carts. It seemed seven carts wasn’t a bad idea after all.

“It says here that children their age should be getting regular

checkups with a pediatrician and taking daily vitamins,” Shadow
informed us and then set off to find every children’s medicine we
might also need.

After the juice box checking earlier, everyone was making sure

they were getting the healthiest stuff possible. We also let them pick
out their favorite foods and came to a realization.

“Now we’re going to have to actually grocery shop,” Horse

grumbled. I seconded that. I hated going to the store even when it was
a bunch of us like this. It seemed such a pain in the ass.

First, there was buying everything, then getting it out of the cart

and paying for it. Next, we had to put it back in the cart before
loading it up in the car. Then it was dragging it into the house and
putting it all away. And later taking out the garbage from all the food.
It was like a never-ending process we all hated.

By the time we were done, two hours had passed. We paid,

brought it all out to our vehicles, and loaded them up while Maze and
Shadow installed the booster seats in the Hummer. It was the “cool”
truck after all, and the twins really wanted to ride in it.

“You said we could get swimsuits,” Jade said to Horse in an

accusing tone. “I want to go swimming.”

“They didn’t have any in the store, princess,” he replied gently.

“When we get home, we’ll order some online since they’re not in
season right now.”

“Promise?”
“I promise.” Horse chuckled. It seemed both of the twins were big

on making people promise things. While I understood why they did it,

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I was glad they weren’t old enough to know that most people didn’t
keep their promises. I knew we would though. We’d make these kids
deliriously happy and love them.

That’s all that mattered.

Joyee Flynn

Chapter 8

When we got home, Shadow had the great idea to teleport

everything up to Jade’s and Wade’s rooms instead of dragging it all
up the stairs. Cave did the same with the food and swore he’d put it
away.

“It’s going to take you a while to learn the layout of the house so

you don’t get lost, so I want you guys to pay attention how to get to
your rooms. Okay?” Alexi said as we entered into the kitchen. The
twins nodded and glanced around as they followed us up to their
bedrooms.

“That was easy,” Jade said with a smile.
“I knew how to find my room from when you showed us this

morning,” Wade announced with pride.

“That’s because you’re both really smart like your daddy,” I

replied with a little pride of my own. “Did you know your daddy is a
teacher?”

“Like for school?” Jade asked in awe, her eyes going wide. Alexi

nodded and she shared a glance with her twin. “So you won’t yell
when you try to teach us stuff? Grandma used to always yell and say
we were stupid.”

Yeah, some people just shouldn’t be parents.
“He won’t yell,” I answered with a tender smile when I saw that

Alexi was fuming. “And neither of you is stupid. We know you’ll try
really hard to learn.”

“I want to read,” Wade whispered. “I like the pictures, but I want

to know what the words say all on my own.”

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“We got you some learning toys that will help with that,” Idiot

said with a smile. “But first we need to decorate these rooms.”

“Pink!” Jade squealed as she clapped her hands, jumping up and

down.

“Okay, I read in the book what kind of kid bed they should have at

this age,” Shadow informed us and used his magic to make one for
Jade. It had a small railing on either side, so she didn’t fall out, and
half a twin-size mattress. It was pink of course and sparkled with a
half canopy. “How’s that?”

“That’s for me?” she whispered and looked to all of us. I nodded,

noticing I wasn’t the only one. I couldn’t tell if she liked it or not so I
figured this was safer.

“I can change it however you want if—” Shadow started to say,

but she let out a loud squeal of protest and raced to the bed.

“No! I want this one,” she yelled as she flopped on the bed and

rolled all around it. “It’s perfect. Thank you, Uncle Shadow!”

“She really is smart,” I said in awe.
“How so?” Alexi asked me with a raised brow.
“They’ve been here maybe three hours and not once have either of

the twins mixed up anyone’s names after they were all introduced. I
mean there are nineteen of us now.”

“Hell, I get confused with y’all still,” Benjii threw in. “Are we

going to get them a pony?” He looked so excited at the prospect I
couldn’t help but laugh.

“Maybe let’s wait until it’s nicer out.” Alexi chuckled and shook

his head. “They’re polite now and good kids, but if we spoil them too
bad, they might become monsters.”

I agreed and went to say so, but I realized Wade was pulling on

my arm. “What’s up, kiddo?”

“Do I have to have a pink bed, too?” he asked nervously with a

frown. “I don’t like pink.”

“Awww,” several of my friends said.

Joyee Flynn

“Nope,” Shadow answered for me as he knelt down in front of

Wade. “You can have any bed you want. All you have to do is tell
me.”

“So cool! I saw this car bed once that I wanted, but if I can get

anything, can I get the Batmobile? I want a Batmobile bed!”

“I’ll do my best.” Shadow chuckled, and we all followed them

into Wade’s room. Within moments he made a Batmobile bed appear,
and I thought Wade was going to pass out from excitement. He raced
to the bed and started jumping on it before flopping on his butt.

“Sorry, I forgot no jumping,” he said quietly.
“That’s okay, but I’m glad you remembered,” I replied with a

smile. “Do you know why you shouldn’t jump on the bed?”

He seemed to think about that a moment before answering.

“Because Grandma always said not to?”

“Well, that, too,” I drawled, trying not to laugh. “But she told you

not to because you could fall off and get hurt. Maybe when it gets
nicer out we can get you guys a trampoline and you can jump on that
instead.”

“So cool!” He jumped off the bed and launched himself into my

arms. “I’m glad the mean lady brought us here. You and Daddy are so
nice and you want us.”

“Yes we do, buddy,” I whispered and hugged him back, tears

forming in my eyes. I saw Alexi having the same reaction. And I
thought Alexi got past my walls and into my heart fast, but the twins
wiggled their way in almost instantly.

“Daddy, it’s time for lunch and then we’re supposed to take our

naps,” Jade announced. What a little adult!

“Okay, sweetheart.” He chuckled. “When you guys wake up,

we’ll decorate your rooms and put all your new toys away. So start
thinking of what color you want your rooms.”

“Pink!” she squealed, and I don’t think anyone was shocked that

she said it.

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Half an hour later, the twins were fed, peanut butter and jelly

sandwiches at their insistence, and tucked into bed. When Alexi and I
made our way back into the kitchen almost everyone was leaning over
laptops.

“What’s up?” I asked, biting back a laugh at the guilty looks they

had.

“We’re looking for furniture for their rooms,” Horse answered.

“They’re so much fun! And we’re going to put together all their toys.
I also ordered those Learn to Read kid DVDs. They’re so smart.”

“Well, you guys have fun and let us know when they wake up,”

Alexi said as he handed Horse the two baby monitors we’d gotten. “I
don’t want to risk them getting lost in the house.”

“We’re on it,” Idiot replied with a relieved smile. Yeah, we were

going to beat them up for thinking of getting the twins furniture.
Goofballs. “Where are you going?”

“I have yet to see this play room,” Alexi purred before sauntering

out of the room. I stood there for a moment in shock, my cock perking
right up. The next instant I was running after my mate and swooping
him up in my arms. “I take it you like the idea.”

“Fuck yeah,” I groaned. The instant we were in the play room, I

used my magic to get rid of our clothes. “Do I get to pick what we
play with?”

“Are you kidding me?” Alexi asked softly as he cupped his cheek.

“After everything you’ve done to heal my heart and now accepting
the twins, you can have anything you want, Chiquita.”

“I never thought I’d have kids, being gay and all,” I replied as my

cheeks heated up with embarrassment. I ducked my head and stared at
the ground after setting him on his feet. “But I love them already. You
know what I mean? They’re a part of you and so cute. I think they
need a lot of love, Alexi. They kept saying that their grandparents
didn’t want them. I don’t ever want them to doubt we do.”

Joyee Flynn

“I love you,” he gushed and pulled me into his arms. “I feel the

same way. I think today was a great start and your family does really
want them here.”

“They’re your family now, too,” I whispered in his ear. “We’re

their family and the twins are a part of that.”

“When you’re ready I want to know about your family,” he said

just as quietly.

“How did you know it was a sore topic?” I was shocked since I

didn’t think I’d given any indicators that it was.

“Little things,” he admitted. “You didn’t know about that magic

thing Horse did with the twins so they didn’t talk. And after
everything I’ve told you about my past you never said anything. I
mean, I know we’ve not had much time together, but it seems it
would have come up by now if you wanted to talk about it. So I
figured you didn’t.”

“Smart is so sexy,” I purred. “Let’s have fun and then I’ll tell you

later. But you’re right. It’s not something I like to discuss.”

“Fair enough,” he said against my lips. “You have to know no

matter what you tell me I won’t love you any less, right?”

“Never doubted it.” And I realized that was the truth. I trusted

Alexi and knew he wouldn’t judge. No person survives everything he
had and comes out the other side without being an understanding
person.

“Now what would you like to do to me?” Alexi pulled away from

me and glanced around the room hesitantly. I knew the answer when I
saw his eyes go wide and glaze over with lust. Good choice.

“Has my mate always fantasized about being restrained and

spanked?” I asked as I ran my fingers over his ass. He nodded as he
stared at one of Flower’s contraptions. It was a converted kneeler,
perfect for some kinky fun. “Anyone ever done it to you before?”

“Nuh-uh,” he mumbled as he let me lead him over to it. I didn’t

even have to tell him what to do. He knelt right down and got into
position. “But start easy, okay?”

Shove Your Tree

“Of course, my mate.” I kissed the sensitive spot right below his

ear and smiled like a predator when he shivered.

Oh yeah, this was going to be fun.
I quickly strapped him in, his eyes intently watching me as I did.

Neither of us said a word or made a noise. I grabbed what I would
need and put it on the small table next to the kneeler.

“Safe word?” I asked, not sure how to play like this with someone

who’d never done it before.

“I don’t need one,” he answered firmly, gazing at me over his

shoulder. “You’d never hurt me and we said we’d start slow.”

“Good point.” I slicked up a marker-size dildo and slid it right into

his ass. It hadn’t been that long since we’d had sex and I knew he
could take it. Alexi arched his back and moaned wantonly. That had
my dick leaking already. I picked up the velvet-covered paddle and
watched him start to shake with anticipation. “Count them off.”

“Okay.” I smacked his ass and he let out a yelp. “One.”
“Have you been a bad mate that needs to be punished?” I asked

and spanked him a few more times.

“Yes, yes, very bad,” he gasped as I rubbed the sting away.

“Harder.”

“Oh shit,” I groaned and let him have it. I did five on each cheek,

Alexi counting them off, before pulling out the dildo and replacing it
with something bigger. He cried out in pleasure and came. “Holy
shit!”

“Chiquita!” he screamed as he rode his orgasm. Fuck, that was

hot!

“I don’t remember saying you could come, Alexi,” I growled and

spanked him some more.

“I didn’t mean to,” he whimpered and shoved his ass up higher

towards me. “Punish me harder!”

And I did. His ass was bright red when I was done, and I couldn’t

take any more. I pulled out the dildo and slammed my own cock into
his quivering hole after tossing aside the toys.

Joyee Flynn

“Oh shit,” he moaned loudly. “Fuck me harder.”
“I give the orders here,” I said firmly and slapped his ass hard. He

gasped in delight and I started slamming into him at a punishing pace.

“Gonna come again.”
“No you’re not,” I snarled as I reached down and squeezed the

base of his dick hard. I plunged into his sweet ass as fast as I could,
my mate grunting under the onslaught.

“Please, Chiquita, I need,” he begged. Alexi tilted his neck

submissively. I extended my height so I could reach him as my fangs
popped out. “Please, please, please, please,” he chanted.

“I love you,” I whispered as I released his cock and sank my fangs

into his neck. Alexi screamed his bliss and let his peak wash over
him. I felt his ass clamp down on my dick, demanding my own
release. I gave in as I drank down his sweet blood. My mate tasted
divine, like crisp apples and fall.

I retracted my fangs and groaned as I filled his ass with my seed. I

came so hard I was shaking from the force of it as I kept thrusting into
his hole until I was spent. The second I recovered, I pulled out of him
and released him from the restraints. I helped him off the contraption
and guided him down to his knees.

“Suck your mate off,” I ordered. Alexi moaned and attacked my

still-hard dick as if it was his favorite treat. I groaned as his hot mouth
took me all the way. He looked up at me from his long lashes, and I
stared down at him as his head kept bobbing. “Good mate.”

His deep brown eyes sparkled with mischief, and a moment later,

I realized why when I felt his fingers rubbing against my hole.

“You want to stick your cock in there later?” I asked with a smile.

He groaned and sucked on me faster as he cupped my balls, rolling
them over his fingers. “If you’re good, I’ll let you be the first one in
my ass.”

His eyes went wide at my comment. I nodded that it was true. I

knew he liked the idea since he started deep-throating me. It didn’t
take long after that before I was groaning his name and shooting my

Shove Your Tree

load into his mouth. He quickly grabbed my hips to hold me up when
my knees started to give out and swallowed everything I had to give
him.

“Best blow job ever,” I moaned as he finished licking me clean

and letting me slide down to my knees. He held me to him and went
to sit back on the ground, hissing as his tender ass came into contact
with the floor. “Did I do it too hard?”

“No, it was fucking awesome.” He chuckled. “I can’t wait to do it

again.” He paused as he pulled me onto his lap and held me to him. I
knew what was coming. “Were you serious that no one’s ever topped
you?”

Yep, that was what I thought he was going to ask.
“Yes I was,” I answered as I nuzzled his neck. “I wanted to wait

until I was with my mate. Nobody ever mattered enough to me that
I’d want to give that part of myself to them.”

He seemed to think about that for a moment and then shocked the

shit out of me with his next question. “Not even Otis?”

“Shit, you know about that?”
“You were going to keep it from me?” Yeah, now he sounded

pissed.

“No, I don’t mean it like that,” I answered firmly as I straddled his

lap and took his face in my hands. He searched my eyes for a moment
but the anger didn’t go away. “I wouldn’t have told you but not
because I was trying to hide it from you.”

“Right, okay.” He snorted and tried to pull away.
“Alexi, wait,” I growled. “Give me the benefit of the doubt here,

okay? I’m not good at explaining shit, and I’m trying to figure out
how to word this so it makes sense.”

“You’re right,” he whispered and took a deep breath. “Why

wouldn’t you have told me?”

“Because it’s humiliating to Flower, or he says he’s okay with it

but it has to bug some part of him. I’m lucky he didn’t rip my throat
out when he realized Otis was his mate. We didn’t know. Hell, we

Joyee Flynn

didn’t know he’d been abused or was a slave. We felt horrible about
it. I swear we thought he was a sub who liked gang bangs. I was
mortified when I realized we’d missed the signs of him being a
slave.”

“I had a right to know you slept with someone in this house,” he

said after a moment. He wasn’t mad anymore, though still a little
annoyed.

“You’re right and I’m sorry. But it wasn’t like I was intentionally

keeping it from you. It just didn’t mean anything to me. It was just
sex and beyond that I was pissed at myself that we were selfish and
didn’t notice Otis wasn’t into it. Plus it’s really bad form to fuck
someone else’s mate. Granted, we didn’t know and Flower was way
cooler about it than I would ever have been, but still it’s a big no-no.”

“So it’s like an unspoken agreement you’d all forget it ever

happened and you didn’t want to spill the beans so no one’s feelings
got hurt?”

“Yes, exactly,” I answered with a sigh of relief. He got it.
Except he didn’t.
“That’s bullshit, Chiquita,” he grumbled as he stood, dumping me

off his lap. “So I shouldn’t tell you if I slept with Shadow because it’s
bad form?”

“You slept with Shadow?” I snarled as I got to my feet, my fangs

coming out. “I’ll kill him!”

“No!” He shouted in frustration as he threw his hands in the air. “I

didn’t sleep with him, but I’m using your analogy.”

“Oh,” I replied, taking a few breaths to calm back down. “I wasn’t

saying it was right to not tell you, Alexi. I was explaining my thought
process. This serious relationship, mating thing is new to me, too,
okay? And like you said earlier when I found out you fathered twins,
we’ve not been together all that long.”

That froze him in his tracks. His shoulders slumped in defeat.

“You’re right. I’m being a bitch.”

Shove Your Tree

“No, no you’re not,” I said gently and hugged him. “I didn’t say it

to throw the twins showing up in your face, babe. I’m just saying
we’ve not gone over everything yet. We’ve been a little busy.”

“Yeah we have.” He chuckled and wrapped his arms around me.

“I got jealous. I’m sorry. Otis pulled me aside in Target and wanted to
make sure I was okay with you guys having had sex, and I buried it
until we could talk. Then it came back up and I blew.”

“If that’s you blowing up at me, then I’m the luckiest man in the

world,” I said with a snort. He lifted his head and stared down at me
in confusion. “That wasn’t blowing up. That was a small hiccup that
we talked out. Otis is attractive.” I felt him go tense so I hurried to
finish. “But you’re gorgeous and my mate. I don’t want him, Alexi.
I’ll never want anyone but you ever again.”

“Good,” he said gruffly and kissed me quickly. “Let’s get cleaned

up. The twins should be awake now.”

“So we’re okay?” I asked hesitantly.
“We’re perfect,” he answered and then snickered. “Except we’re

naked, and I don’t think we should be parading around the house like
that with kids in it.”

“Good point.” I ’ported us back to our room and started the

shower with my magic. “Let’s get cleaned up.”

“Such a considerate mate.” He gave me a wink and sauntered into

the bathroom, putting extra sway in his hips. May the gods help me. I
wanted to ravage him all over again. I gave a stern look at my dick
when it perked up, but it ignored me. Typical.

We took a quick shower, behaving ourselves…mostly. Then we

got dressed and went to check on the twins. They were in Jade’s room
along with a bunch of my friends, including Shadow. I was surprised
how my normally solemn brother had taken to the twins and was all
about spoiling them.

“I like the change,” Alexi said with a chuckle as we joined them.

Jade’s walls were now pink, but each wall was a different shade of the

Joyee Flynn

color. Basically it looked like some cotton candy puked all over the
walls. Whatever, she was happy.

“Isn’t it pretty, Daddy?” she asked as she bounded over to us. I

barely had time to open my arms to catch her. “Do you like it, Dad?”

“I do,” I lied. “I think it’s perfect for a princess.” That was true at

least. “What pictures should we put on the walls?”

She went on to ramble the names of every Disney princess.

Surprise took notes, and I knew that someone would be ordering
framed pictures by the end of the day.

Then we went into Wade’s room, and Shadow helped him pick

out colors for his walls. He ended up picking blues and asked for
Finding Nemo pictures. It seemed he loved fish, and I guessed
someone would be buying him a tropical fish tank along with the
pictures.

We spent the rest of the day fixing up their rooms, putting toys

together, and getting the kids settled in. It was fun. I can’t think of
another way to put it. We laughed, joked around, played with the
twins, and simply had fun.

It was the perfect day and something we all needed after all the

drama that had been going on. If only every day could be like that.

Shove Your Tree

Chapter 9

But unfortunately they can’t all be great days. No amount of

magic could keep all the shit out of our lives as I realized the next
morning.

“Your heart,” I gasped as I sat up, completely awake.
“My heart’s fine now,” Alexi mumbled and patted my hip. “Go

back to bed. We need to sleep when we can now. We’re parents and
who knows when the twins get up.”

“No, Alexi, you need to get up,” I said firmly as I reached for my

phone and texted Horse to meet us in the twins’ room. “I realized
something big.”

“Okay,” he groaned as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. We were

both naked since we’d made love before going to bed, so we quickly
scrambled to put on pajamas. Minutes later we were walking into
Jade’s room…to find it empty.

“Wade?” I called out and raced through the adjoining bathroom to

his room. Empty. Without a thought in my head, without telling Alexi
first even, I teleported to where they were.

“Hi, Dad!” Wade said excitedly and pointed to our massive home

theater TV. “It’s really big SpongeBob!”

“Yes it is,” I replied as I went over to kiss each of the twins on the

cheek. I glanced over at Shadow and Maze, who were watching with
them. “I got a little freaked when their rooms were empty.”

“Sorry,” Shadow said sheepishly. “We found them in the kitchen

hungry and didn’t want to wake you up. Besides, it’s been years since
we’ve watched cartoons. So we got them grub and brought them in
here.”

Joyee Flynn

“Yeah, no worries. It’s just going to take some getting used to that

we have kids now.”

“I understand.” Maze snickered, his eyes never leaving the TV. “I

was a little shocked to almost trip over one of them when I went to get
coffee,” he said. I’d relaxed a bit but was still tense. “What’s up?”

“I realized something and asked Horse to meet me in their

rooms,” I said vaguely and then lowered my voice. “I want him to
scan their hearts.”

They both looked confused for a second, and then I practically

saw the lightbulb go off over their heads. Shadow was the first to
react. He quickly set their empty cereal bowls on the table and turned
to them with a bright smile. “Come on, guys. We’ve got to go see
Uncle Horse up in your rooms for a minute and then you need baths.”
He playfully sniffed them before announcing, “Yep, just as I thought.
You’re both stinky.”

“No we’re not.” Jade giggled as Maze picked her up in his arms.
“Oh, yes you are! Pew-we!” he joked. “But we’re going to show

you a trick, okay?”

“More magic?” Wade asked with a big grin. More magic? I raised

an eyebrow at that one.

“Dude, we’re useless before coffee,” Maze groaned. “We made

their breakfast the elf way.”

“Nice. Okay, ’port them to Jade’s room.” They both nodded with

one twin in each of their arms and we did just that.

“Where did you go?” Alexi yelped as I reappeared.
“I teleported to where the twins were,” I answered as my cheeks

heated with embarrassment. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking about anything
but making sure they were okay. I should have said something.”

“No, it’s okay,” he said as he went to hug each of the twins.

“Where were they? I never heard them on the monitor.”

“We’re not babies, Daddy,” Jade replied in a huff. “We got up and

went to get breakfast. I don’t need a baby monitor and I can get
breakfast myself.”

Shove Your Tree

“I know you’re not a baby, sweetheart,” he said gently. “But it’s a

really big house and I still get lost in it. And it’s scary for adults
sometimes and I didn’t want that for you, okay?”

“Okay, sorry, Daddy.” Her little bottom lip came out, but Alexi

ignored it and kissed her with a loud smack.

“No need to be sorry. We’re getting our sea legs with each other.

Your dad and I got scared when we couldn’t find you. Now we know
you’ll be downstairs getting breakfast.”

“And watching SpongeBob on the massive TV with Uncle

Shadow and Uncle Maze,” I informed him with a chuckle.

“We needed coffee, they wanted food, they talked us into

cartoons,” Shadow said with a shrug. “It’s all good.”

“Okay, then why are we here?” Bren asked with a yawn as Horse

practically slept against him…still standing up.

“Right, sorry,” I said as my cheeks turned red again. “Umm, I

realized something in my sleep or as I was just waking up.”

“You asked about my heart.” Alexi’s eyebrows drew together in

confusion until I saw him put the pieces together. “You think it’s
genetic.” Then all the color drained from his face as he glanced at the
twins. I was afraid he was going to faint and not from his heart this
time but from straight parental fear for his children.

“Did your parents have it?” I asked gently when he didn’t say

anything.

“I don’t know,” he whispered as he started to shake. “I was an

orphan. Well, they ditched me.” He looked at me with such sadness in
his eyes I couldn’t not go hug him. Everything in me wanted to hold
him. “It’s a long story. I don’t know if they had it.”

“Okay, baby,” I whispered as I held him tightly. “We’ll figure this

out.” I glanced at the twins, who both looked part confused and part
sad because Alexi was upset. “We’re going to play a little game with
your Uncle Horse.”

“What? Huh?” Horse asked, not even opening his eyes. Bren

smacked him hard on the ass. “What was that for?”

Joyee Flynn

Bren whispered so quietly in Horse’s ear that I could barely hear

with my elevated elf senses. “They realized the twins could have
Alexi’s heart condition. I think they called you here so you could scan
them and see if anything’s wrong.”

“But I’m not a cardiologist,” Horse said quietly as he stared at me,

looking just as pale as Alexi.

“No, but you can at least tell us if their hearts are beating

normally,” I replied gently. “We’ll make an appointment Monday
with their pediatrician and get Daran to get the paperwork going on
the adoption.”

“Adoption?” Alexi asked.
“Yeah, sorry, I just came up with that now,” I answered with a

tired sigh. “I can’t get them on our insurance unless I adopt them,
right? And how do I get you on there? We can’t be legally married in
Illinois but—”

“Chiquita, breathe,” Alexi ordered when I started to

hyperventilate. He pushed me over to Jade’s bed and made me sit
down. “One thing at a time, okay?”

“I’m not cut out to be a parent,” I said between gasps for air.
“You don’t want us?” Wade asked as he went and hugged his

sister. They both had tears running down their red cheeks.

“No!” I exclaimed and raced to kneel in front of them. “No! I

want you. I want you both so much I’m scared.”

“Dads don’t get scared,” Jade said but didn’t seem convinced

about it.

“Yes we do.” Alexi chuckled as he sat next to them and pulled

them into his lap. I was still facing them and took each of their tiny
hands in mine. “Your dad is just a little overwhelmed. That doesn’t
mean we don’t want you here. He told me last night how much he
loves you both already. It’s just scary being a daddy sometimes. We
have to make all the big decisions for you guys, and he’s worried he
might make the wrong one.”

Shove Your Tree

“I am,” I admitted and kissed each of their hands. “I’ve always

known I was going to marry a man, and since that meant there
wouldn’t be a mommy, I never thought I’d have kids. So I’m really,
really new to this, okay? If I get scared or start panicking, it never
means I don’t want you guys. It just means I’m trying to adjust.”

“So you want us?” Jade asked after a moment. Yeah, I figured

most of that might go right over their heads.

“Yes, sweetheart. I want you guys,” I answered with a wide grin.

“I was just asking your daddy if I could adopt you guys officially or
what he wanted me to do.”

“Then the mean lady couldn’t take us back, right?” Wade asked as

his gaze darted between us. “We wouldn’t have to go into monster
care?”

That one took me a minute. “Foster care?”
“Yeah, that’s what she said if you didn’t want us. We’d go be

monsters in foster.” Close enough. I shook my head at Wade.

“No foster care for you guys. We’re going to call the mean lady

tomorrow and tell her you’re staying here.” I paused for a minute and
glanced at Alexi. “If that’s what you guys want, that is?”

“Yeah!” they both exclaimed and launched their little bodies in

my arms.

“Okay then.” I chuckled and glanced over at Horse. I did a double

take when I saw tears in his eyes, which he quickly wiped away.

“I’m really an uncle now,” he whispered in a shaky voice and

glanced at Shadow and Maze. “Did you guys every think we’d be
uncles? Or have kids in the house?”

“No, definitely not.” Maze chuckled. I felt my face fall into a

frown and he must have seen it. “But it’s a good thing. We like the
twins. We want them here, too.”

“Oh, okay, good,” I sighed in relief. We were all quiet for a few

moments, lost in our own different thoughts before Wade snapped us
all out of it.

“Can we play the game with Uncle Horse now?”

100

Joyee Flynn

“Yes, baby boy.” I tickled him, smiling at the squeals of delight he

made. “Both of you guys go lie on Jade’s bed for a moment and Uncle
Horse is going to use his magic to check out your insides.” Wait, that
sounded worse than how I’d meant it to come out.

“He’s going to check your tummies to make sure that you ate all

your cereal.” Alexi came to my rescue on that one. The twins seemed
to like the idea until Wade went to get on the bed.

“But it’s pink, Daddy,” he whined. “Boys can’t like pink.”
“Well, I know boys that do,” I said firmly and then leaned in to

mock-whisper. “Your Uncle Button loves pink actually. But don’t tell
him I said that. He’s afraid someone will call him a girl because he
does.”

“That’s mean,” Wade gasped with wide eyes. “He can like any

color he wants, and I’ll yell at anyone who’s mean to him!”

“Awww,” Bren and Horse both cooed. Yeah, my sentiments

exactly.

“I’ll tell him you said that,” I said instead with a big smile. “But

just hop up on Jade’s bed for the game, okay? You don’t have to sleep
here or like pink.”

“Okay, Dad,” he said and did as I asked. I felt my own heart

flutter at being called Dad again. Would I ever get used to it or the
thrill it gave me? I hoped not.

Horse looked nervous as he went to the twins. They both looked

up at him with big, bright brown eyes as if he was going to make a
rabbit appear or something.

“Why is he touching our chest if he’s checking our tummies?”

Jade asked after a moment. Damn, they were smart.

“He’s just checking to make sure your hearts are strong, too,”

Alexi quickly answered. It seemed to satisfy her because she didn’t
say anything else.

Horse took a deep breath and moved to Wade. It was killing me

that he didn’t even give us a hint of what was going on before
continuing. I guess I understood why from his point of view. It was

Shove Your Tree

101

easier to give the news all at once whether it be good or bad. It just
sucked from our side.

“I don’t see anything wrong,” he announced minutes later. Horse

tickled each of their tummies much to the twins’ delight. “I see all the
cereal where it should be.” He looked at us with a meaningful stare.
Yeah, he wasn’t talking about cereal.

“Okay then,” Shadow sighed with relief. Wow, I guess I hadn’t

realized Alexi and I weren’t the only ones in the room freaking out.
“Since we read the books already, Uncle Maze and I will give you
stinky kids baths.”

“Thanks, brother,” I said, letting the emotion show in my voice.

He simply nodded and went into the bathroom to get the tub ready.
Maze rounded up the twins, and I was once again astonished by how
well-behaved they were. They didn’t put up a fight, though Jade did
inform him that they normally took their baths at night. Whoopsies!

“So they’re really okay?” Alexi asked hesitantly when we were

alone with Horse and Bren.

“Everything looked good to me.” He shrugged. “I’m not a doctor,

but after looking at your scans and how your heart sounded, theirs
aren’t beating like that. The valves looked proportional, but again,
they have tiny hearts. I’d still get them checked out.”

“Of course,” I immediately agreed. All four of us sighed in relief

though as we plopped on the floor and leaned back against Jade’s bed.
“We really need to get other furniture in this room.”

“We already ordered some,” Horse said sheepishly. “We got

excited when we found white kids furniture with little tiaras painted
on it.”

“And the pink couch.” Bren snickered.
“Thanks, guys,” Alexi said, and I was glad he wasn’t upset either.

There was so much to think of when it came to the twins it was just
nice to have help. Then he asked me the most random question. “Why
don’t you like Christmas trees?”

“Where did that come from?” I chuckled.

102

Joyee Flynn

“I was thinking all the fun stuff we could do with the twins for

Christmas and I thought about decorating a tree with them and
remembered you said you hated them. Why?”

“Because they’re everywhere in the North Pole,” I grumbled.

“And those little pine needles hurt. You get all full of sap when you
touch them and you can’t get it off.”

“Tell him the real reason, Chiquita,” Horse said quietly.
“That is the real reason,” I replied and then sighed. “But not the

only reason.” I took a deep breath and slid my hand in my mate’s.
“You’re not the only one who’s been abandoned by their parents.”

“Tell me.” Alexi deserved to know the truth but it wasn’t an easy

story to tell.

“My parents weren’t good elves,” I whispered as I closed my

eyes, memories assaulting my senses. “I don’t even know if they were
ever captured or are still alive. The Council ordered their death, but
the only way an elf can be killed is by the Council. I was a little older
than the twins when they were found out to be using their magic for
evil. The last time I saw them we went to look for a tree for the house.

“We walked for a while and I remember thinking I couldn’t wait

to find one so we could have some hot chocolate because I was cold.
Then I turned around when I found the perfect tree and they were
gone. They must have teleported back to the house or gods knows
where. But I was old enough to have magic. I just didn’t know how to
use it yet.”

“They just abandoned you in the middle of the woods in winter?”

Alexi was horrified by the idea.

“I think it was the only decent thing they’ve ever done,” I

whispered and turned so I was lying on his chest. “They did it so
when the Council guards swarmed the house to get them I wouldn’t
be there. Granted, they weren’t there either, but I guess they didn’t
want to risk that I’d get hurt in the cross fire. They just didn’t take me
on the run with them. I’m glad they didn’t.”

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“Still, they were your parents and you were just a child.” Alexi

hugged me tightly to him and kissed my hair. “I won’t ever leave you,
Chiquita. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” I took a deep breath and told him the rest. “I

was too young to know what was going on, and I thought they just
lost me at first. I sat by that damn perfect tree for hours, thinking
they’d just teleport to me. I figured that way I wouldn’t lose which
tree I wanted by wandering around looking for them.

“I was too far away to know which way the house was. I must

have fallen asleep at some point because I woke to a Council guard
picking me up. I was frozen solid, whimpering I couldn’t leave the
tree because my mom and dad told me to pick a perfect one. He told
me they were being hunted because they were evil and abandoned me.
Granted there’s no easy way to tell a child such news, but he didn’t
have to say it so bluntly.”

Alexi didn’t say anything for a few moments, and when he did, he

shocked the crap out of me. “I want you to adopt Jade and Wade.
Let’s make it official and not just for the damn insurance. I want them
to know you’re every bit as much their father as I am.”

“Thank you,” I whispered and started sobbing. I had a real family

for the first time in decades. Oh sure, my friends and I made our own
family in a way, but it wasn’t the same as having a mate and children.
This was different, more special.

“Why is Dad crying?” Jade asked as she ran over to us. She was

wrapped up in a pink bathrobe, her wet curls bouncing all around.
Before I could wipe away my tears, she was hugging me as well.
“Don’t cry, Dad.”

“I was telling your daddy about my parents, and it’s not a happy

story,” I explained and wrapped one arm around her. I glanced up to
see Wade nervously hopping from one foot to the other. I gestured
him over and he came immediately. He snuggled into our group hug,
and it just felt right holding the most important things to me all at one
time.

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“Did your parents die, too?” Jade asked as she patted my cheek as

if trying to get a smile out of me.

“No, they were criminals,” I answered honestly. “They left me

when I was about your age and went on the run. It was for the best,
but I didn’t realize that until I was older, and it hurt my feelings.”

“But you’re nice,” Wade said firmly. “Criminals are bad. They

make bad kids. That’s what Grandpa used to say about Daddy and
why we were bad kids.”

Not to talk ill of the dead, but what a fucknut! How do you tell

little kids such horrid things?

“Well, he was mistaken,” Alexi said firmly. “I’m not a criminal,

and even if I was, you guys are great kids. Things aren’t always so
black and white in life. All criminals don’t have bad kids and all good
people don’t have good kids. It depends on the kid sometimes.”

“So everyone is good or bad because of them?” Jade asked, and I

wasn’t really sure what she meant.

“It’s because of who you are inside,” Alexi answered with a nod.

“But also if you’re loved and if you have good parents. There are lots
of reasons people turn out good or bad. It’s not any one thing.”

“Okay, Daddy,” Wade said as if he understood it. “Can we go

watch more SpongeBob with Uncle Shadow and Uncle Maze?”

“After you change.” I chuckled and tugged on his dark purple

robe. It seemed at least one of them liked a variety of colors. Thank
the gods.

“Yes, Dad,” he replied and then gave me a kiss. Jade did the same

and they went off with their uncles to change.

“They really are great kids, Alexi,” Bren said quietly with awe in

his tone. “Even after dealing with asshole grandparents, they’re
amazing.”

“Thanks,” he replied. “I wish I could take credit for it.”
Yeah, me, too.

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105

Chapter 10

“Chiquita, are we going to have to watch the twins die one day?”

Alexi asked me a little while later when we were alone putting
together some more of the twins’ toys.

“Shit,” I hissed as despair swarmed over me. “I never thought

about that.” I jumped up and raced out of the room without another
word. I knew who I needed to talk to, and I heard Alexi following me.
Button. Button would know.

I found him in his workshop just as I suspected. While my friend

was a great guy, he didn’t do well for long in social situations and
retreated to his workshop normally. I figured with everyone hanging
around the twins, it might get to be too much for him. I knew him
well after living so many years together.

“Is everything okay?” he asked as he set down his latest

glassblowing work and took off his gloves.

“No, no it’s not,” I whispered as my eyes filled with tears. “The

twins—”

“Submit a request to the Council after you adopt them and they

will be granted the gift of immortality.” He went to put his gloves
back on.

“You knew?” I gasped. “How could you not have said anything?”
“I knew you’d figure it out eventually,” he answered with a shrug.

“You’re not the first elf to have human adopted children. We’re not so
cold of a race to let you watch your children die.”

“You asshole!” I shouted and shoved him.
“Why?” he asked in genuine surprise. “I gave you the answer you

wanted.”

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Joyee Flynn

“But you waited until we asked! If they’re immortal, we don’t

have to worry that Alexi’s heart condition is genetic either. We just
freaked out all morning over nothing! Do you know what I felt when
Alexi realized we might have to watch them die?”

“Oh, no, sorry,” Button answered as his cheeks heated up in

shame. Shit. “I didn’t want to add to your plate of issues. The Council
will grant the request, but there are hoops you have to jump through,
and you were already looking a little shell-shocked about being a new
parent. Plus I assume you just decided to adopt them?” I nodded and
started to see what he was saying. “I didn’t want Alexi to ask you to
adopt them just because they’d be immortal then.”

“I love you, but you’re dense sometimes,” I grumbled and hugged

him. “Alexi’s my mate. We love each other. Of course I’d adopt the
twins. We just needed to get to that point together.”

“Wait, so your Council will make them elves?” Alexi asked, his

eyes wide. He didn’t seem pissed at the idea, more like he simply
didn’t know what to do with the information.

“No, Button’s saying they’ll be like you. Human but immortal and

indestructible.” His smile was a mile wide as he practically attacked
Button.

“Thank you,” he gushed and placed kisses all over my friend’s

face. He froze when I started growling. “Right. No touching other
elves.”

“Thank you.” I chuckled as he let go of my friend and took a step

away.

“Can I go back to work now?” Button asked as he glanced

between us as if we were crazy. “The twins won’t die. Come to me
when you get the adoption papers approved, and I’ll send in the
request since I know the rules.”

“Yes, go back to work,” I answered, shaking my head at his

antics. “Thank you, brother.”

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107

“You’re welcome. They’re cute little humans. I’m glad they won’t

die.” And with that he pulled back on his gloves and put his glass
project back in the flames.

I grabbed Alexi’s hand and pulled him out of the room, trying not

to laugh at his mouth hanging open. Once we were out of earshot
from Button, I said the only thing to explain my friend.

“He’s really socially inept.”
“Ya think?” Alexi asked with a laugh. “I don’t care. As long as I

don’t have to outlive the twins and deal with that heartache one day, I
don’t care if Button tells me my ass is wide every day for the rest of
our lives.”

I felt the same way…and I knew I had a great ass.

* * * *

We fed the kids lunch and sat with them while they played some

of their LeapFrog toys. It ended up they could say the alphabet and
count to one hundred. By dinnertime they could both spell a dozen or
so basic words and had mile-wide grins at their accomplishment.

Alexi and I had the same smile.
We were midway through dinner when Jade let out an ear-

piercing squeal. We all immediately covered out ears and waited it
out.

“What is it?” I asked when she was done.
“It’s snowing, Dad!” I heard the duh! in there. I glanced out the

back terrace windows, and sure enough, it was coming down hard.
“Can we go play in the snow? Pleeease?”

“As soon as you’re both done eating, vegetables included.” I

barely got the words out and they were snarfing their food down. I
never figured I’d see two kids eat broccoli that fast. Gods knows I
never did.

Five minutes later everyone was done eating, and I knew the

twins’ excitement was contagious. It was great. Not that we always

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Joyee Flynn

acted our age or even like adults, but little kids’ excitement was a
whole new level of giddiness we’d never felt. Well, not since we were
that age.

“That’s fine for now, but when they get older, I want them doing

chores,” Alexi said with a smile as he gestured to Horse who was
using his magic to clear the table. “I refuse to have bratty children
who are too spoiled rotten to lift a finger to help and never have any
responsibilities.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” And I did. I hated those kinda kids. The

parents should be tied to the Sears Tower and bitch slapped for all to
see. But that was just my opinion.

“We didn’t get snow boots or snow pants though,” Jade said

quietly. Oh geez, that little lip was quivering again.

“But your dad is magic,” I whispered. I used it to dress them in

appropriate snow-playing attire. Jade’s was pink, of course.

“I love you, Dad,” Wade blurted out and kissed me before running

to the back door.

“Me, too,” Jade echoed and did the same thing. I stood there in

shock a moment.

“Me three.” Alexi chuckled and mimicked his children. Him I

could reply to.

“You better show me later,” I purred as we grabbed our jackets.
“After bath time and they’re in bed,” he replied with a wink.

“Because bath time is supposed to be at night.” It was a fairly good
mimic of Jade. Nice.

I stepped out the back door after getting my coat on and got a

snowball right in the face.

“Sorry, Dad!” Wade called out. “I didn’t mean to hit you in the

face.”

“That’s okay.” I chuckled and wiped it away. “Accidents happen,

but I’m glad you know that you shouldn’t aim for anyone’s face.”

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109

“No, someone could get hurt!” He looked appalled that someone

might not play by the same rules. I had a feeling Wade might just
become the household’s moral meter, but in a good way.

I felt a healthy amount of lust surge through me as I glanced over

at Alexi and his black hair was shining in the moonlight, covered with
snowflakes. He stopped when he saw me looking and closed the few
feet to me, taking me in his arms.

“You’re breathtaking,” he said huskily. “Your cheeks are all red,

eyes shining with a big ol’ smile. Simply breathtaking.”

“I was thinking the same about you,” I admitted and ran my

fingers through his hair. “Hair shining with snowflakes, laughing like
you don’t have a care in the world.”

“I don’t,” Alexi whispered as his eyes filled up with tears. “I

mated you and you’ve given me everything I’ve ever dreamed of and
more, Chiquita. I love you so damn much.”

“Then we feel the same about each other.” I stood on my toes,

throwing my arms around his neck, and plunged his sweet mouth. I
was two seconds from jumping up and wrapping my legs around him
when I heard…

“Eew, Dad and Daddy are kissing!”
“People in love do that,” Horse told the twins firmly.
Yes, yes they do. Especially when they’re celebrating everything

they have in life. Together. Damn straight we’d kiss as often as we
could.

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Joyee Flynn

Epilogue:

Flower

“Daddy, I’m cold,” Jade said as her little teeth chattered.
“Okay, then I officially declare us all winners of the snowball

fight!” Horse exclaimed and started to do a victory dance…which
most of us joined in. The twins were giggling and doing it right along
with us. “And the winners get hot cocoa with lots of marshmallows
and cookies.”

“Yah!” The kids cheered and rushed to the terrace doors faster

than I would have thought their little legs could have carried them.

“Not you just yet,” Otis said as he grabbed my arm. I was

intrigued, mainly because he was still shy about asking for things he
wanted or telling me what he needed.

“What’s up, my love?” I molded my body against his and started

to rub against him. It was hard to do but still as sexy with the amount
of clothes we had on. Oh well, I was giving it the ol’ college try.

“I thought a lot about what you told me, about your brothers,” he

answered hesitantly, and as soon as he mentioned my family, my
hard-on died. Not just deflated or my dick lost interest, it died and
immediately went soft. Yikes!

“I don’t really want to talk about—”
“Please? For me?” Yeah, like I could deny the man of my dreams

anything.

“Okay,” I said with a pout as I kicked a clump of snow. “What

were you thinking about?”

“I want you to get revenge, like anger therapy.”

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111

“Huh?” I had no clue what he meant, and this so wasn’t where I

thought the conversation might remotely have been heading. “I don’t
get it.”

He moved away from me and made a huge snowball. I was so

confused, I realized I wasn’t even looking at his firm ass encased in
tight jeans for once when he bent over. Then when he made another
one I started to understand.

“You want me to make a snowman and yell at it?” I still didn’t see

how this would help me.

“I want you to make snowmen that look like your brothers and

then beat them up. You will not be hurting anyone, like when
therapists give people those big inflatable boxing gloves, but it will
get your aggression out. That is my theory at least.” He looked at me
with such hope I knew I was going to say yes.

“Okay, but I’m getting my favorite bat from the garage at least.” I

conceded and turned to walk in that direction.

“I love you!” he called after me. I still smiled as it warmed my

heart, even if I was a little grumpy.

I took my time, trying to relax and not get upset about doing

something this silly. It was for Otis. Or it was for Otis to try and help
me. Or it was for me from Otis. Oh, who the fuck knew. I just had to
do it because I loved my mate and he never asked me for anything.

“You have five brothers, correct?” he asked me when I rejoined

him.

“Yeah,” I answered, still pouting. This was so silly to me. What

did beating up some snowman have to do with my horrid older
brothers torturing me as a child?

“Alright, here they are.” Otis stepped back with a flourish to show

off his creations. I wanted to laugh because they were mostly snow
and mud men, given there wasn’t a lot of snow on the ground. Wow,
he was really trying here. “Adapt them as you need to so they will
remind you of your real brothers.”

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Joyee Flynn

I stared at them a moment, and I really could picture my brothers

when I tried hard enough. And then I got mad. Not just mad, pissed-
off angry with rage that I’d only felt when Otis had been threatened.

“You were supposed to love me!” I screamed after a few minutes

of staring when the rage boiled over. I lifted the bat and swung at my
nearest brother’s stomach. “I was the youngest. You were supposed to
protect me.”

I took another swing and nailed the first one’s head off. But the

body was still there. I went nuts swinging away as I screamed at my
eldest brother.

“The others wouldn’t have done it if you hadn’t thought of it. You

were the oldest! You should have led by example, but all you showed
them was it was okay to not love me and hurt me. All the kids picked
on me relentlessly because you did it and they knew you would never
stick up for me.”

When that snowman was gone, I moved on to the next one.
“And you,” I snarled in his face. “Did you have to pour water on

the snow? Really? It wasn’t humiliating and scary enough already to a
child? You had to make it an iceman for me to get out of. Why? What
did I ever do to you? I just wanted to be like you guys, have my
brothers love me!”

I started breathing heavy and realized I already decimated the next

one. Wow, when had that happened? Maybe this was working!

“Did you have to lie to Mom about it, too?” I asked the third one.

“You always made me get in trouble and they didn’t believe me.
Granted they were morons because the whole fucking village knew
what was going on and laughed at me. But, really? You had to lie and
say I was throwing snowballs at people and that’s why I came home
wet and cold. You’d encase me in snow and ice and then I’d get in
trouble and Mom would make me skip dinner.

“I trusted all of you! You were my family. I should have been

looking up to you, not hiding from you. Why couldn’t you just leave
me alone if you wouldn’t love me?”

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113

Three and four were gone before I realized it, and my arms were

throbbing. I got to the last one and I dropped the bat.

“I can’t beat him. Him I only pity.”
“Why?” Otis asked gently.
“Because he was almost as old as they were, but he didn’t have

the balls to stop it. He knew it was wrong. After every time it
happened, he’d try to sneak me some bread so I didn’t go to bed
hungry and cry for forgiveness. All he ever had to do was just stand
up to them or tell Mom and Dad. Four on two isn’t as easy as five on
one. If he would have stood up for what he knew was wrong, it
wouldn’t have happened.

“But he was scared they’d do it to him, too. He was weak and just

went along with it.” I froze and turned to Otis, who looked like I
slapped him across the face. “This is not the same thing as what
happened to you, baby. I don’t mean it like that in the slightest.”

“Explain to me the difference,” he whispered as his eyes filled up

with tears.

“My brother Cheer was like Alfred except he didn’t want to do it

and could have stopped it. He was the instigator. You were the victim.
That’s a completely different thing. You didn’t waste energy and
incur pain by fighting when you knew you couldn’t win. That’s not
the same as what you went through. He came crying to me, begging
for forgiveness instead of just not doing it.”

Otis didn’t looked convinced, so I tried to put it another way.
“Would you have stopped what happened to you if you could?”
“Of course,” he answered immediately, his brows scrunched

together.

“Cheer would come crying to me as if he was the victim. He

wasn’t. He could have stopped it at any time but didn’t. All on the
possibility that they might have done the same to him. You knew the
consequences if you fought back or tried to escape.”

“I did try to escape a couple of times and ended up with broken

bones,” Otis admitted.

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Joyee Flynn

“See, that’s not the same,” I whispered as I pulled him into my

arms. “Cheer knew I never got hurt physically. He was weak. You are
strong, so strong, baby.” I held him to me tightly for a moment,
nuzzling his neck. “Thank you.”

“For what?”
“For loving me. For coming up with this crazy idea. I didn’t even

realize how much pain and anger I had inside of me until it came out.
I needed this.” I let out a small semi hysterical laugh. “I had no idea I
needed this and I’ve lived with it for centuries. But I needed this.”

“It worked?” Otis sounded as shocked as I did. “I saw it in a

movie that confronting the bad guy is good for the victim. It helped
me with Alfred.” I loved that he no longer slipped and referred to that
asshole as master. Not since we left the police station that day.

“Yeah, it worked.” I chuckled. I gave out a yelp as he lifted me up

into his arms.

“Good, now part two of my evil plan.” He snickered. I raised an

eyebrow and ’ported us up to our room. “I am going to take care of
you tonight.”

“You mean—” I gasped, not even able to finish in case it wasn’t

true.

“I am going to make love to my mate,” he whispered in my ear. I

went to kiss him, but he tossed me on the bed. “Get out of those wet
clothes and do that magic thing. I am still too nervous I am going to
hurt you.”

“Okay,” I squeaked and quickly waved away our clothes. Otis was

agreeing to top me and I knew that was hard for him. I didn’t want the
lead-up to it to freak him out. I moaned and spread my legs wide for
him as I stretched myself magically.

“I love you,” he said in a shaky voice as he moved my legs over

his arms.

“I love you.” Otis pushed into me slowly but all in one movement.
“Oh sweet mother of mercy,” he moaned as he stared down at me

with wide eyes. “This feels amazing.”

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115

“On this end, too.” I giggled and thrust my hips up. And it did, but

I knew it was because I was with my mate. No other man could have
made it this enjoyable for me. “Make love to me.”

“My pleasure,” he growled and started thrusting into me slowly. I

shivered at his tone. Maybe I could give up control sometimes? Go
figure.

Our bodies moved together in perfect harmony and we didn’t say

a word. Otis stared into my eyes as nothing but the sound of slapping
skin filled the room. When I got close, I grabbed my cock and gave it
a few tugs.

“Enter me,” he whispered and tilted his neck. Oh baby!
My fangs immediately popped out at the offer, and I sank them

into his neck. Otis cried out my name and thrust into me harder as he
came. The taste of his sweet blood and the scent of his release pushed
me right over the edge. I filled the space between us with my seed as I
grunted around his flesh. I retracted my fangs as I rode my orgasm,
holding on to Otis as if he was the only real thing in the world.

“Holy shit,” he gasped when we were done.
“Good?” I asked, panting myself.
“Better than good.” He chuckled. “Can we do that again?”
“Anytime you want, my mate. I’ll always give you anything you

need.”

“Same goes here,” Otis whispered against my lips. He kissed me

with such passion I never doubted his words. Damn, I was one lucky
elf…who got over his issues with snowmen because someone loved
me enough to care.

THE END

WWW.JOYEEFLYNN.COM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joyee Flynn grew up in Chicago living in the same house all her

life until she went left for college. Though she has a great life, she
loves to get lost in fantasy that only books could bring. Her wide
interest in reading was reflected in her writings. Currently Joyee lives
with her dog, Marius, named after a vampire from Anne Rice’s
Interview with the Vampire series. She dreams of one day living out in
Montana, enough land to have a few horses, and find a couple of
cowboys of her own.

A lover of men, Joyee’s all about them in any form in her books.

Vampire, werewolf, military, doesn’t matter at all as long as they are
hot, hard, and sex fiends!

Also by Joyee Flynn

Siren Classic ManLove: Who Needs Christmas? 1: Screw Santa

Siren Classic ManLove: Who Needs Christmas? 2: Hell’s Bells

Siren Classic ManLove: Who Needs Christmas? 3: Stupid Mistletoe

Siren Classic ManLove: Who Needs Christmas? 4: Holy Stockings

Siren Classic ManLove: Who Needs Christmas? 5:

Down with the Tunes

Siren Classic ManLove: Who Needs Christmas? 6: Frosty Melt

For all other titles, please visit

www.bookstrand.com/joyee-flynn