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Christmas Eve, training room
You better watch out, you better not cry,
You better not pout, I’m telling you why,
Santa Claus is coming to town…
“What the hell is that?” Mason snarled, stopping abruptly midfight and getting knocked off his balance by Adam, who took a deep breath, Mason frowning at him while regaining his footing.
“What?” The leader asked.
“You hear that shit, don’t you?"
He’s making a list, he’s checking it twice,
He’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice,
Santa Claus is coming to town…
"That’s a Christmas-”
“I know what it is, I wanna know why is it playing in…” he sighed and narrowed his eyes. “Alice.” When she left home the night before, after kissing him for the last time, she gave him a bright smile and announced she had a surprise for the next day. He hoped it was something… sexy. But the Christmas song probably meant eggnog and silly Santa Claus hats, not lingerie and ropes. “Damn.”
Adam matched his sigh. “We should go check it out.”
Meanwhile, in the living room
“I can’t believe we haven’t celebrated Christmas before!” Felix rocked on his heels slightly while he finished putting on lights around a vase in the center of the table. “I’ve watched all the Christmas movies, I’m so ready.”
Alice giggled as she turned around, eying the vase with hesitation before deciding to let him have this one. The whole living room had been transformed with shimmering lights, little angels and santas, a Christmas tree and colourful garlands. Felix’s hat had been replaced by a red and white one and she had slid a garland around Nate’s neck like a boa. The detective wore some fluffy reindeer antlers and a red dress to match the theme. The music sounding through the speakers had her softly dancing where she stood.
“I’m so glad you guys agreed to do this.” She grinned, looking from Felix to Nate, who had been incredibly useful at decorating the higher places. She couldn’t help but let a soft squeal of joy at the sight. “You are the best.”
“Still thinking you should’ve asked Mason.” Felix grinned. “Would’ve loved to see his face.”
“This face?” A voice called from the door.
Mason’s jaw had dropped slightly at the whole holiday cheerfulness bullshit he was witnessing, but he recovered quickly and took a much needed drag of his cigarette.
Adam did his best to hide the amused smirk playing at the corners of his mouth.
“Merry Christmas!” Alice announced, spreading her arms around to emphasize her enthusiasm.
Mason opened his mouth to reply but suddenly Nate was in front of him, whispering urgently. “This seems to be very special for her. Please, please, don’t spoil it. She’s worked so hard for us to like it. Focus on something you enjoy and forget about the rest.”
Mason’s eyebrows knit together at his words, looking around Nate to Alice’s giddy - yet somewhat anxious? - smile. His gaze roamed her body, it was almost a habit by now, focusing on how the red velvet dress hugged her curves and ended teasingly around her mid-thigh, thick black tights covering her legs.
“Focus on something I enjoy, hm?” He smirked lazily at Nate.
“Wait, that’s not -”
But Mason had already walked past him, and saw how Alice’s shoulders relaxed a little when she caught his smirk. An arm curled easily around her waist and a feather light kiss was placed on her hair. “So this was the surprise?”
Alice beamed at him and he had to clear his throat after his breath hitched. “Yeah.”
He flicked one of her fluffy antlers with a finger. “Cute."
"Is the music too loud? Or the lights too bright? I can -”
A finger pressed against her lips and she sighed softly, staring up at him. “Sweetheart, do you like it?”
“Yeah. I do.”
“Then I can bear with it. For a night.”
It was worth it when her arms surrounded his waist and squeezed him out of poor joy. He met Felix’s gaze from over the detective’s head and that fucking grin was infuriating.
“Aawww!! This is the Christmas spirit y'all! It defeated Mason, nobody’s safe!”
“Shut up.” Both Mason and Alice said, though in rather different tones. “You know, sweetheart.” He lowered his voice as the rest of the team got comfortable, Adam inspecting the decorations with Nate in tow, Felix pointing to everything he had decorated to get Adam’s approval of his newfound skill. “When you said ‘tomorrow I’ll have a surprise for you’ in that tempting voice…” his thumb brushed her lower lip. “My mind was really, really far from this. In fact, it was in my bedroom, you were wearing this little leather -”
The small bite on the pad of his finger made him stop on his tracks, and Alice watched in delight how his eyes darkened at the motion. “The night has just begun, has it not?” She whispered, a soft kiss lingering on the place she had bit before she moved out of his grasp.
Maybe Christmas wasn’t so bad after all?
Some time later…
Nate looked around him and felt a warmth spreading through his chest. The music was now low, a soft background noise in the room where the five of them were settled, just talking. Felix sat on the floor with his legs crossed, cradling a cup of eggnog between his hands and listened at Alice, completely enraptured by her Christmas tale. Adam sat on the armchair with his ankle over his knee, a glass of wine on one hand while his chin rested on his other fist. The expression of his face was peaceful, hard lines softly illuminated by the twinkling, colourful lights.
But his favorite sight -the romantic in him couldn’t help it- were Mason and Alice. His feet were propped on the coffee table as he lounged on the couch, a cigarette between his fingers on one hand. His other hand rested lazily on Alice’s shoulder, surrounding her, playing absentmindedly with a lock of bright red hair, almost as if he wasn’t aware of what he was doing. Her boots lay discarded on the floor and her feet were tucked underneath her, her body literally curled against the vampire, one hand on his thigh while she gesticulated with the other. Mason stared at her as she spoke, his eyes moving around her face, with as much attention as Felix, but with quite a different gleam within his grey eyes.
Mason maybe didn’t know it yet, but Nate could see it as clear as the summer sky.
“Aaaand if you wanna know the ending, you gotta watch the movie!” Alice finished her tale mysteriously, leaning back on the couch. The vampires groaned in unison.
“Alliiiiie!” Felix pouted, giving her the best puppy eyes she had ever seen. “At least tell us the ending of one of the characters?”
“Surely the Prime Minister won’t engage in an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate.” Adam guessed, making Mason and Alice roll their eyes at the same time.
“No, no, tell us about the British guy!” Felix requested.
“Literally all of them are British.” Mason scoffed.
“You know, the one who comes to the States. Does he find love?” Felix asked.
“He means, does he get laid?” Mason clarified with a smirk, making Alice chuckle.
“That’s not what I meant, but I’ll take what I can get.”
The Unit shared a laugh and they weren’t aware of the fact that for a second, they all thought the same: they couldn’t remember the last time they felt this happy.
“What about you, Nate?” Alice asked, throwing him a grin. “Interested in any of the characters’ fates?”
Nate smiled sheepishly while trying to hide his expression by taking a drink from his scotch. “I, um… I’ve actually watched that movie.”
Felix gasped. “You’ve watched Love Actually? Without me?”
“Aw, you let me explain the plot all by myself for half an hour when you already knew everything?” Alice turned slightly towards him, shifting in place so her back rested on Mason’s side. He moved with her silently so she rested against his chest instead, and by the way her smile brightened slightly, Nate could tell she was pleased.
“You’re a good story teller. I didn’t want to ruin the fun."
"Define ’fun’.” Mason scoffed, gaining the soft hit of Alice’s elbow against his side. “Worth it.” He smirked down at her when she turned her head to look at his face.
“You were loving it.” Alice teased, and Mason’s mouth dropped to her ear to whisper to her. As if that mattered, since the room was full of vampires.
“I can tell you a long list of things I would rather be doing with that mouth of yours than telling stories.”
“Okay!” Nate clapped, eyes wide, while Felix barked a laugh and Adam pinched the bridge of his nose. “Allie, I think you had something else planned?”
“I, um…” her cheeks were bright red and she had to force herself to look away from Mason - the whisper had been accompanied by a soft flick of his tongue against her earlobe and now she felt like she was on fire. “What?” She blinked rapidly. “Oh right! Yeah!"
She got up with a jump, leaving Mason staring after her with a smirk on his lips. She padded to one of the cupboards and took two bright-coloured paper bags. Felix gasped so loudly it made Mason flinch.
"Are those gifts?!” He got up with a jump while Alice returned to the couch, nodding her head happily. “Is there one for me?”
Now she was the one to gasp, outraged. “Well, duh! You think I would forget about you?” Alice smiled at Felix while handing him a gift.
He tore the paper impatiently to reveal a Christmas sweater. His eyes widened as he started at it. It was… cute? Nate wasn’t really sure. It had a pug embroidered, wearing a pug sweater, and it said 'pugly sweater’ underneath, all of it quite colourful.
“Oh. Oh, Allie.” Felix hugged the sweater tightly, bursting into laughter. “I love it so much!” He then moved to hug Alice tight, rocking her sideways with the force of it, still laughing. “Thank you sooooo much! My first Christmas gift couldn’t have been better."
Her next victim was Adam, who unwrapped the present carefully to reveal his own very blue sweater which spelled in black letters 'this is as jolly as I can get’. He actually chuckled and Alice jumped a little in delight. "Do you really like it?”
“Yeah, it is quite funny. Also, the fact that you took the time to buy this for me means a lot by itself."
The delight intensified and Nate could see Alice refraining from jumping to Adam to hug him. "This for me?” Mason spoke, already grabbing his present. When Alice nodded and hurried to sit beside him, he put out the cigarette on the ashtray and tore the paper. His sweater had two strings of Christmas lights framing the words 'naughty as fuck’. Alice watched his reaction holding her breath, which she released when he barked a laugh. “Love it. Thanks, sweetheart.” He quickly pecked her lips and Nate could swear she was vibrating with excitement.
“Um, that’s quite a vocabulary for a Christmas sweater.” Nate commented.
“Oh you have no idea.” Alice said with a sigh. “I had a really hard time picking. I almost got Mason this one that said 'snowballs deep’ and it showed a snowman with a carrot as his-”
“I get the idea, thank you.” Nate sighed while Mason and Felix laughed heartily.
“I’d love that one too. Maybe next Christmas.” Mason commented when he stopped laughing, and Alice beamed. The simple fact that he took for granted that they would spend the next Christmas together meant more for her than any material gift anyone could give her.
Still smiling, she handed his present to Nate. The tall vampire sat down to open it carefully, revealing a sweater full of Santa hats which said 'mom friend’. The four vampires laughed together and Nate brought the present closer to his chest. “I shall wear it proudly."
"But we got nothing for you.” Felix said, looking genuinely sad by that fact.
“It’s okay, I much rather give presents, I loved watching your reactions. Also you let me throw this small party in your house, so that really is my gift.”
“Still,” Adam said, while Felix took off his shirt to put on his new sweater. “Maybe we could treat you to dinner tomorrow. Wherever you want to go.”
“Tomorrow it’s Christmas, maybe Allie has plans already.” Nate said softly, but she shook her head.
“I don’t! I… I’d like that very much, in fact.”
Felix frowned. “You were going to spend Christmas alone? But… you love Christmas!”
The silence settled in the room while Alice looked down at her hands, pushing her glasses up her nose. She chewed at her bottom lip, until Mason threw an arm around her to bring her closer to him on the couch. At his touch, she seemed to relax enough to speak. “I like the spirit of Christmas, of celebrating the people we love and the bonds we share with them, spending time together and giving them gifts. But I hadn’t really celebrated it for a long time.”
“Why?” Felix asked.
“Felix…” Nate warned.
“I want to know!”
“Well,” Alice started, her fingers finding Mason’s knee, drawing circles over the denim of his jeans with her nails. “I lived with my grandparents in Spain for a while when I was a kid, and they were catholic and celebrated every single holiday. It was really nice, actually, even though I’m not religious. But I came back to start high school in Wayhaven and as you can guess my mother wasn’t really around for Christmas, so I mostly spent the holidays alone. And then in college, Bobby always celebrated it with his family, but never invited me.” Alice didn’t notice Mason working his jaw as she spoke. “Then I started working at the station, and everyone had somewhere to be for the holidays, so I always volunteered to work.” She said in a matter-of-fact tone, giving a shrug. “So I thought this year could be fun to celebrate with you, if you were up for it. You guys are my…”
She didn’t finish the sentence, trapping her lower lip with her teeth again, but Felix did for her. “Family?"
She nodded gratefully.
"So how long since the last time you did all of this?” Mason asked, his tone soft enough to surprise all of them, except Alice. She had heard that tone before.
“Like fifteen years, give or take."
They stayed silent for a moment as they assimilated the information, and now it all made sense to Mason. Why she was so excited, why everything seemed so important for her, why she had gone beyond herself to create the festive environment and her initial anxiety at the possible rejection from him.
"Okay, guys.” Felix called. “Group hug.”
Mason scoffed. “No.”
But Alice happily jumped into Felix’s open arms and they squeezed each other. “Nate, c'mon.” Alice called. “You’re the mom friend. You legally cannot reject a hug."
He laughed and got up to surround them with his long arms. "We should do this everyday.” Felix spoke, his voice muffled into the hug. Mason retched.
“Ugh.”
“And what about our almighty leader?"
"I rather not."
Nate dropped his voice. "Go get him, Allie, he won’t refuse for long.”
Alice tiptoed towards Adam and grabbed his hand, pulling him up - only because he allowed it. She smiled brightly at him and he had to give his own small smile back as she dragged him until Felix threw an arm around his waist, and Nate another around his shoulders. It was more a circle than a hug, but it worked when Alice joined.
“Come one, sunshine.” The detective called, turning her head slightly towards Mason, sitting behind her.
“Yeah, not gonna happen."
"Well, give me your hand at least.” She said, dropping her arm from Nate’s waist to extend it towards Mason.
She felt his hand - grabbing a handful of her butt. She jumped forward while she heard him snicker. The others squeezed her for a few seconds - mostly Nate and Felix - before letting go. Adam hurried back to his armrest with his cheeks slightly pink, and Mason pursed his lips when he watched Nate caress Alice’s cheek with his thumb in what seemed an overly intimate gesture. The expression dropped from his face when he realized Nate had discreetly wiped a tear from her face before the rest could see.
Mason dropped his gaze to the floor and cocked his head in surprise. “You forgot a present.” He called, grabbing a forgotten gift from the bottom of a bag.
Alice’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh, that's… for you. But, y'know for… later.”
He cocked an eyebrow, curiosity piquing. “Can I open it?”
“Not now.”
“Why not?”
“Not now, Mason." He started reaping the paper. "Mason!” She lunged herself forward to stop him, but he moved out of her grasp with a chuckle while unwrapping the present. She huffed a breath, landing on the couch, while he held the present before his eyes to inspect it. She had never seen him smile that much.
“That doesn’t look like his size.” Felix commented with a teasing grin, watching as Alice blushed. Hard.
The negligee was as red as her hair, delicate silk on the top exquisitely stitched to a lace skirt. “Wow, sweetheart. Just wow.”
“You, um, dropped something.” Adam signaled, and Mason looked at the small garment that had landed on his boot. A red thong.
“Oh my God.” Nate whispered, looking away with a blush that could match Alice, who was now covering her face with her hands.
“Merry Christmas to you, am I right?” Felix laughed, and Mason grinned back at him, now having picked up the thong.
“Well friends,” Mason spoke, pocketing it, the negligee hanging from one of his fingers as his other hand took one of Alice’s away from her face. “It’s been great, but there’s something else I rather be… unwrapping right now.” Alice laced her fingers with him and let him get her to her feet before he let go of her hand and threw his arm around her shoulders with a satisfied smirk.
“Just go.” Nate groaned, rubbing his fingers against his forehead.
Alice waved at them with an apologetic smile as they left the room, a spring on Mason’s step that wasn’t there before.
“Remember we’re going out tomorrow!” Felix called, but Mason was whispering something in Alice’s ear that made her giggle, so they probably didn’t hear him.
A while later, on Alice’s room
He could hear her accelerated heartbeat inside the bathroom while he waited for her, spread on the bed. He already had red lipstick smeared all around his mouth and neck. His shirt, shoes and socks laid discarded on the floor, while he took a drag from his cigarette.
His own heartbeat was uncharacteristically fast, excitement and arousal knotting his stomach as he waited for her to show him how that present looked on her body. The whole night had been unexpected, the most unpredictable part of it all being how much he had actually enjoyed himself.
Just holding her while she spoke, watching her excitement as she handed out the gifts, the way there had barely been a minute in the whole night where they hadn’t been touching in some way. The way her heart leaped whenever he discreetly placed a kiss on her neck or her ear, that lovely smile on her lips whenever he squeezed her closer, her joy when he said he loved his new sweater.
And how her fingers had found their place among his long strands of dark hair when he pushed her against the door. Her mouth had opened almost instantly, as if asking him to devour her, and her tongue was so deliriously sweet he would have died a happy man while tasting her. Her leg surrounded his hip as he grinded against her, mouths sucking and biting and licking, before she pushed him away and grabbed the red negligee.
The look she threw at him over her shoulder as she walked to the bathroom with the garment, her lips wet and swollen, will become one of his best memories.
The door opened and she emerged, revealing his unexpected Christmas present in all its glory. He sat up, eyes roaming up and down her deliciously curvy body, and his mouth dried instantly.
She hadn’t bothered in fixing her lipstick, and the way it looked, knowing he had been the one to mess it up, made her all the more enticing. Her hair cascaded down her shoulders and onto her back, and once she felt Mason had gotten a decent eyeful, she turned around, oh so slowly, so he could watch the backside as well.
“Fucking hell, Allie.” His voice sounded so husky she had to look over her shoulder, his eyes unsurprisingly glued to her ass, where the thong left nearly nothing to the imagination.
“You like?” She asked softly, while she watched him advance through the bed on all fours, before reaching out with both hands and grabbing two handfuls of red lace to bring her closer. She had seen the lust in his eyes more times that she could count, but in that moment it was mixed with something else within those silver eyes - something akin adoration.
He huffed a breath as she let him pull her towards him, still somewhat lost in the sight of her, not knowing where to fix his stare. It traveled through her legs, her thick, strong thighs, her wide hips covered by the lace he was fisting on either side of her. His gaze stopped for a while at her breasts, a low groan escaping him when he realized he could see the outline of her hard nipples through the silk. It went upwards, to her collarbone, where goosebumps were forming, he licked his lips when it reached her mouth, and finally settled on her own eyes.
“Like?” He wasn’t surprised to find his voice sound so breathy. “This may be the best moment of my life."
She laughed and placed her hands on his shoulders, delighted at his reaction and the honesty she could sense behind his words. She kneaded the muscles there, nails ever so softly digging in his skin and making him bring her closer until their chests were pressed against each other.
"Well, I aim to please."
"Oh, do you? What a coincidence.” He dipped his head to lick a path from her collarbone to her ear, mixing strokes of his tongue with kisses and bites. She shuddered deliciously on his arms when he whispered in her ear. “So do I.”
In a second, she was on her back, laying in the bed, and she had to blink her surprise rapidly since Mason was already sucking on her neck, his hands on the back of her thighs, urging her to surround him with her legs. Her fingers traced the hard muscles of his bare back, and a hiss of pleasure escaped her lips when he bit on her neck, quickly soothing the ache with his tongue.
A hand found its way to his hair and guided his mouth towards her, meeting in a feverish kiss. Their skin felt hot against each other, the only sounds in the room were their pants and sighs and the increasingly loud moans and grunts when he started rocking his hips against her, the heels of her feet digging against his ass to spur him on.
He left her mouth and traced kisses down her cheek and neck, towards her shoulder, where he slid the strap of the negligee down with his teeth, his hands busy - one keeping his balance on the bed while the other softly palmed one of her breasts.
She bit her lip and tried to calm her racing heart. “Wait, Mason, wait."
He stopped, resting his hands at both sides of her to push himself up. Over her with his hair tousled, his pupils blown and his lips raw, the freckles on his chest exposed for her to see and the muscles of his arms rippling at both sides of her, she had to swallow hard or she would have thrown herself at him.
"What’s wrong?” He asked, breathless, before she sat up and he followed her lead, sitting on his heels and watching her with concern.
“Nothing’s wrong.” She pecked his lips, before getting up from the bed and padding quickly to the bathroom, coming back a second later with something hidden inside her fist.
He eyed her curiously. “Is that another surprise? Cause I don’t know how much more I can take, sweetheart.” He motioned to his lap, where Alice could see the outline of his rock hard erection, and she had to clear her throat.
“Just… give me a second or I may not find the courage to do this ever again.” She said almost in a whisper, reaching out to grab his hand and placing something in his open palm. “You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to. But I wanted to give you something special. Something to… think of me."
There she was, anxiously biting her lip again. Mason’s eyebrows shot up and looked at his palm, where she had placed a leather bracelet. It was apparently hand made, with braided straps of leather and a small metallic plate in the middle. It seemed to be one of those bracelets you had engraved with a name or a date, but the metal was untouched. Mason frowned.
"I thought it would be better for you to decide what to engrave, if something at all. As I said you don’t have to wear it, you can just leave it in a drawer or something, but I wanted you to…”
She trailed off as Mason deftly tied the leather bracelet on his wrist, proceeding then to untie one of his trademark leather cords so only the new bracelet adorned his wrist. Alice took a deep breath at the acceptance of the gift, but it quickly froze on her throat when he reached out and grabbed one of her wrists…
And tied his leather cord around it.
She stared at it dumbstruck, while his thumb rubbed circles on her pulse point, softly pulling her towards him until she climbed on the bed on her knees to join him.
“I don’t need anything to think of you.” He muttered, letting go of her wrist and placing a finger on her chin to tilt her head upwards, gazes meeting. “But now you got something else of mine."
He kissed her then. Slowly, skillfully, purposely, until she forgot why she had been worried in the first place and what the hell did he mean by 'something else’. He lowered her onto the mattress and the way his heart was beating against her skin let her know this moment hadn’t been important only to her.
"Let me show you how grateful I am.” He mumbled against her lips, before he started his way downwards.
And he did.
By the time he was finished with her, they both lay tangled in bed, sweaty and breathless and completely spent, their breaths mingling while they shared lazy kisses that tasted salty and delicious. Her eyelids were dropping as he reached out to grab his pack of cigarettes and lit one, her head on his chest while sleep began to claim her.
“Stay.” She muttered. “At least until I fall asleep.”
And he looked down at her and her beautiful, satisfied, tired face, and knew it would be less than five minutes until she was completely asleep. “Okay.” He agreed and she sighed, and it made his heart leap. “Sweetheart?”
“Hm?” She was almost out.
“Merry Christmas.”
She managed to place a small kiss on his chest, right over his heart. “Merry Christmas, sunshine.”