Several days later Eli woke up with Zee draped across his chest. Realizing what day it was he very carefully slid her off and pulled on the clothes he’d left on the floor before creeping down the stairs as quietly as he could. He quickly busied himself making coffee for the rest of the house before casting a glance at the still-lit Christmas tree and grinning.

Realizing he likely didn’t have long, he darted around the house and began pulling presents from their various hiding places. One by one he placed them under the tree, grinning from ear-to-ear as he did. Once his task was done he sat back and poured himself a steaming hot cup of coffee and waited while watching the snow softly fall outside.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, Minerva was the first to wake. She’d taken up residence in one of the spare bedrooms next to the rest of his harem, insisting it was important that she stay close to his office so that she could work. Eli was more than happy to let her, enjoying her company whenever she took breaks for meals with them.

“Morning Minerva.” He said, waving cheerfully.

“Good morning! You’re up early.” She replied, adjusting her white tank top and red flannel pajama pants. “Normally I’m the first one awake. I knew you were awake until late last night with Zee, so I assumed you’d be sleeping in.”

“Sleeping in? On Christmas? I could never!” Eli replied with mock indignation.

She casually hopped over the banister of the second-floor balcony and spread her wings, floating down to the kitchen island. Eli handed her a cup of coffee and she gratefully accepted it, taking a sip before turning around and looking at the tree.

“Eli?” She asked softly.

“Yes Minerva?”

“Why are there presents underneath the tree?”

“Because it’s Christmas.” He responded with a smirk.

“I know you told us about Christmas and the presents and everything, but… I didn’t think you were actually getting presents for everyone.”

He grinned and shrugged in reply. “Hey, if you want me to return yours I could always-”

“Wait you got a present for me?” She exclaimed loudly.

The sound was enough to wake up Lilly. She opened the door to her room and narrowed her eyes at Eli. “Who got who a present?”

“He got presents for all of us!” She shouted.

That was enough to rouse the rest of the house. Almost immediately, the rest of his harem joined Minerva at the bottom of the stairs. Even Aratessa and Vespera – both of whom were visiting for the night – came out of their rooms as well. “You never told us you were buying us presents!” Aria complained loudly. “We didn’t get you anything and now I feel bad.”

Aria’s voice caused Sira and Ziran to emerge from their rooms that were adjoining to the common area of the house. Eli quickly found himself surrounded and began to shake his head consolingly as he handed out coffees. “Listen, they’re… as much presents for you as they are for me.”

“What does that mean?” Zee asked.

“It means that each gift is something that we can do together. You are family to me. I want to spend time with you.”

His words seemed to take the edge off of any hard feelings. Seeing the smiles start to appear, Eli grinned and started directing traffic. “Now that everyone has a coffee, let’s head to the couch. There’s an order that we have to do this in?”

“Is this part of your Christmas tradition?” Aratessa questioned as she sat on the edge of the couch. “Some sort of priority order I didn’t know about?”

Eli looked at her and his grin widened. Gone was the sexy white dress, instead replaced by a somehow just-as-sexy pair of black booty shorts and a t-shirt she’d borrowed from Freya that had a golden crown on the front. It stretched across her breasts tightly and rode up just enough to show the little bit of a curvy stomach Eli loved to see.

“Not exactly.” Eli said finally. “This order is… well, it’s more for me to be honest.”

“Alright, who’s first then?” Naz asked.

“Minerva was actually awake first, so I think she should go.” Eli said, gesturing to the tree.

All eyes in the room turned to her, causing her to blush a deep crimson. She slowly made her way to the tree and looked at each of the small presents arrayed underneath, inspecting each gift tag and searching for her own. When she did she picked the small package up and turned around, walking back to Eli as she carefully unfolded the wrapping paper.

Eli stood and smiled as she looked at him. “I know you mentioned you were looking for new stories, so I found you a book! I’m absolutely sure you haven’t read it, it’s by this lesser-known human author named F.G-oof!” He cried as Minerva cut off his statement, wrapping both her arms and her wings around him in a tight hug.

“Thank you.” She whispered softly, leaning her head on his neck with a broad smile. “This is…perfect.”

“Merry Christmas.” He replied, rubbing his hands along her back. “I read a copy of it a few years ago, so I was thinking you could read it too. Then maybe you could recommend a favorite book of yours for me, and I could read it?”

“I’d love that.” She said, brimming with happiness.

They stayed like that for a few moments before Naz cleared her throat. “Uh… not to break up this tender moment but… more presents?”

Eli laughed as Minerva released him from the hug. “Yes, more presents. Vespera’s next!”

The succubus jumped up in a flash, racing towards the tree. Somehow even her ‘comfortable’ pajamas screamed sex – she wore a black crop-top that clung loosely to her body and a pair of black booty shorts. Unlike Minerva she tore into the wrapping paper, tossing it aside with delight. When she saw the painting supplies he’d bought for her she squealed with girlish glee and leapt at him, giving him just enough time for him to catch her flying hug.

“Thank you!” She shouted.

“I bought them from an elven vendor here in Irandell.” Eli explained as he let her down. “Apparently they’re enchanted to change colors continually until the enchantment runs out. I know you’ve got paints already, but I thought you might enjoy experimenting with some new ones.”

“It’s perfect.” She purred. “The first one I make will be for you though, I promise. Where would you like for it to hang?”

“I’d love some art in my office.” Eli nodded as she ran her tail up and down his leg.

“I’ll need to see the colors you have in there already to get inspired.” She insisted.

“Of course.”

“Later!” Freya interrupted insistently. “More presents!”

Eli nodded. “The next one is for Aratessa, I think.”

“I propose a new rule.” Aratessa said with a smirk. “I think Eli should bring us the presents, and sit with us while we open them. That way we can show him our appreciation immediately.”

Zee chuckled. “I like that rule. He’s our very own Santa Claus! Next year we should make him wear a red hat and a coat.”

“What’s the significance of the red coat and hat?” Vespera asked, looking up from her new paints.

“I’ll explain later.” Eli promised, picking up Aratessa’s present.

She moved slightly to the side on the large sectional couch, giving Eli just enough room to squeeze in. The moment he sat she draped her legs over his and slid one arm across his shoulders with a smirk. “Did you have something for me?” She said seductively.

“I do.” Eli replied with a grin, handing her the rectangular package.

She opened it slowly, cocking her head to one side. “What…is it?”

“Remember when I mentioned the human strategy game – chess? I thought you might like to try it, so I got you a chess set. I was thinking I could teach you and we could play together.”

A grin slowly spread across her face. “Do you truly think you can defeat a dark elf in a game of strategy?”

“I can certainly try.” Eli replied, undaunted. “I’m no chess master, but I won’t be a pushover either.”

“Eli…” Aria cautioned him from the other side of the couch. “Dark elves are masters at strategy games. They have this complex board game that mom tried to teach to me once that….well, it’s not important. The important part is that you should prepare to lose. Badly.”

Eli grinned wider. “Oh, I am. But the first rule of chess is to put yourself in a position where you win no matter what your opponent does. And that’s exactly what I’ve done.”

“How so?” Aratessa questioned, furrowing her brow.

“Because whether I win or lose, I get to spend time with you – which is my real goal.”

Aratessa’s jaw dropped slightly and her red eyes went wide. “You… devious…”

“I have my moments.” Eli responded, grin growing wider.

Suddenly, Aratessa lurched forward. Her hand gripped the back of his neck and pulled him close to her, and before he knew what was happening she was kissing him deeply. He recovered quickly, pressing his lips to her soft ones and running his free hand up and down her side. She groaned and sucked his bottom lip into her mouth, biting on it gently but possessively. Her ash-white hair covered their faces as they made out, enveloping them in their own world.

She giggled and blushed slightly as they broke apart. “How was that for a first kiss?”

He leaned forward in response and kissed her one more time, but stopped before they went too far. “I’d say it’s something we should do more often.”

The room erupted into hooting and hollering, reminding the two of them that they weren’t alone. Eli reluctantly picked the dark elven queen’s legs off of his and stood, walking back to the tree. “Now, I got something small for Isla, but I know she said she couldn’t make it so… Ziran and Sira, you’re up next.”

He gathered their presents and handed them to the two desert elves who were standing by the island in the kitchen. They were already wearing the traditional staff uniforms of the Hightower family – grey linen pants and a shirt.

The two of them unwrapped the boxes to find a warm leather jacket for each of them. They broke into silly grins as they put them on and took turns modelling them for the group who ‘ooh-ed’ and ‘aah-ed’ appropriately. “You two look great.” Eli said, wrapping one arm around each of his desert elven retainers and pulling them into a group hug. “Merry Christmas.”

They returned the hug, but it was cut short by Naz’s protesting. “More presents!”

Eli laughed. “Alright Naz – just for that, you’re next!”

She cheered boisterously as Eli grabbed the small envelope from underneath the tree and sat next to his orcish girlfriend. In his human form she towered over him, wrapping one arm around him. She wore an enormous black sports bra that contained her large breasts but allowed her to show off her muscular arms and abs, as well as a pair of tight yoga pants that clearly showed the muscle definition of her legs.

She shook the envelope from Eli and furrowed her brow, cocking her head to the side. “It’s…paper?”

“Trust me. Just open it.” Eli assured her.

She carefully opened the top of the envelope and dumped the contents into her hand. A pair of tickets dropped out, along with a handwritten note. She looked at the tickets and her eyes went wide. “You got me tickets to a hockey game?”

“Leafs versus Avalanche in Denver. I thought we could make a date night out of it too – get a hotel for the night, have some fun. What do you think?”

She kissed him deeply before responding. “I think I love you Eli Grayson.”

“I love you too Naz.” He said, kissing her one more time.

She held him tightly until Freya protested. “Not fair! You’re hogging him and the rest of us haven’t got our presents yet!”

Naz laughed and finally relented, kissing Eli one more time then letting him go with a firm spank on his ass which caused the room to erupt in laughter. Walking over to the tree he lifted what was obviously the largest package out of any of them with a grunt, and placed it down near Zee’s feet. She raised one eyebrow suspiciously.

“Heavy?” She asked.

“Very.” Eli said with a chuckle. “Why don’t you open it?”

In a flash she moved over to the box, ripping it open with speed and precision. Eli enjoyed the way her black t-shirt rode up from where her yoga pants ended as she moved, exposing her strong yet supple body. When her hands hit the metal underneath the cardboard she paused for a moment, eyebrows furrowed.

“It’s a kiln.” Eli explained. “Specifically made for blowing sand into glass. We’ll have to take it outside, but I’ve been thinking about what you said about desert elves using their magic to create sand sculptures and then casting it with heat. I spoke to Gradumir and Ashni about it, and they built this especially for us. I was thinking it might be a fun thing to do together.”

She pushed him to the couch aggressively and straddled him in response, kissing him deeply. Her tongue almost immediately came out to play and she ground herself against him, groaning her appreciation into his mouth. When she broke apart she sheepishly looked at the women around him, then nuzzled into his neck.

“You are… I don’t have the words, Eli.”

He tightened his embrace around her and kissed her softly. “You like it? I thought it might be fun to explore our magic together.”

“It’s perfect. We can do that, and then afterwards we can explore our magic together. If you know what I mean.” She replied suggestively.

The room around them giggled before Freya continued. “Yes yes we all know Eli is very thoughtful but more presents please!”

He reluctantly pulled Zee off of him and stood, walking to the tree. Grabbing two more envelopes, he sat between Lilly and Freya and handed one envelope to each of them. “This one’s a bit of a different gift, because it’s something for the 3 of us. You can open them at the same time.”

With expectant faces, the dryad and the phoenix opened the envelopes together. Broad smiles crept across their faces as they examined the tickets that were contained within, and suddenly they were both fighting to try and kiss him.

“What did they get?” Minerva asked from across the room.

Freya broke off her kissing assault first to explain while Lilly wrapped her arm around Eli and pressed her lips to him deeply. “He got us a night at a hotel in Paris, along with tickets to a fancy wine and cheese event! I’m so excited!”

Lilly reluctantly broke the kiss, allowing Freya to make out with Eli as she added. “That’s not all! He got us tickets to a fashion show too! I can’t wait to see all the pretty designs! I’m going to make so many clothes after this.”

Eli broke the kiss with Freya and pulled both women into a hug. “I hope it’s okay. Both of you were so excited about going to Paris that I thought it might be fun if the 3 of us went together. I promise to make time for you individually though.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that.” Lilly purred into his ear. “We’re practically sisters. We’ll do everything together.”

“I don’t mind sharing…and rewarding you for everything you do for us.” Freya added before running her cool lips along his neck and causing him to shudder. “I don’t mind showing her how much I love being your little cumslut.”

“And I wouldn’t mind seeing it for myself.” Lilly finished, biting his ear softly.

Eli’s sweatpants had started to tent at that comment, causing most of the women in the room to arch their eyebrows and grin. The thought that most of them had either already seen or wanted to see his cock gradually occurred to him, making him even harder. Only the sight of Aria broke him out of his thoughts, reminding him that he still needed to give her the present he’d created for her.

“I agree on both counts.” He said, addressing Lilly and Freya. “But later. Aria’s been waiting patiently this whole time.”

“I have been waiting patiently.” She agreed as Eli got up. “I shouldn’t read into the fact that you made me wait until last, should I?”

“No, not exactly.” Eli said, glancing at the clock on the wall. “I saved yours until last because we needed a few other people here first.”

“What?”

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Eli looked over at Ziran and nodded. “Would you mind getting that for me?”

With a slightly confused look on his face, Ziran strode over to the door and opened it. His eyes went wide when he saw King Faelor standing outside with his wives – Queen Morathi, Queen Selendis, and Queen Aurora. He jumped to the side and bowed deeply, stammering out the words.

“Your highness I apologize – If I’d known you were coming I would have-”

“No need to apologize.” Faelor said, shaking his head and smiling. “May I come in?”

“Of course.” Eli answered for Ziran, beckoning them in.

As they entered everyone in the room started to stand respectfully. Faelor waved his hand and shook his head as they did. “No no – everyone sit down. I am not here as ‘King Faelor’. Right now I am in your home, and I am just ‘Faelor’. Everyone relax.”

Eli grinned and walked over to the elven man before holding out his hand for him to shake. His golden eyes locked with Faelor’s icy blue ones as they grasped each other’s palms, nodding. The king had several days worth of blonde stubble showing through his chin, and his normally short blonde hair was slightly longer and disheveled. “Thank you for coming.”

“I wouldn’t miss it.” He replied.

“Even if he dragged us out of bed for it.” Morathi complained good naturedly.

Breaking the handshake he gave Morathi a hug before looking into her red eyes. She brushed a stray strand of white hair out of her face as she returned the hug, holding him tightly. Eli softly whispered, loud enough that only she would hear. “Thanks mom.”

“Of course.” She whispered.

Eli broke the embrace just in time to be pulled into another one – this time with Selendis and Aurora. Every time he was close to her he was struck by the familial resemblance between Aria and Selendis - their blonde hair, blue eyes, and facial structure were so close that nobody could ever mistake them for being anything other than mother and daughter.

By contrast, Aurora’s snow-white hair and purple eyes looked exotic. She was slender, but there was still more than enough strength in her arms to squeeze him tightly. He allowed himself to be enveloped in their embrace for a few moments before he tapped them on the back, moving away.

“So…why did my parents need to be here for this?” Aria said, seemingly oblivious.

Slowly, Eli turned to Aria. “I asked them to be here because I made you a promise almost a full year ago and then another one more recently. In the last year I’ve come to realize that I never want to find out what it’s like to not have you in my life.”

The rest of the room figured out what was happening as Eli bent his knee and pulled a ring from his back pocket. “Princess Aria Hightower, will you marry me?”

Her soft blue eyes went wide, and tears of happiness started to stream down her face. She squealed excitedly and leapt at him, tackling him to the ground and covering him with kisses.

“So is that a yes?” Eli managed to croak out between kisses.

“Yes! A thousand times yes!” She said, slipping the ring onto her slender finger before resuming.

The room broke into a loud cheer.