'Twas a Dark and Delicious Christmas

Home > Other > 'Twas a Dark and Delicious Christmas > Page 26
'Twas a Dark and Delicious Christmas Page 26

by Stacey Espino


  “I’m starving,” Lucas said. “You’ve worn me out! I’ll make us some breakfast”— he paused— “you do eat don’t you?”

  Isadora laughed. She was famed for her humongous appetite; her curves hadn’t appeared on their own. “Of course I do, we’re not very different at all really.”

  “There’s so much I want to ask you, Dora, so much I want to know,” he said.

  She buried herself closer to his body, breathing in his warmth. She was sure she had never felt so comfortable or so right. “You can ask me anything.”

  “And you’ll be honest with me?”

  “As honest as I can be, Lucas.”

  “Part of me isn’t sure if it wants all the answers, or all the truth.”

  Isadora lifted herself up and leant her arm on his chest. “What do you mean?”

  She looked into his eyes and shivered at what she saw there. Am I seeing it only because I want to?

  “This, Dora, us, is it only because of the magic? Are you with me because the magic is making you?”

  Goosebumps kissed her skin and her feathers curled outwards. “I’m with you because I want to be, Lucas, the magic has nothing to do with it.”

  “And the way I feel about you, is that real?”

  “How do you feel?”

  She held her breath as she waited for his answer. Please do not let it be just lust.

  “It’s crazy even thinking it but this night is all crazy, so, somehow...” He paused and both of Isadora’s hearts paused with him. “Somehow it seems almost natural to just say it.”

  Lucas lifted his hands and cradled her face. The look in his eyes was unmistakable and Isadora knew she had not simply wished it there. “I love you, Dora. God knows how it has happened in a handful of hours, but it has.”

  “I love you too, Lucas,” Isadora replied, her heart singing. “We’ve formed a bond that is common to my people, a bond of love and it is unbreakable.”

  “So despite the fact our feelings aren’t caused by the magic the wish has worked?”

  Isadora pulled back slightly, “What do you mean?”

  “You granted me my wish, to have you.”

  Isadora shook her head, confused. “Yes, for Christmas, you asked for me for Christmas.”

  “No, Dora, I didn’t say Christmas. I asked for you, just you, I didn’t say just for Christmas.”

  Hope bubbled within her. “I thought—” Her words were stilled by his lips upon her and she quivered in response.

  Pulling back, her answer was now clear to her. “When the clock strikes midnight, Lucas, we’ll know then for sure. The wish I granted was for Christmas only. It will have ended by then and if we still feel the same we’ll know it can’t possibly be due to the magic.”

  “Midnight is hours away,” Lucas replied.

  Isadora giggled and slid down the length of his body. “How ever will we fill the time...?”

  Epilogue

  “A few more seconds...” Lucas watched the hand on the clock tick its way towards midnight. He had never felt so nervous or so desperate before. Please let her love me still.

  He had no doubt of his own feelings, he knew deep in his heart that not even magic could have made the last twenty four hours mean so much to him. It was love, pure, prefect love, just as his mom had predicted. You’ll know her as soon as you meet her, and he did, he had.

  Dora eating his hastily concocted Christmas dinner, Dora laughing under the shower, Dora sliding her body over his.... Lucas smiled, he couldn’t imagine being happier. I could spend the rest of my life enjoying her, over and over.

  A small hand slipped into his and Lucas turned it over to rub her palm. Isadora made a small mew of satisfaction and leant into him. His smile widened as he imagined taking Dora around to meet his family, perhaps the first few times she could use her glamour, just until they fell as much in love with her as he had.

  “Almost time,” Isadora said.

  “Dora—” he began, but she stilled him with a squeeze.

  The hand reached past midnight and Lucas turned to look into the eyes of the woman, the fairy, he loved.

  “I love you, Dora,” he said.

  Her worried face transformed into a dazzling smile and she reached forward to plant a kiss on his lips. “And I love you too, Lucas.”

  “It wasn’t the magic,” he said. “I knew it wasn’t the magic.”

  She laughed in delight and pushed him back against the bed. “Fae magic can’t make people fall in love, Lucas—lust, yes—but not love. I worried that it would just be lust but it’s not.”

  “It’s not lust?”

  Her hand trailed down to his rapidly forming erection, and she wrapped her fingers around it. “Of course there’s lust, Lucas. Real love, the kind of love between a man and a woman will only work if the lust is there too. We have both.”

  He nodded, his heart swelling with happiness. How the hell did I get so lucky?

  “I have another...fairy benefit to show you, Lucas,” Isadora said. She slid off the bed, pulled him towards her and spread his knees apart.

  “A fairy benefit, like the wings?” he asked, excitement fizzing through him.

  “Mmm, when we grant wishes we use something called Fae dust, and it does whatever we tell it to... ”

  “Whatever—” The words halted as Isadora closed her mouth around his erection. Her tongue slowly licked the head whilst her hand cupped his balls.

  He looked down to see a shimmering mist around Isadora’s head and nearly lost consciousness. It felt as though ten, twenty, thirty tongues were caressing him. His cock, his balls, his thighs—everywhere received the same treatment. “Dora...oh god, Dora.”

  She pulled back and laughed, “Lucas darling, there’s much, much more to come...”

  The End

  Jack Frost

  Copyright © 2010 Misty Burke

  Chapter One

  A thin layer of frost slowly took over her windshield as the car’s heater continued to fight a losing battle. Molly gave the dashboard a loving pat as she ignored the cold chill tickling her nose. “Come on girl, not much further.” She leaned forward in an attempt to see something through the sheets of falling snow.

  Her destination was Winterville, North Carolina. It was a picturesque skiing town in the middle of the Appalachian. But right now, it seemed the whole mountain range was in the middle of a growing snowstorm. “Why did I agree to do this?” Molly murmured under her breath. Yet just as she decided it would be better for her, and her aging Volvo to turn back, she spotted the exit. “Welcome to FrozenTopMountain,” she read aloud, “Winterville 10 miles ahead.” Thank God.

  She could not help but smile when the lodge finally came into view. The sprawling two story chalet glowed with warmth. Idle tourists walked about with skis and sleds, turning the hateful blizzard of her road trip into a peaceful vacation wonderland. This is why I agreed to come. It’s been too long.

  Kids were making snow angels by the front porch as she pulled around back and found the small lot for employee parking. Her aunt’s truck, along with a few other local four-wheel drives, was buried deep under mounds of snow. Molly’s little car slid into a parking spot near the dumpster and let out a pitiful whine of relief. She grabbed her bag from the passenger’s seat and made a mad dash for the backdoor.

  Walking into the lodge’s kitchen assaulted her senses. The aroma of baking gingerbread, heat rising from the industrial ovens, and the blaring Christmas music all brought back memories of her childhood.

  “You made it!” Aunt Delores turned down the radio, wiped her hands on her festive apron, and ran over to help Molly escape from her snowsuit. “I was getting worried. There is talk they’re going to close the roads because of the storm.”

  “I don’t doubt it.” Molly reached for one of the gingerbread cookies cooling on the counter. “I have to admit, I almost turned around myself. It’s getting pretty bad out there.”

  “Well, I’m certainly glad you didn’t. I need your
help with the Festival.” Aunt Delores gave her a quick wink. “And from the looks of you, you’re in desperate need of a little holiday fun, too.”

  Molly needed to shut down any plans her match-making Aunt might be concocting. “Now don’t get any ideas.”

  “What? Me?” The older woman laughed as she gave her niece a hug. “I’ll be good…as long as you promise not be.”

  Molly rolled her eyes and took a bite of her stolen treat. Fabulous. “I have this sneaking suspicion that these addictive cookies are going to add to my waist line.” She reached for another and quickly popped the sugary warmth into her mouth.

  “Let’s see if you still love them after you help me decorate a couple hundred or so.”

  “Only one way to find out,” Molly said, peeking into one of the ovens.

  But a squeal of excitement interrupted the cookie conundrum. “Molly Davidson, I cannot believe it. Did your office manager unchain you from your desk or did you escape using a toothpick?”

  Standing in the hallway was a tall, thin woman with a head full of unruly blonde curls. “Oh, my God.” Molly shook her head in disbelief. “I swear. My baby sister looks more and more like a super model every time I see her.”

  Sara Davidson did a quick twirl. “What do you think? Isn’t this the sexiest little thing? I think it will be perfect for tonight’s Christmas Eve dance.”

  “You look lovely, dear.” Aunt Delores beamed in pride. “Our Sara sure likes to make an entrance at the opening Festival party.”

  “Please tell me you’re not going out in public dressed like that,” Molly said. “And here, eat a cookie. Someone needs to fatten you up.”

  “Spoken like the overprotective sister that you are.” Sara grabbed Molly’s bag and motioned for her to follow.

  “Go on, Molly,” quipped their Aunt as she pulled another tray of gingerbread out of the oven. “I’ve got to finish baking these so we can decorate them early tomorrow morning. And anyway, Sara has graciously offered to help you get ready for the dance tonight.”

  “Oh no, she needs a chaperon not a partner in crime.”

  “Come on. I’ve laid out a few choices on your bed. There are a few perks to having a sister who runs the only hip clothing store in town.”

  Molly grudgingly followed Sara to the manager’s suite. It was all the way in the front of the lodge, right off the main foyer and behind the old fashioned looking check-in desk. “Why am I staying in here?” Their aunt had lived in this room for as long as Molly could remember.

  “As soon as you agreed to come, Aunt D moved into one of the cabins out back. I think she’s hoping you’ll stay and take over.”

  “Wait a minute. I never said—”

  “I know, I know.” Sara threw her hands up in the air. “But when mom and dad sold off the restaurant and moved to Florida a couple of months ago, it must have gotten her thinking. She keeps talking about retiring now.”

  “I had no idea.” Molly had come to get away from her busy, corporate life but not to abandon it forever. “I’ll have to talk to her.”

  “Sure you will,” Sara said, obviously bored with the topic. “But let’s have you try on some of these dresses first.” She held a slinky black one up for Molly to see. “This would be perfect with your curves…” But Sara’s cell phone made her stop in midsentence. “Oh, I’ve got to answer that. It’s probably my date.” She motioned for Molly to try on the dresses. “I’ve gotta go. I’ll see you tonight.”

  Molly nodded as her sister made a whirlwind exit. But it was the full length mirror in the corner that made her stop and give herself the once over. “Perfect with your curves,” she repeated her sister’s words aloud. How they could be related was a pure mystery in Molly’s mind.

  Curvy is the nice way to say that I have a lot of extra padding. And no one likes the hour glass look anymore, especially on someone only a little taller than five feet. She held up the suggested dress in front of her and let out an exasperated moan. And how could this little slip of material possibly cover my big ass and hold in my top?

  Yet after a grueling half hour of stuffing herself in and out-of the stack of clothes on her bed, she realized her sister was right. The slinky black one was perfect. It somehow made her look like a redheaded Marilyn Monroe.

  “I wasn’t really planning on attending the Festival opener tonight,” she told her reflection as she went ahead and dabbed on fresh makeup. “But maybe…”

  A knock on her door was followed by Aunt Delores’ sing-song voice. “I hope you are about ready, dear. The roads are officially closed so I have arranged for horse drawn carriages to take everyone into town. It will be magical. Grab a nice scarf from the closet and meet us all out front.”

  “I’ll be there.” Molly was anything but social. However, there was something about this dress that cried out to be shown off. I’m beginning to understand why Sara loves to dress up like this, she thought to herself and wandered over to the closet.

  Inside was packed with coats, scarves, and mittens. Not to mention, piles of extra quilts and an elaborate collection of boxes. “Ah, this is something that hasn’t changed.” Aunt D’s closet had always been a wonderful hideout and treasure trove for the young Davidson girls to explore. “The memories,” Molly said as she shifted through a stack of scarves. “It’s nice to see that she didn’t completely move out.”

  Yet just as she found a perfect silver scarf laced in a wonderful holiday shade of gold, one of those precariously stacked boxes came crashing down on her head. “Shit,” she mumbled. The contents had promptly fallen out all around her feet.

  Reaching down, she collected what looked like the decorations for a well-dressed snowman. The top hat, tux jacket and bowtie, along with some smaller items refused to fit neatly back into the container marked—Mr. Frosty. “I will just have to find you a bigger box,” Molly said as she carried everything out and left them on the small chair by the room’s private fireplace. “Or maybe I’ll just have to build you a body…when I get back.”

  Horse bells announced the arrival of the first set of carriages as Molly stood outside with the lodge’s guests. Everyone was buzzing with excitement and nervous anticipation. Couples and families huddled close together as lines were formed for the ride into town. Tonight was the start of Winterville’s week long Holiday Festival. An elaborately decorated Town Hall would offer these vacationers, as well as the locals, a place for the opening ceremonies. There would be plenty of eating, drinking, and dancing until the lighting of the Christmas tree in the town’s square.

  Molly stepped away from the enthusiastic cluster of tourists and walked over to where Aunt Delores was loading some of her prize winning pies into the back of someone’s jeep. “I’m just going to stay and hold down the fort here,” she blurted, surprising even herself.

  Her Aunt’s face was rosy from the cold. “Are you sure? It will be a lot of fun. Just like when you were younger.”

  “To be honest, I just want to drink some hot chocolate and make a snowman.”

  Her Aunt’s eyes twinkled in amusement. “All right then,” she said, and then planted a kiss on her niece’s frozen cheek. “Have fun with Mr. Frosty.”

  Chapter Two

  Molly walked around the lodge with a steaming cup of hot chocolate warming her hands. She had just finished tending to the two grand fireplaces in the common area. A room that offered their guests a place to sit, relax, and look out one of the many scenic windows at the mountain range outside. But there was no one enjoying the chalet’s cozy atmosphere right now. As far as she could tell, all twelve guestrooms were empty. Everyone had left for the Festival. Everyone accept her.

  Molly looked down at the fancy party dress and the form fitting trench coat she still wore. “You can style up the girl, but you can’t make her flaunt it.” She laughed aloud as her gaze fell upon her Aunt’s framed drawing of Father Winter. “Maybe I’ll go outside and defrost the old scoundrel.”

  She walked back to her room and picked up the d
ecorations for Mr. Frosty. “Time to go build me a man.”

  Once outside though, she gasped in delight. The harsh weather softened with the setting of the sun. The last rays of light cast shadows on a now peaceful winter evening. The wind had settled down and the sheets of snow turned into gently falling flakes. Beautiful.

  It was not long before Molly found the perfect spot and built the lodge a proper snowman. The activity was surprisingly invigorating. As she adorned him with his tux jacket, his top hat, and then pressed in his bowtie, she could not help but sigh. “Aren’t we quite the pair?” The two blue stones for his eyes went in next, catching the receding light, and seemed to burn in the snow. “Wow,” Molly murmured. The darker stones for the mouth and nose followed. “Whoever picked your parts really knew what they were doing.”

  Stepping back to gaze at her creation, she felt an odd chill tickle her neck. The air around her was still but somehow alive with intensity. “I’ll tell you a secret, Mr. Frosty.” She adjusted the top hat so that it would sit at a slight angle. “I had my life mapped out. I knew what I wanted and I had a plan to get it. But I was wrong…”

  Her confession was stopped short by a young couple coming around the corner. Molly watched as the two lovers enjoyed a provocative kiss. Then she watched as they continued their walk while cuddling and whispering. It was obvious they were unaware of everything else around them. Awkwardly, Molly waved. “There is some hot chocolate and cake in the kitchen…” But the couple acted as if they hadn’t heard. They must be the newlyweds in room ten. Apparently, I’m not the only one that skipped the town’s festivities for the night.

  Molly gave her snowman another look. “Thanks for listening.” She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. “Tell Father Winter if he wants a date, I’m available.” She opened the trench coat and struck a seductive pose. An uncanny breeze stirred at that very moment and it both chilled and warmed her exposed skin. Molly jerked the coat closed in confused exhilaration and ran back to the lodge.

 

‹ Prev