Snow Mistress

by Diana Rose Wilson

  “W-what?” Ursa asked. The floor beneath her went unstable, her knees wobbly.

  “Oh, it isn’t so bad. Chances are you won’t even see her. I already told Leo so he isn’t blindsided. You two are darling together. I don’t want any obstacles.”

  Ursa put a hand over her tumbling stomach. She felt a vibration in her ears before it became a buzzing.

  “Honey,” Marcie said, her voice soft as she squeezed Ursa’s arm, “that boat sailed a year ago.”

  “M-maybe I shouldn’t go,” Ursa suggested, gulping a few times over the words.

  “Why would you do that?” Marcie sounded startled and leaned back. “Did something happen?”

  “Aside from finding out that his ex-lover is going to be there in a mask so I won’t know to avoid her? Ah, and you’re hinting my coworker might be at the party, too. N-no, I guess n-nothing happened. God. What do I do if she—” Ursa kept her voice low but her emotions were unsteady.

  “She can’t offer him anything he would accept. The same rules apply to the Tahoe house as the Halloween party. You will have your key and tokens and he will be able to refuse anyone he doesn’t want. I assume you’ll have your pretty owl talons into him before he walks up the stairs, so she won’t have a chance to pester him. He and I were intimate once as well but you’re not threatened by me!”

  “No. Of course not,” she answered when Marcie gave her arm another squeeze.

  “Good. Then smile. It’s going to be a fantastic weekend.”

  “Marcie? How well do you know Leo?”

  “I know him very well. It took some time though and some things he still keeps to himself. He likes his privacy. I don’t think he ever talked about his scars.”

  Scars? Ursa frowned as she tried to remember seeing scars on him but could only picture his dark, flawless skin.

  At her hesitation, Marcie supplied more quietly, “On his back.”

  She imagined his back, the broad, muscular arch of his shoulders with his beautiful wings. There were no scars on the sexy landscape of his body, which she had explored with her tongue and fingers.

  “Oh dear, now I have you worried about him. I think he is just wary of over-sharing with people. He is quite the pain slut, but there’s no reason to think the scars were caused by something nonconsensual. If you want to know, ask him. He’s one of the most honest people I know.”

  “Did you ever ask him about them?” Ursa asked and rubbed her hands over her stomach.

  “I don’t honestly remember. I must have, but…hhmm…” Marcie lifted her shoulders carelessly and smiled. “Scarification is an interesting ritual. Like tattoos, the artwork is for a lifetime. I would rather not leave lasting marks. Not without full ownership,” she mused thoughtfully.

  The way Marcie brushed off the topic, Ursa was certain she had never seen his wings. Was it true then? No one could see them but her.

  “Anyway, I need to get on the road, my sweet. I look forward to hearing what he says when you give him your little surprise.”

  Ah yes! The news. Ursa, in her tailspin, had nearly forgotten, but now a flush warmed her face. “I’m so nervous,” she admitted, a smile curving her lips despite herself.

  “Don’t be. And don’t worry about the weekend. You will be pampered! His ex won’t dare cause trouble or she won’t be invited to my parties again.”

  “Marcie? Did you set Leo and me up…for any particular reason?”

  Marcie settled her sunglasses on the end of her nose and smiled kittenishly down at her. “Yes, my dear. Because I love playing matchmaker and I sensed that two of my favorite people might be the perfect fit.” She sounded and looked smug at the results of her meddling as she pushed the glasses into place. “Try not to distract that boy too much on the drive.”

  Ursa felt more heat rise to her cheeks and she smiled in relief. “No promises. We’ll be safe though.”

  She couldn’t wait for her shift to end to get out of the store and on her way out of the city to start her weekend with Leo! Miles away from her normal, boring life where she could pretend to be someone she wasn’t. Someone worthy of her Cupid.

  As the day progressed, she noticed Vans talking to a customer with particular familiarity. The man in the cowboy hat had been in the store several times over the past few weeks. Ursa was simply too distracted by Leo-inspired bliss to pay attention until now. He was a rough-looking man, dressed in dirty work clothes—not the type Vans usually wasted her time with.

  Marcie’s question prickled at her. Maybe a party would do Vans some good. Her coworker certainly needed a diversion.

  As she was clocking out for the day Vans cornered her again. Rain dampened Vans’s hair and jacket from her latest trip to dump trash, otherwise known as Vans’s nightly waste of time.

  She wore a particularly pleased smile as she asked, “So, what are you going to do?”

  “Do?” Ursa echoed, frowning at the interruption of her thoughts of the drive, and focused on her friend.

  “With Daddy Warbucks. You really have got to break it off with him. Do it before you get hurt, Ursa.”

  Under the usual authoritative command, she heard the plea. Ursa wanted to believe Vans had her best interest at heart. She watched out for Ursa. Right?

  “Stop calling him that. I’m g-going away with him for the weekend,” she answered and disbelief twisted her friend’s features. “It’s none of your b-business, Vans.” Before the woman could respond, Ursa slammed her card into the time clock and hurried outside.

  Rain fell in a steady patter and she pulled the hoodie of her sweatshirt up and padded out through the puddles, longing to throw herself into Leo’s warm embrace.

  Aside from a few employee cars, the parking lot stood empty. Unlike the past nineteen days, Leo wasn’t there with the door open and arms crossed over his chest. The grand exit she had planned backfired. She wanted the comfort of his heartbeat in her ear and to kiss him until she was sure he wasn’t just a dream.

  Vans trailed behind her. She walked to her car, throwing a cocky smirk over her shoulder as she slipped into her battered Ford Escort.

  Rain soaked through Ursa’s outer layers as time ticked by. Vans didn’t drive off and Leo didn’t pull in. Heart in her mouth, Ursa checked her cell phone. There were no messages, no texts—nothing. Her cell phone remained silent.

  Through the windshield of her car, Vans watched and waited. Waited for what? A sick feeling spread through the pit of her stomach.

  When she moved into the shelter of the overhang to get out of the downpour she saw it. Her heart plunged into her shoes. A broken vase lay shattered against the wall beside the trash. An armload of roses were strewn around the bin, pink blooms beheaded and scattered. They had nothing to do with her, she told herself. Headlights gleamed off the shattered glass and crushed flowers and she moved a step forward, scanning the area for a note.

  She found it torn in two, limp from the rain. She bent to pick it up, hearing Vans’s voice behind her, “Ursa, get in the car. I’ll take you home. Ursa!”

  Ursa pieced the two halves of the golden card together. Water smeared the ink, making it difficult, but not impossible, to read.

  Princess, I am at your mercy. ~ L ~

  “Ursa! Get out of the rain. Come on. Let’s talk.”

  He tossed the flowers? The violence of the shattered glass wasn’t like him. She turned to see that Van had driven closer and was leaning out the open window. Her face looked pale in the yellow lamplight and rain.

  Staring at her friend, she dialed her phone, praying that it got through to Leo.

  “This is for your own good, Ursa.”

  “What d-did you do?” she demanded when the call rolled directly to voice mail. “What the fuck did you do?” She thrust the ruined card at her coworker.

  Vans’s eyes were hard. “Get in the car and I’ll tell you.”

  “You tell me first. You fucking tell me what you did!”

  “You have got to be fucking kidding me, right? What did I do?
You are ridiculous! You think you are so much better than me? A couple weeks back when you were so busy playing the perfect employee and kissing the boss’s ass, I came out here while Mister Money-bags was waiting for you. I gave him the fucking hummer of his life in the back of his car.”

  “What?” Ursa gasped, blinking at the fury on Vans’s face. Suddenly she understood the emotion choking her friend—jealousy. “He wouldn’t do that.”

  “No? Why not? You think you’re the only one? You are not better than me!”

  Ursa gave a shake of her head to displace the information. Her heart refused to believe, but her mind played back the possible day it happened. He hadn’t wanted anything sexual that afternoon. He’d said he just wanted to talk. During dinner he’d acted even more affectionate than usual. That night, in the back of his car, he’d pleasured her without coming himself. He’d denied himself his orgasm completely. That was the first time he’d asked her to come home with him.

  “That’s right. I’m fucking him, too, Ursa. You know those nights you refused to spend with him because you’re afraid of showing him your dump of an apartment? I’m fucking him. He’s fucking me. We’re fucking. You can’t expect a man like that to go without because of your pride. So, now the cat’s out of the bag, we can finally talk about this. You have a right to know how he and his pimp are using you.”

  Ursa’s fingers curled against the card, shaking with shock. Why would he pressure her so much to be with him if he were—

  “That’s right, Ursa. Every night after he dumps you off, I’m the one getting a throat load of his jizz. I’m…”

  “What?” She frowned, pushing the reeling emotions aside to focus on this fumble of words and her brows drew together.

  “That’s right, Ursa! I swallow it all, too. Do you? All this time you’ve been sucking him in the back of his car, can you taste my pussy on him?” Her lips curved into a nasty smile as she twisted the knife. “I’m so sorry, Ursa. I just think you should know what sort of—”

  But Ursa stopped listening. She might question Leo’s fidelity but not his hard line for safe sex. If he wanted to enjoy a blowjob from anyone, he’d tell her. It would be hot teasing. Not like that terrible possessiveness. That wasn’t Leo. Vans continued talking until Ursa stepped back to distance herself from the woman.

  “Get in the car, Ursa. I will take you home. You know it couldn’t end any other way. Better with a friend than to find out he’s cheating with someone else behind your back.”

  “What did you say to him?” Ursa asked, staring at the woman she had thought was her friend. “Why would you do this to me?”

  Vans smirked. “I told him the truth. That he can do so much better. I’m doing this because we’re friends and you are out of your mind right now. Now get in the fucking car.”

  “I’m not going anywhere with you.” Tears mixed with the rain. They wouldn’t stop. “You have no right to do this. We have something, Vans. It’s not just fucking.”

  “Right, that’s why he drove off so fast when I told him you don’t want to see him? Real deep, Ursa. You need a relationship with someone you have something in common with. Trust me. I know what you need. I’ve known since we were in school.”

  This was what she had traded her happiness for? The good opinion of this woman who wanted to hurt her. For years she’d accepted Vans’s advice. She had put up with her teasing about her stutter, her shyness, her height, her weight and all her many flaws. She had even subjected herself to some of the worst dates of her life at this woman’s guidance.

  “Ursa!” Vans’s disbelief pitched her voice sharper as Ursa turned and walked through the downpour toward the bus stop.

  She felt chilled by the soaking rain and numb from the realization that her friend wanted to hurt her. She shouldered the wind and moved down the sidewalk, hoping Vans wouldn’t jump the curb and run her down. The damage was already done. Leo had not even waited to talk to her and hear her side of the story. Had he actually believed Vans?

  Maybe the suggestion that the ex would be there that weekend made his choice easier. She thought about her meager belongings in the trunk of his car—the gear she’d purchased that she’d never use. Would she even see him again? Should she call Marcie to let her know? She was just digging out the cell phone when a horn honked behind her, startling her.

  Vans.

  But no, the car pulling along the sidewalk was the sleek Bentley and the window whispered down as Leo leaned out into the rain toward her. “Princess? Where are you going? It’s raining, you know.” He sounded amused and playful and then apologetic. “I’m so sorry I’m late, but I have good— My god. Ursa! What’s happened? Are you all right?”

  His features hardened with concern as he parked alongside her and swept out of the car. He grunted at the impact when she flung herself into his arms. “You’re soaking wet, Ursa!” Powerful arms wrapped around her, warm and solid. When he cupped the back of her head, she pressed her face into his chest. “Let me help you into the car. You’re going to catch cold!”

  “Y-y-you…c-c-c-…” She couldn’t get words out around her chattering teeth.

  He swept her off her feet and carried her around the car to tuck her into the passenger seat, wrapping his soft cashmere overcoat around her. It smelled so wonderfully like him—coffee and chocolate and the musky Leo scent. She curled into it, shivering.

  His careful hands checked her, touching her ribs and arms, searching for wounds. The tightness and worry didn’t ease even after he assured himself she had not been physically hurt.

  Closing her door, he returned to the driver’s seat, turning to cup her wet face in both his hands. “I am so sorry I’m late. I should have called or messaged. What in the world happened? Why are you walking in the rain? I’m not so late that you expected I wouldn’t show, am I?” He turned on the heat and the seat warmer. When his hands wrapped around hers, she felt some of the numbness start to fade.

  “You c-c-came back,” she whispered.

  “I wasn’t ever here, princess. Traffic. What’s going on?”

  She struggled, but explained what had happened with Vans and the more she explained, the more shocked he appeared. When she got to the part about him fucking her, she couldn’t even meet his eyes.

  His finger touched her lips, silencing her words on a particularly bad stutter and her eyes lifted to his. Tears gleamed in his eyes. “This is a friend? This Vans creature is a friend?” he asked, horrified. “Oh, Ursa. My sweet Ursa.” He leaned in and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her closer. His voice rumbled softly against her ear when he said, “No one should have an enemy who treats them so rotten. Do you want to know something, princess?”

  When she nodded he drew back, wiping at his eyes. “The day in question, when that creature thought she made me a grand offer for a blowjob, I was not kind in my refusal. A friend does not proposition their friend’s boyfriend or girlfriend. I don’t take kindly to anyone insulting my lady that way. I was so stunned by her tactlessness that all I wanted to do was show you how much I adore you. Which, by the way, I do. I adore you.”

  Ursa chewed at her lower lip and curled across the armrest so she could get closer to him. “I adore you, too. I’m so sorry about the flowers,” she whispered.

  “There is nothing for you to apologize about, princess. I’m the one who should be groveling at your feet. I thought you didn’t like them because you never mentioned the flowers. I kept getting more extravagant just to get a rise out of you so you’d say something. I will correct this oversight.”

  He sounded so fierce, she shivered.

  “Has this creature made you question me?” he asked, searching her face.

  She gave a small shake of her head. “I don’t understand why you would refuse her, but I believe you did.”

  “Why would I refuse her?” He looked stricken as a shudder ran through him. “First of all, because she is repugnant! Second, because you and I are together. If I wanted to sample anyone else, I would tal
k with you before acting on my desires. Third, I don’t want anyone else.”

  Ursa let out a small, nervous laugh. “Why wouldn’t you?”

  “I see today has taken a toll on your confidence. I have never felt this way about anyone, Ursa.” He lifted a hand and cupped her cheek. “You do not believe it yet, so I plan to use all my skills to convince you.” He caressed his thumb over her lower lip and whispered, “I feel so strongly it terrifies me. Particularly when your friend, and I use this term loosely, would rather throw herself at me than see you happy.” He watched her. “You are happy with me, aren’t you?”

  She felt warmth in her cheeks and tears burned her eyes. “Yes,” she answered, squirming against the warmed leather, lost in his dark eyes. The cold clung to her rain-soaked clothes but her teeth had stopped chattering.

  “Do you still want to go away for the weekend? Would you rather stay home?” he asked softly, brushing away her tears with his thumb. “You know the ex will be there. I don’t want you confused about my intent with her.”

  “I want to go,” she murmured.

  His expression was troubled. “You promise not to take anything she says or does to heart? I don’t want to go if it will make you doubt me and us.”

  It took a moment for her to consider his words and she nodded to him. “If we are going to be together, I can’t and won’t avoid her. I want to continue this lifestyle and I want to do it at your side.” She shivered as he smoothed his hands through her wet hair.