Winter's Knight

A subtle shift from a soft autumn breeze into the crisp prickle of winter was enough to provoke drastic sorrow in the mortal world. A storm was brewing soon. The ground would be covered with snow, footprints left behind of people trying to make it safely to their homes before danger got to them first. I often wondered who greeted them as they shimmied off their winter coats while they walked into their safe-havens. Perhaps the warmth of a soft and gentle woman whose smile they’d taken for granted one too many times. Or, maybe the laughter of a child that echoes throughout the walls at the announcement of their presence.

Being alone was easy. I spoke to the wind most nights and sometimes, I swear it spoke back. Centuries spent in my own company and it was the echo of loneliness that haunted me. I carried it and swallowed it whole until my pockets were void of coins to spend and bottles of numbing liquid stood empty between my fingertips. I envied the mortal men who could take any of these women home with them tonight. The funny blonde who’s sad green eyes spoke volumes of pain as she paid for more drinks at the bar. The quirky brunette who’s taste in music seemed to repel all the men and women who tried to approach her. Humans weren’t complicated. They only made themselves out to be simply to be seen by the only person in the world whose hearts only skipped for them.

Mindgames, as my brother and colleague Krampus, would say. He would know of course. He enjoyed all things grim and wicked. He was supposed to meet me here at The Red Hat an hour ago. The bar was a popular human hangout during the holiday season. As of late, the humans had gotten a bit...desolate and have ended up at The Red Hat more frequently. With all the chaos and sadness being scattered about by creatures unbeknownst to them, was it any wonder why I needed help spreading joy and balance this time around?

Krampus and I had received word from the elves up north that there was a mortal woman that would be the key to bringing back sparks of jubilance into this world. She had no idea what type of magic she wielded in her heart but if we had any chance of saving this holiday, we needed her on our side. According to the elves, she sported blonde hair, warm brown eyes, and rosy cheeks. Their physical description of her was a bit vague considering we were in the human realm and there were plenty of women who fit the criteria. They advised me that I would instantly know when I saw her, not giving any more details.

“Done for the night, Nick?” Nadine Knight, the friendly human bartender, and owner of The Red Hat asked with a sweet smile. She, like all others who came here, migrated to this place to alleviate their internal demons. She poured liquid fire while she listened to everyone’s reason for frowning. No one ever asked her why she wore hers so proudly.

“I’m afraid not. Do you have anyone to go home to at night, Nadine?” The question seemed to surprise her. The freckles on her cheeks danced slightly as she crinkled her nose and shook her head. I could’ve seeped into her thoughts for a thorough answer but I wasn't one to overstep unless it was absolutely necessary. Nadine had a habit of wrapping words with knives and silk. She fascinated me.

“My bed isn’t for the temporary kisses of strangers. I want to wake up to warmth and be sure it will come back to me every night. A love shaken but never stirred. I don’t think that’s too much to ask for. Is it?” She searched my expression for the answer. Her smokey grey gaze held me in place as I reached for my drink, and chugged it down. Nadine wanted a life partner. Someone who shared her love of comfort and romance and everything in between. Although I had been a mortal once and had been granted the throne of being the king of all things jolly and Christmas by a couple of persuasive elves, beings like my brother and I were forbidden to pursue pleasures of the sensual kind with humans for obvious reasons. Our presence in this realm was strictly to help keep the balance of dark and light. However, I sent a silent wish into the wind tonight. A wish that would allow me to quiet the noise my mortal heart once held for love.

"We’re closing up early. The storm will bury us in if we don’t leave soon,” I heard Nadine’s voice bring me out of my thoughts and away from the book I was engrossed in. A glance towards the wintry mix of snow and hale outside and I didn’t need to guess why this storm had turned for the worst so quickly. My neighbor and known to the Elvenworld as the Frost Man, Jackson Frosti, had lost control of his powers again. He was the eldest one of us but never seemed to reign in his emotional state before bestowing his duties in the human realm. Something awful must’ve triggered him this time. The winds wailing with sadness and anger against the windows and doors were evidence enough.

“I can escort you home if you’d like. A lady has no business being stuck in winter’s wrath,” I offered as I placed my coat on, to keep up appearances of course. I lived in the North Pole. In the dead of winter, the weather here in Craftsbury, Vermont was nothing compared to the polar storms we endured up there.

“It’s a bit late for that. Seems like my car is already halfway under. Looks like I’ll be staying in the spare room I have upstairs,” she answered, prying her gaze away from the window and straight towards me. It was then I noticed we were the last two remaining in her establishment. Everyone else had already gone home.

“You’re welcomed to stay on the couch.” Her offer was tempting. While her generosity made me smile, her lingering pools of curiosity glanced briefly at my lips before she shifted her gaze and her body towards the bar.

“Does my presence make you uncomfortable, Nadine?” I inquired as I followed her trail and I stopped once I saw her body tense. She didn’t turn around to face me. Nor did she flinch when the lights went out. I could hear her labored breathing. Worried she might be suffering from a panic attack, I quickly skimmed through her thoughts. She was worried about something. Something she wanted to indulge herself with but used her past as a shield to deprive herself of it. Whatever it was, it made her body tremble with resistance.

“You remind me of someone. Someone, I thought I had left in my past. Unfortunately for me, I find it hard to curb how my body responds when you’re around,” Nadine explained. Her body slowly descended from the tension as I stepped closer. Her musky amber fragrance filled me with warmth as I tugged her ponytail free and she pulled me closer against her. My breath stood hot at her neck, my lips brushing at the skin lightly.

“What are you waiting for?” she whispered, turning slightly as I shook my head. This was forbidden. While my brother often disregarded the rules set in stone for us and paid the price for it constantly, was I willing to risk the consequences for just one night of her company?

“I’m not sure I’m the man you’re looking for,” I reminded her, placing my arms around her instead, hoping just holding her would be enough. I should’ve known better.

“Because you’re older? I don’t care about age. Besides, I’m a big girl. Almost twenty-five,” she teased with a small laugh as she took my hands and held them against her own. While the age gape between us was significant, I did my best to try to blend in with the humans by staying in shape and keeping my salt and pepper grey hair and beard perfectly groomed. To them, I looked no older than forty-five and sported the crows feet around my eyes to prove it. The elves had offered me the chance to shave some years off my mortal body before becoming immortal forever. I declined their offer and told them of the wisdom that came with the age I was stuck in until the end of time.

“I’m a temporary man, Nadine. Nothing to offer you beyond one night,” I whispered into her ear. She let me go. But only to remove her sweater just as the lights flickered back on and the generator kicked in.

“Until my idea of perfection walks through that door, I wouldn’t mind you setting the bar for him,” she countered as she unclipped her bra swiftly and tossed it aside, turning her head slightly to send me a wink of approval.

If my job entailed spreading joy to the world, wouldn’t indulging her fantasies count as her Chrismas gift? I didn’t have time to overthink the situation. Or the justification I was sugarcoating it with. Nadine was already stepping out of her clothes, her bare body poised and ready for the taking. I rid myself of my coat and reached to tug at her dark tresses as her backside pronounced itself onto me, forcing the bulge in my trousers to grow exponentially. I gripped her hair harder, forcing her deep moan to fill the room as I pulled myself out of all reservations and let my pants pool down at my feet. I didn’t drive into her right away. I caressed her bottom and continued running my fingers along the curves her body possessed. Her milky caramel skin smelled of mint and pine and it reminded me of home. I smiled against her shoulder, while my fingertips slipped between her damp thighs, slipping inside her sodden folds.

Her desire for me was too great to prolonge. What kind of Saint would I be if I didn’t provide her deepest yearning some much-needed relief?

My fingertips circled her pulsating nub while I drove my hardened member into her from behind. She gasped with soft delight as I hauled at her thick hair once again. Her hips rocked into me, my cock thickened inside her in response.

Don’t be so gentle Santa. Even the good girl needs a night off once in a while.

The subconscious slip of her thoughts slithered into my brain followed by a knowing grin.

“You know who I am?” I paused briefly but quickly continued when I felt her ready and wet enough for what I had planned for her.

“I’ve always known who you are, Nick. Your brother has quite the slippery tongue once the moonshine hits right where it counts,” she answered. I released my grip on her hair and held her hips steady before placing my hands onto the bartop. My lips grew closer to ear, teeth grazing against her delicate mortal flesh as I toyed with her peaked nipples.

“Has my brother’s tongue ever touched any part of you?” I asked and grinned when she laughed at the notion. Not that it mattered. Polyamory was a common theme in our world. Humans were just beginning to appreciate the freedom that came with it.

“While handsome as the devil himself, Krampus, or Peter, as we like to call him, is no match for the spirit you inspire in people. Although, I have noticed you be a bit down on your luck,” Nadine admitted, while biting her lower lip as I teased her breasts.

“I came to find my human muse tonight,” I added, trailing my fingers down her abdomen and over hips before I spanked her bottom hard. Nadine spread her legs wider for me, her breasts resting atop the bar as I positioned myself at her opening. I didn’t move. Only felt the vibration of heightened desire flow through her thoughts.

She wanted Saint Nick to make her fill The Red Hat with her screams of pleasure tonight.

“Do you want to be her tonight?” She answered with a quick nod and a slow roll of her hips as she bent over for me. Placing my hands at the bartop once again, my shaft plunged into her. When I felt I was deep enough, I pumped harder into her, increasing the pace with every cry of desperation that escaped her lips.

My cock felt her walls pull and contract as her hips stroked and I kept my thrusts at a steady rhythm. I reached around her, letting my fingers find her wet mound again. While my fingertips toyed with her core, my shaft pumped into her faster. Her body was on the brink of falling apart and breaking free. And so was mine.

The lights flickered off again right before our bodies gave into primal hunger. Her heartbeat grew immensely, her bones quivered with the warmth of our body heat along with the sudden gust of cold wind surrounding us.

Well, well. Look’s like Saint Nick isn’t so holy after all.

Krampus’ words snuck into my thoughts and I looked around the room, wondering where he was hiding.

“There must be a window open somewhere. I’ll get some candles and see where it’s coming from,” Nadine mentioned as she managed to find her clothes within the darkness.

“I’ll...umm...go check the generator,” I offered and felt her encouraging hand hold mine before she disappeared behind the bar.

“Show yourself, Krampus. How long have you been watching?” I asked in quiet fury after I saw Nadine head upstairs with her lit candles. His venomous chuckle slipped into my ears as he emerged from the darkness with his glowing auburn eyes.

“Spare me the semantics. I don’t care that you got your jollies off with the smoldering bartender. Did you find the human?” Krampus inquired and I turned away, still seething with anger. I didn’t like my brother invading my privacy. Especially intimate ones like Nadine and I just shared. However, my brother seemed to have a boundary problem that he refused to fix.

“No. The elves were wrong. She didn’t walk in as they had predicted.”

“She could’ve heeded the warning of the town mayor to stay home. Jackson’s icy rage needs to be handled. Are you up for a visit to the wreck of a man?”

“Even if we do get through to him, this will keep happening if we don’t figure out what keeps pressing his buttons,” I reminded him. Krampus sighed in heavy annoyance. Jackson’s emotional stability was severely provoked this time of year, which the mortal realm paid for. Sometimes with death.

“If only we could take a trip through the time machine inside his mind,” he suggested. I smirked as the fleeting thought of Bertha and Befana crossed his mind. They were known in the Elvenworld as the twin witches of Yule, Christmas for the mortals. Bertha, like my brother, thrived by punishing those who misbehave during the winter season. Befana was the sweetest of the two. She often baked goodies for the well-behaved and volunteered to help feed the lost souls without homes.

To my brother, the twin witches were a part of his past he vehemently tried to forget. Getting entangled romantically with both of them simultaneously had turned out to be bad for everyone involved. Especially Bertha, whose wrath was not to be taken lightly. Befana, while heartbroken, still managed to forgive my promiscuous brother for courting her sister behind her back.

“No. No way am I asking those two for help, brother. You’ve lost your mind,” Krampus whined and I crossed my arms, cocking my head to the side. This wasn’t up for debate. If we were going to find the human who we were sent here to find to save Christmas this year, then we needed Jackson to gain control of his pain. Snowstorms tended to force the humans into isolation. With good reason. The cold weather was often dangerous and unforgiving.

“Find Bertha and Befana. Ask them if they’re willing to help us with Jackson. If not, we’ll have some very angry elves to go back home to.”

“Hey, we can take them and feed them to Bertha. Maybe that’ll make her warm up to the idea,” Krampus offered and I sighed in resignation. My brother and his feud with the elves was still ongoing and I wondered when he was going to accept the fact that he had no say in the matter of his freedom. He was no longer able to roam free in the mortal realm without limitations. His steamy trysts would have to wait until he could control his impulsive menacing nature.

The wind grew stronger outside The Red Hat, forcing some of the windows to crack from the intensity.

“Fine. I’ll make sure they’re on our team. But--”

“Just keep your hands to yourself. I know it’s a big request considering your feelings for them,” I teased and heard him growl with distaste as the lights turned back on and heat from the vents began to fill the room.

“We’re all set upstairs. Care to receive more inspiration, Santa?” Nadine proposed from the staircase, a sultry grin hidden behind her pillar candle as I made my way towards her, lifting the hem of her sweater off her body once again.

“What a sweet death you ask of me, Nadine Knight...”

To be continued with “Winter’s Wrath”…

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