24 Dates Before Christmas

Winter

His arms wrapped around my naked waist as he brought me closer to his muscular chest. “Tell me what you want, Winter. What should I do to you?” The deep velvet voice drove a soft moan out of me.

A pair of strong hands strolled down the curve of my hips, cupping my bottom before a firm squeeze made me lose my balance. My hands reached for his broad shoulders, and I held on to him.

“If you don’t tell me what you want, I will do what I want to you,” he added, his stubble pricking down my collarbone as he roamed down and captured a pebbled nipple between his teeth.

How could I say what I wanted? I didn’t know what it was, especially not when his touch rendered me speechless. “What do you want?” I mumbled between breathless gasps.

He nibbled at my nipple and sucked it into his mouth, releasing it slowly. “I will tease these delicious nipples until you drip for me. Then, I will eat that sweet pussy, and when your taste is all over my mouth, I will tie you up to have you open for me. You will melt at my touch, come around my tongue and when your thoughts are fogged and everything in you is a lost scream for more, I will get started. After untying you, I will sit you on my lap, thrust deep into you, filling you until you can’t take any more of me. Not moving for a few seconds, I will look into your eyes and wait for you to beg.”

“To beg?” I asked, my body trembling.

His hand moved down my stomach and cupped my mound. With two skilled fingers, he opened my folds and massaged my clit teasingly.

“Yes. And as soon as you beg nicely, I will give you what a sweet, naughty girl deserves. I will fuck you to oblivion, Winter. Do you want that?” he asked.

Without wasting time, his lips closed around my nipple again, tugging at it. A gentle licking followed by a graze of teeth overwhelmed all my nerve-endings.

“I-I want it,” I moaned in response, throwing my head back and letting go of all control. I wanted him, and my body burnt for all his promises to come true.

One finger circled my entrance, alternating soft and rough motions as his other fingers rubbed my clit energetically. His fingers swirled inside of me for a teasing second before he pulled it out, brought his finger to his mouth, and sucked it.

“You are sweet, Winter,” he murmured.

My feverish body complained at the absence of his touch, undulating towards him. In response, he licked around my areola and sucked my nub once more before his tongue wandered down, reaching the aching pearl of pleasure hidden between my folds. He sucked at it and soothed the tender spot with a long lap.

Shaking, I rocked my hips towards him, yet two firm hands on my hips steadied me. He squeezed my buttocks as his ravishing tongue moved down my folds to find my opening and penetrate me.

“Mmm… it smells like Christmas,” I heard.

“What?” I asked, my eyes snapping open. I woke up to my best friend Diana sniffing her cinnamon tea, eyes closed and with a soft smile on her lips.

“Diana?” I called, bringing her back from her cinnamon trance. What was she doing in my room at this time of the day?

“Winter, don’t you have a meeting with your supervisor this morning to finally discuss your thesis?”

My gaze moved from the calendar on the left wall of my room to my alarm clock, displaying a.m. “Oh, my Goddess! You are right, and it’s in thirty minutes!”

I jumped from my bed, still not believing that my alarm had failed on the most important day of the year. It took months for me to schedule this meeting with Professor Xang.

Rushing my bathroom routine, I brushed my teeth and got changed. I could use the toilet at the university. I had enough self-control to hold on and focus on my goal: being on time.

“Bye, Diana! Thank you! I owe you one!” I exclaimed, rushing towards the door.

Using one of my natural advantages as a half-werewolf, I dashed. Diana was a full-blooded werewolf. Thus, she was much faster, and unlike me, she loved to run. Also, she was much more connected to her wolf. My wolf, Rhea, and I haven’t talked for years, which made me feel more human than a shifter.

Entering the university building, I headed to the elevator. I looked at the mirror to fix myself, comb a stray lock behind my ear and adjust my glasses as I waited. My dark blond hair was up in a sleek updo. I must look neat and professional for this meeting.

My present state of anxiety was all because of that haunting dream. If it weren’t so good, I would’ve woken up as I do every morning. All the tingling sensations his touch and voice evoked still haunt me. Oddly, I remembered his sculpted-to-perfection arms and chest and velvety voice but not his face. I either didn’t see it or forgot about it. What was my subconscious trying to tell me? I had no time to ponder. Arriving on the 5th floor, I strode towards the department of anthropology and headed to the meeting room. Taking a seat, I took a deep breath and mentally celebrated being on time. The professor wasn’t there yet, and that allowed me a few more calming breaths. I knew she was a prestigious therefore a busy professional, but punctuality was fundamental.

Plugging in my flash drive, I opened the folders containing my thesis. “Sexual Selection: Mating Behaviour In Humans,” I read it out loud. That was the title of my thesis, and the research I’d been working on for two years as a PhD candidate.

Humans were a curious kind to study. Different from werewolves, they had no fated mates and their feral selves were buried under culture, social rules and even the law.

Ironically, I was a werewolf hybrid studying human anthropology; a choice that intrigued my parents. Yet, since they had coaxed me to move to the Human Realm when I was eighteen, they didn’t have any say in my life any longer, and intrigued they remained.

Humans are interesting. ’Understand them, and you shall fit in’ was my motto when I started my studies. I could say I fit in their world, at least a bit more than I fit with werewolves and pixies. As the daughter of an unlikely couple, a pixie and an Alpha werewolf, I had the privilege of not feeling like a she-wolf or a pixie. So, being like a human might work for me. Even more so when you consider that Rhea, my wolf, was buried deeper than any human basic instinct.

“Winter Daisy?” Professor Xang called me, bringing me back to reality. My first and last name together formed an interesting combination. I had a flower family name, like almost all pixies.

“Professor Xang.” I stood up, giving her a polite smile and offering my hand. After a handshake, I sat down, expecting her to do the same. This talk was extremely important, since I had to hand in my thesis in one week.

“I read the most recent version of your study, and I think you should change the methodology. Use other variables rather than dating behaviour.” She headed towards the door.

Is she about to leave? I questioned in my head before I found my voice again. “Professor, with all due respect, I proposed that change on April 23rd last year. I have the email here,” I started in disbelief. She ignored my emails, and now, days before the deadline, she tells me to implement the change I suggested more than a year ago?

“I am aware of your email, Miss Daisy. I had a different methodological approach then, so I disagreed. Now that I evolved, I understand that other variables are fundamental,” she told me.

“The deadline is around the corner,” I murmured to myself, still having trouble believing the professor. Changing my methodology meant that I would have to redo my research, which would take at least one year. Not to mention that all my efforts from then up until now would have been in vain.

“Don’t worry, Miss Daisy. I will push your deadline to the end of February. Have a good day,” she told me and left the room.

My hands covered my face, and a scream of frustration suffocated my throat. That was an academic nightmare, and I hadn’t yet had coffee at that point, which made any issue feel ten times worse.

The change of plans would ruin Christmas. Even though it was a human holiday, Diana and I loved it and always celebrated it together. The spirit of hope, sharing, and kindness of this season filled my heart with peace. In fact, that was the only time of the year I took a week off from my work. This year, my little tradition would be broken and the long-awaited merry times would have to be postponed to next year.

Breathing deeply, I opened the folders and started to plan the new researching approach. I just needed to make a good programme, schedule it in, and follow it. Putting said plan into paper and submerging into my new strategy, I lost track of time. When I looked at the clock, it was six pm. I had spent the whole day here, eating nothing but the emergency cereal bar I always carried in my purse.

Unbelievable! Heading to the cafeteria, I realised it was already closed. The nearest place to go was the little bar on the other side of the street, where I could grab a sandwich and a beer. Drinking was something very rare for me, but tonight, I had to sink my frustration somewhere.

After two more beers, I went to the small dance floor on the left side of the bar to find a healthier way to lessen my stress: dancing. With my eyes closed, my hips moved slowly as I tried to follow the rhythm of the song. A chuckle attracted my attention, and I frowned at the man in front of me.

“Not bad, but I think you could use some help,” he told me, stepping closer.

“What do you mean?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at the stranger.

My cautious gaze examined him from his brown hair to his sports shoes. He was an average-looking guy, handsome and tall for a human. Judging by his informal clothes, and the fact that he was in a bar on a Monday, he must have been a student, or lived nearby.

“I want to dance with you. I am Carl,” he told me, wrapping his arms around my waist.

“I am Winter.” I replied.

Any other day in my life, I would’ve walked away, but at that point I only wanted another beer and to forget about the thesis fiasco. In a split-second consideration, Carl was a good subject for my analysis of the mating behaviour in humans. Laughing at that silly idea, I realised I was indeed drunk!

Even though I had been researching dates, I didn’t enjoy dating. I was twenty-five, but had only engaged in sexual intercourse with one guy in my life, my ex-boyfriend, Phil. He is a werewolf.

That was long ago, when I was eighteen, and before I left the Six Realms of magic. Phil cheated on me, and when I found out, he said — I still remember his exact words as if it were yesterday — “You are the most boring pixie in history. Pixies are supposed to be the fuck of a lifetime. You are a damn waste of time. If the pixies knew how prude you are, they would disown you. So, you had it coming.”

Diana punched him in response while I only watched, his words echoing in my mind and making me feel the epitome of inappropriate. I was indeed the least interesting pixie in existence.

Pixies were exuberant, filled with colours and smiles, a delight to the senses. Pixies danced in the rain and celebrated life to its fullest. They were Spring Children, made of giggles, chants of pleasure and mushroom tea. I, on the other hand, was Winter. I was plain.

Phil’s words extinguished the little pixie light within me, and like a bare Christmas tree, I stayed planted there with no reaction, no light and nothing to celebrate. Since then I have tried to date humans, but it has been disappointing. I liked to control all variables around me, my clothes, my room, my routine, my research. Yet, anywhere you go, there is something you can’t control: other people, unless you have a few toxic tendencies. Thus, dating was completely out of my element.

Besides, I knew I wasn’t interesting enough for an average human. That was why I wanted to find my mate so desperately; I wanted love. I have had all these desires and cravings keeping me awake at night. My body was aching to be touched, kissed, and even tied. But the last thing I wanted to do was to date. Having a mate is rather easy, better. You know he is the right one without having to go through all the issues, doubts and dates. With my mate, no variables would be opposite to what I expected. It would be akin to having control. I would have the perfect match.

After a few more songs and beers, Carl and I went to his table, and he told me something about destiny and our matching horoscope. Another human behaviour during dates was lying. After some point and a few shots, I didn’t care about his lies anymore. My reasoning left me slowly, slipping into the bottom of a few shots of vodka.

When my mind started working again, my eyes opened slowly, and my head pounded to the screaming woman in front of me. I sat up, looking down at myself. I was completely naked, and Carl was in bed by my side. The blond woman was continuously hitting him with her purse.

“Nothing happened, Katia!” he told her. Was he lying again? I couldn’t remember anything, and I also didn’t know how I ended up here. I’d never had a one-night stand before.

“You!” The woman’s piercing green eyes zeroed in on me.

“I am so sorry… I didn’t know he was,” I murmured, covering myself with the thin blue blanket. My gaze wandered around as I tried to locate my clothes. I had to leave this place as soon as possible.

“You aren’t human! You messed up with the wrong man, wolf-bitch!” she yelled, kneeling on the bed, and approaching me, her eyes narrowed with a threat.

How did she know I was a werewolf? I gulped hard, still unable to fully regain my bearings. My head was pounding and my body was functioning in slow-motion. Something flashed in her eyes, and they became darker. She wasn’t human either, and certainly could feel the magic radiating from me. She was a witch! My jaw dropped in pure shock. It was the first time I’ve met another supernatural living among humans, and I was completely paralysed, gaping at her as a soft purple smoke left her fingertips.

“You slept with a married man, hoe, and you will pay for it. You are now cursed! I will make sure you never find love again!” she yelled. Taking the red talisman hanging from her necklace in her hands, she chanted:

“Twenty-four moons shall pass

for the one who broke my heart.

If two destined souls don’t unite,

within the moons before the happiest of the nights,

Your fates will forever part.”

She blew the smoke gathering in her palm towards me, and my startled body reacted with a shudder.

“You have twenty-four days to find your fated mate. What are the odds, hmm? You won’t find anything. You took what was mine, now I take what is yours!” She arched a brow at me and went back to chase Carl. And that was when I noticed he wasn’t in the room anymore.

Dressing as fast as I could, I left the witch’s house without saying anything. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. I had slept with a mated–married man! Carl was a jerk! Worse than anything that has ever happened to me, I had until Christmas to meet my fated mate; otherwise, our bond would be lost forever!

*

Melting pot

Once again, I crossed to foreign lands. Yet all lands are foreign for those lost within themselves.

I am a Pixie. I am a werewolf.

I wander in the human Realm, trying to understand their minds. I am not human. I don’t belong to any kind. I am only an observer in the journey of my own life.

*

Note: this book is different from my other works, it has an episodical approach and a different pace.