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She had trekked more than eight miles in the snow to get the damn thing and it was now nestled in her small satchel that was held tight to her body. The wind was nearly howling as it whipped lank brown hair into her face, and Rey was sure her exposed cheeks were red from the cold. The ragged scarf tucked around her features and into the hood of her jacket may have kept her ears sheltered, but her nose dripped unattractively into the muted grey knitting. She was, all in all, a disaster.
All of this was for a toy.
Well, not really a toy.
Even she could admire the handsome carvings of the wooden nutcracker, and its polished, well-loved shine. It had stood out amid the glitter-sloughing ornaments and the chipped and worn decorations at the thrift store.
Rey and Jana often walked downtown together, window shopping since neither of them had money. Jana was everything Rey was not— graceful, warm, charismatic. Every time she was in the other girl’s presence she felt a certain warmth suffuse her from the inside out.
“Let’s go in.” Jana tugged on her hand, leading Rey through the jingling door and into the dusty shop. If there was anywhere they might be able to afford something, it would be there. The upfront display had all the best stuff, of course. There were vintage Santas and lovingly embroidered tree skirts, jeweled stars and ceramic houses. The display tapered off near the counter, but Christmas items seemed to take up the entire side wall. They dallied along the breadth of it, their fingers still entwined, until something caught Jana’s eyes. She skipped forward and tiptoed to reach a high, dusty shelf.
“Oh my God, OMIGOD. Rey, look.” The dusty wooden toy looked like nothing impressive to Rey, but Jana wiped away the dust and held it like it was something precious. “It’s a nutcracker.”
“Oh.” She had no idea what that meant. It didn’t look like any kitchen tool she’d ever seen.
At the other girl’s blank stare Jana sighed. “You know, like in the ballet?” Rey did not know. “You’ve never heard of it? Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies? Okay, I know what we’re doing tonight.” She stroked the wooden little man regretfully and set him on a slightly lower shelf. “Come on.”
Jana had wanted to be a ballerina when she was little. She attended classes from three to seven, and then her parents divorced, her father left, and her mother got depressed. It was a common story among Rey’s peers, but it still made her sad to see the girl she cared for watching her dreams play out too far to ever grasp. Rey spent a good deal of the time they watched the ballet sneaking peeks at the longing shine in Jana’s eyes. She decided that night that she would go back for the nutcracker.
Which was easier said than done. Jana was the one with the car, and they only got to see one another when neither worked.
So here she was on Christmas Eve, trudging through a blizzard.
Stupid, stupid Rey.
It would be worth it when Jana found the little nutcracker tucked away under the tree tomorrow morning. It would be worth it when she rushed to Rey's, threw arms around her in a joyful embrace, kissed with those soft lips…
Creeeeeeak
SNAP
She jolted from her reverie and spun to find whatever had pulled her back to reality. A tree branch had torn from its trunk, the wind growing ever-violent.
It wasn't supposed to storm today.
The storm was two days early, and Rey was paying for her last-minute shifts that had her trekking around the day before Christmas.
Night was falling, a shimmering blanket covering the world like the snow that transformed everything around her. Long shadows and eerie noises settled in as she paid more attention to her surroundings. The next branch could land on her. Besides, it was Christmas Eve. Strange things always happen on Christmas Eve. That was the night The Nutcracker took place, and the night Santa would ride in his sleigh to visit every house. Not that Rey believed in Santa; her childhood was one where Christmas magic didn't exist. The stories were nice though.
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house…
The wind was easing up; maybe she would get lucky and the storm would die completely.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny rein-deer…
She imagined she could hear the sleigh bells jingling just out of range for her to see. Would there be a Rudolph or would it just be the eight from the classic stories? She'd almost prefer the latter.
The ringing was louder. She wasn't near any stores, so there couldn't be a Salvation Army collector ringing for donations. In fact, this route was rather obscure, through a little woods that had yet to be developed. It crossed the highway at one point, but that was the closest to civilization she should be at this juncture.
A heavy crunch of snow and the exhale of a beast shook her to her toes where they curled in second hand boots. The breath behind her was steady now, no question that something was behind her. And her bet was not on Santa. Santa didn't breathe like a beast, and his reindeer would make much more noise. The world had gone curiously silent around her.
Silent night
Holy night
She trembled as she took a half-step. Whatever was behind her shifted and she heard the ominous bells ring just a touch, just enough that she knew whatever was there had been the source all along. She took a long, slow inhale, lashes fluttered closed, and then turned completely to face whatever had found her in the shining night.
All is calm
All is bright
It was enormous. At least seven feet tall, she figured, with horns that rose and curled proudly above jet black locks. It had eyes that burned like embers and pale skin reflecting the evening stars and snow alike. It wore a mockery of Santa's accouterments, the material stained and battered and the hood caught beneath the end points of the horns. It's nose flared, reminding her of a horse or a bull. Or a reindeer.
And her eyes traced down to see, in place of boots, polished black hooves.
It hummed at her and her eyes snapped back up to its face.
"Children should not be out so late on Christmas Eve."
It spoke with the deep, velvet voice of a man, and that terrified Rey more than any other part of it taken separately. It transformed and became him instead.
Round yon virgin
Mother and child
The words echoed through her head amid the oppressive silence that stretched after his words. It took a long moment to finally find her voice. "I'm not a child."
Full, red lips quirked at her bravery and the being surveyed her form. "Oh? But you are so small, so frightened. You certainly smell like a child."
Rey took a step back, heart thundering like the storm that had passed, but never ended. "No. I'm just on my way home. Please."
He blinked long black lashes over those bright eyes, considering her. "Can you prove you are not a child?"
"I— what?"
"Prove you are not a child, and you may leave. It is my duty to punish errant children, not waylaid housewives." He stared at her expectantly, but she had no idea what he wanted. He shook his head at her bewilderment, hair tousled from the movement, then held out one long-fingered hand. "Come."
Rey's eyes grew round as the moon. "I just want to go home."
"And after this, you may. I swear it." His fingers beckoned impatiently and she noticed the rust beneath his long nails and embedded in his nail beds.
"What if I don't?"
A hint of something sharp crossed his features as he bit out, "Then I will hunt you." Rey laid her shaking, frozen hand with its glove that didn't cover all of her fingers anymore in his palm. His grip closed around hers, and the world tipped and roared.
They were in a cave when she regained her balance. The large… man… pulled her along until they reached what appeared to be a standing rack. He had both her wrists hooked and overhead before Rey could so much as protest.
The cave was warmly lit by a crackling hearth that did nothing to ease the chill in Rey's bones. Her captor stood before it, shuffling through her bag. Out fell little slips of paper, a few coins, and then he chuckled as he pulled free the nutcracker.
"My, my certainly not what I would expect in a grown woman's bag."
Her face flushed red. "It's a gift. For a friend."
He held it between his massive, clawed hands. "For another child?"
Holy infant
So tender and mild
"For the girl I like," she murmured.
"Is that so? And what do you suppose she will do with such an exquisite gift?" He neared her, his voice lowering to match the fire behind him.
"Crack nuts?"
His strange eyes leveled with her own. "Shall I show you the use a woman might have for such a tool?" Rey did not trust the soft edge to his voice. He stroked back a strand of her dark hair, then began unbuttoning her jacket.
"Wait!" She strained against him. "You can't—"
"Shhh." Her boots slid off without his even needing to untie them, as though the knots unraveled at a glance. Her jeans followed suit, and soon she was in only a dingy bra and panties. "Hm. Not the shape I would expect. But I suppose a young thing like you hasn't had a child yet." He curled the nail of his index finger between the cups of her bra and flicked, the material separating to reveal small breasts. "Still lovely." She choked on her protests as his claws danced over her ripe flesh.
"Please," she whimpered. "I don't know what you want."
He smirked as fingers played down to cut through her underwear, leaving her bare. "Just my pound of flesh, sweet Rey." At her breathless shock he laughed. "You walk the edge now between childhood and womanhood. While you still play at being young and naive, you claim you are a woman. So, a grown woman I shall make you." One finger slid between her folds, playing at her clit. She tried to kick, but her ankles were snatched in chains that held them wide apart. "Let yourself enjoy it, pretty girl. It will make what's to come easier."
The finger played in the little slick that gathered and pressed in. Rey whimpered, but then his thumb replaced it at her clit and drew firm circles in tandem with the shallow thrusts.
"There you are, good girl. You've done this to yourself, haven't you? To thoughts of handsome young men who are kind and attentive, and to pretty Jana's supple curves." His grin was vicious. "And now you will come apart for me." Another finger slipped inside and her back bowed as he found all her sacred spaces. She felt the approach of that electric wave, and then he left her bereft. "Shush, shush. You'll be full again soon."
What he pressed inside of her next was wider and stretched her so that her mouth opened in a wide, puckered "o." He thrust it so it hit the end of her, and though it hurt it soon transformed to that edge of pain that teetered to fall into pleasure. She groaned as she fell over the edge, waves wracking her body until she was held limply by her wrists.
"Lovely." She leaned into the tender stroke across her cheek, and then her eyes fluttered back open and she was once more facing the beastly man. His lips fell onto her own, a strange sensation with the deep philtrum between them and his nose, but still pleasant. He shifted her upward and maneuvered weak legs around a bare waist. Rey looked down dizzily to see his long, bulbous shaft.
That's too big.
Beneath the joinder of hip and thigh is where the fur sprouted, black as the heart of his eyes. Something nibbled at the back of her mind, but it all fell away as he pushed into her.
Rey wailed as the beastly man plunged inside of her. He was not gentle, unlike his persona while preparing her. His hips snapped against hers until he was fully seated inside. He pounded, plundered, wrecked her. The stretch burned. But then he began to roll his hips in such a way that his pelvis ground against her clit, and the pain became something more.
"There it is," he murmured in that silken voice, stirring her sweaty hair. "Yes, I smell you now. Hot and sweet and lustful." He pulled her head against his chest, claws threateningly tight in her hair. "Come for me, Rey."
She screamed into his chest as the tide began to rise, pushing her own hips eagerly against his. The high fell on her more pleasurably this time, drenching where they joined. Her teeth sank into the meat near his collarbone and he hissed between sharp teeth, his semen hotter than Hell as it spilled into her.
He pulled her away from the rack, holding her smaller form to his chest. She was exhausted, her eyes leaden. "There, now. Sleep. I'll see to it that your ladylove receives her gift."
She floated away.
Sleep in heavenly peace
Rey cried out as she bolted from her bed, landing in a pile of panicked limbs. The silent apartment did not respond to her alarm.
She was wearing her own pajamas— well, the loose tank top and grungy sweatpants she'd favored lately, anyway. She was in her bed and it was morning. According to her phone, which was plugged in and charging as per usual, it was Christmas day.
There were about twenty notifications from Jana, running the gamut from a happy morning holiday text to exclamations of joy and gratefulness and pictures of her with the red-painted nutcracker.
Rey smiled and stroked along her cheek in one of the selfies. She was aglow with joy. Somehow Rey had gotten through the storm, delivered Jana's gift, and made it home before the door was locked for the night.
im so glad u like it
She fell back onto her bed with her phone on her chest. Her stomach hurt, the familiar ache of cramps. Maybe her period was about to come. Her phone buzzed with a text from Jana.
its even better than the 1 in the thrift shop
how did u find it???
Wait. It was the nutcracker from the store. What did Jana mean?
But no.
Rey sat up again and looked around her room, and her eyes landed on a smooth, wooden little man with a movable jaw sitting on her ancient faux-wooden night stand. It was silken and polished, like someone had tended to it lovingly, but it wasn't as handsome as the one Jana had sent pictures of.
Rey looked down at the fingertip bruises covering her arms and trembled. Outside her window the wind picked up and flocks of downy snow fell from the sky to cover all the transgressions of the world.
Sleep in heavenly peace.