Winter Spire: Den of Desire

by Anya Merchant

  Felix swayed slightly in his harness. The glide down with the parachute had disoriented him slightly, but he remembered the mountains and passing over them. If he could set his course in the direction of them, then maybe…

  Given the distance he needed to travel, heading too far to the north or south would probably mean his death. He wouldn’t last more than a night in the cold on his own, and the idea of running a half marathon, through the snow, including a jaunt over or between mountains, seemed patently ridiculous to him.

  The sound of a branch violently cracking in two sounded above him, and part of the parachute broke free, swinging Felix toward the ground in the harness. He hit the snow face first, wincing as ice crystals and snow crust stabbed at his face like daggers.

  Felix pulled himself up slowly, and gave thanks for the fact that he’d kept on his snow gear in the helicopter. His jacket, snow pants, and Dani’s silly pink gloves were the only thing with any hope of keeping him alive through the next few hours.

  He took a minute to look around his surroundings, which consisted of trees, snow, and the occasional set of animal tracks for as far as the eye could see. He turned around in several slow circles, trying to spot something mountain shaped from the shadowy underside of the forest. It wasn’t happening, and he figured he’d need to get to a clearing to regain his sense of direction, or climb a taller tree, if he was feeling bold.

  The wind whipped at Felix’s face. He pulled a glove off and ran his hand across his cheeks and ears. His jacket had a hood, and he made good use of it, pulling the drawstring tight to close it over most of his head. He sank his mouth underneath the jacket’s collar, only leaving his eyes and nose exposed. He knew it must have looked ridiculous, but there was nobody around to see him.

  “Of course, when they find my body, I’m sure they’ll get a good laugh,” muttered Felix.

  He chuckled, even though something in his gut declared the joke to be very unfunny. Felix took a few steps in a direction mostly chosen at random, the way he felt as though he should be going. He’d forgotten to take off the parachute’s harness, and some of the strings dragged behind him. That gave him an idea.

  Felix snapped branches, untangled lines, and folded fabric until he had the entirety of the parachute tucked back into the backpack’s compartment. It wasn’t a neat job, like it had been originally, but he didn’t need it to open a second time. He needed it for warmth.

  He started walking, already feeling the cold finding its way in around the cracks of his protective snow gear. It was an insidious thing, and instead of pushing Felix to walk faster and cover more ground, it made him want to lie down, curl up into a ball, and warm up if he could.

  The snow ahead of him was neat, untouched by animal tracks in many months. Felix’s boots crunched through the frozen top layer of snow as he stomped through it, shivering. He’d been in the wilderness for under an hour, and already, he could feel himself fighting a losing battle.

  “I’m not going to die out here,” he muttered.

  The forest went on for what felt like an eternity. Felix’s anxiety over the cold was joined with a strange sense of oppressive, natural claustrophobia. Even if the area had been sixty degrees warmer, he still would be in a life or death situation, deep in the middle of the wilderness, with no sense of direction, and no hope.

  His steps became slower, more plodding and less coordinated. Felix felt his emotions cooling on the frosty air. He didn’t care so much anymore. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to settle down and try to sleep. He could wrap himself in the parachute, and then…

  A noise came from the forest ahead of him. He looked up and noticed animal tracks, large animal tracks, zigzagged through the trees. They led back behind him, or rather, they came from behind him, looping around the snow he’d been heading through, to the side…

  Felix turned and saw a massive white wolf sitting in the snow, staring at him expectantly. Its eyes were a pale blue, the color of ice underwater. It was looking at him oddly, its face vaguely human in expression. There was no question in his mind about what that meant.

  “Is that you?” snapped Felix. “What was it you called yourself? Nalya?”

  The wolf flashed with bright white light, and Felix had to look away. When he turned back, a girl around the same age as him was standing where it had been, smiling.

  “Gwen,” said the girl. “Nalya is my, or should I say our, denmother.”

  CHAPTER 9

  Gwen had the same pale blue eyes in human form as in wolf, along with shoulder length white hair. It was white, but carried none of the age that greying, colorless hair usually would. It was a vital white, the color of fresh snow in the winter, or a bright star seen through a telescope.

  She wore winter outer gear, just as he did. Her jacket and snow pants were a set, white and pink, with a fur lining around the edge of her hood. It clung tightly to what, even under the thick protective clothing, was an absolutely bodacious body.

  Breasts pushed out against the chest of her jacket, looking confined and shapeless underneath what must have been several layers. Her butt was round, and it jutted out at an eye catching angle. Felix almost assumed it was an exaggeration from the snow pants until Gwen shifted, putting a hand on her hip and flexing as she took a step toward him.

  “Are you going to eyefuck me all day, or are you going to introduce yourself?” Gwen smiled at him, vibrant pink lips standing out against her pale face. Her cheek bones were sharp and angular, feminine, yet also seeming to belong on a predator.

  “You…” Felix took a step back. He remembered what Stella had told him about trusting the white wolves. He also remembered Trent’s stupid questions, and his own stupid answers.

  “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost,” said Gwen. “Or maybe… a monster?”

  She purred the last sentence, making it sound more like verbal foreplay than substantive communication. Felix shook his head, glaring at her.

  “Get away from me,” he said. Gwen flinched back, looking hurt.

  “What?” She raised an eyebrow, and Felix noticed a small mole just to the side of it go up, too.

  “Fuck off.” Felix met her eyes, speaking clearly. “I want nothing to do with you.”

  He stepped forward, taking heavy, deliberate steps through the snow, and shouldered her aside. She was sturdier than she looked, and didn’t immediately step out of his way, grabbing him by the wrist instead and pulling him to face her.

  “Do you understand the situation that you’re in?” she snapped.

  Felix gritted his teeth and scowled.

  “I’m in this situation because of you!” he shouted. “Because of you, and your fucking denmother, and whatever you did to turn everyone against me!”

  He pulled his wrist free and kept walking. Gwen let out a mocking laugh and followed after him.

  “This is Alaska,” she called. “It’s too cold for one such as you to make it through a night on your own.”

  “I’ll manage just fine,” said Felix. “I don’t want your help and I don’t want you around.”

  Gwen skipped through the snow, falling in step beside him.

  “It’s not all about you, Felix,” she said. “You should stop being so selfish and open yourself up to… new possibilities.”

  Felix stopped walking. He met her eyes and shook his head slowly.

  “Why’d you even bother asking for my name if you knew it already?” he asked.

  Gwen closed the distance between him, letting her chest push against his. Even through their snow clothes, she felt warm, and enticing.

  “I wanted to hear it from your lips,” she whispered. “What would you like to hear, or feel, from mine?”

  Felix breathed out slowly and forced himself to turn away from her. He started walking faster, feeling the cold beginning to gain ground as the sun set in the distance.

  “You aren’t even heading the right way!” shouted Gwen.

  “I’ll manage,” he said. He spent a few seconds sea
rching for the last rays of the setting sun, and using it to reorient himself. He needed to head southwest, into the light.

  Felix felt determination take hold of him and traveled faster than he had before. Gwen followed silently for the first few minutes, but a stealthy check over his shoulder confirmed that she’d gone her own way by the half hour mark.

  The cold was his enemy, and in the war against it, Felix was losing. He couldn’t feel his feet, and the better half of his legs. He stomped forward with uncoordinated steps, the reality of the situation becoming more undeniable with each one.

  He wasn’t going to make it. Felix took a few sharp breaths of cold air and let out a frustrated growl. He wasn’t going to make it. He hadn’t survived Trent’s attempted murder, he’d only put it off for a few hours. If he fell asleep in the now, he wouldn’t wake up again. And if he kept walking, he would eventually fall.

  “No…” he whispered. “No! I’m still alive!”

  Felix broke into a shallow jog, moving forward as fast as he could through the knee deep snow. Tree branches whipped across his face, cutting small, painful scratches into his cheeks. The air itself sapped at his energy, stealing heat from the inside of his lungs and refusing to give it back.

  He came to a small natural refuge, a place where a massive tree had recently fallen at an angle, pulling its stump and roots out of the ground, and creating a lean-to shaped shelter underneath them. Felix fell to his knees, tunneling out what little snow and ice had managed to get inside, and then hurriedly pulling out the parachute to wrap around himself.

  “I’ll sleep,” he whispered. “Just for a couple of hours. And wake up in the morning.”

  He closed his eyes. A voice in the back of his head screamed that he wouldn’t open them again.

  CHAPTER 10

  Footsteps roused Felix from a cold, desperate sleep. His heart felt like it was beating too slow, and he couldn’t feel his limbs. He looked up and saw a white wolf, a white flash, and then Gwen, crouched over his pathetic shelter.

  “Oh, no…” she said, softly. “Nice try, but it won’t do. It won’t do at all, Felix.”

  He couldn’t see her face in the shadows of her trees, but he could see her take a small pack off her back that he hadn’t noticed before. She rummaged around, pulling something from inside of it and sliding in next to him.

  “What… are you…?” His teeth chattered uncontrollably, making the words too hard to form on his numb lips.

  “I’m saving your life,” said Gwen. “You’re already half dead, in case you didn’t notice.”

  She laughed and dusted snow off her hands. Felix blinked, unable to recognize what she was doing in the moment. It looked like she was taking her jacket off, and more than just that.

  “Take off your clothes,” said Gwen. “Now.”

  “…What?” Felix stared at her dumbly, his entire body shaking from the cold.

  “I have a sleeping bag,” said Gwen. “A good one. Normally, I would just stay in my wolf form and rely on my fur, but of course, I have to think of what’s best for you, tonight.”

  “My… clothes?” Felix blinked. Small, puffy snowflakes were falling behind Gwen, in the space beyond his little shelter.

  Gwen sighed and shook her head, annoyed. She pulled another piece of clothing up and over her head and Felix saw the shape of two shadowed breasts bounce into view.

  “I’ll strip you naked myself, if that’s what it takes,” said Gwen, giggling. “It could be fun.”

  Felix still felt a kernel of his anger from before, but it was eclipsed by his desire, his need, to survive. He needed to get back to the tower, to get that maniac away from Stella and Dani and the rest of the townspeople. He brushed numb fingers against his jacket’s zipper, fumbling uselessly. Gwen pulled the parachute aside and began stripping him, making the task look easy and Felix look feeble.

  She hesitated when she’d made it down to his boxers, taking one hand and cupping his cock through the outside.

  “I hope you can still feel this,” she said. “It would be such a shame if you couldn’t.”

  Felix glared at her, but true enough, he could feel it. And it felt good. And his body responded accordingly.

  Gwen put the sleeping bag down on top of the folded parachute, and then helped him inside. It was sized for one person, but there was just enough space for her to squeeze in next to him. It was only then that Felix felt as though he was lucid enough to have a handle on what was going on.

  They would share their body heat with each other, or more accurately, she would share her body heat with him. Their nakedness was the tried and true method, skin to skin contact ensuring that the heat transfer was fast and effective. It only took a couple of seconds for Felix’s extremities to start to tingle, and for him to feel Gwen’s gorgeous, naked body against him.

  She was built like gymnast turned supermodel, with lean muscle layered over with big, soft breasts and bottomed out with a perfectly squeezable butt. Felix was rock hard in less then a second. Gwen was facing him, watching him, slowly exhaling hot tickles of breath against his cheek.

  “You know,” she whispered. “There are ways to make this even more effective. If we move together, for example…”

  She pressed her lips against his neck and Felix let out a horny moan. Her hand slowly slid down his chest and stomach, coming to a rest against his erection, and gripping it gently in her palm.

  “No…” he whispered. “No! Absolutely not!”

  He tried to turn around in the sleeping bag, but there was hardly room for it. Gwen let out an aggressive, but still oddly feminine giggle. She ran her hands over her body excitedly, as though exploring the curves and shape of a new toy.

  “Oh, we’re going to have so much fun!” she said, laughing.

  “No, we are not,” said Felix, through teeth forced into a clench. “I’m not interested.”

  He thought back to what Stella told him about magic and its applications when it came to the bodies vital fluids, blood, sweat, sperm and the like. Felix had no idea what Gwen would be capable of if she got her hands on some of his seed, but he was sure that it wouldn’t be pleasant for him.

  “I am interested,” said Gwen. “I’m very interested.”

  Felix felt her body move against him, twisting him back toward her. She was far stronger than she looked, but it seemed as though all she wanted to use that strength for was to pull him into her.

  “Stop it!” said Felix. “You’re insane. You’re-“

  His words turned to a gasp in midsentence as Gwen’s hand returned to his cock and began to stroke. She kissed his neck, chin, and cheek, her soft hand running eagerly up and down his shaft. It felt incredible, even moreso when contrasted against the slow, arduous slog through the freezing snow of the past few hours.

  “Just let it happen,” said Gwen. “Or better yet… try to stop me.”

  Felix snarled, feeling anger rising up in his chest. He twisted, trying to pull Gwen’s hand away and twist her into submission. She let out a howl of a laugh and pushed her breasts into his face, opening her legs. Felix got her by the shoulder and flipped her underneath him, and…

  His cock struck home.

  CHAPTER 11

  “Ooh…” whispered Gwen. “What’s this?”

  Felix glared at her, a useless thing in the dark of night. The tip of his cock was pressed against the lips of her pussy. He could feel her excitement, her heat, and her wetness.

  “Shut your mouth,” he snarled.

  “Or what?” Gwen arched her hips up, rubbing her hot, wet mound into him. “What will you do to me, Felix? Will you teach me my lesson?”

  “Shut up!” Felix pushed her down, inadvertently sliding the head of his erection into her. Gwen shivered with pleasure, and so did he. She felt supernaturally good, though Felix supposed that it was to be expected.

  “Maybe I’ll decide to fight,” whispered Gwen. “Maybe I’ll try to kill you, right here and now.”

  She twisted one of
her arms out of Felix’s grasp and took hold of his shoulder, digging in with her fingers. Felix pressed his weight down on his chest, sliding deeper inside as a result. He let out a guilty moan and tried to keep a clear head.

  “You’re evil…” he whispered.

  “Then fuck me until I’m good,” said Gwen.

  Felix scowled and thrust forward, hard. Gwen let out a pleasured gasp as his cock filled her up. She ran a hand through his hair and pulled his face downward. Their mouths met, tongues snaking together in angry ecstasy.

  Felix kept thrusting, all the while continuing to wrestle her, forcing her to submit underneath him. It was like a game to Gwen, who enjoyed every second of it. It made him angry to hear her squealing in delight, writhing as he fucked her, and so he fucked her even harder.

  “Oh yes!” cried Gwen. “That’s it, Felix.”

  “Don’t talk,” he said. “Just.. don’t.”

  He thrust into her faster, trying to punish her with his cock and realizing the futility of it. Her breasts bounced against his chest, soft and seductive. He took hold of them with his fingers, squeezing, pinching at her nipples. Gwen continued to squeal, kissing and biting his neck.

  “You’re my new denbrother,” she whispered.

  “I am not!” A weirdly shameful, almost embarrassed sensation took hold in Felix’s chest. She was insane, and he was fucking her.

  “Yes!” moaned Gwen. “Yes, that’s it!”

  Felix growled and slammed into her harder. Gwen’s legs wrapped around him. They were wrestling again, and this time, it was her who was vying for the top spot. He tried to hold her down, but she was too strong. Her fingernails raked across his back as she twisted her hips, spinning him underneath her.

  “No!” shouted Felix.

  “Oh, yes…” whispered Gwen. She bounced herself on his cock, grinding her pussy and pure pleasure into him. She gave him a deep, passionate kiss, digging her fingernails into his chest slightly, like an overenthusiatic cat.