A Bear For Christmas

by Kassandra Cross

  “So he isn’t a witch?” I was getting more confused by the second.

  “No Darling,” she smiled, “He’s from a much darker place.”

  She turned and left me. She began back up the stairs and I watched her, dumbfounded, now with more questions in my head than answers and completely confused as to why I even felt so strongly about finding them.

  “Marianne,” I shouted after her, “Please…”

  But she dismissed me with a wave of her hand and as she reached the top of the stairs she quickly and quietly slipped off down into one of the hallways.

  I sat down on the step and looked at my palm. It was still burning hot and I felt like I could taste him. His scent was lingering with me and it seemed to have crawled underneath my skin. I didn’t know what was happening to me, or who Lucifer was, or why he was so dangerous… but what I did know was that from that moment on, he consumed every moment of my waking thoughts.

  I went upstairs and lay down on my bed. It was the middle of the day and the sun was bright, but all I could feel was darkness creeping over me.

  “Aradia,” his voice was inside my head and I smiled.

  I didn’t care what Marianne had said… I needed to see him again… and I wasn’t going to wait…

  Chapter 7

  She avoided me for the rest of the afternoon, and even though my day hadn’t gone exactly how I had thought it would, I had a sense of excitement inside of me which was hard to shake.

  I sat in my room and I looked around at all of the trinkets I had brought with me. They were the only things from my past that could connect me to my present. I had always reined in my power, denied the chance to explore it fully out of fear and my mother’s watchful eye. Living with my father had clearly been hard for her, she had never wanted him to find out about The Black Family curse because she had known all along that he would leave us.

  But, Lucifer.

  What a name.

  Picked by the Devil himself…

  Could it be a sign? Was he going to tempt me down into hell?

  I got to my feet and went over to the closet. Inside I found a tight black dress and the highest pair of stilettos I owned. I was going to make an impression. I was determined.

  I backcombed my hair and outlined my eyes with kohl. I plumped up my lips with a deep red and when I peered into the mirror I looked more vamp than innocent, and I felt as if the armor would protect me.

  I didn’t even know if I would find him, but I had to try.

  I tiptoed down the stairs quietly and I could hear Marianne humming in the kitchen. After her not being up front with me earlier, I didn’t feel as if she needed an explanation as to why I was leaving or where I was going.

  Out on the driveway I took one look at the car and knew it wouldn’t be fair to disappear with it without telling her, so I braced myself for the long walk. There was still so much of Valport that I hadn’t seen, it had all been cut so short earlier in the day and I wanted to get down there, be in amongst it, and see what the people of this quiet lakeside town did with their spare time.

  As I trotted along the side of the road my feet began to ache and I slipped off the shoes and carried them in one hand. As I walked barefoot I had a flashback to memories of the previous summer at home, when I had met a guy called Tom. We only spent a week together, but it left a lasting impression. He had come to stay in town with his cousins and when we bumped into each other one night at the diner he had offered to walk me home. We held hands as we wandered along the road side under the moonlight before he pushed me up against a tree and kissed me so hard my mouth ached.

  I had never been kissed like that before and I had never been kissed like that since… But the more I thought of Lucifer… the more I wanted to have it again.

  By the time I got into town I was hot and the hair stuck to the back of my neck. I took a minute to cool down and slip my shoes back onto my feet before I wandered forward and headed for the gas station. It had been a long time before I had needed to gain information from a stranger, but I knew that if there was a young guy around there who would know where people hung out and had fun, he would no doubt work in a place like that.

  I peered through the glass as I approached, and sure enough a spotty teen sat with his feet up on the counter as he flicked through his cell phone. I opened the door and a bell tinged high above me. He looked up and nodded before his eyes flashed back to his phone.

  I pretended to look around the aisles and then when I thought I had been in there long enough I wandered over to the desk.

  “Hey,” I smiled.

  He looked up at me blankly and then back down to his cell. He had been the first person in town to not pay me attention or seem to immediately know who I was so I felt agitated and snubbed.

  “I said… excuse me?” I tried.

  “Huh?” he looked up and rolled his eyes.

  I bristled and slammed my palms down on the countertop.

  “Look,” I smiled, “Sorry to interrupt you, but…” I looked at him and could tell he was so uninterested he could have fallen asleep. “I just wondered if there are any bars around here?”

  He yawned, scratched the back of his neck and then looked relieved that I hadn’t asked him anything more taxing.

  “Sure,” he said. “About ten minutes’ drive that way,” he pointed in the opposite direction to where I had walked and my heart sank.

  “Seriously, there’s nothing here?” I pouted.

  He shrugged.

  “I think you’d like this place,” he said seriously.

  He looked down at my tight dress and the stilettos and I felt myself blush.

  “Just head on out on the straight road from Main Street,” he said pointing in the direction again. “It’ll only take you half an hour or so…”

  I thought about the heat of the night and knew there was no way I was going to try it.

  “It’s okay,” I said, “Thanks anyway.”

  I turned and left the gas station, the bell tinging over my head as I left.

  I sat down on a bench and put my chin in my hands. I had had such big plans for my first day in my new town and it had all gone so strangely wrong.

  I pouted and looked up at the stars.

  The fire thrummed within me. It undulated through my veins in a thick wave and my heart began to race. I had power. Serious power.

  If I wanted to see him… Maybe I could bring him to me…

  I pushed my palms together and remembered his heat. It coursed through me and I bit my lip.

  Bring him to me, I willed.

  My core felt alright and alive with desire and my skin prickled with electricity. I closed my eyes and went to wish again, but suddenly a loud bang behind me broke my concentration.

  Behind me a trash can overturned and a group of kids ran out of an alley laughing and screaming. I jumped and sighed.

  My palms were still prickling and I could sense something around me. Maybe Marianne was right after all, Valport was going to encourage my power and bring it out into the world. I rubbed my knee and sucked in my bottom lip.

  “Hey,” the voice came from the right of me and I turned to see the teen from the gas station stood on the sidewalk lighting up a cigarette. “I just finished my shift, want me to give you a ride?”

  I looked around. The sun was going down, the night was starting and I was dressed up with looks that could kill. There was no way I was going to waste it sat on a bench on my own, wishing that I was somewhere else.

  “That would be great,” I smiled as I got to my feet.

  “Okay,” he motioned with his head for me to follow him so I caught up to him and we wandered back to the gas station.

  His car was a beat up old truck and it smelled of dog. I held my breath for as long as I could but when it was impossible to continue I had to ask him to open the window.

  “It’s hot tonight huh?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” I smiled uncomfortably.

  “When did you arrive i
n town?” he was still sucking on the cigarette and exhaling smoke into the dark.

  “A day ago,” I said, “I have family here.”

  “I’m not from Valport,” he said as if it was something to be ashamed of, “I just work there, that’s why I offered you a ride out here… it’s on my way home.”

  I easily could have asked why he bothered to travel to our tiny town when he probably could have worked in his own, but I decided against it. I had no interest in him or his life. My mind had one track only… and it was Lucifer. He was all I could think about and in that moment all I cared about.

  What has happened to me? I thought.

  As we drove along the winding, country roads I had the sudden sense of unreality. I had no idea where I was going or what I would find when I got there.

  With each new bend the truck took, I felt as if I was getting closer to something I needed and craved. It was pitch black outside save from the light of the full moon and I opened my purse and pulled out my lipstick before I smoothed it over my lips and smacked them together.

  “This place,” the guy said, “It attracts people like you.”

  He said it so casually, as if we had been friends for years.

  “What do you mean?” I said, completely in the dark.

  “You’ll see…” a grin creeped over his face and his eyes glinted.

  I followed his gaze and out of the dark ahead of us his truck lights fell onto a dilapidated building in the distance.

  It was big, like an abandoned warehouse. But, strangely, it was surrounded by trees that came up against the sky behind it, and other shops lined the road on either side. It was deserted. The place looked like a ghost town, but I was sure I could hear something and feel the thump, thump of bass running underneath me.

  The guy stopped the truck and looked dead ahead.

  “There you go,” he said.

  I looked cautiously up at the building. All of the windows were boarded up or dark and it looked as if it hadn’t been occupied in some time.

  “Here?” I asked him.

  “This is the place,” he said, again without looking at me.

  I breathed in and gathered up my purse.

  “Okay,” I sighed, “Thanks for the ride.”

  I got out and he sped away into the night.

  I was alone and I should have been scared…

  But I had never been so turned on in my entire life.

  Chapter 8

  When his tail lights disappeared into the distance and I was alone I waited for a moment before I made my next move. Now that I was outside, I could feel the music thundering underneath the pavement and it vibrated through the soles of my feet.

  I definitely wasn’t truly alone… somewhere inside of the building and below the abandoned town, there was something happening.

  I stepped forward and I was sure I could hear the hushed whispers of women. I turned on the spot and looked into the darkened alleyways, but there was no one there. I inched forward, my heart pounding, and as I approached the door of the building and I reached up for the handle it creaked slowly open before I even had chance to grasp it.

  The whispers came from behind me again and I was sure I could hear my name. I didn’t turn around, no one was going to stop me from going in there… so I pushed the door fully open and stepped inside.

  I walked into the pitch black. It was cold and damp. I could hear water trickling, dripping down the walls and collecting in pools around the edges of the room.

  I wanted to call out, to ask if anyone was there, but it was as if my senses were on autopilot and I knew where I had to go… I kept moving, I went deeper in the darkness of the decrepit building and with each step that I took, the music got louder, the vibrations rocked through me so hard they were high up in my throat and just when I thought I wasn’t going to be able to take it any longer, suddenly a light pierced through the black in front of me, bringing with it a bony hand.

  The hand wrapped itself around my throat and pulled me forwards, I felt weightless as I was taken by it and I closed my eyes, afraid of what I may see.

  “Aradia,” the whispers continued.

  I was released and I had the sensation at my back that I was leaning against a wall. Voices started, they came from every direction… conversations, normal conversations, about anything and everything. I opened my eyes slowly, almost feeling as if I were drunk and disorientated, and I was in the middle of a dark and dingy hallway, surrounded by people. They held onto each other, some of them kissed, their limbs entwined, and others danced as they held onto one and other.

  I pressed my palms flat against the wall and breathed in deeply. Even though I knew I was somewhere that was bad for me… I wanted it anyway. My heart was racing and just when I was about to slump down onto the floor my eyes locked with a familiar set at the other end of the hallway.

  He was stood tall at over six foot, his broad shoulders and muscular arms seemed to flex with power when he breathed and his black eyes… they were so engulfing… they swallowed me whole for the second time…

  Lucifer.

  I felt as if all the air had been sucked out of me and I had been speared through the heart. My knees buckled and I gripped onto the wall behind me, trying to steady myself, but it was too late. I crumbled and slipped down the wall, my back scraping against it, and as I looked up at him, my eyes begging him to help… the world went black once more.

  Warmth spread over me, my body was floating in a sea of pleasure. I felt light and at peace and I didn’t have a care in the world.

  Fingertips scraped lightly across my scalp and I moaned as I leaned into him. Our bodies pressed up against one another’s and he turned me onto my back and climbed on top of me. I exhaled and he gripped my chin softly as he kissed my neck. He left trails of heat with each touch of his lips and I whimpered, the ecstasy flowing through me.

  “Aradia,” he whispered.

  I wanted to open my eyes. To see him and run my hands all over him, but I was rooted to the spot and didn’t dare.

  “Where am I?” I asked him, my voice warm and smooth.

  “You’re with me,” he said as his hands trailed all down my shoulders and to my chest. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

  “Who are you?”

  “I’m the one,” he said certainly. “The man who is going to change your life...”

  I opened my eyes and his face was millimeters from mine. His dark eyes glistened in the half light and his strong profile was so intimidating I felt paralyzed. His big, rough hands cupped my cheek and he held me there, delaying the moment I had been waiting for since the second I had laid eyes on him.

  “I want you,” he said deeply. “And I am going to take you.”

  I shuddered. My sex was pulsing and I was wet with desire.

  He leaned in closer and kissed me. A deep, searching kiss, one that took my breath away. His tongue slipped into my mouth and moved against mine. He was red hot, his touch was on fire and I felt like he was taking me over. I was powerless beneath him. Completely at his mercy and willing to let him do anything to me. He pulled back and a wicked smile crept over his lips.

  “You’re mine Aradia,” he said as he took hold of my throat and kissed me lightly on the lips once more. “I’ve been waiting for you for so long… and now you’re here I’m never letting you go.”

  I don’t know how much time had passed, but when I opened my eyes I was alone in a room I had never seen before. I was in a bed with black silk sheets and although I was still wearing the clothes I had been in before, something felt different. I sat up and clutched the sheets against me. They felt so smooth and cool against my skin, the heat in the room was intensifying and I could see on the opposite wall an open fire was blazing, casting shadows. The walls were a deep and seductive red and there was something about the place that screamed sex and sin. I could smell him everywhere and even though he was nowhere to be seen, I knew that the place was his.

  I sat up and climbed out of the hu
ge bed. As I stepped along the floor I could feel vibrations and heat and with each step I took I could hear music getting louder.

  Was I still in the ghost town?

  When I reached the large and ornate wooden door I took a moment before I reached for the wrought iron handle and pulled it open. On the other side a freezing cold corridor blasted me with icy air and the fine hairs on my arms stood on end with goosebumps.

  I carried on towards the music. The hallway seemed to go on forever, and there seemed to be hundreds of closed doors leading out to other rooms on each side. I didn’t know where they would lead, but I knew I had to ignore them and keep moving forward.

  He was somewhere at the end, I could sense it.

  Out of the dark a large door loomed. It was arched, medieval in appearance and shackled with chains. I crept to it slowly and when I reached it I knew on the other side there was a world that I had been longing for, but had never dared to admit it, even to myself.

  I took a deep breath.

  I reached for the handle.

  Five.

  Four.

  Three.

  Two.

  One…

  I opened the door and stepped inside.

  Chapter 9

  The light was low and the music was heavy. The vibrations of lust thumped through me and I barely dared to open my eyes. All I could smell was the sweet mixture of sweat, alcohol and perfume that was a heady cocktail of pure desire.

  I bit my bottom lip and opened my eyes. As the door closed behind me with a low slam I looked up and took in the scene around me. My mouth gaped open and my skin tingled with excitement… I could barely believe what I was seeing…

  The warehouse had opened up into a huge, half lit dungeon. Men and women swung from the ceilings, some were naked and some were wearing latex and chains. Girls were tied to stocks and were whipped by masked men, whilst others knelt in front of their masters and took their stiff cocks deep into their mouths. I felt a twinge surge through my pussy and I averted my eyes.