Unholy Nights: A Twisted Christmas Anthology (36 page)

“And from this day forward, the rules of the past, the strict guidelines and superstitious warnings and threats are stricken from you. You have the right to all pleasure that does not hurt another and all ecstasy that is mutual. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” I answer as her palms cup my breasts’ roundness and test their weight. Her thumbs softly rub back and forth.

“Decide truly, with your heart. Do you wish me to stop?”

“I—I don’t know.”

“But you do,” Raven says, her voice gentle. “Cast aside the ignorant rules and superstitions. What do you feel? If this is wrong for you, then tell me so. I will respect either choice. This is your first decision as a purified witch. Just be true to yourself.”

I close my eyes. The answer is not difficult. “Don’t stop.”

Her hands move down to my ribs. She moves her body behind me as her hands sink deeper, below the water. She massages up and down my front, each time coaxing my legs farther apart. I moan as her fingers finally seek the shadows between. She finds my pleasure exactly as only another woman can.

“This is called the Preparation of the Blessed Vessel.” Raven rests her chin against my shoulder. “In older times, our sect of witches would perform this for virgins. It was a way to soften the transition into the warlock’s bed. Traditionally the new vessel would lay with the warlock for two months before leaving his chambers.” She laughed. “You won’t need to worry about that, if you accept.”

Not that this would be much different from my existence now. I certainly wouldn’t mind two months alone with Gabe. The thought makes me smile. “Have you been in Gabe’s bed?” I whisper.

Raven’s thumb strokes my nub gently, almost too gently. Insanely soft.

Raven chuckles. “Of course. And you have a lot to look forward to, that I can promise you.” She withdraws from the tub. I almost protest but stop myself. She leans over her basket and pulls out an enormous crystal phallus. Then waves it in her hand.

I almost burst out laughing. She allows herself a broad smile to rival Sandy’s. “We like to call this the crystal cock. It’s shaped to the exact dimensions of the governing warlock in order to prepare the new vessel if she accepts him as her lover.”

My eyes widen, I feel them stretch as I take in the size of the crystal cock. “To the exact...dimensions?”

“Uh-huh. And unlike this cold stiffy, Gabe knows how to use every delightful inch.” Raven kneels at my side. “It’s tradition, but you can pass. Everything is a choice here. I want to stress that to you.”

Two years since being with any man, I wouldn’t mind a warm up. “I’ll follow tradition.”

“Nicely put.” She lowers the phallus beneath the water. Mesmerized, I watch as the water refracts the candlelight and the scattered light passes through the crystal.

“This tradition comes from our Dionysian lineage when we thrived in our city and gazed into the rectangular pool where souls gathered. We channeled spirits armed with wisdom on love, healing and pleasure, all secret and ancient. And we followed the Great Warlock who summoned the red dragon and rode him throughout the city, creating a carnival of pleasure and healing power.”

I feel the unyielding crystal enter me. Raven moves slowly in measured advances that coax my body to open up. Her thumb finds me again and I lean back, accepting the exquisite sensations she is giving me. My body pulses, alive—on fire. The cool of the crystal warms inside me, and the smooth surface becomes slippery not just from the water but from my own excitement.

My hips thrust downward to meet her flowing changes. She twists the phallus and I bite my lip, the pleasure suddenly taking a new path, a fast climb.

“Oh, God,” I pant.

“Your clit is getting hard,” she breathes. “I’d love to watch you come, but Gabe gets most of the fun tonight.” She slows her motions and I feel my build to climax weaken. I smother my disappointment as she withdraws the facsimile of Gabe. I want to wait for the real man. I tell Raven this.

“Then let’s not keep him waiting.” She seems reluctant to lift her thumb from my tender nub but she does. My body tingles with excitement and throbs with unfulfilled longing. As I look at Raven, I feel another dimension of myself opening up to me and sincerely hope she seeks me in the future, beyond this ritual.

Raven towels me off as the other women enter with my white gown. They place on my head a wreath of holly. Finally Molly hands me the rose.

“If you accept Gabe as your warlock, you accept us as your coven. Light the fourth candle, which is positioned to north. If you accept Gabe as your lover, give to him this rose. Both are your choices. No harm will come to you, whatever combination you decide.”

“Thank you.” I take the rose from her. She guides me to the double doors in the bathroom as the others leave. When the bathroom light goes out, Molly opens the doors wide and departs.

I stand at a threshold. Behind me is a bath signifying the woman I was. In front of me is a dark room, lit by three candles that barely illuminate a fourth, unlit. Beyond this circle of candles a huge bed appears as my eyes adapt to the dark.

Gabe emerges from the shadows, graceful and silent like a cat. He stops in the center of the candles and lifts his hand, beckoning me to him. I meet him in the circle and gaze up at him, memorizing his handsome lips, amber eyes and aristocratic nose.

“Do you accept me as you warlock, Kathryn?” he asks.

“Yes. I do.”

Gabe grasps my elbows and guides me to my candle. I admire the thick wax and the tall candle stand swirling with ancient symbols. After handing me a long match, Gabe takes my hand and leads me to his candle, lights mine with its flame and returns me to mine. Together we light the candle of the Northern Witch—my candle.

Gabe takes a deep breath. “And do you wish me as your lover?”

I smile. “Of course, I do.” I hand him the rose.

Both dimples mark his joy. He steps close and unthreads the front of my gown, opening it to reveal my nakedness. His eyes devour me, perusing every inch of my skin. He opens my gown wider and feasts on my breasts. Finally, he tugs the gown from my shoulders and lets it drop to the floor.

He lifts his arms up from his sides. “Undo this shirt and kiss my heart which beats for you.”

My fingers tremble with anticipation as I undo his buttons and pull the white shirt off him. Beneath he is exactly as I dreamed, but now I realize it was never a dream, really. I was meant to be with him. He had come searching for me.

I press my lips to his skin, above his heart.

Gabe gathers me in his arms. His kiss is long and luxurious and my passion, which had cooled since leaving the bath, flares to life instantly. My holly wreath falls to the floor to join his shirt.

“Now,” he says against my hair, “undo these pants which keep my seed from you.”

My fingers fumble over his belt before I finally unhook it. I pull it free and grab his zipper, unzip his pants and lift my hands to his waist. I tug his pants down and find him naked. The crystal phallus was not an exaggeration.

His impressive cock juts out toward me. I want to hold him, taste him. I lick my lips and wrap my hand around him, grip him and begin to stroke his savory length.

Gabe grunts, his body stiffening then relaxing. Stroking his cock will not sate me. I kneel almost immediately, and run my tongue up from the base of his balls to his top, and suck his luscious tip into my mouth.

“Kathryn,” he groans. “Yeah.”

Encouraged, I take as much of him into my mouth as I can but he is gigantic. His slick skin rubs against the sides of my mouth and skims over my teeth. But if my mouth cannot completely accommodate him, I am eager to try new things. Gently I massage his balls and he instinctively thrusts. I react, holding onto him but he hits the back of my throat, forcing a growl of pleasure from me as I accept his power completely. He goes deeper for several delicious thrusts. This is truly heaven, I think as I kneed his sexy buttocks.

Without further ceremony, my warlock sweeps me off my feet and carries me to his bed where he covers my nakedness with his body. His eyes glimmer with want as he strokes my stomach and moves farther up. Tingling sensations spread all over my body but I want him to touch me more intimately.

He brushes my hair away from my face. “Now that you are part of this coven, there are things I can show you.”

I blink. “Things?”

He chuckles softly and cups my cheek, “Yes. Things.”

I feel my body grow weightless and the headboard lowers behind Gabe’s shoulder. Suddenly what’s happening becomes clear. I look below us and squeak. If we plunge to the floor, it’ll be a looong fall. We’re floating in midair.

I cling to Gabe and he holds me closer, his arms encircling me. He kisses my neck so deliciously I nearly curl my toes. “Hold onto my shoulders,” he whispers against my neck.

I wrap my arms around his neck like we are dancing. His hands travel the contours of my back and cup my lower curves, stroking my flesh. He lifts my legs and I eagerly wrap them around his waist. We dip down suddenly and then lift again. We’re over the bed once more. I’m getting dizzy and close my eyes.

“Just wait, it gets better,” he teases. “This’ll blow your mind.”

Pretty confident. But then I feel a soft wind upon the skin of my chest. I open an eye to peek at him. Intent on his task, Gabe doesn’t notice me watching him. His eyes glow like twin fires. He blows upon my skin again and the fires within his pupils spark. Suddenly I feel the most amazing rush through my body, like I am soaring through the clouds. Then I feel my body plunge into total lethargic relaxation, every muscle becoming warm and lax. I grab Gabe’s shoulders, afraid I will slip free.

“Steady,” he says. He blows again.

Liquid lightning floods into every pore of my body, speeding through every vein, sending a hot jarringly intense pleasure through me—so intense that I feel like I’m coming. But I’m not. I am suspended like our bodies, on the precipice of climax. Hovering, engulfed in bliss without release.

His hands move up my thighs and I cry out, every touch upon my skin takes me higher, shrinks my world, and stretches me thinner.

“Oh, Gabe.” My voice sounds far away.

He spins us around once. Just the room’s air makes every hair upon my skin writhe and below each hair pinpoints of delight pop. I moan. It’s too much. The sensations, the pleasure...

Then Gabe reaches between my legs and strokes me. I mewl. I can’t help it.

“Open to me,” he breathes upon my neck.

It’s enough to send me over the edge, but instead I climb even higher. I no longer know where my breaking point is; the edge is gone from my understanding.

Gabe enters me. He thrusts and my entire body quakes. He holds my head between his hands. “Stay with me,” he whispers.

Another deep plunge wrestles a scream of pleasure and surprise from me. I’ve never been this high before. My normal orgasm is somewhere far below us.

My body has a mind of its own and it thrashes me about like a sexual puppet. My legs squeeze around Gabe’s waist, trying to draw him in and to pull him closer to my soul.

My hands are gouging into Gabe’s shoulders. I am beyond the point of moaning—of breathing—when he makes a final deep plunge into my depths.

“Awake, Kathryn,” he murmurs.

I scream out, my final release shattering me. I feel my soul leap from my body as another takes its place. Bliss engulfs my spirit and I am barely aware that my body below, held in Gabe’s arms, is chanting songs of ancient millennia.

*

I
awake slowly, in small degrees. The first thing I notice is complete silence. No whispers. No footsteps. No creaks upon the stairs. The next thing I notice is that I am curled and tucked against Gabe’s body. His heavy arm pins me to him. I cannot move. I don’t want to. My limbs are like jelly.

I lick my dry lips and open my eyes carefully. Early dawn is seeping blue light into Gabe’s room. I smell coffee.

My warlock breathes in sharply. Then he yawns. Gabe stretches and lifts his arm off me. I roll over to look at him.

His lazy content smile further endears him to me. He pulls me closer so that my hand rests on his chest. I kiss his skin that smells of sweat and sex.

Before either of us can speak, the door swings open flooding the room with hallway light. Sandy jumps on the bed, followed by Molly, and finally Raven.

“I can’t believe it,” Sandy says. “We’re finally complete!” She pulls me away from Gabe and gives my naked body a crushing bear hug. I guess modesty is a part of my past. At the thought I burst into laughter.

I am so happy. I’ve never felt like this before. Even Raven reaches across to interlace her fingers with mine. Her smile is shy. I break away from Sandy to lean over and kiss Raven’s cheek.

“Coffee’s on,” Molly announces. “Raven’s making waffles for breakfast.”

“Excellent!” Sandy hoots her approval and tugs on my hand. “We’ll get you a robe from my room.”

I let her lead me, glancing over my shoulder to wave at Gabe, who looks a touch disappointed but smiles back anyway, before Sandy drags me into her room.

CHAPTER FIVE

On Christmas day, breakfast leads to a quick lunch before preparing dinner. I find myself mashing potatoes the old fashioned way, with a metal contraption that’s a cross between a whisker and a spatula and seems better at sticking to potatoes than actually mashing them. Molly adds milk to the bowl and my task becomes much easier.

While Sandy and Molly set the table, Gabe and Raven take me to the library and hand me three books about our coven’s heritage and a fourth about the particular white light healing techniques Gabe uses. After last night, I have no doubts to his power. He is in every respect magnificent.

Conversation at the dinner table is not the kind one might expect for Christmas. Molly tells me about the coven in a Boston suburb that she escaped and her trip to Ireland with Gabe soon after. Sandy talks about her funny adventures at Humble Grove’s spa. Soon she has us practically rolling on the floor. Raven shares with us several mysteries she solved on Navajo land while she and Gabe studied with the local shaman. Sandy asks me what I was studying in college before I left.