Chapter 10
CHAPTER
TEN
Ican still taste her blood in my mouth. Hot and coppery and strangely sweet. Feel the way her flesh gave under my teeth in a forceful, wet surge, mimicking the way her needy cunt wanted to take me inside her. Gods, the way she moaned as she came.
A low groan escapes me, and I have to grip the ladder to keep myself upright as all the blood in my body rushes to my dick.
Focus!
I’d be able to recover from falling to the snow-covered ground in front of the cabin, but I’m right in front of the window where she sleeps. There’s no way she wouldn’t hear a 7-foot-tall monster crashing to the ground, even if she is a heavy sleeper.
I can’t help imagining her there now, enjoying some rare dreamless sleep.
Is she sprawled across the bed, her dark locks flowing across her crisp white pillowcase like ink, her pale limbs peeking out from under a tangle of covers?
It’d be so easy to lift them off and take in every inch of her luscious body since she sleeps naked.
So easy to climb in next to her and see if she’s as soft and pliant in reality as in her dreams.
I grip my swollen length over my jeans and let out a ragged exhale as I force the obscene fantasy away.
It doesn’t even make any sense, since she sleeps cocooned up in that strange claustrophobic blanket.
And I’d never take advantage of her vulnerable state like that, even if she makes me do it over and over in her nightmares.
My cock softens as snowflakes dance in front of my eyes, blowing away my runaway imagination. Now is not the time to get turned on. She could shift into a nightmare at any moment, and I’m only halfway through the tubs of lights. A half-lit house seems even worse than one not lit at all.
The sensation of sweat beading at my temples and the base of my neck despite the cold is strange, and the burn in my legs as I climb up and down the ladder even stranger.
In dreams, I feel things, but it’s not the same.
Every moment I spend in the mortal, waking world, existing in a set state and using my body, feels weightier.
It’s unnatural. A warning sign telling me I shouldn’t be here. But what are my other options?
Wait around in my own realm for her to figure out how to be happy on her own?
A humorless chuckle escapes me at the concept of this isolated, traumatized woman somehow figuring out how to not be miserable when she works nonstop to avoid dealing with her problems and has put off finding a therapist for almost a year.
Her only source of lightness in her life is her ancient dog, who is sweet but sleeps most of the time.
No, she needs help.
She needs me.
Gods, we’re both completely fucked.
She needs cheering up, but how the hell am I going to go from being a nightmare who chases her through the woods to someone she associates with anything cheerful?
Calling her a slut and biting her as she dry humps me until she comes is better than what was happening before, but it’s a far cry from the peace and joy of the season.
How do I go from being Krampus to her secret Santa? She’s never been anything but good. She deserves presents and candy, not punishment.
Though now I’m imagining how her skin would look if I flogged her. I bet she’d let out those breathy little gasps and moans that make my mind go hazy. Would it make her wet? Would she allow me to fuck her, even as I brought her pain?
My hand is on my cock before I can think better of it. It gives an angry, insistent throb, and I stroke it once, shuddering. I shouldn’t be doing this, but the ache is far more intense than any I’ve experienced in dreams. I won’t be able to focus if I don’t take care of it.
With trembling limbs, I descend back down to the ground, snow crunching softly under my boots. Chest heaving, I move closer to the window of Ada’s bedroom. It’s too close a mirror to one of her dreams where I’m lurking in the darkness, watching her and waiting to strike, but I don’t care.
I free my cock with a shaky exhale, teeth cutting into my lower lip to muffle my moan as I wrap my hand around it and give it a rough pump. I taste a hint of my blood on my tongue, and my mind sizzles as I imagine it’s hers instead.
“Fuck, Princess,” I groan under my breath, placing a palm on the window to keep myself upright, tugging my shaft in brutal, quick strokes.
Heat suffuses my body as I fuck my hand, chasing my release even though the intensity of the sensation here in the mortal realm is almost frightening.
It feels like I might die, my entire lifeforce draining out of my cock, when I come.
But I can’t stop now. I can’t stop. Oh god, this is so wrong, but I’ve never felt more alive as I imagine her waking up to the sounds of my grunts of pleasure. Her parting the curtains and peeking out the window, only to find her monster on the other side.
My vision whites out as my orgasm surges through me like a lightning strike. Every nerve ending in my body overloads with pleasure, and I paint the window with my release, splattering evidence of my depravity across the frosted panes.
When sense returns to me, I have no clue how much time has passed, but the heat of my breath has carved through the chill fogging the glass enough that the reflection of my mask stares back at me.
I startle backward, almost tripping on my own feet as I recoil away from the stark reminder of what I am.
Shame roils in my gut as I tuck my dripping, drained cock back into my jeans and stare at the mess I made. I have only a moment to chastise myself for my deranged behavior in the post-orgasm clarity, when the curtain rustles.
“Shit!” I dodge behind a bush and crouch down, praying that I moved fast enough not to be seen. Then curse at myself for not remembering that I can just leave this realm if I want, popping back to my home in the blink of an eye. I really have been here too long. I need to go.
But I don’t. I stay frozen, lurking behind the bushes, waiting for Ada to come bursting out of the front door to find me. When that doesn’t happen, my heart rate slows a bit. I think maybe I hallucinated the curtain until I hear dull tapping against the glass.
Trying to stay hidden in shadow, I peek up over the bush and find Henry’s nose pressed against the glass, the curtain rustling as his tail thumps against it.
“Damn dog, you almost gave me a heart attack,” I mutter, sliding back down. Not that I even have a real heart.
The thumping continues, and I worry he’s going to wake Ada. I could leave if he does, but I’m not done decorating. That, and I hate the thought of disrupting even a moment of any restful sleep she manages to get. I ruin her repose enough as it is.
I creep out from behind the bush, and Henry perks up when he sees me.
I hold a finger to my mouth, then head toward the front door.
Ada locks it, but I have a spare key, and when I ease it open, I’m greeted with a huff from the chunky black lab, his frosty face looking perpetually like he just got done snuffling around in the snow.
He licks my extended hand as I crouch down to his level, tail swishing back and forth in greeting.
By all accounts, he should be barking his head off to alert Ada to the presence of a terrifying intruder.
I still have no clue why Henry has decided I’m not a threat, but I have to admit it’s a relief to be around a being who doesn’t look at me with horror.
Nope, this big dopey sweetheart nuzzles his head into my hand, then flops over onto his side so I can give him tummy rubs.
“You really need to work on your guard dog skills,” I whisper, smiling as I stroke his soft fur. “It’s your job to keep Ada safe when I’m not around.”
Henry thumps his tail against the floor and gazes at me with his soulful eyes. There’s a certainty in me that this sleepy lump of a dog wouldn’t hesitate to go to her defense if she were in real danger.
Which means he knows I’m not a threat. It makes some of the tension in my chest ease. I’m not too far gone yet. I can come back from this.
I get up from the floor after another minute of petting Henry, then head back out the door to finish up with the decorations.
Determination thrums through me by the time all the lights are hung.
This is good. This will make Ada happy. She always loved driving around with her family to look at Christmas light displays, and while this pales in comparison, it brings a little slice of that brightness to her lonely cabin.
There’s only one thing left to do before I head home and wait to see if she summons me to her dreams. I pull the bunch of leaves and berries from the pocket of my jacket with a frown.
Rhys told me that no Christmas decor was complete without it, but he also waggled his eyebrows at me and sighed about how romantic it was for me to put Ada’s lights up for her, so I don’t know if he can be trusted.
I’m not trying to be romantic. I’m trying to cheer up my tormentor so she can let me live in peace like I used to.
On the off chance that not putting this up will ruin the overall effect of decorating for her, I decide to hang it above her front door like Rhys directed.
It looks pretty enough, so I leave it be.
I don’t get why a little bundle like that would hold any significance, but humans are weird.
All holiday traditions seem arbitrary to me, but if this brings joy to Ada, I’ll do it.
I’ll do anything to make her happy again.