Nøtteknekkeren (7 page)

Zubar hugged me for a while before he let me go. It seemed to be reluctantly, but I might have been reading into things. He tucked the furs around me again, but instead of standing up, he took the reins in his hands and stayed beside me.

“We need to continue our journey,” he announced as he flicked the reins on the backs of the reindeer. They started out, pulling the sleigh forward smoothly and quickly.

I snuggled next to him, feeling a lot better than I had in a while. I should have been freaked out, since I was going somewhere with a man I didn’t know, to a place I had no clue about. Such adventures usually end badly. But there was a surrealistic aura of safety. I felt like nothing bad could ever happen again, because Zubar was beside me.

That was insane. This wasn’t a fairy tale, no matter what strangeness had happened earlier. I’d realized long ago that there were no happy endings. But was that my own belief? Or was it Rik trying to tear me down, like he always did?

We rode in silence for a while. It was easy and nice. The sleigh was traveling at a slower speed than before, so I could see the forest we were traveling through. The trees were thinning out even as they became more elaborately decorated, some of them rivaling the beauty of Uncle Yvo’s tree.

“You never answered my question,” I said, leaning against Zubar.

“What question was that?”

“About the stream. It hasn’t always been mead, has it?”

“Things change over time,” Zubar said as he guided the sled toward a bright light shining through the trees. From the placement of the trees, I guessed this was some sort of road. I wondered where we were going. The stream meandered off. “Even here.”

“Where is here?”

Zubar glanced down at me. “Here is here.”

“How very Zen,” I teased him. “But ‘here’ has a name. What is the name of here?”

“It’s known by many names,” Zubar said evasively.

I sighed and sat back in the seat. I didn’t move away from him, though. I was annoyed he wasn’t answering my questions, but not mad at him.

“This is also a conversation I want to have when I can concentrate on you and not the road,” Zubar continued.

“I’ll miss the stream,” I remarked.

Zubar laughed. “There is a well in the palace that is even sweeter.”

“Palace?” I echoed.

“You will see it soon,” Zubar promised me, rattling the reins, urging the reindeer to pick up their speed. They leaped forward with a jerk, and it seemed that the Christmas tree forest faded away and we arrived at the mysterious palace, even though we hadn’t really moved.

The palace was dark brown, with beautiful stained glass windows. There were snowdrifts surrounding it, but in the clearing in front of the building, the pavement alternated brightly colored cobblestones with pastel flat rocks. It should have been garish and ugly, but there was a cheerful charm to the arrangement.

I felt terribly underdressed here, and wondered if I could just hide in the sleigh for the rest of my life. I was warm, and it wasn’t a bad place to be. I gazed at the palace, taking in the beauty, and it struck me what this place looked like—smelled like too. I was in front of a palace of gingerbread, and I was willing to believe the cobblestones were actually gumdrops. Where was I? Or was I dreaming all this, wanting some sort of magic in my life again?

Zubar jumped off the sleigh, handing the reins to a servant who had appeared out of nowhere. He looked familiar, but Zubar distracted me.

He turned and held out his hand. “Come with me.”

I took a deep breath, wondering why Zubar’s eyes seemed to bore through me. I noted the air smelled like spices and coffee, a wonderful comforting smell.

“Thijs,” Zubar murmured, his voice deep and coaxing.

I blinked, wondering if my eyes were playing tricks on me. Zubar was looking wooden again. He held himself stiffly, but with anticipation, as if he was expecting me to do something. I looked around, wondering why there was a stillness here. Not of peace, but as if the whole world was holding its breath.

I said nothing, but placed my hand in Zubar’s, pushing aside all thoughts of hiding in the sleigh until spring. Zubar helped me step out of the sleigh as I placed my feet on the ground, feeling a little strange, the craziness of the evening catching up to me as I swayed for a second.

I looked up at him. I noticed Zubar was the right height to just tilt his head down and kiss me. My breath quickened at the thought. Zubar shifted so his arm was around my waist, and I leaned against him, steadying myself. He anchored me, supporting me.

“Welcome to the Land der Süßigkeiten, Thijs,” Zubar said.

“The Land of Sweets,” I echoed dumbly, wondering why I understood German now. I had never heard of the place, but it sounded familiar all the same. That explained the palace. The whole place must be made of all sorts of confectionaries.

“You….”

“Me?” I prompted, when he seemed to have developed an inability to finish his sentences too.

Zubar sighed. “Later. I promise all of this will make some sort of sense later.”

“It doesn’t have to make sense,” I heard myself saying. “I trust you.”

“He knows that,” Uncle Yvo said.

He stood behind Zubar, human again and wearing a suit.

“Uncle Yvo!” I exclaimed as I went to hug him. “I was worried. You turned into….”

“An owl,” he said, hugging me back. “It happens on occasion.”

He stepped back and looked at me. “And you look good, Thijs. Happy.”

I was happy, which was very foreign to me. I was happy because I was with Zubar, even though I didn’t know the man, and I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.

“Your Majesty,” Yvo said, bowing to Zubar. “Everything is ready.”

After that, he turned and walked into the palace. I was a little shocked at the “Your Majesty” comment, but this was a palace and Zubar had a commanding presence, so it made sense to me. Zubar was king here.

“Everything is ready?” I asked.

“What do you remember now?” Zubar asked instead.

“A lot, but it’s all jumbled up,” I said honestly.

Zubar sighed. “This might not be the best time, but it is a question that must be asked.”

“Zubar,” I said as I stepped closer. I was subtly asking for another hug. “I trust you. I may not remember everything about our relationship, but what I remember is good.”

Zubar looked down at me. “But do you remember…. You don’t, I can see it in your eyes.”

“But…. Oh, screw it,” I said.

I lunged forward and kissed Zubar. It wasn’t the neatest or most romantic kiss. I sort of bumped into his lips more than anything and then threw my arms around him to hang on. But he kissed me back. His lips were firm and warm, and yielding after a startled second. I pressed against him, grinding into him a little, because I was getting hard and I wanted him to know. I was glad to feel that Zubar was the same way. It was endless and too short when we finally pulled apart, breathless and with swollen lips.

“What did you need to ask?” I gasped.

Zubar looked a little stunned. And a lot human. Gone was the slight woodenness I had glimpsed on occasion. He was warm and human. Fairy tales would have Zubar turning into the handsome prince, pretty and bland. However, that hadn’t happened. Zubar’s jaw was still heavy, his head a little overlarge for his body. But his eyes were gorgeous and, more important, kind as he looked at me.

Whatever curse he had been under had been broken with that kiss. It was a fairy tale in that way at least. I didn’t care about a job or Rik or anything now. I was here, Zubar and I loved each other, and that was all that was important. We’d figure out the rest of it as we went along. He’d tell me about the curse—again—and I’d get my memories back. But now, now we could fall in love all over again.

“Would you be mine?” he whispered.

I smiled. “I think I always was.”

31 stories of holiday love!

www.dreamspinnerpress.com

F
ELICITAS
I
VEY
is the pen name of a harried IT support tech at unnamed Boston-area university. She started writing male-male romance as part of her midlife crisis, because she was starting to get bored of bodice-ripping needing a man in their life heroines, and the guys always seemed to have the better adventures.

Felicitas’s been a fan of fantasy since her father introduced her to Conan the Barbarian and Tolkien, and horror when Lovecraft and his creepy-crawlies found her in college.

When she’s not writing or at the Dreaded Day Job, Felicitas is brewing and knitting. Her house is overflowing with books and her yarn stash, and the basement is slowly filling up with mead and wine. Felicitas lives in Boston with her husband, three cats (Tamazusa & Mason, plus Phoenix the foster cat), and a stuffed Minotaur.

Website: www.Felicitasivey.com

Company Man

Dances & Cookies

In Trouble with Angels

A Modest Proposal

Nøtteknekkeren

A Solstice Journey

Tell the Bees I’m Sorry

There’s Something About Spot

What Father Christmas Left

Published by
D
REAMSPINNER
P
RESS

www.dreamspinnerpress.com

Physics Grad Student Marcus Fitzhughes agrees to leave New York City with his roommate, Andy, to visit Andy’s uncles in Vermont. Marcus wants to escape the city and his ex-boyfriend, Dan, who hasn’t taken their break up very well.

In Vermont, Marcus meets Andy’s Uncle Raph, a scarred, handsome man with a mysterious past, who settled there to tend bees and make mead. Marcus feels an unexpected attraction to Raph, an interest and lust which he had thought he’d never he feel again after Dan. Raph seems to have the same feelings about him. But both of them need to find the courage to take a chance on the happiness they deserve.

www.dreamspinnerpress.com

Upon leaving his company’s Christmas party, Gunnar Dagviðurson decides to walk to the train and enjoy the snowfall, only to get caught in a winter storm that magically transports him to a mysterious foreign realm. That’s how Celyn finds him, stumbling blindly through the snow, and Celyn takes Gunnar home to a castle of faery. Gunnar wants to find his way home for Christmas, but suddenly he’s faced with a choice: does he go back to his adopted family in the human world or stay with the magical family he’s found?

www.dreamspinnerpress.com