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I still hadn’t gathered up the courage to touch her, and she was growing impatient. She’d told me she was tired, so if I was going to do something, I had to do it now, before she fell asleep right there, in front of the fireplace. Not that I would’ve minded it. It would only mean I could carry her to our bed, upstairs, and feel her body pressed against mine.
My thoughts were going in circles. I had to halt them.
I hovered my hands over her face, then let my fingers glide into her auburn locks. Compared to the fur on my body, her long, wavy hair was soft and shiny. It was a pleasure to touch it. I combed my fingers through it a few times until I noticed she was starting to relax. Then I touched her forehead, just above the leather mask. Her skin was warm and smooth. My fingers ran down her cheek and behind her tiny ear.
“That tickles,” she said, smiling.
“Sorry.”
“It’s all right.”
“If any of this feels bad, tell me, and I’ll stop.”
“So far, so good,” she chuckled. “It’s like getting a massage.”
That instantly put a bright smile on my face. Because Aura had just given me the best idea.
Chapter Ten
Aura
I felt his fingers trace the shape of my shoulders. His touch was feather-like at first, then grew more intense without losing its gentleness. I thought he would move on and run his hands down my chest, but instead, he began to... massage my shoulders.
Because I’d made a joke about how this felt like I was getting a message.And then he immediately started doing just that. It only confirmed this wasn’t a tradition at all. He’d lied to me again. Why?
I was about to get angry at the idea that Krampus couldn’t be honest with me for one damn minute, but then his fingers dug into a particularly tense spot, and I turned to putty. He was so good at it! He took his time, making sure the muscles were completely relaxed before he moved on. He touched arms, and that made me feel even more relaxed because it meant he didn’t want to do... things to me. Not so soon, anyway. Not before I... asked him?
I wondered if that was what he was waiting for. On the one hand, he kept putting us in situations where we had to be close and intimate – like when he’d fed me earlier – but on the other hand, it didn’t feel like he was forcing me to do anything, and he never went too far.
He massaged one arm, down to my palm, then the other. I was about to fall asleep when he moved to my legs, completely ignoring my torso. In his hands, my calves were like jelly. Instead of going above my knee, he descended to my feet, where he proceeded to perform literal magic on my tired soles.
“If this really is your wedding night ritual,” I said, “Then us humans should adopt it. Everyone should adopt it!”
He chuckled and continued to massage my feet.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying it,” he said.
“I’m enjoying it a lot.”
At some point, I started feeling hot. The fire burned steadily in the fireplace, and the room had become stuffy. That, coupled with the fact that Krampus was touching me, massaging my body into shameless submission, resulted in beads of sweat on my forehead and my back. The corset of the dress felt too tight, and all I could think of was loosening it a bit. The tights that covered my legs felt uncomfortable. I’d been in these clothes all day long, and maybe they were a little too fitted for my liking. They didn’t let my skin breathe.
“Are you all right? Do you want me to stop?”
He must’ve noticed me squirming.
“No, I’m fine. Don’t stop. This is nice. It’s just... I’m feeling hot.” I bit my lower lip, wondering if I should say what I wanted to say. “Do you think you could... remove my tights?”
I heard him take a sharp breath. He hesitated for a moment, but then I felt his big hands slip under my skirt. He paused at my knees, and I figured he needed some encouragement. I lifted the skirt myself to expose my hips, and finally, I felt his fingers hook into the band of my tights.
“Is this okay?” he asked.
“Yes,” I breathed out.
“Are you sure?”
He started pulling the tights down, rolling them slowly over my hips and legs. I thought I would feel cooler, but I was feeling hotter instead. His fingers brushed the sensitive skin of my calves, and I felt myself blush, grateful the leather mask obscured the flush on my cheeks. The tights were off, and when he took my right foot in his hands, I shuddered despite myself.
“You’re cold now,” he said.
