The Christmas Charm (New Adult Holiday Love Story) (2 page)

“Ms. Remini – Allie, the fae people are a race unto themselves. They have existed for thousands of years and have been evolving the entire time. Unfortunately, they have been evolving so much that they are beginning to lose their powers, becoming much more vulnerable to attack and takeover by other magical races. Your father has sent me to bring you back to him. While she was alive, your nana protected you. Now that she’s . . . gone, you’re in danger from members of those other races that don’t want you to join the fae race.

Allie struggled to make sense of what Emilio had just told her. It sounded – fantastical and strange. Looking at his serious face, she realized he was not pulling her leg. She laughed at him. It was an automatic defense technique.

“Yeah, right!” A mirthless laugh burst forth from her lips.

“Allie,
por favor, escuchame.
Please, listen to me. You are the last living fire faery. We need your special gifts, your special powers so our race doesn’t die out entirely!”

“You know, I’d like to thank you for telling me this – but I need time by myself to think about what you’ve just told me.” She set her coffee cup down and stood up, effectively dismissing the . . . man? faery? What was he?

After he left, she put her coat on and slipped her keys into her pocket. Locking the door behind her – and double-checking that she had truly locked it – she set off for a walk around the quiet, sunny streets of downtown Las Cruces. As she walked, she maintained her normal watchfulness, observing the deserted residential streets.

As she passed some houses, she heard children playing in the backyard with their Christmas gifts – footballs, new trampolines and basketballs with nets. In the distance, she spotted three tall, bulky men and a tall, statuesque woman, all approaching her. Her finely honed sense of preservation gave her a sudden tingle of warning right before they attacked her.

As she dodged the four strangers, an odd thing happened. Two of her attackers reached out to grab her – as she backed up, she felt the chain around her neck growing hot. The heat forced all four strangers back and, as she watched in shock, they vanished just as mysteriously as they had appeared. Allie’s hand stole to her chain – while its heat had burned the strangers, forcing them back, it hadn’t caused her any pain or harm, she realized. She thoughtfully lifted the chain from the opening of her coat, looking at it.

As she looked at its details, she remembered that she had always had an unusually high tolerance for heat. She quickly returned home, knowing that the attack on her and Emilio’s earlier revelations warranted more questions.
Could he have been telling me the truth about my ancestry? Am I really part-faery, like he said? Or is he some crackpot who needs to be on psychiatric medications?
With all these questions swirling around in her mind, she turned and went back home quickly. Her finely honed sense of observation and self-preservation was on high alert. She didn’t want to be attacked again.

Her recent encounter with danger had scared her. Her heart was pounding and her hand shook as she tried to insert her house key into the door locks. Finally, she was able to get the key into both locks, allowing herself back into the house. She securely locked the door, wondering if that would be sufficient protection.

Without taking her coat off, she collapsed onto her sofa, thinking. She realized she needed to talk to Emilio Alvarez in much deeper detail. She needed to find out if what he was telling her was true and, if so, how she could protect herself. He was either a nut who had had just a bit of luck in predicting something that would happen – or he was telling her the truth.

She knew only one thing for sure – she did not want to be in any danger of attack again, no matter the qualities and magical abilities of the chain her grandmother had given her. With that, she checked for her keys, touched the chain and left her house once more. She walked to Emilio’s and knocked on his door.

As if he knew she would come to his doorstep, he opened the door – no surprise showed on his face. Instead, he ushered her in and poured her a glass of sangria and took her coat. She sat on his sofa, trying to quell her trembling and sipping at the fruity wine.

“I went for a walk, Emilio. While I was out, four people tried to attack me. That’s not what scared me. My chain got very hot and forced them back. I was looking at the spot where they were standing and they just . . . vanished! The heat from my chain seemed to be pushing them back and protecting me, but it didn’t burn me. What’s going on?”

Emilio, hearing about the attack on Allie, knew he needed to get her away from Las Cruces right away. He took a large sip of his own wine and explained that representatives of the other magical races had learned where she was. Now that they knew, she was in even more danger than she had been before.

“Because of this, Allie, it’s imperative that I take you away right away. I’ll take you to the  Faery Winter Palace, where your father is. But we have to leave right now,” he stressed. As he looked at her, his desire for her flared once again. He pushed that to the side, knowing it was more important to remove her from the danger that now surrounded her.

Allie, looking at Emilio, felt her own passion for him consuming her, much like the heat from her chain had nearly burned her attackers. That, along with her recent attack, frightened her. She had never experienced anything like what she’d been through today. Yet, looking at Emilio’s deep brown eyes reflecting concern and, yes, desire, she knew he was right. She took a large, fortifying sip of her wine and nodded, looking at him.

“Okay. I’ll go with you. Where does my father live? Where is this Faery Palace?” Allie asked Emilio.

“Somewhere in Ireland. That’s all I can tell you,” Emilio said, standing up. He drained his wine glass in two fast gulps, motioning for Allie to do the same. She complied and, after finishing the last of the wine that had been in the large wine glass, she stumbled slightly as it hit her brain.

Emilio, seeing her stumble, grabbed her elbow. “Steady, there! Let’s go to your house so you can get a few essentials. Nothing more – we need to travel light.” He strode to the back of his house, stuffing a duffle bag with two changes of clothing and some toiletries.. He escorted Allie out of his house, looking up and down the street. Seeing it unpopulated, he escorted her rapidly back to her house, where she let them in.

She grabbed a large backpack into which she tossed her toiletries and two changes of clothing. Returning to the living room, she saw that Emilio had securely strapped his duffle to his upper body. He turned her around and strapped her backpack to her shoulders, tightening the straps. Taking her hand in one of his, he closed his eyes and focused – the two of them vanished in a puff of silvery smoke.

As the pair traveled via Emilio’s magical connection, they landed in several cities, traveling farther east each time. As they landed in Austin, they walked to a hotel to check into a room – just as in Las Cruces, they were attacked by groups of people, and Allie’s chain heated up, forcing their attackers back. Emilio’s own magical faerie powers, combined with Allie’s, kept them safe.

After their attack in Austin, Allie learned that Emilio could move through solid objects. He grabbed her arm and, holding her tightly to him, he propelled the two of them through the hotel wall, where they quickly checked in and retreated upstairs. She looked at him, stunned.

“My God, Emilio, you weren’t lying! That’s twice today that I – that we’ve been attacked.” She modulated her voice, speaking more quietly after he looked around quickly and motioned for her to lower her voice. She also stepped closer to him. “So, tell me about this power that I have. What’s your power?”

“Come, sit down. Like your father, Santos, you are a fire faery. The chain your nana gave you helps you to channel your powers to protect you – actually, to protect you and whoever is with you. Take a look at the design of the chain. Notice its twisted appearance, how the strands move in and around each other, all the way around the chain. This twisting enables it, and you, to   focus your fire more strongly on attackers.”

“What about the pendant? The lapis lazuli and the hand wrapped around it?” Allie asked.

“This holds no particular powers. Your nana slipped that on as her own gift to you. The chain belongs to your family and it is handed down through the generations, from one fire faery – or, in the case of a male child, a fire faerie – to the next. This is a very old chain, and you will hand it down to your child when the time is right,” Emilio explained. As he thought about Allie being with child, his smoldering desire for her flared hot and high once again. It reached out to Allie, who looked at Emilio with luminous gray eyes. He reached out to her.

Allie felt the force of Emilio’s desire. Her own wanting for him burst into a searing conflagration that started in her middle and shot down toward her woman’s center. She moaned softly. She felt his lips on hers. As they kissed, the heat of their passion seemed to sear both of them.

Allie wrenched Emilio’s shirt open, buttons popping and flying all over the quiet, luxuriously appointed room. Moving to the waistband of his pants, she pulled the buckle open and pushed the zipper down. As she pushed his pants down, she saw the unmistakable evidence of his arousal – he was fully erect, long and rock-hard. Allie felt a droplet sliding down her vulva as she saw his shaft pulsing.

Emilio let go of her arms and pulled his jacket off, feeling hot. He pushed Allie’s backpack and coat off her shoulders, then yanked her sweater over her head. Seeing her lovely, rounded breasts, he palmed them in both of his hot hands. As he touched her, he felt his magic leaving, making him simply a man with her.

He unhooked her bra, freeing her breasts. Seeing the dark-pink areolas and nipples, his shaft throbbed, seeming to become even harder. He unbuttoned her snug jeans and pushed them, along with her lacy, tiny panties, down her slender, rounded hips. Bending down, he retrieved a condom from his wallet and, after he ripped the packet open, he began rolling it on himself.

Allie, seeing him take steps to protect the two of them, stilled his hands. She made rolling the condom onto Emilio a sex act in itself. As she rolled it over the full length of his stiffness, his hips jerked twice and he gave a guttural, wordless growl. As she saw the evidence of his arousal, she whimpered softly.

Emilio, hearing her broken cry, picked her up and took her to the king-sized bed. Placing one knee on the mattress, he gently lowered her, lying next to her. Their legs tangled with each other and Allie felt the tip of his distended shaft prodding her between her legs.

Wanting him, needing him inside her, she pulled him quickly over her, beginning to kiss him deeply. Her tongue invaded his mouth, beginning to mimic the act that would soon consummate their relationship.

Emilio’s tongue tangled with Allie’s, thrusting and parrying as it presaged what he was so close to doing. He covered her body more completely with his own, shifting her legs farther apart. Kissing her hard, he pushed himself within her, groaning as he felt her tightness sheathing him.

Allie felt him filling her with his hardness and hot tears escaped her eyes. It felt so . . . right, so inevitable that they would be here on this bed, making love with each other. Feeling Emilio moving within her caused her to erupt inside. Her desire for him multiplied tenfold and she wrapped her legs and arms around him, moving with him. She moved quickly toward her completion. She felt – heat building within her woman’s core. As Emilio’s shaft stroked within her, the temperature of her body threatened to burn both of them. Her body began contracting and quaking as her most sensitive area responded to the repeated contact with Emilio’s rock-hard penis.

“Ahhh! Emili-o! Emi-lio!” Allie lost her capacity for speech as her body exploded and shattered into a million bright, shimmering pieces.

Emilio was right behind Allie, feeling his own earth-moving climax starting at the base of his spine and shooting through the top of his head and shaft. He exploded within Allie, growling his completion into her ear.

Allie, feeling the strong throbbing as Emilio came, felt tears again. She felt completed, as though she had finally met her cosmic match. Lying next to Emilio, a sob escaped from her throat as tears slid from her closed eyes. She felt Emilio’s fingers catch her tears as he pressed butterfly-soft kisses on her lips, nose and forehead. She felt safe and comforted as Emilio pulled the blankets over them – he was still encased inside her. His penis throbbed as his eyes slipped shut.

Allie’s eyelids drooped as exhaustion swamped over her. She felt the last throbs of Emilio’s still-hard shaft within her. He rocked his hips slightly, bringing himself back to life. He hardened once more, reconnecting himself physically to Allie. The pair slept.

Emilio roused first, feeling the unmistakable evidence of his hardness within Allie. He kissed her deeply, which resulted in more throbbing and sexual desire. He pulled Allie close, glorying in the feel of her soft, warm skin, her petite frame and the soft fullness of her lips.

Allie, feeling Emilio’s kisses, opened her eyes slowly. She saw that it was dark outside already. She became slowly aware that she and Emilio had never disconnected – he had stayed sheathed inside her, and he was still throbbing and rock-hard!

Emilio stayed on his side, rocking gently inside Allie. He wanted this session to be slow and gentle, unlike their first coupling, which had been hard, hot and fast. He struggled to keep his passion from overwhelming the two of them. He moved slowly and gently within Allie, feeling his penis growing even longer and thicker.