The Snow Globe

She kneeled in front of the wood stove, laying the paper, kindling and logs for the fire carefully. Rocking back on her heels, she lit it, watching the flames grow, hearing them crackle. Once she was sure it had caught, she closed the doors and stood up, walking over to the chaise that faced the fire. The room was lit only by the small tree and several candles, the scent of cinnamon on the air. Christmas music, The Nutcracker, was playing softly as she curled onto the chaise, pulling a soft, burgundy throw over her bare legs. She stared into the fire, watching it grow, losing herself in the changing colors of the flames. It was her first Christmas alone in her life. Family and friends had been calling all week to invite her over, to check on her, to ask repeatedly if she was sure that she wanted to be alone. Her answer was always an emphatic, "Yes!" How could she tell them that none of them had what she wanted? How could she explain the wonderful sense of freedom and hope she felt? For so long, she had felt trapped...Now, she had time to think. If she couldn't have what she wanted, then she preferred to be alone.

Reaching over to the small marble-topped table, she picked up the snow globe. The candlelight flickered off the confetti snow inside it as she shook it up. It was one of her "finds" from an antique shop. Her daughter, who had been with her when she bought it, insisted that she could feel the magic in it. She watched the snow fall on the scene inside...a castle on a cliff, overlooking a river. Inside the castle, visible through a large window, was a Christmas tree. She leaned back on the chaise, listening to the music, the snow globe in her lap, mesmerized by the fire...thinking, wishing, drifting...

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The logs shifted, the sound rousing her from her thoughts. She started to get up to tend the fire, and then stopped. Instead of the wood stove, there was a large stone fireplace. The throw was replaced by a velvet robe, soft against her bare skin. Gone were her living room and her small tree, replaced by an immense room with a high beamed ceiling, and a tree that must have been 12 feet tall. At one end of the room was a large window, taking up most of the wall, which looked out onto the darkness beyond. The floors were stone, covered with ornate Oriental rugs. The walls, a mix of wood and stone, were hung with paintings and tapestries. It looked like the room she imagined from the castle in her snow globe. The room blazed with candles, The Nutcracker still played, but she was no longer alone. A Man, tall, with dark curly hair, was stirring the fire and adding another log. He replaced the poker and straightened. She was struck with an impression of strength, of intensity, of...tightly controlled power. He wore a white linen shirt, unbuttoned, and tucked into a pair of tight, black pants. His chest and shoulders were very broad, and she could see the muscles ripple across His chest through the gap of His open shirt. He smiled on her, His dark brown eyes reflecting the gold of the firelight.

"Welcome," He said in a deep voice that made her think of intimate conversations, quiet music...

"Where am I?" she responded.

"Where you belong." He answered, walking to the chaise and sitting down on the edge beside her. When she started to speak again, He leaned in toward her, putting a finger to her lips to silence her.

"All in good time, little one, all in good time." He said in a quiet voice that sent shivers of anticipation through her body.

He traced her lips with the tip of His finger, then trailed it along her jaw line, and down her throat, ever so slowly. His eyes never left hers, mesmerizing her with His look and His touch. Tremors kept passing through her, and her fair skin took on a lovely flush. Every time she started to speak, He silenced her with His finger on her lips. she started to reach up a hand to touch Him, but He grasped her delicate wrist and pinned her hand beside her head, which rested against the pillows of the chaise. The fingers of His other hand kept up their journey, slowly, erotically...along her chest, to the deep v formed by the robe, then up along the left lapel, brushing the edge of her breast, along her collar bone back to her throat, along the right collar bone, and back down the other lapel to where the two halves of the robe came together. He nudged them aside, exposing her left breast, and began to trace circles around it, so slowly it was sweet torture. her skin began to warm from more than the heat of the fire, and she let out a slight moan. Again, she reached for Him with her free hand. He stopped His seduction of her left breast to grasp her free wrist, and putting her hands together, clasped them both with His right hand and pinned them over her head.

With His left hand He untied the robe and spread it open around her, exposing her fair skin to the glow of the fire and the candles. As The Nutcracker continued to play in the background, He gazed down at her. her skin was milky fair, dusted with freckles, and took on a rosy glow from the burgundy velvet that now surrounded it. He began again to trace her left breast in slow circles, each one smaller than the last, until He reached her areola. Both nipples were taut and hard now, and He smiled at her as He leaned in ever so slowly, until she felt His breath against her aroused flesh, and then...just the tip of His tongue brushed her left nipple. she moaned and arched her back as He drew it into His mouth and began to suckle. As He nursed her left nipple, nipping it gently from time to time, He switched hands to hold her wrists with His left hand, and began to trace circles around her right breast with His right hand. she was moaning and arching beneath His hands, now straining to be closer to His touch, heat moving through her like the flames of the fire. He released her left nipple from His mouth and switched it to suckle on her right. His left hand began to trace a path down her torso, circled her navel once, and then moved across her shaved pubis; just hesitating at the top of her core, not moving further...He bit her right nipple. she cried out, "Please!" and tried to mover her hips so that His finger touched her clitoris.

"Please, what?" He quietly asked.

"Please, Sir...touch me...there." she responded, her tone pleading, lifting her hips toward His hand. He responded by stroking her clitoris with His left index finger, His gaze on her face.

"Keep your eyes open. Watch me." He commanded.

she forced her eyes to stay open, her gaze on His, as His finger moved lower, tracing the lips of her sex, which now dripped with her desire. she was panting now, as He slipped first one, then two, then three fingers insider her. His fingers were long and slender. His thumb began to rub rhythmic circles around her clitoris. she began to grind her hips against His hands, but just as she neared the peak, He withdrew.

"Please, Sir, don't stop!" she nearly screamed, her need so great.

"Not yet, little one, not yet." He responded.

He wrapped the robe back around her, securing it with the belt, and then stood and took her hand, pulling her to her feet. He led her from the room, down a wide stone hall to a staircase that descended into dimness, lit only by sconces set in niches in the walls. They reached the bottom where a door stood open on the right, and He guided her into the room in front of Him. He stood behind her, as her gaze took in the sparse furnishings of the room. There was a padded bench of some kind in one corner to her left. Against the wall to her right was a small table with a variety of objects on it. Suspended from the ceiling in the center of the room was a large metal hook. The room was lit by candles in wrought iron candelabras. He reached around her and untied the robe, slipping it off her shoulders to cascade around her bare feet. The cool air hit her skin, like ice. There was no fireplace here. As she gasped from the sensation, He placed a black satin blindfold over her eyes and tied it around her head. she took in a breath as if to speak, but He silenced her with a deep, searing kiss.

He stepped away from her a moment, and when she felt Him return he placed padded cuffs around each wrist and each ankle. She tried to move her hands apart and heard the clink of chain as she reached the limit of motion that He had allowed her. Then He led her further into the room, and pulling her arms over her head, hooked the chain linking the cuffs on the hook hanging from the ceiling. Next, He connected her ankle cuffs with a spreader bar. Again, she felt Him move away, His boots striking on the stone floor. she both felt and heard His return, and then a new sensation, as He began to caress her delicate fair skin with a suede flogger. He brushed it lightly across her breasts, as her body strained toward this new feeling, then brought it up and across her shoulder and down her back to her buttocks. SMACK! she felt the sting as the leather struck her right buttock. SMACK! the strains of The Nutcracker could still be heard, echoing throughout the room, and the flogger began to strike, then caress, then strike her buttocks rhythmically with the music. When her body reached the point where her back was arched, her head thrown back and she was panting, her juices running down the insides of her legs, He stopped. Next, she felt the end of the leather handle of the flogger, warmed from His hand, touch the base of her skull, and slowly trace down her spine, to the crease of her buttocks, pausing. she struggled to gain control, to catch her breath, as He waited...then He moved it down over her anus and between her legs. He stroked it back and forth across her clitoris, and she began to move with it. He changed the angle and slid the end of the handle into her slit, fucking her slowly with it at first, then gradually increasing the pace. As she neared her peak, He stopped and removed it. she cried out, "No, Sir, please!.........."

"Not yet, little one." He replied, as He stroked her back, until she began to breathe more quietly. Then He resumed fucking her with the handle of the flogger. This process was repeated several times. Each time she came close to her climax, He stopped and stroked her back until she started to settle, then He resumed. Soon her body was glowing with an internal fire, and her skin glistened with perspiration. she felt and heard Him step away, and then the rustle of clothing. This time, when He returned to her, there was no sound of boots on the stone floor. He stopped in front of her and bent down to release the spreader bar from her ankle cuffs. He lifted her legs, wrapping them around her waist, and she could feel His bare skin cool against hers. she felt His hardness against her as He rubbed Himself against her wetness. His mouth fastened on her right nipple, feasting on it. her back arched, her head tilted back and she nearly screamed with pleasure. He grasped her hips with both His hands and thrust into her, one deep hard thrust, stretching her, filling her. He held her pinned against Him for a moment and then began to slowly pull out, nearly all the way, then back in quickly and deep. Gradually He increased His speed, but once more, as He felt her nearing her climax, He would pull out, stroking her back and crooning to her to soothe her, calm her, then start again.

Soon she was begging, her tears soaking the blindfold, her body drenched in sweat. "Please, Sir, please, please, let me cum..." she managed to gasp out.

"soon little one, soon" His voice whispered. He reached up and unhooked the chain from the hook and carried her over to the bench in the corner. He placed her on the lower portion on her knees, her torso resting against the smooth padding of the upper portion. He unhooked the chain from her wrist cuffs and brought her arms forward and down, fastening each cuff to a ring at the base of the bench. He secured her ankle cuffs similarly, her legs spread, her waiting sex and her ass, criss-crossed with the lash marks, exposed. He removed the blindfold, so she could see her face in a small mirror on the wall. Her cheeks were flushed, her auburn curls damp and clinging. He stepped between her legs, wetting His erection in her juices and then stroking it across her anus. her breath caught as He started to push slowly against her. she focused on her breathing and forced her muscles to relax and accept Him. Ever so slowly He entered her, stopping each time He felt resistance, stroking her back and giving her words of encouragement as she opened this most private of parts for Him. When He was all the way inside, filling her, He began to move in and out of her, leisurely at first, then more quickly. she let out a moan of pleasure each time He thrust into her, and He could feel her start to tighten around Him. He could hold back no longer, when she started to plead, "please Sir, may...i...cum..."

"Now little one!" He shouted as He thrust deeply into her and spilled Himself, filling her so full that His semen oozed back out around Him, mixing with her juices as it flowed down her legs and she pulsed rhythmically around Him, finding her release, falling over the edge...and beyond...He collapsed on top of her, still in her...she was still breathing, but He realized she had fainted from His efforts to bring her to the greatest heights of pleasure. He released her quickly from the cuffs and carried her out of the room up the stone stairs to another room where a large, filled tub swirled and waited with fragrant water. He stepped into the steamy bath, gently lowered her into the water and began to tenderly cleanse her sated body. With a loud sigh, she came around and opened her eyes...she wasn't dreaming...He was still here, and bathing her in a large tub. she smiled warmly at Him and He leaned down to kiss her deeply, tenderly...communicating all He felt for her. Again, she asked, "Where am i?"

And once more the reply, "Where you belong, little one." When they were both cleansed, He lifted her from the tub and stepped out onto a soft rug over the stone floor. Carefully placing her on her feet, but not letting go, He reached for a large towel with one hand and wrapped it around her. Then He wrapped another about Himself, and lifting her again, carried her back to the room with the roaring fire. He placed her lovingly on the chaise and added more wood to the fire, stirring it until it blazed. He crossed to a cabinet in the wall and started the music again, The Nutcracker. Then picking up a blanket out of a large basket, He crossed back to the chaise and stretched out beside her, tucking the blanket around both of them. Pulling her against Him, He wrapped His arms around her and settled her head against His chest. They looked together at the Christmas tree, warmed by the fire, content...and fell asleep.

In the early light of dawn, He gazed down on her sleeping face, reaching to brush an auburn curl away from her porcelain cheek with the back of His hand. she stirred, then started. He tightened His hold on her as her eyes opened in shock. "I'm not dreaming." She said in a whisper.

"No, little one. Merry Christmas." He smiled and tilted His head down to kiss her deeply. A kiss that was filled with both desire and possession.

She shifted her body to deepen the kiss, and her hands free, began now to touch Him, to explore Him. He did not stop her this time, allowing her the pleasure of learning His body as He had learned hers the night before. she moved again so that she knelt beside Him on the wide chaise, the blanket falling away. she explored His body with hands and mouth and tongue, her skin and lips feather light and soft. she nuzzled her way down His chest to the center of Him, smiling at His growing erection. she kissed her way around it, continuing to softly nuzzle: at the juncture of trunk and thigh, around His scrotum, feeling Him contract with her touch. she raised her head to smile at Him and He nodded with encouragement as she touched the tip of her tongue to His erection, circling the head with it, before slipping her soft mouth around it and down, taking all of Him in. He laced His fingers in her fiery curls as she worked up and down His shaft. When He started to feel as if He would lose control He stopped her, pulling her free. He grasped her narrow hips and lifted her to straddle Him. she placed her hands on His massive chest and began to lower herself until she was impaled upon Him. Slowly they rode each other, with a smoothness of rhythm as if they had done this dance forever. This act, though so different from the one the night before, was no less filled with passion and possession. The pace began to increase and He felt her begin to tense around Him. her eyes sought His and silently asked permission. He smiled at her and raised His hips up to thrust more deeply, tightening His grip on her hips. her eyes closed and her head rolled back. she screamed with joy as she began to spasm around Him. He thrust once more, as hard as He could, and spilled Himself in her, following her over the edge.

she collapsed on Him. her chest heaving, gasping to catch her breath. her heart beat rapidly against His. He shift to pull the blanket back over them, and gently kissed her forehead, her eyes, her cheeks. Then He reached to the small table beside the chaise and picked up a brass bell, ringing it. A butler stepped into the room, received his instructions and then turned to leave again. He carefully helped her to her feet, then crossed to a nearby chair. On it were two robes, her burgundy velvet one from the night before and one in black. On the floor were matching slippers. He assisted her into her robe and slippers, then donned His own as the butler and two servants entered. The servants moved a round table from across the room to in front of the fire and then brought over two chairs, sitting them so they faced both the fire and the Christmas tree, the snowy dawn coming through the window beyond. He assisted her into her seat, then took His own, as another servant entered wheeling a tea cart. They were served Christmas bread, still warm and dripping with glaze, crystal bowls of fresh fruit, and hot, spiced tea. The servants bowed, then took their leave. They ate mostly in silence. He refusing to answer her questions, responding only, "All in good time, little one," and she lost in thought, wondering over and over if this was all a dream.

When they were done eating, He went to the tree and brought back a long, narrow jeweler's box. Opening it and turning it to show her, He stated, "This can be yours, little one."

Inside was a choker made of two strands, one white gold, one yellow, twisted together. From the center hung a large garnet, cut in the shape of a heart. she started to reach a hand out to touch it, but He pulled it back. "Not yet, little one. First you must make a choice."

He pulled her chair away from the table and assisted her to her feet. He led her to the window, in front of which stood a marble-topped table. On the table stood a snow globe, very similar to the one she had found in the antique shop. The difference was the scene inside. This one held a scene of her own living room, the tree, the woodstove, the chaise, the candles. she looked at Him questioningly.

"If you shake it up, you will return to your own place and time, never to find me again. If you break it, you stay here forever with me, and I will tell you all. The choice is yours, little one. I will leave you alone for a time to make it." With that, He strode from the room.

she gazed thoughtfully down on the snow globe, a myriad of emotions crossing her face. she thought of her family, her friends, all she had known, all she would leave behind. she thought of how, all her life, she had felt as if she was searching, looking for something, someone, a part of her that seemed to be missing. she looked out onto the snowy Christmas morning. she could see a body of water beyond the snowy cliffs. a smile crossed her face, as she realized that this morning she felt whole. Something had changed, making her feel complete. With trembling hands, she carefully lifted the snow globe from the table and let it drop to the floor...