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I’ve loved exploring every part of Krampus’s magical realm despite how often his kind feed on me and leave me drained of energy nearly every day. Especially at Christmastime.

Our latest Krampusnacht was quite…interesting.

My cheeks turn redder than hot pudding at the thought of the mild exhibitionism—how I’d volunteered for the Krampus run. That evening was spent with me running through Krampus Haven in nothing but a sheer white negligee with my husband hunting me. Random demons would occasionally swat my bottom with a birch branch. Nothing too harsh or painful, thanks to Krampus’s magic. But enough to whet my appetite and get my juices nice and wet for my husband.

All bore witness to him bending me over his very statue in Krampus Haven Square until I kissed the stony hooves while he spanked me red and raw before fucking me right there. After, he took me back to our cabin, bathed me, and made me a feast while informing me how I gave them enough emotion to feed upon until Christmas.

They all bent the knee, singing my titles and praises while I stood there rosy-cheeked with tears of awe streaming down my face.

I’ve found how much I love giving as much as receiving.

And…I miss them.

Coming back, everything was different. My friends couldn’t see me as just Twyla anymore. My chest squeezes around an ache, knowing how I’m not part of their world anymore. And how easily they left me behind.

I ache more for home. Home in the Between. Home in Krampus’s Castle. Home with Krampus…in me preferably.

After pausing to tighten my scarf, I try to get my bearings, but it’s impossible to see anything. For all I know, I could be walking in circles.

A primal howl echoes in the distance. I freeze. All the hairs on my body prick to attention. My heartbeat thrashes in my ears, pounding from terror. Yes, Hel made me immortal, but that’s in the Between. Who knows how the magic works in the human world?

Besides, I’d rather not test my immortality by getting torn apart by wolves.

Breath cleaving and heaving, I rush through the snow as hard as possible. But I might as well be wading through quicksand. The wind swirls and flurries all around me, tearing my stocking cap from my head. I let it go.

Just keep moving, Twyla. Krampus will find you. Krampus will come.

Deja vu rears its ugly head as I remember the time I fell into an icy lake. One of multiple near-death experiences I’ve had since I met Krampus. And I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I could have traded it for anything. I chose him. I’ll always choose him.

Even when I’m lost in the middle of a raging blizzard with wolves howling closer and closer.

When something growls low behind me, I stop dead in my tracks, heart stuttering in my chest, pulse spinning out of control. Because that wasnotmy husband’s growl.

“Get back!” I turn, shouting at the eyes gleaming in the thick snow and waving my pole.

Another growl on my other side. Snarls resound all around me. Another howl. Terror rips through me. Horror grips me, strangling all my nerve endings with dread.

More growls.

And then…

…aROAR!

I fall. Drop from sheer relief as Krampus plunges into the clearing, rips into every attacking wolf, and sends the rest to scatter with their tails between their legs. At last, he turns to me. His great, monstrous shadow eclipses me. Three times my size in all his savage glory, Krampus flexes those massive, bulging muscles, primed for anything. Even the snow seems to fear him, blowing all around the demon guardian of the solstice but never seeming to settle on him.

“Min kjære,” he says in his deep, silken voice that can liquefy all my internal organs. “What am I going to do with you?”

I open my mouth to say something. But instead? I pass out.

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

While Kidnapped by the Krampus began on KU and became a #1 Amazon Bestseller, Snowed In With the Krampus began on Kindle Vella. I am what they call an “emerging author”. Most of my income has been on Kindle Vella. But I continue to gain more of a KU following, thanks to Krampus and Her Monstrous Boys. Special thanks to all those who have supported me for my KU side and my Kindle Vella.

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