Cover To Cover

This is a Winter Holidays Story Contest 2023 submission. It's been a while since I penned a story, and I thought that this was the perfect time! I hope you enjoy!!

Cover to cover

The room was cold. It felt lonely and empty. The drooping artificial Christmas tree, sparsely decorated with its faded baubles and weak fairly lights still felt sad and unwanted.

The air was still and we sat in silence. The tick of the clock deafening. Stephen sat opposite me staring into space. I was in his eyeline, but he didn't even notice me. I could feel the depression radiating from him. He was so lost these days. It broke my heart to see it.

He barely paid me any attention anymore, but I loved him so much that I worked hard not to let it bother me. My love for him had never waned. I knew that he still loved me greatly. Yet it felt like an age since he had touched me.

When we first met, we were both young and inexperienced. We met in a shop. I was there with my friends, I saw him and thought little of it. He was unremarkable looking. I overheard him asking the shop clerk something, he brushed past me, knocking me slightly so that I fell. I was angry at first, but as he picked me up, that first touch was electric. I was still angry, but a thrill ran through me as he gazed at me, drinking me in. He had a look of wonder in his eyes that made my ire evaporate.

We left the shop together; I was unsure at first who this stranger was. Would he treat me with respect? Would this be little more than a short-lived thing? But I was powerless to resist him.

Those early times together were my fondest memories. It wasn't long after our first meeting that I gave myself to him. He treated me with a reverence that I felt I didn't deserve. He was gentle and kind. The first time he really touched me his hands shook with excitement and anticipation.

He took me to his bed and laid me flat. He lowered himself next to me and lightly caressed my front, running his fingers over my bumps. Then he caressed my spine and my rear. I knew then that this man mine and I was his.

As he explored me for the first time, I felt his fingers working their magic inside of me. His eyes devoured me and I felt one with him.

He told all of his friends about me, he talked about me so incessantly that I felt embarrassed. We were constant companions. Yet it was in our intimate times, when he opened me, that we went on our most exciting adventures. I told him my story with as much passion as I could muster. At times he laughed, he even cried. But his passion for me grew and consumed him. Changed him.

We were happy together.

But as time marched on, age and life wore him down. We both started to develop the odd wrinkle and we started to spend less and less time together. He spent more time at work or with his friends and I was shelved. As much as I wanted to change, to please him, it wasn't in my nature to be anything other than what I am. Then the accident happened. It's still difficult for me to talk about it. It wasn't Stephen's fault. Perhaps it's was fate, or inevitability. My spine broke and my life changed entirely.

I was terrified that Stephen would replace me, upgrade me. He stopped wanting to touch me, afraid that he would break me.

His life started to take a downward turn shortly after. He lost his job and struggled to find a new one. The anxiety and depression invaded him and began to gnaw at him.

I tried to comfort him, even in my broken state I was still the same as I'd ever been. I thought that if he had just paid me a little attention, I could remind him of the joy I had within.

However, as his condition deteriorated, he ignored me, unable to even look at me.

So, there I was. Sat in silence with him. Whilst others took joy in Christmas eve, carolling, ice skating. Eating, drinking, visiting friends and family. We listened to the stillness. Watching the clock.

Stephen dragged himself out of the chair, his tired eyes held a pain which tore at him. He shuffled out of the room, head hung low. I rarely went to the bedroom with him any longer and simply sat in my place.

I don't need a lot of sleep, but I must have dozed. I was awoken by a shuffling. Blearily, I saw a shadow. I was alarmed, frozen with fear. Hoping it was not an intruder.

Yet the most unlikely figure materialised from the shadows. He was huge, easily 7 feet tall, his hat brushing the ceiling. His wide shoulders, powerful. He was dressed entirely in black.

"I know you're there. I know you're awake" he rumbled. The depth of his voice sent a shudder through me. It was rich, deep and full. Yet it was kind. He inflected his speech with some kind of joy.

Who is that? I wondered, now more intrigued than afraid.

"Do not be afraid. You know who I am. It is Christmas eve after all" He answered playfully, reading my thoughts.

It can't be! I gaped at him.

"Expecting red?" He chuckled. I made no answer, simply gaping at the impossible figure in front of me. He clicked his fingers and the fairy lights flared bright, illuminating his face. Ruddy cheeks and big white bushy beard.

"I have never worn red. Damnable marketing ploys!" He grumbled. "Red is so conspicuous!" He continued.

"Now then, I have been watching you" He said, settling himself down in the same seat as Stephen vacated some hours earlier. The chair creaked and groaned under his weight. His statement gave me a kind of odd feeling.

"Oh, not like that!" He tutted. "You have never asked me for anything. In fact, you have never asked anyone for anything in your entirely life. You've only ever given of yourself to one person: Stephen."

Of course I had. I love him. He smiled. His eyes shone with a brilliance only matched by the very stars above.

"That's why I'm here!" He exclaimed. "Christmas is a time of giving! Long before these trappings" He paused to point at the thin tree.

"And you have given and given, never thinking of yourself. Each year I bequeath one wish. Just one." He said, leaning forward holding up a thick index finger.

"This year it is for you and you alone" He finished, leaning back into the chair. It creaked alarmingly as he folded his hands across his stomach.

I was speechless. I tried to utter something I could not.

"You don't need to say anything my dear. I know your greatest desire. Even to an old sort like me, it is beautiful" he said softly reaching out a hand to me.

He patted me gently, fatherly. Suddenly I rose into the air, golden sparks swirled around me and I felt a transformation begin. There was no pain or discomfort, just a pleasant warmth permeating through into my very soul. I let myself be taken by the magic, a great peace washing over me.

When I opened my eyes, I was standing. I could feel the plush carpet under my toes! I gasped aloud gazing in wonder at my hands. Lush, long hair cascaded around my shoulders, fragrant with Cinnamon and peppermint.

I was wrapped in a scarlet and red gown, hugging a slender frame, squeezing a heaving bust beneath my chin.

I let my shaking hands explore my face.

"What.... How...." I gasped.

"Calm." He took my trembling hands and squeezed them gently. "Breath" he said, looking me directly in the eyes.

I threw my arms around him. Tears blurring my vision. I couldn't talk. Emotions that had been bottled up inside me over flowed.

"Hush now child. Time is moving, and you have very little of it" He murmured. "This will only last for a short time. This is a bigger feat than I have ever attempted and the magic will wane in the morning light"

"You mean...." I said, the bitter reality sobering me. He nodded sadly "A soul like yours deserves far more, yet it is all I can manage" he said, emotion cracking his voice. He cuffed away a tear and disentangled himself from me.

"Go. Go to him. Heal him. Save him. He has little time left and he needs you. You need him" he urged.

I was confused. "Little time left? I don't understand..." I said, drying my eyes. He looked at me sadly.

"It is one possible future. A likely one. The gods like their sport, but I have some influence" he said gesturing to me.

"Love really can heal all, my dear" He continued earnestly. "I will return by sunrise" he said, seeming to melt into the shadow.

The air changed and suddenly I was alone. I blinked, for the first time seeing everything differently. Despite the magic, I felt far more real than at any other time in my life. I glanced anxiously to the doorway, breathing heavily.

Stephen needed me.

With no further thought, I took unsteady steps forth. I tottered and stumbled. I took precious minutes to find the right rhythm, but I made it to the bedroom and softly pushed the door wide.

The room was a mess, clothes strewn on the floor, an empty blister packet of antidepressants on the bedside table aside half a glass of water.

Stephen lay in the centre of the bed, curled on his side. I felt my features soften; a loving smile played my full lips. I seemed to glide toward him. Any anxiety that I had felt was replaced with a surety of purpose.

I pulled the covers away from him. He was naked and vulnerable. I climbed into the bed, gown and all, desperate to take him in my arms.

He stirred, but did not wake as I pressed my body against his. The tablets made him sleepy. An involuntary groan escaped my lips. I was trembling, as I felt his heat. A deep longing stirred within me. Memories of his hands on me flashed through me and I began to feel a tingling between my thighs.

Stephen stirred, sleepily he snuggled into me. I pulled him tighter, grazing my lips against his forehead.

"I love you so much" I whispered. Despite being full of words, this was the first time I had really spoken to him. Stephen muttered something inaudible, and crept his arms around me. His breathing was still deep, partially medically induced.

Despite this, he sensed my presence. His eyes flickered and he sighed, lost in his dream. He moved his hands down my back, then he seemed to hesitate. My own breathing was getting more and more rapid as my desire grew.

"What?" He murmured. "Shhhh. I'm here. I'm yours" I answered growing more and more confident.

I kissed him. The feeling of his lips on mine sent a bolt of electric through me and I groaned wantonly into his mouth, pressing my lips against his harder. He was coming more awake now, but he pulled me tighter to him and began to respond to my kiss. Golden whisps of magic passed between us, lip to lip and he seemed to relax into the kisses.

His passion began grow and I felt him rise against me. His hand caressed its way to my backside. The other groped for the zip at the back of my dress. I reached between our bodies and grasped him gently in to my palm, wrapping my fingers around the thick shaft. I broke the kiss to growl with desire, he sucked in a lung full of air, keeping his eyes closed.

"Take me. I need you. You need me. I want to feel you" I whispered shuddering as his fingers brushed against my mended spine while he inched the zipper downward toward my ass.

I held him firmer and stroked him intently. He moaned in his half dreamlike state. Meanwhile I slipped my arms from my dress and let it slip toward my waist. I took his hand and placed it over my breast. I sought his lips again, hungrily kissing him. I couldn't tell if he was truly awake, but his body responded fully.

I pushed him flat onto the bed, taking a moment to admire my lover's body. It didn't matter to me that age had begun to creep in. I was full of desire for him, the heat between my thighs attested to that. I slipped out of my dress as gracefully as I could, left only in a small pair of undergarments. I grasped his manhood again stroking it faster, watching with glee as a drop of clear pre-cum beaded at the tip. I licked my lips hungrily. Stephen groaned beneath me.

I wanted to taste it, to take him in my mouth. I was nervous, but resolved. I brought my head close to his groin. I laid my head on his stomach, his mighty erection starting at me as I stared at it. I squeezed again and another drop of pre-cum formed. I salivated with anticipation. Finally, I could take it no longer and stretched my neck forward engulfing the very tip of his cock.

The subtle, salted tase of his discharge was like nectar, and I took him further into my mouth. What I lacked in technique I tried to make up in enthusiasm. I couldn't take him very deep, but I used my tongue around his crown and shaft. His groans intensified as I bobbed faster.

He grew in my mouth and I sensed he wouldn't last long. After a few short minutes, his hips thrust up, planting his cock at the entrance of my throat. I gagged slightly before pulling my lips back so just the tip was in my mouth. Stroked him hard, sucking on his tip and suddenly he let out a great groan and the first jet of scolding semen spurted into my waiting mouth.

My poor baby must have been backed up, he continued to pump his cum deep in my mouth. I swallowed as much as I could but there was so much, that much of it dripped down his shaft. Stephen jerked and thrashed as I held on, gulping his seed down greedily.

Finally, he relaxed back onto the mattress, panting. I finished my mouthful and then set to eagerly cleaning all of my love's precious fluid.

I was beyond horny and knew that I needed to do more for him. Not to mention for me. I gently massaged his shrinking member. I reached between my legs; my panties were soaked. I needed some attention and needed to get him to full mast again. I wanted him inside me, with every single fibre of my being, I needed to feel him.

I wriggled out of my panties and placed one knee over his head, straddling him. I gently lowered myself on him, brushing my lower lips over his. A shiver went through me and I sighed in long overdue pleasure. He was still largely unconscious, in a dreamlike state. I felt mildly guilty at using him in such a way for my own pleasure, but at the time I was beyond rational thought. I took him back into my mouth and he groaned weakly, clearly sensitive. But after a few minutes of gentle ministrations, he began to rise again. His breathing quickened and I felt his hands on my thighs, just gently brushing them. I took him deeper into my mouth again, savouring the taste of his spent cum.

His hands grew bolder, massaging, feeling, questing ever upward. I could feel his breath on my molten sex and I mewed in frustration. I wanted to feel his tongue very badly. As such I ground my pussy against his face harder.

Even half asleep he got the message and within moments my sexual aggression was rewarded with a tentative lick. Oh, so gentle and sweet. I let out a load moan of satisfaction, muffled by the steel shaft lodged between my lips.

His hands rose to my pert buttocks and I felt his fingers creeping toward my crevice. Gripping tighter, he pulled me open, exposing my clitoris. Moment later I felt the tip of his tongue tease the hard bud, leaving me quivering senselessly. Stephen's rod popped from my mouth as I lost control of my body. Sensations that I'd never felt before coursed through me. I felt my eyes rolling back as Stephen swiped me again and again, tasting my juices, pulling me harder against his face.

I could feel a pressure building deep inside me and when he latched his lips around my swollen, sensitive clitoris, I cried out arching my back, grinding myself on him harder.

He gripped my ass hard, pulling me open further before rolling the bud between his teeth. I sobbed somewhere between agony and mindless pleasure. My body shook and sweat beaded on my skin.

Suddenly the pressure built to bursting point and my entire body tensed, teetering on the edge. The breath was sucked from me, the feeling of his tongue, lips and teeth on my most secret place made me shake.

I held that position for what felt like an hour, but must only have been a second. Then with a great expulsion of air, I boiled over, shook violently and surrendered to my orgasm. I yelled and screeched, thrashed and jerked uncontrollably on his face.

Every time I thought my climax had subsided another would wash over me till finally, I could do nothing other than collapse. I rolled off my man curling into a ball, my head near his knees.

I dimly felt movement around me, but was unable to pay it much mind as tiny shocks still rippled through me. An arm draped itself over my body and pulled me tight. I sighed contentedly.

"Who are you?" Stephen asked me groggily.

"I'm the one who loves you. The one who needs you. Forever" I answered dreamily.

"Is this a dream?" He asked unsure.

I turned in his arms and caressed his face. He was damp from my own wetness, but I cared not and kissed him deeply, tasting myself on his lips.

He was still hard and I was still needy.

"I don't understand" He murmured.

"Silly man, there's nothing to understand" I answered. He still seemed confused, so I kissed him. He relaxed and kissed back surrendering to my touches. My orgasm had sated me for a short while, but I was well aware that time was short and there was still one act of love that I needed from him.

I gently pushed him onto his back again, his rigid member stood fully to attention. Despite still feeling sensitive, I did not want to wait further and straddled his hips. I had trapped his penis under the folds of my slick vagina and against his belly. I had intended to slip him into me immediately, but the look of pure pleasure he had made me pause. I experimented with sliding back and forth on him, grinding our privates together. The action sent a shock of lust through me and I ground down on him harder. I could hear my excitement and feel my buttocks and inner thighs becoming wetter with each moment.

Stephen gasped and groaned under me as I did the same on top of him. Finally, I couldn't stand the anticipation any longer and leaned down to kiss him lustily. As I ground my hips forward, his tip slipped from under me, springing up against my open flower. I pushed back, but he was at the wrong angle to enter me. I whined with pent up frustration and reached back to grasp his stick rod. It took no more than a moment to line him up and on my next push back, his head slipped into me.

He gave a great sigh, whilst I growled with pleasure. Finally, my lover was inside me. I took no heed of the tightness and pushed myself fully onto him. Impaled, I mashed my lips harder to his and thrust my tongue into his waiting mouth. I held still adjusting to the sudden fullness within me. This was the moment I'd been waiting for; he was inside me! He felt so very deep, I cradled his face and showered him with kisses.

My body began to glow, golden shimmers radiated from my skin. I worried that my time was up and it would end prematurely, but as rocked forward, nearly withdrawing him from me, the light shone brighter. He was thrusting up into me as I was grinding down onto him. My body ached for him, and my soul was ablaze. I seemed to be in a hyper state of awareness. That place just before orgasm where reality and mindless pleasure merge.

I bore down on him hard, and the golden light intensified. Stephen tried to open his eyes, but the glare was too forceful. He screwed his eyes shut and pushed into me as deep as he could allow. The magical light flowed like liquid now, at first trickling then flowing through my extremities. Slowly the shimmering force drained till my core was blazingly bright. I fucked myself on to Stephen with reckless abandon. We'd moved from making love to something far more primal. My glowing torso radiated heat. I felt my next climax approaching fast as I slammed down again and again on the prone man under me.

I was so close, but I couldn't quite reach the peak. Till suddenly the magic drained fast toward our joined bodies and seemed to permeate our sex. Stephen's cock grew to mighty proportions inside me and he yelled in ecstasy. The heat from my stretched vagina intensified and I melted trancelike into a colossal orgasm. My mind turned to liquid as the first cramp hit me. I sat bolt upright and screamed. At my peak, I dimly felt Stephen's member swell and an intense pressure spilled inside me.