Snow, an Elf and a ... Dragon?

{Because the mall is a magical place at Christmastime.}

"Hey, Elf!"

His name, of course, wasn't really Elf, but he'd been working at the main court in the mall for the past three years as Santa's helper and after correcting hundreds, no, thousands of small children who insisted on calling him "Elf", he answered to just about anything. Besides, he did have quite the mischievous grin; he wore the bright green felt hat with a great deal of flair and the tips of his ears were just a wee bit pointy so who knew?

He looked from between the legs of a miniature reindeer, smiled up at her, and held up a finger in the universal gesture of "gimme just a bit". Elf made one last adjustment with the penknife he'd been holding and rose to his feet.

"I'm not sure how long that screw's gonna hold, but it should be okay for a day or two," Elf said to Santa who was idly scrolling through his phone while sprawled across his throne. Santa's House was surprisingly quiet for Christmas Eve.

"What's up, Snow?" he asked as he gave the reindeer one last pat to test the sturdiness of his repair.

"Gift wrapping's all caught up. Wanna take a break with me?"

Snow was not her real name, either. She'd had a perfectly normal name right up until the night of her second grade Christmas program. Due to a freshly waxed floor, brand new Mary Janes and some overly ambitious choreography, she went sprawling across the stage dressed in a sparkly white costume. A perfectly timed photograph, a very slow news day and her picture with the caption "Snowflake Takes a Tumble" made the front page of newspapers across the state. Everyone she knew began calling her Snowflake which was eventually shortened to Snow. When she walked across the stage a few years ago to receive her high school diploma, she was almost surprised to hear the principal announce the name printed on her birth certificate.

Elf raised a quizzical eyebrow at Veronica, who was refilling her basket of candy canes from the large cardboard box behind Santa's throne.

"Yeah, take off," she said, adjusting the gold-rimmed glasses she wore as Mrs. Claus. "I'll text you if we get busy."

"Hungry?" Elf asked as they walked toward the food court. "I'll buy."

"Not really. Kate brought cookies in this morning and I've been nibbling all day. Want one?"

"Sure." Elf took a cookie from the baggie she offered him and popped it into his mouth. "Yum. Oatmeal. My favorite."

They strolled through the mall, making idle chit chat about the mannequins who wore expressions of disdain about the ugly Christmas sweaters they were forced to display on their oddly positioned bodies. Elf wondered just how far he could kick that yapping toy dog in front of Spencer's that annoyed everyone who spent more than five minutes within earshot of its shrill "barking". They debated which of the endless loop of slightly distorted Christmas carols piped throughout the mall was most likely to be the soundtrack of their nightmares until the spring thaw.

"How's the gift wrapping business?"

"It was kinda crazy all morning," Snow answered. "Why anyone waits until Christmas Eve to go shopping and then bitches about waiting another twenty minutes for me to slap some paper and a bow on the thing is beyond me." She threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. "It's not like they move it around or something. It's the same day every single year."

"Wanna see something really cool?" he asked and before she could answer, took her hand and led her down a hallway that angled away from the main concourse. "I found this the other night when I was dropping off the cash from the Santa pictures at the security office. Here." He stopped at a ventilation panel to the left of a door leading to the parking lot.

"I never noticed this exit before. Thanks. This'll save me a walk tonight."

"No. No. Not the door. This," Elf said and he slapped the edge of the panel with the flat of his hand. The metal panel swung forward and revealed a narrow passageway. "Come on," he said and tugged her inside, carefully closing the makeshift door with a barely audible click. The fluorescent light coming in from between the metal slats did very little to illuminate the area.

"Wow! This is way cool!" Snow whispered as she peered down the hall. "What is it?"

"I dunno. Access for the maintenance crew, I suppose. I didn't go much farther than this last night."

"Let's see where it goes," Snow took a few steps into the darkness.

"Wait a minute," Elf said and laid a restraining hand on her wrist while he fished a penlight out of his pocket and switched it on.

They followed the circle of white light for through the tunnel-like hall, stopping occasionally to shine the flashlight all around. There was no door or access panel to mar the smooth blankness of the walls and ceiling. The noise of the mall faded away and they could hear nothing but the quiet tap tap tap of Snow's heels and the faint jingle of the bell on Elf's cap.

Snow guided the light's beam to the face of her watch. "Over five minutes. This is a very long hall. I didn't realize the mall was that big."

"Me, neither, but I think that's the end of it," Elf said. He shone the light onto the blank wall just ahead of them. "Time to turn around."

"Okay, but let me pull my sock up. It's slipped down inside my shoe," she said as she leaned one hand against the wall. "Yikes," she squeaked as the wall gave way beneath her. She grabbed hold of Elf's shirt and they both tumbled through the open door. They landed with a tangle of arms and legs.

"Whoa! Are you okay?" he said to Snow, holding out a hand to help her to her feet. "I was definitely not expecting that."

And I," Snow said, pointing a trembling finger, "was most definitely not expecting that."

Elf's eyes followed her finger up into the brilliantly blue sky, quite a change from the usual grey and gloomy midwinter one, and saw what she was pointing at.

A dragon. A very distant deep bronze-tinted dragon, but a dragon nonetheless.

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto," Snow whispered as Elf tightened his grip on her suddenly numb fingers.

They both watched, wide-eyed and very possibly open-mouthed, as the dragon soared on invisible air currents, covering wide swaths of cobalt skies, until it finally dropped behind a grove of tall trees and out of sight.

"Wow!" they mouthed as their attention turned from the sky to the rest of their surroundings. The mall parking lot, with mounds of dirty brown slush piled everywhere, had been replaced with a fantastical landscape straight out of a fairy tale.

Colorful butterflies flitted from flower to flower, dodging iridescent hummingbirds, at least Snow thought they were hummingbirds, on their way to the next drop of nectar. The air was filled with the scent of spring blooms and the grass under their feet was a lush vivid emerald green carpet, accented with a sprinkle of dainty white star-like flowers.

They turned full circle and found the faux-stucco concrete wall of the mall was now a thatch-roofed cottage complete with a wooden box of flowers under each of the two windows and a small calico cat curled up on the doormat. The cat blinked slowly and sat up, her long tail wrapping around her white paws.

There was a rustling sound somewhere behind them and Snow and Elf watched as a tall man, his deep auburn hair almost glowing in the sunlight, stepped out from the trees.

"Hey! I don't often get visitors out this way. Welcome!" he said, a warm smile brightening his almost stern features. "I see you've met Nyx." He gestured back to the cottage behind them.

"Well, we weren't formally introduced but," Elf began, but instead of the cat he was expecting to see, a slim strawberry blonde, barefoot in a black summer dress stood on the welcome mat. She smiled shyly, her amber eyes the same color as the calico's. Elf's mouth gaped open in astonishment. Snow feared her expression was much the same.

"Wasn't that a cat just two seconds ago?" Snow whispered in his ear. Elf nodded. "I don't think we're even in Oz any more, Toto."

"She does take a bit of getting used to," the man said, brushing copper-colored flecks from his shoulders. He wiped his hands on his thighs, leaving a faint sparkle on his brown pants. "As I was saying, that's Nyx and I'm called Ddraig by most around here."

"Drag?" Snow asked.

"Not quite," Ddraig smiled and shook his head. He repeated his name again, slower and with emphasis on each sound until they both pronounced it correctly.

"Now which one of you is Toto?"

***

After straightening out the mix up about their names, Snow and Elf followed Ddraig and Nyx into the little cottage. It was not as small as it appeared from the outside with room for a table and two chairs beside a surprisingly modern kitchen as well as a lounge area complete with overstuffed chairs and a couch which looked perfect for stretching out and gazing into the flames now flickering in the fire Ddraig started in the fireplace. The fourth wall was broken by two small doors which looked barely taller than Ddraig. Bedrooms? A bathroom? An entrance into Narnia, Snow wondered.

Ddraig opened one of the cupboards and returned with a earthenware jug and four glasses. He gave them glasses and beckoned them to sit. "Mead," he said as he poured the rich honey-colored liquid into their glasses.

"Oh, I have cookies!" Snow passed around the baggie of oatmeal cookies. They ate the cookies, sipped the delicious liquor and spent the next few minutes quietly, a few murmured sighs of appreciation the only sound in the room. Elf asked about the entrance to the mall and was told by Ddraig the ins and outs of travelling between the two worlds -- he could travel quite freely and often spent time in the mall, but the entrance was usually blocked going the other way.

"As a matter of fact," Ddraig said, "I found the most delightful surprise for Nyx just the other day." He knelt down and opened a small cupboard door by the fireplace and pulled out a very familiar box with an even more familiar yellow dog on the front. "Would you like to see --" His question was interrupted by both Elf and Snow hastily waving their hands and commenting "Oh! Don't spoil the surprise!" and " Please please no!" in an almost desperate matter.

"Oh, no!" Snow exclaimed and jumped to her feet. "I forgot. I'm on break. They're gonna kill me!"

"Relax, sweetie," Ddraig said. "Time passes a bit differently here. Check your watch."

Snow glanced down at her watch and then tapped it with one pink fingernail. "It must have stopped." She looked around the room. "Is there a clock around here?"

"Your watch is just fine. As I said, time works a bit differently here. It'll seem like no time at all has passed when you return to your world. You won't be late. Your friends won't even notice you've been gone."

"Really?" said Elf. "In that case, let's just stay for a while longer. What do you say, Snow?"

Ddraig refilled their glasses and asked if the two of them were romantically involved. Snow and Elf shook their heads and assured their host they were very good friends but that was all. "Ah," he replied. "Nyx, did you hear that?" He looked over at Nyx and whispered, "I think she's asleep."

Nyx, who was curled up in one of the armchairs by the fire, opened her eyes and stretched. "I'm not asleep. I'm listening. He has the most wonderful voice. He makes me want to purr."

"Nyx does have the most enchanting purr. You should let her purr for you," Ddraig waved his hand and soft bluesy music filled the room, "while I entertain our other guest." He rose to his feet and took Snow by the hand.

"Hey! How'd you do that? Oh, I get it. Magic again, right?" Snow asked as she stood up and stepped into his arms.

"Magic? No." He shook his head and smiled. "A remote." He dropped the small device on the table. "Shall we, Snow?" He tilted her face up with a finger and brushed his lips against hers. Lips that were dry and much warmer than Snow expected. She shivered.

"Cold?" he asked.

"Oh, no," Snow whispered, "that was definitely not a 'cold' shiver. It was a 'more, please' shiver." They danced their way to one of the two doors and inside the room beyond. The door closed with a faint click.

"I'm bored. Do you have any toys?"

Elf looked at Nyx with a puzzled look. "Toys?" He checked his pockets as if a plaything might have mysteriously appeared in one of them since he got dressed that morning, but the only thing he found when he pulled out his hand was a cellophane-wrapped candy cane.

"Ooh! What was that noise? Is that a mouse?" Elf was startled by the sudden appearance of Nyx right beside his chair. He opened his palm and showed her the bits of shattered peppermint inside the crinkly plastic. "Sorry. No mouse."

"Never mind. I don't want to chase a mouse any more. I want to be petted." Nyx climbed onto his lap and nuzzled his ear. "Pet me. Make me purr."

Elf needed no more encouragement. He dropped the candy cane and stroked the upper swell of her breasts, sliding his fingers under the straps of her sundress and slipping them off her shoulders. He teased her nipples with his fingers and then with his mouth.

Nyx slid off his lap, slinky and sensual in her movements, almost liquid, and knelt down between his knees. She unfastened his jeans and freed his erect cock. She ran one slender finger down its length. Nyx bent her head and flicked her tongue over the head of his cock, tasting the drop of liquid she found there.

"Mmm," she said and took him into her mouth. Elf reached down and played with her breasts as she sucked him deeper and deeper inside until her throat was filled with his cock and she purred.

Snow looked around her as the door closed behind them. There was a bedroom, but what captured Snow's attention was the large bed. The very large bed, draped in silks that glowed copper red golden in the moonlight pouring in from the open window.

"Moonlight?" Snow asked, "but it was sunny just a minute ago."

"That, my sweetling," Ddraig murmured, "is magic." He kissed her again and drew his hands down her sides. "As is this," her clothes falling away as he touched her. "And this," and he was naked and lying beside her, caressing her skin with roughened fingertips that sent shivers over her. He caught up her wrists and held her hands above her head as he kissed her throat.

"Oh, yes. Yes," Snow moaned. "I love that."

"And this?" he repeated once more, reaching for a length of silk and holding it up to her, raising one quizzical brow.

"Please, sir," she said and he wrapped her wrists in the silk bindings. She closed her eyes, anticipating the touch of his fingers, his hands, his mouth once more.

"No. I want you to watch." She opened her eyes and looked directly into his, deep and amber and reflecting the firelight in their depths. "Good girl."

Ddraig stroked her breasts with his hands, teasing her nipples with his fingers until they were full and tight and sore and then soothed the hurt away with his kisses. He licked. He kissed. He sucked, taking her nipples into his mouth and tonguing their tips. She writhed and moaned as his hand reached between her legs and dipped inside her.

He circled her clit with his finger, caressing her, holding the little pearl between his finger and thumb and squeezed gently, then dipping his finger into her once more. Circle. Caress. Squeeze. Dip. He repeated this again and again as Snow's hips rose to meet his fingers. She was teetering on the brink of climax when he withdrew his fingers and brushed them over her lips. She could taste her nectar as he said softly, "Not yet, little one." She whimpered as he loosened the silks and pulled her on top of him, settling his cock deep inside her.

"Now it's time to ride the dragon."

*** "So..." Elf began as they stepped back into the mall, "do you think he's really a dragon?"

Snow smiled and ran her finger over the delicate silver chain she now wore around her neck.

"Meet me back here when your shift's over this evening?"

"Sure, but I have to make a stop first."

"Oh?" Snow asked.

"Yeah. Nyx wants a catnip mouse."

The End.