Page 25 of Trapped in the Christmas Cabin

Klauscouldn’t help it—he found himself responding eagerly.Hermouth was so sweet and her curvy little body fit again against his own much larger form so perfectly.Hecouldn’t resist.Andto be honest, he barely tried.

Theyhad to kiss several more times to open the other cabinets and each kiss lasted longer than the one before.Bythe time they finally found the plates and silverware the pie had cooled down andKlaushad heated up.

Hewished he could getKellinaked in the shower all over again, but he knew he didn’t have a good excuse to do so.Hehad to be content with the slice of pie she gave him and then the two of them went back into the living area.

Klausfound a silver remote for the screen and the two of them settled on the couch with their pie as he clicked it on.

Atfirst, nothing happened, but then the screen resolved into a kind of channel index.

“Channelone,” he read aloud.“Christmasmovie.Channeltwo,Christmasmovie.Channelthree…”

“Christmasmovie,”Kellifinished for him with a frown.“Butthey don’t tell what the movie is about!Howcan we pick which one to watch?”

“Idon’t know.”Klausshrugged.“Maybejust choose one at random?”

“Iguess.”Sheshrugged.“Trychannel three.”

Klausdid and they settled down to watch as they ate their pie.Thefire to their left was warm and cozy and it gave off the scent of cinnamon and spice.Thewhite and red blanket that he’d been wearing earlier had magically reappeared on the back of the couch andKelligot it and spread it over both of them.Thenshe settled against his side with a happy sigh thatKlausfelt all the way down to his bones.

Becausethat was how he felt too—happy and contented, he realized.Inthe past year, he had foundKelliirritating sometimes because she wastoohappy.Butnow he thought maybe he had been too quick to judge.Maybeif he would just open himself to her joy, he could feel what she felt.Maybe…

Maybeyou’re thinking about breaking your vow,whispered an accusing little voice in his head.Becareful,Klaus—you’re getting in deep here.

Hepushed the guilt away as much as he could and decided to concentrate on the movie, which was starting to get interesting.Itwas about a human family—a mother and father and two young children.Thekids were kind of loud and irritating and they misbehaved a lot, butKlaussupposed that was to be expected.Afterall,Christmaswas the next day and they were excited to get up early and open their presents.

Andthen, after everyone in the house had gone to bed,Santastarted coming down the chimney.Klauswas interested to see this part.Heknew whatSantawas supposed to look like but there were sometimes slight variations in the human mythology.

Butthen, instead of a black boot, he saw a cloven hoof coming down out of the chimney.Itstamped on the fireplace and was soon followed by another hoof.Thehooves were followed by shaggy legs and a monstrous creature with an evil, sneering face and curling goat horns.Theonly resemblance it bore to the traditionalSantawas the red coat it wore, trimmed in dirty white fur.

BeforeKlauscould ask what was going on, the evilSanta-goat went into the children’s bedroom and popped them both into the enormous sack he had over one shoulder as they shrieked and squirmed.

“OhmyGod, turn it off!”Kelliexclaimed.

Lookingdown at her,Klaussaw that she had gone pale.

“Idon’t understand,” he said.“Whatis this movie about?That’snotSanta—is it?”

“No!It’sKrampus—he’s the evil version ofSanta.”Sheshook her head.“Please,Idon’t want to see it.Couldyou put on something else?Ihatehorror movies!”

“Okay, sure.”Klausbegan switching channels to find anotherChristmasmovie andKellitook their empty pie plates back to the kitchen.Whenshe returned, he had settled on another movie.Thisone was about a group of young human women living all together in a place called a “sorority house.”Theywere preparing to celebrateChristmastogether, which seemed nice enough toKlaus.

Butthen a masked figure snuck up behind one of the young women and chopped her head off!

“Ugh!”Kelliburied her face in his side, trying to block out the movie.“Please, no!”she begged.“Idon’t like gory movies!”

“Hey, it’s okay, baby—I’llturn it off.”Klausput an arm around her and drew her close.Hehad to admit, he liked the feeling of her soft little body cuddled against his own.Buteven before tonight, he had liked it whenKellicame to him for comfort and protection.Itmade him feel good to soothe her and keep her safe.Itwas one reason he enjoyed being herProtector—even when she got a little hyper.

“Theremust besomething elseon,” she said, her voice muffled because her face was still pressed against his side.

“I’msure there is.Thisis so fucking strange, though,”Klausmuttered, switching the movie off.“Idon’t understand why the cabin is showing us horror vids.”

Tohis surprise, the cabin’s soft, feminine voice answered him.

“Studieshave shown that watching frightening content can heighten sensations of excitement in bonded pairs,” it said.

“What?Wellfuckingstop—we don’t want ‘heightened excitement,’”Klausgrowled.

“Yes, we want something nice—somethingromantic!”Kellisaid, putting her head up.“Ithought we signed on for theMaximumRomancepackage—these horror and slasher movies arenotromantic!”

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