What if the Nutcracker returned when Clara believed in Christmas Magic again?
Clara lost her belief in Christmas magic when her parents divorced. Years later, she spends her first Christmas alone and receives her old Nutcracker as a gift from her mother. Her belief in Christmas magic returned and made her Nutcracker come to life.
The Nutcracker has watched Clara grow up, trapped in a wooden body. When she finally believes again, he can become a man and show her how much he loves her.

Excerpt:
"Will you dance for me?" my Nutcracker asked after a moment of lying together, looking at the twinkling Christmas lights.
"Dance?" I asked, looking up at him.
"Yes, you used to love dancing," he said, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.
"I loved ballet, but I kinda lost my motivation after the divorce. It has been years since I've danced."
"Let me lead," he said, pulling me up.
My living room was small, and there wasn't much space to dance, but my Nutcracker didn't seem to mind. He hummed a familiar tune and pulled me in his arms, guiding me in a dance around my living room. My body followed his, and I got lost in the music that made memories of our time together flood back. We had danced almost the entire night, only stopping when the Mouse King came to capture the Nutcracker.
Maybe I had fallen out of love with it because the last time I danced was when I was pulled away by the magic when Christmas Eve came to an end. I never had the chance to say goodbye, and only now, after so many years, were we reunited again.
"Don't think, just feel," my Nutcracker murmured as he saw how lost I was in memories of the past.

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Reader advisory: This story contains explicit sex scenes between a man and a human FMC.
The Nutcracker is a 3.2k words, steamy, hot, erotic Christmas, short story. Explicit sex scenes, standalone, no cheating or cliffhangers.
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