Series: Willow Winters
Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 24325 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 97(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24325 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 97(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
My brow arches. A child’s game? Silence contemplates with me before I acquiesce. “You go first, then.”
“Never have I ever…” Gretel bites her lip, her brow furrowed. “Kissed someone… like other than you.”
“Is that so?” I say shocked. She’s lovely. Beautiful in every way. How could someone not take her hand as I did?
“I’ve forgotten what it even feels like,” she whispers, her eyes wide and staring deep into mine. A fire blazes within me.
“Gretel,” I warn, my voice low. “You know not what you do.”
She stares at me a moment and although I try to look away, I’m caught in her gaze.
“I know what I'm doing. I miss you.”
I pull on the reins, and my horse clatters to a stop. I reach for her without hesitation, put my hand on her face, and pull her in for a kiss.
Her lips mold to mine, just like it used to be, and she opens for me, letting me explore her in a deep, hot kiss.
I’m greedy for it. Feels like fire to kiss her. Like every piece of me is being awakened for the first time since we got back from the witch’s house.
She moans into my mouth and I feel the sweet sound everywhere. It’s far too much and the lusty haze clears for a moment.
I pull back to catch my breath. I grip her chin for a few more beats before I can force myself to let go.
“There,” I say, my heart racing, and take the reins again, urging the horse on.
There’s silence, after that. Every thought races in my mind. I don’t have an answer to any question and I have no idea if she feels what I feel. If this racing in my blood is what fuels her teasing me.
“Well?” I say.
“Well?” Gretel repeats.
“Is it my turn?”
“I don’t—” Gretel shakes her head. “I don’t think...”
“Alright.”
We roll along down the road for a while. The quiet now doesn't seem as strained as it did before. Maybe I’m just imagining that, but I hope I’m not.
“Did you want to play it just to kiss me?” I ask her.
She hesitates but then answers, “Not at first. I just wanted to talk.”
I nod, believing her and then let my breath turn to fog in front of my face.
"You look the same," I can’t help saying. It’s the first thing I thought of when she came back to town, and it’s the first thing I thought of when I opened the door for her last night.,
“What?”
"You look the same.” I nudge her elbow with mine. "But older."
Gretel huffs a laugh. "Well, that's good, I suppose. How much older?"
I laugh, then. It’s the first real laugh I think I’ve laughed in months. Maybe even years. It reminds me of what we used to be. “You look good, Gretel. You taste good too.”
She turns her face away, probably to hide that she’s blushing. There’s so much more I want to say, but none of it makes any sense. It’s all nonsense about how I felt about her. How I missed her. How I don’t understand how she could leave me when I needed her so. How I want to know.
I can’t make myself say any of it.
After a minute, I exhale and focus back on the road.
Gretel
It feels like we've been traveling a long time when the fog starts to fade into sky.
I try to remember how long it took before, but I quickly put an end to the memories. I don’t necessarily trust my memories of that time and even the good parts have soured over time.
The fog doesn’t completely disappear, but it settles into more of a fine mist than the thick, choking fog surrounding the village and everywhere around it. Above us, the sky is a wintery grey. It’s not exactly sun bursting through the clouds, but even that grey is a welcome sight after so much time hidden in the fog.
It doesn’t take long though for the open fields to be lost to a forest of black, leafless trees. The branches block out a lot of the light. And so we move through the forest in the evening shadows.
This time, I don’t try to be casual about getting closer to Hansel.
He wanted to kiss me after all and his warmth is a welcome distraction. His lips on mine are more than I dreamed. And I have dreamed of him so many nights. I needed to just to fall asleep and keep the demons of the past away. I can still feel the warmth of his touch even as we’re surrounded by the coldest winter.
The shadows on either side of the path are unnerving and seem to move in ways they shouldn’t. This part of the forest does not look friendly, and I can’t imagine how we ignored it when we were younger.