Yay, it's time for No Kiss Blogfest

No Kiss Blogfest today! That means dozens of writers are putting up scenes where lips come close but are denied connection. Mean writers.

The fest is hosted by Frankie Diane Mallis, and the scenes are bound to range from sizzlin' to hilarious.

*

The art I chose for my fractured fairytale with modern sensibilities is John Waterhouse's La Belle Dame Sans Merci.

*

The scene I'm sharing takes place after a princess is forced to leave her father's castle to go on a quest. She is supposed to fulfill her destiny alone and has already had to fight an ogre. This scene occurs when she searches for someone who's following her.

*

*

Sword in hand, Princess Charming stepped soundlessly to an opening in the brush. A person, wrapped in a cloak, slept beside a dead fire. A horse dozed nearby.

She crept forward until she could put the tip of her sword against the person’s neck. The cloak covered most of his face, but he was surely male. “Who are you, and why do you follow me?” she demanded, her voice quavering only on the last word.

The man jerked and gasped. Charming stumbled back, tripping on a root. For a moment, she felt suspended in air and then she landed with a thud on her rump, but she managed to keep the sword pointed in the man’s direction.

She scrambled to her feet, feeling an unwanted blush flare on her cheeks, and stared wide-eyed at the young man peering out of the cloak. “Conner? What are you doing here?”

“Gah. You scared me, sneaking up like that, Charms. Although your pratfall took the edge off.” He smiled and sat up, rubbing his eyes and then running fingers through his tangled, blond hair.

“I scared you. Haven’t you been following me--like a sneak thief?” She wanted to erase the fact she’d fallen. But she needed to brush off the dirt, so she ran her free hand across her backside as stealthily as she could.

“A sneak thief! I’m trying to protect you.” Conner flung aside the cloak and stood, towering a foot taller than she.

They glared at one another for an instant until both became aware that Conner was in his long, wool underwear. “Drat. Beg your pardon,” he murmured.

Charming averted her eyes, staring at the dark loam and fallen leaves around her feet. She could hear Conner struggling into his leather breeches and doublet. But even when he was dressed, with boots on and hair tied back, she was too embarrassed to hold his gaze.

She attempted bravado. “You know you must go home, Conner, but you may as well come to our camp for breakfast first.” She kicked at the cold branches in his campfire to scatter them.

“Our camp?” Conner put a finger beneath her chin and tilted her head so she had to look at him. “I thought you were alone.”

“It’s complicated.”

“It’s always complicated where you’re concerned.” Conner dropped his hand from her chin.

“Who’s with you? I requested to be first choice. I thought no one was allowed to accompany you.”

“So did I, but this woman showed up in the middle of the night.”

“A woman?”

“She’s not exactly ordinary.” Charming was unsure what she was allowed to say about Selena.

“She says she can teach me things that will help me on the quest.”

Conner frowned. “I want to meet her, question her.”

“I said you could come for breakfast, but don’t try to be Princess Defender or whatever role you think you must fill.”

“I can’t help being your defender, don’t you know that?” Conner’s voice sounded softer, deeper. He brushed a stray lock of hair off her forehead and let his fingers linger on her cheek.
Her skin tingled where he touched her. His eyes were the same color as pine trees. Why had she never noticed how rich and mysterious the color was before? And his lashes were long enough to cast shadows.

His hand cupped her chin while his thumb grazed her lower lip, feather-soft. “Charms, we never get to be alone. I’ve wanted to do this for so long.” His face dipped toward hers.

Time seemed to stop. She’d never been alone like this with any boy. As she looked into Conner’s familiar face, she was fascinated by how changed he looked--the way his eyelids were heavy, his lips slightly parted.

It seemed that the world held its breath, and there was no one but the two of them in all time and space. But there was so little space between them now. She lifted her chin, offering her mouth to be kissed, longing to know what his lips would feel like on hers.

A tiny gust of wind came out of nowhere, whipping a strand of her hair loose. It danced across her nose and then Conner’s. When they both reached to rub their noses, their hands collided.

Charming giggled. She felt as she was breaking a spell as she took a step back, out of his reach. “Conner, I must return to camp.”

“Just one kiss, Charms. Who knows when we’ll have another chance.” He moved forward, closing the space again. “Just one can’t hurt anything.”

As soon as he said those words, she knew, without a doubt, that within the world of magic, a kiss might change everything. She could not. “We should have breakfast and then you must go home before they come after you.”

She turned her face away from the hurt in his eyes. She ached for that one kiss, too.