Undivided on Tuesday Tales

Welcome to my little corner on Tuesday’s Tales. Today’s passage comes from a wip titled Undivided. You’ll have to let me know if you want me to finish this one. 🙂

The cold wasn’t so bad. It was the six inches of wet snow that was giving Garrett trouble. He cursed under his breath as he slipped for the second time in as many steps. This time he twisted his leg and felt a hot pulling sensation in the vicinity of his wounded knee.

Next to him, Anna squeezed his arm reassuringly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it would be this hard going. But we’re almost there. It’s right through here. You can hang onto me if it helps.” As soon as she finished speaking, her foot slid out from under her and she ended up on her back in the snow.

He tried to stop himself from falling but it was too late. He overcompensated and ended up on his bad leg. Weakened and already sore from his previous slip, the knee wouldn’t allow him to bear weight. The best he could do was avoid impacting her with the full weight of his body.

His arms landed on either side of her as he caught himself on his hands, felt them sinking into the snow, and allowed them to give way so he landed on his elbows, his face mere inches from hers, which at least had the effect of erasing all the pain from his knee.

She lay beneath him for a moment, apparently stunned. Her sudden giggle was like a thousand tiny bells jingling, breaking the eerie hush of falling snow. It was infectious and he found himself laughing with her as he fell into her gaze. The laughter faded and still they lay in the snow, arms and legs tangled into one another. The heat of her body reached out to him through their jackets, her warm breath on his neck. Her lips parted invitingly, expectantly. Losing himself in her would be a mistake but his thoughts drifted back to that all too brief, teasing kiss at the tavern and he wanted more.

Garrett lowered his face, closer, so close he could smell the faint scent of ale mingling with chocolate on her breath. His body tightened in anticipation before the first brush of his lips on hers. In the last moment before their lips met, sanity regained a toehold and he shifted upward, brushing a soft kiss at the corner of her eye before pushing upward and, with a bit of effort, managed to get himself back on his feet.

She accepted his hand up, a confused expression on her face that he hated, and hated even more that it had been his actions putting it there.

“Come on,” he said gently. “It’s cold out here and I see your house up ahead.”

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