AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The wood is in the shape of a cat’s head and labelled with the fluid cursive I used to have my knuckles lashed for not being able to do. Apparently, we are about to enter jewel forest on the cat’s left cheek. In the ear to the west, a waterfall trickles into fairy hollow, connected by the lazy river to a mysterious plume of blue smoke in the opposite, bottom corner.
A darkened area seeps from the cat’s chin, marked as Death Valley and I make a mental note to absolutely pass through there. The best way to live life is to start at the end and work backwards. The rest of the map is hard to read as the letters keep rearranging, a cloud of gray smoke shifting back and forth through the center.
“Why thank you,” I give his pages a stroke. He shudders, groans, then tears himself into a million tiny pieces and floats away in a rapid gust of wind. Typical. No one tends to stay around me for long, except good old Stan and let’s face it, I’ve glider-napped him. This time when I step forward, my foot lands on the uneven ground and I power onwards.
Cash keeps up with my side, Tweed straggles along behind. He really didn’t need to come, but then his words ring in my mind to go where I go. His loss. I hum a tune to myself, swaying one foot in front of the other. No destination in mind, I’ll just go where the wind takes me.
“Why don’t you just believe the Hatter is here and be done with it?” Cash queries at my side and I snort a laugh.
“I don’t tend to elect for the easy option. Quick fixes make for a boring narrative.” Jerking forward the curtain of my hair, I don’t let him see the frustration in my features. Of course, believing Hatter is here with me would be ideal, and that’s exactly what I’ve been trying to do this entire time. Trust me, chicken fingers wasn’t my first thought, although it was a close second.
The checkered path winds towards a wall of trees and disappears into the ground. I slow, allowing both twins to catch up before delving deeper between the trunks. Given my last experience in a forest, I’m not in a rush to be sucking any appendages that aren’t vein-covered and throbbing. Branches hang low, twisting and turning like a timber laser field.
“You can go first Tweed,” I nod my head in the branch’s direction. He obeys, hopping onto the first with ease while I smirk at the sight of his ass. He suits leather. Following close behind, the three of us navigate the wood without a destination in sight.
I clamber over and shimmy under until my calves burn. The incline deepens, presenting a hill that we never seem to peek. Who knows how much time passes and at this point, I’m wondering if we’ve covered any ground at all or remained in the same spot. Nothing but branches as far as the eye can see in all directions.
Neither Tweedle is yet to speak, though that’s not to say their expressions don’t have plenty to say. Tweed has closed down, the impassive calm of a trained solider slammed over his features. Cash is pissed, his careful smirk a distant memory. The further we go, the more agitated he seems, his gaze continuingly looking over his shoulder to see exactly where Tweed is at all times. His brother’s presence vexes him, that much is clear. We need to do something about that.
“Let’s play a game,” I announce. “It’s called Selfish. If you say ‘I’ you have to take a forfeit.”
“What kind of game is that?” Tweed grumbles, though he nears with the pique of interest.
“The best kind,” I shrug, “just made it up.” Dodging a patch of toadstools, the unsupportive sneaker rolls aside and I crash into Cash’s chest. His fingers linger on my arms, prickling my skin with coolness as he stands me upright, his grin beginning to regrow.
“Tweed used to have night terrors and call out your name.”
“I did not!” Tweed shouts and I see the spark of green twinkle in Cash’s eye.
“Forfeit!” I shout, pointing my finger gun his way. A hint of color pinches Tweed’s hollow cheeks, his mask of indifference slipping for the unadulterated rage at his twin to filter through. Now we’re getting somewhere. “You have to tell Cash you love him.”
“Fuck no,” Tweed growls, turning his back on me. Ducking behind the branches in a flash of movement, I have to run to catch up.
“Then you will have to take a double forfeit. You have to give your dear brother a kiss – you may choose where but if it’s below the waistline, give me warning to be seated.”
“I wouldn’t touch that asshole if my life depended on it,” he mutters back, not realizing his mistake. Intent on pushing back a branch of hanging fruits and slapping Cash in the face with it, I round Tweed’s front and cross my arms.
“Triple forfeit!” Cash and I both say while Tweed tells us to go fuck ourselves. He doesn’t move this time though, remaining still to stare at my tits in the black vest. Running a tongue over his fangs, I smirk and tingle in all the right places. He’s hungry. “Very well, Cash wins the game and gets to take me to his Queen then,” I challenge him, ignoring the niggling voice that hated referring to any queen as ‘his.’ I do not wish to have a claim over these vampires when I struggle to dress myself in the mornings, but my chest doesn’t get the memo.
“Fine! Fine. Fuck!” Tweed twists and throws his fist into the nearest trunk. A rounded piece of fruit falls from above and I catch it. The size of a mango, teal in color and my stomach rumbles. Tweed eases it from my hands with surprising gentleness, holding the fruit in one, large palm. “I…luff you Cash,” he grinds out without parting his lips.
“Come again, I didn’t quite hear that,” I hold a hand around the shell of my ear and Tweed’s eyes lighten on mine.
“Forfeit,” he says, his tone low and my heart drops. Fuck, I lost at my own game. The rules were so simple too.
“Well played,” I slap my hands against my thighs in the cargos. “Choose what you want me to do.” Indecision tears across his beautiful face, stretching parts I don’t think have been used in a long time. Tendrils of luminescent green trickle into his irises, his index finger raising to be pushed into his elongated fang. Orange blood puddles at the point of impact, which he then orders out in my direction.
“Trust me,” he rasps, a hidden message behind those two simple words. Cash tries to butt in, saying something about needing to move, but I hold up a hand. I lost the game; I have to take the forfeit. End of.
Extending my tongue, I hold it there and let Tweed come the rest of the way. Sliding the tip of his finger over my tongue, I act quick, snapping my lips closed and sucking him in further. I’ve never been one to pass up an opportunity. His eyes ignite now, glowing emerald orbs that captivate me and cause the rest of the forest to fall away.
Pulling his finger back with a small pop, his body moves automatically, stepping into my space. I’m forced to tilt my head upwards to hold his gaze. My tongue darts out to lick my bottom lip, every movement carefully tracked. I shiver, ready for him to take what he so clearly wants.
“Do it,” I dare him on a bated whisper. Not one to be seen chasing a man, or vampire in this case, I flutter my eyelids closed and wait. Leaving myself vulnerable to his lips, his fangs, his…everything. I shiver again, his cool fingers interlinking with mine. A breath tickles my ear, the only heated part of him glazing over my neck. The softness of his lips brushes my ear, my nipples hardening. Every part of me is alive, thrumming with anticipation and preparing to be feasted on.
“No.” One word. That’s all I get. Flashing my eyes open, he moves back with a trace of a smirk at the corner of his full lips. He’s toying with me. Teasing me, and I don’t care for it. Flashing out a hand, I wrap Tweed’s loose vest in my fist and tug him back towards me. Cash clears his throat when I’m about to angrily tongue-fuck his twin, refusing to be denied.
“If you’re quite finished, I was trying to tell you, we need to move,” Cash growls. Sparing him an aggravated look, I stutter. An eye, larger than Cash’s six foot, blinks behind him. Slitted down the center and yellow from corner to corner, I barely make out the rest of its face before it begins to move. The ground beneath our feet shifts, lifting high into the air. I grab onto Tweed for stability, the rush of air flying through my hair almost dismantling Stan.
