“The fire won’t fly over here and burn you up, Ardie. Relax,” I say and giggle.
“Did I see what I think I saw?” Ardie asks, eyebrow raised.
“I don’t know. What do you think you saw?” I ask, unsure of what he could mean.
“You and Nick?” he asks as if it’s obvious.
“Oh, I was just showing him what kissing was. It’s something people in my realm—”
“I know what it is,” he scoffs.
“What?” I ask confused.
“I know what kissing is. I’m no idiot. Although I’m not sure what you mean by showing him what kissing is. You should know, he wants more from you than just kissing. I can see the way he eyes you. It bothers me. Know, Dorothy, he’s dangerous.”
“Wait… You guys kiss here?”
“Of course we do. Did he tell you we didn’t?”
“He told me people here didn’t kiss, didn’t engage in sexual intercourse before marriage—” I say, and he laughs.
“Well, he lied. Although I suppose some do not, but I doubt he is one of those people. Ridiculous,” he says shaking his head.
Anger and shame and complete and utter embarrassment grip me like a vise. I so just got played by this guy. Ugh, I guess he is heartless.
I want to sleep with you? I’m a virgin? Will you marry me? I’m an idiot.
On the heels of my new silver boots, I turn and charge back out the door over to Nick and smack him hard on his unarmored head.
“You don’t kiss here, huh?” I shout at him and he laughs. “You’re a sick asshole,” I say, enraged at myself for falling for it.
“You liked it,” he says, snickering to himself.
“Why the act?”
“It was easy. Right there for the taking,” he says and shrugs.
“Wow, you are heartless.”
“Take people at their word. Did I not tell you I was? Perhaps you should have listened.”
“Gross,” I say, and I can’t help but laugh at this guy. “So, your marriage proposal was a lie?” I say and he laughs. “And I’m sure you’re far from a virgin.”
“Far from it? Perhaps. Although that is not the phrasing I would choose. But what does it matter? You can’t take off your pants,” he says with a cocky smirk.
“You’re a jerk.”
“I don’t recall that being on your list of bathroom words.”
“You’re a dick,” I clarify, and he laughs.
“Once I was a nice, romantic sort. Not anymore. Sorry.”
“Sleaze,” I grumble.
“Relax, it was just kissing. Like you said, it is innocent. Children play kissing games. It is not the end of the realm,” he says shaking his head. “It is not as if you are so innocent. You were happy to take advantage of me. I saw the way you were looking at me by the stream. What was on that dirty mind of yours, Dorothy? Please. I recognized those looks,” he says, and I’m mortified. Because he’s right. I was ogling him, and I enjoyed kissing him. Too much.
“Kind of like how you were staring at my breasts?” I say, calling him out right back.
“Yes, like that,” he says with glinting eyes and the smallest of smiles on his full lips.
“You need to get to the City of Emeralds and get that heart. It’s as cold as ice in that hollow chest cavity of yours.”
“Don’t I know it,” he agrees.
“I’m so stupid.”
“Perhaps a little stupid.”
“Screw you,” I say, so irritated, and he laughs at me, making it worse.
When I narrow my eyes at him, he throws me a winsome grin and I despise how cute he is. Of course they kiss here. I’m so freaking stupid.
“You could have just tried to kiss me if you wanted to kiss me.”
“You might have refused me,” he says and shrugs as if his actions are logical and warranted for that one ridiculous reason.
“I would have,” I insist, but I wouldn’t have. He’s super hot. And when you’re that hot, you’re almost always a total dick, no matter what realm your from. Case in point, this guy.
“And like I said, it was right there for the taking,” he shrugs.
“So heartless.”
“As I told you I was.”
“Yeah, you did. Not sure that’s curable.”
“If you lived a life like mine, knowing you could die at any moment, you would just sleep with me and have no need for courting. But you are from the Civilized Realm where life is not this way, so…” he says allowing a wave of his hand to finish his sentence for him.
“Well, I’m not dying. I’m going back to Kansas,” I say, determined.
“You hope,” he corrects.
“I have these boots. They seem to help me out in the not dying department,” I remind him.
“That’s lucky for you. I do not have boots and I could die soon. So, I take a kiss from a beautiful girl when I can get it. If I can get more, well, I take that too.”
“Wow, all right. Fair enough,” I say shaking my head.
“You would have kept kissing me if it hadn’t been for that zombie friend of yours. You may even have made love to me despite your pants not coming off.”
“No, I’d have traumatized you, or I thought I would,” I say, and he laughs.
“Traumatized me? Intriguing,” he says and grins as his eyes smolder, and I can’t help but roll my eyes.
“Forget it, heartless prick.”
“That’s me.”
As he smiles at me all sexy like, I hate I find him to be charming even though he played me hard. But it’s not like I got nothing from it. It was fun, but I’m done with being an idiot.
“If you had just been patient, worked a little harder for it, you might have gotten far more than one make-out session,” I say just to torture him, and he laughs surprised.
“Do not forget I could die at any moment.”
“Yeah, you could,” I threaten, my eyes narrowed, but he only laughs.
“Do not be angry. Be flattered.”
“Flattered?”
“Yes. I find you to be exquisite looking, and I wanted to kiss you. When I saw an opening, I took it. Many females would love the opportunity to kiss me.”
“Should I be flattered or honored?”
“Both,” he says beaming a cocky grin.
“Perhaps you are the one who should be honored.”
“Oh, I am, very much so, for I quite enjoyed kissing you, and I would have continued to do so had it not been for your zombie friend.”
“Too bad for you.”
“Yes, it is too bad. When I said I want to keep kissing you, I meant it,” he says with smoldering eyes.
“Forever?”
“Forever could well be only a few hours.”
“Well, I hope you’re wrong about that.”
“As do I,” he says, his flirtatious eyes hardening.
It’s clear he’s daunted by death being just around the corner at any moment here, but I’m still pissed—it’s just not a good excuse to treat someone that way.
“So, if you go the City of Emeralds you will turn into a nice person?”
“I am a nice person. Wasn’t it nice to kiss me?” he challenges, and I say nothing. “Yes, well, I am nice enough. Although I would like to be able to plan farther ahead than the very next moment. May I remind you, I could die at any second. If I had a future, I could think about things in a more positive way. Find a girl, settle down, or find girl after girl and not worry about death. But I would like to get married, be a husband and a father with a real life. The story I told you was true, about the Munchkin girl. After that… things were different.”
“You used me to get your rocks off.”
“Get my rocks off? Is that more of your bathroom talk?”
“Yeah,” I say, and he thinks on it.
“Rocks… I get it. How amusing. I like your bathroom talk. And I suppose I did, but it wasn’t only for me. You find me attractive. But you are innocent. Not as innocent as I thought,
but you are, and you would be shy. To make you think I was even more innocent than you was easier. Perhaps I upset you even more because you believe the reason I lied is that I care nothing for you, but I like you very much, and I would be happy to keep kissing you if you would let me.”
“Thanks anyway, but I would rather you not use me for your pleasure. Looks like that vampire gave you ideas.”
“He would have made you his slave. I made you believe I was ignorant of something as innocent as a kiss and asked you to educate me. You could have said no,” he reminds me.
“I should have,” I humph.
“No, it was nice. More than nice, and it is disappointing it is over for I would have liked to spend the night with you.”
“Too bad for you.”
“As it is for you. You would enjoy it very much.”
“Oh, I’m sure you think so.”
“I do… We still could,” he smolders.
“Yeah right, you wish.”
“Oh, I wish. The way you feel, you are intoxicating, Dorothy. I do very much want to kiss you again, and not just on your lips.”
“Good one. Hilarious,” I say and chortle.
“We shall see how it goes.”
“We shall.”
I cross my arms and turn away from him, and he chuckles, amused and satisfied with himself.
“The turkey should be ready by now,” he says, his eyes glinting with prurient thoughts.
Despite his attempt to lighten things, I stick my nose in the air and avoid eye contact with him, hurt and pride swelling in my chest, taking the place of the affection that was growing for him only moments ago.
“Fine, I’ll get soil to put out the fire,” I say, and he rises.
“I will help you,” he says and stands.
“Don’t bother yourself,” I huff as I pass him, walking to the shovel leaning up against his cabin.
He catches my arm and pulls me to him.
“Please stop being upset with me,” he says as he wraps his arms around me, and I hate it feels so damn nice.
“Back off,” I snap.
The sorrow of being ripped from my world and brought here was enough. This kind of maltreatment is also a very new experience for me, and it not only mortifies me, but it hurts my feelings. All the boys I’ve ever kissed have liked me, and this one tricked me into making a fool of myself, so I wriggle out of his embrace and go grab the shovel, angry at the both of us. Me for being a callow, moonstruck moron, and him for being a philanderer.
“Why are you upset?”
“Are you joking?” I burst, and his eyes widen as though he’s surprised he’s hurt me and regrets it, and I do not buy his act this time. “Like you care.”
“I care because I will travel with you and I do not want it to be uncomfortable.”
“At least you’re honest now,” I say and chortle.
“Had it not been for the zombie, you would have never known.”
“Is that better? No, it’s not. Thank goodness he’s here to protect me,” I say, grateful I met Ardie.
“Despite your magical boots, we could both die at any moment, and I wanted to kiss you, to hold you, be close to you, and I am sorry I misled you.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes, I am. To continue to kiss you and hold you would have been very nice. Your beauty is striking, resplendent. And your kiss is intoxicating. I would have liked to make love to you, to have this trip be far more pleasurable than it will be without a more intimate companionship. And I would have liked for you to be my friend. Let us get past this and be friends. Please forgive my selfish lie.”
“You proposed,” I remind him, and he laughs.
“If we live through our journey, you are leaving. I knew you would think it was crazy and would say no.”
“What if I had said yes?”
“Then I would have thought you were crazy.”
“What you did is mean,” I say, and he seems surprised by my choice of words, but it was mean. “Not that you care, but you’ve hurt my feelings.”
“Why?” he asks, seeming genuine.
“Because…” I think it over and I don’t like he tricked me. “Because you tricked me and…” I think about it more and I know deep down it’s because he lied, and he doesn’t like me for real.
“You pretended to like me, and you toyed with me, took advantage of my innocence of this crazy realm of yours, and because you’re heartless, it means nothing to you, so I feel stupid too.”
“No, you are not,” he says and sighs as though I irritate him.
“Whatever, I am an idiot to have believed… Forget it.” The fire is out. “The bird should rest for a few minutes,” I say and go to the cabin door to tell Ardie it’s safe to come out. Before I even knock on the door, Ardie comes out with Toto at his feet.
As always, Toto can tell when I’m sad or hurt, and he rushes over jumping up on me. When I kneel, he licks my cheek. Now there’s a kiss that’s genuine.
“You are quite the dishonorable one,” Ardie says to Nick with a raised brow of disapproval.
“Yes, I know,” Nick says as he watches me with Toto, but I ignore him and give my attention to my best friend. As I hug Toto and he snuggles me, the hurt and even some embarrassment releases its grip on my chest, and I feel so much better. When I free him from our cuddle, he jumps around, excited, smelling the roast turkey and it makes me smile.
“It’s too hot right now. Soon,” I tell him, and he licks my cheek. As I scratch behind his ears, his black eyes close in bliss before he licks my chin.
To distract him from the turkey, and me from my hurt feelings, I play fetch with Toto, throwing a stick I find on the ground until the turkey has cooled enough to eat. When it’s ready, I take a knife from my bag of weapons and carve pieces of the breast for Toto and myself while Nick uses his axe to chop off a leg. I pour the gravy we made over mine and Nick dips his leg into it. Once they’ve cooled, I take out the large pieces from the gravy and feed it to Toto who is in heaven. Toto eats every bite I give him before I notice the sun will set soon.
“The sun is setting. We should stay here until tomorrow and leave at sunrise,” Nick says. Throughout our meal he has said nothing until now, and neither have we.
“That is wise,” Ardie agrees. “Now is a good time to go hunt for my dinner.”
Toto jumps up to accompany Ardie, leaving me alone with Nick.
“Please forgive me, Dorothy.”
“For what?”
“For taking advantage of your ignorance of my world.”
“Sure, thanks,” I say with no need to continue to discuss this any further.
“I like you, as much as I can like anyone.”
“Whatever that means.”
“It means I am heartless.”
“You only care because it means you are not honorable, right?”
“That doesn’t help,” he admits.
“What do you want me to say?”
If forgiveness is what he’s looking for, I am not going to humor him. I don’t forgive him for it. It’s not as though he cares. Maybe I’ll get over it soon but right now I’m still hurt. If he’d give me a chance to move past it, it’d be easier, but right now I still feel so stupid for hooking up with a philandering liar.
When I was younger, I had kissed boys once or twice, but Billy was the only guy I had been with in the past four years, the only guy I’d kissed since high school began, until today. To know it was false and hollow makes me feel like I have a fist clutching my heart, pumping out reproach and remorse and resentment in successive, rhythmic, augmenting bursts.
“I…” he stops and sighs. “I like you very much and I am sorry I hurt your feelings, and I am sorry I made you sad.”
“Before today, no guy had ever taken advantage of me. But I suppose there’s a first time for everything,” I say, and he sighs.
“You are beautiful, and I wanted to kiss you, but you would have refused me, so I tricked you into kissing me
. And I am ashamed.”
“I just wish you hadn’t lied. I might have let you, but you’ll never know now,” I admit.
“Sorry. If you would like me to sleep outside, I will understand.”
“There’s no need for that. We can all stay in the cabin. It is yours.”
“Thank you, and I am sorry.”
“You said that already. I know.”
“Not only because I cannot sleep with you in my arms tonight, but because I hurt you.”
“Well, I’m guessing for you, that’s new.”
“It is,” he admits.
“Maybe you’re improving.”
“I have not had genuine feelings for any girl since Nimmie. Because of that, I did not expect to care for you, but I do.”
“No, it’s just guilt. None of your other conquests were around you long enough to find out what a liar you are.”
“Perhaps not.”
“And like you said, it was just a kiss, innocent. It was nothing. It meant nothing.”
Even though it didn’t feel like nothing to me, he doesn't need to know that. It was nothing more than some pleasure for a moment to him.
He says nothing. What more is there to say?
As the sun goes down, it gets cold. A distinct chill fills the air.
“We should break down the bird to carry with us tomorrow,” I say.
I cut it up into parts, using the empty containers in my bag to keep as much as possible—the other leg, the wings, a whole breast and a half of the other. This should last us a while. It’s too bad the carcass will go to waste. I could have made a soup out of the bones, but we can’t carry it and we don’t have a stock pot to make it in.
With just enough room in the containers to keep it all, I get most of the meat off the bones, pour on the left-over gravy to keep the meat from drying out, and close up the containers. When I go to pack them away in my bag in the cabin, Nick follows me inside.
“Sorry I do not have a blanket to keep you warm. It looks like it will be a cold night,” he says.
“I should have brought one.” I sigh with regret.
Ardie enters the cabin with Toto.
“The sun is down. You should retire so we may start early,” Ardie says. “I will keep watch outside so I do not have to be so silent tonight.”
I get nervous but then I remember I have the boots if I want to kick Nick’s butt, and Toto will be here, sleeping with me.
Dorothy In the Land of Monsters Page 8
