Hazel & Gretel (The Clockwork Fairytales Book 2)

by A. B. Keuser

  In the six years she’d known Hazel she’d come to understand so many things about her and all of them existed with the knowledge that Hazel had no idea who she was—who she had been born to be.

  She’d always held a sinking suspicion that when—if—Hazel regained her memory there would be someone waiting on a far off shore to take her away forever. It was one of the few reasons she’d been able to survive their stolen moments.

  “You’re mine and mine alone?”

  “Does it make me selfish for feeling that way the last five and a half years?”

  Gretel took her chin and squared her face so that their eyes met. “Hazel Velois.” It felt good to say her full name. “I am yours, wholly and completely. But, if I’m honest, you make me completely illogical at times.”

  Hazel’s eyes crinkled at the edges and she brushed her nose against Gretel’s. “It is a mutual affliction.”

  Pulling her close, so their bodies molded together, Gretel kissed her and the press of Hazel’s soft body against the stiff leather of her corset sent a bolt of white hot need through her, but she bit her lip and stepped away.

  “What do we need to do next?” There would be time for everything she wanted when they were safely away.

  Looking around them, Hazel plucked a thick roll from the corner and tossed it out laying down a bed for them. “Now, we sleep so that we can continue on in the morning.”

  Gretel looked at the makeshift bed and then back to her. "We'll be warmer if we undress. Consolidating body heat, or so I've heard."

  Hazel's mouth went dry, and she had to swallow the imagery that brought to mind. They had spent so much time almost getting to this point....

  Eyes locked on hers, Hazel began unbuttoning the front of her shirt. It took Gretel two steps to stand in front of her, her skirt swirling around Hazel’s legs. The moment she was there, she took Hazel’s hands.

  “Let me,” she said, her voice a whisper. “Please.”

  Nodding, Hazel dropped her hands at her side and watched as Gretel took up the task.

  The buttons slid from their holes easily and by the fourth, she was able to push the shirt back off Hazel’s shoulders, baring smooth skin and the straps that held her chest binding.

  Before she could reach for it, Hazel grabbed her hands, shook her head, and nodded toward the leather corset encasing her chest.

  “My turn.”

  Licking her lips, Gretel turned around. They’d been so close to this before, but stolen moments here and there had never made her pulse jump the way Hazel’s fingers did as they brushed down her back until they left fabric for leather. A gentle tug, and the pressure on her waist lessened, and Hazel’s fingers were under the lacing. She lifted it over Gretel’s head and by the time it hit the floor, she’d managed to undo the few ties that held her dress on and with a shrug, it fell to a puddle at her feet.

  Hazel pulled Gretel’s chemise over her head and down her arms, kissing the inside of each elbow and lingering at her wrists, kisses trailing down each arm toward her hand. Gretel stood perfectly still, her center clenching with each new flare of arousal.

  “I want you again,” she said as Hazel stood and surveyed her.

  When she’d finished looking her fill, Hazel’s eyes met her and she said, “I want you always.” In a single motion, she pulled her rough spun shirt and the satin half chemise Gretel had given her over her head. Naked and half naked, they stared at each other for half a moment before Gretel took the steps that bridged the distance between them.

  Her hand hooked in Hazel’s pants and she ducked her head to the side as Hazel kissed the sweeping angle where her neck and shoulder met. She shivered as teeth dragged across her skin and managed to keep herself from reacting while she unbuttoned the last of the four buttons that held Hazel’s pants to her.

  The sharp inhale of breath behind her was worth it.

  Hazel’s fingers trailed over her shoulder blades and up the curve of her neck.

  When she turned around, Hazel’s eyes washed over her taking in every inch of her. Gretel might have been embarrassed if she hadn’t felt the urge to do the exact same thing.

  She reached up and flipped open the buckle on Hazel’s chest binding. It was so similar to Gretel’s corset that it might have confused others—they were made by the same craftsman, after all—but the strap that crossed over her shoulder helped contain the enticing expanse of Hazel’s chest.

  Glancing up at Hazel once more, she undid the buckle and looked questioningly at the side where the binding was secured.

  Hazel winced. “I don’t want to scare you.”

  “You won’t.” Gretel dealt with the clasps on the side of the binding, and Hazel spilled out. Gretel’s tongue touched her top lip and she couldn’t stop the smile that pressed up the corners of her mouth.

  Standing in front of her with her pants and boots still on, Hazel looked absolutely delicious. Gretel couldn’t wait to see all of her, but she forced herself to go slowly.

  Wrapping her arms around Hazel’s neck, she pressed against her. “I have wanted to be with you for so long… this feels like a dream.”

  Hazel kissed her and she caught her lover’s supple bottom lip between her teeth. Smiling when Hazel froze, Gretel stared into her lusty eyes, and drew her hand up Hazel’s stomach to cup her breast.

  “I want you, Hazel. I don’t care if you’re a princess, a hunter, or a con artist. I plan to make you mine and never let you go.”

  “Not if I can do it first.” Her lips pressed hard enough against Gretel's, that she wondered if magic could fuse them together.

  She laughed into Hazel’s mouth. If Hazel was a princess, she was part fairy. Magic was one easy way to explain how she felt.

  Fingers brushing over nipples, she sucked in a quick breath as Hazel’s skin reacted, tightening, her nipple a rosy bud of perfection. Without waiting for Hazel’s whimper to cease, she ducked her head and laved over the sensitive bundle of nerves. She smiled against the soft skin of her breast as Hazel squirmed beneath her ministrations.

  “I can’t wait any longer,” Gretel said, pulling back. “Get naked.”

  With a sly smile, Hazel kicked off her boots, and in a moment, she’d lost the remainder of her clothes.

  The blankets kept Gretel from the cold wooden floor as she lay down, reaching out for Hazel to join her.

  For a moment, she basked in the contentment of having Hazel pressed fully against her with nothing in between.

  Hazel’s hand snaked its way down her stomach and her fingers slipped into the folds between her legs.

  When she tried to move, Hazel shushed her.

  “I get to go first this time. After that, you can do whatever you want to me.” With a smile, she kissed Gretel, and her fingers worked against her as she got wetter and wetter.

  Hazel pulled her further down on the pad and ran her hands down the sides of her legs until she reached her knees. Sighing, Gretel let her legs fall open as Hazel pressed them apart and even though the dark hide was chilly around her, she felt completely safe being this open. Hazel ran a finger up the wet seam of her body before dragging her fingers along her inner thigh. She followed her fingers with gentle bites at that sensitive skin.

  “I have wanted to taste every inch of you since the first time I stole a kiss. If I’d known it was going to be this good, I would have paid someone to ignore us in a back room for an hour or two.”

  Gretel laughed, her muscles clenching under Hazel’s ministrations. “Leilei would have let us find a dark corner in the church and asked no questions.”

  Holding Gretel’s thigh to her face, Hazel let out a breathy laugh. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

  Gretel didn’t remind her that she’d never stepped inside the church before. The things she was doing with her mouth were far too distracting.

  When Gretel tried to sit up, tried to switch their positions, Hazel pressed her back down with a warm hand to her chest. “It’s still my turn, last time we were inte
rrupted before I got to taste you.”

  Gretel blushed at the memory of Hazel scurrying down the wall from her window moments before her mother burst into the room. She’d been able to pass off the sounds her mother had heard as the throes of a nightmare.

  But tonight, there was no one to hide from. She would let Hazel have her way for a while and then they would enjoy each other in ways that had not been possible before.

  With one last glance, Hazel caught her eye and the look on her face was dangerous. With a wicked smile, she sank down and before Gretel could take a full breath, Hazel’s tongue licked up her wet slit.

  Slipping a finger in beside her tongue, Hazel teased. This was familiar territory for them, quick work of deft fingers had saved them from frustrations more times than Gretel would freely admit.

  Hazel’s tongue swirled over her clitoris and the sensations it wrought in her had her arching her back as she fought back a scream.

  Tracing her fingers along Hazel’s neck, she tightened around the fingers with which Hazel was currently exploring her.

  She caught Hazel’s ear in her teeth and reveled in the low moan that left her princess’ throat.

  If Hazel’s fingers made her delirious, then her tongue had to be magic. Every flick and swirl pushed her toward the peak they’d barely explored before.

  Her breathing hitched as Hazel pushed her legs open wider, and sucked on her clitoris and Gretel’s world converged to a single point before exploding in a shimmer of tingling spasms throughout her body.

  Still trembling, she dragged in shaky breaths. She reached for Hazel who caught her hand and brought it to her lips.

  Hazel kissed her, and snuggled down with her. “That’s all for tonight. Remember, from here on out, we belong to each other and no one is going to tell us we can’t be together.”

  Gretel could barely scrounge up the energy to nod, so she didn’t argue. Nuzzling into Hazel as she pulled up a blanket to cover them, Gretel drifted into sleep, thinking about the ways she would pay Hazel back.

  THREE

  The sound of birdsong echoed through the thin walls of the hide and Hazel stirred, snuggling into the warmth of the woman curled against her.

  Skin to skin, Hazel luxuriated in the delicious sensations that prickled through her and dragged her hand down the soft length of Gretel’s stomach. She shivered and pressed her hips backward into Hazel’s.

  “Good morning,” Hazel said without opening her eyes.

  Gretel’s response was a sleepy murmur.

  Kissing her shoulder, Hazel swept the hair away from Gretel’s neck and traced lazy circles over the skin.

  She’d spent a long time counting down to last night. Six years ago, she’d met Gretel. Five years ago, they had snuck their first kiss behind the perfumery. Three years ago, Hazel decided she would marry her… as soon as her indenture ended. A day after that, she realized that there would be no end to her contract—not with the way the huntsman was accounting her repayment.

  A debt she now knew was nothing but magical smoke spewed by a vengeful dark fairy.

  Sighing, Gretel rolled onto her back and tucked her head on to Hazel’s arm. Beneath their blankets, Hazel feathered lines outward from her bump of a belly button.

  If heaven existed, Hazel knew it would feel just like this.

  Heaven, however, was not within arm’s reach.

  The sound of shouting echoed through the forest outside and in spite of the cold, Hazel sat bolt upright.

  Her skin erupted in goose flesh and she scrambled to pull on her shirt and pants. “Get up. They realized we were gone sooner than I thought. We need to get out of here before they find us.”

  Scooting to the view, she looked out into the dim morning and thanked their paltry luck that the search party calling Gretel’s name had not gotten to them yet.

  Behind her, Gretel stirred and pressed a hand against her eye, looking around groggily. “What’s going on?”

  “They’re looking for you.” Hazel said, stuffing her feet into her pants and wiggling them up over her hips.

  Gretel flinched. “Just me?”

  Pulling on her shirt and belting it, Hazel shrugged. “The huntsman probably came up with a story of how I’d kidnapped you.” It was a more plausible explanation than that they didn’t know she was missing. Small towns have too few secrets.

  And she was certain the Huntsman had noticed his half-emptied larder.

  Gretel dragged her dress over her head and said, “Help me with this.” Holding her leather corset to her chest, she turned and Hazel laced her up as hastily as possible without messing up the ties.

  Dressed, Hazel grabbed her bow, arrows and their bags as Gretel pulled on her boots, shoved her arms into the sleeves of her coat and grabbed her basket.

  They dropped to the forest floor with the clicking of mechanical gears and Hazel quickly took stock of the forest around them. The distant voices were closer now, but there was no sign they’d disturbed the nearby birds, and the ground around them held a fresh, untrodden layer of frost.

  Exhaling a white puff of breath of relief Hazel said, “We might be able to outrun them.”

  Hazel took off at as quick a pace as they could both manage, laden as they were with their bags. They bounced off her hips, forcing her stride into an unnatural gait, and she glanced over her shoulder wondering how far they would have to travel before the search party would give up.

  From behind she heard someone shout, “They were here!” from the direction of the hide.

  Hazel cursed under her breath and hitched her bag higher, trying to pick up their pace.

  The next town was still twelve miles away.

  That wouldn’t matter if they keeled over from exhaustion, and they couldn’t make it at this pace. Gretel was already showing signs of tiring. And even with her daily hunts, Hazel was not up for a marathon at full sprint.

  Glancing back over her shoulder again, she caught sight of something orange amongst the trees. Her next opportunity to look showed her the man’s face. Krell was catching up to them.

  Of course it would be him.

  The man meddled in anything he possibly could, and he claimed to be the fastest man in the whole village. The only one who ran faster was his running partner, but the vicar did not seem to be on their trail.

  Glancing back once more, Hazel’s foot hit a rock and she let out a startled cry as she tried to keep herself upright.

  Gretel rammed into Hazel’s back and a moment later, they were both tumbling. They rolled down the embankment, leaves and twigs catching in her hair, dirt flinging in her eyes.

  Rolling to her feet, Hazel wiped off her face and looked up the hill. Climbing it would add time they didn’t have.

  Clutching tightly to Gretel’s hand, she said, “We can’t outrun them.”

  “We have to try. The huntsman will try to have you hanged before he lets you go, and you know the villagers don’t seem to understand that it’s you providing all their meat. They’ll side with him to keep from starving with this drought.”

  “Krell is right behind us.” Swallowing, she looked to the tangled trees ten feet away. “We might have a chance… in there.”

  Gretel turned wide eyes to the enchanted, metal forest, and gasped. “That’s madness. The things in those woods won’t run from us like the animals we’ll find here.”

  “No, but unlike the Huntsman and your mother, they won’t be looking for us.”

  Glancing back at the distant voices, she nodded. “Krell probably has his gang out in full with them.”

  Her concern made Hazel stop and look back over her shoulder before she asked, “Krell might want to say he caught us, but why would he waste his men’s time like that?”

  “They wanted us to marry him.” The disgust in her tone was a pleasant surprise. Not that she expected Gretel to want Krell.

  In fact, the inclusion of both of them in the bargain made her skin crawl.

  Grimacing at the idea, she took Gretel’s hand
and a deep breath. “Call me selfish, but I’m not about to share you with anyone.”

  Together they stared at the jagged gash that led into the forest and a shiver of trepidation raced through her.

  “If I’m with you, it doesn’t matter what path we take.”

  Hazel nodded and squeezed her hand once more.

  Turning back to look at the hill they’d tumbled down, she saw Krell standing atop it. His brow knit in confused ire, he took a step forward and stopped, the soft dirt giving way beneath his boot. She threw an obscene gesture his way before plunging into the enchantment.

  Around them dark, metal boughs shifted. Magical mechanisms creating the semblance of a forest. The world they’d stepped into was one where fairies held dominion. Hazel knew too much of fairies, but she couldn’t turn back now. Even if she thought their chances were better with the hunting party after them… the forest wouldn’t let them leave without satisfying whatever purpose for which it had opened to them.

  Gretel kept close to her and they moved more slowly as the voices of their pursuers faded into nothing. Glancing down at the compass on her wrist, Hazel looked ahead and scowled. The needle spun in wobbling circles, unable to find magic North amid such cluttered enchantment.

  Night fell too soon. The darkness of the forest around them—clicking with that familiar semblance of life—lent itself an air of foreboding, and this time, Hazel paid attention to the feelings that roiled through her. Magic ruled over everything here, day and night didn’t matter, the remains of fairy magic imbued in the metal would work its tricks without heed to the natural order of the world.

  White stones lined the path ahead of them. They glowed as if bathed in moonlight. There was nothing natural about the forest around them; there would be nothing natural about those stones. The only thing in question was what they led to and whether avoiding them was the better or worse plan.

  Around them, the forest squeezed in close, smooth branches turned inward, creating a path that seemingly did no harm. Hazel would reserve her judgment on that score until she saw where it led.

  Behind her, Gretel kept a firm grip on her coat and stayed close enough Hazel could feel her body heat against her back. Even still, she glanced over her shoulder now and again, just to be sure.