Page 9 of Hansel and Gerhardt (The GriMM Tales #3)

From Dreams Come Forth Nightmares

E cstasy invaded every sense, mingling Hansel’s dream with reality, a stunning, weightless, trembling blurring of the two. It was bliss, and it was bright. Bright in front of his closed eyes that fluttered on a wave of pleasure.

Then it was too bright.

And wet.

Hot, gorgeous at first, then less warm, and before poor Hansel had opened his eyes, he knew. Not where he was, nor had he yet returned to the full horror of his predicament. He knew only that he lay somewhere, not in a dream, but in real life, next to Gerhardt, having come in his breeches.

He refused, stubbornly and for some time, to open his eyes. As though that would be the thing that woke Gerhardt, and not the noises he had undoubtedly been making in his sleep.

What horror.

What a dream.

What on earth had that been all about?

And why had it felt so nice? So good and so right, when it was so, so very wrong.

Andmore pressing than anything else,what if he’d said his namealoud?

An anxious rush of blood had Hansel wide awake, but still he lay there, listening hard for Gerhardt.

Silence.

A rustle of leaves in the wind. That noisy brook, bubbling, and… so softly, beneath it all, Gerhardt’s breath.

It came regularly, at a beat he could count, even and reliable.

He hoped…

His eyes snapped open.Dark branches, autumnal, reaching, orange, brown, yellow, and, when the breeze shifted them, the brightest, most beautiful bluebeyond it all.

He chanced a peep to his left, where Gerhardt lay, his back facing him.

Thatwas even worse somehow. Had he heard him and turned away for some peace?

He wasn’t unaware of the cooling mess all over his cock, but when he sat up, it really drove the point home.

Horrible.

He couldn’t walk around like thatall day.But what was he to do? He searched around, for what, he knew not.There was nothingto fix the problem.

Almost nothing…

There was, sparkling and babbling in the background, one way he could get clean…

He glancedover his shoulderat the water, black and forbidding last night, but nowtwinklingandpretty.Almost inviting, if he didn’t know it would be ice cold.

The night had been frigid, and the two had slept back to back to share body heat.

They’drakedleavesin closeandstacked a makeshift shelter ofbranches around themselves to stave off the wind, bereft of fire as they were.

And they had survived, but even now, as the sun began to relieve the forest of the night’s frost, it was bitterly cold.

He let out the start of a whine, then caught himself, lest he wake Gerhardt. After all, this was a lucky turn. Had they not found themselves here by the river, where would he be?

Days deep in old cum.

Thethought propelled him quickly and silently to the water’s edge.

From there, he could keep a close eye on Gerhardt while he slept.

Hansel washorrified at thethought of leaving him vulnerable, even now, when the terrors of thedarkhad subsided and he had something so important to take care of.

Eventhoughit had been Gerhardt’s shift to stay awake and watch over them both.

Thank goodness he had not.

The bank was dense with leaves, wet from moist air and morning dew, lining the forest floor right up to the river’s edge in every shade of the season.

A light drift of early-morning fog rolled along the river, and when Hansel stepped beneath the shade of an enormous pine tree, hefoundthe sun’s rays split, cleanly and evenly, into nine gorgeous, swirling shards.

Great boulders lined the river, covered thickly in bright green soft moss.Heran his fingers overit,sinking themin luxuriously.

How beautiful it was. How hard to believe the horror he and Gerhardt had run away from was directly back down that river, the way they’d come,thena sprint through these trees. Brutality of so many designs, dirty and dank, when here, everything was pure.

He glancedoverat Gerhardt, sleeping soundly.It struck him then howlovelyhe was. So peaceful. No thought or shade of fear or hunger pulled at thathandsomeface. If only for these very few, very sweet moments, he was at perfect ease.

Hansel refused to make any sound that might disturb the tenuous peace.

Heleant down to touch the crystal-clear water, and how cold it was. As ice to his warm fingers.Yetit beckonedtohim. As if here,in this quiet place,he could wash away all the filth of his life, the dirt from his hands and his memories, and become something new.

Hansel slipped hisbreechesdown, laying them on the bed of colourful foliage. He took off his vest, and threw it a little further back, towards Gerhardt. He pulled at the strings of his shirt, eased it over his great shoulders, and let it drift down to the ground.

Tentatively, he pressed a foot forward.At the first touch, the shock of cold water shot from the base of his warm foot through his entire body. But he forced it down, sinking in up to his ankle. Ice. But crystal clear.

The otherfootstepped in, sharp rocks biting into the tender arch. But he kept on. Deeper, up to his shins,tohis knees, freezing water slicing into his great, lean thighs, milky white. They would have been like tree trunks had he been able to eat regularly.

He kept on, water lapping at his ass, on and on until it reached his waist.His lungs contracted against it, his breath coming in short, sharp bursts. The deepest, most desperate of these wheezed into him with horror when he heard the warm, amused chuckle over his shoulder.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

Aghast, Hansel’s head snapped up to Gerhardt on the dry bank, hands in pockets, shirt open and hair going every which way, wonderfully dishevelled from the long night.

He was a sight, the mahogany of his glistening hair at one with the forest, him so youthful and beautiful, like a creature of the woodland. Had such things not been slaughtered for food long ago.

“Washing,” said Hansel.

“Why?”Gerhardt smirked.“Is there someone you’re trying to impress?”

Funny, the way Hansel could blush while his heart sank. He swirled his hands in the water. “I’m almost done. Wait over there for me.”

Gerhardt gave him a smile. A particular smile he didn’t understand, that came with a pointedly raised eyebrow and the sense that Gerhardt knew something he didn’t. Probably poking fun at him inside his head. At least he wasn’t saying it out loud for a change.

Gerhardt retreated, and Hansel snatched hisbreechesup. In his haste to wash them, he got them far wetter than he’d ever meant to. He scrubbed at the mess with his fingernails, disquieting white flecks billowing up all around him, the gentle current taking it so slowly he wanted to weep.

Then, he gave a full body shudder, but not from the cold this time, when he heard, “Hansel.”

With double the mortification of last time, Hansel looked up, and there gave a gasp, also not from the cold.

Gerhardt, hands on hips, legs spread wide, stood stark naked, straddling two enormous boulders.

A sly smile drew some attention to his face, which Hansel would have been thankful for had he had the wherewithal to think of it, because otherwise he would never have been able to pull his gaze from that body.

Thin, of course, but muscular from chopping wood, from work, constant. And his dick. How was it so big and beautiful?

Gerhardt was not a grower, the way Hansel was. Once aroused, Hansel could easily match himfor size, he was sureof it, but to compare the two right now…

Ithad beenan embarrassment for Hansel since the first time he saw it. Which he had done many times, but never like this. Never right after a filthy dream like the one he’d had.Andout here in the daylight, in the forest, and Gerhardt so bright and playful.

“How cold is it?” Gerhardt called down from his platform.

“Too cold,” Hansel warned. “And too deep just over there. Be careful you don’t slip—”

Hansel could only watch, open-mouthed, as Gerhardt sprang from the rock and dived into the water with a grace Hansel had never seen in him or any other member of the human race.

He didn’t have a word for it, ‘diving’ into the water, nor the wayGerhardtglided through it, skin dappled in sunlight and the ripples he made inhis wake.

Hansel was frightened, astonished when Gerhardt broke through the surface, soaked and glistening, where he leaned back, floating in the deep water.

It was a kind of magic. Like Gerhardt was somesortof water sprite, only a tangible, real thing that was even more beautiful.

“How do you do that?”he asked, entranced.

Gerhardt, treading water, replied, “What?”

“That!” exclaimed Hansel. “The way you move through the water. You’re like a fish!”

A gentle shade dimmed Gerhardt’s bright smile, but only a little.

He knewHansel hadprobablynever even seen water so deep.

Hadprobablynever once in his life been fully submerged in water.

But for all the bitter sadness that roiled in his gut, happiness made the better half of his turmoil.

For Hansel had gone from cold and tentative on the edge of the water, to a man with sapphires for eyes, hair ablaze in the autumn sunlight.

Gerhardt had seen him like that only a handful of times in his entire life.

“Come,” said Gerhardt. “I’ll show you.”

“What? In there ?” Theblueeyes dropped a shade darker, and the smile fell to a slant. But it was there, witha sense of wonder in it. Like Gerhardt had done somethingtrulyspecial.

It warmed Gerhardt, being looked at like that. “Yeah. Come a little deeper.”

“No.” Hansel laughed, cheeks flushing pink with shyness and embarrassment at his inability.

“There’s really nothing to it. Not all the way, just a bit.”