Chapter 80 There‘s always a bit of danger in a promise, isn‘t there
Her entire body heated with shame and embarrassment. His bare hands gripped her naked waist and he seemed to realize it too late as well. William lifted his eyes to the sky and removed his hands. Doris scrambled off him and he pointed to his discarded cloak on a rock nearby without so much as a word. She threw it on herself and grabbed her extra clothes before she ran off into the woods to change behind the largest tree she could find. Had he seen her? His hands were on her naked skin! Doris quickly pulled on her clothes and boots before she glanced out to the clearing where he stood facing the other way as if to offer her a bit more privacy. He had to have seen something, right? She prayed he didn’t. She’d never been naked in front of another man before, she didn’t want to start with him! But what if he had? She would die from her utter embarrassment. After a few minutes of calming herself, Doris came out from behind the trees. He glanced back at her with a look of his usual indifference and a bit of her body calmed at his expression. He looked as if nothing happened. Though, she wasn’t sure if he was just acting this way for her benefit or if he truly hadn’t seen a thing. “Walk with me?” He asked. Doris wanted nothing more than to return to her cabin and hide from shame, but she swallowed that feeling and nodded. William held out his arm and Doris blinked before she took it. She made the mistake of gripping where his muscle was instead of his elbow and now her mind couldn’t stop picturing it beneath his thick jacket. What was wrong with her? They walked in silence around the main camp and down towards the frozen lake. Doris had seen a few younger kids skating around on the solid surface earlier but she wasn’t sure how one would even begin to attempt something like that. Wouldn’t the ice crack?
There was no sign of anyone else at the moment, she was glad to be alone for once. He stopped just at the edge of the frozen lake and stared at the crystal surface. Doris watched him for a moment, she studied the way his eyes looked so thoughtful when he had something on his mind. She wished she could unravel what raced through his mind for once instead of worrying about her own. When William caught her staring, he actually smiled at her. It was so small and brief, she almost missed it. Just a tug on his lips that left her heart racing more than it ever had before. He turned towards her and she noticed his eyes couldn’t help but flicker between her lips and eyes as if he wasn’t sure which ones were more interesting to gaze at. “I don’t think I did very well in your class.” Doris said suddenly but she could tell he wasn’t listening when his eyes didn’t lift from her mouth. “Honestly, I’m not sure why my wolf is so impossible to get along with. She truly has a mind of her own.” His hand was almost comically bigger than her own. He gripped one of her hands , isn’t there suddenly and swallowed it in his. Her mind raced a million thoughts a second and couldn’t seem to decide which one to focus on but she knew she didn’t have anything else to say when he looked at her like that. He lifted his free hand up to her face and pushed away her long hair from her eyes. He brushed it behind her ears and she actually shivered from the touch. It was the sort of thing that only happened in books. The love interest brushing her hair back behind her ear before he William tilted her chin up and leaned down to press his lips against her own. She felt as if every bone in her body had froze up at the soft touch. She didn’t expect it, not at all-1 William pushed away from her so aggressively, she stumbled back and had to catch herself from falling on her ass. The look on his face was no where near soft or lovely, it was furious. He looked almost-wounded. * “William—” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and spat at her feet as if she was the most disgusting thing he had ever tasted. Doris felt the tears prick the back of her eyes instantly as he turned away from her without another word and stomped back towards the camp. What—what had just happened? Did he… did he just take her first real kiss and then spit it back at her as if she was poison? Bile rose in the back of her throat, she swallowed it down before she threw up everything inside of her. Thick, warm tears escaped without her permission. It occurred to her that he might have only kissed her because he did see her naked and expected something from her. That was it, wasn’t it? When he felt her tense up, he knew he wasn’t getting what he wanted. He didn’t even give her a chance to let the shock fade, he only wanted one thing from her. She fell to her knees in the snow and watched as light white flakes floated down from the sky. They glistened in the light and it would have normally been so beautiful, but it made her sick with dread. Why did he kiss her? Why didn’t he give her a chance to kiss him back? Why would she even consider it?
“Doris?” A light voice called from behind her. Doris turned to see Enzo a few feet away. The sun in the sky had drifted further down in the sky and left her with barely any light left to shine on her misery. Her tears had long dried, but her eyes might stay red for days. She was so angry, she wanted to punch William and then never see him again. He was nothing but a nasty beast of a man that didn’t deserve any part of her. She couldn’t wait to be free and never see him again. “What are you still doing out here? William has been haunting the camp with his aggression for hours. I thought he might have killed you and left your body out here.” Enzo joked, though it sounded as if part of him meant it. Doris would have laughed if she had any sense of noise left inside her. All she had left was anger and emptiness. “Unfortunately, I live.” Doris said. Enzo sat next to her in the snow and rested his elbows on his knees. “Ah, I’m positive you meant fortunately but that’s okay, we all make mistakes.” Enzo bumped his shoulder against her own and looked her splotchy red face over. “What happened?” “I just don’t understand how he can act nice one minute and like an absolute mad man the next. I’m tired of pretending it’s fine.” “He is quite the character. I’ve never seen someone frown so much in my life.” Enzo glanced at his nails. “It’s strange to admit that he cares about you, but he does.” Doris snorted. “I think he does some of the time, but then he will do something rotten to make me second guess it.” – “Ah, young love. I can’t say I envy you.” “We‘re not in love.” Doris said quickly. The disgust on his face flashed across her mind again. No man would look at her like that if he was in love with her. Why did he have to drive her so crazy? She only came on this trip to serve him as a maid and so far-it wasn’t anything of what she expected. The nights he held her when she was cold and insisted he sleep next to her. Saving her time and time again and hunting down the ones that hurt her. He showed her that he cared in some way, and then he took it away the next day like it was all a game. Enzo raised his brows. She was only glad he couldn’t read her disastrous mind and all the things that raced through. “Okay. I suppose I can’t tell you what you are but I can tell you what I see.” “Do you have to?” Doris groaned and put her head in her hands. “Normally no, but yes today.” Enzo said. She could hear a bit of an amused smile in his voice. “I see a man that can’t handle what he feels for a woman and takes it out on everyone around him. I see a woman who is learning how to be herself and have a taste of freedom while still being drawn to that possessive man. Neither of you can help it, but the closer you get-the worse it will seem until you admit how you feel. Or, until he does.” 8 Doris rolled her eyes. “He’s not in love with me. I promise you that.” Enzo stood and brushed the snow off his pants before he held out his hand to help her up. “There’s always a bit of danger in a promise, isn’t there?”
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