Page 19 of Hansel and Gerhardt
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.”
Hansel looked ready to leave the water altogether, so Gerhardt swept his arms in a wideoutwardcircle, propelling himself towards Hansel. His toes soon found the pebbly bed of the river, and he glided up to him. On firm footing, he stood tall, but never as tall as Hansel.
Hansel, curling his broad shoulders against the cold, made to step back, but Gerhardt took his hand.
How strange his fingers felt beneath the water, cold, like his, but comforting, confident. And when he pulled him forward, how warm his body was, a sandy island in the sea of ice.
Gerhardt threaded arms around him.It wasn’t unusual for them to bephysicallyclose, of course not. Butneverlike that. Not wet and naked.As cold asHanselwas, he could feel the inviting heat in Gerhardt’s strong arms.
He resisted, not Gerhardt, but the deep water, dangerous, appallingly cold, but Gerhardt braced a foot against a rock and kicked back hard.
“Gerhardt!”was all Hansel managed to get out, and it was garbled with a splash, andablissful moment of pure silence in the forest, until he surfaced again, heaving in a great and unnecessary gasp of air, as though Gerhardt had nearly drowned him. “What the hell are you doing?”
“You can’t learn to swim if you don’t get wet,” Gerhardt returned on a laugh.
Hansel’s huge hands covered his face as he swiped the water away. “I never said I wanted to learn!”
“You didn’t have to.” Just as soon as the excess drops were clear, Gerhardt cupped his hand and ripped it along the water’s surface, assaulting the pale complexion with a thousand frigid sparkles.
