The Kiss: An Anthology About Love and Other Close Encounters Read online

  The Kiss

  An anthology about love and other close encounters

  Edited by C. A. Newsome, Robert Thomas and Jacques Antoine

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, places and events portrayed in this book are products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

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  The Kiss

  Copyright © 2014 by C. A. Newsome

  Raptor Retreat Press

  Edited by C. A. Newsome, Robert Thomas and Jacques Antoine

  Cover by Elizabeth Mackey

  Published at Smashwords

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  All stories used by permission of authors of each story. All rights are otherwise reserved. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without prior written consent of the Authors or Publisher, excepting brief quotes to be used in reviews.

  Table of Contents

  True Love’s Kiss by Ben Cassidy

  (4,273 words) Enchanted Kiss: A humorous romp through a traditional fairy-tale quest.

  This Moment by J. L. Jarvis

  (6,670 words) Highland Kiss: Stranded during a snowstorm, Mackenzie finds shelter with a Highland warrior misplaced by time.

  Kick Ass Kiss by Shirley Bourget

  (1,143 words) Kiss Off: When you’re riding the train, it helps to know when to get off.

  A Father’s Kiss by Colleen Hoover

  (6,260 words) Newborn Kiss: Now that baby Julia has come along, Will and Layken need their friends more than ever.

  Death Kiss by George Wier

  (3,087 words) Criminal Kiss: Ericka’s unfortunate taste for losers could make this bar hook-up her last.

  For a Soldier by Jason Deas

  (2,271 words) Redemptive Kiss: Back from the war, Morgan has yet to truly come home.

  How to Knit Yourself a Husband in Five Easy Steps by Traci Tyne Hilton

  (2,809 words) Prelude to a Kiss: When a woman is this desperate to be with the one she loves, anything can happen.

  Mom’s Kiss by Jacques Antoine

  (2,462 words) Post-Apocalyptic Kiss: Maia believes there is little hope for humanity after an alien -invasion. But maybe she’s looking in the wrong place.

  More Than a Couple of Camels by Suzy Stewart Dubot

  (8,092 words) Regency Kiss: Firmly on the shelf, Bathsheba is bound by the rules of propriety to turn away from the romance she secretly craves.

  The Kiss by Saxon Andrew

  (1,613 words) Good-Bye Kiss: An unearthly creature visits a utopian planet to deliver a gift to end all gifts.

  Kiss No. 43 by C. A. Newsome

  (2,243 words) Painted Kiss: An artist milks her obsession with lost love to fuel her art.

  Moving On by Anna J. McIntyre

  (1,723 words) Second Chance Kiss: Sometimes, a kiss is all that it takes for someone to know what’s in his heart.

  Midnight Snack by Molly Snow

  (1,752 words) Fanged Kiss: On a horror of a dinner date, Maggie still looks forward to dessert.

  Friends with Benefits by Kate Aaron

  (5,763 words) Confusing Kiss: Tobias and Liam have been friends all their lives. Can they be anything more?

  A Kiss Through Time by Robert Thomas

  (6,619 words) Lost Kiss: A military wife distracts herself with an unusual quest.

  Songs From the Heart by Mona Melissa Ingram

  (5,369 words) High School Kiss: Country Music sensation Mandy Malone has everything except love.

  That First Kiss by S. Patrick O’Connell

  (2,952 words) Dream Kiss: Merrick is willing to make a deal with the devil to get off-planet. But his new client has him thinking of another destination.

  Divinity’s Kiss by Brandon Hale

  (6,594 words) Fiery Kiss: Sister Abbie believes she knows what it means to be ordained until an encounter with vampires shows her the truth.

  How Jessica Met Simon by Chris Ward

  (2,701 words) Dystopian Kiss: In a brutal world, it is still possible to find comfort in a kiss.

  The Riddle by Alison Blake

  (2,559 words) Soul Kiss: Choosing between two men is more than a matter of life and death for Erin.

  Dark Visions: The Paladin’s Kiss by Jeanette Raleigh

  (2,897 words) Medieval Kiss: When rich, odious Thindle sues for her hand, Isabelle has other ideas.

  Friday Afternoon by Elizabeth Jasper

  (1,496 words ) Stolen Kiss: It’s another busy shift for George, the barman.

  Just One Kiss by Suzie O’Connell

  (2,153 words) Remembered Kiss: In the final hour of a marriage, a spark remains. Is it enough?

  Strangers by Holli Marie Spaulding

  (3,639 words) Butterfly Kiss: A chance encounter changes everything for Stella.

  The Gift of Gab by Sharon Delarose

  (2,041 words) Kiss of the Blarney Stone: When George kissed the Blarney Stone, what he wanted was the Gift of Gab. What he got turned his world upside down.

  The Graveyard Kiss by Meghan Ciana Doidge

  (7,035 words) Kiss of Death: When Colby takes his Goth inclinations too far, Luci decides enough is enough.

  True Love by E. B. Boggs

  (1,453 words) Eternity’s Kiss: It is not only the living who grieve for lost love.

  Revelation of the Angel Queen by JRC Salter

  (2,449 words) Sealed with a Kiss: Cõran is a leader of men, a true paragon, but something is missing.

  My Contact by Cleve Sylcox

  (1,555 words) Cloak and Dagger Kiss: A bumbler on his first covert mission gets the surprise of his life.

  The Call by Corrie Fischer

  (3,502 words) Final Kiss: When tragedy strikes, what does it take to go on?

  The Slave Who’d Never Been Kissed by Jess Mountifield

  (21,388 words) Space Kiss: Auraylia takes to the stars in a desperate bid for safety, only to learn that her true journey is within her heart.

  True Love’s Kiss

  Ben Cassidy

  The tower stairs were dark, and thick with dust and cobwebs. Dirt and grime covered the stone walls on either side. Something small and fast scurried away into the shadows.

  Sir Giles climbed the stairs, his face set with grim determination. In his right hand was a deadly longsword, ready to spill the blood of the wicked. In his left was a blazing torch which scattered the shadows of the stairwell as he ascended. On his back was strapped a large kite shield, battered from the blows of many foes and beasts.

  Giles stopped and frowned. He turned to the two people that followed behind him. “I fear some foul magic blocks our path,” he said in a low tone. “Some ancient evil that may deny our passage.”

  “Really, Sir Giles?” A beautiful Elf woman in gleaming white and gold armor stepped up behind the knight. She tossed back her flaming red hair. “What was your first clue, that shimmering blue force field of magic energy right in front of you?”

  Sir Giles looked back up the tower steps at the wall of blazing blue light. “Please, Ella, watch your sarcasm. It does not befit a servant of your fair and benevolent goddess.”

  Ella looked carefully over her armor and plucked off a stray spiderweb. “Whatever.”

  Another woman, a human girl of about sixteen summers in a long purple robe, glanced around Ella at the shimmering field of energy. “So,” she said hesitantly, “what exactly do we do now?”

  Sir Giles took a step back. “It will need a strong counterspell to break the field, Lily. We will have need of your powerful magic.”

  There was a beat of silence.


  “My…magic?” Lily said uncertainly. “Right. My magic. Got it.” She fumbled at her belt, unclasping the leather book holder there. “Right on it, Sir Giles.”

  Ella hooked her mace onto her belt and crossed her arms. “Oh, this should be good.”

  “Shut up,” Lily hissed. She balanced her long wooden staff against the stairwell wall, and opened the book in front of her.

  “Hurry, Lily,” Sir Giles urged. “We don’t have much time.”

  Ella looked up at Giles with a cocked eyebrow. “What in the name of the Forest Spirit are you talking about? We have all the time in the world.”

  “Well,” said Sir Giles uncomfortably. “There is Torval. I believe he is still down below, fighting that demon-beast from the fourth plane of fire.”

  Ella gave a disinterested nod. “Oh, right. I thought it was the third plane of fire.”

  Lily almost dropped her book. She stared at Sir Giles. “Wait. You left Torval down there? All by himself?”

  Giles hefted his sword. “His rage will give him strength to defeat his enemy.”

  “But…” Lily glanced down the dark stairwell behind them. “Couldn’t he use our help? Some assistance, or something?”

  “He has Nedric,” Sir Giles said with a certain degree of impatience.

  “No he doesn’t,” Lily said quickly. “Nedric is outside with the baggage. You told him to stay put, remember?”

  “Your fear is unfounded, Lily,” Sir Giles said confidently. “Torval is a barbarian of the North. He has wrestled vicious beasts since his youth and torn them apart with his bare hands.”

  “Ew,” Ella said with a shudder.

  A roar echoed up from below, followed by what sounded like a scream.

  Sir Giles scrunched his forehead in thought. “All the same, though, we should probably hurry. Lily, the counterspell, if you please.”

  Ella gave a sweet smile. “No pressure.”

  Lily flipped the pages of her spellbook. She looked up to see both Giles and Ella staring at her. “A…counterspell. Right. Totally got it.” She flipped another page and swallowed hard. “Any second here—”

  “I would strike at it,” came a gravelly voice from the darkness, “but the field has no discernible anatomy.”

  “Hey,” said Ella as she rubbed some dirt off her breastplate, “at least you might be able to actually sneak up on it, Dirk.”

  A hollow, mirthless laugh came from all around them. “You mock me, Elf? You should fear me. For I am one with the shadows. The invisible hand of death. Darkness my shroud, terror my—”

  “Oh, Talrilla’s Pearls, Dirk, we can all totally see you.” Ella tilted her head and glanced back down the stairwell. “You’re right there.”

  There was a moment of uncomfortable silence.

  “The unseen hand of fear,” came the voice again. “A living shadow of—”

  “She is right, Dirk,” Sir Giles said. “We can all see you.”

  A man in a black, hooded cloak stepped away from the wall. An evil-looking dagger was in his hand. “It’s not fair,” he mumbled. “There’s nowhere to bloody hide in this stairwell. Just look at it. Would it have killed these people to have put a few pillars in here, or some loose hanging tapestries, or…something?”

  “It’s all right, Dirk,” said Sir Giles consolingly. “No one’s blaming you.”

  Ella raised her hand. “For the record, I totally am.”

  Dirk threw back his hood angrily. “It doesn’t help that you’re carrying that blasted torch with you everywhere we go.”

  Sir Giles straightened. “I need it to see by, Dirk. You know I have poor night vision.”

  Lily pointed a hesitant finger at the black-clad rogue. “Shouldn’t…Dirk be helping Torval out? I mean, he’s not really useful to us here, is he?”

  Dirk snorted and crossed his arms. “Are you kidding? Did you see the size of that demon-beast? It was bigger than the last tavern we went to.”

  “Dirk’s a scaredy-cat,” Ella sang. “Scaredy-scaredy-scaredy cat.”

  “I’m not scared.” Dirk glared at the elf cleric, then looked at the wall. “I just…pick my battles carefully, that’s all. The element of surprise is wasted on a demon-beast. They have no appreciation for the proper application of stealth and ambush techniques.”

  Another booming roar came from down below.

  Lily looked up at Sir Giles. “Torval could be dying down there.”

  “Would that we could be so lucky,” Ella sighed.

  Sir Giles gave a slow nod. “Perhaps Lady Lily has a point. Dirk, go and give Torval some support.”

  Dirk quickly uncrossed his arms. “Excuse me?”

  Giles made a shooing motion with his sword. “Strike from the shadows, and whatever else it is you do. Go on now.”

  Dirk gave an uncertain glance down the stairwell. He tugged at the fastening to his cloak. “Right…now?”

  “Scaredy-cat, scaredy-cat,” Ella whispered. “Dirk is a scaredy-cat.”

  “I am not!” Dirk shouted.

  “Please, please,” Sir Giles said with a heavy sigh. “Both of you stop it this moment. Dirk, help Torval out. That’s an order.”

  The rogue scowled, then glared over at Ella. “Your time is coming, Elf.”

  Ella shrugged. “Whatever.”

  Dirk moved down the stairs and vanished.

  There was a long moment of silence.

  “We can still see you, Dirk,” Ella called.

  “Dragon’s fire!” the thief cursed. He jumped out from the wall again. “You want a piece of me, Elf? Is that what you want? Let’s do it, right here, right—”

  “That’s enough!” Sir Giles bellowed. “Now Dirk, go.”

  Dirk gave Ella a hateful look, then turned sulkily back down the stairs.

  “All right, Lily,” said Sir Giles. “Do you have the counterspell prepared?”

  “The…what?” Lily said. She looked down at the book. “Oh, right. The counterspell.”

  “Come on, mage,” said Ella sweetly. “We’re all waiting for a powerful display of your magic.”

  Lily cleared her throat. “I…think this is it.” She held the book up in one hand, straining to read the strange runes in the flickering light of the torch. “Yeah. I’m pretty sure, anyways.”

  Sir Giles gave her a confused glance. “I do not understand. Surely you can identify a basic counterspell, Lily?”

  Lily paled. “Sure,” she said with a faltering smile. “Of…course I can.” She reached for her staff with a slightly trembling hand. “I mean, it’s just a stupid little counterspell, right?” She glanced down again at the spellbook. “How hard can it be?”

  Ella popped open a small hand mirror and examined her face. “For a powerful, experienced mage like you? Not hard at all.”

  Lily gave a slow nod. She took a deep breath and looked up at the shimmering wall of energy. She looked down at the book and gritted her teeth. “Nallis Oli Garrellis…Octanus!” She thrust the tip of her staff forward.

  The wood blazed with a bright greenish light.

  The field of energy flashed green.

  Sir Giles took a step back, a smile on his face. “There, Lily, I knew you could—”

  There was another flashing green glow, and an animated tree-man appeared in the narrow stairwell. Its roots snaked and whispered over the stone steps. Branches shaped like hands grasped and lashed out in all directions. Two eyes blazed in the knotted bark of its trunk-like torso.

  “Oh, Pixie Flickers,” Lily whispered.

  The tree-man roared. It lunged forward at Sir Giles.

  Giles swiped with his sword, deflecting the attack.

  The tree man bellowed in anger. Its leaves swished as it lurched on the stones of the stairway.

  “Don’t just stand there, you idiot,” Ella said. She adjusted her hand mirror to examine the other side of her face. “You summoned it. Get control of it.”

  “Get control of it,” Lily repeated numbly. She frantically turned a page in her spel
lbook. “Right. Get control of it—”

  Sir Giles buried the edge of his blade deep into the trunk of the creature.

  The tree-man lashed out a branched hand with a roar.

  Giles crashed back onto the stairs, his armor rattling. His sword was still lodged firmly in the trunk of the creature.

  Lily flipped wildly through her book. “Get control of it, get control of it, get—”

  “Oh, Pearls,” Ella exclaimed. “Do I have to do everything myself?” She closed her hand mirror and reached for her mace.

  Sir Giles climbed back to his feet. He waved his torch at the tree-man. “I will keep it at bay,” he called back behind him. “Lily, cast a fireball!”

  Lily turned even whiter than before. “A fireball?” She flipped faster. “A fireball. Ok, I think I can—”

  Ella unstrapped the shield on her back and shoved Lily aside. “Oh, you are so utterly useless.”

  The tree-man gave a deep, thrumming howl. It swiped its arms at Sir Giles.

  “From the darkness, death!” Dirk emerged from between Lily and Ella. He dove past Sir Giles, tumbled around the side of the tree-man, then drove his dagger up to the hilt in the trunk of the creature. “Ha!” he shouted triumphantly. He took a step back and struck a dramatic pose. “One with the shado—”

  The tree-man whirled and whipped his spindly arm across Dirk’s face.

  Dirk gave howling cry. He stumbled backwards, his hands over his nose, then crashed into the wall and fell to the floor.

  Ella rolled her eyes. “You can’t backstab a tree, Dirk.”

  Dirk wailed. He rolled back and forth on the steps.

  Sir Giles thrust his torch forward. The fire raked across the tree-man’s outstretched branch arm.

  The leaves on the tree-man’s hands smoldered and burned. The creature gave a pitiful cry. It shrank back towards the shimmering blue field of magical energy.

  “It doesn’t seem to like fire!” Sir Giles yelled triumphantly.

  “Fancy a tree not liking fire,” Ella mumbled. She gave Lily a cutting glance. “Now if only we had a fireball—”

  Lily thrust the open book towards the Elf. “You think it’s so easy? Why don’t you cast it then?”

  “My nose!” Dirk screamed. “Oh gods, it broke my nose!”