And It Went Up In Smoke

Chapter 17: Alone Time

Violet POV 

A few hours went by in silence. I tried to keep my eyes on the road at all times. It was wide and there weren't any other vehicles around, but I wasn't a licensed driver and had a lot of lives on my hands. I glanced into the rear view mirror to see Sunny asleep on Isadora's lap. Isadora's head was rested on Klaus' shoulder, who had his head on top of hers. All three of them were peacefully asleep.

My eyes moved to the boy beside me. Duncan was awake, staring out of the window with his head tilted back. A few rays from the setting sun fell on his face, making his brown hair and eyes shine golden. His hand rested behind his head, and his shirt had ridden up slightly to display the smooth planes of his stomach, slightly muscled. 

My cheeks burned, and I turned back to looking in front of me. 

"I don't mind when you look. I like it, actually." 

I turned back to him, still flushed. His eyes were an unusual shade of amber, like honey or whiskey and his soft pink lips were turned up in an easy smile. He looked gorgeous.

"I'd love to look, but I don't want to crash the truck. Being stranded here in the middle of nowhere would be terrible."

"How much gas do we have left?"

"More than half a tank, we have enough to get us pretty far."

"This road only ends up one place. People will know where to look."

"Where does it lead to?"

"A crossroads in the Mortmain Mountains."

"Well, let's hope that whoever's looking doesn't take the same crossroad as us."

"Oh!" he exclaimed, and started to rummage through his rucksack fervently. He pulled out a small commonplace notebook. "While Izzy and I were reading that book back in the library at Prufrock, I made some notes about VFD. There's this sort of safe house somewhere in the mountains."

"So which turn should I take when we reach there?"

"Uhh...give me a minute." He began flipping pages in his notebook, sometimes pausing to squint at the squiggly and cramped handwriting. "I think the right turn. Yeah, take the road on the right."

"Will do." I replied. My stomach rumbled loudly a moment later, and I flushed again. "Sorry." I said, sheepishly. "I haven't eaten since dinner yesterday."

"What?!" Duncan looked alarmed. "It's almost dinner time again now! Wait, I'll get some food. What do you want?"

"Biscuits should be okay, I suppose. Do you want me to stop the car for a minute?"

"Yeah, that would be great."

I pulled over to the side of the road slowly. Duncan reached back to grab a pack of biscuits from Sunny's lap and handed them over to me. "There," he said. "Now finish eating that before we start again."

"As you say, Duncan." I said jokingly, smiling softly. I tore open the packet and shoved 2 in my mouth. They were sweet and buttery — Sunny had picked up my favourites. I offered some to Duncan, who shook his head and gave me a smile. 

I brushed the crumbs off my fingers, and stashed the empty wrapper under the seat. "Alright, ready to go now?" 

"Why don't we wait here a minute? I doubt anyone's following us now, we haven't seen another vehicle since we left."

"I'm not sure...they could be catching up on us."

'Violet, you've been driving pretty slowly. I think whoever wanted to catch up would've done it by now."

"I suppose..." I said, still unconvinced.

"Besides," Duncan continued, taking my hand in his, "We could have some alone time..." He trailed off, raising an eyebrow suggestively. Now that I couldn't say no to. 

"Good idea." I murmured, and slid across the joint front seat towards him. 

He grinned, and cupped my face, lightly running a thumb over my cheek. The feather-soft touches made me erupt into goosebumps, and I shivered slightly. He paused, staring at my lips, then looked up to meet my eyes. "May I?" he said, his voice sounding almost hoarse.

"Yes. Please." I whispered, and he bent down to meet my mouth with his own. A warmth spread through me slowly, like a muted fire. My veins buzzed and my skin tingled everywhere Duncan moved his hands — my jaw, neck, collarbone, waist. 

I slowly slid my arms around his neck, playing with the hair at the base of his head. I tugged at it lightly and he groaned, tightening his hold on my waist. He broke away first, leaving small kisses all over my face; forehead, nose, cheeks and then back to my lips before he trailed downward. 

"So beautiful," he muttered, lips on my neck. My chest rose and fell with heavy breaths, head falling back to allow him better access. His hands tangled in my hair this time, pushing it to the side as he traced his mouth along my pulse point. I gasped softly, my heart skipping beats as he came back up to kiss me soundly on the mouth once more.

I heard a soft cry and shuffling from the back, and drew away immediately. "Sunny's about to wake up." I said, breathless. Duncan's eyes widened in understanding, and he nodded and let go of me. I reached up to fix my hair as much as I could, and then turned around as Sunny opened her eyes.