Note From The Author—I love this one, though I can't quite put my finger on why. I hope you all enjoy it just as much as I do : )
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Tin Man
It was absolutely amazing. She never realized how much she had come to rely on touch until it was gone. It had never occurred to DG how often she and her stoic Tin Man touched until their contact suddenly ceased.
For a long while their relationship was characterized by casual brushes of the hand and bumping shoulders. Cain was constantly directing her movements with a hand on her back or her arm. The embraces he'd initially been reluctant to share became commonplace and once or twice she'd been brave enough to rise up on her toes to kiss him on the cheek. She felt like they were making progress together, moving towards something more than friendship, and that was what she wanted more than anything else.
Then one day he cut their contact completely off, with seemingly no reason for the decision. She had simply leaned forward to hug him and he had pulled back as if he'd been burned. The sting of rejection hurt more than she cared to admit, and she couldn't understand what had happened. They stopped touching entirely, and he retired his usual nicknames for her and reverted to more formal monikers.
It went that way for months, and DG found herself wondering if she had done something wrong. Surely something had brought on this drastic change. She'd never thought she depended on his touch, but she found herself feeling empty and adrift without it. She knew how she felt about him; and knowing her wishes and hopes so intimately only made it worse, because it made them seem all the more unattainable.
Over time confusion and hurt gave way to anger. She found herself intensely frustrated by the shift of events. She couldn't keep from wondering what the hell his problem was. DG knew with intense clarity that it couldn't be blamed on her hang-ups, so she blamed everything on his. Their now limited interactions became strained and awkward, and DG inched closer and closer to an explosion of emotions.
She wanted nothing more than to scream and cry, maybe even hit him, but for a long time she managed to keep it all in. But the farther they went along the path the closer she came to the edge. Such things were only a matter of time, and everything detonated one otherwise quiet morning.
As he did every morning Cain came to collect her to escort her first to breakfast and then to her lessons with Tutor. This particular morning she was running a bit late and asked him to wait while she found her shoes and pulled up her hair. He silently complied, but placed himself as far across the room from her as he could possibly get. She felt her anger rise and she was fuming by the time she sat on her bed to yank on her boots.
"I don't bite you know," she muttered under her breath.
" 'Scuse me Princess?"
DG shoved herself up from the bed, shaking her head. "Nothing, just nothing."
"Whatever you say Princess," he told her with one eyebrow raised.
The second 'Princess' sent her over the edge. "For God's sake would you stop calling me that?" she cried.
Cain's eyes widened, barely perceptibly under the brim of his hat. "You feeling okay Princess?"
"Call me that one more time and I swear I'll deck you."
"What else am I supposed to call you exactly?" His head dipped again so she couldn't see his eyes.
Unaccountably irate she stalked over and yanked the hat from his head, tossing it across the room. She turned back to see his eyes flashing somewhat dangerously. "Damn it, call me anything but that. What happened to kid or kiddo? What happened to darlin'? When the hell did I become nothing more than a public figure to you?"
His blue eyes were icy cool, but he couldn't quite keep the heat from his voice. "I call you exactly what's appropriate… Princess."
"Damn you Cain. Damn you to hell and back," DG spat out. She stomped halfway across the room in a vain attempt to work off some of the anger. When it didn't help she returned, setting herself down bare inches from him.
"What's gotten into you today?" he asked, taking a step back.
She met his eyes, refusing to waver. "The same thing that's gotten into me every day since you suddenly decided you were too good to risk coming into contact with me."
"I told you, I'm only doing what's appropriate," Cain told her, his voice deadly calm.
"Screw what's appropriate!" she yelled. "I want you back, I want what we had back. You used to be comfortable with me; we were breaking down all those walls you were living behind and then all of the sudden you slammed them back up against me."
He shook his head. "I can't give you what you want DG."
"You can give me what I want as easily as breathing." She took another step towards him. "Put your hands on me Cain, it's that simple."
"You don't want me to do that." It was uttered through clenched teeth.
There was hardly any space between them now. "Yes, I do."
It was them that the dam broke. "Damn it. God damn it."
DG had no time to react. She wanted contact, and that was exactly what she got. In seconds she found herself pulled flush against some six feet of rock solid Tin Man. Before she could say any of the million things that were buzzing through her head, his mouth came down on hers and all of the buzzing went quiet. His hands were anything but gentle as they gripped her arms before moving to press against her back, bringing her closer than she ever thought possible. She clutched at him desperately as his tongue swept into her mouth, taking the kiss deeper.
Then as quick as it had begun he wrenched himself away from her and she whimpered at the loss of contact. Cain had left her shaking and wanting more, and she sank into the nearest chair before her knees gave out from under her. DG looked over to see him pacing and berating himself. Blown away, she shook her head. "God."
He turned when he heard her speak. "DG…"
She held her hand up and her deep blue eyes met his from across the room. "Wyatt Cain, what the hell took you so long?"
It was his turn to be blown away. "I need you to be very, very clear about what you're thinking here darlin'."
"I'll try." The unconscious use of the nickname made her smile as she continued. "Have you not noticed how aggravated I've been the past few months? When you pulled back and completely stopped touching me I felt like a piece of me went missing. At first I thought I had done something wrong."
Cain crossed the room to stand in front of her. "Nothing could be farther from the truth."
"Then why?" she questioned.
"I feel things for you DG, things that it isn't okay for a washed up ex Tin Man to feel for a princess of the O.Z."
She frowned. "You're not washed up; and the rest of the world doesn't get to decide what's appropriate for either of us Cain."
"Put yourself in my position kiddo. Here's this beautiful, talented, tiny little thing with a talent for trouble who turns out to be royalty after I've already started falling for her. Then here's me; an ex Tin Man, trapped in a metal suit for eight years who's pretty much a bitter, jaded nobody."
DG rose angrily to her feet. "Who says you're a nobody?" she asked.
Her anger on his behalf made him smirk, but he shook his head. "Plenty of people whisper it when they think the royal family isn't listening darlin', but that's beside the point. You're a princess, and I'm your guard. That didn't exactly make what I've been feeling for you a proper."
"You know I couldn't care less about propriety. But why didn't you just say something to me? You pulled away completely and I was devastated."
"It wasn't meant to hurt you, I swear that. I never dreamed that you were feeling the same things."
She snorted. "Yeah because the constant hugging and the cheek kissing weren't clues at all."
Cain gave her one of his rare smiles. "I went without human contact for eight years. It took a while for me to get reacquainted with my social skills." He reached out and brushed his hand against her arms. They were red where he'd grabbed her, and he was sure there would be bruises there later in the day. "I was rough with you."
"You didn't hear me complaining did you? I've been waiting for you to do that for months."
"It certainly wasn't what I had planned," he granted. "But you don't hear me complaining either."
DG scooted closer, smiling up at him. "Mind if I make a request?"
"Whatever you want."
"Kiss me, touch me; anything."
He was only too happy to oblige.