Day one of Evil Charming week! Precurse Enchanted Forest AU! Exciting stuff! This one has been sitting on my phone for a good year or so now and I am thrilled I finally have a reason to post it! Please leave a review :) and I hope you enjoy the rest of the week!
It wasn't supposed to go like this. They were supposed to have the upper hand but it didn't take long for David to realize that it was going to take a lot more than a few little decoys to send the queen off their scent. He had pushed Snow in to a sprint ahead of him and he was quick to follow when the queen's black guard had made themselves known.
And that was why he was running now. Through the forest in the dark with his heart pounding in his ears. However, he was promptly stopped by a tree root wrapping around his ankle and fell to the forest floor with a startled yelp and a graceless thud. He was quick to spin around and try to rip off the unnatural root but stopped dead when he saw a pair of heeled black leather boots standing at his feet. Hardly a moment passed before he shot his eyes up and found himself staring in to the dark eyes of the Evil Queen herself. She stood above him with a smirk and a curious hum and David only felt the rage spark to life in his chest once again.
"Dear me. What a predicament you have found yourself in," she purred and he snarled. When he tried to lunge at her she simply grinned and with a flick of her wrist, the pair of them were enveloped in purple smoke.
With his ankle now free, David fell harshly against the ground. Ground that was neither the queen's body nor the soft forest floor but rather cold stone. He hissed and grimaced at the contact but was quickly back on his feet and spinning around to find the queen. She stood behind him with perfect posture and her chin slightly dipped as she looked him over. No longer was there a smirk on those red lips. Her eyes were dark, her lashes thick and sooty, her body painted with black leather and red velvet, her long hair half up and half down, the fire beside her dancing warmth over her perfect skin. He had never been this close to her. She was certainly a stunning woman. The kind of stunning that entranced her victims before she tore them apart and bathed in their blood.
"I want to kill you," he growled lowly and that smirk painted her lips once more as she lifted her chin so it was level to the floor.
"You are doing a rather poor job of doing such, shepherd," she commented and his jaw clenched with a force great enough to break his teeth she was sure. With a tilt of her head, she stepped up to him, humming softly when he let her in close without so much as leaning away. He didn't seem to blink and the anger and hatred stayed blatant on his rather handsome face. She had never really paused to notice the strong jaw and tempting mouth of the blue eyed shepherd prince. Nor his strong and sturdy body. Her lingering gaze had her stomach fluttering with warmth and desire. The fact that it would hurt dear Snow White was ecstasy in of itself. Perhaps she should change her plans for this evening.
"What do you want."
"Why, I want the heart of Snow White in my hands. Have I not been clear?" She purred and then let out a little sigh that had her body shifting just a little closer to his. Yes this would be fun.
"No, that you have made perfectly clear," he snarled and she let out a single breath of laughter as she tilted her head back just enough to look him in the eye. Having her this close was toxic. He could feel his mind going hazy and her soft scent was surrounding him in a false sense of security. This was not how he imagined her to be in person. It was throwing him off and he did not appreciate the way his body wanted to get closer to hers or the questions that flew through his mind. Like what her hair felt like. Or what her lips tasted like. He was falling victim to her seductive appearance and he was falling too fast to stop.
"I am not certain you are aware, but there are far more entertaining and mutually rewarding argument methods than what we seem to have fallen in to," she drawled out and he snapped.
"What do you want with me?"
His eyes were still livid but his tone gave way to what was really on his mind. It shot shivers down her spine and she took a deep breath to try and keep herself from taking premature advantage of the chemistry building between them. "Why are you still here?" She countered and blatantly let her eyes linger on his lips before blinking them back up to the furious and conflicted blue eyes looking down at her.
"I want you dead."
"So you have said," she stated and his long and shaky exhale through his nose blew across her lips and jaw. Carefully she took half a step forward and arched her body in to his just enough to have his eyes falling to her chest. A glance he clearly despised himself for but she didn't give him the satisfaction of catching her eye after. Her eyes were focused on his chest and trying to decide what she was going to find under that ivory shirt and brown leather coat.
"I have come to learn that there is a thin line," she purred as she lifted a hand to the loops over the toggles on his jacket, "between lust and hatred," she finished and was surprised just a little when her hand was sharply swatted away. It only had her lips curving in to a smile as she turned and tilted her head ever so slightly, her eyes focused on his and her relaxed hand up and off to the side. He was furious but his eyes were glazed over and she knew she had him as she asked innocently, "what do you think?"
He was tense. Every muscle in his body was tight and his mind was foggy. And then he snapped. He shot forward the short distance between them and carelessly tugged her head up to his and caught that pretty little mouth in a fierce kiss. She didn't miss a beat. Her body was pressed firmly against his and her quiet moans and sharp breaths had him completely and entirely lost in her. His heart was hammering relentlessly against his chest and his fingers tangled in her silky dark hair while she moved against him.
He didn't know why it did but it surprised him to find her hands warm against his skin. For whatever reason, he seemed to be expecting them to be ice cold. It only made him want her more. But apparently it wasn't enough for her majesty as she pulled roughly at his clothes.
"Do not treat me like your treasured little snowflake," she hissed against his lips and was quickly silenced with a rougher and deeper kiss that had her knees giving out beneath her. So her hands moved to his face and her fingers dug in around the back corners of his jaw as she bit down on his lip. It snapped something inside him and much to her obvious delight, he grew rougher. She ground her hips in to his, her heat and arousal growing slick between her thighs at the feel of his hard cock growing and growing against her pelvis.
When she tasted blood she couldn't be sure whose it was but it only drove her crazy. She was panting, her pupils dilated, her lips swollen and bruised and upon further inspection the bottom one was bleeding. She only knew because of the bloodlust in David's eyes when he remained intently focused on her lips as she yanked at his jacket and shirt and his hands took a firmer grip and pulled at her hair. She ended up ripping the inexpensive linen right down the middle in her impatience and the action resulted in his lips crushing hers in another searing kiss.
The pain of her nails scratching down his chest and abdomen was infuriating and it set him off out of control as he pushed her harshly to the nearest wall and slammed her back against it. It only seemed to make things worse. Or better. He couldn't decide yet. He pressed his body flush against hers and felt her body shiver beneath his as her warm hands pulled the coat and ruined shirt from his arms. It was rough and fast and their teeth collided on several kisses but neither of them cared. The pain they were putting one another through was far too distracting and satisfying.
When his strong hands moved to the fastenings on her coat, her hands fell to the waist of his pants and greedily took hold of his thick cock and started pumping. She could feel the conflict in him rising back to the surface but she brought him back down to her with a skillfully placed little whimper, a rock of her hips, and her teeth settling around the side of his stubbled jaw in a firm but relaxed bite that caused no pain. Then he was hers once more. Her coat was being tugged off her arms and it left her clothed in only black leather. Corset, pants, boots.
Then there was a hand around her throat and she laughed lowly in delight through her teeth. The pressure was firm but it was nowhere near suffocating. It was simply meant to keep her there and perhaps tease the dream of strangling the life from her. But with his panting breath across her lips, she knew quite well she wasn't about to die. Then she scraped her nails up and down his length. Not too hard and certainly not too gentle. It had his breath catching and his grip tightening around her throat and she added that to the ever growing list of things he liked.
His hand pushed her head up, stretching her taller and her lips parted in absolute pleasure with a shaky moan as he bit down on the side of her neck and sucked at the tender skin there. His perfectly harsh mouth moved lower and the hand around her neck stretched her taller while the other worked on unlacing the back of her corset. Her clit was throbbing with the need for release and she tried her best to rock her hips against him but it wasn't good enough. She was getting frustrated and so was he. So with hardly a thought, her corset was unlaced and he was throwing it off to the side just as his hot mouth latched on to her breast.
He bit and sucked and kissed and licked and only when she was writhing and quite ready to come just from that alone, did he stand up straight and suffocate her with a kiss. She couldn't breathe, the short gasps between his deep and thorough kisses were not enough to keep the lightheadedness away. But she was far too pleased with how this evening was going to care about such trivial things as oxygen. She didn't think the charming shepherd had this in him.
The moment his hand slid from her neck, she shoved him off of her and he stumbled back in surprise. He haphazardly fell backward when something hit the back of his calfs and was relieved to have landed on a chaise lounge rather than once again hit the cold stone of the palace floor. This pause between their passion was short lived but it gave him plenty of time to appreciate the queen's half naked body as she walked up to him with a sway in her hips. She was slim and strong and flawless and her breasts bounced gently with each stride. Her makeup was smudged, her hair was tousled, and her muscles flexed with each heavy breath through her parted lips. She was absolutely, "gorgeous."
"Shut up," she scolded and roughly pushed his head back so she could kiss him again. With her hands busy with his head, his started pulling at her pants and her breaths started to quiver with anticipation. With the aid of magic, she slipped her heeled boots off and shrunk a few inches with a moan against his mouth when his nails scratched a path down her back and over her ass. With a couple kicks her leather pants were discarded with the rest of her clothing and once they were, she was crudely tugged forward and barely caught herself with her knees on either side of David's hips.
Their kiss was broken with the movement but his mouth was quick to latch on to her breasts once again. She clawed her fingers through his hair and kept his head close to her body to keep his clever mouth against her skin. He took full advantage of it and let more of his pent up anger out on her body. Whether it was with his lips, teeth, hands, or nails, it didn't matter, it was all good.
He hated her. He hated her so much and he hated her even more now that she had him so addicted to her. But at least she was giving him the satisfaction of hurting her. Nothing serious, but enough to alleviate stress. Every moan and every whimper or breath of his name from her lips had him working for more. Her skin was so soft and her body was incredible and tasted divine. He couldn't get enough and when she let her head loll back, he let her pebbled nipple slip from his mouth so he could bite at her stretched throat and feel her voice vibrate against his tongue.
"You are wearing far too much clothing," she growled as she lifted her head back up and grabbed his face between her hands so she could kiss him for all he was worth as he made quick work of removing his pants beneath her.
They only slowed when he started to push his cock inside her. Her fingers dug in to his jaw and whimpers caught in her throat as she slowly sank down. Their lips were just barely touching as they breathed the same breath and mutually enjoyed filling her. He groaned as his fingers squeezed her ass and pulled her closer to him. It felt better than both of them knew it should. But neither of them said a word.
"Fuck me properly, dear," she breathed against his lips as the arousal fluttered through her entire body from head to toe, "I won't break."
"Of course, darling," he replied with a light growl and at her smile and low quiet laugh, the hatred and lust was back.
Months Later
He had been worried for a long time that she would tell Snow about what they had been doing. He had been especially worried after that first night. But she never spoke a word. Never so much as implied the...well he didn't really have a word for what they were doing. The majority of the time it was just rough and angry sex that left them bruised and more often than not, bleeding. He wasn't sure about Regina, but he always found a great solace in their encounters. He never felt the need to be wary of being angry around her. Hell, she practically forced him to be angry around her.
It felt good to be angry when he had to be happy and hopeful the rest of the time.
But like he said; that was just the majority of the time. There were a few times where she had called for him and it took time for them to get riled up. He couldn't even fill a hand's worth of fingers when counting those occasions but they had happened. It was like she had simply wanted company but didn't know how to ask for it and didn't know how to cope with it once she had it. So she defaulted to passionate sex to alleviate the tension.
It was these moments that he had grown to treasure though. These quiet moments that she had started to allow once they had finished with one another. He lingered too long and she couldn't seem to bring herself to tell him to leave like she used to.
She laid on her side with her back to him and he pressed a kiss to her shoulder as his fingers trailed softly down her side and over her hip. The softer gestures always had her defences rising up but he couldn't help himself and just as he knew it would, her voice cut through the air like a hot knife.
"What are you doing."
"Admiring the shape of your body," he replied simply and nipped gently at her shoulder before finishing with a wet kiss in hope to appease her vulnerable heart.
She didn't quite know what to say to that. She supposed that he could do that...with a frown she relaxed her neck again and laid the side of her head back upon her pillow. She was playing with fire. This was supposed to have been a one time thing. Maybe two or three. But this had extended far longer than she had thought it would. That was not to say she wanted it to stop though. She loved the little jolt of excitement she got when his mouth found hers instead of Snow's. But he was getting too close. It was supposed to be strictly sex. Spiteful sex. But with every encounter she found him burrowing deeper and deeper.
She knew it needed to stop before she got hurt. But she had grown to crave him and as much as his gentle touches unsettled her, they were the touches she revisited the most when she was alone with her thoughts. She didn't quite know what that meant.
She didn't linger on the idea much longer though. She allowed him to gently pull her hair away from her neck but the soft kiss he left there to replace it was too much for her to cope with. With an inhale she sat up and kept her back to him and his hand trailed from her shoulder down to her hip. Even that was still too much so she slid off the edge of the bed and walked away without so much as a glance over her shoulder, "I am sure you can find your own way out by now."
"Of course, my darling," he replied in a gentler tone than he had intended. It had started off as a spiteful pet name. One to counter her 'dear'. But it had become a habit and he had grown fond of it. Without a word more, he rolled out of her bed and gathered his clothes so he could make his way back to the forest.
...
Regina stormed down the hall toward her bedchamber with a scowl on her mouth and hard eyes that threatened to kill if any of her guards were to look at her. Her pride was hurt, her jealousy was burning, her temper was about to snap, and her heart was aching. She didn't want to believe what her mirror had shown her. She hated it, it hurt, she wanted to cry and she wanted to scream. She had never felt like this before. She didn't even have a name for what she felt. It was a whole mess of everything at once.
All she could see playing over and over and over again in her head was Snow holding David and suggesting the pair of them get married. And then David saying yes. Over and over and over again, a never ending loop of that girl's infuriating joy and excitement repeating in her head. It was going to drive her insane. And how could the foolish girl not realize her dear fiancé had been running away to the call of his name to fuck her for months. Oblivious child.
When she made it to her doors she swung them open with her magic and her jaw clenched tighter when the man she didn't want to see jumped a little at the sound and then calmly turned on his heels to look at her. Always so calm until she pushed him to his limit.
"What?" She laughed lowly and furiously through her vicious grin as she pushed her head forward and slowed her steps so she was slinking toward him, "come for one last go 'round before you tie the knot with your oh so precious, Snow," she reached forward and flicked her finger off his jaw as she finished with a hiss.
Undeterred by her vicious demeanour, he shook his head and furrowed his brow a little, "no of course not."
"Well then why are you here?" She growled slowly and looked him up and down with a snarl, "feeling the overwhelming desire to invite me in person? I assure you I can give a truly jaw dropping wedding speech."
"Give me a reason not to follow through. Give me a reason to leave her."
"Well, dear, if you're having doubts then it isn't going to work out for either of you."
"I am not having doubts. I'm asking you to give me a reason to call off the wedding."
"Well I don't have any," she hissed and then walked past him a few strides before turning around to face him again to find that he too had turned around to watch her, "no reason for Snow White and Prince Charming to call off their absolutely joyous wedding!" She grinned cruelly with her falsely enthusiastic voice as she outstretched her arms. "Tell me, dear, have the two of you chosen a date yet? It will be quite the celebration I'm sure."
"Regina-"
"No, I have answered your inquiry," she leaned forward and rocked her head on her shoulders and he frowned while she grinned and her heart twisted and writhed in pain, "if you have nothing more you need from me then feel free to take your leave."
With a sigh out his nose he gave a solemn nod and one final look over the gorgeous woman in front of him. He was going to get nowhere with her walls up so high and her armour so thick. It had to be her choice, she would not be forced, but he knew she would never make the right choice anyway. A hopeless circle. Slowly he made his leave and left the woman dressed in black to fester and die slowly in her anger. There was nothing he could do and nothing he could say to her that she would accept in her current mindset.
Regina watched as he left and closed the door behind him. When the door fell shut her breaths grew heavy with rage and an overwhelming amount of different and conflicting emotions. She glared at the tall thick doors and felt her heavy breaths run shaky and then she felt the tears start to prick her eyes. When the tears blurred her vision she let out a loud angered scream and pushed the items from her vanity as she spun around. Before all of the items even hit the ground she was letting out a hard, slow, sob as she held a hand over her stomach and another over her mouth and closed her eyes.
She collapsed in to her chair and her head fell in to her forearms when she laid them on the vanity table and cried. Her heart had never hurt so much. It was never healed and now it was broken again. She knew he was going to hurt her. She knew it from the beginning.
David had stopped his steps at the sound of her complete despair and the crash of objects on the ground behind the heavy wooden doors. The sound unsettled him. He had to try again. With a heavy but hopeful heart, he turned and went back to her. Silently the doors opened at his touch and his frown deepened as his chest ached at the sight of her. Her shoulders shook with her muffled cries and she remained oblivious to his presence as he walked up to her and crouched down beside her. She only slumped in exhaustion when he placed a soft comforting hand on her thigh, "just one reason," he whispered gently and moved a thumb over her thigh.
"I love you," she whispered back and immediately quivered in fear for the pain that followed such a confession as she cried helplessly in to her arms. The queen was always hurt. The queen never got what she wanted. She was always in pain.
David smiled and blinked back his tears as he gripped her leg tighter. He hadn't expected those words but he had certainly hoped for them. He bowed his head and pushed his eyes shut to keep himself from breaking down while she continued to cry and when he looked back up he removed his hand from her thigh and moved his fingertips to trace her hair behind her ear. "That is a perfect reason, my darling," he whispered and she reluctantly lifted her head from her arms and she held back her cries but could do nothing to stop her tears that rolled from her dark eyes.
When she opened her mouth to speak he rose a little higher and caught her in a kiss instead. He wanted to keep her vulnerable for as long as possible and getting her talking was not going to do that. She whimpered against his mouth and he kept it slow and soft. His hand held the side of her face and hesitantly both of hers moved up to hold his face as she kissed him back.
She cried against him when he turned his head and kissed her again. She couldn't help the sound from escaping and she wasn't particularly in a place to care too much. While her tears fell her heart throbbed and the ache of her plea to be put back together again was stronger than ever. Their kiss was paused when he placed something on the table of her vanity. He made a point to have it make a sound and she was nervous to see what it was. So she stayed for a few moments longer breathing the same breath as him and holding him close to her just in case he was going to leave.
When she turned her head to look at the small box he had placed there, he smiled and studied her expression of wary curiosity. "Take your time," he whispered and rested his forehead and the bridge of his nose against the side of her head, "I will happily wait forever," as she took the small box in her hands he stood up and walked back toward the exit of the room.
Regina moved a thumb over the smooth dark wood of the cube box and cocked her head as she opened it only to choke on her breath and cover her mouth with her hand. Quickly she snapped her head to look in the direction that he left in and he looked over his shoulder with a small smile and a nod before straightening his neck and continuing to the door. Her eyes dropped back down to the elegant diamond ring held within the box. She let out another cry and shook her head as more tears fell at the sight.
Why he would want to marry her was more than a mystery to her. It was a puzzle she could not make any sense of whatsoever. Why would anyone want to be with her for the rest of their life.
...
David heard her quiet approaching footsteps but didn't turn his his head away from the spectacular view of the forest from the balcony until she was in the corner of his eye. When he laid eyes on her she was incredibly timid and nervous, no sight of the menacing queen in the woman who held a small wooden box tightly in both hands as she walked cautiously up to him. He gave her a soft and pleasant smile of greeting as he pivoted to face her but he didn't say so much as a word and she stopped in front of him.
She looked down at the box in her hands and felt her throat tighten with the desire to cry once again, "why?" She whispered almost too quiet to hear and hesitantly lifted her eyes to find his.
"The little things," he whispered back with a tender smile and she squinted her eyes and shook her head, both movements so incredibly subtle he almost didn't notice them himself. "The first time I was angry and you were manipulative. The second time was similar but I enjoyed it more than I should have. The third time I was more comfortable as were you. So I started noticing things. Little things. I noticed how your hand would linger over my heart but it was too soft a touch to be considered to have malicious intent.
"I noticed when I pinned you beneath me you didn't fight for the first few moments and instead relaxed and enjoyed the feeling before you gave in to the game of power. And then there is the way your walls fall down and your eyes soften as you recuperate after each round. I noticed the small gentle smile that you would try and hide whenever I found the courage to risk a soft touch to your skin. Or the way you slowly allowed for more and more of those gentler caresses. So many small things I found that had me questioning if you were even evil at all. I noticed more and more with every second spent with you until I came to the conclusion that you don't want this. You don't want to play power games. You want someone to love you," he nodded and watched her tears well up in her eyes as the muscles in her jaw clenched and her body quivered with the fight to keep quiet.
"And that desire is so innocent and good and it is what convinced me to admit that I do love you. I do not want to settle for less. I do not want to be with Snow if you will allow me to be with you," he told her quietly and she broke out a small cry through her teeth as she bowed her head. He stepped closer to her and moved his eyes over her vibrating form as he lifted her head with his gentle hands and traced his fingers of one hand around her hairline while she leaned in to the hold of his other.
"I want to touch you, I want to hold you, I want to cherish you, I want to love you and I want to do so until the end of time itself. I know you are in pieces, I know that you are scared, I know you don't know how to love, I know that you have locked your heart away. But if you could be so brave as to give me the honour of holding it for you I can promise you that you won't regret it. It won't ever be in safer hands."
He held her nervous and flighty eyes with his steady and hopeful blue as he moved his thumb softly over her cheekbone. She stood there silent and tense while she fought with herself to allow herself trust him and love him. And then she nodded. A single quick and terrified nod that he would have missed if he had blinked. It had a joyous grin spreading over his mouth and squinting his eyes as he breathed out a laugh and she smiled in return. It was a smile he had never seen on her before.
It was bright and overjoyed but still shaky and nervous as she let out a quiet laugh of her own. He lowered his hands over hers and gently pried the small box from her tense and shaking fingers so he could open it. After taking the ring out he dropped the box back in his pocket and watched with a smile as Regina stared at the ring with all of her focus as though if she were to look away it would kill her on the spot.
With the same tender and happy smile on his face, he took her left hand and tried to soothe it's shaking by running his thumb over the back of her hand but it didn't do anything. Slowly he slipped it on to her finger and when it was on all the way he watched her shoulders slump in relief as she drew in a shaky breath only to let it out in a quiet cry through her teeth. He lifted her hand up higher and left a soft lingering kiss on her knuckles before he placed it over his heart and covered her hand with both of his.
She cried helplessly and lifted her free hand to cover her mouth to try and get them to stop. Her gaze was focused on their hands on his chest and then suddenly she tugged her hand free only to wrap her arms tight around his neck so she could cry against him. Without the slightest hesitation, he hugged her back and pushed his face in to her hair as he felt tears of joy burning behind his closed eyes, "I've got you, my darling," he promised and nuzzled his face in to her neck, "I've got you."