Cain had known this day was coming...but it was one of those instances where he'd hoped it wouldn't turn out as badly as he'd feared.
He bit his lip, tilting his head forward slightly and using the brim of his hat to make the rage etched in his features slightly less noticeable as the scene unfolded in the main hall before him.
He'd stood in the background watching it lead up to this point without saying a word. It wasn't his place to, after all. He was just a guard in the royal palace, a confidant of the Princess when she needed someone to listen to her problems but only there for protection from physical harm. Matters of the heart were out of bounds...no matter how huge of a mistake he feared she was making. This was DG's life, if this was what she wanted he had no right to stand in her way...but simply thinking that didn't make the sight of her in that moment any easier to bare.
It had been at least three months prior when Arturo, the seemingly charming young ambassador from Glodiel with the large, dark eyes had first come to hold court with the Queen and her consort.
Cain had immediately been suspicious; DG had immediately been enamored.
The two had entered into a formal courtship, to Wyatt's great displeasure. He'd wanted so badly to speak up the second DG had bounced through his door to share the "good news" with him, but again - not his place. DG was happy and he was just an old Tin Man with a distrusting nature...and possibly an ulterior motive to boot. He had to admit that listening to her speak about the little aristocratic tart in such an adoring fashion sent his blood pressure rocketing sky high. Whenever he was forced to leave the two alone he felt physically ill.
But aside from disliking Arturo for what he was stealing away from him – something had just rubbed Wyatt the wrong way about the guy from the first moment he'd laid eyes on him. You know the type - you've surely met at least one in your life. The pleasant smile, the light humor and respectful manner that made parents sigh contentedly - the façade of good intention which, for whatever reason, you seemed to be the only person able to see through?
Oh yeah. He was that guy.
And Wyatt had to deal with the fact that the slimy little bastard was DG's would-be-husband...or at least he had been until just about two minutes ago.
Everything had been going "so wonderfully" between them; DG was floating around on cloud 9 while Wyatt tried to keep his growing restlessness at bay. Then, sure as shit, it had inevitably all come crashing down.
A week prior, on one of those times when he'd been forced to leave the two to their own devices something had happened...
He'd been walking through the hall, just minding his own business (despite the serious desire to stand out on the roof with his crosshairs locked on tart-boy) when the sound of the front doors being nearly knocked off their hinges had drawn his immediate presence.
And there she was, running up the stairs bawling her eyes out...the tart nowhere to be seen.
He didn't blame the guy for making himself scarce - seeing her cry like that for the first time had Wyatt checking that his gun was fully loaded before he'd set out looking for him. He could literally feel every inch of his skin turning red as the instinctive rage took over.
Something had happened between the two that night which DG refused to discuss to this very day, he'd taken the stairs three at a time to reach her room - hadn't even bothered with knocking which still surprised him and questioned her for a good fifteen minutes while she lay on her bed curled up in a tight little ball and cried. He hadn't dared climb up beside her, instead sitting on the edge of the bed at arm's distance and shaking her shoulder gently. The words "DG, honey, are you hurt?", "what did he do?" and "tell me right now if I need to go put a bullet somewhere he won't forget it" kept falling from his lips between her sobs.
And without warning she'd crawled over to him and latched on for dear life, burying her face under his chin as she responded with "No...I don't want to talk about it...Please don't shoot him, Cain!" It had taken a great amount of persuasion before she would let go enough to show him (just for his own piece of mind) her wrists, arms and throat to verify that she was uninjured. He'd taken a deep breath of relief as he released her chin, seeing no physical evidence of abuse but when he'd looked at her tear-streaked face he'd felt his heartbreaking inside his chest. Her eyes were burning with devastation, despair, pain.
She'd lost it all over again, hiding away from the world against his chest and whimpering "Just…just hold me, okay?" against his throat.
So there he had stayed, clutching her trembling form to his chest protectively and rocking her as she cried, whispering things like, "It's alright, little one. It's gonna be alright…" and kissing the top of her head.
Here he stood a week after the fact and he didn't think his muscles had relaxed once since. How was he supposed to fix it if she didn't tell him what "it" was?
So it came down to this...
His hand idly checked that his gun was clear of its holster, a dangerous smile curving the corner of his mouth as he noted the tart's eyes flick over at him fearfully. Maybe the guy wasn't a total moron, after all. At least he knew he was up shit creek without a paddle.
It seemed that the guy everyone thought was so charming and sweet, funny and kind, the "perfect match" for the Princess, actually had a thing for housemaids.
Numerous housemaids.
An appetite so strong, in fact, that he hadn't even attempted to ignore it while visiting DG in her own palace and – you guessed it – he'd gotten himself busted. Apparently the maids here weren't too keen on playing around behind their beloved Princess' back, though. The maid had fought him off; he'd continued his attempts and DG had walked in on the spectacle. Wyatt had to say he was proud of both DG and the maid – by the time their screaming had brought him (hauling ass, mind you) from the far end of the palace they were already beating him unmercifully. He'd had to yank the little bastard up by the collar of his shirt to toss him backward across the room – it was the only place he could reach that wasn't being punched or kicked.
The Queen was present now, her and a few members of the staff trying their best to hold DG back as she screamed, red-faced, a stream of words he was pretty sure Princesses weren't supposed to know. DG broke free once or twice and he bit his bottom lip to contain his smile watching her land a few really good shots on what had at one point been a baby-face.
"Mr. Cain!" The Queen called indignantly as she fought to control her writhing, heartbroken and enraged daughter. "Would you kindly remove young Mr. Arturo from my palace…and turn him over to the Tin Men for prosecution?"
A blood-spattered prissy boy! Just what he always wanted!
"With pleasure, your majesty." Wyatt somehow managed past his flexing jaw before gripping Arturo's arm so tightly he knew it was cutting off blood flow.
The long trek to meet with the faction of Tin Men posted on the outskirts of Finaqua had been a clumsy one. Unfortunately Arturo just couldn't seem to avoid slamming face-first into trees or falling down some seriously steep embankments.
It was only by some divine intervention that the thought hadn't occurred to him until they were within sight of the Tin Men…was this why DG had been crying? Had he tried a similar stunt with her??
So the butt of his gun had plowed into the back of Arturo's head before he'd even thought twice…the guy was, after all, resisting arrest as the Tin Men happily documented later that evening. All of them were exchanging knowing smiles listening to the shrill screams coming from Arturo where, two floors beneath their feet, he was being introduced to his new cellmates in a manner bearing uncanny resemblance to his run-in with the maid…
Wyatt had taken a deep breath and stared up at the sky to steady the violent urges coursing through him as they hauled a bloody and unconscious Arturo away.
"DG…" He whispered and closed his eyes, biting his lip painfully at the thought of what might have happened between the two while they were alone.
And why would it have happened? Because he'd kept his mouth shut and tried not to interfere. Because he'd loved her all along and was afraid of letting it show through.
Wyatt turned on his heel and marched all the way back to the lake, cutting past the painter's shed and stopping dead in his tracks hearing those muffled sobs. He'd held his breath as he pulled the door open, finding her sitting atop the workbench with her face in her hands. He entered slowly and noisily, clearing his throat in that way he always did to let her know it was him.
"Go away, Wyatt…I'm so stupid…" She cried but he ignored the request, closing the door behind him and taking his hat off as he approached her.
"DG…" He began as he set his hat beside her on the bench but she cut him off.
"No…I'm dense, Wyatt. Do you know why?" She asked, her tear-filled eyes looking up at him as he stopped in front of her. "Because I knew you hated him but I tried to pretend you didn't." Wyatt's brow arched in surprise and her bottom lip instantly started trembling. "I thought, for some reason that I could judge for myself. That maybe you were looking out for me because you just saw me as a kid…that maybe he was actually a descent guy…but then he…" She clamped a hand over her mouth and started sobbing again. "He…"
Wyatt shook his head, closing his eyes as a mix of fear and rage boiled up inside him and asking past the lump in his throat, "He…what?"
DG wrapped her arms around him, crying against his chest and he nearly died inside. He brought his arms down around her and waited – it was all he could do.
Finally she looked up at him, those watery baby blues filled with so much sorrow. "He just turned out to be a stupid, stupid boy…last week he'd tried so hard to pressure me…it wasn't that I didn't want to…it was that I didn't want to with him…because the more he talked the more I saw him for what he really was…for what you could see in him…and do you know the only thing I could say that made him stop begging?"
Wyatt felt his own eyes welling up as he ran his hand over her hair; he really did know what she had said. "What's that, darling?" He choked out.
"I told him that if he tried to force me into anything that you would hunt him down to the ends of the OZ. That no matter where he went you would be there to make him regret it…that you would chase him into hell and back for me…and I…I've never in my life said anything I was more certain of." DG whispered, her bottom lip was quivering again, her voice breaking as she tried to form the words. "And I…I realized…that…"
Wyatt didn't wait for that sentence to finish. He drew her up into his arms and kissed her deeply, listening to her whimpering as it changed pitch. DG wrapped her trembling arms around his neck as he pressed against her, feeding on his lips and crying that she'd ignored these feelings for so long – she told him silently of fears that he would never allow her to have him…
He replied under no uncertain terms with his starved kiss that he'd been waiting forever to belong to her.
She could feel his fingertips tracing under her chin and down the nape of her neck slowly…tenderly…lovingly, hear the soft moans that were escaping him at the pleasure of the contact. There was something so right in his touch, so indescribably true that it left her gasping for more. Her hands wandered down the front of his vest, pulling at the buttons hastily and Wyatt moaned against her mouth in response to her plea, pulling away from her only long enough to yank the vest, shirt and all, off over his head. DG laughed against his smiling lips as they were returned to her in an instant.
Her hands wandered over the warm muscle of his back as she scooted closer to the edge of the bench, hiking up her dress and wrapping her legs around his hips as she drew him to her firmly. She wanted more, needed it; she wanted to be a part of him, to surrender herself completely to the protection of his love. There was nowhere else in the world she belonged but in his possession.
Wyatt was nipping her bottom lip, letting out the sexiest soft laughter as he stared into her eyes, giving her a mouth few more moments of loving care before his kiss began wandering over her cheek and jaw-line. DG sighed and panted, her eyes closing of their own accord, her head lulling back only to be caught by one of those strong hands, his fingers tangling in her hair as he guided her to tilt her head to the side for him.
His fingertips slid the sleeve of her dress aside; the first sensation of his lips on her bare shoulder nearly broke her heart with its beauty. She forced her eyes open once more, wanting to watch him as he slid her dress down to expose her breasts. The heat of his mouth as he kissed the sensitive flesh of her sternum sent her entire body ablaze. Tears ran down her cheeks as he wrapped his arms around her back to pull her closer still, kissing across her breasts and teasing her skin with his tongue.
Her knees trembled at his sides in need and he smiled up at her, the blue of his eyes darkening with lust as he took her nipple into his mouth. She tried to burn the image of his eyes rolling closed at that moment to memory, the way his hands felt as they caressed her bare back, the smell of his skin, the taste of his kiss still fresh on her lips. This was worth an entire lifetime of waiting, she thought as she ran her fingertips lovingly over the back of his neck and up through his hair, just to have him here with her, to belong to him as his actions spoke oaths of eternal fidelity and love. There was no in between for her Tin Man, he never made a promise he didn't intend to keep. With this act she knew him to belong to her and no other – no words could ever hope to convey this level of devotion.
To hell and back again just for the sake of her honor…he would give it all for her.
He lifted her up and guided her to stand, sliding her gown to her feet and removing her undergarments at a torturously slow pace, his eyes locked with hers the entire time and making her moan just from the promises of what was to come swirling in his gaze. She stepped backward toward the bench, smiling as he stepped forward at the same second. His warm chest pressed against her and she breathed his name into his ear, only to moan again watching his body tremble in response. With hands cradling the backs of her legs he lifted her to sit in front of him, smiling and kissing her as her hands wandered over his stomach and down to unfasten his belt. Her hand slid inside the material, finding that his mouth wasn't the only source of mind-blowing heat on his body. She clasped her fingers around him, her hand stroking him slowly and immediately earning muffled stream of pleas as he pressed his forehead to hers, breathing heavily and holding himself upright with a hand on either side of her on the bench. DG smiled watching his features twisting in pleasure for a moment before kissing him deeply, letting out a cry of surprise when, without warning, Wyatt's fingers sought revenge.
His pants slid down his legs to the floor and he stepped out of them with tremendous effort, cautiously avoiding the risk of her halting her touches. She was trembling uncontrollably now as he stroked her in the same rhythm, each of them moaning against the hungry mouth of the love of their life. They nuzzled their faces together desperately between kisses, staring into one another's eyes only when they could find the strength to open them.
There was no denying her when at last she urged him forward, he didn't have the strength or desire to, anything she wanted was hers to take, every ounce of his being belonged to her. His very life was hers to do with as she pleased. She clung to him and cried as their bodies joined, kissing the nape of his neck as he held her in the shelter of his arms, the safest place she could ever hope to be.
And when they moved together her entire world moved with them, everything else crumbling in the wake of this bond. He leaned back enough to stare down at her face, kissing her hand as tears streamed down his cheeks.
She didn't understand the emotion that was racing through her – love had never sounded so all-consuming when described by another. How she could go from sobbing to smiling then back again, how Wyatt's tear-filled eyes staring directly into her heart answered her question of whether it was just her experiencing it in such a way…no one had ever told her it could be like this.
They moved faster now, memorizing the desire in their lover's features, sharing fears and dreams and secrets without speaking, riding the waves of passion that were racing toward the breaker and growing in intensity with each passing second.
Wyatt held her to his chest, whispering words of undying loyalty in her ear, kissing her hair in the instant before their bodies both submitted to the need for release.
DG had never in her life experienced something so incredible. He'd made love to her body and soul, chased away her doubts and given her strength…and was now staring down at her with such a look of adoration that it stole her breath. He lifted her from the bench and rested on the floor beside her, playing with strands of her hair and kissing her fingertips, each of them content in the knowledge that nothing, not the words of others nor judgments that would be passed, the opinions of enemies, friends or even family could keep them from being together for the rest of their lives.
Author's Note:
The title for this piece stems from the song "Everything You're Breathing For" by The Parlor Mob. Give it a listen – the lyrics were ssssooooo perfect that they inspired me to write this one shot. Go to Myspace dot com / the parlor mob