"No one will be able to find you."

"I'm going to break in my newest sex toy."

"You'll change your mind once you know what it's like to be with a real man."

Glinda's heart hammered in her chest as her eyes flew open, Eadlyn's voice still echoing through her senses. How could she have fallen asleep in the cave? You couldn't see what was coming if your eyes were closed!

"Shh."

She froze when she felt a hand on the back of her head, her stomach turning at the idea of him being close enough to touch her.

She tried to move away, shocked to feel the roughness of the clothes Mason had given her replaced by something soft. What was she wearing? A robe? Where were her clothes?!

"Glinda?"

The concerned tone didn't even register with her. She was too busy freaking out.

"It's all right, Glinda."

An arm closed around her waist, pulling her closer to the body behind her.

"I've got you."

"No!!" She lashed out, knocking the arm away as she turned over, hitting and kicking for all she was worth.

"Glinda?" It took a barely awake Elphaba a moment to register that she was under attack. "Glinda, it's me!" She tried to protect herself from the flailing blonde. "It's El..."

The rest of her word was cut off as Glinda's fist made contact with her bruised left side. She tried to suck in a breath as her battered ribs screamed in pain, causing her vision to swim.

Glinda thought about hitting him again but jumped off the bed instead, her chest heaving as she took in her surroundings. Her eyes finally focused properly and the sleep induced haze faded from her mind, allowing her to see she wasn't in the cave after all. She was in her room at Upland Manor.

A smile spread across her face as memories of the evening before filled her head. Elphaba rescued her and Cade took Eadlyn into custody. Which meant it couldn't have been Eadlyn touching her.

"Elphie?" Her heart sank as she turned back toward the bed to find the dazed green woman. "Elphie!" She hurried back to her lover. "Are you all right?"

Elphaba flinched away from her touch, causing her to groan in pain as her side protested the movement.

"Sweet Oz, what have I done?" Glinda reached for her girlfriend again.

"It's all right." Elphaba used her right hand to cradle her midsection, not wanting the blonde to feel any worse than she obviously already did.

"It most certainly is not." Glinda put her hand over the one Elphaba was using to nurse her side. "Let me see."

"I'm fine."

"I said let me see." She pushed the hand aside and quickly untied Elphaba's robe before she could protest again. She swallowed hard as she pulled it away to reveal an angry looking bruise mottling the green skin. "Please tell me I didn't do that."

"You didn't." Elphaba assured her but didn't elaborate. "It's not that bad."

Glinda gently ran her fingers over the bruise, stopping when she felt her girlfriend flinch. "I'm going to get Dena."

"No." Elphaba stopped her from moving. "You just caught me off guard. It really doesn't hurt that much."

"Liar."

"I'm serious." She was telling the truth. The initial jolt of pain had settled into a dull ache. "What happened anyway?"

"I..." Glinda felt ridiculous. How could she possibly have mistaken her Elphie for that monster? "I'll tell you if you tell me how you hurt her your side." She tried to take some of the heat off herself.

"All right." Elphaba agreed. "But you go first."

She sighed. She should have seen that one coming. "I had a bad dream."

"Are you all right?"

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" Glinda wrinkled her nose as she looked at the bruise again. "I can't believe I hurt you."

"Stop apologizing. It's not like you meant to do it." Elphaba gripped her hand. "Now tell me about your dream."

"Are you sure you don't want me to get Dena? She could give you something for pain."

"Glinda."

"I know you said it doesn't hurt but..."

Elphaba sighed. "Glinda."

"She has pills that wouldn't make you too sleepy to enjoy the rest of bed day. She gave some to me once when I sprained my ankle. We were..."

"Would you stop?" She involuntarily hissed as she sat up.

"See!" Glinda pointed at her. "You're in pain, Elphie." Tears filled her eyes. "I don't want you to be in pain."

"Come here." Elphaba pulled the blonde to her, scooting back so she could rest against the headboard. "I'm fine, my love."

"Are you sure?"

She couldn't stop herself from grinning at the sniffled question. "I'm positive." She ran her fingers through curls. "Now why don't you tell me about your dream?"

Glinda cuddled closer against her. "I don't think I want to talk about."

"You don't think you want to talk about it?" Elphaba mimicked her words. "It sounds to me like you need to."

"But it was stupid."

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that?"

"It was about him." Glinda finally gave in, pulling back to look at her lover. "And it wasn't really a dream so much as snippets of things he said to me. I was disoriented when I woke up and thought I was still in that damned cave."

"You're safe now." Elphaba wiped tears from her cheeks. "I won't let anything happen to you. I know I didn't make very good on that promise before, but..."

"How many times do I have to say none of this was your fault?"

"I'll stop blaming myself when you stop having nightmares about him."

They stared at each other for a moment before Glinda dropped her eyes to pick at imaginary lint on the comforter. "I don't want to talk about him anymore. And I really don't want to argue."

"That wasn't arguing." Elphaba countered, not wanting her to be upset. "It was bickering."

"Whatever it was, I don't want to do it anymore." Glinda tried not to wince when her eyes caught site of the discoloration on Elphie's side as she looked back up. "Your turn."

"What? Oh." Elphaba shrugged. "I told you I fell in the cave."

"You mean you got it rescuing me?" Something caught her eye as she moved to stroke the marred flesh again. Her breath caught in her throat as she pushed the robe off of Elphie's left shoulder to find another, even darker bruise starting just above Elphaba's collar bone and running from her neck to the tip of her shoulder. "Elphie!" She pulled the woman forward, shoving the robe even further away to find it ended halfway down her back. "Oh Elphie."

"It looks worse than it is."

"Then it must be bad because it looks awful." She shook her head. "You got these because of me."

"No."

"Yes."

"I fell because I'm a klutz. This had nothing to do with you, all right?" Elphaba tried to make the blonde look at her but she was too busy staring at her shoulder. "Glinda?"

"You could have been killed."

"I think that's taking it a little far."

"I don't." Glinda leaned in to get a closer look at the damage. "You wouldn't have been there if it wasn't for me."

"I..." Goose bumps broke out over Elphaba's body as Glinda's warm breath caressed her skin. "I was where I wanted to be."

Her reaction wasn't lost on the blonde, who took her actions a step further and touched her lips to the tender flesh in the crook of Elphie's neck.

"Uh," Elphaba swallowed hard. "What was I saying?"

"You were trying to convince me that you didn't get hurt because of me." Glinda spoke as she continued to follow the path of the injury. "But I know better." The corner of her mouth turned up when her lover shuddered. "And I think it's incredibly sexy."

"Sexy?" Elphaba furrowed her brow. "You think bruises are sexy?"

"Not the bruises." Glinda corrected her as she finished with the shoulder. "The fact that you risked your life to save me."

Elphaba opened her mouth to say something but took in a shocked breath when dainty fingers brushed her side.

"I've had people taking care of me my whole life." Glinda explained. "They've spoiled me and coddled me and given me almost everything I could ever want."

"Almost?"

"You." Glinda stared into her eyes. "They never gave me you. And none of them ever risked their lives to save me." She placed a kiss at the corner of Elphaba's mouth. "It gives me an unbelievable rush to know you will." She moved to kiss the other side of her mouth. "That you have."

"What else was I supposed to do? I love you."

"And I love you." Glinda finally brought their lips together in a soft caress. "Let me show you how much?"

Elphaba nodded as she willingly let the blonde guide her back down to the bed, their lips connected the whole time. She had only seen Glinda like this one other time, after she used herself as a human shield to keep her safe from flying glass when they were fighting Morrible. She had been convinced the normally oversensitive blonde would break down after Bree healed her. Instead Glinda surprised her by turning into what could only be described as a vixen.

She had to admit she found it extremely sensual. It was definitely a side of Glinda most people never would have imagined existed.

"This needs to go."

Glinda pulling at her robe brought her from her thoughts. What should have been an easy enough task was made harder by the fact that half of the robe was balled up under her body thanks to Glinda pushing it aside earlier.

Elphaba pulled back from the blonde's eager lips. "Here, let me..."

"Never mind." Glinda pushed her back down on the bed when she tried to sit up. "It's not that big of a deal."

"But…"

All thought stopped for Elphaba when Glinda moved her mouth to her chest and started placing lingering kisses on her exposed breasts. She didn't even notice a pink hand reaching between her legs until she felt the welcome invasion.

"I can't find the words, Elphie. Saying I love you doesn't seem like enough."

Green hips bucked as she picked up the pace.

"You're my everything."

Elphaba's back arched.

"My whole world."

"You're... mine... too!" Elphaba drew out the last word as she started to climax. "Glinda!!"

"I've got you my love." Glinda plunged deeper.

"Oz!!" Elphaba's body shuddered as wave after wave of pleasure washed over her.

Glinda slowly brought her down, eventually pulling her hand free so she could lay down next to a panting Elphie and take her in her arms. "You're the most precious thing in the world to me."

"Give me a minute to recuperate and I'll show you how precious you are to me too."

She kissed her on the temple. "I already know."

"You got to show me, I get to show you." Elphaba craned her neck to look at her. "It's only fair."

"How can I turn down an offer like that?"

"You can't." She captured pink lips to prove her point.

Glinda ran her fingers through raven trusses as they laid in comfortable silence. She liked having Elphaba in her arms. Usually it was the other way around when they cuddled. "I didn't hurt you did I?"

"Hurt me?"

She blushed. She hadn't meant to voice that opinion out loud. But now that she had she needed an answer. "I wasn't exactly gentle."

Elphaba turned in her arms so they were facing each other. "You were perfect."

"I felt like an animal." Glinda shook her head. "I can't explain it. There's just something about knowing you're willing to put yourself in harms way for me that makes me get all..." She searched for the right word.

"Horny?"

Glinda chuckled at her response. "I guess that's a good way to put it."

Elphaba nodded. "I like it."

"What? Calling me horny or me doing what I did?"

"Both." Elphaba pulled her closer. "And your reaction is perfectly normal. Don't you remember learning about tense situations and the effects adrenaline can have on someone who has just been through one? We had to write a paper about it for psychology class at Shiz."

"Not everyone's brain is a sponge like yours. Do you remember how many papers we had to write for that class?"

"Quite a few, but they were all on fascinating subjects."

Glinda giggled. "You were such a geek."

"According to you I still am." Elphaba grinned. "Is it just me or was I incredibly loud a minute ago?"

"You were fine."

"You're sure Bree and Addena won't be pounding on the wall, telling us to shut up?"

Glinda giggled again. "No."

"Even if I do this?" Elphaba latched onto the blonde's neck as she rolled her onto her back.

"Oh." Glinda purred approvingly.

"You like that huh?" Elphaba grinned as she went back to kissing her lover. "How about this?" She untied her robe and started kissing along her collar bone.

Desire shot through her. "Love it."

Elphaba looked down at her. "And I love you."

Glinda let herself get lost in those brown eyes. "Make love to me, Elphie."

"Gladly."

She closed her eyes as green lips closed over her own, flooding her with the sense of security she'd been missing when she first woke up. She knew memories of Eadlyn and what she'd been through would be with her for a long time, but she also knew Elphie would be there to assuage her fears. There was nothing quite like the love of a good woman to put the world in perspective.

Elphaba drank in her features as she gently entered her. "You're gorgeous, Linny."

Glinda started to thank her for the compliment but was drawn into another kiss before she could. She groaned into the lip lock as Elphaba used her free hand to cup one of her breasts.

"Even covered in scrapes and bumps and bruises." Elphaba nipped at a scratch near the blonde's right ear. "You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, Linny."

She felt her arousal growing.

"Sometimes I wonder why you're with me."

It was getting harder and harder to concentrate on what Elphie was saying as her fingers worked their own form of magic.

"And it scares me to know how incomplete I am without you."

Her body jerked in anticipation.

"You're my destiny Glinda Upland."

And then it assaulted her senses. Sweat slicked her body as pure bliss radiated from between her legs.

"And I intend to make sure you never forget it."

"Oh Elphie!" Glinda finally found her voice again.

Elphaba masterfully drew out her orgasm, kissing her the whole time. It wasn't until she was sure her lover was completely spent that she brought her down. "I love you, Linny."

"I..." She tried to regain her composure as Elphie withdrew her hand. "Love you too."

"Bet I love you more."

"You'd lose."

Elphaba chuckled as she took the blonde in her arms. "Are you all right my love?"

"Are you kidding?" Glinda beamed. "I'm wonderful. That was amazing."

"You weren't too shabby yourself earlier."

Glinda cuddled closer against her right side, her hand going back to the bruise that had started it all. "Are you sure it doesn't hurt?"

"Positive."

"Well that's too bad."

Elphaba frowned. "I thought you said you didn't want me to be in pain."

"I don't." Glinda propped herself up on her elbow. "But if you were I would have to kiss it and make it better."

"Oh?"

Glinda nodded. "Yep."

"Well in that case it hurts like hell."

"I thought you might change your mind." Glinda grinned as she leaned down to brush her lips against the purple flesh.

Elphaba shivered at the contact. "I've come to a conclusion."

"What?"

"I love bed days."

Glinda's giggle filled the room.