Author's Note: Not mine, not making any money. OMG—thank you SO MUCH for the amazing reviews. You guys are wonderful and fantastic.

Aftermath –

Chapter 7

Wyatt Cain.

You.

Must.

Stop.

The voice—I was pretty sure it was my conscience, but it actually sounded disturbingly like Glitch—was screaming in my head.

I couldn't though. I'd been keeping my emotions locked under steely control since the second I pulled her into my arms in her family's room, but I couldn't do it anymore. She'd taken one too many foolish chances with herself. It infuriated me.

And it terrified me.

I didn't even realize what I was doing when I kissed her. I just knew I had to touch her, had to show her how important she was—to the O.Z., to me—too important not to take care of herself. If something happened to DG—

I forced the thought from my mind. Dimly, I heard myself growl as I pushed her onto the bed. She was fine—she was just fine. DG's body was slim and lithe under mine. So small it made me afraid of my own strength. I captured both of her hands in one of mine and held them above her head as I feasted on her willing mouth. The bones of her wrists were delicate, and I knew I could snap them with a flick of my hand if tried.

She arched against me, and her breasts, high and firm, pressed into my chest. DG was mine now, in this moment. It had been eight years, but a man never forgets the way it feels to make a woman lose herself in him. With her, it would be even easier because she didn't have any experience dealing with real passion—if I hadn't already known that instinctively, the uncertainty in her voice when she said my name would have told me. She wouldn't have any idea how to defend herself from the weapons of sensual assault I could use against her.

And dear Ozma, how I wanted to do that—to slowly peel away her clothes and spend the rest of an eternity touching, tasting, worshiping every inch of her petite body before I buried myself inside her. But I couldn't. Not yet. Not like this. So I slowly pulled back from her, fighting back a groan as I did and taking one last, small nibble of her lush bottom lip.

No, I didn't want to, but I rolled away because I couldn't trust myself to keep touching her and not take advantage anymore than I already had. The image of her writhing against me came unbidden to my brain—advantage or not, she'd been enjoying it—and I laid an arm across my eyes to try to block the vision

You should be ashamed of yourself! Mental-Glitch berated me. DG is hurting and confused, and you're acting like a boy on his first visit to the Sin District.

As much as it pained me to admit it, I knew the voice—my conscience—was right. No matter how willing she'd been, I'd taken advantage of DG when what she needed from me was support and understanding. Hells, I'd practically attached her. Guilt weighed down on me. DG was vibrant and beautiful, no question about it. But she was also achingly young and naïve. Sometimes her inner strength made it very easy to forget that. I was supposed to be protecting her, not adding more confusion to a life that had already been turned upside down.

My feelings—especially in light of what might be happening to the O.Z.—were secondary. I took another breath. It didn't really help. I was painfully aware of the woman lying beside me. I was still breathing deeply, trying to get control of myself, when I heard her speak. Her voice was uncertain and childlike and made me feel like an incredible bastard.

I knew I needed to answer her, but I didn't have the faintest idea what to say. I'm sorry I jumped you like a wild animal, princess, but it's just that I want you so damn badly I can't control myself. Not a chance.

I was still formulating a response when I felt her start to move further away from me. That was unacceptable. Lightning fast, I reached out and pulled her back down on the bed.

"Where do you think you're going?" I demanded. There was a long pause, and her eyes darted around desperately. I wondered if she thought she was going to find the answer to my question written on one of the—realization dawned. "You can see again." Relief rushed through me, and I could feel myself smiling.

"Yeah, thanks to you," she replied softly.

The answer thundered through my brain. Thanks to me. What was she talking about? I looked down sharply and saw that the color had drained from her face, and her eyes had gone wide. Something wasn't right.

"Thanks to me? What do you mean?"

We were lying side-by-side, her body plastered to mine, but I'd pulled away enough to look down into her face. At my question, she started to squirm. I understood that she was trying to move away, but the movement of her body still made me groan.

"Stop that," I said more harshly than I'd intended.

"Why—"

She broke off with a blush, holding herself completely still. I knew she could still feel me against her belly. There was no way she could have missed it. In spite of her blush, her eyes darkened with what I recognized as desire a heartbeat later. She was silent for a long second, and then biting her lip, she met my gaze and very purposely rolled forward a little, pressing her body more tightly against mine.

I sucked in a sharp breath. "Damn it, DG—are you trying to kill me?"

She pulled back immediately, concern replacing desire in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Cain! I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't know—" She stopped and tried to pull away again.

Talking to women was like trying to navigate China Country. I blew out a heavy sigh and kept my arms tight, not letting her retreat. She wasn't getting away that easily, by Ozma. Something was going on, and I wanted to know what it was.  I looked down again. She was upset. Damn. Clearly, she wasn't entirely inexperienced with men—my blood boiled a little at that thought—but she wasn't entirely confident, either. I chose my words carefully.

"DG, you didn't hurt me. It's just har—er—difficult for a man to stop, sometimes. Especially when he's with a woman like you."

She looked up shyly. "Oh. W-why did you stop? I d-didn't want you to."

I closed my eyes and kissed her forehead. "Because it wouldn't be right, Baby."

I felt her body stiffen. "Why wouldn't it be right?"

"There are a lot of reasons," I started, voice cautious.

She was pushing away from me again, and this time I let her go. She rolled to the edge of the bed but didn't move to stand. When she spoke again, her voice was shaky and apologetic.

"I'm sorry for pushing you."

If she'd grown a second head, it couldn't possibly have taken me more by surprise. "Pushing? Me? Kid, what are you talking about?"

"I've been—clinging—to you, and it isn't fair. It isn't right."

Unable to help myself, I edged closer to her. It felt like someone shoved a shard of ice through my heart when I reached out and touched her back and she flinched. "Kiddo, you've got it backwards. I pushed you. I—you—no." I felt a wave of frustration when my brain refused to produce the right words. I wondered if that's what Glitch felt like.

"You don't understand." She sounded absolutely miserable. If someone else had made her sound that way, I would have hunted him down and shot him. In this case, it really wasn't an option.

"Then make me understand."

She just shook her head silently.

I continued rubbing her back in long, slow strokes, trying to decide what to say. Finally I settled on, "The idea of something happening to you is pretty hard for me to take."

"I told you that you don't have to be responsible for me, Cain." Her voice was muffled and sad.

"I know I don't have to—I want to."

 "Why would you want that? I'm a mess," she said forlornly.

For some reason, that made me smile a little. I stopped rubbing her back and pulled her gently backwards. My arms weren't tight this time. She could have wiggled away if she'd wanted to, but she let me drag her back against my chest. I buried my face in her hair and smiled against her scalp.

"Yeah, but you're my mess," I said

She was still for a second, and then a heard a snort of reluctant laughter. "I think I should be insulted.

"You can be insulted later. For now, why don't you tell me what you meant about feeling better because of me?"

"Um, would you believe me if I told you it was just a figure of speech?"

"Don't think so, Kiddo. I know you too well. What's going on in that head of yours?"

DG drummed her fingers on the pillow beside her. "I'm really not sure about anything. Probably it would be better if we just sort of tabled this discussion for awhile."

"DG," I warned.

She sighed.

"Ok, but remember, I don't know much about it, or if I'm even on the right track, or—"

"Are you going to spend all day talking around this or are you going to get to it?"

She elbowed me in the stomach, and I took that as my cue to be quiet. She licked her lips—which did nothing to help my barely-tabled libido—and spoke, voice hesitant, like she wasn't exactly sure where to start.

"The Queen and I were—talking—in Az's room today. She was pretty surprised about the fact that I wasn't having more trouble recovering from helping Az last night."

I tightened my grip a little. "Don't think I'm going to forget about that, Princess. You should have let me know how much that took out of you—"

She interrupted before I could finish scolding her. I decided I could come back to it pretty easily as soon as she finished. "I was totally wiped out when I was looking for you, but as soon as I saw you, I felt about a thousand times better."

"You should have waited," I pressed.

 "That's just it—now don't get upset, Cain. I mean, it's probably just a coincidence, but the thing is, there's a very small chance that my magic might possibly have decided to sort of—latch on to you."

I felt a wave of confusion. "You want to run that by me again?"

"I, um, don't actually understand it very well, but according to the Queen using our magic takes a lot of energy, and all of us find a shield thingy to—help—with that." She trailed off. "Like I said, I don't really understand it. It's probably not really a big deal, anyway, but I think being around you helps me sort of recharge after I use my magic. Maybe. Possibly."

My mind was racing. I knew a little bit about magic from serving on the Mystic Man's protection detail, but this—this was far beyond my experience. On the surface, though, it didn't seem like anything to get too worked up about. To me, it just sounded like another way I could protect DG, and I couldn't see anything wrong with that.

"Ok."

DG twisted her head around and looked at me. She'd had her eyes squeezed tightly shut like she was expecting an explosion of some sort. Only one of them was open now, but from what I could see, it was confused. "Huh?"

I shrugged. "I said, 'Ok.' If I'm your magical doohickey that's fine."

The princess' eyes went wide. "Are you serious?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Cain, if that's true it means you could be stuck with me. Like, forever stuck with me. Your life has been on hold for years already. This—thing—would be just like another tin suit. You'd be—trapped."

Unable to help myself, I caught DG's chin. "I hadn't planned on going anywhere, Kid."

"But your life—"

"Eight years ago, my life ended. I'm never going to get it back, DG, and there's no use living in the past. When you let me out of that suit—you gave me a second chance. A new life, and I've been hoping you'd want to be part of it."

She froze and looked at me with huge eyes. "Part of it how?"

I shrugged. "However feels right."

There was a long moment of silence, and then DG's voice, tentative and soft. "Would you kiss me again?" Her fingers brushed my cheek, and I had to fight not to turn my face into the caress.

"Why?" My voice was hoarse with need.

"Because it feels right."

"DG—"

"Please, Cain."

I closed my eyes and lowered my head. My lips were almost touching hers when I spoke. "I shouldn't." I bumped my nose against hers lightly. "This is a very bad idea."  I could feel DG's panting breath falling feather-light against my skin. It was a bad idea. But maybe, if I could control myself, a little more would be all right. The keyword, of course, was 'if.' DG held herself perfectly still as I let my hand skim up her side and come to rest underneath the swell of her breast.

Take it slow, Tin Man. I told myself. You're showing her just a little—don't lose control.

"A very bad idea," I said again softly.

"I-it doesn't feel like a bad idea." Her lips brushed mine as she spoke, her voice a bare whisper. "It feels—good."

I turned my hand and cupped her breast in it, letting my thumb skim lightly over her nipple. I could feel it taut through the fabric of her shirt. "How does this feel?" I battled to keep my voice even.

"Th-that feels good, too."

"Only good?" I asked as I twirled my thumb, squeezing my hand very gently.

DG sucked in her breath. "Cain—"

"Only good?" I persisted.

"Nooo—"

Her lips were parted slightly, begging me to kiss them, but I ignored the silent request. Instead I gently nudged her head to the side and whispered to her as I continued the caress. "How does it feel, Baby?" I sucked the lobe of her ear into my mouth and nipped lightly at it, smiling when she shuddered in my arms.

"Please—"

I let my lips curve upward again, happy with her reaction, and began kissing my way down the side of her neck. She tasted sweet and womanly and magical. I sucked lightly at her pulse point and was rewarded when she moaned my name. I felt her hand on my chest and reached up, plucking it away. DG opened her eyes and looked a question at me.

"There's only so much a man can take before he loses control, Baby."

"But I want to—"

"Not now—now is just for you." Before she could protest, I laved the hollow of her throat with the flat of my tongue and smiled against her skin when she gasped. Raising my head, I finally took her mouth again. The kiss was purposely soft and sweet. I coaxed her lips open, and she cooperated eagerly. As I claimed her mouth, I pushed open the buttons on her shirt one at a time. I didn't part the fabric yet.

"Is this alright?" I asked softly, pulling away from her lips. I knew how far I was willing to take this, but I wouldn't go further than she was comfortable. "I'll stop whenever you want me to."

"Not yet," she begged, eyes cloudy. "Please, don't stop yet."

I felt myself smiling again. "Not yet," I agreed and pushed the material of her shirt off the sides of her body. Her breasts were as beautiful and perfect as I knew they would be. Pert and firm, they weren't large, but they were exquisite—milky white with petal-pink tips that called to a primitive, masculine place inside me.

I raised my hands and covered them with my palms, making light circles with the tips of my fingers. DG writhed against me in response. "More," she begged softly.

"Tell me what you want," I ordered, not increasing the pressure of my hands at all. I didn't know for sure how new this was to her, but it was vitally important to me that she be in control of the things I was doing to her.

"I-I want—"

"It's ok, Baby—just tell me," I coaxed.

"I want—your—mouth—on me."

Yes. That's what I wanted, too—what I needed. I leaned forward and kissed her collarbone. "Here?" I teased. I was testing myself as well as her, seeing how far I could push myself without losing control.

"Cain—"

"Or maybe here?" I licked the outer edge of her breast.

"Cain—"

I decided she'd had enough teasing and finally brought my mouth to her nipple, closing it around the bud and drawing on it. This was as far as I planned to take her right now, but I wasn't ready for the sweet torture to end just yet. Edging down, I buried my face between her breasts and went back and forth between them, using my hands and mouth alternately to lavish affection on them. DG's hands tangled in my hair, and she whimpered as she moved restlessly underneath me.

"So beautiful," I whispered long minutes later as I pulled reluctantly away. Bringing the open sides of her shirt together, I slid back up the bed. This time I didn't pull away from her. Like it was the most natural thing in the world, DG nestled against my side, her head in the hollow of my shoulder. She didn't move to button her shirt, and I played absently with the ends of her hair as we laid together in silence. Trying to bring our bodies back under control.

We'd been in her room for nearly an hour, and I knew she was all right now, and that it was time for both of us to get up and face reality again. But not yet. Not quite yet. I lost myself in thought, considering the woman in my arms. I'd never felt about anyone the way I felt about her. Not even close—not even Adora.

Adora.

It was strange—to the rest of the world, my wife had been dead only a couple of months. But to me she'd been gone for eight annuals. I had grieved for her—spent long days and nights doing nothing but grieving for her. When I found out she might really be alive, I'd felt great joy, but also a crushing sense of guilt because even then I realized that I felt something more for DG than was right if it turned out I was still a married man.

One of the greatest regrets of my life was the fact that I hadn't always been a good husband to Adora. We'd married young and out of necessity. She'd hated life in Central City, and I'd resented her for the pressure she put on me to leave it. When she told me she was taking Jeb and leaving the city, I hadn't argued with her. I'd been almost relieved to know that the constant fighting was going to come to an end.

It took me almost dying to learn to appreciate what I had. I was working the Mystic Man's protection detail and there had been an ambush. I took three bullets. It was a sheer miracle I didn't bleed out lying in the street. When I woke up, the Mystic Man was sitting beside me.

"Wyatt Cain, you are a very lucky man," he announced.

In more pain than I'd ever felt before, I could barely make myself answer. "Why do you say that?"

"Because you're one of the rare ones—you have a second chance at life. What are you going to do with it?" Then he disappeared. But his words didn't. They echoed in my head for days. Lying in that hospital bed, all I could think about was my wife and son.

Jeb was a little over two annuals old. I hadn't seen him in months, and when I had, he'd hardly recognized me. Adora had been stiff and unresponsive in my arms, as well, the last time I visited them—not that I could blame her. She wasn't an idiot. She knew.

I healed, and when I did I told the Mystic Man that I needed some time. He smiled knowingly and told me to go get my family back. I went to the cabin a changed man. When I asked Adora to come back to Central City with me, she'd looked at me warily.

"What will you do if I say no?" She asked.

"Then I'll stay here with you," I replied, utterly serious. "I won't lie to you—things in the city aren't going well. Tin Men are needed more than ever, but I won't leave you again."

There was a long moment of silence, and then she held out her hand, smiling tentatively. "When do we leave?"

Much more than the morning we'd said our vows, that was the first day of our marriage. I'd been faithful to Adora from then on, and if she'd been alive, I would have greeted her joyfully and locked any new feelings I might have had for the princess away, never to be acknowledged again. But she hadn't been, and as I said my final goodbyes to her, I knew she would have wished me only happiness.

Happiness. It had only been a little over a week, but somehow that concept, for me at least, had become inexorably linked with the young woman in my arms. Realistically, I knew the idea of a life with DG was the next closest thing to impossible. Insurmountable obstacles stood in our way—there was her station, the difference in our ages, and more.

But for now, I couldn't make myself care. I just wanted to hold her in my arms and pretend that I believed in happy endings.

I was falling in love with a princess.

I felt her stir against my chest and look up at me.

"Deep thoughts?" She asked with a soft smile.

"About you," I answered easily.

DG laughed. "Then good thoughts, I hope."

Feeling all at once like I was 20 annuals old again, I let myself leer down at her. "Only good?" I teased, repeating my words from earlier.

DG blushed and rolled her eyes. "You are terrible."

I shrugged lightly. "There are probably some empty cells left in the witch's dungeon. I guess you could lock me up and throw away the key."

Moving faster than I knew she could, DG rolled on top of me and sat up, straddling my abdomen. Her open shirt provided me with a tantalizing view before the fabric fell back together. My stomach tightened.

"DG," I warned.

"Hush." She leaned forward and pressed her finger to my lips. "I think you're going to require punishment much harsher than the sorceress' dung—"

The sharp triple-wrap of knuckles on the door interrupted whatever she might have said.

TBC

A region in the Quadling Country that is inhabited by people and things made of china, and it is surrounded by a high also made of china. Dorothy and her friends pass through this country en route to find the palace of Glinda the Good, in "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Sadly, they cause some damage to its inhabitants.