Wicked Ugly Bad (A Kinda Fairytale) (29 page)

“I
was paying attention to what mattered.”

“You
know, half the reason Ramona hated me was because she was so jealous of the
attention you paid to
me
and not to
her.
”

“You
think I should’ve paid
more
attention to that lunatic?”

“Hell
no.”  Her eyebrows drew together.  “You’re mine.  Even then, you were mine.”

Marrok
liked that answer.  Possessiveness wasn’t love, but it felt pretty damn
satisfying to hear her claim him as her own.  “I’m a hundred percent yours,
baby.  I have been right from the start.”

“I
know!  Ramona was just
completely
out-of-line. 
Such
a terrible
doctor.”  Scarlett frowned.  “And she didn’t do anything to make you feel
better about yourself with her unprofessional behavior.”

“Well,
I’m feeling fine, now.”  He tugged her lips back towards his throbbing erection,
before she got distracted by another do-Gooding campaign.  “Please don’t stop.”

She
grinned at him and didn’t stop.

Marrok
enjoyed it for as long as he could, but there was no way he was going to last. 
He was too close.  His jaw locked, struggling to hanging on.  “Letty?”  He
tried to focus.  “I’m about to come.”

Her
head popped up, again.  Going so long without talking must have been hard for
his precious little chatterbox.  “That’s the whole
point
, dummy.”

“I’m
still not ready.”  Somehow, he found the strength to pull away from the warmth
of her mouth.  “Not yet.”  He flipped her around, so he was on top again. 
“First, I need you with me.”  He settled between her legs and was so damn
grateful that she was his.  “I need you.”

“You
have me.”  Scarlett looked straight into her eyes and smiled.  “But, I’m still
the one making love to
you
.”  She nodded as if precision on the point
was vital.  “I want you to feel safe with me.”

“I
feel a hell of a lot more than safe right now.”  He was going to lose control
if he didn’t get inside of her soon.

Be
gentle.

Be
gentle.

Be
gentle.

“You
know what I mean.  It’s important that you trust me to…”  Scarlett trailed off
with a gasp as he surged forward, seating himself deep within her damp heat.  “
Marrok.
”

He
had her.

Finally.

“You’re
the only person in the world I trust, Red.”  Marrok dropped his forehead
against hers.  She hot and tight and perfect.  He knew what it was to come
home.  “You’re my wife.”

She
bit down on her lower lip, her body shifting to accept more of him.  “Not so
fast.  You have to propose before we’re…” She let out a breathless sigh as the
next stroke went even deeper.  “Oh yessss.”

“I
think I
did
propose.  And that sounded like a yes to me.”

She
blinked.  “You did
not
propose and I didn’t say… God
yes.
”

He
chuckled at that and increased his thrusts.  “New thought:  Since you’re the
one running this show, I think
technically
you should be the one doing
the proposing.”

“You
expect
me
to ask
you
to get married?”

They
were already married, as far as Marrok was concerned, so he really didn’t see
why there needed to be any asking, at all.  “Don’t worry.  I’m not going to
play hard to get.”  He dipped his head to suckle her breast.

She
obviously had a lot more to say on the subject, but she was getting sidetracked
by all wicked things he was doing to her body.  “You really are Bad.”

“Told
ya so.”  His teeth ground together, wanting to postpone his own orgasm. 
“Letty?”

“Mmmmm?” 
Full words were apparently beyond her.

“Can
I stop being gentle now?”

She
frantically bobbed her head.

Hallelujah.

Marrok
caught leg and pulled it higher.  At the same time, he dragged her farther
under his massive form.  The wolf was twice her size and it was hungry for
her.  The black mist licked against pale skin.  He pinned her down, enjoying
the small whimper of surrender.  Both of her wrists were caught in his palm and
her body was his for the taking.

“Wife.” 
He breathed into her ear.

Dazed
blue eyes met his.  “Marrok.”

It
wasn’t exactly what he wanted to hear, but it would do.

He
rocked into her again and again.  Scarlett gave a cry of passion, surging to
meet his demands.  As far as he could tell, she
liked
the ungentle him.

Thank
Christ.

She
was so close now and he was about to lose it.  Marrok’s hand slid down to where
their bodies were joined and he deliberately brushed his thumb over her tight
flesh.  He’d been paying attention in the dungeon.  He knew just how she liked
to be touched.

Scarlett
went taunt, her eyes wide.  “Yes, yes,
yes!
”

The
ripples of her climax pushed him over the edge.  “Letty!”

And
then all he could do was hang on and ride out the explosion.

***

“Marrok?”

“Yeah?”

“You
okay?”

“I
have no idea.  I can’t feel anything below my nose.”

Scarlett
grinned at that and pushed back a handful of his tawny hair.  He was back in
human form, sprawled out on top of her like he had no intention of ever moving.

She
knew the feeling.

“Did
I hurt you?”  He asked after a moment.

“No. 
Of course not.  You were very gentle.”

“Not
at the end I wasn’t.”

She
gave him a kiss.  “You were a little
less
gentle, but I loved it.”  Even
at the end, he’d been careful not to harm her.  She never worried about him
being too rough.  Marrok always took care with her.  Maybe because he
understood what it was to be treated badly.  To be hurt and unloved and
discarded.

Even
now, she could feel the tension coming back to his body.  He had just given her
everything he had, but he was still unsure.  He was instinctively bracing for
her to leave him.  He couldn’t help it.  God only knew what he’d endured in his
life.

Scarlett
didn’t take offense at his wariness.

In
time, he’d see that she’d meant what she’d said.  He was safe with her.

She
snuggled closer to him, her palm finding his.  “I have work on a plan to
destroy my stepsister, but I’m too relaxed to remember why.”  Their fingers
locked together and she closed her eyes.  “I’m going to take a nap and you’re
going to hold me.  Deal?”

She
felt him relax against her.  “Deal.”

Marrok
positioned himself so he was lying between Letty and door, like he wanted to
protect her against any surprise invasions.  Given Jana’s tendency to attract
enemies, it was probably a good guess.

He
nuzzled her hair, his body curving around her.  “So… was this really your room
as a kid?”  He asked after a while.

“Kind
of.”

From
the direction his palm was going, napping was the last thing on his mind.  “Well,
that’s
kind of
kinky, don’t you think?”

She
batted his hand away, just to torment him.  “I think you’re incorrigible.”

“Oh
come on… You didn’t ever lay in here and daydream about some local Wolfball
player ravishing your Good little self?”  His teeth nipped her ear.  “I’m
imagining the reverse situation, right now.”

“There
aren’t any local Wolfball players.”  Scarlett said staunchly.  “My grandmother
controls the Enchanted Forest and she doesn’t approve of that barbaric
so-called ‘sport.’”

“Really? 
‘Cause she’s got a Blu-ray of my highlight reel sitting on a shelf downstairs.”

Scarlett
sighed.  “Fine. 
I
don’t approve of it.  It keeps the wolves in virtual slavery.”

“Yeah,
but it also keeps us alive.”  He grew more serious.  “Without the Four Kingdoms
wanting us for their stupid game, where else would we go?  The wolves would be
hunted down.  Take away the teams and the Good folk wouldn’t exactly be voting
for us to hone our natural abilities.”

It
annoyed her that he was probably right.

“Some
of the wolves could survive without the sports.  Become servants or whatever
like the rest of the Bad folk.  But, I’m pretty sure I would’ve been killed. 
People don’t always like me.”

“If
it wasn’t for my grandmother watching out for me and my stepfather being a Good
folk, I’d probably be in the same boat.  The only friends I have I made in the
psych-ward.  What does
that
say about me?”

He
chuckled.  “You’re still ahead of me.  I’ve never had a friend in my life.”

“Except
me.”

Marrok
kissed the curve of her neck.  “Except you, baby.”  He whispered.

She
tilted her head back to look at him.  “Wait, wasn’t Trevelyan your friend?  He
must have been, if he wanted you to escape with him.”

“We
watched each other’s backs.  The dragon and I were stuck in a room together, so
we formed an alliance against the other inmates.  I didn’t see the ‘friendship’
going quite as deep as he did, though, since I wasn’t about to help him blow
the prison up.”

“He
wanted to blow up the WUB Club?”

“A
fair-sized chunk of it.”  Marrok shrugged.  “He figured we could just walk
right out in the confusion.  I might be a bastard, but I couldn’t slaughter
hundreds of people.”

“Of
course not!

“Yeah,
well, the dragon wasn’t so squeamish.  He needed me to help him pull the plan
off.  When I refused, he went fucking ballistic.  I don’t think he’ll be
invited to our wedding.”

“Well,
you were right tell him no.”  Scarlett assured him righteously.  She thought
for a bit.  “How did he finally get out, if you didn’t help him?”

“Dr.
White is always looking for a new inmate to entertain her after hours. 
Trevelyan played along, until he saw some sort of opportunity to escape.”  Marrok
made a face.  “
Obviously
she wasn’t going to report him missing right
away.  How would she explain it?  I think he only let her live so she’d have to
face the all the speculative whispering.”

“Horrible
woman.  I’m not at all sorry I wiped her memory.”  Scarlett muttered.  “Still, the
dragon didn’t actually have
bad
plan.  I mean, ours was
better
.  No
way would I let you sleep with that bitch to facilitate our early release.  But,
his idea was sort of ingenious in its simplicity.”  She sighed.  “It’s wrong
that someone so clever was locked away in the first place.”

“Well,
Trevelyan’s evil, so it wasn’t
too
wrong.”

“Maybe
he wouldn’t have been evil if he’d been given the opportunity to be better.”

“I
doubt it.  He was
really
evil.”

“Alright
maybe not
him
, then.”  Scarlett allowed.  “But a lot of Bad folk are trapped
by circumstance.”  She shook her head.  “There should be a place where
everyone
can be safe.  Where
everyone
can have a say and be recognized and not
have to live their lives as second-class citizens.”  She met his eyes.  “We all
deserve a chance at a happily ever after.”

His
expression went soft.  “God, I love you.”  He ran a hand over her hair.  “You
are so Good it breaks my heart.”

“I’m
serious.  When you were younger, there should’ve been somewhere that would take
you in and make sure you were protected.  You would’ve been spared so much
misery.”

“And
maybe then I wouldn’t have found you.”  He shook his head.  “My path led me to
my True Love and that’s the only place I’ve ever wanted to be.”

“Yes,
but you had to needlessly suffer to get here.  What if our situations really
were
reversed?  Wouldn’t you want to create a better way, if it had been
me
who went through that pain?”

Something
dark passed behind his eyes.  “You don’t want to know what I would do if our
situations were reversed.  Anyone who harmed you, I would kill three different
ways before they even realized they were dead.”

She
laid a hand on his chest.  “You don’t think I feel that way, too?”

“It’s
not the same.”  He realized he was going to lose this debate.  She could hear
it in his voice.  He wasn’t quite ready to admit defeat, though.  “And, you
know, there are a lot of guys like Trevelyan out there.  Not as sociopathically
villainous, maybe, but still… Some Bad folk
deserve
to be kept away from
the rest of society.”

“Not
all of them, though.  They shouldn’t be punished before they do anything
wrong.  You can’t paint everyone with the same bigoted brush.  Most people just
need a chance.”

“Why
is it up to
us
to give it to them?  I can see you’re thinking we have to
do something and…”