Wicked Ugly Bad (A Kinda Fairytale) (23 page)

She
watched him appraisingly.  “Really?”

“
Really
.”

A
pause.  “Why?”

Jesus,
not with all the “whys,” again.  “Letty…”

She
cut him off.  “Just tell me the truth.”  She said in a solemn tone.  “Why me? 
Is it just the True Love bond?”

“No.”

“Why
then?”

For
the first time, Marrok realized she was taking him seriously.  Very few people
ever took him seriously.  He wanted to say the right words, but he had no idea
what she needed to hear.  Why did she always ask for explanations for things
that just
were?
  His pulse increased, suddenly afraid that he was going
to screw this up.  That she’d refuse to believe him.

That
she’d walk away.

“Because…”
 Lost and floundering, he automatically did as she asked and told the truth.  “I
feel safe with you.”

Fuck!

Why
did he always say such pansy-assed shit to her?

Scarlett’s
expression changed at the admission, though.  Shockingly, Marrok saw the exact
moment when she started to believe they were True Loves.  Blue eyes gazed up at
him, amazed and unguarded and a little scared.

“You
are
safe with me.”  She finally whispered.

Marrok
realized he wasn’t just “attached” to her.  He was crazy in love with this
lunatic.

“You’re
safe with me, too.”  He promised.  “Always.”

Scarlett
swallowed, looking somehow hypnotized.  “I know.”

He
gave a slow smile.

“Actually,
you haven’t really seen the
best
me, yet.”  She blurted out.  “I swear, I
can be really nice.”

“You
get any nicer and it’s gonna get us both killed, Red.”

“I
mean, people
like
me.  Or they did before Cinderella turned them all
against me.  I can be likable… But
Bad
.  Like you.”

“You
are nothing like me.”  He scoffed.

“I
am if you give me a chance.”  She insisted, the words coming out too fast. 
“Really.  I come from a long line of villains.  My mother was born Good and it
was a grave disappointment to my relatives.  She went on to marry Cinderella’s
father, after my own dad died.  She was trying to escape the shame that her
non-wickedness brought to my grandmother.  But, I’ve
always
been Bad. 
All the doctors agreed.”

“All
the doctors are wrong.”

“Well,
that’s what my grandmother says, but I think it’s deeper than that.  I think I’m
Good
and
Bad.  That everyone is.  Even you.”

“It’s
adorable that you think that.”  He arched a brow.  “Seriously, baby, Good or
Bad, it doesn’t affect a damn thing about my feelings for you.”

She
bit her lower lip.  “I’m just saying, you and I… I think we have a lot in
common.”

He
felt a little guilty to have her believe something so wrong.  “No, we don’t.”

“We
do!  We
think
about things the same way.”

“No,
baby, we
don’t
.  Believe me.  I think Bad thoughts.”

“So
do I.”  She assured him earnestly.

Marrok
wasn’t even in his wolf form and he still had the almost overwhelming urge to
just eat her up.  She was soooooooo sweet it was all he could do not to push
her to the ground and just ravish her.  He wanted to taste that much innocent,
sincere Goodness.

“Maybe
you’re right and everyone has Good and Bad in them, but they sure don’t get both
in equal amounts.”  He shifted closer to her.  “My brain is disproportionately evil
and yours is disproportionately
not
.  Believe me.”

Blue
eyes gazed up at him, not understanding the truth.  “You’re not evil.”  She took
hold of his hand.  “You’re a wiseass and a fiend, but you are always so gentle
with me.  Always on my side.  You’ve guarded me and listened to me and helped
me.  You are the only one here I trust.”

Fuck.

Marrok
looked down at her fingers touching his and felt his heart crack in two.  She
said she trusted him… and he felt the perverse desire to prove that her faith
in him was justified.  The only way to do that was by warning her
not
to
trust him.  He
had
to protect her from himself.  It was his job as her
True Love.

Who
would look after her, if he didn’t?

“Baby,
I don’t even know how to be gentle.”  He said honestly.  “If I were Good guy, I
really would walk away and leave you.  Since I’m not going to do that, you
should be the one to leave.  I want you very, very much and I’ll cheat if
that’s what it takes to keep you for myself.”

She
tilted her head.  “If you’re so wholly Bad, why are you warning me about it?”

“Because,”
he held up their connected palms, “you’re the only one who holds my hand.”

She
smiled at that answer.

God
she was beautiful.  “You’re my True Love, Scarlett.  I know you don’t completely
believe that yet, but it’s true.”  He shook his head.  “There’s no one else for
me.  Even if there was,
you
would still be my choice.  I will do very Bad
things to keep you for myself.”

“Well,
you’ve done your duty and warned me about how horrible you are.”  She assured
him.  “All I care about is that you’ll stay.”

“I
told you, as far as I’m concerned, we’re married.  I will
always
stay
with you.  You should know that.”

Scarlett
didn’t back away from him as his body brushed against hers.  “I do know it.” 
She said softly.  “I’m sorry.”

Marrok
was quiet for a beat, just staring down at her.  “What do you think we have in
common?”  He asked, because he just couldn’t help himself.

“Well…
we both scored really high on the egomaniacal sections of the psych tests.  So,
we’re leaders, whether or not people
wan
t our leadership.  And we make
crazy decisions, because we think we’re just a little bit smarter than everyone
telling
us we’re crazy.”

He
shrugged.  “Crazy is what you need to escape from an insane asylum.”

“You
and I are both fighters.”  She continued, conceding that point with a nod.  “And
loyal.  When we make a commitment to something, we stick to it.  And we’re
protective of our people.”  She arched a brow.  “And we both suck at pasta
crafts.”

That
made him chuckle.

She
grinned back at him.  “And sometimes I can just look at you and know what
you’re thinking.  Because, I’m already thinking it.  We think
the same
,
Marrok.  Tell me I’m wrong about that.  That you don’t sense it, too.”

He
couldn’t, because she was right.  “I sense it.”  He murmured.  Like he’d told
her in the library, there was a connection between them that went deeper than
anything he’d ever felt.  “The first time I ever saw you, I knew we… clicked.”

“I
did, too.  Sort of.”  She wrinkled her nose.  “You were right in the dungeon,
though.  The
first
time I saw you, I was mostly just afraid.”

That
didn’t surprise him.  “The fifty convictions for Badness?”

“No. 
You were just lounging there, being gorgeous and snarky… and I knew you were
going to cause me a lot of trouble.”

“Not
as much trouble as you’ve caused me.”  He leaned down nuzzle her temple.  “So,
you think I’m gorgeous, huh?”

Her
free hand came up to rest on his shoulder.  “You know you’re gorgeous.”

“Something
else we have in common, because I think you’re pretty damn gorgeous, too, Red.” 
He kissed her neck.

“Ugly
stepsisters aren’t gorgeous.”  But she tilted her head to give him access to
her throat.

“You’re
not ugly and you know it.”  Marrok retorted, turning her words back on her.  “God,
I am just crazy obsessed with you.”  He breathed in the scent of her, his lips
tracing over her skin.  He could think of three dozen ways to get her naked in
the next fifteen seconds.  Since they were having this little talk, though,
they might as well finish it.  “…But I don’t share.”

“Meaning
what?”  She moved back from him with an outraged scowl.

“We
both scored high on the evil IQ tests, too.  I think you can figure out what I
mean.”

“Well,
I don’t share, either.  And you’re the one with random girlfriends all over the
magazine covers.”

“I’ve
got no one but you, Red.”  He arched a brow.  “You’ve got Charming.  And that
doesn’t work for me.”

“I
told you, it’s complicated.”

“I
don’t give a shit about ‘complicated.’  One way or another, he’s gotta go.  You
get rid of him or I will.”

“No! 
Don’t do anything to Charming.”  She looked over her shoulder as if worried
that someone might overhear them and then lowered her voice.  “Look, I’ll deal
with all that after we get to my grandmother’s house.”

“You
promise?”

“I
promise.”

Marrok
was suspicious at her easy agreement, but he let it go.  For now.  “That’s where
the shoe is?  At your grandma’s?”

“Yes. 
I sent the glass slipper to her before I was arrested.”

“And
Cinderella didn’t check for it with your family?”  It seemed like a fairly
obvious place to start the search.

“My
grandmother is a difficult woman to find.  And to deal with.  And, well,” Letty
made a face, “she’s just difficult.”

“Right.” 
That sounded promising.  “Do you know where Grandma is or do we have to look
for her?”

“Oh,
I can find her.”  Scarlett didn’t sound enthusiastic about it, though.  “She
lives in the Enchanted Forest, so I’ve spent a lot of time at her house.  She likes
to keep an eye on me, especially since my mom and stepdad died.”

“She’s
probably freaking out about the escape, then.”  Marrok didn’t have a family,
but he was pretty sure that’s how it worked.  “It’ll be all over the news. 
Your grandmother will be worried that you were hurt in the chaos.”

“No.” 
Scarlett sighed.  “She’ll just be annoyed that it took me so long to pull this
off.”

“She’ll
be
expecting
you to break out?”

“Of
course.  I’m sure the only reason she didn’t stage a rescue herself is because
she’s testing me.  I’m sort of her heir, so she has high expectations about my
Badness.”

Considering
Scarlett wasn’t at all Bad, he could only imagine the pressure the she must be
under.  “Heir to what?”

She
let out a long sigh.  “The family business.”

The line
between Good and Bad is so clear.

Anyone who
doubts that has never looked into the eyes of someone wicked, ugly and Bad.

Good folk
can never fully understand their evil.

Psychiatric
case notes of Dr. Ramona Fae

The
cottage had a thatched roof and river stone walls.  It sat in a glen full of
wildflowers, red curtains in its stained glass windows and a decorative wreath
on the arched door.  There was even a welcome mat on the steps.  Pink.  With
yellow and green letters, surrounded by cartoon candies.

Scarlett
rolled her eyes.  Grandma was not a subtle lady.

“Jesus.” 
Beside her, Marrok hesitated.  He looked at the cozy cottage in something like
horror.  “This is your grandmother’s house?”

“Kind
of.”

He
shook his head, his gaze locked on the picture postcard of domestic bliss in
front of him.  “No one who lives here can be Bad.”

“That’s
the point.”  Scarlett glanced over at the others.  Benji was carrying Dru,
Esmeralda was eating a chocolate bar, and Avenant looked bored.  Everything was
“normal,” then.  No sense in exposing them to this mess until she was sure her
grandmother wasn’t plotting something.  “Wait here.”  She ordered and headed
for the house.  “Don’t worry if you hear yelling.  Or gunshots.”

“We
won’t.”  Avenant assured her.

They’d
all spent the night in the woods, sleeping on the ground and hidden in the
dense forest.  Unlike most of the citizens of the Four Kingdoms, Scarlett
wasn’t afraid of the shifting trees.  She’d lived with them from the time she
was a child, so steering clear of their grasping branches was second nature.

It
had been much more disconcerting for her to have woken-up beside Marrok.

When
they’d fallen asleep, there had been a foot of space between them.  Sometime
during the night, though, she must have rolled closer to him.  Her body and
instincts were all telling her that he was the safest place to be.  When she
opened her eyes in the reedy light of dawn, she’d been pressed against his side
and his arms had been protectively wrapped around her.  Marrok had been staring
down at her and she found herself just… staring back.

It
had felt calm and intimate and really, really
right
.