Darkly Sweet

by Juliann Whicker

  Long tables in thick white tablecloths were laden with a bewildering assortment of delicacies. There was a goat with its horns still attached with other animals cooked inside it including a duck, beak and all.

  I was staring at that when Zach pressed something cloudlike to my lips. I parted and yes, clouds and also coconut with chocolate and something darker, something richer that made me tremble and slide my hands down my bodice over the black silk.

  “It’s called pleasure, which I’m sure you understand. Would you like another?”

  I smiled and with that he had another of the cloud confections against my lips. I laughed and ate, then floated along with him as he went to the next incredible thing I had to try. Everything was beautiful, delicious, incredible, and the bubbling cider actually bubbled, like cold bubbles that continued bursting in my champagne flute as I held it to my lips and it tickled my nose.

  I was laughing from the bubbling cider when I noticed people staring at me. I stopped laughing and moved closer to Zach. I wasn’t sure why, but I felt more vulnerable in black, like I was without my macaroon armor to keep all the hatred and anger at bay.

  “What’s wrong?” He cocked his head and I smiled tremulously.

  “I’m feeling a little weird. Maybe we should call it a night.”

  He put his hand on my waist and pulled me against him in a smooth movement straight out of a dream. The clouds beneath my feet made me feel like I was in a dream, and Zach looked like a handsome prince, sweeping me across the floor with his firm yet gentle grip.

  I didn’t stumble, didn’t get nervous and elbow him in the head, just floated across the floor, staring into his blue eyes as if he was the only person in the world. My heart accelerated just the right amount while he pulled me closer, his scent a tantalizing, comforting smell, like baked bread or cookies.

  “Zach, you smell so nice,” I murmured as I rested my cheek on his shoulder, the collar of his jacket rough on my sensitive skin.

  He tightened his hand on my waist and we spun, dizzying, deliriously fast. I laughed, breathless as I stared at him and he stared down at me, his eyes locked on mine, the blue deepening, darkening as he leaned down, his nose brushing mine, our lips so close I could taste his breath, the flavor of pleasure.

  A scream ripped through the melodic violins and cellos, silencing the room. Zach turned us towards the balcony where the scream had come from. I stared at a spike haired girl who perched on the edge of the balustrade then froze and felt my heart crack as she jumped. She didn’t fall forward to be skewered on the Waiting Soldier, but landed lightly on the marble floor like she’d fallen a foot, not fifteen. She glared at us as

  she came, moving faster and faster until she was a blur of black while I clung to Zach under Viney’s assault.

  “Get away from him! He belongs to me!”

  Her voice cracked through the air like a whip and Zach jerked like the lash had landed on his skin. I looked up at Zach and he met my eyes for a moment when I was certain he would bend his lips and finish the kiss we’d almost started, but instead he blinked, smiled slightly and let me go.

  I stood there alone while the dancers around me came into suddenly sharp focus. So many girls in blood red sneered at me, their eyes full of poison words I didn’t want to hear.

  I turned to Viney in time to see her grip Zach’s arm, her hand strong and unyielding.

  “Viney, I didn’t think you were coming to the dance. Where is your dress?”

  She didn’t look at me, just dragged Zach away, putting his hand on her waist as they fell into the steps of the waltz that wasn’t playing. I stared after them, my heart pounding until the music began again, the fog swirling around their feet. Viney moved beautifully, like a glorious fey creature in the arms of her handsome prince, hers, not mine.

  My hands were shaking as I gripped the edges of my cloak, pulling it around me as though that would keep anyone from seeing me standing deserted and pathetic, unwanted in the middle of the dance floor.

  This was not how the fairy tale was supposed to go. No, it was, because I hadn’t come as the princess but the witch. I was supposed to come after they hadn’t invited me and curse them all. My fingers ached while my stomach twisted with nausea. A pair of dancers knocked into me, then another, and another until I felt like I was a leaf spinning in rapids, the dancers spinning around and around until a strong hand slid around my waist and he pulled me against his chest, a boulder unmovable against the onslaught of all the forces in the world.

  I stared at his chest, unblinking at the wolf eye in a golden circle at his throat. “You’re not wearing lederhosen.”

  “And you let Wit have your dress.” He turned so I could see Wit wearing my dirndl. It shouldn’t have fit her, but she must have had it altered. She looked beautiful and enchanting, walking through the woods in search of something edible, something like Drake, all long legs impossibly slender cinched waist and bosom perched precariously in a bed of snowy linen.

  I turned so I was once more facing his chest and stared at that wolf eye for a long time before I could lift my eyes to his. He looked fierce, green sparks in his eyes, russet hair, his lips in a thin line of disapproval.

  I’d had enough disapproval for one night. I tried to step away from him, but he didn’t let me go. “Drake, I’m tired. Please.”

  He pulled me harder against him until I could feel the contours of his bare chest through my silk gown. “I don’t want to. I don’t want Wit to see you humiliated.”

  I pulled my lips back to snarl at him. “That’s what you care about, what Wit thinks?

  She’s a nothing, a purposeless viper that strangles herself in her own coils. Do you have any idea how meaningless humiliation is? Humiliation is a gift that reminds me of the price of love. Do you want me to dance with you, to show Witley?”

  I stepped forward into him while he stepped back then I slid my hands up his chest, my nails pressing into his skin, but not cutting. I wrapped my hands around his neck over the heavy chain and pulled him down to me while I rose into him, sliding my silk encased body against him, arching while I pulled his head down until his lips touched my throat.

  Fire came to life in my veins as my heart thrummed and he inhaled, so deep, like he would drown in my skin. He moved against me, somehow with the music although it

  was not a waltz. I ran my hand up to his hair, tangling, tugging while I shifted against him with so little separating us.

  The music came to a stop and I froze, my arms wrapped around him, my forehead pressed against his cheek while his chest rose and fell against mine, every inhale sending a frisson of desire through me.

  I wanted him. I trembled to take him, to make him mine, to declare it to the world the way Viney had Zach. I wanted him with an uncontrollable roaring that magnified a thousand times as I rested against him, the scent of dark cherries, dark forests, night wind rustling through me and bringing my whole soul to life. Another song began, this one modern and throbbing, the lights seeming to lower, the room darkening until I no longer felt on display, but worse, secluded in a room of anonymous bodies.

  “Penny,” he whispered, his voice sweet and low. “I care about you, not anyone else, certainly not Witley. I want you to dance with me because it’s what you want, and you’re not afraid to take what you want.”

  I shuddered while his hands seemed to soften on me, gentle and persuasive instead of hard and unyielding. His body nudged me backwards, his legs brushing mine through the silk. What I wanted. I wanted so much to sway against him and for a moment I did, looping my arms around his neck while he cradled me against his chest, our legs tangling as we moved. His hand slid up my back until he reached the bare skin of my

  shoulder blades beneath my cloak. He spread his hand and brushed lightly while I trembled and clung to him. His hands urged me closer and closer to him until I found myself staring into his eyes, the tip of his nose brushing my cheek as he bent down, his breath dark, sweet, heady.

  I closed my eye
s and tilted my head back, every nerve extended but in that moment, instead of the slight copper tinge to Drake’s scent, I heard Witley’s laugh, her amused voice.

  “It looks like Drake has another toy to play with.”

  It was enough to pull me away from the sheer drop of absolutely lost. I twisted out of his arms, and slid through the dancers, my body once more mine, heart pounding, mind focused on one purpose, escape, as quickly and completely as possible.

  I fled through the silver trees and through the open glass doors over the patio that gleamed silver in the moonlight, down the steps and over the grass as I ran towards the woods, deep and dark that beckoned like waters, waves I could drown in.

  Chapter 35

  I ran through the trees, feeling steadier the further I went from the ball. Ball, not dance. That whole experience had been surreal, completely bizarre in absolutely every way. It seemed like I’d hallucinated the Viney thing. Why would she do that? It made no sense, not when she’d said over and over that her and Zach were not dating, that they had no chemistry, etc. etc.

  Was there any way to salvage my plans with Zach? I couldn’t marry someone who would leave me in the middle of a pack of wolves the second Viney called him. I needed someone like Revere was to my mother, someone reliable and cold, someone who I could think around. I also needed someone who would marry me that wasn’t in love with a poster.

  I stumbled over an exposed root and caught my balance on the tree trunk. I stood there, panting from my run. I slid down the trunk and pulled the cloak around my shoulders, fiddling with the cord. I inhaled deeply, filling my body, my head with the night, the sharp cry of crickets, the scent of dusty leaves, the cool wind that brushed my skin, rustling in my hair.

  “Penny.”

  I stiffened as Drake took shape from the shadows. He stared at me for a long time before he sat down, across from me at the base of another tree, his arms as bare as his chest.

  My voice came out nearly emotionless. “You were not very well dressed for the ball.”

  “I didn’t know that you wanted a prince.”

  “A huntsman. At least someone with a shirt.”

  He cleared his throat. “You are dressed perfectly. I hadn’t pictured you in that kind of dress, but it suits you.”

  I shifted. We were not complimenting each other. “I’m glad you came so you can help me find my way back to my room. I’m so helpless and stupid. Shall we get going?”

  I stood up and started walking back the way we’d come.

  “Where did you get the dress?”

  “Witley gave it to me.”

  “Witley wouldn’t fit in that dress.”

  I glanced at him then away, pulling the cloak tighter around me. “I dyed the red silk and made it more interesting. I’m sure Witley didn’t realize the potential of the slashed dress in my hands, but I’m used to working with raw and ruined materials. She looked beautiful in my dress. It was a really great dress, Drake. Don’t you think that you should stop being stubborn and fall in love with her?”

  He laughed, but it was short and not amused. “I’ll do that as soon as you fall for Jackson. Of the two, I’d rather fall for him.”

  “Do you think Jackson would like me?” I tugged on the cord and felt it slide through the channel of fabric.

  He exhaled sharply. “No. I think that he would like to ruin you, but that’s not the same thing.”

  “Isn’t it? All the boys here are so confusing. It must be because I’m so stupid and naïve that I can’t tell the difference between a guy who likes me and a guy who doesn’t.

  Can I tell you a secret? I thought that Zach almost liked me for a minute when we were dancing, but he wouldn’t have left me like that if he’d even liked me a little bit, at all, even as friends.”

  He grunted. “It wasn’t his best moment, but it wasn’t really his…”

  “And Viney coming in like that, after we went bra shopping together, it’s like she was trying really, really hard to make me trust her just so she could go insane on me in the middle of the ball. Not like I mind that, but what’s with you, coming up to me without a shirt after that whole thing when you knew I was vulnerable and weak? Not that I don’t expect it, but how could you possibly pretend that you care, come out here all, ‘Penny, don’t get lost in the woods, let me help you find your way even though everyone knows that I’m the big bad wolf, and I’ll howl at you if you show any signs of forgetting.’ Don’t

  worry, Drake. I remember. I think that the trouble is that I’m genetically predisposed to prefer wolves over regular people.”

  He put his hand on my shoulder, pulling me to a stop. “Penny, you don’t have to pretend that you’re fine. I’m not fine. I’m incredibly frustrated by what should have been the perfect night with you. It should have been me feeding you pleasure and spinning you through clouds.”

  I laughed. “Drake feeding me pleasure, yes, I’m sure that’s just what I need, more pleasure, more desire, more weakness for you.” I yanked hard on the cord of my cloak and it came out while I wrapped it around my hand.

  “You say that as though you want me.”

  I spun around to face him, a dark and irresistible shadow that watched and waited for my final mistake. “Are you so desperate to be wanted?”

  He stepped closer. “So desperate, yes. I never knew what this felt like before, wanting someone always a little bit out of reach, wanting so desperately that I forget my pride. Is that what you fear, losing your pride, your independence? I try to give you space, when you flinch away from me with fear in your eyes I want to hurt someone, but I’m trying.

  Tonight was my fault. When I saw you with Zach I lost control. I would have hurt him very badly if Viney hadn’t stepped in.”

  I closed my eyes for a moment, silk cloak swirling around my ankles before I stepped closer to him. “It’s so easy for you to hurt people. You say what you want so regularly, you must be used to getting it. How lucky to be Drake the wolf. How lucky that your humility comes at no real price.”

  “What do you want, Penny? I’ll do everything in my power to give it to you.”

  I swallowed hard while I twisted the cord in my hand. It was too much. I twisted the cord into a very specific knot and slid it over his hand while I gazed at him, holding his attention so he wouldn’t see what my hands were doing, would only feel me clinging to his fingers as I pressed him against the trunk of the tree.

  I let go of his hand only for a moment to toss the end of the cord around the tree, caught and knotted by my other hand then slid over his wrist. I brushed against him, staring into his dark eyes as I tightened the rope slowly so that he didn’t notice, his eyes so full of his own desire he was blind to my rage.

  He would notice soon enough.

  I twisted the cord and pulled it high rising on my tiptoes, his hands jerking behind him. His eyes widened and he gasped while I felt a flicker of satisfaction. What did I want? I wanted Drake to feel helpless, completely, terrifyingly helpless in my hands. I stretched up, securing the cord around the tree while I brushed his cheek with my lips

  until I pulled back, my fingertips on his naked shoulders. I cocked my head and studied him.

  “Penny…”

  “Shhh.” I pressed my fingers to his lips, and he kissed them. I pulled away, frowning.

  “You don’t seem to know how this works. I have you tied to a tree.”

  “You think that I mind?”

  I raked my nails down his chest, cutting through his silky pale skin. He gasped and I smiled at him. “I think you should. You think that I’m different because I’ve worked so hard to resist you, but I’m as pathetic and weak as all the other girls who want you.”

  “You want me?” He smiled, his teeth glittering as he stood, arms stretched back, eyes gleaming with anticipation.

  “Oh, I do, Drake. You have no idea how I tremble, aching for your touch, but always more, always the one I can’t have. I want to lose myself inside of you until I never remember a shre
d of pain again. I want you to scream my name until your lips are branded and you never say another name again. I want…”

  He gasped as I danced my fingers over his chest. His breathing came hard and heavy, like he was running while he strained against the cord, arms flexing. I nipped his

  arm right above his shoulder, tasting the sweetness of his skin. Pleasure was tasting Drake, hearing him whisper my name. I didn’t want whispers, I wanted screams.

  I bit his shoulder hard, sinking through the skin while he shuddered. I bit down until I tasted blood. I sucked and nibbled while his body jerked chest rising faster and faster.

  He was my Hansel and I was going to gobble him all up. I laughed and slid up him to tangle my hands in his hair and press my lips, teeth to his throat. I pressed against him harder, scraping his sides with my nails while I devoured him.

  I touched and tasted his body from chin to belt, but the more I tasted, the more I wanted. He was like that magical candy that you couldn’t stop craving once you’d tasted and all of this would only leave me more desperate in the long run.

  Anger flooded my veins, that he would dare make me want him, that he would destroy my plan to do the right thing, to marry a nice boy and save my mother who I hated, that he would stand there, lips parted, eyes closed and revel in my torment.

  “Didn’t I say that I wanted you to scream? Scream, Drake!”

  I dug my nails into his chest while anger and frustration bubbled out of me. His voice was sharp, but not the scream I wanted but a gasping moan that echoed inside me.

  I pulled away to stare at him, his eyes unfocused as he gazed at me, soft, like his lips that I ached to touch. I trailed my fingertips over his mouth then blinked at the red I left

  behind. I gasped and stepped back, staring at his body, no longer pale and perfectly untouched, but shredded and torn, like I felt, like my heart when I thought of Poppy.

  My breath trembled as I reached out, carefully, running my fingertips over the words I’d carved into his chest, ‘Property of Penny Lane’.