Page 20 of Sugar Plum Fae
When Candace turned back to look at Roderick, she noticed his eyes were more shadowed, his posture slightly slumped. Despite their disagreements, concern for him bubbled up within her, replacing her initial anger. She shouldn’t have pestered him about the contents of the vial.
"Are you all right?" She reached out to touch his arm.
He glanced at her, surprise flickering across his face before being replaced by a guarded expression. "I'm fine," he insisted, though his voice lacked conviction.
"Look, I know we've been at odds today, but I can see that you care about Whitlock and its people. We just approach things differently. Maybe we should try to understand each other better, work together instead of fighting."
Roderick studied her for a moment, the tension between them shifting ever so slightly. "I’d like that,” he said, a hint of warmth returning to his eyes. He linked his fingers through hers. She suddenly wasn’t so tired anymore.
After finishing their drinks, they walked back to the wishing well, hand in hand.
"Are we doing the right thing?"
“Are you talking about the wishing well? Or this?” He held up their joined hands.
“Both,” she said.
"Every decision is a gamble. That's the thrill."
"This could change everything, though. It's not just Whitlock that’s at stake—it's us. Our essences. What if this alliance twists our natures into something unrecognizable?"
"Then we become legends of caution, tales whispered in hushed tones to frighten fledgling fae." He tried for serious, but his smirk at the end ruined it.
She crossed her eyes in frustration. “Aren’t you worried that you’ll get lighter and sweeter?”
“Not as much as you’re worried about getting darker and bitter.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Roderick pulled her off the path into a secluded grove of trees that she could have sworn wasn’t there before. Stepping closer, the air between them charged with the electric dance of their contrasting energies. "I think it's better to burn bright and be extinguished than to never have ignited at all."
"Spoken like a true harbinger of nightmares,” she said, but her words lacked conviction. She was too busy staring at his mouth.
"Even in a nightmare, there's a perverse beauty. Much like the allure of a sunsidhe who dares to dance with darkness."
"Careful, Krampus," she warned, though her breath hitched as he bridged the gap further, close enough that she could feel the coolness of his aura against her warmth.
"Feeling brave, my sugar plum fairy?" His breath was cool against her skin, a gentle tease amidst the storm of emotions brewing within them.
"Bravery has nothing to do with it," she replied, tracing the hard line of his jaw, feeling the stubble beneath her fingertips. The touch sparked a dance of golden light around them, her powers responding to the proximity of his darkness. “You might find the light more blinding than you anticipate."
"Or perhaps I'll find it..."—he leaned in, his breath caressing her cheek—"...enlightening."
Their gazes locked, an unsaid challenge hanging between them. The tension crackled, a silent cacophony of what-ifs and maybes, until neither could deny the pull of their fates intertwined. Pressing her body against him, Candace stood up on her tiptoes, her resolve melting into raw need.
"Enlighten me then." Her voice was a whisper, laden with a desire she couldn't disguise.
"Very well," he murmured as his mouth crashed down on hers. Roderick's arms wrapped around her, the strength in his embrace undeniable. He guided her back against a tree, their bodies aligning with an intensity that threatened to consume her. Yet she met his passion with equal fervor, the collision of their essences igniting an otherworldly flame.
In that moment, they were neither sun nor moon but a horizon where dawn met dusk, equally potent and vulnerable intheir surrender. Their lips battled, giving and taking pleasure. The world around them ceased to exist, leaving only the undeniable truth of their connection—light and dark, joy and despair, entangled in kisses that spoke of promises and perils alike.
The forest pulsed with their combined energies. Candace gasped as he deepened the kiss, his tongue sweeping against hers in a bold claim` of possession. She tasted the bittersweet tang of nightshade and chicory, a flavor unique to him, addictive and dangerous.
Their kiss was a flurry of contradictions, of passion and restraint, of fire and ice. Candace felt herself falling deeper into the vortex of emotions that swirled between them, losing herself in the intensity of their connection. Roderick's touch was both a caress and a challenge, his hands exploring the curves of her body with a reverence that belied his reputation.
As they broke apart, gasping for breath, Candace's eyes searched his, finding a tempestuous mix of desire and uncertainty mirrored in his gaze. The air crackled with unspoken words, with promises and doubts that hung heavily between them like a veil.
"I never thought I'd crave your darkness," Candace said.