Page 63 of Bitter Desire
“It was pretty.”
“It’s about not getting eaten by wolves.”
Her mouth dropped open. “What? How is that a lullaby?”
I grinned at her, standing from where I’d been kneeling and shrugged before I leaned down and began to pull her dress down over her. “I’m Russian, princess. We’re dark.”
“You said it was a lullaby.” She held up her hand. “Like, for kids?”
“It’s about not sleeping too close to the edge of the bed.”
“Because wolves might-”
“Eat you.”
Honey moved, scooting closer to the edge of the bed and took the hand I held out to her. “That’s...really dark.Why was it so pretty if it’s about that?”
“Because not everything scary has to be ugly,” I told her. “And the world is a very ugly place, princess. But that doesn’t mean it’s all bad.” I kissed the side of her head. Honey’s arms came up to wrap about my waist.
“I guess that’s true,” she said, turning her head to rest her cheek against my chest. “My world wasn’t ugly before you, though.”
“What was it then?” I asked her, tossing the wash cloth to the side and wrapping my arms around her. The moment was quiet, my humming gone, and it felt...delicate. Things in my life had never been delicate and that meant I recognized them the second they came into being. This moment was one of those delicate, sweet things that had never had room to exist in my world.
Until Honey.
My girl was all delicate and sweet. Soft moments that took me by surprise. She was kind and good. The kind of good that had me on edge, because I knew exactly how precarious it was to exist in a place like New York City. How Honey had managed to keep her sweetness, all alone in this city was beyond me. But it wasn’t only the city Honey had been alone in.
“She laughed at me. Didn’t help me when I needed it the most and I had to come back with even less than when I started.”
My fingers twisted a lock of her hair between them, the silky strands sliding over my fingers and back again. I was looking out the windows, the inky black broken up by the light of the city at our feet. The lights of New York weren’t enough to cover the truth of it. When you had enough power, enough standing, enough distance, it was a beautiful place. A magical one even. But my girl hadnone of those things.
My girl had been alone in this ugly fucking world. Honey had been well and truly alone. If I ever got my hands on her family…
“What’s wrong?”She asked.
I raised an eyebrow but didn’t look away from the cityscape that was shining outside of the panoramic windows of the room we were in. “What's wrong?” I repeated, fingers still moving through her hair.
“You’re all stiff. You’re like a statue. You only go that still when something is wrong, so what’s wrong?” she asked, giving my arm a pat. She moved and a second later I felt her hand on my face, cupping my cheek. “Hey, look at me,” Honey said, her voice was almost as soft as the feather light touch of her fingers on my face.
I looked down at her dutifully. “What is it, princess?” I asked, leaning into her touch. Honey was narrow eyed and frowning up at me. She wasn’t relaxed anymore and that had me scowling. I didn’t want her stressed any more than she had to be.
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” she said, the furrow of her brow deepening. “And now you’re making a face so what the hell is going on?”
“I’m making a face because you’re making a face. I don’t like it.”
Her mouth parted into a perfect O and then giggled. “What? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“It makes plenty of sense,” I muttered when Honey laughed. “I don’t know how you expect me not to make a pissed face when you look upset.”
That stopped her laughter. “I’m not upset though, I just want you to be happy but this is, this is all wrong.”
“It’s fucked. I know.”
“I want this meeting to be over. I want to go home,” Honey whispered, and I felt the tightness she’d been talking about seep out of my body. Home.
“Where’s home, princess?” I asked, ignoring the knock at the door that had Honey jumping slightly.
“That’s probably Connie,” she whispered, but when she made to move towards the door, I stopped her, stepping in front of her.
