Red

by Scarlet Fox

  As she climbed to her feet, he awkwardly lifted her cape from the ground and draped it over her shoulders, adjusting it to cover her breasts as much as possible. “This way.” He started off in the direction of the lake, angling his way around it to the far side.

  Scooping up her picnic basket, she gripped the front of her cape in an attempt to cover her breasts. She knew she must be crazy following a strange man—a strange wolf—into the woods, but she wasn’t afraid of the big, bad wolf. She wanted to know more about him. She wanted to know where he came from, why he was here, and if he was staying. She hoped like hell he was planning to stay, because she was not done with Max Carpenter. Not in the least.

  Chapter Three

  Max led Red into a log cabin not far from the lake. She entered the warm, cozy interior and looked about in surprise. She hadn’t known this cabin existed, let alone that it was occupied by a wolf. Surely her father would have sensed someone so close to their home. She turned and gave Max a questioning look.

  “It’s my uncle’s,” he said in explanation. “He used to let me come up here in the summers sometimes, because there was no pack and no way for me to get into trouble.”

  “He’s human?”

  Max gave a brisk nod. “Yeah. Wolf is on my mother’s side. My dad’s brother owns this place. He never goes hunting after any wolves, and he keeps to himself, so he probably never even popped up on your father’s radar.”

  She gave a soft sound of agreement. Her father didn’t take much interest in humans unless they were causing an issue for the pack. Max’s uncle obviously hadn’t been.

  “Anyway, my uncle suggested I come up here and spend a little bit of time laying low.”

  This caught her attention. “Laying low?”

  “I was having a bit of difficulty with my pack.” He grimaced. “Our pack leader thought I was becoming a little too powerful for his liking. He was afraid of being challenged.” Before she could ask, he quickly defended his honor. “I had no intention of taking over the pack. I didn’t choose to keep gaining power. It just kind of happened.” He shrugged. “No manner of protest seemed to matter, though. He saw me as a threat. My family thought it in my best interest to take a little ‘vacation’ to put some space between us. I don’t see how it’s going to help. I’m not going to suddenly become a submissive. It’s not in my genetics. When I go back, the problems are still going to be there. I’m just delaying the resolution, whatever it may be. Even so, I had to at least try…for my mother.”

  “So you thought you’d stay here.”

  “That is the plan.” His eyes scanned her warily. “At least it was. Obviously, the wolves around here aren’t as docile as I’d been led to believe. If my last pack leader was threatened by me and I grew up under his guidance, I doubt your father is going to view things any differently.”

  She bit her lip and remained silent. She didn’t know how her father would react to Max’s presence. He seemed like a rational guy, but then again, his position as pack leader had never been challenged before. Not that Max seemed inclined to challenge him, but the threat was still there. She’d felt the power rolling off of him and knew he was all alpha. He could lead his own pack if he had the desire. She just hoped he was being honest when he said he lacked such desire.

  He blew out a breath and shook his head. “Enough about my problems. Let’s get you that shower and a change of clothes.” He took the picnic basket from her hands and placed it on the kitchen table. “What’s in here?”

  His question was curious, not prying, so she answered easily. “I was headed to my grandmother’s house for a visit.” She motioned toward the basket. “I’d packed us a lunch before leaving home.”

  Max groaned and pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. “Shit.” He was silent for a few moments before his hands dropped, and he stared at her with dull eyes. “I tackled, seduced, and stole the virginity of a nineteen-year-old girl on the way to a picnic lunch with her grandmother. It doesn’t get much worse than that. No wonder my pack leader wanted me gone.”

  Red straightened her shoulders and stood to her full height, which was nowhere near as tall as him. “I’m a woman,” she said firmly.

  He glanced at her, his eyes skimming her barely concealed breasts. “You are now.”

  Her nipples hardened at the simple glance from him, and a shiver ran down her spine at his words. He was correct. She was a woman now, thanks to their scuffle in the dirt. Her body tingled at the memory, and licking her lips, she took a step toward him.

  He must have seen the intent in her eyes, because he took a step back and motioned her toward the hallway. “The bathroom is back here. Let’s get you cleaned up. It’s the least I can do.”

  No, the least he could do was put his hands on her again. That would make everything all right. Her wolf wanted him, and his obviously wanted her in return. She didn’t see any point in resisting or denying the attraction between them.

  She would give him time, though. He’d come out here for some calm and relaxation—a break. Instead, he’d found himself in a fight with a very aggressive she-wolf and facing the same pack issues he’d left home to escape. “A shower. That sounds lovely.”

  With a soft, hopefully disarming smile, she followed him to the bathroom. She allowed him to show her around the small room, explain the necessities, and offer her a button-up shirt. She remained pleasant but unassuming as he gave his instructions.

  Once he’d set her up with everything she might need, he excused himself back into the hallway, and she offered him a demure thank you. It was only when the door closed behind him that she allowed a smile to grace her lips. Max was one hell of a good-looking guy. He was also a resilient alpha, one obviously strong enough to handle her. He seemed kind and caring of those around him. Max was definitely a keeper. There was no way she was letting him slip through her grasp. He was hers. He just didn’t know it yet.

  Chapter Four

  Red climbed out of the shower and eyed herself in the mirror over the sink. She never overloaded on makeup, but she desperately wished for a little bit of eyeliner and possibly some lip gloss right now. She liked Max and urgently wanted to leave an impression. She wanted him thinking about her. Luckily, it seemed her wolf and the power that resided inside of her had left more of an impression than lip gloss ever could. It had brought them together, hadn’t it?

  She wasn’t foolish enough to believe herself in love with him. She barely knew him. There was no telling if their personalities were even compatible. Their wolves were though, and he was the first man to ever pique her interest in such a way. She wanted to hold his attention as well to see if the spark between them lasted.

  With that in mind, she slipped into his shirt and purposely left the top three buttons undone. It gave more than a little hint of her cleavage. The shirt was long enough that it hung down to mid-thigh. As a result, she was able to leave her skirt off. It was dirty anyway. She gathered it up inside of her cape and exited the bathroom.

  She found Max pacing the cabin’s living room. She stood in the doorway for a moment watching him. She almost felt bad. He looked so overwhelmed with the circumstances he’d found himself in. She knew it couldn’t be easy, and it was the exact opposite reason he’d come out here. “You okay?” she asked gently.

  He spun to face her, but whatever he’d been about to say died in his throat. He gaped at her, his eyes traveling her body from head to toe. “I…”

  Seeing in his eyes what she felt in her heart, Red held a hand out to him.

  As if he couldn’t resist, Max crossed the room to her. He took her hand, and then he took her into his arms. A soft growl emitted from deep within his throat. “Heaven help me. I shouldn’t want you this badly.” Even as he said this, he lowered his nose to her neck and inhaled deeply. A shuddering sigh escaped him, as if he’d just received a fix of his drug of choice.

  She shivered and stepped closer to him, nuzzling against his chest. “Why fight it?”

  H
e took a step back, his blue eyes slightly unfocused. “Because it’s going to get me killed. You don’t fuck the pack leader’s daughter. Not like I did. Shit, I am in so deep I’m not sure how I can dig myself out of this one. This was supposed to be my safe haven. I have nowhere left to go, Red. Nowhere.”

  “This can still be your safe haven.” She closed the distance between them and lifted a hand to run it through the hair at the back of his neck. “I won’t go running to my father. What happened out there…what happens in here…it’s our little secret. No one has to know.”

  “Oh, that sounds reassuring,” he said dryly.

  She let out a little sigh at the edge in his voice. “I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just saying we don’t have to complicate things right away. Let’s just see where this goes. Let’s enjoy each other’s company for a while before we decide if things need to get more complex.”

  “Sweetheart, you’re nineteen. The moment we took that tumble in the woods, things got extremely complex.” He shook his head. “You’re not even old enough to drink. How could you possibly know—”

  She cut him off. “I know that I’ve waited forever for an alpha to come along with enough power to satisfy me.” She ran a hand up his chest, feeling the power churning under the surface. “Do you know the only man in my pack with potential to be my mate is nearly as old as my father? And he’s a total creep. I know I don’t want that.”

  “So it has nothing to do with me and everything to do with avoiding becoming a trophy wife to some old pervert,” Max said with an annoyed growl.

  “No!” Red shook her head in protest. “Did that incident in the woods make you feel like you were simply performing a civic duty?” She let her hand trail down his waist until she brushed the front of his pants. “We couldn’t resist one another. That’s not just trying to get out of a potential pairing with a man I despise.”

  He circled a hand around her wrist and removed it from his slacks. “Okay. You’re right. There was definitely something driving me to…mate with you.” He cringed at the word “mate”. “I was completely out of control, but that’s not always a good thing. I like being in control, Red. I like it a lot.”

  Of course he did. A man that powerful didn’t relinquish control easily. She didn’t blame him, as she was the same way. Still, there were things worth sacrificing some of that control for. “We’ll be in better control if we get a handle on the situation. If we avoid one another and then have another chance meeting, odds are we’ll rip each other’s clothes off again. It’s safer to at least sit down and talk this out. Right?”

  He let out a measured breath. “You’re right. Again.” He released her wrist, and with a hand at her back, guided her toward the front door. “We can meet up in a few days for lunch or something. When you’re not alone with me, a strange man, in my cabin. I can’t do this right now with you in nothing but my shirt.”

  She allowed him to guide her to the door. She didn’t like it, but she would do what made him more comfortable if it kept him from skipping town. “Okay. A couple days.” Already, a longing was building in her chest. She didn’t want to wait a few days. She wanted him now.

  As she stood in the doorway gazing up at him, Max shoved her picnic basket into her hands. Her cape and skirt were piled on top.

  “A couple days,” he repeated.

  When he lowered his eyes to hers, she sucked in a breath at the desire she saw swimming there. It was obvious he wanted her to leave just as little as she wanted to go. “A couple days…” She was stalling, she knew it, but she didn’t want to part from him. He was too enigmatic, and she was too damn drawn to him.

  “A…couple…days…” He closed the small space between them and captured her face in his hands. His mouth lowered to hers, and he seemed to devour her.

  Red dropped the picnic basket to the ground and slid her arms around his waist. She clung to him, her heart pounding rapidly against his chest. She couldn’t seem to get close enough to him.

  His hands dropped to the buttons of her shirt and began frantically popping them from their holes. “We shouldn’t. We can’t…” Even though he protested, his fingers kept going, kept exposing her body to his hungry gaze.

  Once he had the shirt fully undone, he grabbed each side and tugged her forward into the cabin. His foot kicked out at the door, slamming it behind her, and then he lowered his mouth to her throat.

  She shivered as he kissed a path along her collarbone. “Max…Max…” Her fingers swept through his hair, holding him close. “I don’t want to stop. I never want to stop.”

  His blue eyes lifted to hers with a startling mix of passion and almost wild alarm. “I can’t stop. That’s the problem.”

  His assessment was extremely accurate. She didn’t think she could keep her hands off of him if she tried. The pull was just too strong. “I don’t care,” she said. Whether to him or herself, she wasn’t quite sure. Perhaps both. “Don’t want to. Can’t. Does it matter?” Either way, they were pawing at each other’s clothes.

  “No,” he said with a growl as she helped him out of his shirt. “It doesn’t matter. None of it matters. Nothing matters but feeling your skin against mine.”

  She fully concurred. She was struggling to push his pants down his hips when he swung her up into his arms and carried her down the back hallway. She peppered his face with kisses as he brought her into a bedroom and tossed her to the bed.

  Leaning back on her elbows, she watched with avid interest as he stalked her as an animal might its prey. She studied the sinewy muscles underneath his skin, the grace with which he moved. She’d never seen a more attractive male in her life.

  When he crawled up the bed, up her body, she shifted to better accommodate him. She fit her soft curves against his much harder body, reveling in the feel of his silky skin against her own. He was right—nothing beyond this mattered.

  He sank down to lie on top of her, his bare flesh against her own. Red gave a soft whimper of arousal at the way he seemed to fit so perfectly against her. No fantasy she’d ever cooked up compared to Max—none—and there had been more than a few.

  When he nudged his erection at her opening, she lifted her hips off the bed, welcoming him into her body. “Please, Max. Please.” She felt as if she might lose her mind if she wasn’t with him again soon. There was no resistance in her, no worry. Perhaps that should have set off a few red flags, but she didn’t care. She’d never wanted anything this much in her life.

  Besides, wolves were blessed with a genetic resistance to sexually transmitted diseases, and having children didn’t come easily. She wasn’t looking to get pregnant, but on the astounding off-chance it happened, the community would celebrate the event, not shame her as a human might. It made the concern over contraceptives not seem so dire.

  He sank into her with a soft, inhuman growl that sent shivers down her arms. “What have you done to me?” he whispered against her throat. “You’re some type of sorceress, and you’ve enchanted me.”

  She knew he didn’t mean those accusations. She understood them though, because she felt the same way. She was so swept away by her otherworldly attraction to him that nothing else mattered, not safety or caution. With each thrust of his hips, she fell deeper under the spell. She never wanted to leave this man.

  Their bodies rocked together in a rhythm old as time, but it was one new to her. It sent tremors through her at how perfectly they seemed to work together. His body felt made for hers, and she for him. One word screamed loudly in her head. Mate.

  His mouth found hers in a searing kiss as he drove her closer and closer to the brink. She clawed at his back and wrapped her legs around him, arching frantically underneath him to match his pace. And just when she thought she couldn’t feel any better, orgasm slammed into her. She cried out into his mouth, her legs trembling and her pussy clenching around him like a vise.

  He followed her over the edge, their orgasms flowing into one another.

  It was a few minutes late
r before either one of them seemed capable of movement. Max collapsed to the bed beside her, breathing heavily. Without a word, he slipped an arm around her waist and dragged her to his side. He held her close, nuzzling his nose into her hair. Then he pulled the blankets up around them.

  Red snuggled in against him, any thoughts of leaving long gone. She let her head rest on his chest, and within moments, she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

  Chapter Five

  Red awoke to a large arm wrapping around her waist and tugging her back against a warm chest. In her semiconscious state, she nearly panicked, but then the memories of her encounters with Max came rushing back. She’d had sex! And with an amazingly sexy alpha wolf!

  She lay still for a moment, taking in the sensation of his stubble as it brushed against her bare shoulder. It was hard to believe he wasn’t just a figment of her imagination. He was a fantasy come to life, and right now he was all hers.

  He must have known she was awake, because he whispered in her ear. “We need to get you home. Preferably before your father shows up tearing down my door to get you back.”

  She rolled in his arms to gaze into his eyes. “I’m not his property.”

  “No, worse. You’re his daughter. And he’s a very powerful man.” Even so, he didn’t loosen his arms around her.

  She nestled against him, in no mind to leave just yet. “I’ll see you again?” she asked. She could stall for a while, but she knew she’d have to leave soon. Before they parted ways, she wanted to make sure he wouldn’t be taking off for fear of her father’s reaction. She hated the desperation that flitted through her chest. She’d just found him. He couldn’t leave.

  “I should say no,” he whispered, brushing her hair back away from her face. “This is bound to end disastrously.” He shrugged with a boyish grin. “What I should do and what I’m capable of doing are two totally different things. I know I can’t stay away.”