by Avery Flynn
She jerked to a stop. “Well, if it isn’t the Doublemint twins.”
“That never gets old, Red,” one of them squeaked.
“Now there’s no need to be like that, Hansel.” The King shushed one ogre before turning to the other. “And Gretel, how many times do I have to explain that hissing isn’t ladylike?”
This wasn’t going to end well. She squeezed Liam’s hand, he returned the signal. He knew the reality of their situation too. The ogres weren’t known for losing. Ever. Unless the King was feeling generous, this was the end of the line.
Planting her feet shoulder-width apart and releasing Liam’s hand, she took in a deep breath before giving the king her full attention. “You’ve got your hands full; we’ll just get out of your hair.”
He clasped his hands behind his back, the move highlighting his rounded belly, and rocked back on his heels. “I can’t allow that.”
“Who said we were asking for your permission?” Liam snarled, his hands fisted at his sides but ready for action.
Out of the corner of her eye Red caught a glimpse of a hot-pink flash swooping through the orange-tinged sky half a second before the warehouse burst into flames. The heat licked at her skin and she jumped back. If Harold stuck to the plan, he was on his way back at Granny’s Pub by now, ready to chomp down on chicken wings and peanuts from a perch on the roof. There wasn’t enough room for Harold to land in the courtyard and whisk them away, so she and Liam had to make it out on their own. Easy. Peasy.
“Hansel and Gretel,” the king screamed, “sic him.”
The vicious duo surged toward Liam in unison, swirling around him like an evil tornado. They launched themselves upward, each one landing on an arm and sinking their sharp teeth into him while their claws pierced his flesh. He grabbed Hansel by the back of the neck and tossed him to the ground. Blood gushed from the wound left by the ogre’s teeth. Just as Liam turned his attention to unclamping Gretel from his other arm, Hansel set to work on Liam’s leg, slicing through the thick leather biker boot as if it were a warm stick of butter.
Ruthless in their attack and merciless in their demeanor, ogres had been known to pick their teeth with the bones of their victims in full view of the victim’s wailing children. Red wasn’t about to sit by and watch Hansel and Gretel practice good dental hygiene with Liam’s femur.
She tried to reach for the mini-flamethrower sheathed on her belt, but her arms wouldn’t move. They stayed glued to her sides, as useless as feathers on a fish. Sweat streamed down her face as she fought with everything she had to just move her fingers an inch or two as the ogres’ ferocious battle cries gained in strength. The sound drove an ice pick of terror into her heart.
“Funny thing about witches, they love their loopholes.” The King strolled over to her as calm and cool as if there wasn’t a fight to the death going on in front of them and his warehouse wasn’t turning to ash a few yards away. “When the witch I hired warded the complex against magic, she put in a little twist to the spell’s language so that my magic would still work. You’re not going anywhere, you naughty girl. I have plans for you.”
His threat barely made a blip on her radar as she watched, helpless, as the ogres continuing their dual attack—kicking, punching, biting and slicing their way through Liam.
Most men would have given in to the inevitable by now and been grateful if death came swiftly, but not Liam. He wound his left hand around Gretel’s long hair and yanked her head back. The move altered her grip on his right arm and with a great primal yell, he dislodged her. Before the ogre even had a chance to respond, he lifted her high in the air and twirled her around by her scraggly brown hair before tossing her toward the warehouse flames. Green smoke erupted when she hit what turned out to be her funeral pyre.
Hansel stumbled back from Liam as the green smoke wafted up into the sky and let loose with an angry, mournful howl that set off car alarms on the street and shattered glass in the neighboring buildings. Then, he set his sights on Liam and ran toward him with full force.
But it was too late. Hansel’s keening had given Liam enough time to launch a handful of ninja stars at the remaining ogre. The impact threw Hansel backward. All five had found there marks. The ogre struggled to regain his footing, but it was too late. He collapsed and transformed to green smoke.
Liam had beaten the ogres, but it had cost him. He stood, bleeding and battered, looking as if he’d gone six rounds with Harold and lost—badly. If she didn’t get him out of here and soon, he was going to die. Already an otherworldly paleness had replaced his tan complexion. He grinned at her and gave an unsteady thumbs up.
Pain—worse than the enchanted lash against her skin, worse than her belly after three days without food and worse than the idea of Liam never having walked into Granny’s Pub—squeezed Red’s lungs.
He struggled to stay upright, but looked as if even the slightest breeze could have knocked him over. “Let her go and I won’t fight you.”
“Look at you. You can’t fight me anyway. Not even on your best day and you’re far from that.” The King waved his hand, knocking Liam to the ground with magic.
The king raised his hand to deliver the deathblow.
“Wait.” Adrenaline and fury pouring through her, she latched onto the first plan that came to mind. “Let me do it.”
“Do I look like a fool?” The king curled his fingers, the movement bringing Liam up from the ground so that he dangled fifty feet in midair.
She wanted to tear the king apart, rip him into shreds that could never be put back together again, but unless she could get him to release her, Liam was a dead man. So she twisted the anger and found a new target for it because she had to hate Liam, to save him.
Birds were singing. Judging by the number of honking cars she could hear, the morning commute had begun in earnest. Dawn was over and the morning was here, giving her the opening she needed.
“Look around. It’s morning. The spell has worn off. I’m back to normal,” Red said, keeping her tone flinty. “He lied to me. He abused my trust. Let me prove my loyalty and have my revenge against him in the same moment. Then, we’ll go on doing business together as if this had never happened.”
The King gave her a considering look before lowering his hand. Liam landed softly on the concrete in front of them. The King snapped his fingers and her entire body tingled as blood rushed back into her limbs.
“One wrong move,” the King snarled, “and I’ll kill him slowly.”
She smirked. “What do you think my plan is for him?”
The king handed her a knife with a six-inch blade. Its solid steel handle was heavy and awkward in her hand, but she curled her fingers around it, knowing that her timing had to be perfect. She’d only get one shot at this.
The King nudged her forward. “Go on, make the smart choice.”
“You’re right. Killing him would be the smart choice.” She shifted her grip on the knife’s handle. “But someone once told me that sometimes you have to go with your gut.”
She spun around and raised the knife in one fluid motion, turning her wrist so the blade was perpendicular to the ground then slammed the solid metal hilt against the king’s temple. He crumpled to the ground, alive but no threat—at least not until he regained consciousness.
Red tossed the knife aside and dropped to her knees beside Liam. The morning sun showcased every cut and bruise on Liam’s gorgeous face, making her ache for him. Heart thundering in her ears, she swept her hands across his body, checking for broken bones and praying there wouldn’t be any telltale signs of internal bleeding. “You could have been killed.”
He grinned up at her, wincing a little from the effort. “Coulda, woulda, shoulda.”
“Are you always going to be such a pain in my ass?” She slid her arm underneath his chest and helped him sit up.
“As long as we get an always.” Stubborn ass that he was, he pushed off from the ground on his own. He regained his footing, but the tightness in his jaw
showed the effort it had taken.
“You’ll have to be satisfied with a happy for now.” Sliding close, she dropped one of his arms around her shoulder and wrapped her hand around his waist. Together they hobbled to the front gate. “Let’s just see where all this leads.”
Liam winked. “Eventually, right down the aisle.”
As soon as they crossed the property line and were in the street where magic worked again, Red reached into her cape and retrieved a glass vile of an effervescent purple liquid. She uncorked it and held it to Liam’s lips. He drank without question. Within moments, the cuts had healed, the bruises had faded and his swagger had returned.
“You are cocky son of a bitch.” Just her type of werewolf.
“And that’s why you love me.” He pulled her tight to him, every one of his hard lines complementing her soft curves, meeting her halfway as an equal.
“Maybe.” The love spell had worn off, but the thrill of being this close to him had her hot, bothered and ready for more anyway. Granny had asked her if this connection between her and Liam could be more. What Red hadn’t realized at the time was that it already was.
“Where’s Harold?” Liam asked, twirling a strand of her hair around his finger. “I think it’s time we rode off into the sunrise.”
Red threw back her head and laughed, for real this time. “Come on, let’s go reverse that curse before you turn permanently furry. Granny would have a fit if I brought an actual wolf home and introduced him as my boyfriend.”
He leaned in close, brushing his lips across her jaw. “What happened to being your fiancé?”
“You keep talking about that but you’ve never actually asked.” Her voice wavered on the last word because Liam had moved from her jaw to her neck. It was hard to think, hard to form words, hard to remember her own name when he touched her like that, teasing her by giving her almost what she wanted.
“And if I did? Someday?” He nibbled that sweet spot where her neck met her shoulder, the one that turned her whole body into a mass of molten want.
“I’d think about it.” Red grabbed him by the shirt, pulled him closer and kissed him with every bit of yes she had in her heart.
A Note from Avery
Thanks so much for reading Big, Bad Red. I hope you loved Liam and Red as much as I did. If you have a second to leave a review, that would be awesome. And be sure to check out the first book in the Fairy True series, Jax and the Beanstalk Zombies!
About Avery Flynn
Avery Flynn has three slightly–wild children, loves a hockey–addicted husband and is desperately hoping someone invents the coffee IV drip.
She fell in love with romance while reading Johanna Lindsey’s Mallory books. It wasn’t long before Avery had read through all the romance offerings at her local library. Needing a romance fix, she turned to Harlequin’s four books a month home delivery service to ease the withdrawal symptoms. That worked for a short time, but it wasn’t long before the local book stores’ staffs knew her by name.
Avery was a reader before she was a writer and hopes to always be both. She loves to write about smartass alpha heroes who are as good with a quip as they are with their *ahem* other God–given talents. Her heroines are feisty, fierce and fantastic. Brainy and brave, these ladies know how to stand on their own two feet and knock the bad guys off theirs.
Find out more about Avery on her website, follow her on Twitter and Pinterest, like her on her Facebook page or friend her on her Facebook profile. She’s also on Goodreads and BookLikes.
Join her street team, The Flynnbots, and receive special sneak peeks, prizes and early access to her latest releases!
Also, if you figure out how to send Oreos through the Internet, she’ll be your best friend for life.
Contact her at [email protected]. She’d love to hear from you!
Books By Avery Flynn
The Killer Style Series
High-Heeled Wonder (Killer Style 1)
This Year’s Black (Killer Style 2)
Make Me Up (Killer Style 3)
Sweet Salvation Brewery Series
Enemies on Tap (Sweet Salvation Brewery 1)
Hollywood on Tap (Sweet Salvation Brewery 2)
Trouble on Tap (Sweet Salvation Brewery 3)
Dangerous Love Series
Dangerous Kiss (Laytons 1)
Dangerous Flirt (Laytons 2)
Dangerous Tease (Laytons 3)
Novellas
Hot Dare
Betting the Billionaire
Jax and the Beanstalk Zombies (Fairy True 1)
Big Bad Red (Fairy True 2)
Table of Contents
Title Page
Acknowledgements
Copyright
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
About Avery Flynn
Books By Avery Flynn