Gathering Darkness: A Paranormal Romance Collection

by Anna Zaires

  “Sarah, for one thing, there is a path.” I pointed to said path. “For another thing, there haven’t been any reports of large animals like wolves or anything like that for the last five years. Some nature preserve came and took them all to some kind of habitat.” I remember when they had done that because the town had been pissed. But apparently they had been finding wolves and other state protected animals killed around the area. “I am pretty sure unless a horde of squirrels comes after us, we should be okay.”

  Sarah took a step back, shaking her head. “Ugh, I don’t think so. I have a bad feeling about this.”

  I didn’t comment on how I, too, had this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I assumed it was just my nerves and the memory of all those tales I was told growing up.

  “Maybe we should just head back to the party?” Sarah said and looked at me. She moved back another inch, her stilettos getting stuck in the mud.

  “I don’t know about you, but I’m about done for tonight with the whole party and having drunk guys hitting on me with lame pick-up lines.” I smoothed my hands down the red velvet Little Red Riding Hood outfit I had on. “Besides, I’ve already gotten beer spilled on me twice, and I am only renting this damn outfit.” Sarah looked genuinely frightened, and I felt a twinge of sympathy for her.

  “Maybe I’ll just go back in and wait for Andrea to finish… whatever it is she’s doing.”

  I shrugged. “If you want.” I wasn’t about to pressure her into going with me, but I wasn’t going to stay at the party any longer either. The truth was it was depressing being with all those people. A party was probably the loneliest time of all, despite being surrounded by people—it was too intimate, if that even made sense. I was just a body in a sea of flesh and bone, no one paying me much attention at all, blending into the crowd.

  After my mom and dad had split two years ago, and my father moved to another town to be with his girlfriend who was the same age as me—twenty-three—Mom had just shrunk into herself. I was truly alone, and it was the saddest damn thing in the world. Well, I was tired of it, tired of trying to be a people pleaser and show everyone that I was okay. Even after two years, I wasn’t fine, I wasn’t happy, and I sometimes fell asleep hoping it would all be a dream and I’d wake up in another body.

  “It’s okay, Sarah, but I’m done with all of that.” I glanced behind me at the party that was still going on full force despite the fact that it was going on midnight.

  “You have your cell?” Sarah asked.

  I grabbed it from inside of my bra—yes, I kept my cell in my bra, because carrying a purse, or the picnic basket it had come with, was a deal breaker. I held up the phone to her, and she smiled, as if relieved. “If I get attacked by a group of squirrels, I’ll give you a ring to save the day.” I smiled, hoping to ease the weird fear she had for me. I waved at her and watched as she trekked back up the hill to where the house was located.

  When I turned and faced the woods again, this strange, powerful wind picked up, blowing my long dark hair in my face. I picked up the heavy fall and held it over my shoulder, staring at the way the leaves on the trees moved from the sudden gust.

  Another chill raced up my spine, and I let go of my hair to take my red cloak and fully wrap it around me. I moved forward, trying to still my racing heart, and told myself that this fear inside was because of the words of others that played through my head.

  Moving deeper into the forest I glanced around, took in the way the shadows played across the trees and flora, and knew that this would be the longest twenty minutes of my life. The farther I went, the colder it seemed to get. Or maybe that was just my nerves on high alert? And then I heard the sound of a twig snapping behind me. I spun around. The trees had closed in, suffocating me with their thickness. I couldn’t see the house any longer; I couldn’t even see the sky, for that matter.

  I heard the beating of my heart and my rapid breathing and told myself repeatedly that I needed to calm down. Closing my eyes, counting backward from ten, I waited until I no longer felt as though I’d crawl out of my skin. Slowly opening my eyes, it took a second for my vision to adjust. The moon broke through in a few places of the tree line, but it wasn’t enough that I felt very confident in hauling ass out of here if the time called for it.

  God, you shouldn’t have done this. You shouldn’t have, Red.

  There wasn’t anything spooky or menacing lurking in the shadows, and I sighed a relieved breath and turned back around to get the fuck out of here. But I froze when I saw the massively huge figure standing between two thick oak trunks. Then he stepped away from the protection of the forest and shadows, came into the swath of moonlight that spilled through, and I knew that what I had just done was walk into the lion’s den.

  His dark hair was long, brushing along his shoulders, and looking as wild as he did. But it was the fact he was naked, like buck-fucking-naked, and moving toward me that had my fight or flight instinct rising. I knew I should turn and leave, but I was frozen to this one spot, unable to do much but stand there and stare at him. His eyes were this weird shade of golden amber that glowed in the darkness. When he made this low and animalistic sound from deep within his throat, I finally had the common sense to move. However, my movements were slow, unsure, and then stopped altogether, when my back met a tree.

  He was breathing heavily, a low sound that made me think of a wild animal on the prowl. He was so close to me now, so close that I could see that he was ruggedly handsome, powerful, and massive in height and weight. He inhaled deeply, made a growly kind of noise, and I swear I got wet from the sound alone. He inhaled again, and it was as if he was trying to inhale my scent, take a part of me inside his body until there was nothing left. It was strange staring at this man, this beast, as he stared at me with eyes so golden in color they looked surreal.

  I curled my nails into the bark and told myself to get the fuck out of there, but I couldn’t take my gaze from his. I was transfixed by him, and that scared me more than this strange man standing before me. And then I saw his body start to grow taller, more muscular, and I gripped the edge of the tree behind me even harder. I couldn’t do anything but stare as this man who had been big before was now positively enormous. I had to crane my neck back just to see his face, but then I slowly lowered my gaze across his long dark hair, to the broad, hard shoulders, down to his pecs, and stopped at the light sprinkling of dark hair that covered his flesh. He wasn’t overly hairy, but had enough that told me he was all man, all testosterone and masculinity so that I felt like this tiny little thing compared to him.

  Then I lowered my gaze to the rippling abs he sported, and to the huge cock that was hard between his legs. He leaned in, inhaled even deeper now, and I swear my heart skipped a beat at the sound he made. His cock was long and thick, completely unrealistic for a normal human man, but then again this male was not human. Nor was he normal. Not in any sense. I knew this with every part of me.

  He reached out, took a strand of my hair, rubbed it between his fingers, and then lifted it to his nose to smell it.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, my words soft, breathless even.

  “Good.” He grunted out like an animal about to mount me, about to warn me.

  He started stroking me, and his touch on my face and bare arms had goose flesh popping out along my skin, and me on the verge of moaning out for him to do more. “This is wrong. This is crazy.” I said the last part on a moan as he touched me more fiercely.

  “Stop talking,” he growled out, as if he were angry with me.

  I didn’t know this man, didn’t even know if he was real or if I had passed out drunk at the party. Hell, I could be imagining all of this. God, was I? Was I passed out, people walking by me and not knowing that I was dreaming up this strange and fantastical image of this beast-man about to fuck me? And he was—about to fuck me, that is. I could see it in the way he stared at my lips, lowered his gaze to my breasts, and then reached out and touched them, as if he owned them. He
moved an inch closer, dug his hard-on right into my belly, and my pussy convulsed on its own.

  Was I like one of those stupid women on those horror movies that just stood there and let shit happen to them? I should be slapping his hands away, kneeing him in his big, gloriously hard dick, and running away screaming. But shit, I couldn’t, wouldn’t do any of that, because I had never felt so turned on in my life. It was like my pussy was running the show, screaming at me to stay right here, to let him have his filthy fucking way with me, because I knew it was going to be insanely good. This was an animalistic and primal experience, and no way in hell was I about to let it end.

  CHAPTER TWO

  His cock was so hard, and the scent of him was wild, like the trees and greenery around us. Right now he didn’t seem like a man at all, but a feral creature that had one thing on his mind: fucking me. He slammed his hands on the tree beside my head, lowered his face close to mine, and the sound that came from his throat was deep and carnal.

  What the hell is happening? I thought to myself, repeating that question in my head over and over again until it was like a broken record.

  “Mine,” he growled out deeply, and ran the tip of his nose up my throat, stopping when he reached my pulse. He breathed out slowly, in and out, and then faster and harder as he ground himself against me.

  “I have to go.” Common sense and reason reared its head up, and although I desperately wanted this stranger, this beast of a man, I knew I couldn’t do this. It was just too bizarre. But when I went to move on shaky legs he roared out loud enough that my entire body shook from it.

  “You are mine.” His words were disjointed, distorted, too, and he didn’t sound like a human male at all. He grabbed my breast, curled his nails into my flesh until agony and ecstasy filled my entire body and I had no option but to submit.

  “Say you are mine,” he said in that growly voice again.

  I should have fought harder, but I didn’t. “I’m yours.” God, you’re a little whore, Red. I wanted the damn Halloween costume off, wanted to be just as naked as he was, and I wanted that now. “Just fuck me already,” I breathed out, not even caring that I was like a slut begging for his dick. I felt drugged and high, so far gone from reality that the only thing that made sense was being with him. He pulled back and stared right into my eyes. When he bared his teeth my heart dropped to my belly at the sight of his incisors. They were long and sharp, like a bear or wolf would have. I could swear the fact he was showing me was some kind of warning.

  He tilted his head back and roared out, and this feeling overcame me like a female submitting to a powerful male. I wanted to lie down for him, spread my legs, and just let him fuck me raw. God, what was wrong with me? Why was I acting like this? Were the myths true about this place? Although I had never heard anything like this before, I certainly felt like an otherworldly sensation was controlling my actions and thoughts.

  And then in one swift move, he tore my Little Red Riding Hood costume from me until I stood there in my bra and panties. My chest was rising fast and hard, and I was so wet that the material of my thong was soaked clean through. He lifted a hand and showed me the wicked looking claws that tipped his big fingers. And then he sliced those claws through my undergarments until they fell in tattered remains to the ground.

  He grabbed my waist and turned me around forcefully, and the air left me in a whoosh. When he ran his hand over my ass, I closed my eyes and rested my head on the tree trunk. It felt good to feel his hands moving over my body, to have the sensation of his callous-covered fingers scraping along my sensitive flesh.

  The sound of his palm making contact with my flesh was loud and echoed along the trees, but it was the feeling of the pain and pleasure that came with that swat that had me nearly coming right then and there. He held me in place with a hand to the middle of my back, but I wasn’t about to go anywhere. This was a ludicrous situation, but I was going to roll with it. And when I looked over my shoulder and watched as he grabbed his dick and started jerking himself off as he palmed my ass, I parted my lips and begged him to screw me already.

  “God, fuck me. Please.” I sounded like a whiny bitch in heat, but who cared? This was the most exhilarating experience of my life. I felt like he was toying with me, torturing me for the sole purpose of deriving pleasure from it. He slapped my ass so hard I cried out from the pain.

  “You. Are. Mine. Now.” He enunciated each word slowly, deeply, and held my gaze with his own. “I make the rules now, mate.” The way he said mate had everything inside of me tensing. This wasn’t just about being fucked in the woods by a creature that was too large and powerfully built to be a human male, but about being claimed by the animal that stood right in front of me.

  “Spread.” That lone word was low and distorted. It was a command, a demand, and I didn’t want to break whatever sexual haze was between us.

  I spread my legs as wide as they would go and felt my pussy start to grow swollen with the need to have him inside of me. My cream slipped down my thigh, but I wasn’t embarrassed. And then he lowered his gaze to my ass, squeezed the globes forcefully, and got down on his haunches.

  “This is my ass to fuck, mate.” He bit down on the mound and I cried out in pleasure and agony as his incisors scraped my tender flesh. He slipped a hand between my legs and started stroking my pussy. “This is my cunt to lick, suck, and fuck.” He rubbed my clit, spread my arousal around, and then lifted his hand to his mouth. I was still watching him over my shoulder, and the sight of him licking my cream from his fingers had me moaning softly.

  He lowered his face back to my pussy, started sucking and licking at me, and all I could do was rest my head against the tree and close my eyes for the ride. When he did finally break away from my clit, it was to drag his tongue down my slit and move it around my pussy hole. I felt him flatten his tongue and drag it up and down, over and over again until I was gasping for air. He repeated the action, and all the while he pushed a thick finger into my pussy, stretching me, teasing me, but being gentle at the same time. I couldn’t feel the scrape of his claw, so he must have retracted it as easily as he had unsheathed it. But it didn’t matter because right now I wanted whatever he could give me.

  The sound of my pussy sucking at his finger, of him making these wet noises against my clit, had me moving closer to orgasm, grinding myself all over his face. I wanted this, was not ashamed to get it from him, and would have it in the end.

  He had his finger buried deep inside of me now, and it only took a few seconds for my whole body to tense as an orgasm tore through me. He smacked my ass, hard, spanking me as I came against his mouth, but it was so fucking good. He didn’t stop his ministrations until I was begging him to, until I couldn’t take the sensitivity of it anymore. My clit felt swollen, my whole pussy hot and wet at the same time.

  And then he stood, his chest brushing against mine, and I looked over my shoulder. He took hold of his dick, stroked it from root to tip, and this irrational part of my brain said that massive cock was so not going to fit inside of me.

  “I’ve waited for you, mate, knew you’d come,” he growled out, and then spanked my ass again. The sting and burn that followed had me panting. “Beg me for my cock.”

  I licked my lips and then swallowed roughly. His canines were touching his bottom lip, and I swore his eyes glowed brightly in front of me. Lowering my gaze to his cock, I saw wetness at the crown, watched as that pre-cum continued to cover the tip. Dragging my gaze back up to his face, I saw this man partially shifted, saw his eerie colored eyes, his fangs, his huge body, and felt myself grow wetter still.

  “I want your cock. I want you to fuck me.”

  He spun me around swiftly, and my breasts swung wildly from the act. In a movement so quick, and with an insurmountable amount of strength, he had me lifted with my legs over his arms. “Tell me your name.”

  “Red.” I breathed out my nickname.

  “Take my cock and put it in your pussy, Red.” He stared right at
me. “I’m going to fuck you, mate.”

  I licked my lips, and then reached down, took his huge erection in my hand, staring at him, ran the pad of my thumb along the slit at the tip of his dick. I ran the crown of his erection up and down my slick folds and then pressed the tip against the entrance of my pussy.

  He wasn’t slow and easy, but harsh and rough when he thrust into me. I cried out and rested my head back on the trunk. I couldn’t do anything but hold onto his massive, bulging biceps as he fucked me like a madman. In and out, faster and harder, and then he was reaching behind my head and grabbing my hair. His cock stretched me, made this delicious burn that encompassed me. I had never felt this filled before, this taken. I wasn’t a virgin, but this man made me feel like one.

  He growled, roared, and made deep, vibrating noises against the side of my throat. My inner pussy muscles were clenching rhythmically on their own. He kept saying these things in a guttural voice, words that I couldn’t decipher, but that didn’t really matter now. I was wet, juicy for him, and the sound of my pussy sucking at his cock was loud in this cavernous forest.

  I was going to come sooner than later, and although I wanted this to last, I also wanted to get off as badly as I wanted to breathe. But before I could climax, he pulled out of me, spun me around so my back was to his chest, and took us to the ground. I was now on my hands and knees and looked down the length of my body to see his huge cock bouncing up and down as he got into position behind me. I was all about doggy style, and this time I had a feeling it would be as wild as the term implied.

  He thrust back into me, slammed into my cunt so hard that I nearly fell forward, but he grabbed me around my waist and hauled me up. He was pumping into me hard enough that my breasts were swinging back and forth from the force of his actions. He pushed the hair away from my shoulder, and then he was licking and sucking at my throat, dragging his canines back and forth over the area of my neck that met my shoulder.