Craving Red: Paranormal Erotic Retelling of Red Riding Hood (Erotic Kingdom) (10 page)

Leaning his face in closer to hers, Dane’s lips
made contact with her forehead.  A wave of contentment washed through her at
this seemingly simple, yet profound gesture.  He proceeded to gently kiss every
inch of her face: each eye, her nose, her cheeks, her chin, every bruise, every
cut, until at last, all that remained were her lips. 

Kaia’s breath seized in her chest as she waited,
prayed he would not stop there.  His mouth was so near to hers she could taste
his breath.  Then her soul rejoiced when, at last, he pressed his mouth to hers
and kissed her lips. 
Claimed them.
 

But to Dane, he was not just claiming her body. 
He was claiming
her
.  For his own.  He didn’t know how yet, but he would
make it happen.  One way or another.  He had never been so sure of anything in
his life as he was that Kaia belonged to him— and
only
him.

How he wanted to kiss her hard, passionately. 
But he wouldn’t hurt her.  He was not like them. 

Thrilled that her hands were finally free to do
anything they so desired, Kaia threw her arms around him, as he deepened his
kiss, urging her mouth open so that his tongue could explore her.  His hands
travelling down her back, his tongue sought her mouth fervently, enticing hers
to do the same.

Kaia fell back onto the bed, hoping to encourage
him to move himself onto her.  But he did not.  Instead he caressed his fingers
over her skin lightly, careful to avoid the wounded areas, as he continued to
kiss her.  She never imagined two people could kiss for so long!

Despite her condition, she felt her body
responding.  She was almost giddy with the thought of him finally taking her.  When
Dane’s lips left her mouth to explore more of her, she knew it would be soon. 

His mouth made love to her neck, every curve of it
before he descended further to nibble at her clavicle.  Ignoring her aching
breasts, Dane began to plant little kisses along her body.  She realised he was
kissing every bruise and quickly became embarrassed for how dreadful she must
appear.

Then Dane lay down beside her and began to
settle his body against hers, gazing into her eyes as his hand returned to
caress her face. 

Kaia peered at him quizzically.  “Are you not
going to mate with me?” she asked, almost as though insulted that he would not.

“I want you, Kaia, believe me,” Dane began, “but
not like this.  I can’t imagine the pain it would inflict upon you and I refuse
to do that to you.”

“I … I don’t know what to say,” Kaia spluttered,
in shock that a man— especially one of their kind— would pass up the chance to
bed a woman who was already laying there fully nude and vulnerable as she was.

“You do not need to say anything.  But, perhaps
you will grant me the favour of being my first when the time is right for you,”
he whispered, working his fingers through her silken blonde hair.

“Your
first
?” she repeated in shock. 
“You have
never
bedded a woman?”

“No, I have not,” he replied.  She could detect
the hint of awkwardness in his tone.  “That night I walked away was to be my
initiation to the mating ritual, as well as yours.”

Kaia could hardly believe it.  Dane seemed so
confident, the way he touched her, his mouth upon her.  Just thinking of it
made her ache for him.  She hated the fact that he was not claiming her
tonight.

“And you
chose
to walk away?  Why?” she
prodded.

Dane laughed, but Kaia quickly sensed the
bitterness which laced it.  “Yes, I did.  And believe me, I got an earful from
the pack later.  But, I just could not stand to be a part of something like
that.  I wanted you— trust me, I
wanted
you— but I did not want to be
just another one of them violating you like that.  I would rather wait for my
turn to be with you alone.”

“And now you are putting my needs first and
passing up your chance to have me again.  You must be some sort of angel,” Kaia
declared musingly.

He snorted.  “Hardly!”

“Well, you are to me, anyway.  And I would be
honoured to be your first, Dane.  I only wish that you could have been mine. 
Then everything would be so different.”

“So do I, Kaia.”

“How many women like me have there been that
have been forced into this ritual?  Is it just the ones here now?”

Dane shook his head and said, “You really don’t
want to know, Kaia.” 

Kaia countered, “Yes, I do.   Please, Dane, I
need
to know.”

His eyes turned up to look into hers.   She could
not miss the shame brimming in them.  “I honestly do not know.  Too many to
count.  I have seen them bring women here ever since I can remember.  They have
pretty much managed to capture one nearly every changing with the moon.”

Dane was sure she would want nothing to do with
him if she knew the real answer.  Though he truly did not know for sure, he
knew it had to be in the hundreds.

“And where are all of them now?” Kaia probed,
afraid of what the answer might be, and yet also afraid not to know.  “Why are
there only four others still here?  Did the others escape?”

“Well, that’s one way of putting it.”   Dane
couldn’t bring himself to look into her eyes as he said the words.  “They
didn’t make it.” 

“Didn’t
make it
?” Kaia repeated
incredulously.

“They didn’t survive,” he said, wishing she
hadn’t forced him to be so blunt about something he would rather banish from
memory.  When he saw the horrified look on her face, he drew in a deep breath
and elabourated.  “Some died from the trauma of the mating, some were fortunate
enough to find a way to commit suicide, others from miscarriage, but many of
them died from the actual childbirth.  It is not easy for a human female to
survive the development of a werewolf in her, let alone the birth.  It takes a
huge toll on her body.  But for the few who do survive— like Astrid, Gisli and
Lilja— they know they are strong ones and will keep breeding to them.  To them,
that is all just part of the process.  To find the strongest females to pass on
the lines.” 

Kaia was speechless. 
I am anything but
strong.  I
wonder then, which of those awful ways am I destined to die?

When she said nothing, Dane continued, “Even
though I was raised with all of their beliefs, it has been difficult for me to embrace
them as my own.  You see, my mother was one of those women that did not
survive.”

“Your mother was
human
?” Kaia asked in
surprise.

“Yes, but I never knew her.  Part of me hates
them for what they did to her— what they did to all of the women.  But the
other part of me
is
them.”

Kaia swallowed, trying to come to terms with his
revelation.  “So why was I any different?  Why did you decide to not go through
with it?”

“I don’t know,” he started, his eyes glazing
over as he looked inward.  “You just were.  It’s not that I didn’t always feel
bad for what they did to all those women.  I did.  It’s just that I didn’t feel
bad
enough
to go against them.  But with you, it was different somehow…
everything
was different.  I can’t explain it.  But I knew it—
felt
it in the fiber
of my being— the moment I first laid eyes on you.  You captivated the wolf in
me, as well as the man in me.  Now it is impossible for me to imagine anything
else other than being with you.  And I certainly can’t imagine you with someone
else.  The sounds of them taking you that night still haunts me.  It will
forever be burned into my mind.  But I was powerless to do anything then.  Had
I challenged them— especially in the frenzied breeding state they were in, it
would have been certain suicide.”  

Dane had to pause to swallow back the lump
forming in his throat.  “And the thought of leaving you alone with them was the
only
thing that stopped me from doing something reckless.  I knew I
would have a better chance if I could sneak you away alone, after the damage
had been done and their interest in you was stagnant for the time being.  I’m
truly sorry for everything, Kaia.  Can you ever forgive me?”  When he was
finished, she could see the tears brimming in his eyes.  It tugged at her heart
to see a man as tough as he express such raw sensitivity.

Forgive him?
  How could she do
anything but?  Kaia knew what had happened to her was not his fault.  What
mattered now was that he had chosen to do the right thing.  She just hoped that
in doing so, they were not writing their death sentences.  But that was a risk
she was more than willing to take.  She wasn’t about to resign herself to a
life of being held captive there just to be a mindless sex slave and breeder
for their were-pups.

Raising her hand to his agonized face, she
caressed down his cheek, gazing evocatively into his eyes to convey the
sincerity of what she was about to say.   “Dane, of course I forgive you.  I
never held any of this against you.  I want to put this behind us as nothing
more than a nightmare and see where our love will take us.  If one good thing
came out of this it was my finding you.  And believe it or not, I would not
exchange that for anything, even if it meant I had to endure what I did.  I
would do it all over again if it guaranteed me
you
.”

Hearing this, Dane could no longer hold back his
tears.  He pulled her into him, enfolding his arms tight about her.  She loved
the feel of being held close to him, the scent of him, the feel of his muscles
against her body, and most of all, his heat promising her warmth and
protection.  Just being this close to him was intoxicating.  For the first time
in weeks, Kaia felt completely safe.

Dane enfolded his arms around her, holding her close
while she fell asleep.

D
ane
hated to leave her.  He loved the feel of Kaia sleeping soundly in his arms. 
His
woman.  Yes, that is what she would soon be.

That is, if he made it through what he planned
to do alive.

And there was a very good chance he would not. 
But he intended on giving it everything he had, and then some.  And the one
thing that kept his motivation elevated enough to believe he might actually
pull it off was Kaia.  He knew all too well what would become of her if he left
her alone with them.  And he would be damned if he was going to let that
happen.   Whether it was with him or not, she deserved so much more.

Carefully sliding his arm out from beneath her, Dane
pulled the blanket up over Kaia’s beautiful naked body.  Full of yearning, he
gazed upon her once more, committing every subtle feature of her face to memory
before removing himself and rising from the bed.

As he walked out of the room, he drew in a long
breath to prepare himself for what he must do.  Going to his own room, he
retrieved his axe.  Though he was exceptionally adroit at handling it, never
had he killed anyone with it before.  But before he had even reached puberty he
could take down a tree with it.  He may have been the youngest in the pack, but
he was still the strongest.  They just didn’t know it. 
Yet.

If he was lucky, Dane would find the other males
scattered, rather than gathered together in a group around the fire as they sometimes
did at night.  But he didn’t dare hope to be so fortunate.

Stalking through the camp, Dane had yet to see
them.  Then he spied Viggo and Aric by the fire.  But he was not concerned with
them, unless it became necessary.  Then he would take down anyone and everyone
that attempted to stand in the way of him claiming his woman.

It was the other three that he was after.  The
three pureblood males who had hurt his woman like an animal.  Of course, their
pureblood made them stronger opponents than the other two.  He knew they would
be more difficult to take down.  But he was stronger than they had yet to
realise.  He had always been careful not to reveal just how strong he truly
was.  Just in case.  And now he was glad he had.  They would never have thought
him capable of this.

Calling forth his wolf senses, he utilized his
keen sense of smell to locate his prey.  He caught the scent of Magnar first. 

Good,
he thought. 
He is the
fiercest fighter among us.
 
If I can take him down first, the other two should
be easier.  But it would be wise to not shed blood on the first, lest it alert
the others’ noses.

Dane located him easily.  Always the loner, Magnar
was off in the wood.  From what he could sense, the others were not nearby.  He
hoped he was right.  He knew he would have to move quickly after he killed the
first one. 

 Venturing into the wood, he soon saw Magnar. 
Having just slain an elk— with his bare hands, no doubt— he was crouching down
over it, preparing to devour it.  

Dane didn’t bother trying to sneak up on him. 
He knew that would be impossible.  Instead he strode towards him as though it
were nothing out of the ordinary. 

Seeing him, Magnar greeted him.  “Hey, little Brother,
you coming to join me for a midnight snack?” he snickered because he already
knew what the answer would be.  That was the thing about the purebloods.  They
had no qualms about killing and eating an animal raw, even when in their human
form.  In reality, their behaviour never strayed too far off from the wolf.  Essentially,
to them, they regarded their condition as being the curse of having to live as human
most of the time, rather than the other way around.

Still walking towards him, Dane chuckled at his
intended jest, stopping when he was just slightly behind him.  Not feeling any
threat whatsoever from the ‘pup of the pack’, Magnar had already disregarded
him, returning his attention back on his kill.  As he sank his teeth into the
animal’s neck, Dane leapt forward, hurling his arms about his neck and locked
down.  Fully aware that this was a ‘do or die’ situation, he drew upon all of
his suppressed strength. 

Putting up a good fight, Magnar’s huge frame
thrashed about violently as he battled for air.  Knowing he had to do this as
silently and quickly as possible if he was to have his chance at killing the
other two, Dane strained to squeeze all his force into his forearms.  At last,
the thrashing weakened and Dane snapped the man-wolf’s neck before allowing his
massive lifeless body to fall to the ground. 

Staring down at his dead pack mate, Dane was
devoid of any remorse for the man who had violated Kaia.  Taking a deep breath,
he set off to find the other two.

He picked up on their scent.  They were at the perimeter
of the camp.  And from what he could tell, they were together.  He figured they
would be.  Being actual blood brothers, Thorin and Jorn did almost everything
together, which explains them visiting Kaia together.  The onslaught of rage
which consumed him at the mere thought of that night gave him the power to move
forward.

Dane sprinted back to the camp.  When he had
reached them, he called to them, “Thorin, Jorn!  Come!  Something has happened
to Magnar.”

Stepping away at first, Dane was discouraged to
see them stop in their tracks and stare at him shiftily.

Are they onto me?  If I have to take them down
right here, Aric and Viggo will come running over.  Then I will have to take
them down, too, and I would rather not do that.

But they left him no choice.  Suspicion evident
in his tone, Thorin prodded him, “Just tell us what the problem is, Dane.”

Dane was aware that they knew something was not
right.  His eyes darted around quickly, trying to assess the situation.  They
didn’t appear to be armed.  He would have to take his chances.  Not bothering
to reply to his Alpha, Dane walked towards them.  He could see they were
becoming nervous.  Once he was close enough, he charged at them, swinging his
axe with all his might towards Thorin.

It struck his neck, decapitating him in one
smooth slash.  As the blood of the Alpha sprayed the air, his brother charged
at Dane. 

Smelling the blood, Aric and Viggo were upon the
scene in a flash, their mouths gaping upon seeing their Alpha dead upon the
ground, his severed head several metres from his body.

 Far solider than the Beta male, Dane snapped
his neck in one fluid motion, dropping his limp body to the ground.  It was
only then that he saw his half-blood brothers.  They stood frozen a dozen
metres away, their eyes bulging with horror at what they had witnessed.

As their youngest brother stalked towards them,
they turned and ran back to the camp.  Dane swiftly caught up to them.  

“Dane,” Viggo began to plead, “I swear, we had
no part in what they did to Kaia.”

“I know,” Dane replied vacantly.

“Please brother, spare us,” Aric added.  “We
mean you no trouble.  We will gladly serve you as the new Alpha.”

For some time, Dane studied the two of them. 
When he felt certain that they were being honest, he said, “I have no interest
in being your or anyone’s Alpha.  And I will spare your lives, for the time
being.  I am going to get my woman and take her far away from here.  You will
never see us again.  If I discover you are following us or you give us any
trouble whatsoever, I will not hesitate to kill you.  The same goes for
Synnove.  You can pass on the word.”

“Sure, brother,” Viggo replied.  “You go get
your little female.  We won’t stand in your way.”

“You’re damned right you won’t!” Dane snarled. 
He turned from them and headed into the camp.

He sprinted to Kaia’s tent.  Pushing aside the
flap, he was relieved to find her still sleeping sound, entirely oblivious to
the horrors of the world around her.  As it should be.  His eyes fixed upon
her, Dane sighed. 

She is so beautiful.  Am I a fool to believe she
will really want me, or was I just someone who she was able to find fleeting
security with during this tragic time of her life?
 
Now
that she will be free to have a choice, will she choose me or her old life?  I
cannot provide her any of the things she had known.  Even though I slayed my
brothers for her, eschewed my earned place as Alpha, I will not force her to go
with me.  I will just have to live with whatever she decides.
 

Kaia stirred, the blanket falling from her
shoulder, exposing the roundness of her breast.  His cock began to stiffen of
its own accord at the mere sight of her. 

No.
 
Can’t think about sex
right now.  Not yet.  More important things to attend to.  Soon though— if
she’ll have me, that is.

Dane swallowed and stepped forwards, sitting
beside her on the edge of the bed.  Placing his hand gently upon her soft skin,
he leaned his face down close to hers to whisper into her ear.  “Kaia, wake
up.”  

She moaned and stirred, a contented smile
touching her mouth at the sound of his voice.  Her hand brushed over his now
fully erect cock as her arms draped over him, curling herself against his hip. 
Dane had to fight back the demands of his body, and leaned down over her and
placed a soft kiss to her temple.  He hated to have to wake her after all she
had been through.  But it was the only way.  They had to get out of there
before one of the remaining pack members decided to exact revenge on him for
slaughtering his brothers.

“Kaia, wake up, my love,” he said into her ear a
bit louder this time.

Peeling her eyes open, she gazed up at him and
smiled the most beautiful smile.  “Dane,” she said sleepily.  “You’re still
here!  Is it morning already?” 

Not about to spoil her pleasant belief, he
nodded and smiled.

“No, Kaia.  But something has happened,” he told
her calmly, not intending to get her too worked up.  “We must go. 
Now
.”

Despite his efforts, her eyes revealed their
concern.  “Leave?  You and me?” she questioned.  “I don’t understand, what’s
going on?”

“No time to discuss it now.  Later.  Now come
on, before it’s too late.”

She decided she would be better off not arguing
if he had actually managed to find a way to get her out of there.  “Alright,
Dane, whatever you say.”

Dane wrapped the blanket about her and pushed
his arms under her, lifting her from the bed.  He couldn’t deny that he loved
the feel of her in his arms.

Then he walked through the camp carrying her,
ignoring the bewildered eyes following him.  He would feel better when he got
her far away from there, where she was not in danger of the pack males hurting
her in retaliation for what he had done.  He took off at a run.

When Dane felt reasonably secure about the
distance they had covered, he slowed his pace so they could have the chance to
talk.  Though he wasn’t sure if he was ready for what he thought her answer
would be, he couldn’t wait any longer to find out what she would choose to do.  He
had to know, so he could begin to move on.  Not that he could ever forget about
her.  That would be asking too much.

“Kaia,” he started, his voice cautious.  “I want
you to know that I am not taking you against your will.   You have been through
enough.  I am not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to.  I can
return you home to your family if that is what you want.”

Kaia didn’t say anything.  She wasn’t sure how
to take his words.  Was he saying he wanted to be rid of her, that he preferred
to go their separate ways?

Her silence was eating away at him.  He couldn’t
stand another second of not knowing if she would choose him or her old life. 
Though the sinking feeling in his gut made him fear he already knew the
answer.  “Kaia?  Please.  Tell me what you want me to do.”

She turned her eyes up at him.  It pained him to
see them heavy with confusion.  “Are you saying you don’t want me, Dane?”

“God, Kaia!  Of course not!  I am saying I will understand
if what you choose is to return to your former life.”

“Considering I am no longer worthy of being
Leif’s wife, of being anybody’s wife, what other options do I have?”