Page 11 of Red (Everdark Tales #1)

When I look at the clock on the end table behind a werewolf on my broken bed, I’m immediately snapped back to the real world and realize it’s Monday.

“Shit! I’m totally late for my check-in at work!” I jump out of the mattress and rush to put some clothes on.

“Quit,” he says, unbothered.

“I can’t just quit.”

“Why not? You don’t have to worry about money now, I’ll take care of you.”

I still don’t know how major of a part his animal side plays in his life, so I’m not exactly sure what he means by taking care of me. But I don’t need his money if that’s what this is about. I’ve worked super hard to finish a good college and get a corporate job in Chicago that fulfills me.

“I’m sorry, but I need to log in,” I announce once I’m decent, grabbing my work laptop.

He sighs heavily, sitting down. “We don’t have time for this. We need to leave.”

“Huh?” I choke out.

He’s got to be kidding me!

“We can’t stay here, it’s too dangerous.”

I don’t understand what he’s saying to me. First, the breeding. Then, my career. And now, me moving? My mind is on a high cycle, trying to process things. Though, I haven’t even gotten over the fact that he isn’t human… Or that my stalker is real, and it’s him.

“Alex, you’re a lot right now. Can you give me some space to gather my thoughts?”

He gazes at me with his magnificent golden eyes clouded, and I know he’s unhappy. But I also trust him enough to be sure he won’t try to force me into anything.

You’ve literally known him for less than a day.

How can I trust him then? What reason do I have? Granted, he hasn’t killed me yet, and it doesn’t look like he plans to. But he’s a different species than me, most likely way more powerful than I can even comprehend.

“Please? We can discuss this later.”

“Call me when you need me.” He stands.

“I don’t have your number.”

He sounds amused when he tells me, “Use your voice.”

“Will you still be watching me?”

“No, but I’ll stay close enough to hear.” He moves to the terrace door.

Why do I immediately feel bad?

“Wait.” I approach him and grab his hand like I could ever stop him from anything. “Kiss me?”

He scoops me up easily with a single arm and brings my face to his eye-level. He licks my lips and I return the passion, teasing his tongue with mine. My legs dangle high in the air as he’s easily two feet taller, so I wrap them around his waist. He tastes so sweet, addictive even, and I can’t hold out a moan. He fists my hair, gently pulling to angle my head as he deepens the kiss. The feeling is electric, sending tingles down my spine, making my toes curl.

When the moment is over, I lean my warm forehead against the top of his head, petting the thick fur around his neck, while we both enjoy the lingering intimacy.

“Do you have a place to go?” I ask, ashamed to kick him outside. “You can hang around, but I need to work.”

“I’ll be fine.” He puts me back down.

“You’re not going to disappear, right?”

“No, I couldn’t even if I tried to, my love,” he tells me before he heads out.

Right after work I pop a wine bottle open before I even start the dinner. I actually might’ve done it still on the clock, but that’s something my boss doesn’t need to know about—Perks of having a remote job! I did get in trouble for being extra late this morning, though, and she’ll have me on her radar now, for sure.

My cheeks are already getting rosy by the second glass, and I know I should stop. But give me a break! A girl can only handle so much.

Werewolves are real and I let one hump me senseless few hours before. And what’s more, it was so fucking sexy, just the thought of it makes my stomach fill with butterflies and flutter.

Sexy? Butterflies?

Have I not seen what big teeth he has?

Oh, but what a long tongue he has too! All the better to eat me out with…

Why am I like this?

The chokehold he has on me, however.

I dumped this gorgeous man, an Ivy League alumnus on his path to the White House, who maybe would marry me one day, making me his First Lady. These weren’t my life aspirations or anything, and I’m convinced that blonde hoe is much more thrilled about the idea. But I know I should at the very least be sad about how things ended. Instead, all I’m able to think about is my werewolf stalker turns pet turns lover, and his large, calloused hands on me.

He really pissed me off this morning yet I’m unable to stay mad at him to save my life.

What was that about my birth control pills? I’ve checked their expiration date just to make sure, but they are good and should be working properly.

And what the fuck is up with him wanting to leave with me? I mean, he’s probably right—it’s too dangerous for him to stay around here, no matter how secluded my cottage is. Though, me living in the wilderness or some shit?

I don’t think so.

Yet, being with him is so familiar… It’s such a strange feeling that I can’t even describe. Like, he’s my other half. I was never a believer in the whole soulmates crap, but I may believe with him. He’s a supernatural being, after all.

What I need is to be put in a straitjacket and locked in a psychiatric ward. Because I seriously consider running away with him to wherever he only wants to go without any prior explanation.

Gosh! Enough with this overthinking!

It’s only some hormonal response since I’m in heat—whatever that means exactly—and my body reacts to him a certain way. Besides, even under regular circumstances, attraction is just a biochemical reaction in human brains. There’s nothing romantic about any of this, and I better shut up already.

I finish the third glass of wine, feeling tipsy, while I eat my food alone. I miss the dog, and it messes with my head some more.

After a quick shower, I put on an oversized tee alone before I lay on the collapsed mattress, still encased in a bed frame with the broken slats underneath.

I twist and turn, but I’m not able to relax… not without him. I know he’s not anywhere near because I don’t feel him around. And it makes everything worse.

He said all I need to do is call him, right?

Curious to test it, I step to the glass door and slide them wide open. There’s nothing outside but the serenity of the night—no leaves rattling, no eerie shadows, no glowing yellow orbs. And I hate to admit how much I lack this unsettling linger of a presence in the darkness.

I shout out his name into the void.

Unheard, unseen, yet this time invading my life per my request, Alex appears in barely few seconds.

“You summoned me?” He grins as he steps into the light pouring onto the terrace from my room.

I shake my head at his quip. “How fast can you run?”

“Approximately 350 miles per hour. Faster if in a hurry.”

Sure, that’s a thing now! What’s next? Lizard people?

I still don’t know how I feel about any of this, but I need him close. “Can you hold me?”

“Always.” He wraps me tightly in his arms and takes me to bed—or what’s left of it. “So, how was your day?”

“I got in a little trouble at work,” I muffle the response with my cheek pressed against his fuzzy chest while my knee hooked over his hip, caging him. “I was thinking about you the entire time.”

“Oh, were you?” He flirts, running his hand up and down the side of my naked thigh.

Why am I immediately turned on?

Calm your tits. We’re just cuddling.

“Yeah.” I rest my chin against his firm peck to look at his face. “How was yours?”

“I missed you.”

“Um, it was only several hours.”

“And that’s several too many.” He leans for the kiss, and I happily reciprocate. His tongue is more demanding, his hands more persistent. “It was the longest I’ve kept away from you since only you moved here.”

As much as I find it hot, I also am aware of the utter wrongness of it all. My contradicting emotions together with the alcohol are bubbling up to the surface and I cannot keep it in me any longer.

“Alex, you’ve been stalking me,” I confront him with a mix of anger and betrayal. “And not only that, but you also chose to pose as a damn dog whom you knew I’d blindly trust to allow in my personal space without any suspicion!”

He exhales heavily. “Julia, I cannot begin to tell you how sorry I am. There wasn’t anything sinister about it from my side, though.”

“You came on my underwear,” I snap back, putting the puzzles together. But before he gets any chance to explain himself, another thought pops into my head. “You didn’t do anything to me when I was sleeping before this morning, did you?”

“I’m many things, but a rapist is not one of them,” his voice has zero emotions as he replies, yet he’s visibly baffled that I’d think so.

Well, he’s no angel, either.

“Still, do you even realize just how fucked up your behavior comes across?”

“Of course I do!” he growls at me as his eyes darken, and I feel a throb between my legs.

Not the time!

Yet, I rock my hips, rubbing myself against his upper leg like a literal bitch in heat.

“Why aren’t you wearing any bottoms?” He grabs a handful of my ass and stops me.

Shit.

“I don’t have anything clean.”

“You did laundry yesterday.”

“I forgot.”

“It’s not because you hoped I’d watch?”

“No.”

“And if I reach down between your thighs I won’t find you wet for me?”

“No.”

He hums. “You know what happens to the naughty girls when they lie so blatantly?”

“They get spanked,” I reply instantly.

He ruptures in laughter, thick and throaty, sounding so adorable that I have to join him.

“Not what I was thinking, but let’s go with yours.”

As soon as he finishes talking, I already feel a sting on my butt cheek. He then massages the spot, making me all squirmy.

Maybe I’m crazy, but everything about him is pulling me closer. Just like a moth to a flame. I know I’ll burn, however, I’m incapable to save myself from his deadly magnetism.

But I can play hard to get and save the face.

“You better not think I’ll forgive you that easily, though. You’ve got so much groveling to do, mister.”

He slips his hand down my rear right to my hot center where his digits lazily circle around my pulsing nub, yet never directly stimulating the sweet spot.

“Is this a good start?”

“You have to try harder,” I say and the next thing I know is me crying out in pleasure as he puts some pressure exactly where I need it.

“Mmmm, I love the way you sound when I please you,” he rasps against my throat.

He lifts my leg from his pelvis and moves it to the opposite side, opening me up. He props himself on his elbow to get a better view, and I feel his fingertip at my dripping entrance.

Fuck.

I want him to put it inside me so badly. That could never happen, of course, because of his claws. But is he thinking about it, too?

“Touch yourself, baby.” He’s thinking about it! “Rub your little clit for me.”

I do as told, and his eyes are transfixed on my every move.

“Yes, that’s it. Look how wet you are. Now, slowly, put your finger in your pussy. Let me see how that tight, pink hole stretches.”

Once more, I give him what he wants.

“Oh, what a treasure you are! Making me so happy. Add another one and keep going.”

Yet again, I follow his instructions.

“Such a good girl. Just like that. Getting me all worked up with how fucking hot you are.”

I’m positive I could come just from listening to his otherworldly, hoarse voice whispering all of these nasty things into my ear.

But I want more. I retract my fingers from my pussy to reach for him. “Please!” I whimper, gripping his hard cock that’s resting against my thigh.

He hisses at the sudden embrace. “Tell me what you need, sweetheart.”

“To feel you,” I say almost sobbing. Before I slide down and slowly brush my core on his dick, letting him feel all the wetness he caused.

He immediately gets impatient and turns us around, so he is on top and in charge. Resting his hands flat on either side of my face, he starts rutting between my nether lips.

“What are you doing to me!” he groans.

Alex looks strained above me with his head tossed back, veins popping, biceps flexing. He could pulverize me in a blink of an eye, but he doesn’t. I think about the level of self-control it must take him to be this gentle, especially given the fact how aroused he currently is. And that’s the most erotic thing I’ve ever experienced.

I shift my hips so his head hits my entrance as he rocks back. His body stiffens on contact, and he stops any further action.

“Take me now,” I plead.

An animalistic roar escapes him before he looks down at me. “Don’t tempt me, little Red.”

“Pretty please?” I want him like I’ve never wanted anyone before. Knot and everything. “I need to feel you inside me.”

In a split second, he’s in the furthest corner of the room, panting.

“What the hell?” I sit on the mattress to give him a mean look.

“I got excited,” he whispers as if shy.

“And that overreaction was needed, why?”

“Julia, do you not understand how frail you are to me?”

I roll my eyes. “Yea?”

“It’s extremely difficult to hold back when you’re being such a tease.”

“Would it help if you strap me down?”

“You’re so kinky!” He chuckles in his deep-within gravelly way. “Perfectly obedient only to misbehave a moment later.”

“Maybe I need to be taught a lesson?” I try him just for fun, but he looks all serious. “What if I don’t want you to hold back?”

“I’ll always have to in this form.”

“How come?”

“Because I don’t want to accidently kill you. It happens more often than you’d believe.”

Damn.

“Has it ever happened to you before?”

“No!” He shakes his head. “I’ve never even felt the desire to mate prior to meeting you.”

“Wait. What?” I gasp. “Are you a virgin?”

“Well, I’ve used to have sex when I was still a human.”

“But not after you first shifted? Alex, you’re a werewolf virgin!”

“If you put it like that.” I’m absolutely sure he’s blushing under all his fur. “But I’ve fucked you a million times in my mind already.”

“I should be terrified by how alarming that is.”

“Yes, you should.” His eyes appear almost fully black now, and the hunger in them feeds my arrogance.

“Can you come back here already?” I urge and he flops down right beside me. “I’m sorry, honey. I knew this must be hard for you, but I didn’t realize just how bad it really is.”

He licks my shoulder. “Are you tired?” he then asks randomly, to which I shake my head. “How about we go take a walk? I want to show you something.”

That’s not at all where I hoped it was going, but I nod in agreement.

He smiles at me. “You, of course, know that it’s dangerous to be in the woods at night.”

“I’m down for whatever.”

“I love that about you.” He licks my cheek this time. “It shouldn’t be snowing yet, but wear something warm.”

“It won’t be an actual hike, though? I’m not a sporty kind of gal, if you haven’t guessed.”

“You already agreed!” He laughs. “I’ll carry you.”

I put on some socks, underwear (from the sexy drawer), and a pair of leggings, then I pull a sweater over the t-shirt I’m already wearing. By the door, I grab my red coat and boots before Alex places me on his back and sprints outside.