Smells and sounds that delighted her. Junior led her through.
Red blinked twice. Wolf and Rapunzel sat sprawled out on the cushioned floor with ale steins in their hands and a bountiful banquet spread out before them on the low tables. Others joined them. Wolf was busy stuffing some sort of meat in his mouth when he noticed Red at the door. He grinned, and his whole face softened.
Red felt her stomach flip again. A deep aching started in her belly. He was so beautiful, like a majestic animal. She had almost panicked earlier when she thought him dead. She knew she could go on without him, but something inside her desperately didn’t want to. And she had no idea how to handle that.
Junior pushed her forward. “Get some food. Or I’ll eat it all.”
She glanced at him over her shoulder. He was grinning.
Red neared the table and sat down on one of the cushions. She was beside Rapunzel and another man she did not know. She looked around at everyone warily. Wolf nodded to her from across the tables.
“Eat. We will talk business later.”
Red understood his meaning. The food wasn’t poisoned, but to be cautious of what she said. She nodded to him as she grabbed a rather succulent peach off the fruit basket. She bit into it. The juices ran down her chin. She had forgotten how fruit tasted.
Sweet, juicy, decadent. A pleasure she didn’t indulge in often.
The man beside her offered her a pint of ale. She took it and gulped it down.
“The name’s Iron Hans.”
The man held out a long, grubby hand. He wasn’t a big man, but tall and lean. His scruffy hair was orangey-red, as was his full beard that covered most of his angular face, and surrounded a proud, prominent nose.
Red took it cautiously and shook firmly. “Red.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “Blood Red, I know who you are.”
Red tensed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Wolf tense as well.
“You killed my brother-in-law.”
He stared into her. Red stared back, not about to back down. She would show no weakness.
A slow grin spread across Hans’ face. “That’s okay, he was a bastard, anyway. If you didn’t do it, I know I would have.” He slapped her on the back.
Everyone at the table laughed heartily. She looked over at Wolf. He smiled and she could see him relax.
She smiled back and took a big gulp of her drink.
Rapunzel elbowed her in the side and leaned over.
“I did not know you were so…known.”
“Red is more than known. She’s legendary.”
Red turned toward the new voice. A petite woman with blond ringlets sat at the end of the table, with a face like an angel and a smile like Satan. Red had not seen her when she first entered the room. But as she looked at her now, she knew who the woman was.
“I did not realize my name had traveled so far.”
“It has girl, it has. Quite like a rotten stench, I think.”
Red bristled at the comment, but kept her face still.
She would give this woman nothing, especially not the pleasure of her spite.
“And you’d be?”
The woman grinned. She speared a piece of fruit with her knife. “I’d be Goldilocks. You have heard of me, I’m sure.”
Red thought for a moment. “No, sorry, can’t say I have.” She took a sip of her ale, hiding her smile. “No, wait. I have heard about an ugly woman of fair hair who runs with a band of outlaws, stealing and robbing the poor. Not much better than a whore who sells her soul for money, I would think. Would that be you, by chance?”
Rapunzel sighed under her breath. “Can you not be civil for one moment of your life?”
Red paid her no mind and continued to stare at Goldilocks. She had heard of her. The stealing and robbing bit was the truth. The whore part was completely ad-libbed. She would not let anyone get the best of her, or think themselves her superior.
The others watched and waited. Wolf continued to eat but kept a diligent eye on matters. He would spring in a moment’s notice, if there were trouble. Of course, there was always trouble when Red was around. She had an uncanny ability to start it. And a ferocious tendency to finish it.
A bubble of laughter erupted from Goldilocks. She grabbed her stein and raised it in salute. “Cheers!
You’re my kind of lowlife, Blood Red. Enjoy our hospitality.”
Red raised her cup and drank. As did everyone else. Red lowered her cup and caught Wolf’s eye. He shook his head. But she saw the small, playful grin on his face. She raised an eyebrow in answer and toasted him as well. She gulped down the rest of her drink and handed Hans her cup.
“Fill me up, Hans, my friend. I’m feeling quite pert.”
Hans gladly filled her cup.
They drank and ate until the wee hours of the morning. This was how things got done in the back counties. Celebration first, business after. More times than not, there never came a celebration after the business at hand was finished. More times than not, people did not come back from this type of business.
Goldilocks and the Bears knew this.
Nine pints later, Red looked around the table at her comrades. Rapunzel was nestled snugly in Junior’s lap. Her arms were around his powerful neck and she was kissing him. Her skirt was pulled up and Red could plainly see Junior’s massive hands massaging Rapunzel’s plump buttocks. Red shrugged.
Papa Bear was passed out face first on the ground, his ale stein tucked safely under his arm. He held it like a child would a stuffed toy.
Hans was still talking, even though he was flat on his back and his eyes were shut. Red glanced down at him. She couldn’t make out all the words he was saying, but figured out it was some story about his first sexual encounter with a whore named Mary.
Red looked away and squinted across the table.
She was drunk. Her eyes had trouble focusing, and she couldn’t keep herself from swaying back and forth. The incessant ground was moving. She could see Wolf lounging back on the silk pillows. He was talking. She squinted even more to see whom he was talking to. She could clearly make out blond hair.
Goldilocks glanced over at Red. She grinned and turned her attention back to Wolf. Red noticed the lust in her big blue eyes as she gazed at Wolf’s powerful form. She leaned into him, putting her hand on his thigh. “Oh Wolf, you are a wild one, aren’t you?”
Wolf glanced down at her bold hand. He looked up at her face. She was grinning like a cat caught with the canary in its mouth. He smiled back, his grin lopsided. He was obviously three sheets to the wind.
Drunk as a skunk. Pissed out of his ever-living mind.
He raised his head and glanced across the table. His grin vanished as Red’s eyes bore him down. His hand covered Goldilocks’ and stilled it.
She nuzzled his neck and ear. “If you want my help, you’ll give me what I want.”
“I’ll not. My heart belongs to another.”
She moved her hand up and spread it across his crotch. “’Tis not your heart I’m after.” She rubbed him over the fabric of his trousers. He grew hard under her touch.
Red watched as Goldilocks caressed Wolf. She could see the inner conflict flicker over his face. She thanked him for that. She knew how some alliances were made. She had made a few herself in this way.
Her anger rose regardless. She could not watch this woman with Wolf. It would bruise her already tender emotions. Invading emotions she never knew she possessed.
Goldilocks unbuttoned the top of her dress. She wore a corset. Her ample bosom spilled overtop. She rubbed her flesh over Wolf’s face.
“Move over, whore.” Red pushed Goldilocks to the side, and nuzzled in next to Wolf.
Goldilocks laughed. “I was wondering how long it would take you.”
“You knew I would?”
She trailed a hand down Red’s arm. “I can see how you look at each other.” She moved her hand over Red’s shirt down to her breast. She cupped one, flicking her thumb over the swollen peak. “Besides, it’s the both of you I want. A hired killer, a bounty hunter, and an outlaw whore. What a threesome we would make.”
She leaned over and pressed her lips to Red’s frowning mouth. She moved her lips teasing with her tongue, until Red responded in kind. They kissed violently. Tongues lashed. Teeth nipping. A battle of wills. Born from competition more than passion.
Wolf watched their exchange, amusement twitching his mouth. This ought to be an interesting adventure. Eventually, Goldilocks pulled away. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. Red had bitten her lip. Goldilocks licked the crimson trail away. She smiled.
“Your point.”
Red stood up. She stripped off her damp shirt and tossed it aside. She unbuttoned her breeches and let them fall. She stood proudly na**d. Her skin goosefleshed and her ni**les hardened when the cool air hit her damp skin.
Wolf looked up at her and grinned. This was getting better and better. He snuck his hand up her leg and squeezed her ass cheek. She slapped his hand away.
“Do you mind? I’m in the middle of something here.”
“Sorry, love, lost my head for a moment.” He dropped his hand. He picked up his drink and took a big gulp, watching the game intensely.
Goldilocks took in Red’s body. She looked her fill.
“Not bad. Perky tits, firm stomach, muscular arms and legs...agile, most likely.”
“Very agile,” Red said, as she spread her coltish legs apart slightly.
Goldilocks stood. “But darling, you’re more man than you are woman. If not for those nubs on your chest and that slit between your legs, I’d be calling you sir.” She finished unbuttoning her dress. She let it slide to the floor. “I on the other hand, am all woman.” She unclasped the corset and tossed it aside.
Her ample bosom bounced free.
Red looked her up and down. Her br**sts were generous and globular. Dark red ni**les the size of bullets. Her middle soft, but flat. Her h*ps flared out, then came back around to shapely legs. A soft sprinkling of tightly curled blond hair collected at the V of her legs.
Red glanced down briefly at Wolf. He was staring at Goldilocks, his mouth agape. She shook her head and nudged him with her foot. He didn’t move. She looked back up at Goldilocks.