After the murder, he knew that Red’s mother did not fare well. She was a single caregiver, as her husband died in an accident the year before. It wasn’t long before the Church took over the care for the girl.
She was declared an orphan and was housed with the other abandoned children.
It was here that Red learned the discipline of the mind and the body. Wolf had a spy inside the orphanage, and knew that within a few months, Red had isolated herself from the others and performed her duties and laborious tasks with an unnatural single-mindedness.
Two years later, Red escaped the institute with the skill and precision of a professional thief, stealing into the night and disappearing. The magistrate did not look long for her. There was no one of influence begging her whereabouts, so she was soon forgotten.
Wolf had only fragments of information about her after that, but he knew that she was training her mind and her body for one thing; to face her enemy and slay him.
* * *
Red screamed until she passed out from the pain.
When she woke again, a glorious scent wafted up her nose causing her stomach to growl. Something was cooking. She had not eaten for at least twenty-four hours. She raised her head to see. Wolf was at the stove, stirring something in a big black pot.
He must have sensed her the moment she woke.
He turned to look. She twisted on the bed, straining to see him. He took a bowl and spooned stew into it. He ripped off a piece of fresh-baked bread and set it on top.
She could feel the saliva dribbling out her mouth from the smell and sight of food. She was ravenous.
“If I untie you, you’ll behave?”
She nodded eagerly.
Wolf set the food down on the floor. He untied one wrist, and left the other tethered to the rail. Red was able to sit up. She rubbed her sore, bloody wrist on her leg. It helped ease the throb. She twisted her neck back and forth to ease the stiffness.
Wolf handed her the bowl. She set it down between her crossed legs, taking the bread and tearing at it. She couldn’t shove it in her mouth fast enough. Still chewing the bread, she shoveled the stew in. It dripped out her mouth and down her chin.
Her jaw still pained, but she was so hungry it did not stop her. She ate like a starved animal.
* * *
He sat on the edge of the sofa and ate his own supper.
He watched her as he chewed. Her face was the same.
Her cheeks had sharpened and her lips filled, but her eyes remained. He could always remember her eyes.
They haunted his dreams.
She had chopped off her hair. But it was still the same vibrant red. She had sprouted, too. She was taller than most women, and some men. She had developed into a vibrant woman. He gazed down at her body. Her shirt was still damp. He could clearly see her ni**les through the white fabric. They were erect from the chill in the cabin.
He tore his gaze away and back on his supper. It would do no good to think about her like that. But he could still not quiet the lust for her. His c*ck had twitched the moment he set eyes on her outside the boarding house. She was a stunning creature. A sensual mixture of beauty and strength, like a tiger. A caged tiger.
* * *
Red finished the stew, licking the bowl clean. She needed all the energy she could get. She had no intentions on remaining a prisoner for long.
She looked up from her bowl and stared at Wolf.
He was spooning his food in, keeping his eyes trained on her. She wondered about him. Why was he keeping her prisoner? Surely, it would be wiser to just kill her. She was a liability while alive. He obviously had some sort of game planned for her. A deadly game of cat and mouse, possibly. She would be no mouse.
* * *
“Why are you keeping me?”
Wolf finished his stew and took the bowl to the sink. He came back to the sofa and sat back down on the edge. “I’ll tell you when you are willing to listen.”
“I am listening.”
He smiled. It was slow and easy and softened his hard face.
“No, you’re not. You will only hear what you want. I can see it in your eyes. Your hatred blinds and deafens you. Your only thought is of escape and…revenge.”
“You presume to know me so well.”
“I do know you. I’ve been watching you. Studying you. I know everything about you.”
Red smiled and cocked her head flirtatiously. “You don’t know everything.”
Wolf swallowed hard. He knew what she was doing. Knew her methods, but still it was difficult to resist her. She could charm the fur off a bear.
He stood. “Give me your bowl.”
She picked it up and stretched her hand out toward him. He reached toward her, careful not to get too close. He gripped the bowl’s edge.
Red tugged roughly. He was pulled forward. Red swung her leg out and struck him in the side. Wolf dropped the bowl and stumbled sideways. Red quickly reached over and untied the knot binding her hand to the headboard. She pulled her hand free.
She jumped off the bed and sprinted for the door.
Wolf recovered and reached for her. He grabbed her leg and pulled. Red fell forward onto the floor. Wolf came up behind her. She flipped over and kicked him in the thighs. He kept coming. She kicked him again, until he grabbed both her legs and stilled them. Red rolled around on the floor to rip away from his hold.
He was too strong. He pulled her up and off the floor.
He had her suspended off the floor, hanging by her ankles.
Red reached around behind her and groped for him. She found what she was looking for. She grabbed hold of his balls tightly and squeezed.
Wolf let out a yelp and let her go. She fell on her head. She rolled away and sprung up back on her feet. She charged toward the door. Wolf sucked in the pain and charged toward her. He jumped and wrapped his arms around her. They tumbled to the floor. Red landed first, Wolf hard on top of her. He had her pinned face first on the floor, her arms under her. He molded to her back.
Red struggled. His weight was pressing down on her.
Wolf had to bite down on his lip. He wanted to groan. Her struggling was making him throb. He could feel his c*ck grow with her violent movements under him. He could smell her. Her scent intoxicated him. She smelled like sweat and lust.
Her struggling stilled. “Get off me.”
“I can not.”
“I will not escape. I think my leg’s broken, anyway.”
Wolf moved his hand down her body. He moved it over her hip and down to her leg. He squeezed her thigh.
“It does not feel broken.”
“Quit touching me, and get off.” Her voice shook.
Wolf could feel her start to quake underneath him.
“You like it when I touch you.”
“I don’t think so.”
Wolf moved his hand up. It rested underneath her arm at her side, just below her breast. “I can feel your body vibrate. I can feel your heart race. ‘Tis not because you are scared.”
“I’ll scream.”
“Please do.” He couldn’t resist her any longer. He pressed his lips to the back of her neck. Her skin was slick with sweat. He snaked his tongue out and licked it off.
* * *
Jolts of electricity zigzagged down her spine. They gathered deep inside her, and intensified. She felt like she could burn up from the inside out. If only she could. She felt mortified at her lustful feelings. She was repulsed by him, and painfully attracted at the same time. She was conflicted, but all she wanted to do was turn around and kiss him full on his wide sensuous mouth. She wanted to dart her tongue between those lips and taste the animal inside him.
Wolf moved his hand down over her. He cupped her firm breast. Her nipple pressed hard against the cotton. She could feel it peak under his touch. He felt better than she’d ever imagined. He bit down on her shoulder.
“Oh, Lord, woman, you feel incredible.”
Red shuddered and moaned lightly as his teeth sank into her. She swore at her body’s betrayal. This was the man she'd made an oath to kill. The man that had haunted her dreams for far too long. And now that he was near, close enough to kill, she lusted for him.
He was a powerful man, both physically and mentally. No man before him had been able to best her. No man before him had been able to pin her to the ground and subdue her. She was always in control, always the dominant. Being trapped under him, unable to move or fight, not only fueled her rage but ignited a lust so powerful she could do nothing but succumb to it.
“If you want me, take me. I can not resist.”
Wolf pressed up with his hands. He raised himself slightly off her. “Turn over.”
Red rolled over under him. She looked up at his face. His brow was furrowed and his eyes deepened to cobalt. He looked intense and dangerous, two things she always found attractive in men. She was helpless against him. Her body’s betrayal was complete. She could not fight anymore.
“I will not take what you won’t give. I have more respect for you than that.”
Red reached up and wrapped her hands into his long, silky hair, pulling his face down to hers. She stared at him, deep in the eyes as their lips hovered inches apart.
“I will always hate you.” With that, she pulled his mouth to hers. Their lips met. It was hard and fast, their tongues darting feverishly against each other.
His hands found their way under her shirt. They molded her br**sts possessively. He flicked and pinched her ni**les.
Red groaned loudly into his mouth. She moved her hands down. She pulled at his shirt. He sat up a little so she could pull it off him. His powerful chest was covered with soft, black hair. She ran her hands through it, rubbing her thumbs over his ni**les.
Wolf pulled her shirt up to expose her aching br**sts. He bent down and slid his tongue over the flesh. He played the tip over one nipple, then the other.
Red groaned and writhed under him as he tortured her slowly with his tongue. It was hot on her skin, her ni**les throbbing painfully for his mouth.
He sucked one into his eager mouth, teasing them both with his teeth and tongue, pulling and nipping just hard enough to please.
Red pulled at his hair. She wanted to beg him to hurry. This slow pace was torture on her body and her mind. She had only one real lover before. All the others had been quick f**ks. Quick fixes. Nothing too personal.