This was extremely personal.
Wolf seemed to sense her need. He moved his hand down to her pants. He unbuttoned them with a flick of his fingers. Red lifted her pelvis to encourage him.He pulled the fabric apart. Her pale flesh and a sprinkling of dark red hair lay before him. He groaned at the sight of her. Pressing his mouth to her belly, he nipped at her playfully as he made his way down.
Red moaned as he neared her sex. Each press of his hot mouth drove her higher. She lifted her pelvis and spread her legs even before he reached her zenith. She wanted him there, needed his tongue to soothe the flames licking at her insides.
Wolf slid his tongue over her coarse hair on her mound. He dipped it lower and parted her with his slick clever tongue.
“Oh, f**k,” she whimpered as his tongue probed her. She could feel him flicking at her clit. Pleasure surged over her, like waves licking the beach.
His tongue paused.
Red looked down at Wolf. His eyes were wide and he was listening intently to something.
“What?”
Wolf sat up. He looked left, than right, like he was tuning in his ears to some silent broadcast. He paused to the right and narrowed his eyes.
“Move!” Wolf was up on his feet in seconds, pulling Red with him.
The door burst open. A short stocky man with short white-blond hair rushed in. He swung his arm, bringing down a large, heavy, spiked ball of steal. A mace. It stuck in the wooden floor where they had been seconds before.
Wolf and Red stood back by the bed. Red quickly did up her pants as Wolf bent down under the bed and came away with Red’s knife holsters. He tossed one to her. She strapped it around her leg and unsheathed the knife. She twirled it around in her hand.
“Okay, big boy, let’s play.”
The man smiled, revealing two missing front teeth.
“Ya, let’s play.” His voice was heavily accented.
Wolf unsheathed her other knife. He held it, blade sideways. He stepped toward the man. Red stepped forward too. Each was going to the side.
The man hefted up the mace. He spun it around in the air. “I see what it is you do. Very tricky.”
Wolf and Red neared him, just out of his range.
They flanked him on either side. The man stepped back. “I think I will kill you first, Herr Wolf. Then I can have my way with the fraulein. She is very tasty, ya?” He wriggled his tongue at her.
Red lunged at him. “Not in this lifetime, shithead.”
He swung his mace at her. She ducked and came up, sticking him low in the thigh. He screamed.
Wolf lunged forward. “Go! Get out!”
Red glanced at him briefly. She caught his eyes.
They glowed like raging fires. She left her knife and sprinted out the door.
Wolf swiped his arm at the man. He sliced him deep across his soft belly. The man brought the mace around. It caught Wolf in the side. He was catapulted across the room landing in a heap on the floor.
The man grabbed his wounded stomach. He dropped the mace. “Gretel! I’m dead!” He yelled out as he fell to his knees.
As Red came through the door, and moved off the verandah, she was kicked hard in the head. She fell to the ground. She put her hands out to steady herself, shaking her head to clear it. She looked up.
A short but sturdy woman dressed in black stood before her. She had long white blond hair in a ponytail, and an evil smile on her round, pale face.
“Going somewhere, Fraulein?”
Red stood, her legs shook slightly. “No, just getting some air.”
The woman laughed. “I thought maybe you were running away.”
“I never run.” Red took up a fighting stance, her hands poised to strike.
The woman nodded as she also took up a fighting stance. They stood toe to toe, fist to fist, and gauged each other. Who would strike first?
Red grunted and threw a punch. She was never one for patience. The woman dodged and threw a hook. It caught Red in the ear. The pain vibrated in her head. She stepped back to reassess the situation.
This woman was strong. She had skill and technique.
It would not be an easy victory.
“You can not win, kleines madchen,” little girl, “I am stronger and have studied longer.”
Red spat on the ground. “That just makes you older.”
The woman smiled and nodded. “So be it.”
She launched at Red. Fists flew. She connected one to her sternum. Red stumbled back. The woman kept coming. She threw kick after kick. Red blocked them all. She countered with her own flurry of kicks. She connected solidly to the woman’s right leg. The woman stumbled back, favoring her leg.
“Not bad. What else do you have?” the woman goaded.
Red screamed like a banshee and charged at the woman. She jumped up and threw a kick at her head.
The woman ducked, and came back with a solid kick to Red’s stomach. Red lost her air. She fell to a knee to catch her breath. The woman kicked her in the face.
Red fell onto her back, her nose bleeding, her lips split again.
The woman stood over her triumphantly. “You are weak. I told them you would be. Vengeance is a valiant motivation, but greed is so much more powerful.”
The man crawled out of the house and onto the verandah. “Gretel! Help me!”
Gretel turned, a look of horror on her face.
“Hansel!”
Red kicked out with her leg. She connected with Gretel’s right knee. She could hear the joint snap. Her leg bowed backwards.
Gretel howled as she went down, gripping her damaged leg.
Red kicked her again. This time in the face. She heard bones crack. She kicked again until Gretel was unconscious. Red got up and stood over the motionless body. She itched for a knife to finish the job, but had to be content with unconsciousness.
Red ran back toward the cabin. “Wolf?” No answer.
She sidestepped Hansel’s lifeless form after pulling her knife out of his leg, and entered the house. She spotted Wolf lying on the floor near the bed, blood pooled around his form. She bent down to him, checking his pulse. It was still strong.
She looked him over and debated. She could escape now if she wanted. He wouldn’t be coming after her any time soon. Or she could finish him off, and never have to look over her shoulder again.
“Red?” His voice was cracked and coarse.
She looked down at him. His eyes were open and looking at her. His mouth was caked with blood. He tried to smile.
“Don’t move, a**hole. You’re in the process of dying.”
He coughed. “I can’t die, I haven’t f**ked you yet.”
She frowned down at him. “Oh, you’ve f**ked me more than you know.” She looked down at his wounds. There were three holes in his side. She couldn’t be sure if he was punctured inside.
“Do you have bandages?”
He nodded. “Kitchen cupboard.”
Red moved to the kitchen. She found gauze and tape. She came back with it. She looked around the room again. She went back to the kitchen, and came back with a bottle of alcohol.
She poured the alcohol over the wounds. Wolf cringed and yelped like a hurt puppy.
“Don’t be such a cub.”
He laughed and coughed as she dressed his wounds and taped him up tightly. She got under his arm, and helped him stand. He wobbled at first and leaned heavily on Red.
“What do we do?” Red asked.
“Get out of here. There’ll be more.” Wolf sat down on the edge of the bed. He took some deep breaths.
“Get my pack. We’ll need some provisions.”
Red grabbed the pack from under the bed. She packed it with food and a canteen of water. She got her knife straps and rigged herself up. Another on her leg, one on each of her sides and two tucked at the small of her back. She grabbed Wolf’s arsenal of knives and ax and packed them in the bag. She found a shirt and helped tug it over Wolf’s large frame. He winced when she lifted his arm.
She looked down at him. Sweat beaded on his forehead and dripped down his face. He was hurt badly. She couldn’t be sure he would make the trip.
But she wasn’t quite sure she could leave him.
Something had changed between them, and she wasn’t sure what it was. Two attempts had been made on her life. Wolf was somehow involved. He was either her savior or her damnation. She needed to find out which before she finally passed her judgment on him.
“Where are we going?”
Wolf stood up. He reached out and grabbed Red’s shoulder. He steadied himself. “Into the forest. There are plenty of places to hide.”
“Then what?”
“Then I will tell you everything.”
Red found her cloak and wrapped it around her.
She spotted another and wrapped it around Wolf. She hefted the pack onto her back, and trudged out the door. Wolf slowly followed her out. He winced as the pain seared through him. He was sure something was punctured within. He could feel it burn with each labored breath. He would do his best to get Red somewhere safe. He needed to tell her the truth before he died. She deserved to know, even if it destroyed everything she ever believed.
Chapter Four
Hours later as the sun set, they came across an abandoned bear cave. It was a perfect spot to set up camp for the night. By his gray complexion and dull eyes, it was obvious Wolf could not continue.
Red helped him sit against the stone wall. She took off her cloak and wrapped it around him. He watched her intently as she tucked the material around his neck. She glanced briefly into his eyes, then quickly turned away, not willing to see the truth in them quite yet.
“I’ll get firewood.”
Wolf grabbed her arm tightly. “Red, you must listen to me.”
“No. Let go.” She tried to pull from his grip.
“I am not who you think I am.”
“You are not a murderer?” She said with venom.
“Oh, I am that, but I only kill those that threaten our existence.”
Red glared at him. “My grandma was not a threat to anyone.”
“Yes, she was, Red. She worked for them. She was a high operative and a trained assassin. She killed your father, and was planning on giving you away to be trained as she was.”