Tempt; A Twisted Wolf Tale Page 5

When I reached up to remove the golden mask, her hand left my breast and stopped me.

  “No, love. Keep it on. It looks so beautiful against your striking, blue eyes,” she said, soothing the act of denial with a kiss to my fingers.

  “I want to see you,” I said, my voice pleading for her to understand.

  “And you will, in due time. For now, I want to satisfy you. Make you tremble in my arms,” she whispered against my ear.

  Grabbing my face in her hand, she turned me around, forcing me to face sideways. My eyes fluttered shut just as her lips landed on mine. Her grip loosened as her kiss deepened, causing me to arch my back and beg for more. Her lips were soft and plump with just a hint of strength to tell me just what she wanted.

  I gladly opened to her, the potent feel of her tongue swimming with mine had my insides quickening. She met my demands just as much as I met hers—match for match—we were perfect together. Never had a first kiss felt this damn good.

  Moaning, I linked my hands behind her neck, my vigor letting her know just what she did to me, how my body reacted to her touch. Oh, I didn’t think I could get enough of this, yet wondered if my body could handle any more, all in the same thrust of her tongue.

  She seemed to know just how to do me in.

  Pulling away, I nearly whimpered at the loss of her lips until I heard her soothing voice.

  “Keep your eyes closed, Rosetta. Right now, I just want you to sense me. Feel how I feel,” she said against my lips. I nodded, the need to obey her like second nature to me. “Now, lie back and get comfortable,” she instructed, easing me down against the plush forest floor, my cloak the only barrier between my naked body and the leaves.

  As soon as I was completely relaxed, she left my side. I nearly opened my eyes to see where she had gone, but remembered her instructions and chose to obey.

  “Good girl,” she praised, her voice still mere inches from my head. As if in slow motion, I could feel her naked body press against my side. She was so soft, so warm, the stark opposite of a man. It amazed me just how much I was truly enjoying her attention and couldn’t wait to return the favor. I only wished I knew whether we’d still be together for me to give her the attention she deserved in return.

  “Shh,” she shushed. “No more thinking right now, Rosetta. Just feel and enjoy.”

  The feel of her lips touching the scar over my heart nearly did me in. A loud gasp left my mouth as waves of pleasure rippled through me each time my heart picked up a beat, her lips a catalyst to my desire.

  Slowly, methodically, she made her way down my body, touching each part of my soul with her mouth and making me writhe with need. She licked both of my nipples, making them hard until they were silently begging for more attention. The feel of her warm lips closing over each bud had me uncontrollably unsteady beneath her, unable to stay still as she paid close attention to my needs. I welcomed her silky, indulgent touch as she kissed the soft slope of my stomach, her chin grazing down the top of my pelvis to make me tremble. As soon as she reached my thighs, nibbling and kissing each one in a tantalizing rhythm, I cried out, desperately in need of her mouth on me.

  “I need you to— Oh, I need—”

  “Shh, Rosetta. I know just what you need, love,” she whispered, her breath sending tingles of pleasure straight to my sex. God, she was close. So close.

  Thrusting my hips up, I tried to show her what I needed from her—make it obvious I was painfully waiting for her mouth to make contact.

  “Patience,” she whispered, and I could feel her breath against me, her mouth so tantalizingly close.

  As soon as her warm tongue came into contact with my clit, I cried out a mixture of unrecognizable words, the feeling exploding inside me like a cannonball. My back arched and my hips thrust forward, forcing her to steady me with her hands.

  I was already so hyperaware of every little move she made, every little thing she did with that tormenting mouth, that I was definitely not going to last long. And she knew it too.

  Picking up the pace, she began a back-and-forth motion with her lips, her tongue, her jaw—oh, it was just simply amazing. With one of my hands knotted in her hair, I laid the other on my chest, over my heart. Every sensation I felt down there echoed through my scars, the sensations both confusing and mind-blowing.

  She was the sole reason I felt this way—the sole reason I wanted to stay here in this forest forever.

  Her sucking on my clit sent jolts of pleasure through me, my insides tightening at a rapid pace, my heart nearly fluttering out of my chest. Streams of moans escaped me and echoed off the barren trees around us, my body losing all control at the hands of this striking woman.

  Climbing higher, I could feel the prickles of sensation all the way to my feet as my core trembled and shuddered beneath her lips. Crying out, I plummeted off the edge in a free-fall of pure ecstasy. As I started coming back down from this breathtaking climactic high, she pulled away and called my name.

  “Rosetta, look at me. I want to see your eyes,” she instructed.

  Panting, I tried to catch my breath as I tilted my head up in her direction. Opening my hooded gaze, I looked beyond the mask to the woman who had just given me the most intense orgasm of my life.

  Piercing, golden eyes stared back at me. She simply took my breath away.

  The Tears

  Waking up, I quickly bolted upright, grabbing my head when a dizzy spell overtook my senses. I was still out of breath, my body sweaty and tingly, as if I was still trembling from that amazing post-climactic haze.

  No way all that had been just a dream. She seemed so real.

  Looking out the window, I saw the day had started long ago and my eyes immediately darted toward my clock. It was already well after noon. The thought that I had a few hours before the festival began made me sigh in relief.

  Panting, I touched the scar on my chest and immediately felt a pang of sadness. What if I was just going crazy? What if all these dreams meant nothing and she didn’t really exist?

  Without warning, a tear emerged and pooled in the corner of my eye. For the first time in quite a while, I felt like crying. Crying for the loss of someone that seemed so real in my dreams yet didn’t exist in real life was just silly. Well, in theory. But in my heart, it made me sad to think that I would only have her in my dreams.

  Internal judgments be damned, I couldn’t help but lay my head back down on my pillow and sob. I so badly needed for her to be real. My life seemed so boring before, but now it felt even emptier, like I was a shell of a woman. I had nothing that truly fulfilled me—nothing that really made me happy.

  Until her.

  I lay there for some time, venting my anguish into my pillow. I felt so small in that moment, so insignificant. The closest thing I’d ever had to true love existed solely in my dreams, and the mere thought of that made me want to curl under my blankets until she returned to me.

  A few minutes passed as I cried before I heard a tentative knock come from the other side of my door.

  “Rose?” It was Jen, sounding worried. I must have been sobbing louder than I thought I was.

  I quickly wiped my eyes clean of the tears the best I could and cleared the giant lump from my throat before answering, “Y-Yeah?”

  “Are you okay?” she asked softly, not daring to enter the room without my permission, to which I was eternally grateful.

  “Yes, I’m fine,” I said, my new apparent catchphrase spilling from my lips again, while I wished with everything I had that it were true.

  “Right…” She sounded disbelieving. She was silent for a moment, making me fear that she was going to pry. I didn’t think I could handle that right now. I was already a mess—one sympathetic look away from drowning in sorrow. Finally, after what felt like an eternity of waiting, she said, “Are you almost ready? The festival starts soon.”

  I sighed in relief, once again trying to clear my eyes of the leftover tears. I had a better grasp on my emotions now that Jen had come along to focus
me. I felt a little childish having broken down like that, but whenever the thought crossed my mind that I’d possibly never see the woman of my dreams in the waking world, I felt a hitch in my breath.

  “I just need to shower,” I replied, peeling myself from the plush surface of my bed, now soaked in sweat and tears. “Once I’m dressed, I’ll meet you there, okay?”

  Jen took a moment to respond. “Okay, if you say so,” she said. She lapsed into another bout of silence before saying very gently, “Are you sure you’re okay, RoRo?”

  Her concern warmed my heart, even through the use of that horrid nickname. With everything going on, it was nice to know I had such a wonderful best friend.

  “Don’t worry about me,” I said to her. I couldn’t say I was fine anymore, because that was a lie. I was not fine. I was far from it, to be honest. I was possibly going crazy with dreams about wolves and an alluring woman with claws. That didn’t classify as fine in my book.

  “I always worry,” she said softly, tenderly, her voice muffled by the wooden barrier between us. “You’re my friend, Rosetta. I’ll always worry about you.”

  I smiled, though she couldn’t see it. “Thank you, Jen.”

  “No need,” she said, then switched her tone to a more jovial one for my benefit. “Now hurry up! It’s Halloween, and there’s candy and boys to be devoured!”

  I laughed, shaking my head as I collected my dress from the closet and set it out on my bed. “I’ll be right behind you, promise.”

  “See ya there.”

  I listened as Jen walked away, the front door closing behind her after she exited our apartment. I let my smile remain on my lips for a few seconds before an all-too-familiar voice whispered in the back of my mind.

  Rosetta…

  “Please be real,” I whispered to the voice. “Please… just please be real…”

  The Mask

  After showering and primping myself up a little bit—it was a special occasion, was it not?—I got dressed in my costume and stood in front of my body-length mirror to admire it.

  The dress was a little tight, but that was just what I wanted. The corset was a snug fit around my waist and chest, showing off a generous amount of cleavage, but not enough to give up my sense of class… I hope. The red dress billowed around my knees, the lace caressing the skin of my legs whenever I moved. Combined with my daddy’s red cloak, I felt, for lack of a humbler term, beautiful.

  The scratches on my chest tingled at the thought, almost as if agreeing with me. Just a hint of raised skin peeked above the fringe of the corset, and a sneaky smile played on my lips at the thought of my little secret. Only those who stared at my breasts would notice, and the cloak would likely cover the bit that was exposed anyway. A little part of me wanted to show off my new beauty marks, yet the part who didn’t want to be bombarded with questions shot that idea down quickly.

  Once I stepped into my matching red heels, I stood by my open doorway, staring down at the golden mask lying on my dresser. The sight of it made me think of the woman—again. It made me recall the way she’d said it looked beautiful contrasted against my blue eyes, and how she stopped me from taking it off by kissing my fingers, sending delightful tingles through me from her tender touch. I sucked in a deep breath, closing my eyes and willing my heart to slow its erratic thumping within my chest at the delicious memory.

  What did it say about me when this woman could excite me so without even being here?

  Slowly, I placed the mask on my face and secured it so that it wouldn’t fall off before making my way to the festival.

  The Claim

  I got to the town square just on time, having only spent about an hour getting ready. There was still some time before things really picked up, so when I arrived, there were mostly just the booth handlers meandering about, as well as a sparse number of children running around excitedly in their cute superhero and princess costumes. A smile snuck its way onto my face as I watched them all mill about the open street.

  I spotted Jen and her sister, Georgina, preparing the candy dispenser a little ways up the street. I hadn’t been able to see it before, but Jen looked cute in her Esmeralda costume, her hair fluffed up with a pink ribbon to match that of the gypsy character from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Georgina was equally as cute, although in a more childish way, with her Dorothy Gale costume, complete with frilly pigtails and wicker basket. I contemplated joining them, but they seemed rather preoccupied with preparing the dispenser and shooing away impatient children who wanted some candy.

  I moved along, waving to those who ran the dunking booth, the Bobbing for Apples buckets, and the young men who were helping the local band set up the stage for some atmospheric music.

  I had to admit… my mom knew how to throw a party.

  The sky began to dim as time flew by, the faint outline of the coming full moon visible behind the clouds in the east. More and more people arrived to enjoy the festival, oohing and ahhing at all the booths and the carved pumpkins my mom and I had laid out throughout the street. I felt a swell of pride when a group of children stopped to marvel at a particular jack-o’-lantern with the face of a wolf carved into it. That one was my favorite by far.

  I briefly wondered if my partialness towards the pumpkin with a wolf’s face on it had inadvertently inspired my dream the night before. It wouldn’t have been the first time my dreams were affected by my experiences in the waking world.

  Melancholy threatening to sour the moment, I left the children to praise my pumpkin carving and continued to stroll the streets.

  I was looking around for my mom, expecting her to be shouting orders at the people who volunteered to help set up the festival, when I bumped into someone by mistake. The crowd was beginning to thicken, and it was becoming more difficult to navigate through the throng of bodies, especially in high heels. I nearly fell over as my shoulder collided with someone larger than me, our bodies crashing together awkwardly like two drunkards.

  “Ah, I’m sorry!” I yelped, stumbling a bit in order to right myself. Damned heels and their lack of balance. “I didn’t see you there…”

  “Rose?”

  I looked up to find Cody staring back at me, half of his face covered by a black eye-patch. He was dressed as some sort of pirate, wearing a white lace-up shirt with ruffled cuffs and collar. He even pulled off the black knickers like a pro. On his feet were black boot tops, covering a pair of normal sneakers, and on his head was a tri-fold pirate hat with the skull and crossbones logo on it. He looked like a swashbuckler straight from the Renaissance with his eye-patch and toy sword attached to his hip.

  “Oh…” I said, suddenly feeling incredibly awkward. “Hi, Cody.”

  “Where the fuck have you been?” he demanded, reaching up to pull off the eye-patch so I could see the frustration in both of his eyes. “I’ve been calling and texting since yesterday.”

  I cursed inwardly. I had left my phone back at the apartment, my dress having no pockets to carry it in. I had forgotten to check it before I left. It no doubt had twice as many missed calls and text messages than the night before when I turned it off.

  “I’m sorry, Cody,” I said gently. “I’ve been going through some stuff, and I needed to be alone for a while.”

  He scowled at me. “What could you possibly be going through that I can’t help with?” His glower took on a more inquiring quality to it as he inspected me. “And what happened to the cut on your head? It’s just… gone.”

  “Can we talk somewhere more private?” I pleaded quickly, feeling uncomfortable as people turned and stared at us. “I’d rather not have an audience.”

  Cody didn’t say anything. He just nodded and allowed me to lead him away from the festival’s crowd. I spotted Jen watching us from behind the candy dispenser, a worried frown on her face. I shook my head at her to let her know nothing was wrong. She didn’t look very appeased when I lost sight of her.

  The festival, thankfully, was taking place in the town’s main sq
uare, which was not too far from the lake where Jen and I ate lunch the day before. I led him close to the embankment before turning to him with my arms crossed.

  “Okay,” I said with a sigh. “Go ahead.”

  “Why are you so cavalier about this?” he groaned. “You’ve been acting weird ever since you went to your grandma’s house the other day. What’s going on?”

  “I’ve just got some stuff to sort out,” I said. “I’m sorry that I ignored you… I really am. I just felt like being alone for a while, okay?”

  “It’s not okay,” he said with some force. “I’m your boyfriend. You’re supposed to come to me if you’ve got a problem so I can fix it.”

  A frown found its way onto my face. “So you can fix it?” I echoed. “You don’t think I can handle myself?”

  “No, that’s not what I meant.” He ran a hand over his eyes in exasperation. The gesture irritated me for some reason. “What I mean is… you should have come to me.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, trying to calm myself. “But, this isn’t something you can help me with.”

  “What is it though?” he pushed. “What is so bad that you can’t tell me of all people?”

  “It’s my business,” I said, a little harsher than I meant to. Not wanting to start a scene, I sighed and lowered my voice. “I’ll deal with it, okay? Now, if you’ll excuse me…”

  I tried to walk past him to go back to the festival, but his hand shot out and gripped my upper arm. I gasped as he whipped me around to face him, his expression set in a mask of anger.

  “I want to know what’s wrong with you,” he growled in a low, demanding tone. “Now.”

  I stared at Cody in shock, witnessing a side of him I had never seen before. He had always been cheery, sarcastic, and at times, a bit overbearing, but never had he been this scowling, violent man that he was now. The scars on my chest began to burn, but I ignored them for the moment, composing myself so I could speak as calmly to him as possible.