Текст книги "Riding Red"
Автор книги: Alexa Riley
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Riding Red
Alexa Riley
Contents
Riding Red
Copyright
Dedication
1. Ruby
2. Dominic
3. Ruby
4. Dominic
5. Ruby
6. Dominic
7. Ruby
8. Dominic
9. Ruby
10. Dominic
Epilogue
Bonus Book!
COACH
Copyright
Dedication
11. Chris
12. Chris
13. Chris
14. Chris
15. Megan
16. Chris
17. Megan
18. Chris
Epilogue
Taking the Fall
Also by Alexa Riley
Stalk the Author
Riding Red
Gray Ridge, Colorado is a quiet town, but this Halloween there's a mating moon, and the shifters' need to breed their fated mates runs strong.
Ruby is the proud owner of Red's Goodie Basket, and as the new girl in town, she's looking for business. But when the local sexy sheriff, Dominic Wolfe, keeps the customers away, she finds it's hard to stay mad when burning with desire.
Dominic is a shifter, and his wolf wants Ruby. Since the second he laid eyes on her, he's been fighting the need to mark her as his. But when the mating moon is full, he won't be able to control his wolf any longer.
Tricks and treats are the last things on his mind when the mating heat takes over, and his obsession is put to the test.
Warning: This story is a sexy twist on a classic fairy tale, complete with a red cape, a basket of goodies, and a hungry wolf. It's written to make you smile, turn you on, and help you celebrate Halloween!
Copyright © 2015 by Alexa Riley. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email to [email protected]
http://alexariley.com/
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
Edited by Aquila Editing
To the hubs: my life, my love, my mate.
1
Ruby
“We can't serve those!” I look down at the cookies, which are shaped like tiny dicks, and I try to convince myself I’m seeing things. It’s 5:30 in the morning, and I haven’t had any coffee yet, so maybe my brain is still putting things together. I scan the tray again, hoping I’m wrong. Nope. Definitely little cocks.
“Why not?” Gwen picks up one of the cock-shaped cookies and bites off the head, making me cringe. I don’t have a penis, but I can imagine that would hurt. “They taste delicious. I added a hint of pumpkin spice. Bitches love pumpkin spice.” She nods her head like it’s a fact that bitches love pumpkin spice. She finishes the cookie, moaning appreciatively. It gives a whole new meaning to ‘swallowing’ here at Red’s Goodie Basket.
“Do bitches like biting the heads off dicks too?”
Gwen scrunches her nose and looks down at the batch of cookies on the prep table. “They don’t look like dicks. They’re broomsticks.” But even as she defends herself, she tilts her head to study them.
“Pubic hair.” I point to what was supposed to be the bristles of a broom, then slide my finger across what I’m guessing should have been the actual broomstick. “The cock.”
She bites her lip, and I can tell she’s trying to find a way to prove me wrong.
“Gwen. If it’s a freaking broomstick, why is it cumming?” The end of the cookie has white icing shooting out of it and clearly looks like cum.
“That’s the magic coming out! It’s a witch’s broomstick!” She says it so earnestly that I’m not sure who she's trying to convince here, me or herself.
“Yeah, something’s coming out of it all right.”
Suddenly, we both bust out laughing. I should be frustrated, but laughing feels good. It’s something I haven’t done in a while, and I let it out, enjoying the silliness of the situation.
When we finally stop laughing, a worried look crosses her face. “It’s fine.” I try to reassure her. I only opened the bakery a little over a week ago, and I’m sure she thinks I might fire her. What she doesn’t know is, she’s the only person who applied for the job. For some reason I had a hard time transitioning to this quiet little town in Gray Ridge, Colorado.
If it wasn’t for the tourists who pass through, I wouldn’t have any business at all. Lucky for me there’s a national park nearby that keeps my little shop busy. I’m just not sure how long it will last once the snow starts hitting the mountains and the line of tourists slows down. I was told some of the roads get shut down around here after the first snow. Maybe by then the people who live here will start to warm to me. Otherwise it’s going to be a tight few months, and I’ll have to pull more from my savings. As the holidays are fast approaching, I’m hopeful everyone will need desserts.
It’s coming close to the end of October, and I thought some festive Halloween treats would be a good idea. When I mentioned it to Gwen, she jumped all over it, wanting to make them herself. She always seems to want to stay here as much as she can. I had a pile of paperwork to cover last night, so I gave her a shot at the cookies on her own. I went upstairs to my little apartment/office over the bakery and left her to it. This morning I’m seeing the error of my ways.
When I hired her, I knew she didn’t have any experience, but she seemed eager to learn. Whenever I made stuff, she watched my every move, absorbing all the information she could. I had gone to culinary school and was more than happy to teach her all my tricks. It’s been nice having someone to talk to who shares my interests, but she still has a long way to go when it comes to culinary crafts.
“Okay, we don’t have to serve these. What else did you make?”
Gwen makes her way over to the cooler, pulling out more cookies. She walks back over to me, putting down a huge tray of orange pumpkin cookies that read ‘EAT ME’ in giant black lettering.
“Why ‘eat me’?” I ask, looking at the perfectly made pumpkins. Perfect other than the message, of course.
“It’s subliminal messaging to the customers.” She nods her head like she’s been working in advertising and knows this is a selling secret. “People will just have to buy the cookies and eat them because the cookie told them to.”
“Anything else?” I cross my fingers behind my back, praying we might have something we’ll be able to sell today. Now I’m not so sure if I want us to be busy today. I need to whip up some usable cookies and Halloween treats on top of the normal stuff I sell. That would keep me in the back all day with Gwen running the counter by herself.
“I did some cupcakes too.” She bounces back over to the cooler, her excitement clear. Two seconds later she comes strolling out carrying a tray of cupcakes all iced in green, black, white, and orange. The only problem is there seem to be more cocks sticking out of the top of them.
“What is this?” I point to what clearly looks like a dick on top of a cupcake. Not that I’ve ever had experience with a real one, but I do have a Tumblr account.
“Those are fingers. Don’t they look creepy-cool?” I can tell she’s excited about this. I even fear she stayed extra late last night making them. Her face has a giant smile pasted across it, and I can’t seem to bring myself to pop her bubble.
“They’re great, Gwen.” I grab one of the trays, going to load it into one of the cases up front. I plot where I can put them, thinking maybe I can hide them behind a giant stack of Rice Krispie treats and some cakes or something. I could put them on the bottom row, but kids would be at eye level with them then. I guess I’ll have to put them on the top, and I cringe inwardly.
This is not going to win me any favors with the locals who already avoid me. They don’t seem too happy that I’ve taken over the town bakery. It’s the only reason I have as to why so many turn and walk the other way when they see me. I haven’t been in this town long enough to make anyone mad. You’d think I came and stole the bakery or something the way everyone acts. I saw it for sale online and made an offer, and if they didn’t like new people, maybe they shouldn’t have put an online listing for the world to see!
The site even showed you the paperwork of how successful the previous owner had been and explained that the only reason it was for sale was because the owner passed away, and the remaining family couldn’t run it. But business wasn’t quite so booming now that I was running the place.
When I saw this place I knew it would be perfect for me; a fresh start somewhere new, and I could leave the sad memories behind. After my grandma passed, I was all alone. She raised me after my parents died in a car accident when I was five years old. After high school I’d gone to college, got a degree in business, but couldn’t seem to settle into anything. The only time I ever felt happy was when I went home to my grandma’s and when I was in her kitchen baking. That’s when I knew I had to make baking my life if I wanted to be happy.
My grandma pushed me into culinary school, and sadly it wasn’t long after I graduated that I lost her. After I closed her estate, I knew I wanted to open my own bakery, and I searched for the prime place. When I stumbled across this little town with this perfect little bakery, something about it drew me in. When I stepped inside the first time, I knew this was the place; I felt like I fit. It was almost as if the bakery was waiting for me, like my fate was here.
Pushing through the door from the kitchen to the front, I set the tray on the counter and start making coffee while I set up the display cases. Maybe I’m being too hard on myself; I haven’t been here that long.
Gwen follows behind me, and I see her go to the trays in the window of the store and start placing treats on display there too. Shit.
Maybe when we open I can send her on an errand and throw all of them out while she’s gone. I could tell her they sold like crazy, but then she just might want to make more. Double shit.
Finishing our morning set up, I walk over to the window display and move things around a little. Once everything is set, I flip the sign over from ‘Closed’ to ‘Open’ and unlock the door. I head back behind the counter and watch as people pass by the bakery, making their way to their own shops to open. A few people I don’t recognize come in for a coffee, eyeing the Halloween cookies. I went ahead and put the ‘broomsticks’ out too. Might as well if I’m doing the other ones. If they don’t sell, I can always take them to the nursing home down the road like I always do with my extras. Maybe they wouldn’t notice they looked like little cocks.
“I think I’ll run down to the hardware store later and get some Halloween decorations. Add some festivity to the place. I know some of the kids will be trick or treating up and down the street Saturday for Halloween. Maybe some of them will drag their parents in or something if it looks festive.” I try to sound excited, but Gwen just snorts, making her blonde hair bounce. You’d think I’d be making a killing with her working the front counter considering how hot she is. She eats more of the merchandise than I do, but I’m not sure where her lean body puts it. Mine all goes to my hips and ass.
“Gwen, you were born and raised here, right?” I ask, already knowing the answer. I’ve heard her talk about her brother. She lives with him, and she constantly complains that he doesn’t let her do anything. I actually think her applying for this job was an act of rebellion. After seeing all the Halloween dirty treats she made, I’m starting to think she’s sexually repressed. Not that I can point fingers. I’m a twenty-four-year old virgin, and Gwen’s only three years younger than me. But I wasn’t the one making cock treats.
“Yep, born and raised,” she says, turning and leaning her hip against the counter next to the register.
“Was most everyone around here born and raised here?” The town seems so tightly knit, like there’s this club I can’t seem to break into. It’s like I haven’t performed some secret rite of passage yet or something. Every day I keep hoping something will give; that it’s just a fluke people aren’t coming in yet. Maybe they don’t know the bakery is back open, but I’m starting to think in a town like this everyone knows everything about everyone.
She shrugs her shoulders, and I can see her choosing her words carefully. “Most are from here, but Alp– I mean, my brother, likes to welcome in strays from time to time.”
“They don’t seem too welcoming to me,” I mutter, not wanting to insult her brother. Why would it be his job to do the welcoming? I hadn’t even met the man, and if he’s some kind of welcoming committee for the town, then he sucks at it. I’ve been here for three weeks, and I have no idea who he is.
“Well, it will just take some time.” She leans in a little closer to me, and I hear her sniff.
“Did you just smell me?” Grabbing my shirt, I sniff myself thinking maybe I stink or something, but all I smell is sugar. No matter how many showers I take I think it’s ingrained from cooking sweets all the time.
“No,” she says, stepping back from me like I asked her a crazy question when she's the one sniffing me.
“You like working here, Gwen?”
“I love it! You’re not going to fire me because I smelled you, are you? I can decorate the shop if you like. Halloween is in a few days, and I'll get it done today. Or it is the treats? You hate them? I can do them over again. Just show me how you like them. Please, you can’t fire me. No one else will hire me. My brother won’t let them and…and—”
“Gwen. Calm down,” I say, cutting her off from her rapid-fire rambling. “I’m not going to fire you. I…it’s just…like a second ago when I made the suggestion about the decorations, you snorted like, “no one is coming in here,” and, well, if no one comes in here, neither of us will be working here.”
“Oh!” She sighs like it’s no big deal, and I just stare at her, not understanding her at all. “They’ll come after.”
“After?” I wave my hand trying to encourage her to finish her sentence.
She hesitates and then looks around the room. “After Sheriff Wolfe stops scaring people away.” She says the words like I pried them from her using torture.
At hearing his name, my eyes shoot to the front window to see if he’s loitering outside my shop again. I thought cops drove around in their cop cars, eating donuts, but the one here walks up and down Main Street all day, eating my cookies and drinking my coffee. He stops in front of my bakery more than anywhere else and glares in here like I’ve done something to offend him.
It was his family who owned the bakery before I did, but I was told that he wanted to sell it. The lawyers explained that he didn’t have the time to run it, which I could understand if he was the sheriff. And no way could I see him running a bakery. He’d eat himself out of house and home.
The man was a jerk-face. A sexy, giant jerk-face who was my biggest customer, but still a jerk-face, and he could barely form a sentence on the best of days. At first I thought maybe he could only grunt and growl. But then I saw he didn’t have a problem speaking to other people. I’d heard him talk to Gwen a few times and everyone else, but with me it was like I was too much of a bother or something. If he couldn’t stand me, why was he always hanging around all the time? Why did he sell me the shop? It’s not like I twisted his big, hairy, muscled arm or something. In fact, it was the opposite. I remember that day like it was yesterday.
When I came to see the place, I was so excited. I knew before I’d even got here I was making an offer. The pictures online showed me it was everything I wanted. The place was even decorated in my favorite color, red. All I'd have to do was get a new sign.
I was so excited to finally see it in person, but the first time I walked inside all I saw was him. I thought he was sitting at a mini table in the bakery, but it didn’t take me long to realize the table wasn’t mini. No, he just made it look that way because he was so big.
I stood mesmerized by him, my whole body coming alive. It was a feeling I’d never felt before, like warmth washing over me. His big silver eyes grew bigger at the sight of me. But then he stood from the table and stormed out of the bakery. Just before he hit the door, he threw over his shoulder, “It’s hers.” He made it clear he was done with me and the bakery. Or so I thought.
For some reason it knocked the air out of my lungs when he dismissed me so easily. I shouldn’t have been so taken aback by him. I wasn’t one to get noticed by men. I’m short, chubby, and have curly red hair that I can barely control. It’s why my parents named me Ruby. So having him all but ignore me shouldn’t have hurt so much, but it did.
Then I found out he’s the sheriff. I felt like he came in here to poke me, and now I find out he’s keeping people away from the shop too. What’s this? Some scheme he does or something? Sells the bakery, drives the bakery person out of business and buys it back for dirt cheap, then does it all over again to someone new? I can’t even report him because he’s the freaking sheriff.
Maybe that’s it. That day he saw me, he knew I was an easy mark. Well, the next time I see him I’m going to give him my two cents. Really give him something to growl about.
2
Dominic
Taking a few steps, I stop across the street from Red’s Goodie Basket. I grimace at the sign she just had installed a few days ago. She couldn’t have come up with something more sexually suggestive. I stand off to the side in the early morning shadows and watch as Ruby arranges cookies in the front window, her wild red hair bouncing all around her. I had a dream last night she was riding me. Her long red curls surrounding us as I breathed in her sugary sweet scent and guided her up and down my cock.
“Is that…” I cut myself off, seeing what look like cookies shaped like cocks displayed for everyone walking by to see. “What kind of place is she running?” Great, I’m talking to myself. Just when I think I can’t lose it any more than I already have. I watch as she walks back behind the counter and talks to Gwen.
Luckily, my eyesight is a hundred times better than hers, so when she glares through the glass with her dark green eyes, she can’t see me, but I can still see my mate perfectly. I feel my teeth elongate, making my jaw ache. I want to sink into her creamy porcelain skin. I want to do it as she screams my name from her plump lips. Maybe she’ll give me that little moan I’ve heard when she bites into one of her desserts.
The need for her is getting stronger, something I didn't think was possible. I don’t know how much longer I can wait. I thought with some time I could pull my wolf back under control, but that doesn't seem to be working, and I’m running out of time. I look at the sky and see the sun starting to peek out from behind the clouds, but I can feel the full moon coming. It’s almost time.
I remember the first time I saw Ruby the day she walked into the bakery wanting to buy it. It was my great-aunt Claire’s for over twenty years, but selling it was the right move. When Ruby opened the door, a warm breeze followed her, bringing her scent right to me. It was then I knew I’d found my mate.
Gray Ridge, Colorado is a small town but an old one. We happen to be situated near a national park that gets a lot of tourists throughout the year, but normally outsiders don’t move here. We never give them the chance to own property, only selling to other shifters. My family along with a few others have been here for generations. I know everyone who has ever lived here, and if I don’t know them, I make it my business to find out who they are. Most people think we’re just a tightly knit community, but in reality we are a commune of shifters living as a family pack.
The day I smelled Ruby, I knew she was mine. That’s how it works with our kind. Mother Nature brings you your fated one, the one person meant to be yours forever. My father told me I would know it when I smelled the one. She would be mine the second I looked at her; a part of me I didn’t know was missing would click into place, and he was right. My wolf knew instantly that Ruby was the one. I sat at the table in the bakery with three lawyers from our pack as she bounced in with her red hair and thick curves. I’d seen her get out of her car, and it made my wolf sit up and take notice. I was interested before I even knew she was the one, but once the door opened, my wolf went crazy, clawing to get out. It was something that had never happened to me before. Sure, when I was young my wolf would sometimes strive to get out for a fight but never like this. For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel like I had control of him, probably because I didn’t.
I knew I had to get out of there as fast as I could. My wolf wanted out, and every second I was close to her was another second closer to my wolf breaking free. It wasn’t the full moon for another three weeks, and if I was with her and couldn’t mate with her, the pain would be excruciating. Just that brief encounter had my stomach cramping, and the ache in my cock was crippling. I felt as if I’d been punched all over my body all at once, but at the same time I was horny as fuck.
It’s not unusual for my kind to mate with a human, but it sure could make things a whole lot harder. My great-aunt Claire was a human, but for some reason I never thought my mate would be one. Another shifter would understand the pull and understand what was happening to them. A human couldn't fathom some of their body’s reactions to someone they didn't even know. I’m told humans still feel a pull, just not as acute as a shifter. They will if you take them, but until the mating, it’s not as intense. Releasing semen inside a human female will make them go into heat and crave to be mated, something that can’t be done until a full moon.
What I really didn’t expect was to feel so protective and possessive of a human I’d barely spoken ten words to. Ruby is weaker than our kind, and she wouldn't be able to protect herself like a female wolf could. At least not until after the mating and she took on some of my shifter traits. She’d never fully shift, but she wouldn’t be completely human anymore. No, she’d be part me, and that thought only makes my cock harder.
I can’t stand the thought of another male looking at her, so I put the word out among all the locals to keep away until the mating moon. I say that I ‘put the word out’, but really I went door to door, threatening death to anyone who so much as looked at my mate. I may have gone overboard seeing as not only all men but all women have steered clear of the bakery. Soon, I tell myself, soon.
I step out of the shadows and walk across the street. I enter the bakery, hearing the bell ring above the door. I see Gwen smiling brightly at me out of the corner of my eye, but my eyes are on Ruby. The moon is almost full, and the painful need to mate with her is running through my body. But how do you tell someone who isn’t a shifter and who isn’t aware of our world what’s going to happen to them?
She scowls at me, and my wolf rises in my chest, loving the challenge. I want to dominate her, take her to the ground and hold her with my teeth until she submits. My beastly urges are pressing forward, but I have to rein them in. I can’t do this out in the open.
“Coffee,” I manage to get out, watching as Ruby comes up to the counter. The little red apron she has on doesn’t cover up the curves behind it. She’s got on a knit dress that molds to her shape, and it makes me lick my lips. I wonder if she’s wearing underwear under her dress.
“Sheriff Wolfe.” She says my name as if she’s mad at me, and maybe she is, but her body isn’t. I can tell by the way she leans towards me, trying to reduce the distance between us. She probably doesn’t even realize she’s doing it, but her body knows she belongs to my wolf and me. The subconscious desire probably pisses her off too. She wants me but doesn’t understand why.
She turns to grab a to-go coffee cup and fills it up. When she passes it to me across the counter, I’m careful not to touch her. If I touch her, I’m not sure what will happen. I wouldn’t be able to fuck her because it could trigger her heat, but my wolf would love to bite her and mark her. Now. Maybe just a taste wouldn’t hurt. I could lick her pussy. My wolf growls at the idea of finally finding out what pussy tastes like. I bet hers would be as sweet as she smells.
The shifter males have it the worst. Your dick can’t get hard until it finds its mate, so until then your body has all these urges and wants, but you can’t do a goddamn thing about it. It’s why male shifters are always looking for their mates. When you find her, your cock finally gets hard for the first time. But then it’s even worse because you can’t cum. No matter how many times I stroked my hard cock nothing would come out.
Until you take your mate for the first time and find release inside of her, you can stroke it until it’s raw and nothing happens. When you find your mate, you can claim them right away, the heat taking both of you after you give her your semen. Once that happens the mating heat pounds down on you until the next full moon. After that, the heat finally pass.
After the mating moon passes and you’ve claimed her, you can fuck her as much as you want. But until then, it’s cold showers and ice packs. The women can fuck whenever they want, but from what I hear they can’t orgasm, so maybe it’s just as bad. But I doubt it.
“You mind telling me why you’re scaring all my customers away?”
Ruby’s words snap my attention back to her, but I don’t have an answer. I want to tell her it’s because she’s mine, but I can’t. I try to think of something to say, but my wolf is too close to the surface again, and all I can think about is putting her into heat. I can’t think straight.
“I don’t mess with the tourists.” It’s a half-truth, I don’t mess with all of them, and it’s the only thing I can think to say. She glares at me, and I swear to God, my cock gets harder. The fucking thing hasn't gone down since she walked into the bakery three weeks ago. Why her attitude turns me on so much, I don’t know. Normally I’m a really laid-back guy, but something about her makes all my base animal urges come to the surface.
“Gwen tells me at some point you’re going to stop it. Mind telling me when that is?” She puts her hand on her round hip, accentuating the dip between her waist and her thick thighs. My mouth waters, and I feel my teeth aching again. I want to bite her on the inside of her thighs. No one would ever see the marks, but I would. I would know they were there every time I looked at her.
Ruby clears her throat, and I shift my focus from her body to her face. She raises an eyebrow like she caught me, but I don’t give a fuck. She’s mine, she just doesn’t know it yet. It’s then I realize she’s still waiting on an answer.
“Sunday,” I growl, knowing the mating moon is happening Saturday night.
She looks at me like I’m crazy. “So on Sunday, you’re magically going to stop keeping the locals out of my bakery, and everyone will come in here?”
“Yes.” She makes it sound like I’m nuts, but that’s literally how it works. Once she’s marked as mine, she won’t ever want to be far from me. She won’t like the touch of other males, and all shifters will know she belongs to me after taking one whiff of her.
When a full moon comes, all the unmated shifters usually leave the town for a few days, not able to stand the noise of all the mated shifters going at it like crazed animals. I hated it because, being the sheriff, it’s not like I could get out of town anytime I felt like it. Never again will I have that feeling. No, I’ll have my mate for the rise of the next full moon.
“Sure, whatever you say, Sheriff Wolfe. I’ll believe it when I see it.” She turns to go to the back of the bakery, dismissing me like I’m nothing more than an annoying customer, but I try to stop her before she goes.
“Dominic.” She turns back around and we lock eyes. “Please, call me Dominic.”
I see something flash in her eyes, and she nods. My wolf wants to nuzzle her and have her pet me, but I have to keep a rein on it. The mating pain is taking over, and I can’t be around her too much longer.
On my way out, I look over at Gwen, and she’s got a huge smile on her face.
“Gwen, you should know better than to put dicks on sale.” I know this was her doing. She acts like she’s ditzy, but she’s far from it, and I’m not so sure her unfortunate creations weren’t done on purpose.
She giggles and winks at me as I exit. “Have a good day, Dominic.”
