A Cage of Crimson (Deliciously Dark Fairytales, #5)

by K.F. Breene

“Someone stoke that fire. It’s cold, isn’t it?” “No, you’re just dying, thank the gods,” Dante said, still curled up in a ball. “I’m tired of listening to you snore.” “Won’t you feel bad if I am actually dying,” Sixten muttered. “No,” Dante replied.

“She doesn’t have a weapon, sir, but I’d watch her. I’ve known my fair share of wild women and they have this habit of conjuring weapons out of thin air.

“Please say you’re in there,” he said. “I don’t want to peek in case I accidentally see you naked and get killed by the alpha, or in case you are waiting in there to harm me in some way. This is a nice outfit and blood would absolutely ruin it.” I tried to practice the vague calmness of a composed woman . . . and ended up shaking my head and looking away to keep from smiling. His humor was so crass and dark, it easily knocked me off balance. “Okay. It seems you are not responding.” I saw the shadow of a foot at the bottom of the tent flap. “It is either that you are trapped under something heavy, like the weight of your conscience, or you are doing a wonderful job of ignoring me. The third option would be that you have escaped, leaving me the terrible task of informing a slightly manic alpha of your disappearance. Let’s hope it’s not that one. So. I am going to come in. Please do not stab me. I’m not the bad guy here.” He paused. “Except for unlawfully abducting you and taking you to—okay, I am kinda a bad guy here. Let’s join forces and rule the world, shall we?”

“Spank me and call me mama,” Hadriel muttered as though talking to the gods. He stood, facing the man again. “That is the dumbest fucking thing you have ever said, and given you say almost exclusively dumb things, that’s an achievement.”

“Let’s go over how we keep you on this horse, shall we? You’re going to hold me around the middle, but don’t hold too tightly or the alpha will freak out. Definitely don’t grab my cock. I wouldn’t really mind, but the alpha would. Tweaking my nipple a little would be great, but only when he’s not looking.”