A Dash of Demise

Ch 30: The Animal in Me

Zander POV:

Simply because I do not wish to die.

I do not wish to die.

Die.

Her words rang in my ears cutting through me like the silver blades she carries.

My wolf side bristled at the thought of someone hurting her, she obviously thought someone could. If they found out. "You are safe with me Red."

"One never knows when there are prying ears Zander, my name has not passed these lips since I was but a child."

I watched her carefully as she stood before me chin tilted up, hands clasped in front of her.

She was anxious. I could feel it despite her blank expression.

Red had just given me the choice if we would continue or end. And in her own way she admitted to caring for me.

My wolf half protested greatly, wanting to press her for answers. She could trust me.

But she was...scared.

I would be an awful mate to not consider that.

So. Instead of pushing her I just said, "I still think you are a vain little creature. But gods Red a beautiful creature, and I love how vain you are."

She blinked at me, "why would you not? Not seeing my cuteness would be foolish even for you."

Smiling a bit, I brought her small hand to my lips, kissing her knuckles softly, "very well Red. But if you ever find yourself wishing to hear your given name murmur it in my ear and I will spend as many nights as you please whispering it to you so only we can hear."

...okay maybe I couldn't help one last push. I am an Alpha, we don't do well being told no.

She huffed, "that would require us to be much too close."

I smirked, "exactly."

Color tinted her cheeks, "put on some clothes you perverse dog."

I chuckled.

"And I despise my born name. It is harsh and ugly nothing at all like myself."

"Then...even if you tell me one day," when she tells me, "you will still be my little Red"

She pouted at me a bit, "I am not yours."

I growled lowly, pulling her to my chest, "you are. Every perfectly curled hair on your head is mine. Those pouty lips are mine. Every inch of your pale skin down to your little toes is mine."

She flushed deeply, small hands on my over heated chest, "you-you will ruin my dress with your sweaty dog smell! Unhand me!"

I chuckled. "Telling me you will smell like me isn't going to make me want to let you go."

Her button nose crinkled, "how dare you, I am not territory to be marked! You are like a hound urinating on a tree."

My chuckle turned into a deep rumbling laugh, "It is nothing like that Red. My kind enjoys smelling of their partners, knowing that even apart part of them are still together. We carry traces of one another scent always so long as we spend enough time in contact."

Her lashes fluttered, fingers curling on my chest, "...contact?"

"Mmhm.." I practically purred, "contact, generally without the frilly dresses you like to wear."

Her brows furrowed, "then what do I wear."

I big back a laugh at her innocent confusion. "Preferably nothing. Generally the mixing of scents is a very physical thing, lots of sweating and kissing very little clothing."

She grew pale and then very red. "That is scandalous."

"But so much fun."

"I have never been nude in the presence of a man you-"

"Will be the first and last."

She narrowed her gaze at me, "confident are we?"

I smiled, "and every inch of my confidence - and body- is yours"

Another blush, "I do not want your body."

"liar." Taking her hand i slowly moved it down my bare chest, the muscles rippling beneath her touch."

Her breath came in short bursts.

I could smell it in the air, rising around us. Sweet so god damn sweet her arousal teased my senses.

It took me a while to figure out but I finally realized something about Red.

She is so perfectly prim and proper.

Surrounded by proper society and her pretty human rules.

That she likes it, the raw earthy tendencies of my kind. She likes the primal way I behave sometimes, my dominant nature.

Red is so very proper, she needs a real man, a dog as she says to unleash the pretty little beast inside her. Red lusts after me because Im not clean, I will not handle her like a doll.

Something inside her knows I will take her like the perverse beast she claims I am.

And that arouses her.

Right now for example, her hand has not left my abdominals despite her protests of my sweat slicked skin. Her pupils were dilated, her breath coming in soft little pants. She wants me, the pull we have is overcoming what she was always taught about my kind. The hate she is supposed to feel melting.

It will make her all the sweeter when I taste her for the first time.

So while she was distracted by her own thoughts, and well, me, I leaned down and captured her lips in my own.

She sighed softly, shivering against my touch.

Slowly her hands ran over my chest to grip my shoulders, standing on her toes.

Reds lips tasted faintly of cherry tarts, i pulled her closer to me, crushing her small body to me as a growl resonated in my chest.

It was pure agony to separate my lips from hers, "Red. I am truly sorry for my outburst at dinner, my wolf half...I could not stand to think you were keeping yourself from me when I had thought we were going closer. It was agonizing. But I should not have hurt you in such a way."

She just blinked at me.

Slowly i dropped to my knees, her small hands in my own. "I could never find another, I would never want to. You are irreplaceable Red."

Her lips curled into a small smile as she looked down at me, "I know. There is no one more lovely and cute as I."

I could not help my laugh, "damn right."

"Language."

I just grinned, "pardon my foul mouth Red but it is no worse than my mind."

She just cocked a thin red brow, "brute."

"I simply cannot help myself. You bring out the animal in me."

She didn't even blink as she deadpanned, "then put it back."