Risking Red (Forever Wicked 5)

Risking Red (Forever Wicked)
Second Edition
Kaylee Grayson
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2012 Kaylee Grayson

Red came upon the Huntsmen's camp just before dusk on the fifteenth day of her journey. Tracking them hadn't been as easy as she'd hoped. From what she could figure out, there were at least half a dozen of them, if not more. She'd been fairly confident she could follow a group that large, and had hoped they'd leave marks that would be simple even for an unskilled tracker to follow. But the Huntsmen knew the Wild Woods better than anyone, and they had a solemn respect for the forest she hadn't anticipated.

They didn't cleave their way through dense areas or stomp down the grass as they marched. They kept to the path, where the dirt was beaten down and hardened by the early frost. Most of the time she couldn't spot footsteps for miles, and had to pray she was going in the right direction.

Twice, she'd found signs of their campsite, but each time they were long gone. Only the burned ashes in a cool fire pit, and the bones of the animal they'd roasted for their meal, indicated they'd ever been there at all.

She should have given up long ago. It wasn't like she hadn't been tempted. A couple of days into her trek, the gnawing hunger clawing at her belly had forced her to scour the thorn bushes. She'd ended up with scratches all the way up her arms and a handful of berries for her troubles. Food hadn't gotten easier to find since then, but she'd managed to ration the roots, berries, and edible mushrooms she came across. The nights were long, the frozen ground unforgiving. She'd slept on the cold, hard earth wrapped in her velvet cloak. The chill had seeped into her bones and numbed her skin. Sometimes, when her thoughts turned dark and dismal, she convinced herself she'd never feel warm again.

And still she kept moving. Kept putting one foot in front of the other, even though the only things she had to go on were the few tracks she could find and the ardent belief that she had to keep going, had to keep searching, had to find him.

Jonah.

She'd rescued him once. Bringing him into her home had been risky. Some might say suicidal. Yet even now, she was certain she'd made the right decision. Leaving her cozy cottage to find him after he'd been taken from her had once again been the right choice.

No. It had been the only choice.

And it looked like her efforts were finally beginning to pay off.

She plastered her back against the trunk of a massive oak tree and held her breath. She'd been hearing voices carrying on the wind for a few minutes now, but hadn't been sure whether her exhausted mind was just playing tricks on her.

"Oh yeah, just like that. You know how I like it."

Red froze. The man who'd spoken sounded much closer than she'd anticipated. His husky voice had been hushed, but reached her clearly.

That meant she couldn't risk moving. She'd miscalculated how close she'd gotten, and had been lucky she hadn't walked right into someone and given herself away. There wouldn't be much chance of a rescue attempt if she got herself caught, now would there?

Red gritted her teeth and swore inwardly. If she tried to move, she'd probably just step on a dry branch or something and give herself away. So what could she do?

"That's right, oh yeah, just like that. Suck it. Suck my cock."

She grimaced. Wonderful. Just her luck to come upon a sexual encounter in the middle of the forest. Frowning, she resisted the urge to fidget. Maybe she hadn't found the Huntsmen after all. Could be she'd just stumbled onto two regular folks having a tryst.

Although it was pretty unlikely that anyone would choose the dangerous Wild Woods to have a romantic encounter, it wasn't entirely out of the realm of possibility either. In which case she could step out of her hiding spot, mumble an apology, and be on her way. So they'd all be embarrassed. So what? The longer she stood here frozen in place, the farther out of her reach Jonah got. Besides, standing in one place in the numbing cold wasn't helping. Already, her toes were beginning to cramp in her boots.

Well, no time like the present to figure out what she was in for. Red leaned to her left as slowly as she dared, then peeked around the edge of the trunk.

A groan caught in her throat.

Less than a dozen feet from where she hid, a man leaned against a tree. He was dressed from head to toe in the brown leather outfit of a Huntsman. Or he would have been, if his pants hadn't pooled around his ankles.

Another Huntsman was on his knees before the first, eagerly sucking the other man's cock. Beyond them, she could make out the flames of a fire leaping through the swaying branches between trees.

This had to be the unit that had taken Jonah. It just had to be. If it wasn't...

She gritted her teeth. She'd deal with that possibility once she confirmed it. For now, she had to believe she'd been on the right track all this time.

It hadn't taken her long to figure out the Huntsmen had Jonah. No one else would have stormed her cabin to haul him out by force. The only thing she couldn't understand was why they'd kept him alive.

And she knew he was still alive. She was as certain of it as she was that she needed air to breathe. She felt him with her, in her heart, in her soul. The connection they'd forged in those few days at the cabin ran deeper than the mere bond of a couple who'd had sex. They were more than lovers, more than mates. His wolf called out to her, even now.

As feverishly as she knew he was still alive, she also knew he needed her.