Snow White and the Wolves: A Naughty Fairy Tale Page 3

  “Apparently, you didn’t learn your lesson,” the man hissed. He slapped her face so hard she saw stars. Rayna cried out but said nothing. He was going to hurt her, she knew. Maybe he’d even kill her. He would do unimaginable things to her and it was all her fault because she’d been a terrible queen and she was about to do a terrible thing.

  The thought startled Rayna, making her wonder where it had come from. She had never considered herself to be a bad ruler before. Ever. She’d never considered anything she’d done to be wrong. Why was she having those thoughts now?

  “Who are you?” The man asked again.

  Again Rayna stayed silent. After several more slaps and two more spankings, Rayna thought her body was going to split in half. Her ass was on fire and her face stung. She was sure she’d have bruises on both places the next day. She wasn’t sure if the man was giving up or not, but he picked her up and carried her into the next room. He untied her wrists and for a moment she thought he was going to leave her loose in the room, which was good. She’d be able to kick and scream and maybe climb through a window, but Rayna had no such luck.

  As soon as her wrists were loose, he raised her arms above her head and hung her by a chain. He tightened it so she was standing on her tip toes. Her shoulders cried out in protest, but Rayna didn’t beg. She wouldn’t. She bit her lip to keep from begging him to stay so she wouldn’t be alone, but she knew better.

  “Maybe you need some time to think,” the man said. “I’m happy to oblige,” then he left the room. Rayna heard the door lock and footsteps as he walked away, and she burst into tears.

  What had she gotten herself into this time?

  *

  Aidan sat at the kitchen table with a glass of brandy and wondered what the hell he was going to do. There was no doubt in his mind the woman in his guest room was some sort of killer. She had obviously come to harm Snow White. He had found her outside of the wolves’ cabin and he had scented guilt and anger radiating off of her.

  But why?

  Was she an assassin? He doubted it. She seemed far too naïve and innocent for that. An assassin would have offered him sex or her body in some form or another. An assassin would have lied to him. This girl did neither. She had cried while he hurt her and then she had continued to refuse to give him the information he wanted.

  Aidan was torn. He needed to find out who had sent her so he knew whether to expect replacements or not. He needed to know what she was doing in the forest. He needed to know who she was. He needed a name.

  Aidan might not be the model of righteous behavior, but he looked after these woods. He’d lived in them for many years and believed in respecting the land and it would respect you. More than that, he owed the ménage brothers his life, so he would do what it took to keep them safe. Before he told them about his little captive, though, he needed more information.

  He glanced at the clock. Twenty minutes had passed. Would it be enough time? It had been a long time since Aidan tortured someone. He thought he may have lost his touch. He stood up and kicked off his boots and shrugged off his shirt. If he was going to get intimate with this woman, he would do it comfortably.

  He strode to the door where she was captive and listened for a moment. His shifter-hearing was damn near perfect, and he thought he heard her sniffling. Good. That meant she was scared, at least a little.

  But when Aidan pushed the door open and walked through, he wasn’t overwhelmed by a sense of fear.

  No, the sniffling he’d heard was little more than snoring.

  His captive had fallen asleep in her chains.

  Aidan sighed.

  He’d have to continue in the morning.

  8

  Snow’s men finished fucking her and when she was asleep, quietly gathered in the living room.

  “What are we going to do about this development?” Andrew asked. Ethan knew Andrew would likely be willing to kill Rayna. Any of the men would. They loved Snow dearly and would do anything to protect her.

  “We can’t very well do anything when we don’t know anything,” Alex said seriously. “We know her sister is close, but we don’t know why. She could have very well been coming to Snow for help.”

  “Unlikely,” Ethan surmised. “Snow and sister were always close, but I always thought Rayna sounded too good to be true.”

  “You think she resented Snow for being the firstborn?” Jacob’s happy-go-lucky attitude was gone, replaced with frustration and anger.

  “I do. Being the second-born heir couldn’t have been easy for her. In her eyes, Snow would have always been treated just a little bit better. In actuality, well, I’m not sure. Their father was a huge asshole.”

  “You knew him?” Andrew cocked an eyebrow. He had been raised in the woods and lived there his entire life. Though he visited different towns on occasions to fetch supplies, he had little interest in being part of a “civilized” country. People, in his mind, were liars and cheats. He preferred the honesty of wolves. At least when one of them tried to lie, he could sense their guilt and anxiety quickly enough to put a stop to that habit.

  Ethan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I didn’t know him personally,” he said finally. “But my father worked for him for years and hated the man.”

  “Does Snow know?” Andrew doubted it since none of them had known.

  Ethan shook his head.

  “Don’t tell her,” Andrew advised. “She has this idea of him in her head she thinks is perfect and true. She doesn’t need to deal with the idea that he may have been less than perfect.”

  Ethan didn’t want to think about the idea of lying to Snow, but part of him felt like Andrew was right. Did he really want to ruin her beliefs about who her father was? Did she really want her to think he was no good? Did Ethan really want to be the one responsible for destroying Snow’s idea of who her family was?

  Michael pulled out a set of glasses then and Jacob poured everyone a drink. The wolves drank in silence, contemplating their next move. As the Alpha, Ethan would have the final say, but he valued the input and opinions of his brothers.

  “We should look for her,” Alex said after awhile.

  “Tomorrow,” Ethan agreed, lifting his glass to his lips. He took a long sip of the whiskey, letting it settle into his stomach. “Tomorrow we’ll figure something out.”

  *

  Rayna woke up to a horrible headache and pain in her shoulders. She needed water. She needed food. She needed to pee. She tried to sit up and found that she couldn’t. Her eyes shot open and she tried once again to move, only to find she was strapped to a bed.

  “Help!” She cried out, but her throat was hoarse. Where was she? “Help!” She cried louder, but then she remembered.

  She was at his cabin.

  The man who had taken her.

  The man who had captured her.

  She hadn’t figured out his name. She didn’t know who he was or what he wanted. She just knew she had to stay strong. Maybe Snow or her wolves would find her. Maybe they would save her. Wouldn’t that just be fitting? She had come to Everworth Forest to try to trick her sister into admitting she was in a weird-ass relationship in front of her mirror. If she could do that, she could show it to anyone she wished. The mirror worked as a recording device, after all.

  But it had been only one day and already Rayna was having second thoughts.

  Did she really want to ruin her sister’s life and her reputation?

  Snow had found happiness, of sorts. She had found a place where she belonged, and shouldn’t everyone get that? Rayna sighed. She knew happiness wasn’t in her future. It had never been in the cards. Part of her thought Snow had handed over the kingdom out of guilt. They both knew how horrible their father had been to Rayna. She had always been seen as second class to Snow, as a backup. She had never been viewed as important or special the way Snow had.

  No, the King had only wanted one thing. He had wanted Snow to rule their world with an iron fist and to expand their territory th
e way he had.

  But despite the King’s cruel and intense upbringing for his girls, Snow had turned out to be tender and it was Rayna who had been broken.

  She wasn’t a good queen. She knew she wasn’t a good queen. Why else would she have to resort to trying to ruin her sister’s reputation? Fuck, she was such a loser.

  But right now, she couldn’t dwell on that. Right now she had to get to Snow. She had to escape. She had to get away from the weirdo who was holding her hostage, sexy as he might be. Rayna hadn’t spent much time alone with men, but damn. This guy was so different from her knights and advisors. He was so much taller, so much darker, so much sexier.

  A warmth between her legs reminded her for the first time in a very long time that she was, indeed, a flesh-and-blood woman. But Rayna had a secret that no one else knew. She was a virgin, maybe the last one in Everworth. She knew the villagers thought she had a harem of ready men at her beck and call. Hell, she perpetuated the rumors herself. She didn’t, though. She was an innocent.

  She had some weird notion that maybe someday, despite her strangeness, despite her awkwardness, despite her evil nature, she would find someone she would want to be her first.

  She would find someone she wanted it to be special with.

  For now, though, she needed to get out of this bed. She had to pee, she was horny, she was hungry, and she still had a headache. She tested her bonds, trying to see how much range of motion he had left her. Not much, it seemed. She could turn her head to see the room, but that was it. She couldn’t lift or move her arms or legs. She felt straps at her ankles, her thighs, her waist, and her shoulders. Maybe there were more. She wasn’t quite sure.

  “Help!” Rayna called out loudly. Her throat was dry and parched, but she did her best. “Help! Come help me! I’m in here! Help! Anyone!” She wasn’t sure what to say. Obviously, no one was going to come save her. The man who had her wouldn’t want anyone around with her here. Even if he had a family – which Rayna highly doubted – he wouldn’t want people around his captive.

  She called a few more times and finally heard footsteps.

  The man walked into the room and Rayna was once again caught off guard by how fucking gorgeous he was. He had a sharp jaw with soft lips and eyes that could cut to the heart of her soul.

  “I’m thirsty,” she whispered. “And I have to pee.”

  “Then I suggest you speak quickly,” the man said. He didn’t move from his spot in the doorway. He just stood there watching her.

  “Aren’t you going to untie me first?”

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  “Aren’t you going to let me use the chamber pot first?”

  The man scoffed. “Sweetheart ,if I cared about you pissing on the bed, I wouldn’t have left you there. I don’t give a shit if you’re drowning in your own fluids before this is all over. I want answers and you aren’t going to get a damn comfort if you don’t give me what I want.”

  At that, Rayna burst into tears. Her bladder was full, she was aroused, and she was tired. She wanted to be in her own bed with her cooks and her maids and her servants. Yes, she had been lonely, but at least she had been warm. At least she had been fed. At least she hadn’t been afraid she was going to pee herself.

  Then she wondered what was going to happen. This man had every advantage and Rayna had nothing. She had no doubt he would let her stay in the bed until she was covered in feces and sweat and starving and begging for food.

  So she could wait until she hit her breaking point, which would probably be in two or three days, or she could give in now.

  Rayna took a deep breath, hoping she was making the smart decision and not the stupid one. She thought that if he was going to kill her, he would have done it already. She didn’t think he would care if she died in his presence, but he didn’t seem inclined to hurry it along.

  “I’m looking for Snow White,” she whispered.

  “Excuse me?” The man looked shocked she had spoken.

  “I’m looking for Snow White. I need to speak with her. She knows me. I’m no enemy to her.”

  He waited a moment, perhaps to see if she was going to say anything else.

  “Can I pee now, please?”

  He raised an eyebrow, but came over and untied Rayna, then helped her sit up. The room spun for a second, but he kept his hands on her shoulders.

  “Steady now,” he whispered, and she couldn’t help but wish he was whispering other things to her. She hadn’t forgotten the way he had spanked her the day before, how he had owned her. She hadn’t forgotten his touch against her flesh or the way she had yearned for him even as she hung strung up in his house.

  If only they had met under different circumstances.

  “Thank you,” she said, and he helped her to her feet. He pulled a chamber pot from beneath the bed and turned around, but did not leave the room. She supposed it was better than wetting the bed, so she took care of business and pushed the pot away.

  “I’m done,” she whispered, when she was done, and sat back down on the bed. Her arms were killing and her head was throbbing. She couldn’t think straight. Her stomach growled and she was embarrassed, but said nothing. He would tell her what to do. He would take charge. She knew that much.

  “Why do you need to see Snow White?” The man asked. He eyed her up and down, looking at her curiously.

  Rayna gulped. This was the hard part. She didn’t want to lie to him. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but she had the feeling he could tell when she lied. She knew even a half-truth would be obvious to him. What could she say that wouldn’t be a falsehood? What could she say to convince him without revealing who she was?

  “I can’t tell you,” Rayna finally said. “It’s personal.”

  The man glowered and turned to leave the room.

  “Wait!” Rayna said, reaching her hand out before he left. “Can I have a drink of water?” But the door was already closed. She heard the lock and collapsed back on the bed, defeated.

  Fuck.

  9

  Aidan left his cabin and shifted immediately, then began running. He had to run, had to get her out of his system. Fuck, why was she so sweet? The woman in his bed, in his cabin, shouldn’t have delighted him the way she did. Every word that slipped off her sweet tongue just enticed him more. Yesterday, she had fought him. Today, despite the fire in her eyes, she had submitted to him, and oh, it had been sweet.

  He knew she wasn’t going to tell him why she wanted to see Snow. That much was obvious. He would have known if she was lying and would have wondered about her faint heart had she divulged too much, too soon. But he hadn’t expected her honesty. He hadn’t expected her to refuse to tell him, to say that she couldn’t. He had expected a lie.

  But she hadn’t delivered.

  He had to shift to clear his head. Aidan had been so close to losing control and just throwing her back on the bed and fucking the hell out of that ripe little peach. Her bright eyes and dark hair had almost undone him. She was beautiful.

  And a little familiar.

  He wasn’t sure why she seemed familiar to him, but she did. There was something about her face, about her nose. Maybe it was her eyes. He wasn’t sure, yet she seemed to be someone he’d met before. Maybe not. Maybe that was just wishful thinking on the part of his cock.

  Aidan pushed her from his mind and he ran. He ran and ran and ran until he could run no more, and then he ran home.

  He stopped outside of the cabin and caught his breath, then shifted back to his human self. He was normal. Ordinary. A man. He shook off thoughts of her actually liking him. There was no reason for that, was there? He was no one special, just a humble woodsman.

  So then, he wondered as he stepped inside, why had he captured the little waif instead of letting the other wolves have their wicked way with her? He snarled at the thought. She was special, that’s why. She was special and unique and different and she wasn’t being completely honest about why she was in the woods, but she wasn’t ly
ing, either.

  That had to count for something, right?

  He pulled his jeans on and stalked to her room. Normally, he’d stay naked, but he didn’t want to scare her more than he already had. Not today. Not just yet. No, he’d take his time with the girl before he freaked her out with the whole, “By the way, I’m secretly a wolf shifter.”

  The last thing he needed was for her to get more scared than she already was. Aidan half wondered if he should duck when he unlocked the door and wandered into the fair maiden’s room, but he needn’t have worried.

  “Did you clean?” He asked, looking around the room. Everything was different. The entire room had been rearranged. The curtains were pulled back and she had obviously tried to open the windows because they were covered in fingerprints, but Aidan had ensured they were impossible to open and much too thick to break.

  “I was bored,” the girl shrugged simply. Then he looked again at her and sucked in his breath. She was wearing his shirt – only his shirt – and her long black locks fell in waves over her shoulders.

  “You’re wearing my clothes,” he said.

  “I didn’t have anything clean to wear.” Was she blushing? She seemed embarrassed to be concerned about hygiene at a time like this, but Aidan didn’t want to push her. Not on that.

  He didn’t want to admit he liked what she’d done with the room. It looked better, nicer. It looked more feminine, to be sure, but it also seemed more comfortable and homey. Maybe a woman’s touch really was what his home needed.

  “Are you ready to tell me why you need to see Snow White?” He asked.

  It was as if a switch had been flipped and the woman immediately went stiff. She stood up straighter, pushing her shoulders back. He knew immediately that the next words out of her mouth were going to be mean or frustrating. He didn’t want to fight with her. He didn’t want her to yell at him. He didn’t want to have to punish her again or tie her up to think about it.