The Wolf with the Red Roses

~ A Bargain for Honour ~

"On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?" He asks me, trapping me in an embrace from behind, grasping my hands in front of me.

"Will he offer me his mouth?" I ask him, wanting to know the extent of our deal.

"Yes." He replies, his thumbs delicately tracing the grooves in my hands.

"Will he offer me his teeth?" I move my hands from his and slide them up past his wrists to rest on his forearms. His heartbeat quickens against my back, then steadily decrescendos back into its usual pace.

"Yes." He purrs in my ear.

"Will he offer me his jaws?" I lean back into him, resting the back of my head on the front of his right shoulder. I want to look at him, but it is too dark to see the identity of the man who saved me. He brushes his face against mine and shocks of electricity flicker through my body.

"Yes." He whispers softly against my cheek.

"Will he offer me his hunger?" I utter, my words barely audible.

"Yes."

My fingers clench into his muscular forearms and my jaw tightens. Emotions twist through me like a tornado, bringing on a fresh wave of pain. "Again, will he offer me his hunger?" I ask ruthlessly.

"Yes!" He replies abruptly.

"And will he starve without me?" I demand, his breath hot on my face.

"Yes!" He growls at me.

"And does he love me?"

"Yes!" He chokes out.

"Yes..." I repeat, knowing I have won.

He pushes a warm object into my left hand. "On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?"

"Yes." I state as I grip prickly stem of the red rose until it draws small drops of blood to the surface of my hand. I delicately shift the rose to my right hand, avoiding the thorns. As the blood of my left hand drips onto the rose, sealing the deal, I hear him once more, his voice echoing through the cold, dark room.

"I bet you to say that to all the boys..."