Ginger Bites

by Hart, Crymsyn

  “What is it? I thought you said that if we were your mates then you wouldn’t need to eat people anymore?” Cameron asked.

  She shrugged. “That’s the idea. I have to go back to my normal appearance before this would stop. Eventually, I hope that I’ll be human, but for now I’m crumbling.”

  “So that means you need to go out and kill someone?” Cameron asked.

  The hair fell to the floor, dissipating before it hit the tile. “I don’t have a choice.”

  “Maybe you do.” Zach drew in a long breath and unbuttoned his shirt.

  “No! No way!” Ginger held up her hands, trying to ward them off

  “You said you needed human flesh. We’re human, sorta, and we heal. You don’t have to worry about killing us.”

  “Zach’s right. We heal. You don’t have to feel guilty about harming anyone else.” Cameron took his shirt off too.

  A tear slipped down her cheek and Zach swore he saw her face run where the tear touched. “No. I can’t. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  Zach kissed her quickly. “I trust you. Eat me, baby.”

  She giggled. “That’s a horrible way to put it. Are you sure about this?” Ginger gazed into his eyes. Cameron squeezed her shoulder.

  “Do it,” Zach said.

  Ginger ran her fingers over Zach’s shoulder and down over his pec. She kissed him lightly. With each press of her lips, his cock grew hard. Her tongue encircled his nipple which firmed at the thought of them being together, of him sliding between her moist thighs. It made all of what they had done the other night flash before his eyes. She nipped at his flesh and looked at up at him one more time. He nodded and braced for the pain. It happened so fast that he found himself on the floor with Ginger on top of him. Her head was at his chest as she took another bite out of the muscle. She looked up and what he saw was not a human woman, but the true nature of what she was. Her teeth were jagged and sharp, yellowed with age and rot. Her green eyes burned red. Blood dripped down the sides of her mouth. Her lips widened into a smile while she licked her lips. Before he could blink, Zach found his friend on the kitchen floor next to him with Ginger on top of him, tearing out a piece of his chest. Zach rolled off the floor. The blood rushed to his head and he grabbed the counter to steady himself. From there, he pressed a towel to the wound. The thunder of his heart filled his ears and the pain started to recede. The healing ability was kicking in.

  Cameron stood next to him and he handed him the cloth to press against the wound in his chest. The other wolf’s eyes flashed gold because the beast had come to the surface. He drew in a cleansing breath and then turned around, praying Ginger would be back to normal. The vision of her feeding was something he could never wipe from his mind, but it was good that he had seen her so he knew what she was. Underneath all of her glitz and beauty, she truly was something other than human, but it did not disgust him. It only made his attachment to her stronger.

  “Are you okay?” he asked Ginger.

  She turned around and was the perfect creature he remembered. Nothing about her screamed she was part of the supernatural. Ginger could barely look at them. “I’m fine. Thank you. I appreciate what you did for me. I’ll be okay for now.”

  Cameron poked his arm and handed Zach his shirt. “We have to get going.”

  Zach rolled his eyes. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave right now.”

  Ginger waved her hands. “No. It’s fine. Go and do whatever you need to. I’ll see you in a couple of days anyway. Turns out the regular person we use to cater the parties is out of the country and there’s no one else to serve the cake.”

  “Can’t we see you sooner than that?” Zach slid his arm around Ginger’s waist, pulling her closer.

  “As long as we’re not kept busy by our employer.” Cameron took Ginger’s hand and kissed the back of it before brushing his lips across hers. He lingered and then Ginger moved on to Zach.

  She hugged him hard and whispered in his ear. “Thank you for believing in me and coming back here. I appreciate what you did.” She kissed him hard and released him.

  Zach did not want to leave, but their boss was waiting for them to report in. They were going to be late. For the first time in a long time, he did not care what the old wizard thought. They had found their mate and soon, they would be free of their curse altogether.

  Chapter Seven

  Ginger licked her lips and pressed the roses to her nose. Their scent was overwhelming now that she was restored. She ran her fingers through her hair and felt wonderful. Her thoughts were hard to pull away from Zach or Cameron. The way they had given themselves to her without thought of their welfare. They had wanted to please her and not see her in pain. That was something she had not experienced before. No one had ever given themselves to her without getting something in return. All they wanted was to apologize and make sure she knew that they still wanted her. With her hunger nearly about to consume her, she was not sure if she would be able to go another day without finding someone to bite into. Their voices had come through long tunnels while she tried to understand what they were saying.

  She had been rash in leaving after they had made love. When she had quickly left their place, she had walked the streets and it reminded her of how alone she had been. They had called her a monster because she had told them the truth. It had to be that way. They had reacted the way she assumed they would, the same way that Christian had. When she had returned home that night, Christian was sitting upstairs in her apartment with a plate of white chocolate macadamia nut cookies and two cups of lemon and lavender tea. Her eyes were also red and swollen from crying. On the table beside the cookies were a couple of photo albums.

  That night they made up, and Ginger had to don her gloves to eat the cookies which were one of her favorites. They had stayed up and looked through the albums where Ginger’s picture was on several of the pages as she had been part of the family for a long time. She wondered if her friend would have ever wanted to be friends with her after she had discovered there were other things in the world. She had taken it well and now they were on speaking terms again. Ginger sensed her old friend was still tense. But at least they were good the same way that she and her two mates were good. The thought of the men made her all tingly inside. She hugged herself and smiled. Her wolves had not given up on her. She smelled the roses one last time and took out a vase from the cupboard. She set it on the counter when someone else knocked on her door.

  “Did you guys forget something?” she called.

  “You shouldn’t leave your door unlocked.”

  Hearing that voice made her freeze and turn around slowly. Standing in the open door was the man from the bakery that had been causing her problems. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  He smiled. “I told you I would pay you a visit. Looks like I got here too late. I saw your boys leaving. They come for a quickie?”

  Ginger reached behind her and gripped the vase. “You really need to leave.”

  Her visitor closed the door behind him. “Or you’ll what? Call the police? They won’t be here in time to save you. You’re all mine. I’m here to claim you. You are my mate.”

  She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This was another werewolf who thought she was the one for him. This was not happening. “Look, asshole, whoever you are. Just because you think I’m some savory morsel you want to drool over, I don’t care if I make all your hackles rise. You better get out of my house now. You don’t know who you’re messing with.”

  His grin widened until the corners of his mouth were embedded in his cheek, giving him a wolfish grin. “You really think you can take me, a little thing like you?” he stepped toward her. She snatched the vase and threw it at her intruder’s head. He dodged it and pinned her to the kitchen counter. His eyes were golden and the intent in them was triumphant. He pressed his nose to her neck and inhaled. “You smell as good as I thought you would even with the scent of those two pussies on you. If they only knew wha
t premium goods you are, or if our benefactor knew they were going after you, he would be very angry with them. So you see, we are going to keep this quiet.” He leaned in to kiss her, but she shied away from him.

  Ginger did not want her two men to get hurt, but she figured they could handle themselves. And the one before her, with his beady eyes and thinning hairline, made him nothing in her eyes. She had handled worse than him. He thought she was going to cave. But he was wrong. He had no idea what he was getting himself involved in. For now she would play along.

  She put her hands on his chest, feeling the sturdy frame underneath. He smelled like wet dog and his breath was rancid.

  “You’re digging this, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah. Why don’t you take your shirt off so we can get a little closer?”

  “Now you’re getting it. Good girl to cooperate. This will go so much smoother.”

  She nodded. Her stomach rumbled and she felt a little more hunger creep into her. “Sure, baby.”

  The werewolf took off his shirt and let it drop to the ground. His chest was marred with crosshatches of scars. He had flat abs, but he was starting to lose some definition. It did not matter to her. He reached out to her and pulled her close. Ginger went into his arms and began kissing his shoulder. He tasted acrid of sweat and dirt. She nearly gagged, but kept on kissing him to make him believe she was going along with this.

  “Baby, that feels good,” he crooned.

  She kissed him again, feeling him relax against her. Ginger trailed her fingers along his arms. The hunger in her rose and her teeth sharpened. He gripped her hips and ground into her. She couldn’t take anymore as he began kissing her neck. At that moment, she seized his arms. He struggled, but her strength had been renewed and he was no match for her.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” he bellowed.

  She smiled, showing him her sharp teeth. He began to say something, but she cut him off and bit into the meat of his shoulder. He screamed as she tore out a hunk and swallowed it. The meat had a taste like overdone steak and she did not prefer it. He staggered backward, holding his shoulder. He glanced at her.

  “What the hell are you?”

  Ginger licked her lips. “Something you don’t ever want to mess with. If you don’t get the hell out of here, I’m going to eat all of you.” She snapped her teeth at him.

  The werewolf yelped in fear and back away. The terror ran off of him in waves and it made her smile. “When they find out what you are, they won’t want you.”

  “They already do.”

  Her intruder staggered out of her apartment, tail between his legs. Satisfied with herself, she locked her door to make sure he was not going to be coming back in again. If he did, she would handle him.

  * * * *

  As the day for the party approached, Cameron and Zach were preparing and were not able to spend much time with her. They had stopped by the shop to make final preparations for the party, but there was not much she could say to them because she was busy. Although they had talked on the phone each night, she did not recount her incident with the other werewolf to them. It would only upset them. They were learning more about one another. She sighed when she thought of them, her two wolves, and was glad to know she would see them soon.

  She listened to the GPS dictate the final directions to arrive at the holiday party where she was going to be serving the wolf cake and cupcakes. Ginger was supposed to stay until the cake was served. The wolves’ benefactor had paid the extra for the service of someone serving the cake. She turned down the long road and found the trees to be thicker than they were on the drive up. The estate was on the edge of a lake and completely isolated. It was all a pack of werewolves needed to live their lives without suspicion. The way it sounded, Cameron and Zach were gophers—running errands and doing whatever was expected of them. That would mean they were the low men on the totem pole and that was something werewolves never liked. From her years of being with her overbearing creator, they always fought for position in the pack. The grotesque creatures that he had created were more than werewolves, they were his pets. He had two he used to pay more attention to than the others in the pack. She had never seen them in their human guises. They were chained to the entrance to ward off any intruders and were a reminder to anyone who messed with the wizard that they would face a fate worse than death.

  At least there are no chained werewolves waiting to greet me. Ginger pulled up to the gate and a guard met her. She rolled down her window.

  “Can I help you?” the guard asked.

  “I’m from the bakery. I’m here to deliver the cake.”

  The guard eyed her and waved her past. She drove up the long driveway, heard music blaring and was directed by people preparing for the party until she ended up behind the large manor that probably housed thirty or forty rooms. It was a small castle. Smoke drifted from the chimneys. She parked the van and slipped into the house and into a sea of people who were busy getting the party ready. Ginger looked around the house and found an open door leading into the cellar. There were so many people she had a feeling as though she was a gnat ready to be swatted.

  “Hello.” She tried to catch someone running by.

  “Sorry,” the woman said, but kept on going.

  The scent of dampness filled her nose, but she could also smell a fire. She walked by a room, saw a large fire and someone tending it.

  “Excuse me…” she asked.

  The man turned around. A scream built in her throat. Shock struck her so fast she was not able to process it and darkness took hold.

  Someone patted her cheek. An awful citrus smell burnt her nose and forced her to open her eyes. When she did, Cameron gazed at her. He smoothed the hair from her face. She sat up slowly.

  “What happened?” Ginger asked.

  “I don’t know. I heard a scream and found you had fainted in here. What are you doing?”

  She shook her head and then saw Zach. “What the hell happened?” he questioned and knelt by her side too.

  He took her hand and helped her stand. The warm embrace helped to clear her head. All she wanted was to snuggle into their arms and chase the darkness away that still clung to the edges of her vision. The werewolves wrapped their hands around her waist and held her steady.

  “Where was the man that was here?” Ginger looked around for the man she had seen.

  The wolves looked at one another. “There wasn’t anyone here when I found you. Someone comes in and tends the fire once in a while. Maybe that was who you saw.”

  Ginger shook her head. “No. I must’ve imagined it. I was looking for someone to ask where to put the cake, but everyone is running around so they wouldn’t stop for me. Can you guys help?”

  “Of course. Come on.” Zach turned her toward the door.

  “Wait.”

  “What is it?” Cameron asked.

  She put her hands on her hips and stared at the two of them. “You don’t see me for a few days and this is all I get? What about you letting me eat you? Was that all for nothing?”

  Both of the wolves stared at her and then one another. She trailed her fingers over Zach’s chest and stood on tiptoe to reach his lips. His smile widened. His muscled chest pressed against her. She wanted to stay in his arms and feel him inside of her, to have both of them inside of her. The urge to reconnect with the two of them overwhelmed her. If it was not for the party, she would take them in the back of the van. Ginger trailed her tongue along his bottom lip. He groaned. Cameron grabbed her ass. She jumped, but did not break the kiss.

  “What about me?” Cameron nipped at her ear and shattered her focus.

  She groaned and broke the kiss. Ginger felt the nearly overpowering desire to stay with the two wolves, but knew she had to get the cake set up. If she was going to have to stay and serve, then she was going to be on her feet for a while. The two wolves stepped away from her. The distance between them made her ache. She had to concentrate on the party. The guys are right. I
only saw the person who was checking on the fire and I must’ve startled them.

  “So you guys want to help me carry the cake?” she asked, pushing the past from her mind. She had already lost enough time. She did not need to lose anymore.

  “We love heavy lifting.” Zach smiled, but she caught his sarcasm.

  “Sorry, guys, but the cake is huge and even with my gingerbread, stronger than human strength, it’s a little bit too heavy for me. But two strong werewolf types like you can handle it, I’m sure. Besides, I can make it worth your while later.”

  Cameron chuckled and caught her around the waist, nuzzling her neck. “With those promises, you can get us to do anything.”

  “Cameron, what are you doing with that woman? I told the two of you to find the baker and take her up to meet him. He wants to meet her.”

  Both men stiffened at the other man’s voice. Ginger broke from his grasp and glanced over to see a man—the man that had broken into her apartment. She was not about to let on that they had met before. “I’m the baker. They were just about to direct me to set up the cake.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  “I see. So you didn’t tell them, did you? About what the two of us shared.”

  “Shut up!” Ginger snapped.

  “What is he talking about?” Cameron asked.

  She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to ward off the frustration building inside of her. This was not the way for her men to find out. “This man thinks he has a thing for me. The other night after you left my apartment, he said I was his mate and was going to force himself on me.”

  Zach growled and jumped at him. “You touched her!”

  “Yeah, and she felt so good.”

  Ginger laid a hand on Zach’s arm. “He’s just goading you on. What the pussy didn’t tell you is that I took a good chunk out of him.” She snapped her teeth at the other man and saw the fear cross his face quickly before his macho mask was put back in place.

  “You’re a freak. That’s what you are, bitch. Tried to eat me!”