Unbearable by Wren

Chapter
One
     
    Wetness
seeps through my worn leather boots. With each plunge of my feet through the
snowdrifts, icy water squishes between my toes. Flakes continue to fall, wisping to the ground like white angels around me. If only
they were angels.
    I
toss a glance over my shoulder, dusk hindering the line of sight behind me.
Through the flurries and shadows of nightfall, the sound of his labored
wheezing increases, telling me he closes the distance. Long tendrils of red
hair flow around me like a cloak, billowing on the breeze as I kick up speed.
My chilled fingers barely keep hold of my skirts, hiked to my thighs as I
trudge through the thick snow. The crunch beneath my feet rings in my ears. The stomp of his ring louder.
    Dizziness
assails me through each labored breath pulled into my lungs, and I fight my
weary limbs to keep going. Towering trees snake in my path, their barren
branches bridging together like praying fingers above me. Darkness falls
faster, though I'm not sure if it's around me or just in my mind. Everything
spins and my feet slip from under me as I plummet to the ground. Skirts of red and white blanket around me, growing heavy as they
soak in melting snow. I manage to suck in a heaving breath, and I pray
it's not my last.
    He
slows his pace as if knowing he's won. Stalking towards me, a sinister grin
slithers across his bearded face. His long black cloak drapes a tall, willowy
frame. I will my limbs to move, to thrust forward and rise up. They refuse my
orders, tired and weak from an hour's long run. A single tear slides over my
cheek, streaking my chilled skin. Fiery pain slices its way up my legs. My
frozen fingers slip into the crevice of my bodice and curl around the hilt of a
dagger hidden between my breasts.
    “Aren't
you tired yet, Rose?” he asks as he lurches forward, gripping his knees with
his hands and panting for breath.
    I
glance up to him. “Perhaps you need to work on your stamina, Tobias. Aren't you
supposed to catch me, then throw me down? I wasn't
supposed to do it myself.”
    Another
slash of pain courses through my lower limbs as I push myself up from the
ground and I fear I may have sprained something. I unsheathe my dagger from its
hiding spot, dropping my hand to the billows of my skirts as I turn and face
him. Soaking fabric clings to my legs, chilling me to the bone.
    “Can
we just go home now? This game isn't fun anymore, Red.” He glances around as
the cry of an owl pierces the chill in the air.
    “You're
free to go if you want.” I dust my skirts off with one hand and tug my red velvet
cloak tight against my shoulders. “But you won't get your reward.”
    His
beady eyes narrow. “You promised me sex.”
    “No,
I said if you catch me you could have sex with me. I tripped and fell. And now
you want to go home because you're afraid of an owl. There'll be no sex with
you tonight.” I purse my lips. “I need a man who can take me down, who can bend
my will to his own. You are not that man, Tobias.”
    He
huffs through sallow cheeks, pointing a finger of judgment. “You're a tease and
a whore, Rose Red!”
    “How
would you know? You haven't slept with me,” I say and blow him a kiss.
    “I've
heard stories of the wicked ways in which you lure men to your bed.” His narrowed eyes burn with a hateful glare.
    A
laugh pops from my throat. “Then why did you agree to play my game?”
    His
lips purse to a thin line and his face deadpans. “I'll make you mine, Rose Red.
And I'll rightly punish you for your wicked games.”
    Inching
closer to him, my lips hover over his. “No man has ever made me his. No man
ever will. Do you know why I brought you out here, Tobias?”
    His
mouth trembles as he stares into my eyes. “To fuck you.”
    “Oh no.” I shake my head and a giggle
erupts from my throat. “I'm going to kill you.” Rage flashes in my eyes as I
plunge my dagger into his soft belly. Flicking my wrist, the knife twists in
his gut before I yank it back out.