"What brings you out in the cold today, miss? I'd have thought everyone in town would be staying indoors with the snow storm on it's way." The man was easily the largest person I have ever met. He stood tall as timber and looks just as thick. I can't quite make out his build under the fur and leather cape he's wearing. The man has long red hair tied back with a strip of rawhide. A few strands have escaped and are whipping around his face. A strong gust of wind has brought a flush of color to the skin in his face that's showing from under several days beard growth.
"I am making my way home," I said. "I was told I would have a day before the storm hits, and I need to get back to my grandmother. She is ill and needs this medicine I got from the apothecary." The man smiles. It's the only spot of warmth on this other wise frosty morning.
"Do you need any assistance?" he asked me.
"No thank you, sir. I can manage. The trip is not long and I make it frequently enough" I answered. He introduced himself to me and put out his right hand.
"My name is Casper. It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss...?"
"Annika. I'm Annika Braun. The pleasure is mine, Casper."
I put my hand in his and he leaned in to kiss it. His hands were work worn, and rough. They drew some of the chill from my fingers. I looked up into his eyes and they were the most stunning shade of moss green. They projected a sweet, gentle feeling over me. It took me a moment to realize I was staring.
"Have a safe journey home, Miss Annika. I hope we run into each other again on your next visit."
I beamed at him the first genuine smile to have crossed my face in months.
"I would like that very much." Then I set off on the trail home. I need to hurry. I can feel the shift in the air. The storm is on it's way.
It's getting hard to breathe now. I fear the air is going to run out. I squeeze my eyes shut and will my breathing to slow down. The panic is kept at bay, but just barely. How I wish I could change positions. My neck and shoulders are cramping from having my hands holding my ankles. I've been abducted and I'm naked. This realization does nothing for my panic. Okay Annie, keep it together. You gotta find a way to get back to Gran. Just relax and think. The thought of my grandmother pulls my thoughts away.
I haven't been in this good a mood in ages. To think it was a friendly stranger that brightened my day. A strong updraft blows my cloak over my head. The wind is abominable. Even with the hood up I can't manage to keep my long blonde hair from being blown into my eyes. I readjust my cloak and hair and set off again. Despite the break in emotion of meeting someone new, my thoughts travel back to Gran. She's been sick for months. She's weak, hardly eats; whenever she tries she can't really keep much down. No one can figure out what's wrong. She's wasting away before my eyes and the only thing that can be done is to make her as comfortable as possible. The apothecary makes a syrup of opium and honey that I add to some goat's milk. This is the only thing that takes the pain away long enough for her to eat a few bites and keep it down. When we run out, it's excruciating for her. A lone tear escapes from my eye. No. I am not going to cry. I have had enough of crying. I wipe the offending moisture away with my sleeve. Okay, Annie you gotta think of something else. I let my mind wander back to Casper. The man with the friendly smile and kind words. He picked my spirits up considerably in just a few minutes. A part of me wishes I took him up on his offer to be a guide. I'm sure things would have been a lot warmer with company. I find myself envying his cape. All the leather and fur, I wouldn't have to worry about the cold in that. I shake my head and kick myself. Too late now. And those eyes! I feel like I could lose myself in them. Those eyes set into such a striking face. High cheekbones, a square jaw and straight bridge nose. The wind had kicked up and a blast of icy shards hit me in the cheek, pulling me from my daydream. The storm is coming too soon! As I looked around my first thought was to find shelter immediately. There was no way I was going to make it home until the storm passed. I glanced around and spied a small cottage a few yards away.
I could feel my body being shifted. It's as if I've been tied up in sack. I want to scream, but I don't have enough air in my lungs to do it. Almost as soon as the movement started, it finished. I feel the tears start as I realize, I'm not getting out of this. I will never see my grandmother again.
It really isn't fair to call this building a cottage. It's a rather small space. But it's dry and keeping the wind away so it's more than enough for me. I take in my surroundings. There's a crumbling fireplace on a far wall with small remnants of dried logs and kindling piled next to it. There are tattered skins half hanging off the window. I make my way over to those to put the skins back up to keep the draft out. As I look over the rest of my temporary dwelling I see another room. I figure it must be the bedroom and decide to check it out after I get the fire lit. I make my way over to the fireplace. The hearth is chipped and crumbling, the mantle is gone, and the chimney looks like it's about to cave in. I need to make a fire so I set to it and pray I don't burn the place down. After a few misses with the flint I found, a small fire gets burning in the kindling. I start adding the larger pieces of wood when I hear a crack behind me. I spin around and scream just in time to get clubbed in the head. I see clawed hands reaching for me before my world goes black.
Where did he take me? I still can't figure out where I am, but at least I remembered where this splitting headache came from. It doesn't matter now anyway. Reality is starting to blur around the edges and I'm getting drowsy. I feel like I'm being jostled around pretty hard. The movement is picking up again. It feels jarring. Do I keep losing consciousness? I hardly notice the pain in my muscles anymore. I need to sleep. If I fall asleep now, I won't ever wake up. I welcomed the relief. I can't seem to get a full lungful of air anymore. My breathing is coming in shallow, gasping breaths. I think I see a light in front of me.
I'm getting pounded on the back.
"Annika! Annika, wake up! Please, wake up!"
That voice sounds familiar.
The pounding continues. My eyelids fly open and I begin to heave. Slime, and bile are being coughed up all over the floor beneath me. I feel myself being let down on the floor and I curl up on my side shivering.
"Thank the gods you're alive." A blanket is getting draped over me. Did the blanket say that? I hear the sound of something large getting dragged over towards me and the sound of liquid being poured into whatever it is. I lay there in a daze, my eyes shifting in and out of focus. I hear a ripping sound from across the room. Suddenly my blanket is gone. I whimper in protest, and that's all I can do. I can hardly move my arms to grab for it. I get scooped up and put into... Is this a tub? Reality starts coming back to me. I'm not dead? I'm not dead! As that clarity sinks in, I open my eyes and look around. The fire is roaring with a pot of water on to boil. I smell blood. I look down at my legs wondering if it's me.
"Annika?"
I turn toward the sound of the voice.
"Casper? What happened to me? What are you doing here?" I'm trying to push the hair from my eyes.
"I heard a scream. I was nearby packing up after hunting when it happened. So, I ran in the direction of the sound trying to find the source. The snow made it really hard to get over to this place. When I broke in I saw your cloak."
My eyes were finally adjusting to being open again. His face looked hard. Fear flickered over him for just a moment. I blinked and it was gone.
"I pulled out my knife and checked every corner of this place and found nothing. Just outside behind the cottage I stumbled on a huge beast sleeping under some brush. I went over to it saw it's teeth covered in blood, and it's belly huge and distended."
I wanted to sink down into the water and disappear then. The events of the night came crashing down around me. The clawed hand, huge and furry. The beast walked on it's hind legs, like a man. This was no man. There isn't a man alive with teeth or hands that big. Casper made his way back to the tub with more hot water. He drained the pot around me. The heat felt delicious on my stiff muscles.
"So, I was eaten? By this hideous man beast?"
Casper knelt down on the floor, picked up a wet cloth from the tub, and started to wash the filth off of me. I have never felt anything so amazing in my life and doubt I will ever again.
"It swallowed you whole. The blood in it's teeth must have come from the gash on your forehead."
I reached up and touched the wound with two trembling fingers. They came back sticky with blood and fluid. I glanced behind me to see that he had left the beast's skin in a heap on the floor.
"We fought hard. I may have bested him, but he got a few good swipes in." He grinned.
Casper had scratches on his arms and an open cut on his cheek. I reached out to examine the wound on his face.
"When I finally got him down, I cut open his belly and pulled you out. I was so scared I was too late and you..." the grin was gone.
My hand may contact with his cheek. I put my palm against his face and felt the soft growth of beard underneath it. He looked up at me with pain and fear in his eyes. Without this man, I would have been dead. Casper continued to wash my body. I took my hand away as he moved around to my back. I gathered my hair out of the way for him. His strong fingers went to work on massaging the soreness out of my muscles. When he came back around to face me I caught one of his hands in mine.
"You saved me. Thank you."
I picked his hand up and examined it. It was large and calloused. As I turned it over I noticed his knuckles were scraped up. I was so overcome with emotion just then I bent forward and kissed the tiny cuts. I brushed his fingers against my cheek then looked up at him. He had stopped moving and just watched. His face became clouded with longing.
"Have we met before?" I asked.
"No. I have seen you in town. The first time I saw you I was struck. Every time I would try to drum up the courage to talk to you, and whenever I finally managed you would have already left. I was lucky we ran into each other today."
I put his hand over my heart.
"Not as lucky as I was."
I don't know what came over me just then. I raised up and kissed him. It started chaste enough; just a soft press of my mouth. But as the events of the day came back I had a surge of energy. The kiss became deeper. Our mouths came alive, pressing harder. I moaned as his tongue swept into my mouth. I ran my hands up Casper's back to his neck to untie the rawhide from his hair. He pulled me in closer to him. My breasts flattened against his chest. I wound my hands through his hair in a desperate need. The kiss brought something to life in me just then. I had been dead for months. The grief of my grandmother's illness shut down the fire in me. No wonder I welcomed death. My fingers began to work at the ties on his shirt when he grabbed my wrists in his and pulled his face away. He didn't say anything just looked into my eyes for a moment. There was a question there. I need to let him know I want this. I match his gaze with mine and nod. We both stand up then. He lets me undress him. Without the layers of animal skin he is still a big man. He has a broad, well muscled chest, covered with a dusting of copper hair. His whole body is work hardened and tough. I can't help but want to touch him. My hands reach up and snake around his neck. I pull him in for another kiss. His arms wrap around under my backside and he lifts me out of the tub; my body trembling from the chill at my back. He lays me down across the beast's fur; I feel his erection pressing into my belly. I reach my hand between us grip him. As I stroke he moans softly in my ear. Something in Casper takes over and the next thing I know his mouth is on mine, hungry, probing. He kisses his way down my neck, nipping the soft skin where my neck meets my shoulder. His hands are on my breasts, massaging and pinching until my nipples are hard little peaks until his mouth catches up. I let out a little gasp as his mouth closes over one of the little buds. He's sucking and pulling, culling small sounds of pleasure from me. His hand moves to between my legs, opening the soft lips to my clit. His fingers are moving in slow circles building the pressure. He kisses a trail down to between my legs while slowly pushing one finger in then another to start teasing me inside. His mouth is licking, sucking, drawing out the pleasure. His fingers thrusting in and out of me. The pressure is growing, spreading; my head rocks back and my hands dig into Casper's hair as I am overtaken by the orgasm. He climbs back up my body then. I feel the head of him rubbing against me, testing before he takes me. Then inch by torturous inch he enters me. I'm gripping his arms as hard as I can. I am so sensitive, almost too sensitive to take it. Finally, he's taken me and starts moving slowly. His mouth is on mine. I can taste me on his lips. As he starts to thrust faster, I feel another orgasm is building.
""Annika, oh gods look at me." I look up and our eyes meet just as we are both driven over the edge of the little death.
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