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11. Camille
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Black Crimson: A Little Red Riding Hood Story 12. Brick
“Oh my God,” the redhead before me bellowed in frustration, making me want to kiss the ever-loving fuck out of her.Which was...unlike me. There were so many other places on a woman I typically liked to focus my attention more. Mouth-to-mouth contact was never high on the list. And yet I wanted her soft, red lips with a craving that gnawed at my core.“Stop. Just stop with all the ridiculous sexual innuendos,” she spat, “and be serious for once. What did you tell my grandmother in order to get her to let you in?”I grinned, loving how easy it was to set her off. She was such a fiery, passionate woman, and nothing beat having all that hot, intense emotion aimed at me.“What do you think I told her?” I felt the need to taunt.She growled. “I don’t know; that’s why I’m asking. You didn’t tell her that we were—that you and I were—” She flushed, unable to say the actual words. Then she leaned in and murmured, “Did you?”I shook my head, feigning confusion. “That we were what?”This t
Black Crimson: A Little Red Riding Hood Story 13. Camille
I felt weighted down as I returned home from Gran’s place.After Brick had lit out of there, Gran talked me into staying for supper, where I’d finished the rest of the cookies he hadn’t eaten, plus gorged myself on a heaping plate of homemade spaghetti and meatballs.She never would tell me what he’d told her—if we were friends, lovers, or enemies—and that drove me crazy. But I guess it didn’t really matter anymore. He wasn’t going to change his stance about the interview, which left me with two options.Drop the subject completely or continue without his involvement and write an article that incriminated him to the point that he’d be exposed whether he liked it or not. I knew I could do it. I could take my story to Carmen, and she’d get me into the editing department within the hour.But did I want to do that to Brick? Expose him against his wishes? Possibly get him into trouble with the law? And in effect hurt his sisters, who had become two of my very close best friends.No. I
Black Crimson: A Little Red Riding Hood Story 14. Camille
I paused in the middle of shutting the door and blinked at him. “What, really?”“Wait.” Lifting a hand, he blinked and shook his head as if trying to clear the desperation from his senses. Then he said, “Remind me again what I just offered you.”“You said I could go tag something with you.” Taking his arm, I dragged him back into the apartment and shut the door behind him. Then I looked up into his wary eyes and squeaked with elation. “Like one of your murals? Can I watch you make one of those? Ooh, I could play lookout girl.”His lips spread with a nervous laugh before he lifted a hand in front of my face and sobered. “No. No way in hell would you come with me for a blockbuster piece, even if I had an idea ready for a new one. Which I don’t.”“Then a small, quick tag,” I offered, hopping excitedly on the balls of my feet as I gripped his arm. “I mean, I’ve never seen you tag anything, but you can do that, right? I just want to see Black Crimson in action.”“Look.” He lifted both
Black Crimson: A Little Red Riding Hood Story 15. Camille
I followed Brick all the way outside and down to a little orange sports car before I started to realize how crazy this whole plan was. And it wasn’t even the illegality of it that bothered me either. It was his vehicle.“Is this your car?” I said, slowing to a stop in front of it as he steered me closer. “This is your freaking car, isn’t it? Oh my God, I should’ve known.”His brow knit as he sent me a confused smile. “You should’ve known what?”“That you’d have some fast, super-nice car. I don’t even know what this is, but I’m sure it cost more than what I make in, like, a decade.”“It’s a Porsche,” he answered. “And don’t be ridiculous. It probably doesn’t cost any more than four or five years of your annual salary, tops.” When I sent him a disgusted glare, he lifted his brows in surprise. “I mean, honestly, do you even rake in thirty grand a year?”I huffed out my frustration because no, I didn’t. “Just how rich are you?”The lights on his shiny, tiny orange car flashed as he u
Black Crimson: A Little Red Riding Hood Story 16. Camille
I don’t know how long we ran. But by the time we stopped dodging and ducking and backtracking, and all the sounds of pursuits had gone quiet behind us, I was too winded to even call for a halt.I merely stumbled to a stop and leaned against the building we’d been running beside.Brick said nothing as he paused next to me and glanced around.“I think we lost them,” he said, staying alert as I continued to gasp for air.It was another thirty seconds before I could nod and ask, “Who was that?”“No idea,” he murmured, keeping his gaze vigilant. “Neighborhood gang, I’d say. They didn’t seem to like outsiders trespassing on their territory and tagging their shit.”“Oh my God.” I pressed a hand to my heart and panted rapidly. “I thought we were going to die. Do you run into gangs a lot when you’re painting?”He shrugged. “Occasionally.” Finally glancing at me, he waggled his brows. “Never been caught by one, though.”“Wow, Brick.” I straightened and shook my head. “That is so dangerou
Black Crimson: A Little Red Riding Hood Story 17. Brick
Well, damn. The nice gang had tracked us down again.We should probably go now.“This way,” I murmured to Camille, tightening my grip on her hand and getting her to casually turn and walk in the other direction with me so we could then take off running away to escape, but as soon as we rotated around, the other end of the alley filled with more menacing-looking silhouettes.They successfully had us trapped. And then they started walking toward us, closing in.“Oh my God,” Camille whimpered.“Don’t freak,” I murmured to her, even as I discreetly dropped the incriminating bag full of spray paint at my side and then lifted both hands in a sign of peace as the two groups converged, boxing us in quite successfully. “Maybe they just want to invite us out for a beer with them.”When she gaped up at me as if I were insane, I shrugged.Hey, it could happen. Wasn’t very likely, but it could happen.“Who the fuck do you think you are, tagging on our ground?” one of them finally asked.“I
Black Crimson: A Little Red Riding Hood Story 18. Brick
I followed Camille without speaking. She wasn’t saying anything, so I didn’t feel as if I could either, even though that had never stopped me before.Tonight was different.Okay, fine. I was worried as fuck about her. Too worried to talk. But she was refusing to get this trauma-inducing shit completely out of her system and just release it already like she needed to. And I couldn’t allow myself to deal with what had just happened until she did.So basically, I was going stir crazy inside.“I, uh…” She glanced over her shoulder at me after she unlocked her door and entered her apartment. Her eyes had dried, but they were still red from the mini cry-fest she’d had in the car. “I think I’m going to take a shower real quick. Get all this—you know—all this grime off me.”As she set her purse and the ax on the counter, I blinked at them—an old, dirt-caked ax with a bit of blood on the blade lying beside a pristine-clean wicker basket. They didn’t look as if they belonged together. And y
Black Crimson: A Little Red Riding Hood Story 19. Camille
Brick was uncharacteristically quiet. And somber.It’d been an hour or two since our marathon sexual encounter had ended, where we had definitely burned ourselves out of all energy, and he hadn’t said a thing during the entire lull.After finishing, he’d merely looked into my eyes, pulled out of me, and then hitched up one side of his mouth in masculine accomplishment before crawling back onto the bed with me, where he settled down beside me, gathering me into his arms to simply hold me.Without speaking.It was nice.But weird. So, so weird.I’d never known him to not have something to say before.I glanced toward my alarm clock to check the time, and yeah, it’d been just under two hours since he’d last spoken. Which made me wonder if he regretted what we’d done.That would be my luck. All those times he’d flirted and come on to me, telling me how ready he was for sex, and I had to go and mess it up by forcing him to accept a quickie—er, two...three? quickies—after we were nea
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Black Crimson: A Little Red Riding Hood Story About the Author
Linda writes romance fiction from YA to adult, contemporary to fantasy. Most Kage stories lean more toward the lighter, sillier side with a couple meaningful moments thrown in. Focuses more on entertainment value and emotional impact.Published since 2010. Went through a 2-year writing correspondence class in children’s literature from The Institute of Children’s Literature. Then graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, English with an emphasis in creative fiction writing from Pittsburg State University.Now she lives with her husband, two daughters, and two guinea pigs, a cat named Holly, and nine cuckoo clocks in southeast Kansas, USA. Farm girl. Parents were dairy farmers. Was youngest of eight. Big family. Day job as a cataloging library assistant.Harry Potter House Gryffindor, Patronus White Stallion, character match Hagrid. Supernatural Team Dean. Game of Thrones Team Jon Snow and Tyrion Lannister. The Walking Dead Team Daryl. Outlander Team Jamie Fraser. Teen Wolf Team Stiles. Ave
Black Crimson: A Little Red Riding Hood Story Epilogue
And that’s how that went.Black Crimson retired with a splash. All the newspapers tried to argue the point that the final piece didn’t mean he was done when it was fairly obvious he was. And just about everyone in the surrounding area contacted Camille for her take on the situation.She merely told them it looked as if I’d painted my last mural, and her quote appeared everywhere. So a couple of people tried to take up the torch and splash inspiring pieces across town in my place.One guy, who went by the name of the Peacekeeper, tagged the police station, and he was promptly caught before being thrown in jail.Another, going by Wiseman, was never caught but his work wasn’t quite as up-to-par as Black Crimson’s, so he wasn’t hailed as quite a hero as I was, and thus, he turned bitter and resentful and started throwing up nastier comebacks that caused the public to turn on him before he went off the grid and wasn’t heard from again.Suffice to say, after five years, no one ever live
Black Crimson: A Little Red Riding Hood Story 30. Brick
Dammit. I didn’t want to be left here alone with Camille right now. We needed to actually be alone-alone the next time I was alone with her, not surrounded-by-hundreds-of-people alone because I had a very bad feeling I wasn’t going to get through this encounter without wanting to mount her.Okay, fine. I already wanted to mount her. But the urge was going to get worse before the end of this conversation; I already knew it.Glancing briefly over my shoulder, I remained cool as I asked, “What’s it to you, grandma’s girl?”Then I skimmed my gaze down to her Mary Janes so I could take in her ankle where I could spot that tattoo that I now knew said grandma’s girl on it.My body instantly tightened with need. God, but how had I gone three weeks without her already?Remembering how I’d licked and nibbled on the patch of skin housing her ink, I ignored the craving that tensed my muscles, and I sipped on my drink, even though the alcohol was gone, and I was basically just swallowing melte
Black Crimson: A Little Red Riding Hood Story 29. Brick
Well, here we were again. At yet another party to celebrate the nuptials of people I actually cared about. It was a habit I was hoping to soon break.Meanwhile, every affluent, connected person in the city was present, the mayor included. And my only job was to make sure I was seen.Which sucked because I didn’t want to be here at all.I mean, engagement parties had to be even worse than wedding receptions. At least newly married couples had probably already had their first fight over the flowers or caterer or something. Engaged people didn’t even seem to know how to fight yet.I glanced toward Kaity who was standing next to Ezra and talking with the mayor, and when she looked up at her fiancé and smiled as if he was her world, my gut tightened.I remembered someone looking at me like that not so long ago.Twenty-two days ago, to be exact.But Hayden had warned me to stay away from her until this whole mess with Black Crimson was over—for her own safety and mine—so I’d been a go
Black Crimson: A Little Red Riding Hood Story 28. Camille
“Um…” I pointed after Brick as he stalked from the room. Then I glanced toward the others. “What did that mean?”When no one had an answer, I demanded, “So am I forgiven? Or not?”“I…” Blinking in stunned confusion, Kaitlynn shook her head as she tore her gaze from the place where Brick had disappeared. “I don’t really know,” she finally admitted. “I’ve never seen him act like that before. He usually likes to speak his mind too much to just walk off without saying anything.”I nodded as if I understood, only to ask, “But he believes me now, right? He knows I didn’t betray him?”Kaitlynn’s lips parted as if she wanted to answer, except she didn’t have an answer.So Gabby spoke up. “Of course he believes you. How could he not believe you after hearing that call? Or learning that you nearly let yourself be arrested for him? He has to know.” But she followed it up by glancing questionably toward her husband as if she needed him to corroborate her story because she wasn’t too sure if s
Black Crimson: A Little Red Riding Hood Story 27. Brick
“Wow, twist ending,” I heard Shaw across the room whispering to Isobel. “This just keeps getting juicer and juicer.”“Shh,” Isobel hissed to him, nudging his knee.Meanwhile, Hayden shrugged Kaitlynn’s way. “Brick is Black Crimson more so than I am. He started it alone and continued after I stopped. But I was there with him for about fifty percent of the pieces.”“More like eighty percent of the pieces,” I corrected.My brother shrugged and revised, “Okay. I was there for about eighty percent of the time.”“Whoa,” Kaity breathed. “My two brothers are both Black freaking Crimson. This is so—wait.” She whirled accusingly toward Gabby. “Did you know all this?”“I…” Gabby looked guiltily put on the spot. Then she cleared her throat. “Anyway. Back to Hayden’s plan.” She turned toward Isobel. “Are you good with slapping together some big splashy engagement party, Iz? Shaw?”“I…” Isobel turned to look at Shaw. “I mean, I think that would be…” When she met her fiancé’s gaze, silently tr
Black Crimson: A Little Red Riding Hood Story 26. Brick
I finally read the entire article.And then I read it again.It was an addictive piece; I’d give Mayhem that. She managed to put this delicious hook into each line that made you need to read the next one. Her words were vivid and colorful, and they covered a lot of detailed information about my work and graffiti art in general. She explained how I would practice beforehand in my garage, where I posted my first piece and why, and she even revealed that I’d vandalized the mayor’s house because of a personal vendetta and that I’d picked the historical museum because of a memorable sexual encounter.But she never revealed my identity, and she refused to spill a single clue that would help anyone else figure out who I was, either. Except that just confused me more.If she was going to go behind my back and write the article, anyway, lying to my face and utterly betraying me in the process, why would she bother to be so protective and careful to keep me anonymous? Even the words she used
Black Crimson: A Little Red Riding Hood Story 25. Camille
Well, at least I had my curiosity appeased. Brick hadn’t just been enjoying himself until something better came along; he had genuinely liked me. He’d wanted to be with me. And we might’ve actually been forming the greatest match-up ever.If I hadn’t royally messed everything up.It would’ve been a frigging dream come true, too.Brick was a legend, possessing every trait I thought an amazing man should have.I gave a thick swallow as I let myself into my apartment and dropped the keys into my purse before setting the wicker bag blindly on the counter, then wandering aimlessly through my apartment. But every place I went contained a memory of him. Like a cat who’d rubbed his scent on everything around him, Brick had marked his territory.I couldn’t look at the counter in the kitchen, the mattress in the bedroom, the shower in the bathroom, not even the freaking front door without—Dammit. My throat worked convulsively as I perched myself on the couch and pressed my hands into my l
Black Crimson: A Little Red Riding Hood Story 24. Camille
Life was ah-mazing!! It just did not get better than this.I hummed in pleasure to myself as I walked into work, pausing only to take a sip of my to-go cup as I entered my cubicle and nudged my chair with my knee, making the backrest spin around so I could sit.With a refreshed sigh, I plopped down my drink, stashed my purse in my bottom drawer, and started to slip my phone into the top drawer, when an incoming call made me brighten and check to see if it was Brick.I’d literally seen him only an hour ago when he’d left my apartment to head home and change for his own job...right after we’d had morning shower sex together.Remembering those slippery-wet, fond times, I bit my lip, only to release a short huff of disappointment to see it was Kaitlynn instead.But I loved my little blond bombshell of a friend, so I answered, risking another lecture from Carmen if she caught me on my personal line.“Hey,” I started brightly.“Oh my God,” she answered, sounding stunned. “I finally fi
