Hungry for Red (A Salem Experiment Book 1) Read online

  “You’re everything I ever dreamed about, but never imagined I would ever find. Thank God I found you that day before Terrible Ted could hurt you. I’ll never stop being hungry for Red.” He leans down to kiss me, but I push him back.

  “Hey, I thought I was your Little Kitten?”

  “Naw, that name doesn’t really fit. I’m the big bad wolf. You have to be my Little Red instead.” I’m ready to argue for a second then realize this is the man who named his dog Kitty and his cat Mouse. It’s a lost cause. My lost cause.

  Epilogue 1

  Isla

  Well, I’m not sure this camping trip is a good idea. The last time I went on a camping trip, I found the love of my life; this time, things can only go downhill. At seven months pregnant, the last thing I want to do is troop through the woods and “rough it,” but my husband is so excited for me to hang out with his friends and their wives on one last trip before all the little ones come.

  Polly, Harper, and I have all secretly dreaded this trip, but we didn’t have the heart to tell our big lugs no. As big arms wrap around my bulging waist from behind, I lean back and sigh. “Is the truck all packed and ready?”

  “Yep, why don’t you make your fiftieth bathroom run this morning before we get on the road? There isn’t a nice restroom for at least twenty minutes after we leave town,” he teases, and I elbow him in the stomach then turn clumsily in his arms and glare at him.

  After smacking his shoulder, I stomp off toward the restroom, calling over my shoulder, “You know I can make it more than twenty minutes. And it’s your fault anyway, Mr. I Hope We Have Twins.” When I get to the door, I turn and stick my tongue out at him and hear his roar as I’m closing the bathroom door.

  I reach to pull down my pants, and the door flies open and bangs against the wall as my husband charges into the bathroom. After wrapping his arms around me and pulling me close, he growls in my ear, “Use the bathroom and let’s go. If I take you up on the invitation that you’re issuing with your tongue, we’ll miss the camping trip all together.” Then the big jerk winks and smacks my ass as he walks out and shuts the door.

  A little while and two bathroom stops later, we arrive at a beautiful cabin in the woods, and relief flows through me. As I turn to Aaron in shock, he smirks. “You didn’t really think I’d make you sleep in a tent and use the woods for a bathroom, did you?” He points farther down the road, and I see more cabins within walking distance. “The others have similar cabins right down the hill.” After a brief make out session, Aaron hands me the key and tells me to look around. While he’s unloading the truck, I realize Polly and Harper are feeling the same relief right about now. I walk through the small cabin and take in the cute little structure. It’s small but perfectly decorated in a rustic theme and has every convenience of home, except I don’t see a television or computer anywhere in sight. My first stop is the cute little bathroom, of course.

  A few minutes later, my phone dings with a text. The first group text I receive is from Polly, with dancing emojis and the words: Indoor plumbing and electricity! There is a God. ;-). The return text from Harper is all smiley emojis. This trip isn’t going to be as bad as we thought. Oops. Famous last words.

  “How the fuck was I supposed to know the goddamn boat had a fucking leak in it?” Aaron roars in Frankie’s face—well, really his chest because the man’s a giant.

  Frankie just smirks before shrugging his shoulders. “If your horny ass didn’t keep your poor wife tied to the fucking bed twenty-three fucking hours of the day, you would have been out here this morning when Mr. Tomas told us not to use the red and blue boat because it needs repairs.” Then Frankie steps back before egging Aaron on playfully. “Thank God, she’s already knocked-the-fuck-up. Now, get your wife inside and in dry clothes before I’m treating her for pneumonia.” Max, Harper and Polly are quietly laughing at our drowned appearance, and Aaron growls under his breath before grabbing my hand and heading for our cabin.

  After we get inside our cabin, he turns to me and sighs. “I’m sorry our romantic boat ride turned so horrible.”

  I laugh and kiss his lips before assuring him, “We were in a four-foot-deep lake. It’s not like we were ever in any danger. I had a great time before the boat sank, and now our friends have a funny story to tell. It’s no big deal.”

  The rest of our first annual camping trip is quite a success. Well, we actually spend most of it in our cabin ‘recovering’ from our swim. Every time I see Frankie, he smirks and raises his eyebrow in question, and I swear he lives to see the blush that covers me from head to toe at his teasing. Since it’s the last time we’ll all be together before we’re overtaken by munchkins, we make plans to continue the annual camping trips with the new additions to our families.

  As we are walking away from the campfire on our last night, Frankie calls to Aaron, “Don’t count on us babysitting your rugrats while you keep your wife tied to the bed next summer,” and I hear Max’s loud booming laughter over all the rest.

  Before Aaron can answer him, I turn and remind the others, “I don’t remember seeing any of you out enjoying nature this weekend, either.” When Frankie smiles and winks, I know there will be more of his teasing to look forward to in the future.

  Epilogue 2

  Aaron-Five Years Later

  There are so many unanswered questions left after the Salem Experiment went wrong. While Frankie has worked tirelessly throughout the years to figure out our conditions, we’ve searched for other shifters to help answer our questions. So far, we’ve come up empty handed. Our belief is that others like us exist but remain hidden as well.

  One huge mystery left unanswered is whether or not our children will be shifters. When my twins were born, they looked and acted like normal newborns, so we assumed that the effects of the experiment will end with the three of us. Boy were we wrong

  This morning, we’re heading out for the annual camping trip. When I wake to find Isla has already snuck out of bed to prepare, my wolf and I are twitchy and frustrated. After throwing on sweatpants, I search until I find her in the kitchen and snarl, “Why are you here instead of wrapped around me?”

  She jumps and grabs her chest, then spins around. “Damn it, Aaron, you’re going to scare me to death. Make noise.” She points at the pile of camping gear by the garage door. “There was no way we’d be ready to go by nine a.m. if I didn’t sneak away. I hate when Frankie gives me the ‘Aaron didn’t let you out of bed this morning’ look,” she complains, and I curl my finger for her to come closer, but she shakes her head no and backs away.

  I follow her to the door, and she turns and points at the stove before directing, “While you get breakfast ready, I’ll go get the twins out of bed.”

  As she kisses my cheek and tries to walk past me, I grab her ass and growl in her ear, “I’ll do this now so you can prove to Frankie that I let you out of bed, but later, I’m keeping you in bed.” Isla throws back her head and laughs as she heads up the stairs to get the twins.

  Just as I’m sticking my head in the refrigerator to grab the eggs, I hear Isla’s shriek, and I slam the refrigerator door shut and run. By the time I get to the twins’ door, my wolf is ready to claw through my skin to get to whatever is threatening my family. I rush through open the door to find Isla standing in the middle of the room next to Ronan, watching a wolf pup chase her tail in a circle on Presley’s bed. There’s our answer. It took over four years, but it looks like my kids are going to be a lot like their daddy. Presley always has been the more adventurous of the two, so I’m not surprised that she’s shifted first.

  After slipping into the hall to strip and shift, so I don’t traumatize Ronan before his first shift, I run up and hop on the bed with my little wolf. She stops chasing her tail and snuggles up to me as our wolves communicate. My wolf instinctively knows this little mite is going to give me more trouble than her brother. When I look over at Isla, she’s still a little pale. The shocked look hasn’t worn off yet. We’ll never make
it by nine a.m. now. Looks like Frankie will get to make fun of my wife after all. He knows I’m always Hungry for Red.

  Thank you very much for reading Hungry for Red. I hope you enjoyed it.

  Please consider leaving a review.

  Acknowledgments

  I want to thank the two other authors who have books in The Salem Experiment Series, MK Moore and KL Fast. I had so much fun writing this series with you guys.

  I also want to thank my editor, Kendra Gaither for all the last minute help. You really are the best!

  About the Author

  Loni Ree is an emerging author of Contemporary Romance. She plans on releasing several books in the upcoming months that will be available on Amazon.

  Loni Ree is a very busy mom of six who loves to read, and she finds that it helps her escape the chaos of everyday life. She likes quick reads that are red-hot and on the excessive side. Writing has also been a passion of hers, and Loni decided to share the stories floating around in her mind. Her short, steamy stories are a little over the top because she believes reading should be an escape from real life. She writes steamy romance that turns Alphaholes into pussycats, and her books always have a happily ever after, guaranteed!

  Website: lonireeromance.com

  https://linktr.ee/loniree19

  I’d love to hear from you! You may write me at:

  5636 Telegraph Road

  #510362

  St. Louis, MO 63151

  Also by Loni Ree

  Lukas’ Angel (Ryan Family Book 1)

  Blake’s Bombshell (Ryan Family Book 2)

  Drew’s Undoing (Ryan Family Book 3)

  The Merger: The Ryan Family Books One-Three

  Sideswiping Mr. Lane (Fielding-Stone Gallery Series Book One)

  Blindsiding Mr. Quinlan (Fielding-Stone Gallery Series Book Two)

  Taming Professor A+lphahole

  Packaged Love

  Nerd Boy

  2 Alphaholes and A Pussycat