Challenge: The challenge is, write a Dark Fantasy/Fairytale. Wiki describes this as a fantastical work that has a dark, gloomy atmosphere or a sense of horror and dread.

Ours will be a bit different. No gore, no death and absolutely no Disney. We're looking for sexy, sultry, silky… and dark and smooth as a decadent chocolate on a steamy day. You can base your story on a known fairytale or a fantasy of your own making.

- A Re-telling of Red Riding Hood & Her Wolf

Nearly every day for the past few months, Anna Smith was drawn to the same spot at the edge of the forest. And every day he would watch her from afar, hiding behind a tree or a bush, but always in the shadows, one with the darkness.

He felt like a predator admiring his prey before the feast. He was there when she was, and when she was not...he waited. To him she was a masterpiece that turned more and more perfect with every passing day.

Each afternoon she would stop on the path that led to her grandmother's house. She would sit in the tall grass at the entrance to the dark forest for an hour or more. Always looking toward the blackness and wondering if she would ever find the courage to enter, to venture into the depths of the forest without time and reason to come back. She always wondered, but she never ventured.

Sometimes she would take a book from her bag and read, as the birds sang and wind blew against the tree tops. And he would be there, always there. In his long black coat and a cigarette in his hand, breathing in the smoke, as he longed to breathe in the scent of her.

Some days, she would stay longer and forget about the time, often until dark, and he'd watch over her as she would lay back and gaze at the stars. He fell under her spell. He was enchanted, most truly.

His love for her grew as the days passed, and he could already imagine the sound of her voice and the smell of her golden hair. With no shame he would watch her for hours on end and picture her petite frame in his strong arms, taste the sweetness of her lips, the feel the smoothness of her pale skin and the hear sounds she would make whenever he caressed her every inch with lascivious kisses.

He would wait eagerly to see her bright red cape, flashing along the very green of nature around her, and each day he would move closer to her, in heart and in body. Each day he would cut the space between them and his breath would catch in his throat as he took in every detail of her. How she read with a smile on her face, the way she pursed her lips in suspense and how she sighed in relief when her hero would survive victorious from another battle.

With every breath he took the more he felt she belonged to him.

Then, one day, she caught sight of him, and stared for a moment before averting her eyes. She grinned back at her book as if his presence was now the norm, and he wondered if the prey had been him all along.

She stood up some time after, locking eyes with him, and stepped carefully towards the tree he was using as shield. Touching the rough trunk and closing her eyes she took a deep breath before looking for him, but to her surprised he was no longer there. She circled the tree in hopes of finding him. Before she could finish her quest she felt his warm breath on her neck and he whispered in a low hoarse voice, 'I've been watching you for so long...Tell me why do you always choose this spot to rest?'

'I've been watching you too and that's exactly why I sit right here. I know you are always waiting, always alert.'

She turned to face him with a smile on her lips. His eyes were kind, though intense, barely hiding his hunger for her touch.

'You should come with me one day and see the forest for yourself. You always look inside but you never go in...'

He closed the short distance between them and she could feel his body heat against her, but before he could speak again she broke the silence.

'Mother told me not to go any other way, and most certainly not into the forest.'

'But you see, I know of better spots for you to sit, where the bird's songs are more beautiful...a perfect place for you to read.'

She thought for a moment and he had a good point but she didn't know him yet, how could she take his word? 'How do I know I can trust you?' she asked after some thought.

'I'll be your champion and be sure nothing bad happens to you. I'll keep you safe. Come.'

'Not today, I must go back.' she said turning away from him.

'Go then, but come tomorrow,' he held her by her wrist. His hand was soft on her skin and the way he looked at her made her want to stay forever. 'I can't live without a glimpse of you anymore. I need to see you...I need you.'

'I will. I promise. Tomorrow.'

Patiently he waited for her all night. The stars above shone and he waited, when the first rays of sun burned he waited, and when the time was right, he saw the red cape moving along the path.

He stretched out his hand towards her and she took it gladly. She went with him, deep inside the dark forest, to the spot he'd talked about. And there it was, a place near a small waterfall, where the birds sang a million tunes and the green was greener than she had ever seen. The trees were tall as the sky and the sun had to fight against them to make it's way to the forest floor.

Side by side they sat as she read to him, and with every word she read he loved her more. His cigarette no longer between his lips, for he had no need of them. His lips were made for kissing her. And his long, black coat, a blanket for them to sit upon.

He held her hand, ever so softly and tenderly and then he moved to her neck. He caressed there with his knuckles at first and it didn't take long to replace them with his lips. He peppered her with small kisses, open mouthed ones, leaving a trace of himself behind.

'But tell me,' she said, when he reached her pale shoulder. 'What's your name and who are you?'

'My name is John and I am yours.'

'But you don't even know who I am.'

'You belong to me that's all I need to know. You've bewitched me without mercy and I'll make you mine just the same.'

'How are you so sure that's I want?'

'Stay with me one night, one night only, and I promise you, you'll stay forever.'

'We hardly know each other.' She stood then smiling down at him.

'We'll have forever to do that.' He stood up and she turned her back to him as he gently brought one of his hands up to her neck and touched the long strands he found there. 'I've imagined your smell and the taste of your skin...I feel like you've belonged to me since the beginning of time...'

Her eyes were closed, listening to his words in ecstasy. She could barely breathe as his lips touched just above her earlobe. 'I know you...Anna Smith,' he whispered in his soft, gravelly voice.

He turned her in his arms then, fiercely, and when he leaned down to take her mouth with his she pulled away and ran off.

Her giggles and heavy breathing replaced the chirping of birds, and moments later she stopped behind a large rock. She tried not to make a sound and to calm her racing heart but the suspense of him finding her was making her shiver all over. Her skin turned to goosebumps and her insides into flames, and she hoped he wouldn't take too long to take her in his arms again.

And there he was before her, with a mischievous smile on his lips. He touched her face with his palm and dragged his thumb along her lips and before she could make another sound he kissed her deeply. His lips claimed hers for the first time. She didn't fight, quite the opposite, her arms were around his neck and her tongue played with his as old lovers, as if they known each other for many lifetimes.

He held a power over her that made her trust him with all her heart. There was no explaining it. She battled with herself. 'I do want to stay but...what about my granny? She's ill and I have to take care of her, I can't abandon her now.'

His brow creased and his face fell and he told her he couldn't live without her.

She sighed, but left him after another heated kiss with the promise of meeting him the next day. And she kept her promise. Day after day, they would meet and go to their secret place where they would read and kiss and hold each other close. Touches became bolder and he every day he would say to her, 'Stay tonight and you will never want to go back.' But she would always tell him she couldn't leave her granny, not while she was so weak. She would wait until she got better and then she would be with him.

'Granny died,' she said some weeks later. 'She died last night in her sleep.'

She sobbed into his warm chest as he caressed her back, whispering words of love and comfort.

'So I am here now,' she looked at him with a small smile on her lips and tears still in her eyes. 'Ready to be with you for all times. Ready to never go back. I want to be yours, John, forever yours.'

'I am so sorry about your granny, I didn't want it to happen this way, but I promise you I'll make you happy and that you'll never regret being mine.'

And on that very night, he claimed her as his own. In their secret spot, his coat beneath them and her red cape as cover, they loved each other under stars. He took her innocence with every touch and kiss and thrust and before the night turned into day, Anna became a woman. Undressed from her purity but not from joy and life. She was more than that now. She was his as he was hers.

Once, early on she had asked him where he lived. His answer was something she didn't expect, and didn't really understand.

'I live in every tree and flower, in every stone and stream. My house is where nature lies.'

Now it all made sense to her. And he had been right. One night with him had been enough and she never went back to the life she had before. She stayed with him there, until the end of time. The forest became her home, and the birds and animals their dear children, and they spent every night loving each other and gazing at the stars.

And...they lived happily ever after.