Deceit: A Beauty and the Beast Novel (15 page)

My interest piqued, I picked up the book and
read as his fingers trailed through my hair.

* * * *

I woke with his fingers roaming my body. The
mist surrounded me so I couldn’t see a thing. His touch was
completely unobstructed by the shirt I had been wearing. Heat
flooded me. I’d fallen asleep reading. Warm, full, tired, and
lulled by his fingers running through my hair, I hadn’t had a
chance.

The pad of his finger roamed over one
nipple, and I gasped at the tingling sensation that spread down
between my legs.

Opening my mouth to protest, he surprised me
by covering it.

“Quiet and listen,” he said, still touching
me, fueling a fire that burned me from the inside. “You demanded I
consider how my
game
would make you feel.”

His finger crossed over my nipple again
followed closely by his tongue. The tingling sensations spreading
between my legs consumed me. He laved the tender peak for a moment
while I panted for breath.

“I have considered it. Have you? How does
this make you feel?”

Stretching out my hands, I curled my fingers
in his hair and pulled him back down to my breast. He obligingly
sucked it again, the scrape of his fangs adding to the pleasure.
The heat spread out slowly, causing an ache in the other
breast.

Finally, I understood why Bryn had lain with
Tennen. Bryn. Pregnant and rejected. The realization of how this
could end for me cooled the heat within me.

I yanked back on his head and sat up.

He growled loudly and pressed me into the
back of the lounge. His head dipped to the other breast, giving it
the same burning attention. My thoughts jumbled together and
instead of pushing his head away, I pulled it closer again.

His hands gripped my legs and started easing
the right one over the side of the lounge. His mouth drifted from
my breast, and his tongue tickled a trail to my stomach, which
dipped and clenched wildly.

With his semi-desertion, a clear thought
penetrated the fog in my mind. Sara. The baker. Her crying in shame
after he had tasted her.

“Stop!” I cried loudly, startling us
both.

He pulled back, but I couldn’t see him.

“Did I hurt you?” he asked, obviously
confused.

“You selfish, single minded beast,” I cried,
swinging an arm out and connecting with the side of his head.

He grunted in surprise.

I quickly scrambled off the lounge and out
of his reach.

“You
know
what I meant about
feelings.” My voice echoed slightly in the room, and I immediately
took a slow breath. “You are so focused on you, you would even use
the people who are trying to help you. You see something you want
and take it regardless of feelings or if it is being given freely.
You coerce and bargain to get your way.”

The beast growled deep and long.

“No,” I said firmly, cutting off his growl.
“You are the Liege Lord still, despite your appearance. Remember
your responsibility. Remember who you are supposed to be.
That
is why you were enchanted, your complete disregard of
your every responsibility and obligation in pursuit of your own
satisfaction.”

His growl grew, clicking with his anger.

“You know
nothing
of me or my
intentions.”

The mist cleared the room. The beast was
gone.

I let out my pent breath, glad to have
escaped. My skin still tingled, and I looked for the shirt. It was
gone. Narrowing my eyes, I made my way to my own room. It was
neatly restored. The bedding and curtains now a soft green. The
white wardrobe stood open and empty. I moved to his room. His
wardrobe was also empty.

Sitting on his bed once again, I debated my
future.

The progress I’d thought we’d made had
evaporated last night with his fit. I’d voiced my concern several
times that my presence seemed to make him worse, not better. To be
fair, my goal had changed from wanting to free him from his curse
to helping him become a better person. The two seemed
counterproductive. After all, in his way of thinking, I was in his
home to help him please another woman for a full night.

He’d made it clear to me that he expected me
to walk around in nothing or next to nothing from the beginning,
and I realized he had brought me here to be an object of
gratification. I’d bargained for a month of no touching—which had
long since passed—thus relegating myself to an object of
inspiration. Only I hadn’t known that then. Now that I knew what he
really wanted from me, could I still help him become a better
man?

Groaning, I flopped back on the bed.

Obviously throwing things, yelling, and
hitting him didn’t work. After his last attempt, I’d thought I
could use the hair oil to help him associate a smell with me. Then,
he could use that scent when he was with Rose. But before using the
hair oil, I’d wanted to be sure he knew the correct way to build
her energies. Combined, I’d been so certain it would succeed.

I should have never questioned his
knowledge. Questioning it had been like a challenge. He didn’t like
to be challenged. I groaned again and used a pillow in an attempt
to smother myself. It didn’t work.

I made this problem. I needed to unmake it
and earn back some clothes.

* * * *

After making a simple meal of cheese, bread,
and grapes, which I’d found in the kitchen, I carried the tray to
the library. The doors to his study stood open, drawing my
attention.

“Sir?” I called softly holding the tray.

“Go away. You annoy me,” he called back
flatly. Papers rustled.

I annoyed him? I carried the tray toward the
door.

“I wanted to apologize,” I said, entering
the study. I set the tray on his desk, covering some of the papers
he studied. I folded my hands in front of me, waiting for his
attention.

“Go away,” he repeated, not looking up.

I sighed.

“I shouldn’t have questioned your knowledge
on a subject of which I’m so obviously ignorant. Not that I want an
education,” I quickly added.

He still didn’t look up.

“I understand why you would take that as a
challenge to prove me wrong.”

“I was doing nothing of the sort,” he said
in an exasperated tone.

I studied him as he continued looking at,
and switching, papers.

“Doesn’t it hurt sitting on your tail?”

“Yes. Will you please leave?”

“Why won’t you look at me?”

“Because I will see your natural beauty and
will be tempted to continue licking every inch of your skin.”

My skin tingled again at the reminder, and I
shifted uncomfortably.

“If you don’t want me naked, why take all my
clothes?”

“I thought your issue with being without
clothes was my gaze. If I keep it averted, why clothe you?” he
asked reasonably.

“I might catch a chill.”

The fire in his study blazed to life.

“I doubt that,” he replied.

Stubborn beast. My annoyance over his
unwillingness to concede outweighed my amusement at his quick
wit.

“What are you looking at?” I asked,
determined not to leave until I figured out what game we now
played.

“Estate records. Someone once suggested I
might find it calming. Go away.”

I refrained from stomping my foot.

“What have you found in them?”

“Just as you said. Practices that made the
estate profitable. According to records, we sold flowers to candle
makers in the south. You wouldn’t perchance have seen any during
your wanderings?”

“Actually, I have.” Still he did not look
up.

“I sold them to the candle maker in
Konrall.”

“There’s still a candle maker there?”

“Yes, and a butcher, a smith, a tinker, and
a baker. You know nothing of the people closest to your
estate?”

Finally, he looked up.

“You’ve lectured me enough for one day,” he
said, rising from his chair and walking toward me on two legs.

I stood my ground as his gaze roved over my
breasts then went slowly down and back up again. He stood inches
from me, his gaze now resting on my pink face.

“Did you learn anything else of interest in
the papers?” I asked to distract him.

“Several things, but nothing I’d care to
discuss at the moment.”

He reached out a finger and trailed the
underside of my breast. My skin prickled, and my breast began to
ache. His finger drifted over my nipple in a painful yet agreeable
way.

“Please stop,” I whispered. “I would like
one of your shirts.”

His hungry expression softened.

“I did not mean to take,” he said gently,
his hand moving to my face. “You are so beautiful, not just
here...” His finger brushed along my jaw, then he leaned in to kiss
my forehead. “But here as well.”

His lips were thin and hard because of the
teeth immediately behind them. Yet, I’d never felt anything more
comforting. In that moment, I knew I was losing myself to the beast
just as Bryn had lost herself to Tennen. Would I end up rejected,
just as she had?

“When you’re free,” I said quickly, “you
will forget me. You can’t take everything I am because I need to be
me when you’re gone.”

He pulled back and looked into my eyes, his
expression closed off. I waited, bearing his scrutiny, hoping he
would understand.

“Thank you for the food, Benella.”

I nodded and walked away, feeling his eyes
on my backside.

Hopeful, I went to my room, but I still
didn’t find a shred of clothing. Stubborn man. My stomach rumbled.
And he had my food.

Chapter 9

Three days later, I still had no clothes;
and the beast continued to avoid me. Instead, he chose to close
himself in the study.

Impatient with the stalemate and beyond
bored, I sought him out.

“I would like clothes to visit my
father.”

“Would you mind delaying your visit for a
few days, dearest?” he said. “I need to write a few letters and
would like you to deliver them for me.”

I blinked at him as my heart gave an odd
flip. I had expected his refusal but not his explanation or the
endearment. His request sounded reasonable, and he’d asked so
nicely. With a small sigh, I nodded.

“Could I still have some clothes?”

“When it is time to leave, most certainly,”
he said distractedly, his eyes devouring the words on the
paper.

I struggled for patience.

“The boredom is making me irritable. I would
like to walk outside.”

“I hardly think walking outdoors naked with
all of the servants about is a good idea.”

“That’s exactly why I need clothes.”

“Dearest, I will never get those letters
written if you keep distracting me with conversation,” he said.

Instead of leaving, I flopped in the chair
opposite his desk, sitting sideways with my knees hooked over one
arm while leaning back against the other. Although remaining would
slow his work and prevent my visit, I couldn’t stand the boredom
any longer.

“What are the letters about?”

“Estate business.” His eyes flicked to me
and quickly returned to the papers.

“The estate has business?” I asked with
humor.

“It might. If I can finish these
letters.”

I tipped my head back over the arm of the
chair and observed the room upside down.

“If I can’t have clothes and occupy myself
outside, what else am I to do, but bother you?”

A sudden heat wrapped around my right
breast, igniting an increasingly familiar flame in my middle. The
suction tugged at an invisible string that led directly between my
legs.

Jerking my head up, I saw the beast. He
released my nipple with a wet sound and a lick before lifting his
head and meeting my wide gaze.

He didn’t speak, and I couldn’t. We stared
at each other in silence for several minutes. Then, he did
something completely unexpected.

He closed the distance between us, and
pressed his warm lips firmly against mine. But for only a moment.
It wasn’t a kiss, as in a warm press of soft lips, but a press of
skin and teeth. Still, the gesture pierced something inside me. My
chest ached with the sweetness of it and the uncertainty in his
eyes when he pulled away.

“I’m trying,” he said, straightening from
me. “But what you did proved too tempting to ignore.” He walked
back to the desk. “Please find something to do elsewhere.”

I sat up as he sat down.

He gave a pained groan.

“Do that again,” he begged.

Frowning in confusion, I started to move
back into the same position before I realized what I’d done. I’d
removed my legs from the arm separately, giving a brief glimpse of
the last part of me he had yet to see.

Blood rushed to my face, and I stood
stiffly.

“I think I’ll go take a bath,” I murmured,
trying to leave the room with dignity.

“That is not helpful,” he said.

My thundering heart didn’t return to normal
until I stood in the laundry. I started a fire, filled the large
kettle, and waited. The door to the outer court called to me, but I
had no desire to frolic naked with the nymphs. Then, inspiration
struck. He had removed anything I could use as a cover from his
room and my own. Even the curtains tended to disappear if I looked
at them too long. But what about the linen closet?

Excited, I ran to the small room and grabbed
a clean white sheet from the shelves. Quickly wrapping it around
myself, I ran back into the laundry, hoping he wouldn’t know until
too late. I checked through the window for any enchanted creatures
then eased the door open.

Sunlight rained down on me as soon as I
stepped outside the manor. I breathed in the air, tasting the
freshness of it. With a smile, I ran away from the house.

I had almost made it to the trees when the
female nymph came running toward me. She shook her head and pointed
back to the manor.