Granted by the Beast: A Steamy Paranormal Romance Spin on Beauty and the Beast (Conduit Series Book 4)

by Rebecca Hamilton

  I took a single step that left the modern world behind. Dirt crunched under my feet, and even the air felt different. Abram was there, taking up my personal space, in the next moment. He was close enough that I caught the musky scent that was his alone, and my body unconsciously responded.

  “Be careful,” he grunted.

  “Why?” I snapped. “I still remember you trying to kill me.”

  “Well,” he quipped back, “now that I’ve seen your body, I find that I quite like the idea of keeping it in one piece.”

  Huntsman joined us, his eyebrows pulled low over his eyes. “Why does this town look like it’s been decimated and replaced with something two hundred years old?”

  “Queen Ryland likes it this way.” Lulu shrugged. “She’s this way.” She pointed to the large building across what I could only call a courtyard.

  “Is that the nightclub?” The words slipped out, and I didn’t wait for anyone else as I rushed to the doors. “Stacey,” I said, “you know everything. Is this the nightclub that Abram owned?”

  “Wait,” Abram interjected. “I owned a nightclub? What happened to it? Was it amazing?”

  I rolled my eyes and turned to the Teller. The woman was supposed to have all the answers, but she wasn’t saying anything.

  “Stacey,” I tried again. “Tell me.”

  She shrugged, not saying another word, and I felt my fingers clench with the desire to hit her. I didn’t, but barely. It wasn’t her fault that she was only useful when I didn’t actually need anything. The rest of the time, it was like owning a really big, but useless, unicorn. Which let’s be real, would be cool. But still useless.

  All at once, Satina’s warning flooded my mind: one of these people was going to betray me.

  Stacey, leading all of us through this, could definitely count as a betrayal. Especially if she did it knowing we were going to be captured.

  I shuddered with the knowledge that even as much as I wanted to trust her, to trust all of them, I couldn’t. The only person I could trust was Abram, and he wasn’t even the man I’d fallen in love with.

  “This is it,” I said, unable to keep my dejected feeling out of my voice.

  There was no doubt in my mind that this was the building I’d poured my blood, sweat, and tears into. Everything I’d gone through in this building, for this building, everything I’d lost.

  “This is the nightclub the real Abram owned,” I explained to the Abram at my side. “He hired me here to fix and run it.” I didn’t elaborate. Didn’t tell our story. That was ours, and it wasn’t meant for Stacey, or Huntsman, or even Lulu to know, for that matter.

  I reached to turn the handle that would lead me into the nightclub, which had been turned into something more. It was clear this was where Ryland was staying. I could feel it. Power poured off the building in waves. This was her stronghold.

  It only made sense I’d have to face her here, after all. Nothing else had gone according to plan, so why would this?

  The distinct click of a gun being cocked came from behind me. Instead of snapping my head around, like I wanted to, I was smart. Rule number one for facing someone with a gun: never surprise the person who has their finger on the trigger.

  “I’m not armed,” I said as I turned slowly. “Holy shit.”

  There were at least two dozen people behind us, all carrying different weapons. Where they came from, I had no idea. The roads had been completely deserted the entire time we’d been in New Haven.

  Although I recognized a few faces in the crowd, none of them seemed to recognize me. Including that woman, the one who had tried to replace me as Lulu’s best friend once upon a time.

  “I bet I could kill half of them in the blink of an eye,” Abram said to Huntsman.

  Both men had matching smiles on their faces, and I took a moment to roll my eyes at their levity in this situation.

  “There are people with guns,” I pointed out. “Maybe you two shouldn’t talk about trying to kill all of them.”

  I looked around while I was speaking, surprised I couldn’t see Lulu anymore. She must have joined in with the crowd. I hoped she’d be safe while we were going through whatever this was.

  “You could not kill more than I could.” Huntsman ignored me and addressed Abram. “We could keep a tally, and the winner would win a boon from the other person.”

  “I’m game for that,” Abram said with a shrug. “Honor system?”

  “Stop,” I demanded. “Neither of you is going to kill anyone. Not when we haven’t found what we need.”

  Abram looked at me with a smile on his face. “You really aren’t any fun, you know that?”

  For a moment, I was transported to the beginning of our relationship.

  “Well,” Ramsey interrupted, “I’m only good for protecting you against these people. The genie was smart, using the community to protect herself.”

  “You know,” Abram practically growled in my ear. “I’ve seen you move, although last time it was against me. If it comes to a battle, I know you can take care of yourself.”

  “We’re innocent,” Stacey said suddenly. “You wouldn’t want to harm innocents who mean your queen no harm, would you?”

  I stared at her, annoyed that she’d speak when she’d literally just ignored me not even five minutes before.

  “I mean,” I grumbled to Abram, since he was still standing close enough to be touching, “we might mean their queen harm, if she doesn’t do what we need her to.”

  His snort was just quiet enough to go unnoticed by the others, but I didn’t miss the way his body pressed into mine. Even with everything that was happening around us, he was turned on.

  “Let’s go.” One of the men holding the weapons prodded me with his gun.

  I froze, unable to move because of the gun that was way too close for comfort. I hated guns on a good day, and having one touching me... Well, it was almost enough to send me into fits.

  Abram growled, and the man quickly took the weapon away. Even without a weapon of his own, Abram was obviously terrifying to the smaller man. If I wasn’t still traumatized from having a gun aimed at me, I might have smiled. As it was, I shrank into his side, and he put an arm around me.

  The smaller man turned to the others, his face red from embarrassment. “Someone alert Queen Ryland to their presence,” he ordered. “And in the meantime, take them to the dungeons.”

  Chapter 21

  My foot caught, and I went down the stairs hard. Looking down as I tumbled past, I saw the same piece of wood that I thought I’d replaced when I was in charge of the nightclub. I fell, ass over teakettle, for what felt like an eternity until I hit something hard.

  “Omph,” was the only thing I managed to get out as I looked up slowly to see who’d caught me.

  Abram, in all of his dark glory, was looking down at me with that smile. The one that said he liked the way I felt in his arms and he never wanted to let me go. His eyes devoured me, memorizing every single detail of my face.

  “You’ve got a freckle in your eye,” he said, and I was transported back to another time.

  I’d fallen then, too. Right into his arms, on the day I’d met him. He was just as cocky then as he was now, but also abrasive in a way that was endearing.

  “You said that to me once before.” I pushed away from him, regaining my balance, and threw a glare over my shoulder at the offending step.

  No one else seemed to be paying any attention to the fact I had almost broken my neck. That was probably because I was the last one down the stairs, though. By the time we rejoined the armed men, and our friends, I had my wayward emotions mostly under control.

  The hallway was the exact same it’d been before the building had been burnt down by raving townspeople a few years ago. Even though it was missing the stylish furniture and accent pieces I’d found for it, I felt like I was home.

  “You two,” the man who’d pointed his gun at me barked. “In here.” He motioned to the room he was holding a d
oor open to, and I rolled my eyes at his idiocy.

  Instead of saying anything, I swept past him with my head held high and walked into the dungeon. It wasn’t an actual dungeon, though, surprising not only me but Abram as well. His grunt of appreciation made me smile.

  “At least they thought of a bed,” he said as he sat down on the full-sized frame that sat in the center of the room.

  The door slammed shut behind me, and the lock clicked into place.

  “Well.” Abram smiled. “You’re stuck with me now, lass. What do you plan to do about it?”

  “Oh my.” I played along by placing a hand on my hip and sashaying as I walked closer. “I honestly don’t know.” I bit my lip and then ran my tongue over it, smiling as I saw the way his eyes flared while he watched.

  He reached for me, seeming almost unconsciously, and I laughed.

  “There’s not enough time in the day for me to tell you how many ways that won’t be happening.”

  There was a large chair a few feet away, so I detoured for it. Abram watched me go, the appreciation in his eyes shifting to something else. Almost like suspicion, but different. I stared at him, unable to look away before he did. The last time we were in a room like this, he’d been naked.

  As if he’d heard my thoughts, he smiled devilishly. “You know,” Abram said. “I’d be happy to have a repeat performance. Even if you don’t want to talk about it…I know you felt it, too.”

  He was right, and I was tired of being dishonest. “Do you know,” I told him, “the first time we had sex was in this building?”

  “I didn’t know that,” he admitted. “Is there something special about it? Other than the fact I owned it, that is.”

  The muscles in his arms rippled as he crossed them across his chest. He was making himself comfortable on the bed, and my body was beginning to ache with the need to join him.

  My brain knew better, though. Knew that this wasn’t my Abram. But my body was a completely different story. By the time my gaze made it to his face, he was watching me hungrily. The passion there wasn’t masked by anything.

  “Well?” he pressed.

  I coughed. “No. There’s nothing special about the building. It was us, together. That was it.”

  “I know.” Abram cocked an eyebrow. “I felt it during the spell. Not all of it, not all at once. Pieces, like I wasn’t supposed to get my hands on them. Fragments of a life with you I sure as hell don’t remember. That’s why it changed my truth. It was the first time in my memory that I wanted something. Really wanted something, and you were there in front of me. Abram, the other Abram, is a lucky man.”

  The honesty in his words was enough to strike a wound deep in my chest. He wasn’t supposed to be like this. He wasn’t supposed to be sweet. This man was supposed to be dark and the opposite of the man I loved.

  “Stop,” I said quietly. “You aren’t him.”

  “I never claimed to be him,” Abram said. “But somewhere along the line, you’re going to have to accept that he’s not here. I am.”

  “I’m your weakness,” I blurted. “His and yours, and I’ve known it since the night we met again. You wanted to kill me. You thought about it. But you couldn’t do it,” I said fiercely. “Do you know why?”

  He stood from the bed and took a step toward me, no doubt trying to be intimidating. He wasn’t, though, not to me. Just like always, I wasn’t afraid of his beast; I never could be.

  “It’s that beast inside you,” I told him.

  Somewhere in the past thirty seconds, I’d grown a thousand percent tired of dealing with him on uneven footing. I missed Abram. I missed him being there, and the small little nuances of this Abram were driving me crazy.

  I went on, unable to stop. “The beast that you struggled to contain around me that night. He belongs to me. He has my entire life. From the time he swore to my father that he would keep me safe, until now. Even now, your beast would rather die than hurt me, I guarantee it.”

  Where this burst of confidence was coming from, I had zero clue. I wasn’t going to stop here, though. Abram wanted to push me, so I was going to push him right back and prove my point while I was at it.

  “You should try to hurt me, Abram.” I felt calm. Probably more calm than I should be while I was poking the beast. “See what I am saying is true for yourself.”

  I got up, and took a step closer to him when it looked like he was going to step back. There was fear in his eyes. Real fear, something I hadn’t seen since the day I lost Abram to the darkness inside him.

  “Take me by the throat, Abram. Try and squeeze the life out of me.”

  “No,” he choked out. “I’ve got no reason to kill you.”

  “Prove my point, Abram,” I goaded him. “You know it irritates you that I have this much power over you. That I’m your weakness.”

  He shook his head furiously. “Not gonna happen, Sweet Cheeks.”

  That was it. I let the magic go, as much as I could, without letting him know what I was doing. My fingers flexed and my magic wound its way through his body, tightening itself on his hands and his heart.

  In the next moment, Abram’s fangs slipped out, revealing the beast inside that wanted to break free.

  “Now,” I snarled, getting in his face.

  He didn’t say a word as he struggled to fight the magic I’d cast. I knew it was coming, but it still shocked the shit out of me when he grabbed me by the throat and lifted me off the ground. I was two feet in the air, easy, and dangling. I grabbed at his hands, but he squeezed a little tighter.

  “See what you made me do,” he said with a deceptively calm voice. “I told you no, but you had to go and push me. Now, I’ll have no choice but to hurt you.”

  “You won’t hurt me.” I gasped through the smallest of openings in my windpipe. I choked the next moment as heat rose in my face. I couldn't breathe, let alone speak anymore.

  “Abram.” I closed my eyes as I tried to get the words out.

  His lips pressed against mine, and the hold on my throat loosened. Immediately I gulped for air, and his tongue forced its way into my mouth. For a moment, the briefest of seconds, I returned his kiss. As soon as I came to my senses, I bit his lip and pulled away.

  I scurried back to the chair, doing my best not to let him see my fear. I almost thought he would hurt me.

  “Char.” He took a step forward, but I stopped him with a hand in the air.

  “You. Are. Not. Him.”

  “I haven’t been for a long time, Ms. Bellamy!” he roared. “Don’t you see that I know that?”

  His words brought me up short. No one, no one except my Abram, called me that.

  His chest was heaving, and his eyes were downcast. His hair was a mess, and he wasn’t facing me. I shouldn’t have known, but I did.

  “It’s you,” I whispered.

  Seconds ticked by, and I took a step toward him when he didn’t move to answer me. I was shaking, and I couldn’t tell if it was from him choking me or the realization that it was really him. Really my Abram.

  “Once upon a time,” I said. “I fell in love with a beast.”

  His head jerked up, and I saw it. He was there, in those eyes. My Abram.

  “I don’t know how long I have with you, Char.”

  “I know.”

  I was going to have him. I didn’t care about the time, or the fact that his replacement had just choked me. I needed Abram. I needed his touch. I threw myself at him, knowing that Abram would never let me fall. He didn’t, either. Two hands under my ass held me to him, and my legs wrapped around his waist. The arousal I’d done my damndest to ignore only a few minutes before was pressing into me, and I had to touch it.

  With my lips pressed against his, and his tongue exploring my mouth like he’d never kissed me before, I let my hands wander. Down his chest and to his pants. I loosened his belt while Abram moved us to the bed, never breaking the kiss. Once I had his pants undone, I reached inside, knowing that what I would find would make my
world complete.

  His cock was there immediately, jutting out proudly. I touched his head, and I felt the precum leaking. I groaned, and Abram swallowed it with his own moan.

  I broke the kiss to say, “Now. I can’t wait.”

  He turned and dropped me onto the bed. I kicked off my shoes, and reached for my top to pull it over my head. Abram went for my pants, and in less than ten seconds, I was completely bare to him. While he admired the view, I spread my legs and played with myself while climbed onto the bed.

  Soon, he was pressing his hard cock to my entrance, and I threw my head back with the pleasure and pain of him filling me with one thrust.

  “So. Tight.” He swore. “Why are you so tight?”

  “It’s been a year,” I told him. “Nothing feels as good as you, so I haven’t even bothered.” I was breathless, and that was about the last thing I said before I started to fall off the first of hopefully many peaks.

  “No,” he demanded. “Not yet. If you go, I’m going to blow. I can’t have that happen yet.”

  Abram slowed his pace, thrusting as deep as he could with every pass, and he pressed his lips to my forehead. I didn’t care that the world was ending around us. I didn’t care about Huntsman, or Stacey, or even Ramsey. I cared about Abram, filling me completely and refusing to let me go without him.

  “Abram,” I whined. “Please. I need this.”

  He stopped, his chest heaving and his eyes clenched shut. I cried out as he pulled completely out, and he pressed a kiss to my lips.

  “You’ll cum first, don’t worry.”

  When his lips pressed to first one nipple and then the other, my back arched. He wasn’t done, though. His hands caressed my body, and his mouth went farther down until he was at my core. His tongue darted out, and he pressed two fingers deep inside me.

  “Abram!” I cried out.

  His chuckle against my thigh was almost as erotic as the fingers he was moving inside me, bring nme quickly back to that edge.

  I screamed as I climaxed, and I felt Abram suck at my clit until there was nothing I could do but moan and writhe in pleasure.