“Certainly, sir.”
“I’m just saying, it’s kind of weird talking to an overgrown wolf.” Bella said then, when Richard closed the door behind him.
“Let’s see how weird I can make it then,” Elijio tossed back, and pounced on her.
Chapter Seven
Dressed in some comfy blue jeans and a canary-yellow camisole top, Bella followed Richard down the stairs and to the left of the foyer. A little down a gilded walkway filled with artwork on the walls and chandelier lighting, he took another left, and then a right to reach a large dining room. The table could sit at least thirty people, and Elijio sat at one end, waiting for her. His ears twitched and she wondered if he was nervous.
“My cook has prepared pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, and sausage gravy. I hope it’s okay,” Elijio said finally. When her tummy rumbled they both laughed.
“I think that would be fine,” she answered and took the seat to his right that she was directed to. After she filled her plate with food she looked over at him.
“You’re house is like one on steroids. You never feel like you’ll get lost?”
“I’ve been here for a very long time. Honestly I didn’t buy it for the size. I bought it for the land it’s on. I wanted to have privacy. I can’t live in a dungeon during the day. I needed to make sure I could move around without having to worry about anyone seeing me. Not too many normal ranch style homes on thousands of acres of land, unless I wanted a ranch, and that would defeat the purpose of staying away from sight.”
“How so?” she asked.
“Because the neighbors tend to be helpful. No one knows this is out here, so I’m safe.”
“But they do know how to contact you.”
“I deal with proxies or bosses directly. Those men know who I am. Shit, half of them have paid me at one time or another. But they do not know where I am or where I come from. I make enough money to get anywhere I want to when the time is right.”
“Why this? You don’t seem like you are a bad guy. So why play that role?”
“Because the beast enjoys it. When I first was afflicted I tried to ignore his needs and found myself hurting people unintentionally and finding myself in danger. The wolf is a predatory creature that needs an outlet. It needs to hunt.”
“People?” Bella squeaked.
“No, not necessarily. I don’t eat humans, Bella. I’m paid, by bad men, to hurt equally bad men. I don’t make apologies for who I am. I’ve learned to live with the monster that is inside of me. But here, in my home, I can just be Elijio.”
“The man you are is saving my life right now, so I can’t be upset with your way of life. I know that if I hadn’t paid up then my brother and I would both know what the bottom of the sea tastes like. Are you sure my brother is safe?”
“No, I’m not. Is his debt paid? Yes, but your brother seems to be a man that won’t give up gambling no matter the cost. If that is how he is then he’s bound to find himself in trouble again sooner or later.”
“He’s still my brother.”
“And I don’t want to talk about him and ruin a good mood. So tell me something about yourself. I know you love to dance, or at least that’s how it looked to me.”
“Why were you in the club anyway?”
“I needed to get out. I can’t go out during the day, and there are only a few places you can go at night and not be looked at as crazy. I may be rich, but it can get lonely.”
She watched him as his eyes glazed over. She couldn’t imagine what it was like to be him. He didn’t know what it was like to have the sun on his skin, his skin, any longer. Couldn’t do something as simple as go to the store because of what he was. Everything had to be done for him outside of his estate. The same helplessness had brought him to the club she’d gone to. The same need to, for a few hours, forget the bad world outside. She felt her heart clench. Kindred spirits, she thought then. Kindred spirits against the world, punished because of someone else. She reached across the table and grasped his hand, careful of his claws. He looked at her in surprise.
“We’re not alone anymore,” she whispered to him and his hand clenched against hers. “I like to swim,” she said then.
“What?”
“Other than dancing, I enjoy swimming. It’s something that relaxes me. I love the feel of the water on my skin, the fuzzy sounds under its surface, and the weightlessness. What do you like to do?”
“I can show you better than I can tell you. Since we’ve finished our breakfast, let’s go. But close your eyes.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s a surprise. You remember what those were right?” he said, chuckling and her heart lifted at the sound. She closed her eyes as he asked, waiting. He lifted her out of the chair and she shrieked in surprise, opening her eyes.
“No peeking,” he admonished and she closed her eyes again, laughing. She knew that this was just a moment in time. That eventually the reality of what she’d done would come crashing down. Blame it on willful ignorance. She didn’t want to think of her brother, his betrayal of her sacrifices or her enabling him to do it. She didn’t want to think about the fact that Elijio was something straight out of a horror film, and that he owned her body until she repaid him for all the money he’d spent. She didn’t want to think of anything else, just for a little while. She needed the break, the peace. And, she thought, so did he.
She kept her eyes obediently closed as he carried her through the house. She tried to keep some sense of direction, but it was impossible. Instead she enjoyed the ride, in his arms, and felt safe with him. His coat was soft against her face and arms. It tickled here and there in a soothing way and she snuggled closer.
“Any more of that and you won’t see your surprise,” he said.
“Bought and paid for. I can still get my surprise. I’m a sure thing and you know it.”
“Hey,” he said, freezing. “Don’t do that. Don’t color this that way. It may have started like that but … let’s just take it a day at a time okay?”
“Okay,” she answered and he opened a door. He put her down on her feet slowly and braced her shoulders. She could smell the chlorine in the air, and wondered why he’d made such a big deal about showing her a pool.
“Open,” he said, and when she did, she understood why.
This was no ordinary pool. A large, Olympic size pool was in front of her, with an infinity line to one side where, from floor to ceiling, the wall was nothing but windows and open space. The woods surrounded this side of the house, giving the impression of a closed off world. Beside the pool was a Jetstream long range pool, built to simulate long distance swimming that was larger than what she would need, but enough to surround someone as big as Elijio. To the right of the pool was a gurgling Jacuzzi that her aching body was really trying to get into like now. Next to that was a wood paneled room that she assumed was a sauna that could fit at least six people in it comfortably. Elijio moved from behind her and went to a wall. He flicked a switch and to the left of the pool, where a raised platform covered in a pallet was sprayed by moving jets of water.
“What is that?” she asked.
“A water massage bed. You can control the spray with a remote control and let the jets massage you on different settings.”
“You’re shitting me?” she squealed.
“I wouldn’t dare,” he said back in mock horror and she giggled at the picture of a wolfman with his hand over his heart and mouth agape. She laughed so hard she had tears rolling down her face by the time she could catch her breath.
“Oh my God, I wish I had a camera. I need to see that every morning I wake up.”
“Happy I could entertain,” he said, giving her his wolfish grin.
“How about you get into the pool?”
“You brought me straight here without giving me a chance to change. If you can get one of the maids to bring me one? I have no clothes here, remember?”
“You could always get in naked.”
“I
don’t think so.”
“It was worth a shot. I’d forgotten about your clothes. We’ve sort of gotten distracted. Hold on.” Elijio went back to the wall he’d flipped the switch at and depressed a button on a speaker like box.
“Yes, sir,” she heard Richard say.
“Send Toby to gather Ms. Thomas’s car from Rave and have him then stop at her home to collect her clothing for her stay here. Just have him clear out everything she may need, and then go purchase anything else. Have Mary get her a bathing suit ready and brought down to the pool area. When Toby returns have him put her things in my room.” Elijio disconnected the call as she stared at him, dumbfounded.
“What?” he asked.
“Why would you have women clothing, on hand? Why would you assume I’d want to be in your room? And how would they have access to my things if you didn’t ask me for the keys?”
“Number one, you aren’t my first female client, just the first one I ...” he trailed off, shaking his head. She liked the addition he’d made to the statement, nonetheless. Otherwise there might have been some furniture moving up in there.
“Second, you are welcome to try and sleep in the other room. I’ll just come and get you anyway, and we both know you won’t stop me. So why argue? Lastly, because I can, and your things were put up for you by my staff, from when we left the club. They have your keys and, I’m sure, are smart enough to figure out what goes to what.”
As he finished a salt-and-pepper haired woman, slightly shorter than Bella, came in to the pool area. Her black and white garb, much like Richard, made Bella think she must be the infamous Mary. What she said made Bella know she was right.
“Sir, the bathing suit for Ms. Thomas,” Mary said before she handed a bright red bundle to Bella and left.
“The restroom is to the left of the sauna,” Elijio pointed out and Bella went to change. The one piece suit was understated, and yet sexy, with the back out with cuts out of the sides. It hid her trouble areas and accented her pleasing features. She loved it, instantly.
“Let’s play,” she cried, jumping into the water after coming out of the bathroom. Elijio dove in smoothly, his coat growing slick and lying down over his form in the water. He didn’t look as big like that. That was until he shook, like a dog, flinging water in her face. She couldn’t help a giggle from escaping as she laughed and splashed him back. It only made him shake more. Hours filtered by, with only breaks to rest on the lounge chairs, or to take a dip in the Jacuzzi. Elijio told her about his life, the years he’d seen.
“The beginning was the hardest for me. I was so angry that I was trapped as a beast in the beginning. I ran away, afraid someone would kill me for sorcery.”
“Sorcery?” Bella asked.
“Yes, Bella. Back in that time anything that couldn’t be explained, or was feared, or didn’t fall into the church’s teaching was considered of the devil. I didn’t want to be killed. After a decade or so, I started trying to branch out. The wolf is a solitary creature, but humans, truly, are not. So I started reaching out.” He ran his fingers over his body as he spoke, and Bella’s eyes were drawn to his scars.
“The women turned on you?” He nodded simply at her soft spoken question, ears going down close to his head. She reached out and ran a hand down the side of his muzzle.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“It taught me a good lesson. I couldn’t force someone to care about me, and I couldn’t let everyone know I had the gift. Richard’s family stayed with me, growing with me. We moved thousands of miles away from my birth home and started over. I cultivated a new face, a new enigma around who I was. It wasn’t as hard in America in the later years. I amassed great wealth, and the fear those had of me? That was useful. It helped me survive.”
It was nearly possible to wrap her mind around. So much time, alone, with no one who truly understood him, and yet fighting to keep his baser instincts from taking over. How evil could he be, truly? She wasn’t sure, honestly, if he was a bad boy with good boy tendencies, or a bad boy with a heart.
And part of her didn’t think she cared.
The way he’d touched her the night before, showed her softness when she’d expected strength. Sadness when she’d expected arrogance. She hadn’t thought that she would enjoy her penance for saving her brother. Other than when he’d scared her shitless by partially shifting in front of her, she hadn’t even cared that she was here because he’d paid the price for her brother’s life. That her debt was, technically, already less by one million dollars. Money didn’t make her want to take him in her arms again. The promise of freedom didn’t drive her to taste his mouth once more. That was desire, pure and simple, and a healthy sprinkling of an elusive emotion that she was just not ready to acknowledge.
Love didn’t happen overnight. Did it?
Chapter Eight
“It’s getting late, Bella. We need to get out of the water,” Elijio said, eyes toward the windows as the sun went down.
“Aw, but I’m having too much fun. Tell me about you time in Paris again. Is it as beautiful as they say?”
“I’ll tell you, after we get cleaned up and dressed for dinner.” Bella splashed him.
“Don’t mess up a good day, Elijio. Just come do a few more laps with me,” she said, her mouth in a pretty pout. What he could do with those lips of hers. He shook his head, clearing the thought as he climbed from the water. The change was already starting. He could feel it. With the coming night the beast would be gone, and he’d be able to taste her again. That spurned him on, happier for the pain of the transition in a way he hadn’t been in a very long time.
“Party pooper,” Bella said but climbed from the pool, the water sluicing off her frame. He wanted to be that water. He groaned, painfully, as his stomach crapped. No, not yet, he begged.
“What’s wrong?” Bella asked, rushing to his side. He fell to his knees as thousands of knives pierced his flesh at one time. He felt like his skin was too tight, as if it would rip away at any moment. The pain, the witch had told him, would be to remind him of her, every time he shifted. The plan, he was sure, backfired, because it didn’t make him want to repent. It only made him hate her more. Made him wish he’d torn her limb from pretty little limb, when she’d cursed him.
“Elijio, talk to me,” Bella said soothingly, and gripped his arms. Where her hands touched they soothed the fire inside of him, but he couldn’t relish it. He was howling, his body contorting and bones snapping until his fur fell away and he was a man once more. He lay there, in Bella’s lap, as she wiped his brow and ran her fingers through his hair.
“Is that how it always is?” she asked in a whisper.
“Every time I go from the wolf to the man,” Elijio gasped out.
“That bitch,” Bella cursed the witch.
“My sentiments exactly.” He chuckled painfully.
“Every night I am a man, and every day I am the beast, forever linked by the rising and setting of the sun. It has become my nemesis during my existence. To think, I’d once loved it.”
“There has to be a way to break this curse, Elijio. You can’t hope to live like this forever. Don’t get me wrong, I kind of like the beast, but you shouldn’t be a prisoner in your own body.”
“It’s my life, Bella. I’ve come to understand that.” He lifted his palm to her face, and caressed her cheek.
“But you make it better,” he said with so much in his eyes she couldn’t fathom exactly what it meant.
Chapter Nine
The days flew by. Bella explored Elijio’s home with him at her side. He had a large library with every book she could imagine stocking the shelves and a computer set up in the room that allowed her to have access to any online book she didn’t have at her fingertips. He had a gym, a playroom with game systems that she enjoyed, and a ballroom with a kick-ass sound system in it. They’d played music all night and danced their asses off until he’d felt the change coming and they’d went to his room. And Bella stayed by his si
de.
He never went through the change again by himself, and every day she felt like she saw another side of him she hadn’t seen before. She found herself loving the intelligence and strength of the beast, as much as she desired the touch of the man. She didn’t know which one she’d fallen in love with first, but suddenly she couldn’t imagine her life without them. They shared meals together, and talked about their lives. He knew her better than anyone in the world and, she thought, she knew him too. Knew that he loved to have his back scratched, in beast or human form, and loved to have intellectual debates over their breakfast coffee. Knew that he had a lighter side of him that would make her hide somewhere in the large mansion and use only his nose, which was totally unfair, to come find her. He was a gifted, strong, caring, and tortured soul that she loved.
She just couldn’t tell him.
Every time she broached the subject of emotions or happy ever afters he would clam up or change the subject. She wondered if he felt the same, if the look in his eyes she’d come to crave was misleading her. In her heart she didn’t’ doubt that he felt something more for her than he let on. Hell, her “debt” had been paid long ago, and still they didn’t part ways. That gave her the strength to believe there was something more between them than he admitted. They sat now, having dinner, and she couldn’t take her eyes off him. She needed to tell him, needed to know if he felt the same way about her.
“What is it?” Elijio asked, wiping his mouth, his dark eyes showing concern. The night had fallen and he sat before her as a man, dressed in a black silk shirt and slacks. She’d dressed in a blue minidress with a keyhole neckline and overlaid with lace. They’d decided to dress up a little for dinner for the pure fun of it. She’d had an ulterior motive, though, for coming up with the idea.
She didn’t answer him. She stood up instead and came around the table to his side. He watched her quizzically until she reached for the clasp of her dress at the back of her neck, then his eyes heated with desire. Moving slowly, she undid each button until the back of her dress gapped a bit. Then she pulled it down, over her shoulders and lifted her arms out of the dress. He watched her silently, pushing back from the table and turning toward her in his seat as she shimmied the tight material off her hips. She smiled as he eyes followed the dress as it pooled at her feet.
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