“Did you like my dress?” she asked as she stepped out of it and kicked it away to the side. She stood now before him in a white lace boy-short and bra ensemble. He swallowed before he spoke and finally looked over at her.
“Loved it,” he said with a growl. She loved that. Loved when his voice went dangerous and dark. When she could hear the grumble of his wolf just on the edge of the surface. The wolf didn’t scare him anymore. It excited her. With a seductive smile she arched her back and unhooked her bra. The cups dropped as the bands slid down her arms. She played with the straps for a little, turning away from Elijio as she did.
“It seems I’ve lost my bra,” she teased him.
“You’ll lose more than that if you don’t get the rest off,” he threatened.
“Temper, temper,” she scolded playfully. Once she let the bra dropped she stretched, arching her back. Elijio sucked in a breath. He exhaled as she fingered the band of her underwear. Achingly slow she peeled it off, bending over as she pushed it down her legs. She stepped out of them and stayed bent over.
“I think I’m still hungry, Elijio,” she whispered looking over her shoulder at him. With silent hands he unbuckled his pants and pulled his cock from the confines of his slacks. His breathing was rough as he stared at her with heavy lids.
“I wouldn’t want you to not be satisfied,” he said roughly. “Come taste this. See if it will quench that appetite of yours.”
Bella stood slowly and turned. When she did she sank gracefully to her hands and knees. She crawled toward him, inch by inch, keeping her eyes in his magnificent cock. It pulsed as she got closer, shiny with his pre-come. She licked her lips, eager for a taste. The head was bright and shiny, stretching the confines of his skin. Elijio held it toward her. When she reached him she slid her hands up his legs before gripping him between her hands. She licked her way up to the head and sucked it into her mouth. She twisted her head, gathering saliva in her mouth before letting it run down his cock. She moved her hands out of the way so that he got wet all over.
Using the wetness to make the glide easier she moved both hands on him, moving in the opposite twisting motion, as she sucked him down her throat.
“Just like that,” he said with a moan. She bobbed her head, keeping him wet so she could glide over him easily. Her tongue worked fiercely over the head of his cock, taking time to dip a bit into the hole. His thighs clenched against her thighs and he buried his fingers in her hair. She let him guide her up and down on his cock.
“Mmmm,” she moaned over his flesh, loving the feel of his velvet covered steel. He felt alive under her fingers. So very good in her mouth. She kept sucking him, hollowing out her cheeks to give him better friction. She let go of him with one hand and lifted his balls. Still pumping and twisting with one hand she flicked her tongue across his balls before tracing her way down to the smooth skin underneath. She played with him there before coming back up
“Fuck,” he cursed roughly.
“That’s what I had in mind,” she whispered against his dick before she sucked him back in her mouth. Slowly she stood up, still using her hands on him, and keeping her mouth moving up and down. The bent over position was a bit awkward, but she held it. She kissed her way up his stomach, still working her hands, and up and over his chest. Finally she shifted forward, taking her hands away from his cock and bracing herself on his shoulders. She stepped forward so that she had a foot on each side of him and was straddled over him. She wanted tonight to be special, because she was going to tell him she loved him. She couldn’t keep it in anymore.
“I was thinking how best to tell you what’s been on my mind,” she began, slowly sinking over his length. She went quiet as she let her head fall back, enjoying the feel of his thickness touching the sides of her sensitive walls. God, he felt so good inside of her. She worked herself up and down his length, slow inch by delicious inch, until she was seated over him.
“Elijio—” she started, but he shook his head.
“Don’t, Bella. Let’s leave it as it is. We don’t have to say any words,” he argued. He gripped her hips, and took over control of the motion, moving in and out of her steadily. The pleasure tried to crash over her but she struggled to keep her head on right.
“Why do you have such a problem with feelings?” she said with a gasp, trying to sill her hips. He wouldn’t let her, pushing into her harder and faster. She moaned, gripping his wrists. She had to tell him. He needed to hear it. She knew it.
“You don’t have that issue any other time,” she said finally, struggling to speak. “We’ve talked about everything in the world. Why can’t we talk about this?”
“You don’t understand,” He argued. Suddenly he stood up and pulled her off him. She didn’t have a chance to protest because he was turning her, and bending her over the table. Between one breath and the next he slammed into her. She screamed, holding on to the edge of the table for dear life.
“Make me understand, Elijio. Take the time. You know I’ll listen,” she said finally. He wasn’t going to stop her from having this conversation. This was supposed to be a loving moment. A time when they told each other how they felt and then came together in that feeling of love. She tried to express through her body. Tried to show him what he refused to listen to. She threw her back into his body, forcing him to bend over her and grip the table alongside of her. She clamped her inner muscles, tightening until he was gasping. He tucked his face in the curve of her neck, teeth sinking into her flesh in his favorite spot over her pulse. He moved slower now, deeper. His touch softened, and the pleasure was profound.
“Please,” she begged him. When he lifted his face to him she saw the pain there. She kissed his lips softly, closing her eyes against the tears that clouded her vision. When she opened her eyes he was still looking at her. He opened his mouth to respond but the phone rang, a shrill sound that stopped them both cold. Elijio frowned. Bella realized that he really didn’t have much contact with the outside world. He didn’t have friends that called regularly to check up on him. They’d been trapped in their own little world. Bella’s stomach dropped, getting the feeling that the call didn’t bode well.
“Hold on,” Elijio said, all business, and stood up. He slid from her and buckled his slacks as he strode away from the table. She felt cold as she found her dress and held it up in front of her body. He picked up the cordless phone and answered curtly.
“Elijio … Who? Why? I see … and who made the offer? Tell them I’ll be there. Same meeting place.” Elijio hung up the phone and turned to her, his face a mask of cold steel. She’d never seen him so cold before. She stood on shaky feet, not wanting to sit and hear his news.
“Your brother has found himself in trouble again.”
“What?” Bella cried, coming around the table, nakedness forgotten.
“But an offer has been made. We are to meet them within the hour to talk terms.”
“Is he okay? Did they say how he was doing?”
“It was him that I was talking to. He didn’t sound harmed.”
“They must have put him up to it. We have to go. Please help me. I know I’m asking you a lot, but—”
“Are you listening to yourself? You’ve been here for over a month, Bella. Nearly two, and the only time you’ve talked to you brother was when I first paid for his release, and now he’s looking for you to get paid again.”
“We’ve never talked every day. He knows that. It may seem odd to you but that doesn’t mean we aren’t close. If he called it’s because he’s in trouble.”
“Then let him be in trouble. He hasn’t cared about you, or how you got the money. According to him, your rich boyfriend, namely me, should be able to cover the cost. No one would touch him, knowing that he is under my protection. That’s why you came to me. Think, Bella.”
“But if he doesn’t pay, or you don’t protect him, then they will hurt him. He’s my brother Elijio.”
“A brother that didn’t give a damn about you, or h
ow you paid for him the last time until he needed you again,” Elijio roared. She wasn’t afraid of him though. Not anymore. She balled her fist, glaring at him.
“I’m asking you to help me. If you don’t, then I’ll find someone who will. My debt has been paid to you.” He stared at her, incredulously, pain lacing his gaze, but she couldn’t take back her words. He hadn’t wanted to hear hers anyway. The most important ones, and the pain of that spiraled through her head. She moved away from him, searching for her undergarments. She got dressed with angry, jerky movements. She couldn’t even bring herself to look at the table.
“Your debt? Is that all this was? That’s all?” he asked, but before she could answer he cut her off.
“If you want me to do this, I will. But after this, no more. I’m done. We are done.”
“Elijio, please, he’s the only family I got.”
“Then we better save him.” Elijio spun on his heels and she had to run to keep up as he stalked out o the house. Richard rushed behind them out the door, from where she had no idea, and produced keys to Elijio’s car.
In silence Bella got inside and rode as Elijio raced from his private drive and across the city. Her heart was breaking as she stared at his cold visage. He didn’t look her way, or take his attention off the road. She’d wanted to tell him that she’d loved him tonight. Wanted to make love to him, in the bed she’d begun to think of as theirs, and start a new life with him. One that was clear of the way they met, and what brought them together. But, now here they were, rushing to her brother’s aide, and she may have lost the man she loved in the process.
“Elijio,” she whispered, but he didn’t answer. Several minutes later they pulled up to a darkened warehouse and he helped her from the car. He tucked her hand in the crook of his elbow and escorted her into the building, the click of her heels echoing into the rafters. A bird took flight as they passed and she shivered, instinctively inching toward Elijio, her safety net. When they entered into the only lit section of the building, Nate stood there.
Her brother looked so much like their father that it ached to look at him. At six-foot-three, with short, curly brown hair, and laughing hazel eyes, her brother had been deemed a catch for any woman. He was dressed in a smart three piece charcoal suit standing next to a slightly pudgy man with a round face who wore a white suit. This man had his hair slicked back from his face with some sort of product and had four men, two to each side of him and Nate, standing there. The bulges under their jackets gave Bella pause, but Elijio didn’t stop walking until he was just feet away.
“I assume you had a good reason for interrupting my meal, Pace,” Elijio said.
“I did. She is more beautiful than her brother told me. She will make Stuart very happy.” Pace answered, laughing.
“What?” Bella asked.
“Let me do this, Bella,” Elijio said. “You and I both know what Stuart will want from her. What makes you think I will let that happen?” Elijio asked Pace.
“Her brother here has made a deal on her behalf, one that I will make sure is beneficial to all of us.”
“Look, sis. I came in on a big win, just like I told you, and have been asked to an exclusive game. I can triple my winnings. It’s enough to make sure we both are set up for life, but I need a little more buy-in money. All you have to do is work for this Stuart guy for six months, and that’s it. You walk away after that, I have my win, and we split it down the center, fifty-fifty.”
“Nate what have you done? There is no guarantee that you are going to win,” Bella argued.
“Sis, I’m on a winning streak. I’ve won over forty mil in the last three nights. This score will be the last. That’s all I need. Just work with me and you’ll never have to do it again.”
“Stuart is a black market trader of flesh in the red light district, Nate. His girls may fetch up to millions for their pleasure, but they rarely get to see any of that money during the time they ‘work’ for Stuart, did you know that?” Elijio asked and Bella felt sick.
“Stuart said she won’t have to do any of that. She’ll be like the hostess for his girls, keeping their income in order and the books. I told her she’s real smart with things like that. He’s willing to pay the rest of my entry fee for her,” Nate explained
“And I will pay you back the twenty mil you lost paying for the old debt, and you can walk away. Everyone has a happy ending. I’ll even sweeten the pot and throw in an extra few million, how does that sound?” Pace asked
“If you are willing to do that then Stuart is putting in a lot of capital for this ‘deal’ which means that we all know that he won’t be hiring Bella for some damn book work. Don’t lie to me, Pace.”
Bella swayed, really looking at her brother in a different light for the first time. He didn’t care about her. He didn’t love her. She was a score, his way to the next big thing. He was willing to sell her just for the chance to win big. Why hadn’t she seen it? Why had she come here tonight?
“Take me home,” Bella whispered to Elijio.
“What, baby?” Elijio asked.
“Take me home. I don’t want the deal. I don’t want to do this anymore.”
“Bella—”
“I’m sorry, but leaving isn’t an option.” Pace signaled to his men and they pulled the guns that Bella had known they’d been hiding under their jackets. Her body went numb, fear curling through her. Elijio, though, never looked away from her face.
“Do you want me to take you home? Are you done with all of this?” he asked her.
“Yes, please.”
“You bitch! I’m your family. You’re going to pick some dick over me? You worthless piece of shit. All I ask is for you to open your legs for millions and you give it to this chump for fucking free. You could have been a rich woman all on your own,” Nate raged. Elijio roared, stopping everyone.
“You dare. You little, insignificant bastard, you dare to talk to her that way? I’ll kill you with my own hands. She’s done nothing but save you, every time, for years, and this is how you repay her? And Pace, you would challenge me? Do you want this? You know how it will end?”
“Elijio, you understand business. I’ve already taken the money. Her brother said it would be a sure thing.”
“Then kill him for the trouble.”
“I can’t do that to Stuart.”
“Then you can die too.”
Everything happened so fast around her that Bella could barely process it. One minute she was beside Elijio, and the next he’d partially shifted and shoved her behind pallets. She watched between the slats as he went after the men with guns. He didn’t stop as the bullets punctured his flesh. He tore into them, roaring. This was the beast, her beast, and he was saving her life.
She didn’t look away from what he did, not wanting to tarnish his sacrifice for her. She watched as the men fell beneath his claws, and Pace wet himself when Elijio turned to him. He couldn’t do more than take a breath before Elijio gouged his throat and spun on Nate. In seconds all was quiet other than Nate’s sobs as he begged for his life. Elijio took a deep breath, head falling back and eyes closing.
“Bella,” he husked and she stepped from behind the pallets. Now she could see the holes in his body, the splattered blood as he swayed in front of her. With a cry she ran to his side.
“What do you want me to do with him?” Elijio asked.
“Let him go, he won’t bother me again.”
“If you ever come back, I’ll kill you. I’ll deal with her anger later, but you will be dead. Get out of here while you still have the chance.” Nate scrambled to his feet and ran even as Elijio fell to his knees.
“Elijio, no,” she cried.
“Shh, it’s okay. I’m fine. I would have rather lived this life and had the chance to love you, than to live any longer and have never known you. I should have told you before, I’m sorry.”
“Please don’t leave me, stay. Stay with me. I love you too,” she cried, tears falling but he was gone, his ey
es sliding closed and one last, great breath, easing out of him. She screamed, pulling him into her lap as best she could and rocking.
“Don’t go, please don’t go. I love you so much. I can’t live without you. Please, Elijio!” she dug around in his pocket until she found his cellphone.
“Sir,” Richard answered.
“Richard, come find us. He’s hurt. He’s slipping away. I can’t hold him,” she said.
“I’m coming. Put the GPS option on the phone and I’ll come to you,” Richard answered and hung up.
“Please, Elijio. Don’t leave me,” she keened, holding on, her hands slick with his blood. His body convulsed, shifted and twisted until he lifted out of her arms. She watched, terrified, as he flickered in and out between the beast and the man so fast her eyes could barely process until he glowed, a bright golden color, so bright she couldn’t see. When the light faded he was standing before her, looking at his body in awe.
“The curse, you broke the curse,” he whispered.
“What?”
“The witch said the only way I could ever live as a man again was if I found love, true love, and love her in return. You couldn’t know about how to break the curse though. I didn’t believe it was possible. You love me?”
“More than you ever know,” she cried, and ran into his arms. He held her tight, enveloping her in his scent. Nothing had ever felt as good as this moment right here.
“He’s gone,” Elijio said quietly.
“The beast. I don’t feel him any more inside of me. He’s gone.”
“You are still the man you were meant to be. He’s there, just not physically.”
“Can you love me, without the beast?”
Bella's Beast Page 5
