by Meadow Rayne
Beauty and the Beastly Billionaire
Paranormal Romance
By: Meadow Rayne
Copyright/Disclaimer
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
©Copyright 2015 by Meadow Rayne - All rights reserved.
In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.
Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.
Dedication:
To my readers, you allow me to live my dream every day and I am forever grateful for that.
WARNING: This eBook contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language. It may be considered offensive to some readers. This eBook is for sale to adults ONLY
Please ensure this eBook is stored somewhere that cannot be accessed by underage readers.
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Table of Contents
Do You Love To Read Sizzling Hot Romance?
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
About The Author
Bonus Offer
Chapter 1
“This guy is suffocating me.” My phone had beeped with the tenth text from Shane since I’d arrived at the mansion. If I hadn’t replied to the others, it would have been worse. “It’s like he’s scared I’m going to run away or something.”
Maybe not such a bad idea.
“I know I’m not like him, but being human can’t mean I’m that vulnerable, can it?”
My boyfriend was a shape-shifter. We live in a world where all sorts of mythical creatures existed. They don’t show themselves often – humans prefer to pretend they are only myths. But facts are facts, and so what if a man sprouted a bit of fur once a month, or had the ability to change into whatever he felt like? I’d decided a while ago that as long as the guy wasn’t after my blood I could deal with it. I’d forgotten to make a space for the human flaws that also came into play.
I dangled my legs into the cool blue water of the pool. My toes were numb. Right now numb was better than feeling. The water rippled around my legs, casting the sun’s reflection like diamonds on my skin. The sun was setting, leaving the world behind in a blaze of fire.
“Why are you still with him? You’re always complaining and Shane is an idiot.” Jonah sipped on his whiskey, looking at me from his seat on the veranda.
“You’ve only met him once,” I pointed out.
“Once is enough. You deserve so much better, Rae.”
The veranda was about the size of my entire home. Behind him the mansion towered in all its glory. I didn’t know why, but here in the lap of luxury everything looked different. The sunset was more intense, the water looked enticing and Jonah sat there like an Adonis. His dark hair and eyes were a striking contrast to the white polo shirt and khaki shorts he wore, and his muscles strained against the fabric. He was a lot of man with a lot of money. But above all, he was my best friend.
“Better? Looking like this?” I asked. I looked down at my thighs. I would never look like the girls in movies. I wasn’t Hollywood-hot. Instead, I had big hips and boobs that made heads turn, but I didn’t feel as sexy as men seemed to think I was. I pushed away the dislike that sat like a bad aftertaste in my mouth whenever I looked at my body.
“You’re stunning. Don’t you dare argue that point,” Jonah said. His eyes were serious and when he looked like that I could almost believe him. I loved it when he complimented me, even if I was sure he only did it to be nice.
“I don’t know how to leave him,” I admitted. I had to be honest about it. I was a coward when it came to breaking up with any man, and this one was even worse. “Shane isn’t really the kind of guy that I can let off easy, you know?”
I stuck my fingers into my hair and tried to finger comb the tangle it had become in the breeze, but with my curls it was a lost cause. In the dying light it was on fire too, the red curls flaming over my shoulders. I pulled my legs out of the water and dried them on the towel next to me.
“I have to get going. I’m meeting him in an hour.” Friday night was date night.
“Are you going to talk to him?”
“I don’t know,” I said.
***
At home I got rid of my shorts and tank top, and squeezed into a low-cut halter dress that fell just below the knee. It was the same color green as my eyes and it made them stand out. I curled my hair into a bun and pinned it down. The doorbell rang before I’d finished my make-up. He was half an hour early.
“Ready to go?” Shane asked when I opened the door. He wore a collared shirt that looked watered down against his pale skin. His blond hair was in a messy style. He smiled at me and I returned it half-heartedly. I was aware of his skinny frame. Next to him I felt like I looked even bigger.
“You like nice,” he said. He looked down at the black pumps I’d put on. “Don’t you want to wear heels? It’s a classy place.”
I hated heels, but I nodded. I turned and found the only pair of heels I owned at the back of my cupboard. I couldn’t remember when last I’d worn them. They made me feel foreign when I walked to the front door, and I felt off-balance, but Shane smiled.
“Much better.”
We walked to his Polo and opened the door for me. From the outside it looked like chivalry, but it felt like he didn’t think I could even do that for myself. When he closed the door firmly after I’d gotten in I felt caged inside the car.
He drove to a new restaurant in town, and the maître d' let us to a table in the back. A waiter arrived with two menus and Shane ordered wine. I didn’t really like wine.
“You spend a lot of time with Jonah,” Shane said, not looking up at me from the menu.
“We’ve been friends for years.”
“Don’t you think it’s inappropriate for you to be there so often when you’re in a relationship?”
His tone of voice was casual but in his words I heard the warning. I was over-stepping the line he’d drawn around me. I was starting to feel like this line was a circle so tight I could hardly move from side to side without stepping out of it.
“Do you?” I asked, matching my voice to the calm of his. The ball was in his court now. Would he argue with me?
He looked up at me, his grey eyes were dark and stormy. It sent a jolt of electricity through my body, and not the good kind. We stared each other down for a second, but he said nothing further about it. I took a sip of my wine. It was tart in my mouth and rolled down the back of my throat. I took another sip. I didn’t like the taste, but I liked how it set my veins on fire. I could use a bit of fire when everything felt like a mass of water trying to drown me.
“I’m not going to apologize when I’m not doing anything wrong,” I said. My voice sounded a lot more defensive than I had intended and I cleared my throat as if that could have caused
it.
The waiter arrived. He had a smile on his face that didn’t reach his eyes.
I listened to the Specials he recited and chose a feta-stuffed steak with pepper sauce. The food arrived and we ate. Shane talked about his day, his work, all sorts of things I didn’t really find all that interesting anymore. I sipped my wine, finding something to do with my hands and my mouth while he talked. We’d only been dating for a couple of months, and already he’d lost everything that had attracted me to him at first.
I felt lightheaded, like I had bubbles under my skin and I could float away. The wine colored the edge of my mood, even though the middle was black. I asked myself what I’d seen in him at first. I’d met him at a Halloween party. I’d gone as a witch, and he’d gone as a Vampire. When I’d found out his costume wasn’t fake, it caused a shift, and I was instantly drawn to him. Mythical creatures had something about them I couldn’t stay away from. Maybe I was attracted to the sense of danger, the evasion of reality.
When my plate was empty, the waiter appeared again.
“Can I bring the dessert menus?” he asked.
“No, we’re not having dessert,” Shane answered before I had a chance to say yes.
“I would have liked dessert,” I said after the waiter had left. He looked at my plate before sliding his eyes over my body.
“I’m sure,” he said.
It stung. I hated it when he referred to my body, even if what he said wasn’t really true. I wasn’t fat. I was just voluptuous. But he made me feel even bigger than I was. He must have seen the hurt on my face, because his face softened and his eyes smiled at me. It was when he looked at me like that that I decided against dumping him. He could look at me like I was the only girl in the world, and it turned me into Jell-O.
“I just want to get out of here, get somewhere private. You know?” His eyes slid over my body again, this time like he was drinking in the sight of me and a slow smile crept over his face.
He paid the bill and we left. We followed a winding road out of town, trading the twinkling lights of civilization for the solitude of the woods that surrounded it. Shane had a house that was nestled deep in the trees. It was quiet and peaceful, and a place where someone like him could exist without questions from neighbors who wouldn’t understand when he looked different from time to time.
Shane held the wooden door open for me, and I stepped into the small lounge. He followed me in and closed the door. He had log furniture everywhere, with two love seats around the hearth. I sat down on one while Shane made a fire. The flames that started mirrored the heat under my skin, and I imagined the wine licking my insides the same way the flames whipped around the logs. The alcohol hummed through my blood and the room didn’t seem as square as always.
“Thank you for dinner,” I said.
“Always a pleasure to spoil you,” he said, sitting down next to me. He put his arm around my shoulders and nuzzled my neck, moving up until eventually his mouth was on mine. He kissed me, his lips thin and hard against mine. I kissed him back because I felt it would be rude for me to push him away after he’d taken me out. I’d glimpsed the bill and I knew that that kind of money for him was a big deal.
His hands fiddled with my hair and then it fell over my shoulders. He loved it loose. He knotted his fingers into it and his other hand traveled up onto my breast, and he squeezed. I pulled away and put my hand on his, moving it away gently.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I don’t really feel like it,” I admitted. I wasn’t going to sleep with him when I didn’t want to. Kissing was one thing but sex… The wine made me feel sedated, too.
“I just want to show you how much you mean to me,” he said. His face was close to mine, his eyes a light grey. The fire in the hearth reflected in them and cast shadows over his face. He pulled into me again and kissed me. I hesitated for a moment, but the buzz from the alcohol made me kiss him back. I had to decide, one way or the other. I couldn’t date him but give him nothing.
His hand moved onto my breast again, and he massaged it with a flat palm. I waited for the flame in my belly, the heat between my legs that should have been there by now. But there was nothing.
Shane kissed me harder, more urgently. He leaned against me, guiding me to lie down on the couch. He was on top of me, both hands on my body now, roaming around. I was very aware of them and where they were, not because of how it felt, but because I didn’t really want them there in the first place.
When he slipped his fingers under the edge of my dipped neckline, his skin on mine, I stopped him.
“Not tonight, Shane,” I said, pushing his hand away. He sat up and his face was sour, like my refusal was distasteful.
“Why are you being like this?” he asked.
“I’m not being like anything. I just don’t feel like it. I’m not in the mood.”
“Let me help you with that,” he said. His mouth was back on mine. I pushed against his chest to push him away from me but he leaned into me. His chest ground against my boobs with my hands trapped in between. He pushed his hips up against me, and I could feel how hard he was in his pants. I shivered at the thought of it, at the feel of him against me.
“Get off me,” I said, and pushed him, hard. I twisted my body so he lost his balance and had to use his hands to stop himself from falling. It gave me the chance to squirm from underneath him.
“What the hell, Rae?” he said, his voice accusing.
“No, what the hell, Shane,” I snapped. I was getting sick of this. “I said no. I can’t do this anymore.”
“Do what?”
“This. Us. You’re taking over my life, telling me what I can and can’t eat and what I should wear. I’m not here for you to mold so you can find me attractive enough to sleep with.”
“What are you talking about? All I’m trying to do is make you realize how much you mean to me, what I think of you.”
“And then you make me feel guilty about wanting something else, or saying no, or eating something wrong. God forbid you should have a chubby girlfriend.”
Shane took a deep breath. “Listen to yourself,” he said, his voice a lot calmer. It made me suspicious. “You’re not being realistic. Maybe you had too much wine. Come on, let’s talk. We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. We can just talk.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, but he looked at me so sincerely I let go of the fight in me.
“Come on, this isn’t who we are. We don’t fight,” he said. He slid his arm around my shoulders again. I stiffened but he didn’t move after that. After a moment I let myself relax.
We stared into the fire, and everything I had wanted to say traveled through my mind, but I didn’t say it. When I looked at Shane, he was staring at me.
“What?” I asked.
“You’re beautiful,” he said, and he lifted a hand to my cheek, stroking it with his thumb. He looked me in the eye before he moved forward slowly, like he didn’t want to startle me, and kissed me. It was soft and gentle this time, and I let him do it. It felt good, a compliment this time. I felt in control. The Shane I loved was here next to me again. He wasn’t acting crazy.
The kissing changed from gentle to serious, and then it got urgent again. His tongue was in my mouth, swirling around my tongue. His hand slid down from my cheek to my neck, over my collarbone. Before I knew it his hands were all over my body again.
I broke the kiss and jumped up. “You know what? I can’t do this. It’s over.”
“What?” He looked like I’d physically slapped him. “You don’t mean that.”
“Actually, I do.” I walked to the front door and let myself out. I realized too late that he’d been the one to drive me. I was in the middle of the forest, and I was on foot. Shane stomped to the door behind me.
“Don’t do this,” he said. His voice sounded different.
“I’m done, Shane,” I said over my shoulder, and walked into the trees. I didn’t look over my shoulder to see if he had f
ollowed me. I half expected he might. But after walking for nearly a half hour, the trees surrounding me like dark pillars in the night, I was still alone. And I was hopelessly lost.
Chapter 2
“Can you come get me?” I said into the phone. My voice was thick with tears but I forced them away. It was pitch dark and the night sounds of the forest scared me to death.
“Where are you?” Jonah’s voice was clear over the speakers and a beacon of hope in the middle of the night.
“I… I don’t know.” I explained to him what had happened. “I don’t know where I am now. I’m lost. I can’t find my way, I didn’t want him to drive me. I was so stupid—“
“Calm down, sweetheart,” Jonah said in a gentle voice, and I could feel the warmth of it through the phone. I shivered, my skin breaking out in goose bumps. “I’ll come and get you. I’ll find you.” Jonah hardly ever called me sweetheart. It was only on the nights that I was hopelessly lost. Usually it was emotionally, but tonight it was physically.
I sat down on the mulch beneath my feet, and the chill of the earth seeped into my body, making me cold from the inside out. I shivered again. I rubbed my own arms with hands, trying to keep warm, but the dress I was wearing did nothing against the night air.
Shane was such an asshole. What kind of man just let a woman wander off into the forest without going after her? It wasn’t what I had wanted; he was the one who had forced me into it. What an idiot. My teeth started chattering, and the longer I sat there, the angrier I got. We hadn’t been dating for very long, but still. How could he? For that matter, how could I? I wasn’t even sure what I’d seen in him in the first place.
The darkness around me became even blacker, if that was possible, and the air became so thick I struggled to breathe. I could run it between my fingers if I wanted to, I was sure. “I’m having a panic attack,” I said to myself. “Just breathe.”
I tried to follow my own advice, but it was hard. A lump in my throat squeezed it shut and my chest felt tight.
