by Selena Kitt
Tilly sat back down on the edge of her bed, looking at the dress on the back of her door. Her mother had quite deliberately picked out the dress Tilly would wear to Liv’s funeral, but she hadn’t seen it until her Aunt Meg had brought it over. As usual, Liv had immaculate taste. She wondered why her mother hadn’t given her the dress before she died, but maybe she’d thought that would just be a step too far.
The thought made Tilly smile fondly. At one time, Tilly would have railed at Liv’s overstepping, her trying to control her, even from her grave. But something had changed in her, since the last time she’d talked to her mother. So when her Aunt Meg gave her the dress, Tilly had cried and had felt honored to wear it.
Now, the house felt empty without Liv’s presence.
How am I going to do this without you?
Her mother had always made the decisions. Granted, Tilly had often fought them, but usually her protests fell on deaf ears. That had made Tilly incredibly dependent on a woman who was now gone from her life for good, and she’d never felt it more keenly than she did today. Liv had gone out of her way to make her own funeral arrangements, had even dressed her own daughter for the service, and Tilly was unbelievably grateful she had.
She wished she could channel some of her mother’s grace and decorum. Liv had been the master of a public face that Tilly had never quite managed to acquire. But now, with so many people coming at her with their condolences and their kind words, Tilly had to put on that public mask, and she was already growing tired of it.
Today, Tilly realized, would be the last thing her mother ever did for her. It was kind of like her last gift, and the thought made her supremely sad. She’d always wanted to be a grown-up, to be treated like an adult, and now, she was going to have no choice in the matter.
She sat on the edge of her bed in black panties, bra and thigh-highs—decidedly unchildlike attire—looking around her childhood room, realizing she wasn’t a child anymore, and there was no one left to insist on treating her like one.
Beast appeared in the doorway, looking like Beast again—barefoot, wearing nothing but a pair of faded jeans. He put his hands on either side of her door frame, his bulk filling it, and raising his eyebrows when he saw what she was wearing—or, not wearing. Tilly flushed, realizing that black, the color of mourning, looked entirely different when you were in your underwear.
“I don’t know what to wear.” She waved a hand at her closet. “I have a closet full of clothes, but I can’t even decide what to wear. How am I going to do this, Beast? How am I going to face all these people right now, when all I want to do is go to bed?”
“See, if I was a funny guy, I’d make some joke about a woman with a walk-in closet who can’t find anything to wear.” Beast smiled, coming to sit down on the bed beside her and she leaned her head against his shoulder, meeting his gaze in the mirror. “Or I could be a real bastard and tell you how much I fucking want you right now. Do you know how amazing you look in that?”
“If we had sex now, we’d totally go to hell… or wherever really bad people go...” She glanced down at her undergarments, smiling, and then up at him, meeting his eyes.
“I never claimed to be good,” he murmured, lifting her chin and kissing her softly.
“Oh, but you are,” she whispered, closing her eyes and kissing him back. Feeling her body’s response was both a shock and a relief. She’d surprised herself earlier, when Miles said something cute and she’d smiled. She thought she’d forgotten how to smile, but she hadn’t.
She hadn’t forgotten how to do this, either.
“Tilly,” Beast protested when she climbed into his lap, straddling him. “Really?”
“Am I a bad girl for wanting to?” she whispered into his ear, feeling his bare chest against her cleavage, the ridge of his cock pressed against her panties through his jeans. He was hard for her. That was all she needed to know. “For wanting you?”
“Probably,” he teased as her teeth raked over his shoulder, giving him little love bites.
“Do I need a spanking?”
He snorted half a laugh, moaning as she rocked in his lap, forcing the seam of his jeans to ride the seam of her sex. She whimpered into his mouth as he captured hers, tongue probing, his hands beginning to roam over her body.
Then, Beast decided. He stood, with Tilly in his arms, and she squealed in delight when he carried her out of the room as she wrapped her legs around his waist. When he passed by his room, then the bathroom, taking a detour down the hallway, Tilly pulled back to look at him.
“Where are you taking me?”
“Our room,” he told her, opening a door at the end of the hall and starting up an unused flight of stairs.
“Our room?” She clung to him as he climbed up with her in his arms, not even breathing hard by the time he reached the top and opened the door.
Of course, she knew where they were going. Her mother and his father had occupied the third floor for the duration of their marriage. Then, her mother had moved rooms. The third floor had remained empty until Tilly had been confined there while she was pregnant with Miles. She hadn’t been up there since.
“I was going to wait a while…” Beast set her down and turned her around, holding her by her shoulders as Tilly took it all in. “But then I decided that we’ve waited long enough.”
Tilly looked around at the wide open space, the skylight above highlighting a big king-sized platform canopy bed, sitting in a slant of sunlight. It had dark navy curtains that could be drawn all around, and the wood was unfinished, natural, very rustic. And that wasn’t the only thing about the room that had been changed—although it was the largest and most notable.
“What is this?” Tilly gasped, looking over her shoulder at him.
“Ours,” said Beast, wrapping his arms around her from behind. “Yours and mine.”
“When did you do this? How?” She leaned back against him, blinking, feeling like she’d stepped into another world. The carpet beneath her feet was thick, also a dark navy blue to match the bed and window curtains, but the walls were eggshell white, making the room feel spacious. The dressers and night stands were also natural, unfinished, with wrought iron ring-pulls that had an old-world feel. The bed had those, too, on the posts, she assumed for decoration.
“Doesn’t take as long as you think, if you pay the right people.” Beast’s hands moved over her hips, following her curves. “Do you like it? You can redecorate if you don’t like it. But I had to special order the bed.”
“You did?” She took a step toward it, reaching out to finger one of the rings on the posts, glancing back at him, her belly clenching. “Is this… is this what I think it’s for?”
He grinned, nodding slowly. “You did say you wanted to continue your training…”
Tilly glanced around, wondering where he had hidden the straps and ropes, the paddles and floggers. Then she saw the drawers in the platform under the bed and smiled.
“If it’s too weird, we can have a new wing built.” He leaned against the bed post, watching her as she wandered the room, touching the new furniture, inspecting. “Or hell, we can buy a whole new house.”
“Too weird?” She wrinkled her nose at him. “Since when do I think BDSM is weird?”
He laughed. “I just meant, you know, the history here…”
“Oh that.” She nodded, opening the door to the walk-in closet. He’d had this redone as well, his and hers. Their private bathroom, with a double shower, sauna and giant Jacuzzi tub, had been repainted and redecorated as well. There was nothing left here of their parents, no ghosts. It was a complete metamorphosis.
“What do you really think?” he asked as she came back out of the bathroom.
“I love it,” she confessed, putting her arms around his neck. “And I love you for thinking of it.”
“Even if you were held captive up here for five months?” he scowled.
“I’d let you keep me captive up here forever.” She pressed up against him, sm
iling at the way his eyes darkened. “She really thought she was protecting me… us.”
“Protecting you is my job.” He grabbed a handful of her hair and she let her head fall back at his urging, so he could trail his mouth along her throat. “Now and forever.”
“Your job?” she teased, hissing air through her teeth when his tongue flickered over her collarbone. “Is that what I am?”
“You’re my everything,” he confessed, hands moving down her back to cup her ass. “My job, my life, my love, my moon, my stars, my universe…”
“That escalated quickly.” She giggled when he scowled darkly at her, lifting her higher so he could kiss her mouth and shut her up. Tilly let him, wrapping her arms around his neck, her feet no longer touching the ground.
“Welcome home, Tilly,” he said as they parted, letting her slowly down again.
“Welcome home, Connie.”
“Now you’re just asking for a spanking.”
“Connie, Connie, Connie…” She giggled, delighted, as he grabbed for her and she hopped away, just out of his reach.
“You’re pretty sassy for a woman wearing nothing but her underwear.”
“Pretty sure I can get away with it... Connie.” She sidestepped him again, but he was ready this time, and too fast for her. He grabbed her by the waist, slamming her against the wall with a force that took the breath from her body, and kissed her.
Tilly gasped and squirmed, pinned between him and the wall, his chest hard against the soft press of her breasts. His mouth told her who was boss here, his tongue forcing its way between her lips, causing an instant heat between her legs.
“Hey!” She let out a little yelp when he pinched her pantied ass, wriggling lower, trying to escape his grasp.
“No noodling,” he warned, slapping her ass before grabbing her cheeks and yanking her back up so he could kiss her again. He lifted her higher, kissing his way down to her cleavage, burying his face there with a soft groan. Her nipples hardened as he licked at them through the black lace.
Then he lifted her again, sliding her body further up the wall until he hooked her legs over his thick, broad shoulders so he could bury his face between her thighs. He breathed in the scent of her through her panties, rubbing his mouth and chin and cheeks there like a man devouring his last meal.
Tilly raked her fingernails over his scalp, moaning and arching against him for more. Beast slid his hands up over her hips, letting them dip into the curve of her waist before cupping her breasts in his hands. She cried out when his mouth fastened over her clit, through her panties, adding to the wetness.
“Time for that spanking, bad girl.” He lifted his head, looking up at her with dark, lust-filled eyes.
“Now?” she gasped, but he was already lowering her to floor, giving her a smart smack on her behind as he turned her toward the bed, like he was setting a horse free of its paddock.
“Ow!” she howled, laughing as she broke free and ran toward the bed. He took aim at her departing ass, trying to smack it again, but missed.
“Nice shootin’, Tex,” she teased as she leaped up on the bed, waving her ass at him and sticking her tongue out over her shoulder. “That how they teach you to shoot in the Marines, soldier? You couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn—”
She shrieked when he tackled her, squealing, writhing and trying to slither out of his grasp. Her thigh highs started to roll and he slid them both off, always managing to keep her from wiggling away with one big hand grasping some part of her. Then he had her bra and panties off, too, and she was naked, laughing, still struggling, trying to keep him from rolling her to her back.
Beast laughed, too, a sound that thrilled her beyond words as he grappled with her like she was a landed fish twisting in his arms. He totally faked her out and Tilly ended up turning exactly the way he wanted her to, because suddenly she was face downwards and over his knee as he sat on the edge of the bed.
“Hey!” she protested. “How did you do that? You bastard! Help!”
There was a resounding smack of open palm against her now unpantied ass and Tilly howled.
“Beast,” she hissed, bucking. “The servants will hear...”
“They’re too far away to hear anything. Besides, if they come running, I’ll sell tickets and they can watch.” He swatted her again, and Tilly yelped.
The thought of being disciplined in front of the staff was horribly humiliating.
And strangely hot.
What is wrong with me? Tilly smiled to herself at the thought, as Beast’s hand came down again. But she knew there was nothing wrong with her, with this. Her body responded to his touch, to the heat building in her ass, and between her legs. Beast knew just how to spank her to turn her on. She wiggled and grew wetter and moaned, arching her back.
“Somehow I don’t think this is much of a punishment anymore.” Beast flipped her onto her back, grabbing and kissing her. They writhed and struggled in each other’s arms, rolling on the mattress. Tilly tried to escape off the edge of the bed, but he gripped her foot, yanking her back.
He spanked her behind as he knelt up between her spread legs, forcing them open further. Tilly moaned, feeling his denim-clad thighs parting hers. She knew there was no use struggling, but she did it anyway, knowing the sight of her trying to get away, ass waving would drive him wild. And she was right.
Beast began unsnapping and unzipping his jeans one-handed, grabbing and holding her with the other. He didn’t even bother doing anything more than yanking his cock out before entering her from behind. She felt the bite of his zipper against her leg, crying out as he began to slide in further. He grabbed her ass both-handed now, big hands maneuvering her hips, forcing her to submit to him.
She was wet, but it was always a bit of a struggle to take him. She groaned like an animal as she felt him filling her up. She fisted the covers as Beast’s body pressed up against her submissive backside, now helplessly in his command. She felt like a small glove being filled by a very large, powerful hand. The press of Beast’s fingers on her hips was like a vise and made her want to struggle more, to feel the inexorable power of that grip.
Beast began to move, letting her get used to feel of him, but he didn’t give her too long. Her pussy was ripe, swollen, ready for him, and as they rocked on the bed, Tilly began to moan. She wondered if anyone could hear her all the way up here, but she didn’t care, not anymore. Beast was hers and she was his. Her body knew it, had always known, with every touch of his hands on her, every glorious thrust of his cock deep inside. And soon, the whole world would know it.
No more secrets, no more hiding. Beast had claimed he was never ashamed of their love, and Tilly wasn’t willing to give him up for social convention. This man, groaning and thrusting deep inside her willing womb, had owned her heart from the beginning, and he always would. He owned her, body, mind and soul. The pleasure he gave her, in every possible way, was unparalleled in her life, or hell, in the whole goddamned universe. He filled all available space, and she felt complete.
Beast bucked against her, forcing himself deeper still, as if he could make her taste him, and she did, calling out his name, his true nature—he was her Beast, hers. Theirs would be a life of passion and intensity, always. And, for Tilly, it would be a life of surrender to a man who could crush her soul in his bare hands—but would never, because she was far too precious to him.
“Come for me, baby,” he growled, sliding a hand down to cover her mound, to grind his palm against her sex, rubbing her ready little clit into submission, urging her toward release. “Give it to me! I want it, now!”
Fuck. Tilly moaned and climaxed, giving him exactly what he wanted, what they both wanted. Beast roared, throwing his head back and flooding her with his seed, marking her as his. No other man would ever make her feel this way, his cock seemed to say as he pumped waves of hot semen against her trembling cervix. And she knew it was true.
It seemed strange and twisted, to feel so joyful, today of all days.
But she couldn’t help it. She didn’t know where she ended and where Beast began. They were one being, one big, beating red heart that would continue long after these bodies were gone.
They lay quietly in each other’s arms for a long time, Tilly smiling. Content. The new bedroom had been christened. It was a new start.
Chapter 23
“What time is it?” Beast groaned when Miles burst into their room, taking a flying leap onto the bed. Tilly had heard him thundering up the stairs like a freight train before he threw open their door. Beast groaned at the unexpected arrival of this human alarm clock, but he grabbed the little boy, tucking him under the covers between them to tickle him mercilessly.
