Falling for the Beast

by Victorine E. Lieske

  As time wore on, she could tell he was becoming agitated. Finally, he stood. “You ready to go speak with Catherine?”

  “Yes. I’m ready.”

  He gazed into her eyes, a slight frown on his face. “Don’t be too disappointed if she turns you away.”

  “I only want to talk to her.” That might not have been the entire truth. She wanted Catherine to take back the curse somehow.

  He nodded once, then slipped into his jacket. “Okay.”

  Aribelle buttoned up her new coat and went outside. It was a cold day, and she hoped it wasn’t a sign of what she would find at Catherine’s. She waited until Thaddeus had his helmet on and was straddling the motorcycle so she could slip on behind him. She put her arms around him and held on while he started the bike and headed down the driveway.

  Thaddeus turned off the main highway after ten minutes and headed into town. The homes were old, the neighborhood well established. He pulled up in front of what she would have described as the creepy house at the end of the street. Dark green paint peeled off the sides, and the steps were in need of repair. Half the windows had broken shutters. The whole thing said, ‘Stay away.’ Aribelle swallowed and tried to calm her nerves. Just a conversation. That was it.

  Thaddeus motioned to the door. “I think it’s best if I hang back here, but I don’t want you to go in. Stay where I can see you.”

  “Okay.” She dismounted, her legs feeling shaky. She could do this. Talk. That’s all it was. She handed Thaddeus her helmet.

  She walked up the broken sidewalk and climbed the stairs. The wooden railing wobbled. She was careful not to get a sliver from the wood. She approached the door and pushed the ornate doorbell. Inside the house, she could hear the chimes ring.

  Shuffling noises came and the door opened. Aribelle didn’t know what she was expecting, but the woman who stood before her wasn’t it. She was young. And stunning. She had black hair hanging down to her waist and wide almond shaped eyes. “Yes?” When she spoke, her voice sounded melodious. Like she belonged in a coffee shop reciting poetry.

  “I’m looking for Catherine.”

  The woman’s eyes narrowed, and she took a quick glance over Aribelle. “Who wants to see Catherine?”

  “My name is Aribelle. I want to talk to her for a few minutes.”

  The woman assessed her for a moment longer before shrugging and opening the door. “Okay. Come in.”

  “Actually, can she come to the door?” She pointed to Thaddeus, still on the motorcycle. “I don’t want to leave my friend.”

  “I’ll ask.” The woman disappeared into the house.

  A few seconds ticked by, and she heard more shuffling noises. Then Catherine appeared. She was tall and had striking silver hair. Thaddeus had called her old, but she looked to only be in her sixties. And she wore it well. “Can I help you?” Catherine asked.

  “I’m Aribelle.” She awkwardly stuck out her hand, but Catherine didn’t move to take it, so she let it fall. “You don’t know me. My friend came to you eight or nine years ago.” She glanced at Thaddeus, who hadn’t moved a muscle, although she knew he was listening quite closely and could be at her side at a moment’s notice.

  “Who?” Catherine asked, staring at him.

  “Thaddeus Walker.”

  A gasp sounded from inside the house, and Aribelle looked past Catherine to see the younger woman, her hand to her face. Catherine craned her neck to look at Thaddeus, then shook her head. “I don’t know him.” She turned her attention back to Aribelle. “What do you want?”

  “The night Thaddeus came to you, he asked you to heal a girl.”

  “That’s not out of the ordinary.”

  “She was dead.”

  Catherine stiffened. “I remember now.”

  Aribelle could have sworn the air turned colder, and she involuntarily shivered, clutching her coat tighter around her. The woman was kind of creepy, but she had to keep going with this. She couldn’t turn back now. “You cursed him.”

  Catherine’s dark gaze pierced through her. “He deserved it.”

  “I have no doubt about that. But he’s changed.”

  The woman sneered and folded her arms across her chest. “Really? And you’ve come to beg me to lift the curse, I suppose?”

  “Well…” Aribelle didn’t know what to say. Obviously, that was what she wanted. But it was clear that Catherine wasn’t going to believe that Thaddeus had changed and didn’t want to help her.

  “Has he gotten his temper under control?” She arched a brow at Aribelle.

  Temper? Aribelle thought back to the first day she’d met him. He’d been so horrible to her she’d vowed never to come back. And last night, he’d yelled again. She chewed her bottom lip.

  A smug smile developed on Catherine’s face. “I thought so. Let me give you some advice.” Catherine leaned closer. “Get away from him as fast as you can. He’s bad news. Leave before he drives your head through a steel pole like he did the other one.”

  She moved to shut the door and Aribelle panicked. “Wait. Please. Just hear me out.”

  Catherine frowned. “Nothing you could say could change my mind. He’s a selfish monster. And he deserves everything he got.”

  The door shut soundly and the lock clicked into place.

  Aribelle tried not to be disappointed. She had taken a big chance even coming here. There had been such a slim hope that she’d even answer the door. Still, defeat swirled around her as she walked back to the bike and slipped her helmet back on.

  Thaddeus didn’t say anything. He simply waited for her to mount and grab hold of him before taking off down the street. Aribelle cursed herself for not having the right words to say to Catherine. She’d been so lame. ‘He’s changed.’ Was that all she could think of to say? What about the hundreds upon hundreds of people he’d healed? What about the times he had gone out looking for people to help? How could she have summed that all up with, ‘He’s changed?’

  The reality of the situation dawned on her, and she blinked back tears. She wanted to heal him like he’d done for her. She wanted to make him whole again. But Thaddeus was right. He was going to be like this forever. This was his life. And she needed to admit it. She silently let her tears fall.

  By the time he pulled up to his house, she’d pulled herself together. She needed to show him she was strong. That this part of him wasn’t abhorrent to her. She needed to accept him…all of him.

  When they entered his living room, she turned to him, putting her hands on his cheeks. “I’m sorry I didn’t communicate well with Catherine.”

  Defeat shone in his eyes. “Wasn’t anything you could have said. I realized that a long time ago. I am what I am, and nothing will change it.”

  “I know.” She pulled him down and brushed her lips across his. Emotions rushed through her. She wanted him to know she cared for him. Deeply. Maybe even loved him.

  The thought made her throat tighten. Did she love Thaddeus Walker? As he wrapped his arms around her and returned the kiss, she knew it was true. Her feelings could not be ignored any longer. She was in love with him.

  Her heart swelled. When he broke the kiss, she snuggled into his chest. She needed to tell him she loved him. That she didn’t care what he looked like, or what curse the witch had placed on him. She loved the man inside. But how would he react to her? Would it scare him off?

  She wasn’t sure, but she decided to tell him tonight, after dinner.

  Chapter 21

  Thaddeus watched Aribelle as she ate the ratatouille he’d made for supper. He loved the way her nose wrinkled when she laughed. And the way she looked at life, with vigor and imagination. She was always comparing situations to things that had happened in books or movies. She was meant to be an entertainer. A writer.

  After dinner, he took the plates to the dishwasher and then turned to Aribell
e. “There’s something I want to show you.”

  A mischievous glint shone in her eye. “Okay.”

  “Come upstairs.” He led her up to the office and opened the desk drawer and pulled out his laptop. “I want you to have this.”

  She blinked. “What?”

  He wanted to word this right, so she wouldn’t get angry at him like last time, so he shuffled his feet and tried to think of how to say it. Then a brilliant idea hit him and he smiled. “I want to pay for the rest of your online classes, so you can finally get your degree.”

  Her mouth fell open. “Seriously? I can’t let you do that.”

  “Yes, you can.” He caressed her cheek. “I want you to finish your degree and become a writer. I think that’s what truly will make you happy.”

  “But that’s too much. I can’t accept.”

  “My father left me with more wealth than I can spend. It’s not a problem. I want to do this for you.”

  She smiled and threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you!” She kissed his cheek and jumped up and down. “I can’t believe it.”

  He suddenly wished he had more presents he could give her. A whole house full. He wanted to give her everything she ever dreamed about. “Take the laptop. You can keep it. You’ll need it when classes start.”

  “Are you sure about this?”

  Her large, brown eyes seemed to swallow him up. He ran his fingers across her jawbone. “Yes. I’m sure. I want you to be happy.”

  She smiled up at him, and he realized he really did want her to be happy. And staying here, with him, wasn’t going to accomplish that. He needed to get back to his life. Back to what he did at night, and healing from his wounds during the day. He had to get the beast in him under control. And Aribelle had proven that she couldn’t handle that part of his life, no matter how accepting she was about his appearance. She worried too much when he didn’t come home. Agonized over a simple broken bone or internal injury. She would spend her nights fretting over where he was and how he would come home. Her days would be spent cleaning up after him because he’d be recovering.

  It wasn’t fair to keep her with him, and he knew it.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “And I think it’s time I find you a new apartment.” He turned from her as soon as he saw the stunned look on her face. “I’ll search the internet tonight.”

  “Wait…you want me to leave?”

  He didn’t meet her gaze. “You have a life to live. Things to do. You can’t stay here indefinitely.” He didn’t mean for it to sound so cold, but he couldn’t take it back, either.

  “I thought we were…”

  What did she think they were? Friends? A couple? What a preposterous thought. There could never be anything between them. “We’re not.”

  She set the laptop down on his desk with a clatter, grabbed his shirt with both hands and planted her lips on his. Stunned, he didn’t respond at first. She moved her lips against his and suddenly he forgot why they couldn’t be a couple. Forgot why he had to let her go. All that was left was her, and him. He pressed up against her, hungry for her kiss.

  When she broke away for air he kissed along her jaw line to her neck. He wanted to devour her. She moaned and her fingers wound through his hair. “How can you say we’re not?”

  He froze. He’d made a mistake. Her kiss had clouded his thinking. He stepped back from her. “I’m sorry. It’s difficult for me to resist you. But it’s time to think about reality. You and I can’t be.”

  “Why not?”

  How could he explain it to her? She would be miserable stuck in a relationship with him. “I can’t change who I am. And you…you couldn’t be happy with me.”

  “But I am happy.”

  “Will you be happy tonight? When I leave?”

  The question in her eyes turned to understanding and she stiffened. “I know you go heal people at night. That’s what you do.” She swallowed. “I can accept it.”

  “And what about tomorrow? When I come home coughing up blood?”

  She flinched, and he took advantage of it. “Or when I’m too weak to come home, and I have to find a place to hide and rest before I can get back on my motorcycle? I once spent the day sleeping under a log, healing from a gunshot wound.”

  The color drained from her face. He knew if he pushed, she would have to agree with him. “When the old Gas and Go burned down, I spent the night lying in a drainage pipe, third-degree burns covering half my body. And then there was the time—”

  “Stop.” She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. “I get it.”

  “Do you?” Did she finally understand what his life was like? Did she see how their relationship couldn’t be anything more than friends? And even that was stretching it.

  “Yes,” she whispered, blinking back tears. “I understand.”

  She fled the room. He heard her bedroom door shut, and the soft sounds of her crying. He scrubbed his hand over his stubble. Why did she have to cry? It broke him.

  He couldn’t sit here and listen to her anymore. He jogged down the stairs and grabbed his jacket. It wasn’t late yet, but the sun had already set. It was dark enough that he could go do what he needed to do. He slipped his helmet on and left.

  Aribelle stood still as she listened to the sound of Thaddeus on his motorcycle. Fresh tears ran down her cheeks. He was right. About all of it. She would never be truly happy to see him coming home each morning with severe injuries. It broke her heart each time she saw him. And it would only get worse.

  The fear and worry she felt right now, knowing he was going out, was too much for her. He could come home a bloody mess. Or worse. And he knew she couldn’t handle it.

  She grabbed a tissue and dabbed at her face. And she had been going to tell him she loved him tonight. Instead, she was alone in her bedroom, and he was gone. Her chest constricted with the thought of him out there, alone, possibly in too much pain to come home.

  Taking a deep and shaky breath, she finally accepted what he’d known all along. There couldn’t be anything between them. That was why he’d pushed her away from the very beginning. Why he didn’t want a young woman to take the position in the first place. Why he’d freaked out when they kissed.

  But she had been too blind to see it. She’d foolishly hoped that he would leave his healing behind him. That he’d pretend it wasn’t something he had to do. That they could spend their days going on outings on his motorcycle and their nights filled with private dances and kisses under the moonlight.

  A fantasy. That’s all it was. And she needed to let it go…let him go.

  He couldn’t change. And she couldn’t live with him the way he was. Which was ironic, because she didn’t care about the beast in him. Didn’t care about the ugly scars.

  All she cared about was him.

  Chapter 22

  By midnight, Thaddeus was back at his house, wrapping his arm in gauze. He’d come across a drunk man on a motorcycle who had skidded on the gravel, giving himself a nasty road burn. He secured the wrap and climbed into bed. Aribelle would be pleased, it would be healed by morning.

  He lay in bed, listening to her even breathing. If she’d heard him come home, she hadn’t reacted to it. That was for the best. He needed to get her away from the emotional rollercoaster.

  After a few minutes of trying to sleep, he begrudgingly stood and walked down the hallway to his office. If he couldn’t sleep, maybe he could get a head start on getting Aribelle out of here.

  Thaddeus looked up from the puzzle when Aribelle walked into the dining room. “Good morning.”

  She gave him a smile, although it didn’t reach her eyes. “Morning.”

  He knew she’d still be upset. He couldn’t help that. “I cut up some fruit, and there’s fresh yogurt in the fridge.”

  “Thanks.” She left the room and came back a minu
te later with a plate of food and a fork. Her gaze landed on his bandaged arm, but she didn’t say anything.

  He put a piece of the puzzle into place. They had gotten quite far on it. He figured in a day or two, it would be finished. “I found you a car.”

  “You’re not buying me a car.”

  “It’s already done.”

  She tightened her lips into a thin line. “I see.”

  “I paid extra so they would deliver it to the house.”

  Her cheeks turned pink and she clenched her fists. “I suppose you want me out of here by lunch, then?”

  “Of course not.” He placed another piece, controlling his features. He had to force his emotions behind a wall, where they should have stayed. “I haven’t gotten the apartment yet.”

  She glared at him, picked up her plate, and left the room. He watched her leave and sighed. It couldn’t be helped. She was going to be mad no matter what he did. She wanted to stay and live some fantasy life where everything was sunshine and unicorns.

  Life here was not that way.

  He worked on the puzzle for another hour before Aribelle came back and slumped into a chair. “I’m sorry I got upset. I know you’re only trying to help.”

  She sounded like the last thing she wanted to do was say she was sorry, but he ignored her unenthusiastic apology. Maybe when she saw the car she’d be happier.

  The doorbell rang. Thaddeus strode to the front door and swung it open. A woman stood on the steps fingering her graying hair. Her eyes widened at the sight of him, but she quickly recovered. He glanced behind her for the car, but it wasn’t there. He turned his attention back to her. “Yes?”

  “I’m Sarah Cottier, from Accelerated Employment. I’m your new housekeeper.” She stuck her hand out to him.

  An immediate dislike for the woman surged in him, but he had asked for a new employee to be sent. He was the one who had fired Aribelle. He should have realized they’d find someone new by now. Reluctantly, he grasped her hand. “Thaddeus Walker.”