How Beauty Saved the Beast (Tales of the Underlight)

by Garren, Jax

  In his periphery he could see Ashley’s blond hair shaking next to him. “It’s just not something I thought you’d be into.”

  Hauk didn’t know how to take that, so he stayed quiet and watched the show.

  After a long moment, she asked, “Is she your…girlfriend?”

  There was a note in her voice that he couldn’t place. It almost sounded wistful, and he turned to study her more closely. “No. We’re just friends.”

  She nodded, her expression still inscrutable.

  “But I’m hoping she will be one day.”

  Ashley faced him squarely as her expression morphed into concern. “I heard someone say she was Reginald Benoit’s daughJolit’s ter. You’re okay with that?”

  Jolie’s father could be considered one of the most powerful men in the world. His company, Benoit Media, owned television stations, newspapers, websites and a movie studio, giving him a reach that spanned the globe. Jolie didn’t just come from money. She came from a type of wealth and power Hauk couldn’t fathom.

  Reginald Benoit was also a high-ranking member of The Order of Ananke. Jolie hadn’t known that about her father—she hadn’t known Ananke even existed—until two months ago.

  Hauk shrugged and turned back to the dance. “Person can’t help where they come from, only what they do with it. When given the choice, Jolie joined us.” He had no doubts about where her loyalties lay.

  But sometimes he did have other doubts.

  Ashley continued on relentlessly, “She may want to be with The Underlight, but if her father controls her money…”

  “Nah, she inherited from her grandfather. He was a film director. Her money is her own.”

  “Ah. So she’s wealthy in her own right?”

  That was one of those other doubts. “Yeah.” Hauk barely had two nickels to rub together, never really had. Not that he needed much money living in The Underlight. And he didn’t think Jolie could give a rat’s ass about his non-existent bank account, but…

  “You know, the super-rich, like the Benoits, they grow up differently than us. They see things differently, have different expectations.” Ashley blew out a rueful breath, a painful story in the sound. “I ran into that all the time going to school on the East Coast. They can’t help it. It’s just the way they’re raised.”

  “Jolie’s not like that. She’s not a snob.” He didn’t mean for the words to come out harsh, but his voice was knife-sharp.

  “Okay,” Ashley said, hands in the air. “Not my business. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.” She smiled softly and reached a tentative hand to his shoulder. Her soft-pink painted nails squeezed in a comforting gesture, and he started to relax. Ash was just being overprotective, same thing he’d be for her. Unfortunately she wasn’t done. “If you think the daughter of Reginald Benoit will be happy cleaning toilets in The Underlight, I believe you.”

  “Cleaning…” Oh, fuck. Hauk tried to focus on the show as his shoulders clenched.

  Jolie soared above the stage wrapped in silk and smiling at an adoring audience, lighter than air and high as the penthouse condo she lived in.

  Down in The Underlight, everyone shared duties like cleaning the common rooms, and there were no maids to help with private quarters. Hauk had never known anything different than scrubbing his own floors and fixing his own plumbing.

  Jolie, however, had moved from a mansion to a sorority house to a penthouse, all with daily maid service. When something broke, she called somebody to fix it. She was a good cook, but somebody else did her grocery shopping. She’d never known anything else. Hauk didn’t blame her; most people would do the same thing, given the option. But it would make transitioning to The Underlight hard for her.

  And between his face and his fugitive status, he couldn’t live anywhere else.

  He gripped the edge of the cement as Jolie lowered to the ground to finish her number with a bow. Those green eyes lifted to the ledgs s to thee, where she knew he watched every show. She couldn’t see him with the lights, but as usual she winked at him, and affection pulled his hopes from the battlefield of doubt.

  Thinking about her move to The Underlight was jumping ahead too many steps when he hadn’t even secured a first date with her. Life was complicated enough without worrying over a future that hadn’t happened and wasn’t all that likely, even if he could get that date.

  Ashley bumped shoulders with him as she applauded, as if to smooth things over. Her friendliness had grown with every hour they’d spent together, and he didn’t want to bust the fragile return to their old camaraderie. She wasn’t trying to upset him.

  “Gay rights rallies, drag queen emcees and burlesque dancing. Not quite the cacti and cowboys I pictured moving to Texas.” She sounded bemused, but she smiled, as if trying to accept it all.

  “That’s Austin for you. Keepin’ it weird.”

  Her smile grew, and he caught the first hint of shared history in the expression. It wasn’t just the difference between Austin and home that Ashley seemed determined to accept. Every time she looked at him, he could see the comparison in her eyes between what he’d been and what he was now. She was the first person, other than his parents in the hospital, who’d seen him both ways. It was a strange invasion. But she took his elbow and squeezed, tossed her blond hair and smiled up at him with that open grin she’d given so readily when they were kids.

  Unlike him, she was just the same as he remembered, from the yards of hair to the opals in her ears, the ones he’d given her for her sixteenth birthday. And the necklace he’d given her a year later after they’d both lost their virginity on her pink-quilted bed.

  It dawned on him that she’d worn them to say his scars made no difference to her. Even if that wasn’t true, it was nice of her to try. It was good to have some connection to a past he’d been completely cut off from since the trial.

  “What’s that guy doing?” Ashley asked as she pointed stage right.

  Hauk flipped his attention back to the stage in time to see a man from the crowd leverage himself up onto it. The rally raised funds in support of gay marriage. They’d known interference was a possibility.

  “I’ll be back,” he told her as he hopped up and jogged toward the narrow walkway that hugged the wall, spanning the crowd from above.

  “Freaks!” the haranguing started. “The Lord judges you for what you do.”

  Hauk clenched his jaw. He’d nearly gotten himself burned up fighting for freedom from religious law in a foreign country; it disgusted him to come home to assholes trying to institute it here. He adjusted his hoodie to better hide his face and started down a ladder near the stage. He stopped at the sound of Jolie’s voice.

  “Excuse me,” she said.

  Hauk looked over his shoulder to see her tapping the guy on his arm. The guy turned, and Jolie hooked a foot around his ankle. In a textbook-perfect maneuver, he went down on his ass. The crowd cheered, Jolie bowed again, and security hopped up onto the stage to escort him away.

  Hauk grinned and looped an arm through the ladder so he could join in the applause. He was so asking that girl out.

  He’d take her for a ride on his motorcycle, out in the hill country somewhere. They’d do like a picnic or something. Jolie would li">

  un together, enough in common, enough heat between them. He swung the rest of the way down the ladder with a whistle on his lips and hope in his heart.

  Chapter Five

  Jolie high-fived a backstage tech on her way into the wings. She should find Hauk and see if he wanted her patrolling for anybody more sinister than a jerk with a loud voice. But first, to the dressing room and into something less see-through and sparkly.

  “Well, look who’s learned a few new tricks since last I saw her,” a smooth voice said, and Jolie turned to see Paul Gellar, lead singer of Spork, the next act, waiting by the greenroom door with his arms open.

  She smiled and took the offered hug. “Thanks for playing tonight. The crowd means a lot to Catrina, and I’m sure
Spork brought a large chunk of it in.”

  The band was a local favorite, and Jolie was certain they were poised on the edge of big things. She’d put in a couple calls to friends of hers in the media industry while they were on tour over the past month. Her contacts had reported back that they’d been impressed.

  “Catrina?” Paul asked. “Your boss? I didn’t come here for her, gorgeous. What’s been going on with you? Long time, no see.”

  Jolie hesitated as Paul flashed her one of his killer grins. He’d always been a charmer. He may not have Hauk’s six-pack abs, but with his thick black hair and hazel eyes that crinkled when he smiled, Paul was still an exceptionally beautiful man. Last summer they’d hooked up at a show of his and dated off and on for a while. But she’d wanted more on, and he’d wanted the freedom to chase groupies, and in the busyness of life she’d let the relationship fade.

  Come to think of it, she’d let it fade around the time she met Hauk. Which was, of course, when life got so busy—because she’d joined The Underlight. She hadn’t been on a date, any date, since then. Maybe it was time she got back in the game.

  But in answer to Paul’s question about her whereabouts, she casually stretched her wrists and rocked back on her heels. “Eh, school, dancing. I’ve been taking a self-defense class.”

  “I can tell. Well, we’re back in town for the next six weeks. Here’s hoping you can fit me into your busy schedule sometime soon.” He winked and gave her a squeeze.

  Maybe she should fit him into her schedule. They had a good time together, and she had fond memories of Paul’s kissing skills. Now that she’d had the time and distance she needed to accept his unwillingness to commit, it didn’t have to be a problem. They’d be fun and casual, exactly what they both needed right now.

  Relationship-less sex, as Catrina had advocated, but with somebody who wouldn’t drop her on the gym floor and put his clothes back on after one kiss.

  Before she could give an answer, one of his bandmates called for Paul to hit the stage.

  Paul leaned intimately close. “Listen to the set. I have a surprise for you. Kiss for good luck?”

  “Sure.” She reached up to give him a kiss on the cheek, but Paul turned and what she’d intended as a chaste peck turned into a liplock.

  Paul pressed her against him the way he used to when they were dating aursnd worked his mouth like he thought they still were. But their connection was off. It wasn’t a bad kiss, but the fireworks she’d thought so intense just a couple of months ago weren’t the sparkling thing she remembered. And compared to this morning? Meh.

  Hell on a stick. How dare Hauk let his…his divine tongue ruin her on other men and then drop her on the floor.

  Paul broke the lackluster embrace all smiles, as if he didn’t consider it a hugely disappointing experience, and gave her another wink before jogging out onto the stage to riotous applause. She watched him go, frustrated with what wasn’t there. Things with him could be so easy now that she wasn’t emotionally attached to him. Maybe she wasn’t trying hard enough. Maybe if she just kissed him a few more times…

  She turned back toward the dressing room. She had to change and find that stupid drill sergeant and somehow not give him a piece of her mind.

  But he was already there standing in the doorway, still as a statue.

  What had he seen? Oh, but his stillness told her all she needed to know. A spike of guilt shot through her, unaccustomed and unnecessary. She didn’t owe Hauk anything; he’d pulled back from her. Besides, he’d been doing God knew what with Ashley all morning. She forced a smile onto her face, instead of the grimace she wanted to give, and asked, “Did you see my takedown? I did it just like you said, and it worked.”

  At her words, he shook himself and stepped out of the doorway. “I saw. Nice job. You did it perfectly.”

  Normal conversation. Good. Her smile turned a little more natural. “I had a good teacher.” She took a step forward, and Paul’s guitar wailed in the background, a tense note to match her insides. She had to ask Hauk the most important question, the one she shouldn’t have to worry about, except they’d screwed everything up with their stupidity this morning. “We still on for Monday like usual?” Ugh, it sounded so obvious that she was referring to the kissing incident. “I mean, if you and Ashley have plans…”

  A horrible thought struck her. What if he wanted Ashley to train with them? Ashley was joining The Austin Underlight, after all.

  It took all her mother’s ice-queen training to keep the disgust off her face. Maybe it made practical sense to work with both of them at once, but for two months now that had been her Hauk time. And not to be a jerk or anything, but she and Hauk were trained athletes. Would Ashley realistically be able to keep up with them?

  Oh God, if the girl was like a marathon runner or some kung fu master on top of everything else, Jolie might need to kill her for the good of humanity.

  “Nah, of course we’re still on.” He took another step toward her and a little smile broke through his hesitation. “’Sides, Ashley will be at work Monday morning. That whole eight to six thing lawyers do. Or whatever it is.”

  Did that mean if Ashley weren’t at work, things would be different? That he would cancel their session or let her join in?

  I sound like a dog with a chew toy. Let it go.

  Nothing was changing. It didn’t matter why. She and Hauk were going to ignoree tng to i this morning, exactly as she’d hoped for in a best-case scenario. When the world was a good place, it was often best not to question why. She gave a real smile and stepped to a companionable distance. “So, what’s on the agenda for tonight? Do I have an assignment, Sarge?”

  He laughed. “Sarn’t.”

  “Huh?”

  “We usually shorten Sergeant to Sarn’t, not Sarge.”

  “Oh, interesting. I’ll remember that. Sarn’t.” His laugh was so nice, their stance so relaxed, she leaned in and bumped his shoulder.

  He smiled down at her as Spork’s first number wound to a close. But then the tension crept back onto his face. “About this morning…” he started then took a deep breath.

  Oh, fuck no. But earlier she’d jumped to the wrong conclusion about something he wanted to talk about. This time she decided to ask first. “What about this morning?”

  Hauk paused as he took another deep breath, while on stage Paul spouted some cheese about dedicating the next song to the most beautiful woman he’d ever met. Jolie glanced in his direction, wondering if this was what Paul had wanted her to hear. She hoped not. Bad timing.

  Hauk followed her gaze and cleared his throat.

  “’Cause I’m fine with this morning.” Jolie rushed through the words, trying not to stumble on them. “I understand, and I’m cool with it. We’re good.”

  Oh, what a huge-ass lie. She stifled a cringe. Sometimes she was more Benoit than she liked to admit, pretending everything was fine and dandy when she was all knotted up inside.

  “Cool with…” He drifted off as Paul’s lyrics reached them loud and clear about waking up next to a girl with red hair and rose petals tattooed on her hips. Hauk’s gaze drifted down to where Jolie’s costume cut away to clearly show red and white petals drifting across her abdomen and down her left hip, out of sight.

  Awkward. Totally and utterly… “You know,” Jolie muttered, “we dancers talk about our private lives onstage too, but nobody knows what the hell we’re saying. Dance is nice that way.”

  “Uh-huh,” Hauk commented.

  God, she had no reason to feel bad. She and Paul hadn’t been together in months. And it wasn’t like Hauk was a virgin. There was no way on earth his tongue could do the things his tongue could do if he didn’t have some serious practice. She was fine with that. Granted, it had been more than five years ago for him. But still, she shouldn’t feel crappy because she’d had sex with somebody else before they’d even met.

  But the way the light just died in his eyes, the way he shut down a little more with every confessio
n spilling from Paul’s lips, it made her feel like shit. And just a minute ago things had been going so well. How did she fix this? She wouldn’t apologize when she hadn’t done anything wrong. But she should say something. “Hauk?”

  “Yeah?” His gaze held no condemnation.

  She couldn’t think of a thing to say, though.

  He cleared his throat again. “It’s a good song.” He cracked a sad little smile. “If I ever met a girl worthy of songs, it’d be you.”

  His sincerity touched her. “Thank you.”

  He clearly wanted to say more, but the words weren’t coming. The side door opened, and Ashley burst in, frantically waving her hands at them. With a sigh of relief, Hauk switched to all business and strode after her into the hallway. Jolie followed.

  “Wesley, your friends. Brayden and Travis. Somebody came after them. I saw it from the, uh, the balcony. I got here as fast as I could.”

  Hauk took off running; apparently he knew where they were. Jolie ran after him, calling a sincere thanks back to Saint Ashley. She and Hauk wove their way through the crowd, him creating space with his bulk and her following in his wake.

  * * *

  Catrina had warned Brayden and Travis not to steal good seats from paying attendants, so they’d been at the back of the crowd. Hauk ran that way, plowing through the audience with Jolie at his heels, and kept his head down to avoid scaring the crowd with his face. His height and the breadth of his shoulders got people out of their way just fine.

  He’d totally wussed out a minute ago, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask Jolie out while another guy played a song for her. She’d never mentioned Paul while they were working out, and he’d almost forgotten about the pretty-boy musician Jolie had been so head-over-heels for when Hauk had first met her. Apparently they were still a thing, as evidenced by that kiss.