****
Wolves howled through the night, but did not dare come near the beast and his sleeping princess. They sensed a new predator in the woods and kept their distance.
“Get dressed,” Victor said to the girl as the sun came up. “There is an abandoned cabin I used to visit as a boy. Today we find it.”
Justine rose and stretched stiffly. She stood, naked, before grabbing the tattered dress that had covered her like a blanket in an awkward gesture of misplaced modesty.
There was no room for privacy or modesty in the forest. Victor watched openly as she stepped into the gown, holding out his massive arm for her to cling to for balance.
A dark bruise bloomed on her right hip.
“You’re hurt,” he said. Damn it. He’d tried so hard to control his strength. “I hurt you.”
“I’ll live,” she said. And then, to his surprise, she smiled at him. “I will live,” she repeated.
“Yes, Princess, you shall.” She was so strong. Stronger than he was, inside.
He knew she had to be thirsty, and hungry. It was his job to take care of her. The queen didn’t care if they starved to death or died of exposure instead of him getting the princess pregnant. As her majesty had said, it was all the same to her. Ruined or dead.
If he wanted to save the princess’s life, then he would have to provide for another person other than himself for the first time in his twenty five years. The mission gave him new energy. He wouldn’t fail her.
“We’re going to cover a lot of ground,” Victor said. “First stop will be the stream to drink and bathe. Then the cabin. Once I know you’re safe inside, I’ll be able to hunt for us.”
“You have no gun, no bow and arrow.”
He put his claws out, long and sharp, and bared his fangs to her with a cynical grin. The beast was bigger and stronger than anything in the woods.
She swallowed hard. “I suppose you don’t need a weapon.”
“Princess, I am the weapon.” He retracted his claws and touched her neck, feeling her quickened pulse.
She looked around them. Was she searching for an escape? Her only chance of survival was sticking with him no matter what. Escape meant death, and death was not an option.
“You don’t want to spend another day hanging upside down over my shoulder, kicking and screaming, do you?”
The princess shook her head forcefully. He imagined her hands still hurt from beating on him.
“Shall I tie you up again?
“No, Beast.” Justine pushed her hair back out of her face and looked up at him.
Hmmm. Victor dropped his hand from her neck to her breast, rubbing his thumb slowly across her nipple. She didn’t recoil, didn’t swat him away, as if to show him how well she could submit to his will.
“You took the antidote I gave you before your wedding,” he said softly, “and I gave you my true name. Do we still trust each other?”
“If you have to ask, then the answer is we don’t trust each other after all,” she said. “Can a captive ever completely trust her kidnapper? Can a woman fully trust a beast to not give into his wilder nature?”
He took his hand off her breast, picked her up by the waist, and threw her over his shoulder. “Kicking and screaming it is, then.”
“Wait—I’ll be good!” she yelled. “I swear it on the royal house of Summerset.”
Victor gave her ass a hard spank and she yelped like a pup. “There’s more of that if you break your word. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Beast.”
He spanked her once more, and she kicked her legs up in surprise.
“I’ve been wanting to do that since the stables—try not to give me a reason to.”
Victor set her down and she huffed, her face red and her hair mussed. She’d never looked more stunning.
“Do you have a choice insult to hurl, or would you like to remind me that you are a princess, perhaps?” he teased. “You do seem quite put out.”
Justine ignored him and carefully rearranged her ragged wedding dress. “How do you…want me?”
Now they were in business.
He dropped to all fours, his body as streamlined as a panther. “I run…you ride. Climb on, Princess.”
Her eyes were wide but she mounted him with an ease clearly gained by riding horses her whole life, which were taller than him when he was the ground.
“No side-saddling allowed,” he warned. “I won’t have you falling off my back and breaking your neck.”
He could feel the hesitation in her movements as she swung her leg over his broad back and straddled him. Her body fit on his like they were meant to ride together. Her hands fisted in his mane, tugging on his skin, and he smiled.
“You better hold on, Princess. I want to run.” He could feel the tension coiling in his muscles, calling out for release.
“Some might say this is terribly improper.”
“Enjoy it, then,” he said. “There’s no one here to scold you for impropriety.”
He took a few stealthy steps, getting the feel of the girl on his back, making sure she found her balance. She gripped her slender thighs against his sides.
“Oh heavens,” she gasped. “This is too much. Your back between my…my legs.”
He paused mid-step. “Does it hurt you?”
Justine leaned forward, speaking into this ear as if the birds in the woods might be spying on them. “No, it’s…quite the opposite.” A nervous laugh escaped her lips.
“If I get to be too much to handle,” he said, “just…scream my name.”
And they were off, speeding through the trees, their bodies moving as one.
****
The cabin was much smaller than Victor had remembered it being. Or maybe he was just so much bigger now as a beast than he’d been as a child. The sturdily built log cabin had been abandoned for as long as he could remember, its logs graying like an old man’s beard.
Justine stood silently inside the doorway, directly in front of him. She scanned the dusty walls, the high peaked ceiling with the exposed support beams, and the small windows, uncovered by anything. Rain and leaves had blown into the cabin’s one room, covering the bare dirt floor. In the corner, a simple table with crude craftsmanship and a single chair were the cabin’s only furniture. The shelves were filled with old dishes and a pot with a handle that had long since rusted over.
One whole wall was protected by rocks, the large fireplace filled with ashes that spilled out onto the smooth hearth stone.
The beast ducked his head until he got to the center of the cabin, where the peaked roof allowed his full height easily.
There was a chimney leading out of the fireplace through the roof. Victor reached up through the fireplace into the flue to make sure it was clear, and accidentally knocked an old bird’s nest down onto the ashes.
Justine gasped and jumped back, but Victor just laughed.
“Better we find out the chimney is blocked before we build a fire, no?”
“Certainly,” she said. “We’ll be out of the cold, at least.”
“Why are you lifting your gown up?” he asked. He’d already torn the bottom off to use as a restraint.
“To keep it from getting dir—” She stopped herself mid-word. “An instinct, I suppose.”
“I don’t care how dirty you get. At least you’ll be safe in here while I’m out,” he said. “Now sit down.”
Justine didn’t balk at his orders. She sat in the chair carefully, as if it might crumble to dust beneath her. It held, sturdy as ever.
How he’d hated it when the queen left him bound, alone in her chambers while she gallivanted around the castle. He knew she just liked knowing that he was under her control, thinking only of her return to him.
“I’m sorry I have to do this, Princess,” he said as he began tying her to feet to the chair legs. “I’ll make it comfortable for you, and I won’t be long.” He wouldn’t be like the queen.
This isn’t the same as what she
did to me…or is it?
“You don’t have to tie me up,” Justine said. “Please, Victor. It’s going to be dark in a few hours. The wolves are howling; I don’t even want to be out there. This cabin isn’t much but it has four walls and a fireplace. I’ll stay put.”
“Can a captor every fully trust his captive?” He pushed her knees apart so he could tie her other ankle to the opposite chair leg. “Hands.”
She furrowed her brow but gave him her hands, and he bound her wrists. He pushed the chair closer to the table so she could rest her arms and head on it if she wanted to. He might be gone a while if he was to bring home dinner.
“Don’t try to escape,” he said.
Justine shook her head and looked away from him. Damn it. Why should he care so much now about what she thought of him? There was nothing he could do about the situation. Everything he did was to keep her safe.
“Hey—” he said. It came out more sharply than he intended. She startled in the chair. “You’ll live.”
As he left the cabin, the beast saw her smile to herself.
****
Justine waited until the beast had been gone for a quarter hour at least before she began working on the knots at her ankles. He’d gone easy on her by tying her hands in front and not binding her torso to the chair itself.
It didn’t take long at all to free her legs, and she was able to stand up and walk around the small cabin with her hands bound together, which wasn’t that bad, all things considered.
A broom leaned precariously in one corner of the room, and the princess picked it up. She’d had maids and servants her entire life, and while she feared that never having to clean for herself would hinder her ability to clean the cabin, that didn’t turn out to be the case.
After all, she knew what went into keeping quarters spotless, and when she was young she often tagged along after her favorite housekeeper back in Summerset, a big lovely woman who gave great hugs and liked to sing while she worked.
Justine put everything she had into fixing up the cabin as best she could with bound hands and a tired, aching body, sore from riding the beast.
And the beast riding me…
There was now a pile of leaves and dirt by the door that she’d have to sweep outside when he returned. Unless…
She tried the door. The knob turned.
He hadn’t locked her in. Why? Did he want her to leave? Or did he really trust her at her word, despite what he’d said?
Justine opened the cabin door. The wind blew through the trees in the forest, rattling the branches and leaves in the trees. She took a deep breath.
If she stayed, she would be living under the beast’s dominion. Staying meant accepting that. The queen would most likely kill her no matter what, and if her spell worked, Justine could die by winter no matter where she was in the world. However, if she left, she had a chance to start over. Maybe find someone to break the queen’s death spell.
But she’d never met anyone like Victor before. No man had ever made her feel so incredible, moved her body to new heights. And he’d risked his own neck for hers. He’d suffered through burning alive from the enchantress’s wicked magic… for her. Who else in the world would do such a thing?
What if he were the one she had always dreamed of finding? The man who would go to the ends of the earth for her?
No. She mustn’t forget that he was her captor. Escape was the only thing that made sense, even if there were predators out there in the forest. It was undoubtedly safer than the predator in her bed…wasn’t it?
She lifted her face up to the falling sun and closed her eyes. Everything in her head told her to run toward freedom. But everything in her heart and gut told her to stay.
With a shaky sigh of acceptance, Justine picked the broom back up and swept the debris out of the cabin.
She would stay with the beast.
ROAARRRR!
He came out of nowhere. The beast ran toward her on all fours with a snarl on his face, dropping his fresh kill.
He pushed her back inside the cabin and slammed the door shut with a bang that echoed in her ears.
“What have you done?” Victor growled. “I told you not to try to escape.” He picked the broom up off the floor. “Is this your idea of a weapon? What were you planning, to hit me over the head with it?”
He tossed it back to the corner.
“No!” she said. “You are the weapon, remember? I have no delusions that I can fight you and win. You left. I had a chance to escape,” she said defiantly “But I didn’t. I kept my word—I’m still here, Beast.”
“You disobeyed,” he said. “Must I steal chains to keep you where I left you?”
“I wasn’t going to leave, Victor! If you want me to stay here, it needed to be a tad less dusty. That’s all.”
“It may not be the luxury you’re accustomed to, Princess, but I don’t know of any abandoned castles that might suit her highness better.”
“I helped us, Beast,” she reminded him. “Look around, I did a good job making this place nicer. Why should we live like fugitives?”
He was silent, staring at her with those intense blue-grey eyes. Justine held her breath. A man was always more dangerous when he was silent when other men would yell. They were thinking, plotting. She must never forget that he had kidnapped her. That he was physically capable of violence.
“I apologize, Beast,” she said softly. “I only wanted to help.”
“You…you frightened me, Justine. I don’t want to lose you.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said. “I’m here. Yours.”
At her last word, the beast’s eyes softened. “Mine.” He shook his head, as if steeling himself. “Come here.”
She walked slowly toward him, unable to control the tremble in her body. He guided her over his massive knee, and she bit her lip in anticipation.
“Please,” she whispered. “Don’t harm me, Beast.”
“I’ll never harm you. My only desire is for you to be safe and well. Do you believe that?”
Did she? Yes. If she didn’t, she never would have chosen to stay instead of escape when she had the chance.
“Yes,” she said finally. “I do.”
He lifted her dress, exposing her bare bottom, and brought his hand down onto her. She gasped, tears springing to her eyes immediately. Over and over he spanked her, warming her flesh until she felt she couldn’t take it anymore. Just when she opened her mouth to beg for relief, he put his other hand between her legs.
The shock of his fingers inside her, running over her clitoris as he spanked her, changed the quality of the pain into a dark pleasure. With every swat she cried out as he strummed her clit. She squirmed on his lap.
“Don’t move,” he warned.
The spanking stopped. She breathed a sigh of relief, but he didn’t stop rubbing the junction of her thighs with renewed vigor, not giving her a moment to catch her breath. The pleasure built within and he dipped his finger inside, her inner thighs slick with arousal.
Erotic pain bloomed between her cheeks as he suddenly pressed one thick finger against her tight other hole.
“You can’t!” she gasped. Who did such a thing? And why did she…want it?
“I can,” he murmured, and filled her with his fingers, both front and back, touching places within her she never knew existed before.
She came hard, her juices covering his hand. He pulled out and slapped her ass one last time, the sound sharp and wet. Justine stumbled to her feet.
He took her chin in hand and looked at her. “Do we trust each other now, Princess?”
“Yes, Beast. We do.”
****
Later that night, Victor spooned her against his warm body as they lay before the crackling fire. He didn’t want her far from him during the night. He’d told her it was so she couldn’t try anything, but if he was honest with himself, he knew it was because sleeping with Justine was everything he’d ever imagined it would be. She was so soft,
so comforting to him.
As soon as he was able, he’d rob some clotheslines to get his princess out of her wedding dress. And the rabbit furs would make good pillows at some point.
Justine snuggled against him, and he gently smoothed her dark hair. With a sweet sigh, she pressed a delicate kiss against his chest.
Victor stared at her in shock.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I just thought…”
“You don’t have to pretend to want me,” he growled. “I’ll have you either way. You know I will.”
She kissed his chest again, exploring his body with her hands and lips. “Must I pretend I don’t want you, then?”
He leaned back and groaned with desire as her fingers got perilously close to his cock. “How can you want a beast such as me?”
Victor gripped her wrist as she made a move for his organ. It had to be a trick.
She stopped and looked at him with such concern that a wave of compassion spread through him.
“It’s wrong of me,” she whispered, “I suppose.”
“It’s not wrong, Justine,” he said, guiding her hand back to his length. “It doesn’t have to be.”
“Can’t we just pretend tonight, that we are madly in love?” the princess asked, hope bright in her eyes. “It’s all I’ve wanted. To be with a man I love.”
A lump caught in his throat, and he swallowed back the emotion. He wasn’t good enough for her. But the beast would try to be the man she wanted. “Can I pretend you want to be here with me?” he asked. “That you chose me?”
She smiled. “Yes, Victor. We can both pretend.”
He rolled over and covered her with his body, cradling her head against his arm as he dropped his hand between her legs.
Ahh. Her arousal excited him.
“You’re not pretending, Princess,” he said, sliding his fingers through her wetness.
“No,” she said. Her back arched as he touched her most sensitive spot. “Oh yes, Beast. Yes.”
“I have to fuck you, Justine,” he said, a low growl of desire rolling off his tongue.
He gave her no more warning than that. With one slow, deep thrust, he entered her, filling her completely.
Beast: The Untold Legend Page 7
