Beauty and the Beast of Venice

by Alexis Adaire

  “I’m not afraid, Tavros.”

  Looking up, he knew she was telling the truth. There was no fear in her eyes; instead they were filled with concern and compassion.

  And love.

  He had never seen that look before, and the power of it moved him.

  She approached him, and when he tried to step away, she grabbed his forearm.

  “No,” she said softly, “do not avoid me.” Her hand reached up to his face and he felt her exploring his new countenance: his snout, his ears, his horns.

  “Don’t look upon me,” he protested, grabbing both her arms to move her back. “I am hideous. I’m a monster.”

  “No, you are still my handsome Tavros.”

  She moved forward, breaking his grip and wrapping her arms around him, pressing her body to his and placing her perfect head under his brutish one. His coarse fur must have felt harsh against her delicate skin, but Antonia didn’t seem to care.

  Tavros held her tightly to him. He felt himself exhale, then his breathing slowed almost to a halt. They remained like that, Antonia’s small nude body engulfed by his large frame. The only sensation he had was in his heart, which felt like it might burst.

  She noticed it first, pulling back and staring at him in awe. “You… you’re changing back.”

  The transformation from human to minotaur form was always sheer agony, but the reverse was easier, though still quite painful.

  But this time he felt nothing.

  Nothing at all.

  He gasped as he lifted his hands to his head again and touched the horns as they were retreating. The shape of his head was changing, growing smaller. She was right; he was reverting to human form.

  Tavros was baffled. What was going on?

  Then it dawned on him that it was Antonia. His love for her, or hers for him, or some combination of the two, had brought him back, just moments after he’d turned.

  But that had never happened before.

  “It’s because of you,” he said, now aware of everything in the bedroom again. His breathing was still rapid. His shirt was torn to shreds at the neck and shoulders. And the love of his life hadn’t left him. She had stayed and somehow brought him back.

  “No, I did nothing,” she said, hugging him once again.

  “You did everything,” he replied.

  She retrieved her chemise and held it to her body. “Why did it happen, Tavros? Why did you begin to change? Were you angry with me? Did I do something wrong?”

  He laughed, still touching his face in disbelief. “No, my love.” And she was his love, he knew it more certainly than he’d ever known anything. “When I touched your body… I got… my breathing…”

  She smiled demurely. “I think I understand.”

  Tavros was overwhelmed by what had taken place.

  “You weren’t afraid,” he said in awe.

  “I was only concerned about your obvious pain. Regardless of what form you may take, you are still my Tavros.”

  He pulled her into a torrid kiss, the kind that could only possibly happen if love is involved. When he heard her chemise fall to the floor, he ended the kiss and took a step back to stare unashamed at her beautiful body. He began to undo the buttons of his shirt, discarding it when he’d finished.

  Antonia immediately saw the brand on his arm, where he’d been forever marked as a minotaur. She ran her fingers over the raised scar that made up the horned head of a bull, but didn’t question him about it.

  He quickly stepped out of his boots, and Antonia watched him intently as he unbuttoned his trousers and removed them. He knew she could see his excitement through the material of his underclothes.

  Seconds later, he had discarded those as well, exposing the evidence of his stimulation. Tavros knew that in all his years, he had never been as hard as he was in that moment.

  Chapter 24

  Antonia

  Antonia blushed at the sight of Tavros’s engorged manhood. She was not prepared for the moment she actually gazed upon such a sight and wondered if they were all this large and this rigid. Then she looked into his face and smiled nervously, resting her hand on the broad expanse of his chest and feeling his elevated body heat.

  Tavros took her in his arms, his rough hands enveloping her petite shoulders and pulling her into him. His mouth found hers, the intensity of his kiss coursing through her body as their lips and tongues intermingled and teased. Antonia felt his hardness press against her belly. Her passion began to build, and whatever remaining discretion she may have had melted away.

  Moving deftly, Tavros swept Antonia off her feet and carried her to the bed, resting her head on a down-filled pillow. She looked up at him, his beautiful, dark features glowing in the rapidly fading light. For the first time Antonia saw up close his torso, muscles rippling along his arms and a wisp of dark hair outlining the contours of his chest. She watched as his abdominal muscles contracted with his quickened breaths. Then her eyes lowered again, and she nervously wondered if, regardless of her desire, she would be anatomically capable of lying with this man.

  Slowly sinking next to her on the bed, Tavros brought his face close and brushed her lips lightly with his. “You are such a temptress,” he murmured. As he began to nuzzle her neck, Antonia closed her eyes, luxuriating in the sensuous feel of his whiskers and warm breath on her soft skin. She touched his back, her fingers gliding over the thrillingly taut muscles.

  Tavros slowly kissed his way down to the soft flesh of her breasts, his beard grazing her hardening nipples. Antonia arched her back and moaned as the sensation crept through her. She cried out as his tongue circled around her ready nub. He gently rubbed the other nipple between his thumb and forefinger, sending Antonia into a bliss she’d never experienced.

  She wanted to touch him, to feel the part of him that responded to her so utterly and unreservedly. Sliding a hand over his stomach, she found her target and wrapped her fingers around him, marveling at its velvety hardness.

  Her total absorption was interrupted by his breathing, which had become more rapid. His mouth left her breast at the same time she felt his muscles twitch. When his head moved away, she realized he was again on the verge of transforming.

  She quickly removed her hand and placed it behind his neck, holding him near her.

  “Tavros, look at me.”

  He refused to look, and she felt him strain as he fought against his own body.

  “Tavros,” she said, this time softer. Then softer still, “Tavros, look into my eyes.”

  His eyes met hers and she saw they were shifting, darkening. Even as they changed, they contained a world of conflicting emotions: distress, anger, fear, pain. His hands grabbed his temples again.

  Still looking into his eyes, Antonia softened her voice to a whisper.

  “You are the man I love, the man I wish to marry.”

  The intensity in Tavros’s gaze remained, but the emotions behind it began to shift. His breathing steadied as she stroked the side of his face. Under her fingertips she felt the immense strength added to his body by the beast’s presence.

  A full minute passed in the darkened bedroom as Antonia worked to calm the blacksmith with soft strokes and whispered promises of love. Muscles that were twitching seconds earlier began slowly to relax, then eventually stilled.

  “Again you have halted the turning,” he said, his voice rough with amazement. “You are either a witch or a miracle.”

  She laughed softly. “If I must be one, I would prefer the latter.”

  “But I fear even a miracle cannot hold back the curse if we remain here in this bed.”

  “We have no choice but to try,” she ventured. “Sailors do not travel halfway across the sea only to turn back.”

  Tavros gazed into her eyes and said quietly, “In that case, we must proceed slowly.”

  Antonia broke into a smile. “I can imagine nothing in the world more perfect.”

  Her hand found him again, and though he was no longer tumescent, she
felt him immediately begin to swell at her touch.

  His own hands glided down her breasts and stomach, then he traced her thighs with his fingers, moving down the outside and back up her inner thighs. His fingers lingered at the apex of her legs, lightly brushing the fine hair surrounding her opening, teasing her sensitive petals. As his manhood continued to stiffen in her hand, Antonia shifted her hips, opening herself to him.

  Just when Antonia’s passion reached a pinnacle, Tavros moved to kneel between her legs. The evidence of his excitement protruded from him as he lowered himself over her, pressing his hips against her. She felt him poised at her opening and looked into his eyes.

  “Slowly, my love. We can stop if need be.”

  He responded with a simple nod.

  All the questions, the wondering, the fantasizing, had led Antonia to this moment, in this bed, with the enigmatic blacksmith. She felt a love like none she’d ever known, and in her mind, there was no doubt that she was fated to be with Tavros.

  He touched her face tenderly and gently put his lips to hers, and as they kissed she felt him slowly enter her.

  Her breath left her as her entire sense of being was momentarily concentrated on that one small area of her body. Antonia had never experienced such a feeling of complete and utter bliss and she had to remind her lungs to take in air so she wouldn’t pass out.

  Tavros had immersed himself in her, his own breathing gradually grew more ragged. Antonia knew what this was all leading up to, but she was surprised when his growing excitement magnified her own. She felt a raw sensation, an urgent warmth spreading outward from her womanhood, across her thighs, hips, and belly.

  As Tavros continued thrusting, swifter and more forcefully, the heat inside Antonia grew ever stronger. When he stared directly into her eyes, she was suddenly overtaken by a feeling more immediate and powerful than anything she’d ever known. It cried out as it consumed her entire being, her muscles repeatedly contracting hard and releasing in a rhythm matched perfectly by Tavros’s powerful thrusts. When his own body grew rigid and he groaned loudly, she knew that he was experiencing the same sense of bliss, which only increased her euphoria.

  In that moment, there was no Giovanni, no parents, no disappointing engagements, and no distressing wedding plans.

  And no Beast of Venice.

  Antonia and Tavros were suspended in time, frozen in a moment so exquisite, so pure, that she knew in her heart of hearts that theirs was a perfect union that nothing could ever divide.

  Chapter 25

  Tavros

  Tavros admired the beauty of the woman next to him. Her body glistened in the moonlight that had begun to stream through the open window, and her loveliness was even more breathtaking without clothes.

  When they were joined together, it felt like all his problems had vanished. Antonia had somehow managed to tame the beast within him, to keep it at bay.

  Is that even possible? Could she help him learn to control this curse, to turn the transformation away before it had time to manifest the beast?

  Could he finally know a life of love and happiness?

  “Tavros, how did you get this mark on you?”

  Antonia was again tracing her finger over the brand on his upper arm.

  “They did this in a jail in Greece, before they put me on a boat bound for London. I escaped in Rome and came here, where no one would look for me.”

  She looked at him thoughtfully and he was certain she was going to pry into his past, something he’d prefer to avoid on this first night together. Instead, her questioning went in a different direction.

  “I’m curious: Why did you bring me here, instead of to where you sleep?”

  “This was not a plan; no forethought was involved. But had there been, my quarters are sparse and not at all suitable to a woman like you.”

  “You might be surprised by what suits me. I’m not one to dwell on fineries.”

  Tavros told himself that was an easier position to take when you’re already wealthy. He had never had much money and would love to have a big house, nice clothing and fine food and wine. But her saying that was an indication she might be willing to sacrifice those things to be with him, and his heart swelled accordingly.

  “I love you, Antonia,” he whispered. “I believe I have since I first saw you.”

  Her eyes fluttered open and she blushed when she caught him looking at her body.

  “It took me a little longer,” she replied. “Then again, I’m engaged to be married.”

  He gently took her breast in his hand and ran his thumb across her nipple, thrilled when it responded to his touch.

  “Are you not afraid of the beast that lies within me?”

  “The beast is not something that inhabits you, my love; the beast is part of who you are. I do not fear it because I do not fear you.”

  His breath deepened at her words and he felt his body stir.

  “Did you mean what you said earlier about wanting to marry me?” he asked.

  “I did. And I still do.”

  A sly grin captured his face. “Then we must find a way.”

  Tavros was not unaware of the seemingly insurmountable obstacles they would have to overcome, and as of that moment had no clue how to approach such a mission. But he believed in the power of fate that had so obviously placed the two of them together. A solution to all this madness existed, and he would not rest until he found it.

  He felt fingers tenderly tracing along the length of his manhood, exploring him. He marveled at how his body responded to her touch, rapidly stiffening and elongating. Tavros had never known the feel of a woman’s hand before, and when her fingers closed around him the sensation was exhilarating.

  While she gripped him urgently, he explored her with his own hands and became intoxicated with the creaminess of her skin, the soft give of her breasts and the breathtaking curve of her hips. It was as if her body were silently inviting him, luring him to explore her inside and out. A less subtle but equally compelling invitation was being extended by the hand that had stroked him to a full erection.

  Soon Tavros and his beloved Antonia were again entwined as the moonlight bathed them, seemingly blessing their forbidden union.

  Outside, the night air rapidly began to cool as the wind picked up. The two lovers continued to exist as one heart and one body, unaware of the storm approaching in the distance.

  Chapter 26

  Antonia

  The noise from the howling wind and a slamming shutter woke Antonia just after dawn. The rain had already begun while she and Tavros walked home, with Summer Carnival crowds scattering for cover. Despite her protests, he had insisted on walking her nearly to her door, telling her their costumes provided the anonymity they needed. Just before they reached Ca’ Crivelli, they’d stepped into an alcove for a final kiss, professing their undying love for one another and vowing to navigate around any and all obstacles in their path to happiness together.

  Antonia lay listening to the torrent outside as she reflected on her night with Tavros. She knew that finding a way out of this marriage to Giovanni would prove difficult and would likely cause a serious rift between her and her parents. Greater than that, even: It would be certain to capture the attention of Venetian high society.

  But it would be worth it.

  What had taken place in that borrowed bedroom had been precious, more than it had any right to be. Antonia was already convinced that most people go through their entire lives without ever knowing such a moment of pure love. The physical gratification had been more than she could have hoped for, as well, and she knew she could never achieve such heights of pleasure with Giovanni, assuming he was even willing to attempt it with her.

  The storm’s electric air chilled her, and she pulled the soft, warm covers around her, thinking about Tavros’s romantic words and the tender-but-firm manner in which he claimed her as his. Her mind drifted to the moment in which he had changed into the minotaur, and how her love for him had helped her
remain calm and bring him back to human form. Antonia had been captivated by the beast’s powerful presence and those large pewter-gray eyes that conveyed equal amounts fear and affection. Truth be told, there were aspects brought out by his beastly form that she found appealing. After all, the minotaur was still Tavros, the man she loved. And she was especially proud that she could help soothe the pain he’d been subjected to for so long.

  Her daydream slowly faded as reality set in; she was engaged to be married to a man who didn’t love her, and her parents didn’t seem to care. All they wanted was for her to be the wife of the heir to the Donato fortune, regardless of her happiness.

  Her stomach knotted. There was a giant confrontation looming on the horizon, and Antonia was filled with dread over how it would turn out.

  Her thoughts were interrupted by a commotion downstairs. This was no shutter banging against the onslaught of the wind. There were voices, a male and a female. The man was angry, and the woman attempted to calm him, but the disturbance grew louder until Antonia realized they were approaching her room.

  Suddenly her door flew open and Giovanni stood in the open doorway, his clothing dripping wet. Behind him was Piera, a frightened and apologetic expression on her face.

  “I see you decided to return to your own bed!” His words were daggers, aimed at her with spite. “Tell me, were you trying to humiliate me, or were you just drunk from too much wine?”

  Antonia shrunk back in her bed, pulling the covers tightly to her. It was obvious she’d been seen with Tavros, but surely Giovanni was unaware of the true extent of her transgression.

  “I… I don’t know what I’m being accused of.”

  He glared at her, then sat on the end of her bed, not caring at all about drenching it. “I’ve been told, by more than one source, that you were seen on the arm of a man last night.”

  She and Tavros had tried to keep their hands to themselves as they made their way toward her family’s palazzo, but the task had proved futile. On more than one occasion they had ducked into an alley to exchange a brief kiss or a few tender words.