Beauty's Beasts: An Urban Fantasy Fairy Tale (Poison Courts Book 1)

by L. C. Hibbett

  Mac’s mouth tilted upward at the corners and he walked slowly across the room to where I was standing in my bra and panties. He circled me slowly, his eyes examining every part of my body. I held my breath as he stepped up to my back, close enough for me to feel his excitement pressing against my hip. He lifted my hair with his fingertips and swept it over my shoulders, exposing my back. His breath caressed my skin as he spoke. “Excuse me, Miss. I’m going to need to remove these items of clothing to give you a thorough examination. Is that acceptable?”

  “Yeah.” The anticipation was too strong for me to play the game anymore. I wanted him to expose my entire body. I wanted to see his pupils dilate and his body stiffen at the sight of my breasts. I held my breath as Mac unhooked my bra and dragged the straps slowly down my arms from behind. His thumbs brushed my hard nipples as he let the bra fall to the floor and I shivered. There was only one thing I could imagine that could increase my pleasure.

  Like the answer to a prayer, the door of the den slid open and Teddy and Blackwood slipped into the room. Teddy inhaled deeply through his teeth as he caught sight of my naked breasts. He ripped his shirt over his head and threw it on the floor, kicking off his boots as he crossed the room. Blackwood grabbed his shoulder and stopped him short. “Teddy. Don’t presume.”

  Teddy nodded and scrubbed his fist over his eyes to help contain himself. He gritted his teeth and dragged his stare from my body to my face. “Izzy?”

  I’d barely tipped my head in agreement when he’d barged across the room and tossed me onto the enormous bed with one hand. Teddy and Mac descended on me like beasts unleashed from captivity, and I moaned as two sets of hands traced a path over my skin from my head to my toes. Mac was the first to kiss my lips, his soft mouth opening mine so that he could dart his tongue inside. I yelped as another pair of lips found their way to my nipples. Teddy’s kisses were nothing like Mac’s soft sensual offerings. He flicked at my erect nipples insistently, sucking as much of the breast as he could into his mouth as he kneaded my other breast with his huge hands.

  I squirmed under their touch and stared across the room at Blackwood, daring him to shed his reserved exterior and show me what lay beneath. His chest rose as I trailed my hands over my body, writhing in pleasure as Teddy and Mac took a nipple each into their mouths. My fingers traced the waistband of my panties and Blackwood shifted uncomfortably. I stared at the source of his discomfort as I slid my hand inside my panties, pulling them aside so he could see my fingers at work. With a growl, Blackwood tore across the room and kneeled between my spread legs. His breathing was so heavy I could barely make out the words. “May I?”

  “Please.” I groaned as Teddy and Mac slipped out of their clothes and Blackwood ripped my panties off so fast that my ass barely lifted from the bed. He dragged my body over the silk sheet until my ass was perched at the edge of the bed and he kneeled on the ground between my legs, staring as if he was looking at a priceless masterpiece. I cupped my own breasts and squeezed them as Blackwood spread my legs further apart. His lips were so close that his breath tickled my clit and I panted hard to stop myself squirming into his mouth. Just when I couldn’t bear the anticipation any longer, his tongue darted out and flicked my most sensitive spot, over and over again in exactly the right way.

  Teddy and Mac worked the rest of my flesh, stretching my arms over my head and licking and kissing me until I was begging to touch them, to hold them, to suck them. Blackwood slid his long fingers inside me, massaging my clit with his thumb until I thought I was going to scream. I groaned, almost at the edge, when the sound of a wrapper falling to the floor heightened every one of my senses and then Blackwood was inside me, stretching me out with huge size and filling parts of me I never even knew existed. I clung onto Mac and Teddy, pumping with my hands in desperate need as wave after wave of pleasure exploded inside me.

  When the moment had passed, exhausted bliss filled me and I didn’t even let go of their bodies or let Blackwood slip away before sleep claimed me.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Do you have everything you need?” Blackwood leaned against the frame of the door and held a cup of coffee out to me. I took it from him and tried not to let my attention linger on his bare torso. I was still recovering from the morning’s antics in the shower and if I let my mind wander, I wasn’t sure we’d make it to the Guild headquarters at all.

  I took a long slug of the sweet coffee and sighed gratefully. Turned out, Blackwood made a decent cup of coffee. It wasn’t the best thing he could do, but it was still pretty damn good. I closed my suitcase and tugged at the zipper with my free hand. “I think so. I don’t really know what I need. Who knows what the Guild is going to make of me?” I pressed the coffee cup against my lips and frowned at the floor. “What if they don’t want me to train for the forces? Or if they want me to work with another team.”

  Blackwood took the coffee cup out of my hand and placed it on the counter. He wrapped his arms around my waist and stared into my eyes. “You’re ours. We’re yours. The Guild understand how mating works, Belle. They won’t try to separate us.”

  “They don’t want Teddy to pulverize headquarters with his bare fists.” Mac winked at me from the door and threw a box of papers on the floor. “Right, that’s the last box. Jonathan and Faye are going to sort through them while we’re gone. See if we can find a way to rebuild Oak Crescent without pissing on your grandfather’s dream or leaving the county vulnerable to exploitation by asses like Gastone.”

  Blackwood gave me a lingering kiss on the lips before he broke away and crossed to examine the boxes. “Thanks, Mac. Jonathan will figure something out.”

  “Or Faye will and tell Jonathan what to do,” I said. Mac grinned and lifted my case with one arm, wrapping the other around my waist. I curled myself against his chest and ran my finger under his shirt, careful not to wake the beast even though my fingers itched to hold him. Faye told me the need for my mates would become bearable in time, but I found it hard to imagine that I would ever be able to control my desire for them. I dipped my hand toward his waistband and Mac gave me a tortured look. I pulled away from his body reluctantly. “Okay, okay. I’m going. No more delays, the Guild is waiting, thank you, Doctor.”

  Mac gave my ass a cheeky squeeze as I made my way up the stairs in front of him. “You’re killing me, Izzy.”

  Teddy was already in the truck and he honked the horn twice when we emerged from the building. “Come on, people—road trip!”

  I waited for the others to call shotgun but nobody did. Blackwood dropped my purse on the front seat beside Teddy without a word and Mac tucked my case inside the trunk. Guess I didn’t have to fight for shotgun. I bit down on my lip and tried not to beam too hard.

  “There’s that expression again, child. It’s called happiness you know.” I shook my head and turned to grin at Faye. It was still strange to see her in the flesh instead of through glass. She reached her hand out and threaded my fingers through hers. “It’s not a sin to be happy, Isabelle. You’ve earned it.”

  I frowned at the ground beside my feet as Jonathan hurried past to say his farewells to the pack. “Is Jonathan mad that the pack is split? Does he blame me? Well, it’s my fault, so who else is he going to blame, but is he upset?”

  “Yes.” I stared at Faye with raised brows. My own fault, the guys had warned me Faye never lied. A smile flickered at the corner of her lips. “But he forgives you. He understands you’ll have an important role to play in finding your sister and keeping her safe.” The smile died on Faye’s mouth and she gripped my hand tightly. “There are dark times ahead for the supernatural world, Isabelle. Your sister is the key.”

  “Okay. Creepy and foreboding. That’s a fitting tone for our goodbye, thanks, Faye.” I patted her hand and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

  “Now, now, I’m not all doom and gloom. Don’t forget the nice premonition I gave you in the shower when you first got to the manor,” Faye said. I blushed at the memory and turne
d toward the truck but Faye caught me by the sleeve and pressed a piece of card into my hand. “This is yours. It fell out of the bag your sister packed for you. She’s clever, your sister Francesca. Don’t underestimate her.”

  I stared at Faye’s back as she disappeared up the steps and back inside the manor, dress flowing and Jonathan at her side—Lady and Lord of Blackwood Forest. It felt right.

  Teddy grinned at me as I slid into the seat beside him and buckled up. I wound the window down and the breeze tugged at my hair as I unfolded the piece of card Faye had given me. Five familiar faces stared up at me, my own in the center and four men in uniform surrounding me. I pressed the photo to my chest and let grief run through me. From the back of the car, Mac began to play with the ends of my hair and Blackwood trailed a finger over the inside crease of my elbow.

  I stared down at the smiling faces of my friends and I had to believe they were sending me a second chance. And forgiveness; for whatever there was to forgive. I folded the photo and tucked it inside my chest pocket beside a photo of my family, my mother’s compact, a picture of my birth family’s crest, and the Polaroid snap Faye had made Jonathan take of the pack and me that morning. I patted my pocket and smiled. For the very first time, all the pieces of my life were together in one place, right next to my heart.

  Exactly where they should be.

  The End

  ***

  Thank you so much for reading Beauty’s Beasts, I really hoped you enjoyed it. If you did, please leave a review to let me know—your reviews mean the world to me. Want to read more in this universe? Check out Wicked Destiny and discover the series that follows Belle’s sister Destiny and a host of characters from the Poison Courts fairy tale retellings as they overcome obstacles and adventures in the Wicked Witches series! Available HERE

  The next stand-alone novel in The Poison Court Saga will be based on Snow White’s story. If you would like to get emails to let you know when it’s released or when my books will be on FREE promotions, please CLICK HERE to subscribe to my newsletter.

  Interested in hearing more about Izzy’s younger sister, Destiny—the black witch? Check out the blurb below and then keep reading to find Wicked Witch, the prequel story to Destiny’s series.

  Wicked Destiny

  Are you looking for a sexy, kickass witch with sizzling magic and a social life to match? Well, you've come to the wrong place.

  I'm the kind of witch who serves coffee, eats cake, and isn't quite certain where my toddler has hidden the contents of her potty. I don't care if I'm the most powerful witch of my generation, all I want to do is keep my head down until my twenty-first birthday so I can join the coven of the Free Witches and escape my immortal father for good. And there's nothing standing in my way...

  Well, nothing except vanishing supernatural children, a blue shadow haunting my every step, a boss with ridiculously cute butt, a psychic with eyes like the ocean, and a ghost from my past with danger written all over his handsome face.

  What could possibly go wrong?

  Fans of bad-ass supernaturals, paranormal detectives, and fast-paced action will love this mesmerizing new paranormal fantasy series from L.C. Hibbett.

  Turn the page for a sneak peek at the Wicked Destiny!

  Wicked Destiny (A Sneak Peek)

  When push comes to shove, you’ve got two choices in life—sink or swim.

  In the movies, it’s easy to see the fall coming; you can’t miss the moment when everything turns to shit. A slick guy in a designer suit strolls into a bar, ominous music starts to play, and you just know it’s the beginning of the end for the beautiful heroine. Maybe if I hadn’t been distracted, I would have seen it coming. Hell knows, I’d been waiting for the ax to fall since the day my mother was snatched from my arms when I was eight years old. Or maybe, I wasn’t the heroine. Maybe that’s a role reserved for beautiful, sweet, kind-hearted beauties and not for red-haired witches with the power to suck the life from a small country in the blink of an eye. Either way, when life finally caught up with me, it didn’t come with a bang, but in a whisper so quiet it almost passed me by. When I finally saw the signs, there was nowhere to run but into the eye of the storm.

  Story of my life—a day late and a dollar short.

  ***

  “Seriously, why does she keep making that weird face?” I squinted across the café at a blonde customer who was pouting into her cell phone. The girl twisted her neck to find the most flattering angle of her beautiful profile while her friends sipped their skinny lattes. I lowered my voice and affected my best David Attenborough accent. “Duck-mouthed human females: a rare opportunity to watch this fascinating creature in their natural habitat. The duck-mouth humans often appear sane until the onset of puberty, when the avian genetic code begins to make a desperate effort to assert itself, forcing the female duck-human hybrid to stick her lips out like a beak whenever anyone flashes a camera in her direction.”

  Lan smirked at me as she shuffled out of the kitchen. I wasn’t expecting any other response. In the eighteen months I’d been working at The Paper Heart, I’d never once heard the old lady’s voice. At first, I’d found the silence unnerving, but over time I’d grown accustomed to it. She tipped her head in the direction of the only occupied table and I arched my brows. All three girls had their cell phones raised and were pushing their lips out and sucking in their cheeks. I gave an exasperated sigh. “Ah, come on, this is bloody ridiculous. Fly away home little duck brains, it’s almost closing time.”

  Lan rewarded me with a soundless chuckle and I leaned my elbows on the counter while she loaded the remains of today’s cakes onto a tray. The Paper Heart was just a little coffee shop attached to an art gallery and studios, but it served the best desserts in Galway city—Lan’s fudge cake was better than sex. Well, considering I’d only had sex once, leaving me pregnant and on the run from my vile excuse for a family, maybe I wasn’t experienced enough to reliably compare anything to sex. Desserts, on the other hand, were my area of expertise—and it was damn good cake.

  My fingers itched as I stared at the girls. All it would take to send them on their merry way would be a little rune traced into the air—nothing horrible, obviously, just a sudden allergy to designer mascara or an outbreak of zits. I didn’t make a habit of using my magic at work. Lots of the customers at The Paper Heart were human, and revealing the supernatural world to a human was one sure way to draw the attention of the International Guild of Supernaturals—bad news for any super, but really bad news with an extra serving of shit sauce for a witch who was trying to get accepted into the ultra-exclusive coven of the Free Witches. Luckily, the selfie queens weren’t humans, so maybe I could make a little exception. I wriggled my fingers and muttered under my breath, zoning in on the most frequent selfie offender. “You’ve got five minutes to finish that coffee, duck face, then it’s war.”

  The scent of lemon soap and oil paint surrounded me and the tiny hairs on my arms trembled as a warm presence leaned into my back. My boss’s voice hummed in my ear. “Are you referring to one of our customers as ‘duck face’?”

  “Maybe…” I scrunched my nose at Lan for not warning me Nick had come into the café and she winked at me as she scooted into the kitchen. Lan was lucky she was too cute and old to hex. I fidgeted with the stack of flyers I’d already straightened and used my most reasonable tone. “In my defense, Nick, the customer in question does spend a disproportionate amount of time pouting like a duck.”

  “Ducks can pout?” I felt Nick shifting his weight behind me and I imagined his crossed arms and the teasing grin tugging at the corners of his lips. The three blondes hadn’t missed his entrance either. Eyelashes fluttered wildly and hair shimmered as it was flicked over shoulders. My lip curled as I watched the primal display. If the girls had painted their naked arses red like baboons, it would have been a less nauseating sign of their attraction. I glanced over my shoulder at Nick and found myself an inch from a bare, sweaty chest.

  “Oh, for
God sake.” I grabbed one of the fresh shirts Lan kept under the counter and tossed it at Nick’s tattooed torso. Shifters weren’t huge fans of clothes, and with a body like Nick’s, who could argue? I snapped my gaze away from his damp skin. “Nick, this is why we have little twits hanging around here until closing time. Cover yourself up when you finish painting.” I glanced down at the table where the three girls were all but panting as Nick tugged the plain white shirt over his head. The fabric stretched tightly over his arms and chest, but at least it covered his six-pack well enough that I didn’t have to worry about anyone swallowing their tongue. I rapped my knuckles on the sign I had laminated and taped to the wall. “What’s the rule, Nick?”

  “Clothes must be worn where food is being prepared,” Nick chanted.

  Lan nodded from the kitchen and I gave her a thumbs up. “See, Lan knows the score. You never catch us wandering around half-naked.”

  For one agonizing moment, I thought I saw Nick’s gaze flit over my body before he raised his palms in surrender. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry. No more nakedness. Man, I only came out of the studio to say hi.”

  “Great, now you can say hi to your little admirers and tell them it’s closing time. Which means they’ll be hanging around here all day tomorrow, desperate for another encounter with the talented, charming, and often near-naked Nikolai Sarkus. But I won’t care because it’s my day off. Enjoy.” I gave Nick my sweetest smile and he narrowed his eyes.