Beauty stood and walked to the corner, where a jug of ale sat. “Father, would you like me to warm you a mug?” she asked as she picked up the jug and a tin cup that she could warm over the fire.
Pierre shook his head. “No, my dear,” he said, sighing. “Sit, sit. I have news for you.”
Beauty set the jug down and walked back to the armchair she’d been sitting in when her father had entered. He sat across from her in the other armchair. Their home was modest, but these chairs, pieces her mother had brought with her from her own home, were ornate and plush, even after all these years.
“What is the news, Papa?”
He looked down at his hands, then at Beauty. “My dear, you know your kind tutor who brings you books each week, Giselle?” Beauty nodded. “Well, for some time she has been prodding me to arrange for your marriage. She says I’m getting older and if these things aren’t done, and something were to happen to me, you would be destitute, and no telling what would happen.”
Beauty nodded. Giselle had told Beauty much the same. And she had given her the books. So, Beauty had yearned for her own reasons to be wed. She tried not to smile at the thoughts of what that would mean, at the pleasure of what she would experience upon being wed, assuming she were wed to a kind man, like the ones in the books. “You’ve found a match?”
“I think,” he said. “I need to set off tomorrow to finalize the deal. The young man’s family is a day’s ride from here. His father sent word he’d like to make the arrangements tomorrow, before winter takes hold too strongly. And then in spring, when the thaw comes, you will be married.”
Beauty smiled, an appropriate smile. “Papa, I thank you for your hard work on this,” she said. “Might I inquire more about my husband, briefly?”
He smiled kindly, for he always seemed to appreciate Beauty’s inquisitiveness. “Of course, Beauty.”
“Is he kind?” she asked, for that was the only thing that mattered. She didn’t care if he were handsome, as that faded over time. Her father was the perfect example. He was supposedly quite a catch in his day. His looks were gone, as were a few of his teeth, but his kindness remained. She imagined a cruel man would be forever cruel.
Pierre chuckled. “You always get to the heart of things, my dear.” He pursed his lips and thought for a moment. “From the accounts of many in town, he is a prosperous young lad who hopes to inherit his father’s business as a lumber man. No one has told me they have seen him being cruel, so I can only assume he is a kind man. I actually met the man at Giselle’s shop. She is a good judge of character, so I’m sure him being with her is a good sign.” He smiled and gave Beauty a reassuring pat on the hand.
Beauty nodded. Giselle was a good judge of character. Beauty’s smile grew wider, as she thought briefly of the passage she had read the other day. “He was gentle and kind to all he met, but at night in the bed chamber, his kindness caused screams of pleasure to me, his mistress, as he unleashed his unbridled passion on me.”
Her father chuckled again. “Beauty, you are positively delighted by this news,” he said. “I am surprised. I thought maybe I was rushing you, that maybe I was mistaken, doing this too soon.”
“Oh, Papa,” she breathed out. “Part of me is sad at the thought of leaving you, but the other part of me does yearn, a little, to know a life in my own home, as an adult.”
He reached out and patted her hand again. “You shall, my dear. Soon enough, you shall.”
* * * END SAMPLE. Beauty and her Beastly Love is available for purchase. * * *
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About the Author
Rosetta Bloom loves a good love story. She also likes a steamy tale with two characters who find solace in each other’s arms. So, she writes romance and erotic romances, and all of them end happily, because Rosetta hates sad endings. If you want a story that has a few surprises, and lots of heart, then she’s writing the story for you.
Rosetta Bloom’s primary novels and novellas are sexy retellings of classic fairy tales. They include The Princess, the Pea and the Night of Passion; Beauty and Her Beastly Love; Cinders and Ash: A Cinderella Story; and Dream Trysts: A Sleeping Beauty Story. Rosetta loves adding new life to these classic tales and hopes you enjoy the tweaked versions, too. Rosetta also has a series of really short erotic love stories called the Romance: Trysts series. You can read the first one, Dr. Carter & Mrs. Sinn, FREE. There are four in the series, and if you like the first, you can grab the rest individually or pick up the boxed set, Romance: Trysts Volumes 1-4.
To learn more about Rosetta Bloom or either series, visit her website, http://rosettabloom.com.
Also By Rosetta Bloom
Beauty and Her Beastly Love. In this grown up version of Beauty and the Beast, we meet Beauty, a sheltered young girl living in the French countryside with her father. She doesn’t get out much, but her tutor has given her books that she is supposed to read privately. The books all have a rose imprinted on the cover and describe the ways in which men and women love each other. The books give Beauty ideas about pleasures of the flesh.
Just like in the traditional tale, Beauty’s father, Pierre, sets off on a journey and ends up taking refuge in an enchanted dwelling. Pierre takes a rose-covered book, like the ones his daughter reads, and is caught by the beast who lives in the manor. Pierre agrees to send his daughter in exchange for the Beast not killing him.
When Beauty arrives, she feels disappointed that she will spend a lifetime imprisoned with this beast, rather than experiencing the type of relationship between a man and a woman described in her books. Only, as she gets to know Beast, she develops an attraction to him. Later, Beauty discovers that she and Beast can take pleasure in each other’s company in more ways than she’d ever imagined.
Cinders & Ash: A Cinderella Story. Ella would like nothing more than to leave her wicked stepmother and spoiled stepsisters behind. Only, she needs money to do so. The young lass has been secretly working for a local shopkeeper to earn some cash, but when her stepmother, Lady Kenna, finds out, she gets her stepdaughter fired, and takes all the cash. Ella's friend suggest she head to the castle for a job that pays well and requires not a ton of effort. Desperate to get away, Ella consents.
Ash is a prince confined to a castle. The queen is convinced magic fairies are real and are out to do her son harm. That doesn't stop the young prince from having companionship delivered. When a beautiful maiden is brought to him one evening, he's completely intrigued. By her beauty, by her demeanor, by the fact that she'll only give her name as Cinders.
In this steamy retelling of the Cinderella story, Cinders & Ash find love, romance and a fairy tale happy ending.
Available now. This book is FREE to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
Dream Trysts: A Sleeping Beauty Story. A wicked fairy who curses a child to a hundred years of slumber because she wasn’t invited to a party. Seems harsh… but the real story is so much more interesting and way sexier.
In this re-telling of Sleeping Beauty, the wicked fairy Maurelle isn’t mad at not receiving an invitation — no she’s got deeper reason for being upset at King Edmund and Queen Blissa. And little princess Briar Rose, before she’s cursed, is given the gift of dream sight, which allows he
r to interact with others in her dreams. All is not changed, though. Prince Charming is still, well, charming. He’s just a tad bit sexier and knows exactly how to please.
Find yourself a comfy spot and make yourself at home as you start this imaginative, adult version of the classic fairy tale.
Available now. This book is FREE to Kindle Unlimited Subscribers.
Romance: Trysts Short Story Series
No. 1. Dr. Carter & Mrs. Sinn. Mrs. Sinn has been having heart palpitations and is in need of advice, so she seeks out the muscular, handsome Dr. Carter. The very forward Mrs. Sinn implores the good doctor to figure out the cause of her problems.
Initially nervous that he might be crossing the line, the doctor eventually warms up to Mrs. Sinn and takes an unorthodox approach to diagnosing his patient.
This story sizzles as doctor and patient heat up the exam table.
FREE on Amazon.
No. 2. Nikki & Mike. Nikki is a good girl who tries to follow the straight and narrow path.
When a breakup turns her life haywire, Nikki realizes it isn’t enough just to be good. She needs to be good to herself.
Enter Mike, a handsome stranger with farm boy charms and a rocking body. Can he give Nikki what she’s been missing recently?
In this hot and steamy tale, Mike and Nikki find each other and a little something else, too.
Buy it on Amazon.
No. 3. Tristan & Blair. Can a person know when they first meet someone that it’s love? Can they know they're destined to be together?
Tristan met a girl when he was just a boy — a girl who changed everything about him. He knew she was the one, but she disappeared from his life.
When Tristan, now a painter, meets a girl from his past, he feels an instant connection to the sexy redhead. She’s not quite who he imagined, but that doesn’t mean he won’t take this second chance to make this girl his.
Do second chances at first love really exist? Tristan gets a lesson in life’s quirks in this red-hot, sexy tale.
Buy it on Amazon.
No. 4. Jack & Brenda. Jack is a firefighter, who’s a man down at his station due to a massive snow storm. Alone, pondering the evening when he hears a knock on the fire house door.
Brenda is a nurse trying to get to her shift whose car goes kaput outside the fire station.
Jack offers to warm Brenda up and things smoke for the firefighter who has a thing for pretty feet and the nurse who’s in need of some TLC.
Buy it on Amazon.
Romance Trysts – Box Set (Volumes 1-4). Want all the shorts at once to thumb through at your leisure at a cheaper price? Pick up the boxed set.
Buy it on Amazon.
The Princess, the Pea, and the Night of Passion (Passion-Filled Fairy Tales Book 1) Page 6