Winter's Beast: A Beauty and the Beast Novel

by Twyla Turner

Yury sighs heavily, “I must get you back to his room. I want to eventually get you out of here, and I cannot do that if he is suspicious.”

  I quickly roll on top of him and crush him to me.

  “You are welcome,” he says with a smile in voice.

  I didn’t even have to say anything. He already knew.

  As much as I have changed in the last month, so has he. He’d said that Ivan and obeying orders is all he’s ever known. So I know that to help me escape and to come with me has to be the scariest thing he’s ever done.

  Stepping into a whole new life in the unknown. But I’ll gladly be by his side to help him with every step.

  If only we can get away from Ivan the Awful.

  Chapter 22

  That opportunity comes a few days later.

  Monday morning, I’m sitting at the table in Ivan’s room eating my breakfast when he enters. I’d thought he was gone for the day. He has an office somewhere in Paris for his less underground business dealings. That’s where I’d thought he’d be all day. Giving me a break for a few hours. He always puts me on edge when he’s nearby.

  “Good morning, Winter. I trust you slept well,” he says with a knowing grin.

  For spite, he’d fucked some chick all damn night and into the earlier morning hours. They were not quiet.

  “I slept just fine. Thank you,” I respond with a tight, fake smile.

  “Well, my dear, I have to pack to head out of town for a couple of days. There’s been an emergency at my London office that can’t be left unattended.” Ivan informs me as he heads into the large walk-in closet.

  My heart soars and begins to beat wildly in my chest. Could it be?

  He comes out about ten minutes later with a nice leather bag packed with his items.

  “I won’t be gone too long. Hopefully, I’ll be back Wednesday or Thursday. I know you’ll miss me,” he says sarcastically. “Make sure you don’t get into trouble. Remember, Skotina are my eyes and ears while I’m gone.”

  That’s what I’m counting on, Dick.

  He walks up to me, and I sink back into my chair warily. He cups my chin and brings his lips down towards mine, trying to kiss me goodbye as if I’m the little wife or something. I turn my face quickly and his lips land on my cheek. He pulls back slightly and hesitates a few inches from my face. I can’t help but tremble with fear and something else.

  I feel like Pavlov’s Dog. Over the past month, all of the sexual training (more like torture) he’s put me through, my response is unwelcome arousal. My chest rises and falls rapidly in anticipation. I hate the way he makes me feel.

  “You’re lucky I don’t have time. I’d fuck you right on this table, and there is no doubt that you’d beg for every inch of it,” he growls in my ear.

  “So instead of coercing me into sex, you’re just gonna rape me now? Because I’m not begging for shit!” I sneer at him.

  Why I asked that I have no idea. I need to learn to keep my trap shut. But he pisses me off so much that I can’t help it.

  “Come now, Winter. We both know it wouldn’t be rape. You’re begging for it right now, even though your brain says no. Your mind and your heart want love and affection. And all those other girly emotions. Your body just wants to be fucked. And that angry, violent kind of fucking too. You know it, and I know it.” He whispers all of this before licking the shell of my ear.

  An involuntary shiver runs down my spine.

  “That’s what I thought,” he says arrogantly before standing up straight. “See you soon, Winter.”

  I release a sigh of relief when he walks out the door. My whole body starts to tremble. Whenever he’s near me, and I have no idea what he plans to do to me, I fight like hell not to react. To control my body and its response to him. Once he’s gone, all that tension and control releases and I can’t help the shakes that wrack my body.

  The door opens again, and Yury walks through. He sees my face and immediately walks over to me. He squats down next to my chair and looks at me with concern.

  “Did he do anything to you?” He asks in a hushed voice.

  I shake my head quickly, “But I was afraid he would.”

  “Well, you do not have to worry about that ever again. We are getting out of here tomorrow. Today, we plan.”

  I take a deep breath and nod my agreement.

  “I was thinking that we might need help on the outside. If Faith listened to Ivan’s instructions, she’s still somewhere in Paris. We might need her to get us a car and flight out of here. But I don’t know her number by heart, or anyone’s for that matter.” I clutch Yury’s arm as a thought comes to me. “Please tell me that you grabbed my phone when you first brought me here.”

  “I grabbed all of your personal items. Your phone is locked in Ivan’s desk in his office.”

  “Thank God.” I collapse back in my chair with relief. I look at him with a raised eyebrow. “Can you pick a lock?”

  “Did I not sneak into your rental and steal you from your bed in the middle of the night?”

  “Touché.”

  “I’ll be right back.”

  Yury hops up from his squatting position as if he weighs one-hundred pounds and not two-sixty. Then he strides from the room with purpose. For the first time leaving the door wide open. If it weren't for the fact that I knew he was going to help me escape, I’d sprint out the door like an Olympic runner.

  Sure enough, a few minutes later, Yury walks back into the bedroom with my phone in his hand.

  “Hmm…you know, even if I wasn’t in love with you, I’d keep you around because you’re very handy.”

  “Are you looking to start a life of crime?”

  “You never know. If this singing thing doesn’t pan out…”

  “No, never stop singing. Your voice changed my life.”

  If his words didn’t melt my heart, the sincerity in his face certainly finishes the job.

  Before the waterworks could begin, Yury hands me my phone. I turn it on and with a slight tremble of excitement, I pull up Faith’s number in my contacts and press ‘Call.’ She picks up within seconds as if she’s been waiting for this moment.

  “Winter?!”

  “It’s me, Faith.”

  “Are you alright?!”

  “Yes, I’m fine.”

  “Did you get away from him? Where are you?”

  “No, not yet. That’s why I’m calling. Are you still in Paris?

  “Of course, I am! I wouldn’t leave if it meant that he’d hurt you. I wanted to go to the police so many times. Once I actually walked to the station, but before I could walk in my cell rang and it was some scary guy watching me across the street on the other end of the line. He told me to keep walking. Then your mom keeps calling me and I had to tell her lie after lie. But I know if she finds out, she’ll sound the alarm. Then we’re both dead.” Faith rambles frantically.

  “Listen, Faith. It’s okay. It’ll all be over soon. But we need your help.”

  “Whatever you need. Wait. We?”

  “Uh…it’s a long story. But Ivan’s bodyguard and I are…uh…I guess you could say we’re together. Like, as in a couple. And he wants his freedom just as much as I do.”

  “Are you talking about that big scary looking dude?”

  “Yes.”

  “Winter are you crazy?”

  “Maybe. But I love him, Faith.”

  I hear her sigh on the other end of the line.

  “Alright. What do you need me to do?”

  “We need a car a block away from Ivan’s building tomorrow night. And a jet with you on it, waiting at the airport.”

  I look at Yury to make sure I got it right. He nods his and gives me a small smile. We’re not out of the woods yet, but there is a pinprick of light at the end of the tunnel.

  “Done.” Faith doesn’t hesitate. “I’ll call you back with the details in a few minutes.”

  “Thanks, Faith.”

  “No need to thank me. I technically got you in this mess. I
’ll do whatever I can to fix it.”

  “See you tomorrow?”

  “Tomorrow.”

  Chapter 23

  As promised, Faith called back twenty minutes later. She told me that there would be a nondescript black car with the keys underneath the wheel well left around the block at 10 p.m. tomorrow night. From there she’d be waiting on a private jet at the airport that will be fueled and ready for us.

  Now, all we can do is wait. Unfortunately, I’m not handling waiting so well. I’m a bundle of nerves. We’d already made love a few times, and I still can’t stop fidgeting.

  “Talk! Say something. Anything!” I shout into the deafening silence.

  My head is resting on Yury’s chest. It’s my new favorite place. I love listening to his heartbeat. It feels like it’s only for me.

  “Why did your parents name you Winter Rose or is it a stage name?” His deep, gravelly voice rumbles in his chest, and I smile.

  He must have wanted to ask that question for a while as quickly as it came out.

  “It’s my real name. My first and middle. It’s pretty self-explanatory if you think about it.” I kiss his chest and the rise up to look down at him. “When I was born, my parents had a name all picked out. Summer, ironically. But when they saw how pale I was and the doctor told them that I had the rare albinism condition, my mom immediately thought of Winter. She said my skin was as white as snow. Maybe even whiter. Then she said that my cheeks were really rosy. So that’s where Rose came from. Winter Rose Harris.”

  “It is beautiful and fits you perfectly.” He says as he strokes his thumb across my cheek.

  “What’s your full name?” I ask.

  He shrugs, “Just Yury.”

  “You mean to tell me that you don’t have a last name? Like Madonna or Drake or Sting?”

  “No. All that was lost when I was taken from the orphanage.”

  “My God.” I breathe. “I’m so sorry.”

  “What was it like?” He asks extra softly changing the subject.

  “What was what like?” I furrow my brow.

  “Being different? As a kid in school?”

  “Awful at times.” I frown thinking of the bullying I received. “I got good at fighting, though. They stopped then.

  “Besides, my mom pulled me from regular public school, and we moved to NYC so that I could train at a prestigious performing arts school. We were all a little odd. Many of us prodigies. So I fit in better. Just barely, though.”

  “Your voice sounds like an angel. And your ethereal skin and hair add to it. You seem like you are not of this world.” Yury says, his eyes worshipping me. It was wonderful and overwhelming.

  “Trust me, I am. You can’t imagine what it’s like. How much I wanted beautiful chocolate brown skin like my mom and other black girls and women. Even tan skin would’ve been preferable to this.” I gesture down my whole body.

  Yury gives me a look.

  “Oh… I guess you can imagine.” I say as I look at the brutally scarred side of his face. “I didn’t mean to diminish your struggle. I honestly forget about your scars. I don’t see them anymore.”

  “I wish I could do that.” Yury pauses. “Actually I do forget, but then someone sees me for the first time. Or I look in the mirror or see my reflection in some glass as I pass by. Then I feel like a monster again.”

  “You’re no monster. Maybe when we get out of here, I’ll take you to meet some of the kids who have facial disfigurements that are waiting for cosmetic surgery to fix it. I started the Happy Faces Foundation to raise money for children who want to get the surgery, but can’t afford it. If you saw them, you wouldn’t feel so much like a monster. Instead, you’d see how brave they are and maybe realize that you’re the same.” I finish with a smile and cup the scarred side of his face lovingly.

  Yury turns his face and kisses my palm. I’m loving this quiet time between us. Although I’m anxious for tomorrow, knowing that we’re alone and can enjoy each other fills me with a peace I haven’t felt in a while. I can’t wait until that feeling is permanent.

  “Did you go to school when you were a boy?” I ask curiously.

  “No. Ivan had tutors come to homeschool me. It was best that way. When I was around other kids, they were either scared of me or teased me. Since I had been a trained fighter at a young age and had a wild temper, I nearly killed a couple of kids who made fun of my scars. He kept me away after that.”

  “You’ve been through so much.”

  “I’m glad,” he says with a content look on his face.

  “You are?” I cock my head in surprise.

  “Yes. Had I not went through any of it, I would not be here in this bed with you. Ivan may be a lot of things, and I find it hard not to hate him for touching you, but if it was not for him, I would not have you.”

  I’m mush. I can’t even speak I’m so overcome.

  “Tell me about your life. What it was like to have a normal life.” Yury requests sincerely.

  “If you want normal, you’ll have to ask someone else.” I scoff and chuckle at the same time.

  “I just want to know all there is to know about you.”

  “If everything goes well, you’ll have a lifetime to get to know me.”

  I lean down and kiss him softly.

  Please let everything go well.

  Chapter 24

  This is too easy.

  Something isn’t right. I can feel it deep down. As a bodyguard/assassin, I know when something is off. My feelings are often times what has kept Ivan alive when he has so many enemies. But we do not have much choice. I have to get Winter away from him, and this is the best and only plan we’ve got.

  I told her to bring nothing but her phone to contact Faith in case anything went wrong. We left Ivan’s building with only the clothes on our backs. Both of us dressed in black with a black cap slapped over Winter’s head to hide her bright white hair. We slowly made our way around the block. I had expected to run into a guard at some point. But there was not even one. The key had been inside a magnet under the back passenger side wheel well, just as it was supposed to.

  We slide inside the car, and I look at Winter and give her a tight smile. She returns it, though I can see that she’s questioning how easy it has been thus far as well. I pull out into traffic and continue to check my mirrors to see if we’re being followed. Nothing seems suspicious, which is suspicious.

  I reach out and clutch Winter’s hand. I give it a quick squeeze before releasing her. I needed to touch her for a moment. A way to ground myself.

  Forty-five minutes later, we pull up to the gate that leads to the airfield. I hold my breath as I roll down the window to speak to the guard. His face, as he looks at me, is comical, but before he can respond, Winter leans over me to speak to him. She removes her hat to show her shock of hair.

  “Bonsoir. My name is Winter Rose Harris, and I have a jet waiting for me.” She smiles brightly.

  The man must recognize her because he smiles and presses a button. The gate starts to open. I look over at Winter, and we both breathe deeply.

  The jet is supposed to be at hangar nine, so I drive in that direction. We reach the hangar, and there is a plane waiting for takeoff. I throw the car in park and smile at Winter as we open our doors to get out.

  Maybe everything is fine, and I was just being paranoid.

  Before I could close the car door, I hear several tires screeching. Within seconds we are surrounded by other black nondescript cars. My heart sinks. I look over to Winter, and her eyes are wide with fear.

  A man steps out of the driver’s seat of the car in the center of the semicircle blocking us. I know him. Any last hope that this was something or someone else diminishes the moment I see him. One of Ivan’s guards.

  He walks to the back door and opens it. A familiar blond head emerges. Ivan unfolds himself from the backseat smoothly. As if it is any another day. Not the day that he was going ruin to our plans. Our lives.

  He just
stares at us as he buttons his suit jacket over his shirt and vest. He always has to look his best, even when he’s being an evil fucker.

  “Winter. Yury.” He calls out to us over the sound of the jet and other planes taking off or landing in the distance. His voice welcoming. I know better. “Come, let’s talk. It’s loud out here.”

  Ivan points to the hangar. I hesitate, sizing up his guard and the distance between us and the plane. I have to reassess a second later as the rest of Ivan’s entourage open their doors and step out of the cars. In total there are ten guards, plus Ivan. There’s no way I can fight through them and watch out for and protect Winter. I have to follow orders…as always.

  Two of his guards walk forward. One for me and one for Winter. They push us towards the hangar, and we reluctantly start moving. Ivan and his crew, I was once a part of, following closely behind us.

  Winter reaches for my hand. Her palm is damp with her fear and sweat. I squeeze her hand tightly. There is no use in pretending now.

  Once we are inside, the guard behind Winter rips her away from me and pulls her arms behind her back. She cries out in pain, but he refuses to let her go. I will kill him.

  Ivan slowly walks in front of us. He paces back and forth for a while, looking deep in thought. Purposely building up the suspense. Finally, he stops in front of Winter.

  “You know… I fell in love with you the moment I laid eyes on you in Moscow. But you refused me at every turn. It was hot for a while. I liked the chase you presented. I’ve never had to do it before. I think your resistance made me love you more.” He rubs his chin thoughtfully.

  “You have a really shitty way of showing it.” Winter spats. “You don’t kidnap the person you love. You don’t lock them up. You don’t coerce them to join in sexual acts. And you certainly don’t come up with a plan to wear them down until they give in and fuck you. That’s not how love works.”

  “How does it work then, Winter?” He asks as he slowly walks towards me. “What do I have to do? Shower you with gifts? Give you everything you’ve ever wanted? Take you around the world? Feed you decadent foods? No? Oh, I know. I just need to be a mute, fucking beast!”