I snorted. “Well, you can’t really make me, can you?” I demonstrated my retaliation by lifting myself up and away from him.
I was about to get away when he pulled me back against him, both arms around me, holding me tight, imprisoning me there in his embrace.
Suddenly, I felt his cock going hard and hot against me, and I muttered in outrage, “That’s not fair, Aslan. It’s early in the morning.”
He chuckled. “You have a choice, Lilly darling, kiss me or let me fuck you, again.”
My face went hot at his words. God, he wanted to make love to me again, already? We had done it five times last night, and now he wanted more?
Fuck. Lovemaking. Pussy. Cock. Come. Words I had only learned last night from Aslan. Apparently, they were naughty and intimate words that I was only allowed to use with him, and him alone.
I licked my lips and said, “All right. I’ll kiss you.”
I tucked my long hair behind my ear and then leaned in close to him. Our eyes met. My heart raced when I noted the burning passion glinting within those green eyes of his.
I kissed the demonic mask lightly, and instantly I felt this electrifying sensation buzzing throughout my body and my head felt light. I blinked in confusion, wondering what that was.
My head still in a daze, I raised myself and sat, straddling Aslan about his stomach with my slender limbs on either side of him.
“Sweetheart, you’re making it worse,” Aslan said.
“Making what worse?” I asked.
He sighed. “Every little thing you do is just so fucking adorable and tempting.” He wrapped his strong arms around my back, pulled me down against him—which surprised me so much that I could only gasp—and then flipped me under him.
With his massive, muscular body above me, I felt quite vulnerable to what he was about to do to me next, which I knew without a doubt was lovemaking.
I said, “I already chose to kiss you, Aslan, so you can’t make love to me.”
He said, his tone dark, “Sorry, sweetheart, but the little beast down there isn’t going to settle down until he’s done tasting your delicious nectar.”
“That’s not fair, Aslan. You’re cheating. You’re going back on your words. You’re a king, you can’t go back on your words.”
“Well, darling, a king can do whatever he wants. Especially when it comes to you, this king can’t control himself.” As he said those words to me, his hand was busy caressing and stroking my pussy.
I groaned, my body flooding with arousal. “Oh, Aslan,” I murmured softly under my breath.
“Does it feel good, darling?” he had the nerve to ask me. Of course, I uncontrollably nodded my head as I begged him for more.
Then he inserted his rock-hard, hot cock into my opening, and I literally sang out in satisfaction.
“Fuck, you’re beautiful,” he said. “And I want you to sing more for me.”
Indeed, he did, thrusting in and out of me so ruthlessly that he was driving me insane with pleasure, my voice crying out loud and clear so early in the morning. Then I came, and he along with me, and by then, I was already spent for the day.
Once I could catch my breath again, I managed to say, “You can’t make love to me so early in the morning again, Aslan. What if the maids come in and see us?”
He merely chuckled and brushed my demand and concern aside. Instead, he got out of bed, got me in his arms and carried me, naked, toward the other side of the room.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“To bathe,” he said.
“Oh,” I made the sound, nodding my head. Of course, we had to get ourselves ready for the day, didn’t we?
His bathing chamber was so much bigger than mine, and I stared in delight at the sight.
Aslan said, “You’re welcome to use this bathing chamber whenever you like.”
Despite that I was pleased he’d easily let me into his private space, and even use his bathing chamber, I shook my head. I said, “No, thanks. I have my own bathing chamber, which I like very much. So, you may put me down now and I’ll return to my own place and get myself ready for the day.”
It seemed he wasn’t listening to me, however, as he headed over to the shower cubicle.
“You’re bathing with me, darling,” he said once we were inside. I was about to protest and tell him that it was fine, when he turned on the shower and out came water.
He was laughing as I stared at him in exasperation.
“Aslan, I need my own toothbrush, you know,” I said.
“Don’t worry, I have plenty of spare ones.”
Of course, I knew that he had plenty of spare ones.
As he was heading out of the shower cubicle to retrieve that, I wondered how Aslan brushed his teeth. Or fangs. He would have to take off his mask, wouldn’t he?
When he returned, it was with a new brush, already topped with toothpaste on it. I took it from him and started brushing my teeth as he went about retrieving a body sponge and squeezing a goodly amount of shower gel on it. Once done, he turned to me and started cleaning me.
I pulled the toothbrush out of my mouth and said, “I can clean myself, you know.”
“I know, darling,” he said, gently wiping the sponge along my arm. “But you’re busy brushing your teeth. Once you’re done, you can return the favor and clean me.”
I popped the head of the toothbrush back into my mouth and continued brushing again, to avoid making a reply.
As he continued to clean me, I didn’t miss the fact his hands seem to lingered on my skin, touching me gently, yet intimately. Once he was done, I rinsed out my mouth, too, feeling a lot more refreshed. Then I dropped the toothbrush and made my escape by rushing out of the cubicle.
As I hastily made my way into the hot spring water pool, I heard Aslan chuckling. I avoided looking at him as I sighed in pleasure, splashing water on myself. I was still enjoying myself when I heard the sounds of footsteps and felt water rippling. I knew Aslan was in the pool.
I wasn’t wrong when I felt him behind me and then his arms around my middle.
I finally turned to look at him and said, “Hi.”
“Hi,” he said as he rotated me around to face him.
I automatically wrapped my arms around his shoulders as he did the same around my waist.
“Can you actually take that mask of?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yes.”
I licked my lips and asked, “Then can you do it for me? I want to see your face.”
He was silent for a moment as he watched me. God, but I felt nervous.
Slowly, he shook his head, and I was disappointed.
“Why not? Is your face that…that bad?”
“I won’t let you see me like that, Lilly,” he said.
I tightened my arms around his neck and leaned closer. I was insistent. “I promise I won’t be scared even if your face is that grotesque.”
Again, he shook his head. “No, Lilly.”
Suddenly, he let go of me, turned on his heel, and walked out of the pool. “I have to get ready for work. Stay here as long as you like. Ria will be here to get you ready soon.” With that, he walked out the door in all his naked glory.
* * *
I did not see Aslan again for the rest of the day nor the next, and I began to worry that he might be avoiding me. Had I pushed him into a corner when I requested to see his face? I didn’t know, and the thought that I had offended him didn’t sit well with me. Then again, Aslan was a three-thousand-year-old, powerful, paranormal beast, so a human girl like me from the other side of the realm shouldn’t make him feel like he was a weak thing, being pushed into a corner. I had to tell myself that it was all in my head. It was logical that Aslan wouldn’t be able to see me since he was busy with work, what with him being the king of the Forbidden Forest. He had much work to do, ruling the kingdom and all. He’d barely have any time for a girl like me.
Then again, he should have at least told me that he was going to be busy a
nd that he wouldn’t be able to see me.
I sighed as I stared blankly at the delicious-looking meal of pasta in front of me.
“What’s the matter, my lady?” Ria asked.
I raised my eyes to her. “Nothing. I’m just feeling a little restless, that’s all.”
Ria said, “Then a change in the atmosphere might help. A walk in the garden, perhaps?”
I nodded my head. “Yes, perhaps. But I still want to read, though.”
“You can always read in the garden, my lady,” the maid named Annie, suggested.
Annie was a rabbit person, with a pair of lovely long, fluffy, brown rabbit ears. She was currently Ria’s assistant.
“Like a picnic,” she said. “We can prepare snacks and a blanket for you. Since it’s summer, the flowers are very beautiful and fragrant at this time of the year.”
I nodded. “That sounds marvelous. Though having a picnic by myself is rather boring. How about we invite Norma and Tammy to join us?”
“Us, my lady?” Ria looked at me as if I had just grown a pair of cat’s ears like hers.
I chuckled. “Of course, us. You, Annie, and me.”
“But…” Ria began.
“No buts,” I said. “I’m sick and tired of being this ‘Lord Aslan’s Beauty,’ even though I have no idea what that means. I don’t like being treated like a spoiled princess, and at the same time feeling so isolated and alone. I want friends. Companionship. Something I’ve never had. So, there, you two are joining me in this picnic.”
Of course, I wasn’t surprised that they both looked rather dumbfounded at the words that passionately came out of my mouth. Leaving the meaning behind those words to sink into their minds, I started my delicious pasta lunch.
It wasn’t long after I had finished my meal when we three, along with Winter, headed toward the south wing garden where tall trees, bushes of camellia, various colorful roses, and lots of small flowers resided. Indeed, Annie was right. The scents in the garden were amazingly and exotically fragrant. If I remembered correctly, the garden back at the manor of the village wasn’t this fragrant, even though there were camellias, roses, wildflowers, and many others, too. Here, it was many times more aromatic, and I wondered if it was perhaps the magic that existed here that made it so.
I picked a lovely spot under a shaded tree, since it was hot, and close by were rows of beautiful pink camellia, while before us was a pond and water feature.
Once Ria and Annie had finished laying out the blanket on the lawn, we sat down. I picked up a history book that I had checked out from the castle’s library while Ria and Annie took out their embroidery kits. While they did their thing, I casually read and asked them the many questions that randomly popped into my head; one of which was obviously about the fragrance of the flowers.
“Ah,” Annie said. “That’s because of the magic here.”
When she said that, it confirmed my suspicion. I asked, “How so?”
“That, my lady, is a long story,” came Norma’s voice.
I raised my eyes to see Norma and Tammy before us, grinning cheekily.
“Ta-da!” Norma said. “I’ve brought us some delicious sweets.”
Ria gladly took the basket and peeked inside. “Wow! Chocolate cake.”
The moment Ria mentioned chocolate cake, I blushed, remembering that scene a few nights ago when Aslan was feeding me cake.
Tammy said, as she made herself comfortable on the blanket, “And I’ve brought coffee.” She raised a large silver object which I had never seen before.
I asked, “What’s that, Tammy?”
“It’s a coffee cylinder, my lady,” she replied. “It holds hot coffee inside.”
“I see,” I said. “Very convenient, eh?”
She nodded.
Norma asked, “So, do you want to hear about why the flowers in the Aurora Realms are so fragrant? Especially our roses?”
I nodded my head enthusiastically. “Yes, please.”
Norma chuckled. She cleared her throat and was about to begin when Ria cut her short. “I don’t think Lady Lilly is ready to hear such a long and boring history about the mere fragrance of a rose, yet.”
Norma raised a brow. “I, personally, think it’s fine that Lady Lilly hears of the story.” She turned to me and asked, “After all, you are interested, aren’t you, my lady?”
I nodded my head like an excited pup again, and indeed, Winter, who was lying cozily on my lap, gave out a bark in agreement.
With Ria being outnumbered, Norma began. “It all started long ago, my lady, when our world wasn’t so prosperous, shall we say.”
“So, the Forbidden Forest wasn’t this…prosperous previously?” I asked.
Norma nodded her head while Tammy said, “You could say we were desperate back then.”
Annie agreed with a few nods of her head while Ria looked forlorn. Suddenly, I felt a little sick to the stomach. To think that this beautiful world of the Aurora Realm had once been in pretty bad shape made me a little sad, not only because of the fact that I had come to cherish this world, but that Aslan had been here and enduring it back then.
Norma continued, “And something needed to be done. It started with that red rose.”
Ria said, as she nodded her head, “That one and only red rose.”
“The red rose?” I asked.
Annie said, “The one that keeps us alive, protecting us and cherishing us.”
I frowned in confusion. I felt as though they were speaking in riddles, and I couldn’t understand their meanings.
Ria said, “You could say it was nearly the end of the world for us, and our… Something needed to be done. There wasn’t much choice. It was the only way and…”
Norma nodded, along with Tammy and Annie.
I, on the other hand, noted that somehow talking about the past had gotten to them and it upset them.
I said, “It’s all right. If you don’t want to talk about it, it’s fine.”
They didn’t protest and continued to stay silent, as if in mourning… For something? For someone? I didn’t know, and let them.
It was a few moments later when Norma said, “But everything is fine now and you’re here, my lady.”
I smiled, despite the fact that I didn’t know how I was related to everything being fine now that I was here. I had come into their world a long time after everything was fine for them, after all.
Tammy changed the topic of the conversation—or more like gossip—and it wasn’t long until laughter erupted. I joined along with them because, despite that I had only been here for a short while, I knew some of the tittle-tattle that went about the castle. This went on even when we started having our chocolate cake and coffee, and I felt so elated and happy to have friends to converse and spend time with, just enjoying ourselves.
It was sometime later that Norma excused herself, citing she had work to get back to. She thanked me politely for inviting her, and then she was gone. Tammy followed suit, and then Annie and Ria, as they all had to get back to work before dinner started.
Now alone with Winter, who was fast asleep beside me, I picked up the book I had brought along. Flicking to the page where I had left off, I started reading. I was so engrossed that I didn’t hear anyone approaching until a manly voice said, “May I join you?”
Instantly, my heart skipped a beat and my tummy fluttered. I raised my head to see Aslan standing before me, his demonic mask bright and clear under the afternoon sun.
I licked my lips and mutely nodded my head.
Aslan came to sit beside me, leaning close to me so that his masked face was inches from mine. “Kiss me, sweetheart,” he demanded gently.
I quietly obeyed and planted my lips against his demonic mask at the position where I thought his lips underneath the mask resided, which was the growling mouth of the beastly structure.
Aslan cupped my face with one hand and said, “Sorry I wasn’t with you for the past two days. I was busy with work.”
; I shook my head to tell him that I understood. I said, “You’re a king, so of course you’re busy with work.”
He chuckled. “And fucking tired. I’m beat, darling.”
Without further ado, he moved about and made himself comfortable on the blanket, laying his large, muscular body across the length of the blanket and his head on my lap.
“Oh!” I expressed, as I stared at him, dumbfounded.
“I’m going to have a nap,” he said. “Look after me while I snooze, why don’t you, love?”
I smiled and nodded my head. “Go for it, Aslan,” I said, running my fingers through his dark hair. “Sleep well, beast.”
He snorted and wrapped one arm around my waist as he buried his face against my belly, which tickled and I laughed.
“God, you smell divine,” he said.
“No funny business, Aslan,” I warned.
He didn’t reply, and being curious as I was, I leaned down and looked at his mask closely. I noted that his eyes were closed and his breathing was deep and even. He had fallen asleep already? Of course, he must have been exhausted.
I kissed him on the growling mouth section of his mask again and said, “Sleep well, Aslan.”
Then I returned to my reading, and now and again, I’d check on Aslan to see how he was going with his sleeping. Now and again, I’d run my fingers through his hair lovingly.
I didn’t know how long I sat there, with Aslan sleeping, his head on my lap. All I knew was that I greatly enjoyed the moment, cherishing it, especially with our surroundings so beautiful and delightful; with the strong, exotic fragrance of the flowers floating about the air.
It was when the sun was just starting to set that Aslan woke up, and by then, my legs were numb and sore from sitting in one position for too long. Not to mention having the weight of Aslan’s head on top of them. Not that I was complaining, of course.
When he opened his eyes, I felt my breath snatched away. Indeed, those beautiful green eyes never ceased to fascinate me. Even more so when they were twinkling with such dark passion while looking directly at me.
“Hi,” I said. “Did you sleep well?”
He chuckled. “Very well, thank you, love,” he said. Then he raised himself and, unsurprisingly, pulled me into his arms.
The Beast and I: Volume 1 Page 12