by A. Anders
“Well, I don’t read many of the romances, but I will give it some thought and see what I come up with,” the Beast told her. “Is that what you did before your bad luck brought you here? Read books all day?”
“I would hardly refer to it as all day. I cooked and cleaned for my father as he made clocks that he would sell. When I had free time I might go fishing where I would take a book. But I think what I enjoyed doing the most was invent things.”
The Beast’s eyes popped open with surprise. “Are you saying that you are an inventor?”
Belle smiled and shrugged humbly. “I have invented a thing or two that has made my life easier.”
“Like what?” the Beast asked intrigued.
“Well, there is a fishing box that helps me catch fish. It’s way better than just a fishing line and you don’t have to pay attention while you’re doing it. On top of that, I invented a faster way of cleaning clothes. And I’ve been working on a new way of baking bread. I haven’t gotten that one completely figured out yet but I’m close.”
The Beast looked at Belle delighted. “There is something that I would love to show you.”
“To show me? What’s that?”
The Beast shifted to the edge of the bed. “Help me up.”
“Oh no. You can show me later. For now, you have to rest.”
“No, don’t be silly. I’ve gone through much worse than that. I’m fine. Just help me up,” he insisted.
Unsure if she should, Belle did what he had asked. She helped him up and on his feet, he looked strong.
“Not too quickly, okay?” Belle requested.
The Beast looked at Belle appreciatively. “For you, I will take my time.”
The Beast led Belle down the stairs and through the castle into the basement. There they entered a workspace. It was filled with gears and screws, everything that Belle could ever dream of. To the inventor in her, this was a dream come true.
“This was where the castle’s craftsman worked. If you want it, it’s yours.”
“I do,” Belle said excitedly.
“And maybe you can show me a few of your inventions.”
“I will.”
“Good,” the Beast said pleased.
Over the next few days, the Beast regained his strength. As he did, he and Belle fell into a routine. Every day they ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner together, but between meals, they would go off doing their own thing. Belle would often toil away in her craftsman’s space. The Beast would disappear into the castle.
There was a day when Belle followed him wanting to know what he did all day. It turned out that the Beast spent the morning staring longingly through a window. Watching him broke her heart. She remembered Prince Renaud’s story about the Beast’s lost love. His longing drew her to him. His pain made her want to know him more.
“What do you dream about?” Belle asked the next day over breakfast.
“What do I dream about? Why would you ask that?”
“I don’t know. I guess it’s because when I first got here, I had some pretty crazy dreams.”
“And what were they?”
“I think I dreamed of the people who lived here before us. There was a thin man with a gold-plated mustache and someone else who called himself Prince Renaud.”
The Beast looked at Belle suspiciously. “Prince Renaud? The man with the black heart?”
“That’s just it. He didn’t seem like you described. He seemed quite kindhearted and innocent.”
The Beast huffed.
“You don’t believe me?” Belle asked
“They were just dreams. If you had met the man, I’m sure your impression of him would be different.”
“You said that you have always lived here. Did you meet him? Did you know him?” Belle asked fascinated.
“I knew him and he was exactly how people said.”
Not having dreamed about the Prince since they had kissed, Belle wondered if she had missed something in their exchange. Setting her thoughts aside, she returned to the topic at hand.
“I asked you that because, in my dream, the Prince told me something about you.”
The Beast chuckled doubtfully. “Did he? What was that?”
“He said that as a boy you fell in love with a commoner and that your father prevented you two from being together. He said it was your father who turned you into the Beast. Is that true?”
He looked at Belle surprised. “It is true.”
“Is that what you think about when you’re staring at the forest?”
The Beast didn’t reply. The pain he felt could not be missed.
“Do you think you can tell me about her?”
The Beast looked at Belle stone-faced. “It is not something I am ready to talk to you about.”
“Oh, okay,” Belle said wilting.
The Beast’s heart melted looking at her. She was the kindest girl that he had ever met. “Are you busy with some project today?” the Beast asked vulnerably.
“Nothing important. Why do you ask?”
“There is something that I would like to show you.”
After breakfast, the Beast led Belle outside. The day wasn’t as dark as it usually was. There was more of a glow in the air.
“Are you cold?” the Beast asked as Belle hugged her body.
“No, I’m fine,” she said not wanting the Beast to change his mind about sharing with her.
“Here, take my coat,” he said removing his jacket from his wide shoulders and placing it on the much smaller Belle.
“Thank you,” she said gratefully.
Belle pulled the large, thick coat around her. It smelled like the Beast. The scent might have turned others off. It made Belle feel relaxed and cared for.
The two stopped walking when they approached a rosebush. Belle looked on surprised recognizing it from her dreams. It was where Prince Renaud had taken her. It was where they had kissed. Belle’s heart thumped wondering what was going on.
“Is this what you wanted to show me?” Belle asked, her heart racing.
“Yes.”
“It’s beautiful. There are so many roses. I’ve never seen so many blooming roses on one bush before.”
“This was the rosebush that your father picked a rose from before I imprisoned him.”
Ripped from her warm feeling, Belle looked at the Beast shocked. “This is the rosebush?”
“Yes,” he said unwaveringly.
“What makes these so special that picking one could result in imprisonment?” Belle asked becoming angry.
“There was one other thing I didn’t tell you about what happened the night that the royal court was cursed.”
“What was that?”
“On the night that the fairy left, this bush suddenly grew. On it was what seemed like an endless number of buds. Now there are only five buds left. None of the roses have ever fallen. They all remained perfect and full. I believe that when the last bud opens, something will happen. I’m not sure what, but I can’t imagine that it’s good.”
Belle looked at the rosebush and then at the Beast. Was there something special about the bush? Was this why the Beast had given her father such a harsh sentence? It was beginning to make sense.
“Beast, I once asked you about breaking the curse. You never replied. Is there a way to break the curse?”
The Beast shifted uncomfortably. “On that night, the fairy said there was one thing that would break the curse.”
“And what’s that?” Belle asked breathlessly.
“Love,” the Beast admitted pained. “Love.”
Chapter 10
Belle went to bed that night thinking about what the Beast had said. Love was what would free Prince Renaud from his curse. She could do that for him. She could love him and, from their last kiss, Belle believed that he could love her in return.
A man like Prince Renaud was easy to love. His exquisite good looks, his charm. What wasn’t there to love?
The problem was that she hadn’t dre
amt of the Prince since their kiss. Climbing into bed thinking of him, she hoped and prayed that he would visit her again. As if by magic, the Prince heard her. She wasn’t asleep for very long before hearing a voice that roused her awake.
“Belle?” The Prince said in a sultry tone.
Belle opened her eyes. The gorgeous man was staring down at her. His lips, his eyes, they were all as she remembered. Her body tingled staring at him. Slowly gripping the bed sheets, her heart quickened as it became harder for her to breathe.
The Prince, captivated by her beauty, needed to be near her. Leaning down, he hovered with his lips dangerously close to hers. It took everything in him to stop. The heat that billowed between them made it even harder.
Belle’s heart fluttered as the Prince hovered inches from her lips. Why wasn’t he kissing her? Her flesh burned needing to be touched. And unable to resist any longer, she pulled back her shoulders and lifted her chest.
Her gesture was enough. The Prince’s lips swooped forward touching hers. Their two soft lips pressed against each other’s. They kissed and Belle remembered how good it felt.
Desperately wanting more, Belle parted her lips. The Prince conceded. With his tongue in search of hers, they touched. As they danced dipping in and out of each other’s mouths, Belle’s mind swirled.
Belle gripped the bed sheets tighter. She couldn’t control her legs as they slowly pumped across the mattress. She still needed more of him. She got it when the Prince climbed on top of her slipping his large hand behind her neck.
The Prince’s touch was rapturous. She couldn’t breathe. Pulling her lips from his, she tilted her head back. And when he shifted his lips to the nape of her neck and the sensitive skin behind her ear, she moaned with pleasure.
“Yes,” she said submitting to anything the Prince desired.
With his body on top of hers, Prince Renaud moved his free hand to Belle’s bare leg. He caressed it. When she moaned “yes” again, he slid his hand further up her thigh. It was beyond pleasurable. And when his light touch made its way past her waistline and along her side, Belle shivered with anticipation.
The Prince’s hand stopped when it was caressing Belle’s bare breast. She had never felt so alive. Allowing him to touch her there sent pulses through her body that settled in the flesh between her legs. Belle didn’t know what was happening to her. She was losing control but she liked it.
“Yes,” she moaned again.
With that, the Prince removed his hand from her neck and laid it against her opposite thigh. Pushing her nightgown higher, her naked body was quickly exposed. The Prince’s hand didn’t stop at her breast, though. It pushed her dress over her head. Soon Belle’s young body was bare to the world. She twitched vulnerably beneath her powerful Prince. Silently she screamed for him to touch her again.
The next thing that Renaud touched was his own shirt. Grabbing it from the bottom, he pulled it up over his head and tossed it aside. Bare chested he propped himself over her.
She swallowed looking at him. His perfectly smooth, sculpted chest made the swollen flesh between her legs quiver. She couldn’t stand to not touch him.
Releasing the sheets, her fingers landed on his flat stomach. Her hand shook as it did. He was the most beautiful man she had ever seen. Slowly pushing her fingers up his toned stomach made her young body twitch even more.
When the Prince returned his lips to Belle, it surprised her where they landed. Instead of her lips or her neck, the Prince’s mouth touched her breast. Belle held her breath never having experienced anything so wonderful. And when his trail of kisses moved to her swollen pink areola, she gripped his torso suddenly feeling the swollen flesh between her legs pulse with excitement.
Massaging her free breast, the Prince’s lips consumed the other. He moved his tongue exploring her nipple. Circling it rhythmically, he extended it so only the tip of his tongue touched. The concentrated attention was overwhelming. When he moved his tongue to the tip of her nipple, Belle’s toes curled and her fingers dug into his flesh.
Already having experienced more than she could ever have imagined, her mind spiraled as he massaged her breasts. The Prince didn’t stop there. Moving his lips further down her body, he kissed every inch of her sensitive flesh. Feeling his lips on her curves ignited her sex. And the further down he went, the more she reacted.
When his lips crossed the border onto the flesh below her waist, Belle’s eyes popped open in ecstasy. What was he doing? Belle didn’t know. She swallowed wanting him to both stop and continue.
Confused and bewildered, Belle put her hands on the Prince’s head. His hair was long and silky. As she slipped her fingers through it, it was to her surprise that she didn’t stop his head from going lower. She guided his lips to the spot she thought they would feel the best.
Holding his head in place, her lover touched his tongue on the button buried between her swollen lips. A pulse shot through her clenching all of her muscles at once. She tried to roll over but he wouldn’t let her move.
As the Prince circled her button with his tongue, Belle thrashed her shoulders from side to side. It was more pleasure than she had ever experienced. And when she lost her breath and her body froze, something exploded within Belle that made her lift her hips like a bronco. She couldn’t think. All she could do was feel and what she felt was fantastic.
Desperately needing him to stop, Belle pushed down on the Prince’s head ushering it away. The Prince yielded then moved quickly. Before she knew it, she felt something large between her legs. It was pressing against her opening. It entered her. It felt glorious although a little too much.
Scooping Belle’s small body into his arms, the Prince thrust himself only a few times before grunting himself. Mercifully after that, Belle was able to rest. Exhausted, she relaxed into her lover’s warm arms.
Laying with the Prince’s hard manhood still inside of her, Belle never felt more whole. Her lover’s body heat enveloped her. She could have laid their forever. She couldn’t imagine a better feeling. She wanted to be with him for the rest of her life. Thinking of that, she next thought about the Beast.
There was something that the Beast had told her. He had said that love would break the Prince’s curse. Prepared to declare her undying love for him, she spoke.
“The Beast said something to me,” she began.
“Why would you mentioned the Beast now?” The Prince barked abruptly.
Bella shook startled. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, why would you bring up the Beast now? We just shared something wonderful and now you’re mentioning that thing. Of all times, you’re mentioning that hideous creature now.”
Bella stared at the Prince shocked. She had no idea where this was coming from. “I don’t understand. I thought that you were okay with the Beast.”
“If you thought that, then you were mistaken. It is a hideous creature which haunts this castle and needs to be gotten rid of. Or perhaps, even better, snuffed out of existence.”
Belle pulled away from the Prince disturbed by what she was hearing. She remembered that the Beast had said that the Prince had a black heart. She hadn’t believed it. Perhaps the Beast was right.
“I think you don’t understand the Beast,” Belle said. “He’s not as bad as you think. In fact, there is a surprisingly tender side to him that you would never expect.”
Prince Renaud groaned in protest.
“Belle, I’m not sure how much you know about that creature, but I can tell you that there is nothing there worth redeeming. It needs to be hunted and its head needs to be hung from the wall.”
Belle pulled away from the Prince in disgust. Renaud saw and reached for her.
“No, don’t touch me.”
“Belle, you don’t understand.”
“Then help me understand,” Belle insisted not giving an inch.
The Prince looked at her and paused. His lips tightened and the muscles in his face tensed. “I can’t quite explain it to you. Bu
t I can tell you, everyone’s life would be better if that thing were dead.”
“I don’t believe it. The Beast was right. You do have a black heart.”
The Prince reached for Belle again. As he did, Belle jerked away waking herself up in the process. When she opened her eyes, she was alone in the dark. Suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of emotion, Belle broke into tears.
Had any of it been real? It had certainly felt real. If it was, why had the Prince been so awful? Was there really something she didn’t know about the Beast?