by A. Anders
Gathering his strength the Beast tossed the pile of men off of him. Still recovering from his wounds from his battle with the Captain, he ignored the pain and ripped at the next person he saw. His only thought was of protecting the castle. The castle didn’t just house a collection of things. The chairs, candlesticks, and clocks were all remnants of his court. If any of them were destroyed, the Beast was sure that they would die.
With the mob unyielding, Belle, the Prince and the servants did everything they could to fight them off.
“The clockmaker was right,” a man yelled. “This castle is haunted,” he said startled but not stopping his assault.
“Clockmaker?” Belle asked. “Papa?” She yelled looking through the crowd.
At the back of the mob, Belle saw him. It was her father. He looked bewildered. Being there was triggering a memory he couldn’t understand.
“Belle?” He asked himself. “Did I have a daughter named Belle?”
“Yes, papa. It’s me, Belle. Can you see me?”
He couldn’t. Belle was about to grab him to jolt his memory when she suddenly heard a bang. She spun around. There was a man who held aloft a smoking gun. It looked like the bartender from her village. The gun was pointed at the Beast from only a few feet in front of him. The Beast, who was already struggling to stay on his feet, dropped to his knees and fell to his side.
“No!” The Prince yelled from behind Belle. Turning to look at him, Belle found the Prince shocked at what he saw.
“I got him,” the bartender said readying his musket for another shot.
Belle shifted her attention next towards Captain Bernard. He had to be who the bartender was aiming for next. As far as the bartender could see, there was no one else there.
As the Captain continued to fight the men off, Belle ran towards him. Approaching the bartender first, she tried to grab him. Her hands went straight through. Loaded, the bartender lifted his gun and was about to fire.
“No!!!” someone yelled at the top of their lungs. It was the Prince. But none of their attackers could hear him. Too far away to do anything, the Prince could only watch as the bartender pointed his gun at the Captain and slowly pulled the trigger.
It was out of nowhere that the Beast lunged across the room wrapping his arms around Captain Bernard. When the bartender fired, it wasn’t the Captain who he hit. It was the Beast again. Whatever life the Beast had drained quickly after that.
As the Beast fell, all of the fighting stopped. The floating books and pans dropped to the ground. The approaching mob seemed to come to their senses. They looked around confused.
Belle took advantage of the moment of calm and raced back to the Beast. With the Captain standing over him, Belle placed herself by his side.
“No, Beast,” the Captain said trying to prevent him from slowly closing his eyes. “You must stay with me. Prince, you must stay with me. I won’t let you go.”
The last man to join the group was the Prince himself. Standing above the trio he looked down. Belle, with tears in her eyes, looked up. Without being asked, Belle allowed the Prince to take her place. The Prince looked down at the Beast mournfully.
“You were willing to sacrifice your life to protect the man you loved. I misjudged you, Beast. My entire life, I have misjudged you.”
It was as the Beast closed his eyes that Belle noticed someone approaching their group. With her came a brilliant light. Belle looked up and saw a beautiful woman. There was a yellow light glowing around her and she appeared to have wings.
Captain Bernard also looked up. He didn’t see the same person. To the Captain, it was an old woman who wore tattered clothing and whose back curved like a ‘C’.
“Mother?” Prince Renaud said breaking the silence.
Belle looked at the Prince shocked by his revelation.
“Mother, is that you? What happened to you?” He asked not believing what he was seeing.
“Son, I am sorry that I left you when I did, but I have always been there for you. I can see that your life after I was gone was hard. But I give this gift to you now, the gift of loving yourself. Because until you have learned to love yourself, you will never truly be able to love or receive love from others.”
With those words, the glowing woman lifted a wand and tapped the air in front her. A magnificent ripple of light shot outwards. The force of its knocked Belle onto her back. It did the same to everyone.
When Belle opened her eyes and looked around, everything around her looked different. Slowly sitting up, the first thing that Belle noticed was that the Beast was gone. Where he had been was the Prince.
His wasn’t the only change, though. All of the furniture that had been surrounding the room had disappeared. Now, in its place, was Mr. Kandel and many of the others. Was the curse broken? Belle wasn’t sure.
“Belle?” She heard her father say from across the room. “Belle, is that you?”
“Papa?” She said as her relieved heart filled with warmth. “Dear Papa!” She exclaimed getting up and running to him.
Throwing her arms around her father, Belle saw that hers wasn’t the only reunion in the crowd. Mr. Kandel spotted one of the women from the village and was running to her. One of the young girls who had been a servant in the castle sprinted to a man she called father.
They had done it. They had helped the Prince break the curse. And remembering the state that the Beast was in, Belle then left her Papa and hurried to the Prince’s inside.
“Prince, are you all right?” Belle asked holding the Prince’s hand.
The Prince’s eyes were closed. Hearing her voice, he slowly opened them. The first person he saw was her. A light shone in his eyes that told her how much she meant to him.
“Thank you,” the Prince said reaching for Belle’s hand. Squeezing it, the Prince then looked over to his right side at Captain Bernard. “And thank you,” he said unable to love someone more.
Belle looked at the way that the Prince looked at Captain Bernard. With an ache in her chest, she swallowed. It was clear who the Prince loved. It wasn’t her. As much as it hurt, she was going to have to accept that. Belle was about to get up and leave the two alone when the Prince tightened his grip on her hand.
“Where are you going?” The Prince asked turning to her.
“I’m going to go so that you can be with the man that you love,” she said as graciously as she could.
The Prince smiled. “But if you leave me, then how will I ever be with the woman that I love. Belle, I have loved you from the moment I saw you. And the fact that you were the one who saved me from this curse, tells me that my love for you was not in vain.
“If you will have me, Belle, I would like to spend the rest of my life with you.” The Prince then looked at Captain Bernard. “With both of you.” He looked back at Belle. “That’s if you two would have me… and perhaps even have each other.”
Belle’s heart thumped with warmth. She couldn’t imagine loving anyone as much as she loved the Prince. The only one she could come close to loving as much would be Captain Bernard.
“What do you say, Belle?” Captain Bernard said drawing her attention. “You know that I have always loved you, too. Will you have us both?”
Belle looked between the two men unable to imagine two men she could love more. She smiled, not just on the outside, but deep within as well. She was about to become the wife of the Prince and the cohort of the Captain and she could never imagine being happier.
“I will have you,” she said to Captain Bernard. “And yes, I will have you too,” she said to the beautiful Prince.
And as the three of them held each other and kissed, the crowd cheered with delight. Turning to face them as their soon to be queen, Belle smiled knowing that she was about to live happily ever after.
The end.
*****
Get 6 FREE books by signing up for Alex Anders’ mailing list at: AlexAndersBooks.com
*****
Sneak Peek:
En
joy this Sneak Peek of ‘Island Candy’:
Island Candy
(MMF Bisexual Romance)
By
A. Anders
Copyright 2017 RateABull Publishing
All Rights Reserved
A billionaire bad boy and a brilliant artist meet their match when they fall for the same untamable girl. Whirlwind romance, mind-blowing sex, and emotional fulfillment follow… with a catch
JOANNA
Whenever something bad happens, people always talk about moving to Canada. Are you kidding? It’s freezing up there. Joanna is way too smart for that. No, she headed to The Bahamas. Beautiful relaxing beaches… hot island men who appreciated her curves… That was exactly what she needed.
Could anything have prepared her for what she found – Paulo, an insanely hot local artist, and Devlin, a billionaire bad boy who sails the islands like a pirate? She had to be crazy to follow those two men onto Devlin’s yacht for an island hopping escape. But with eyes like Devlin’s and a body like Paulo’s, how could any woman not?
Paulo
If Paulo lived anywhere else on the planet other than a tiny tropical island, he would already be a world famous artist. With a spectacular eye for beauty and form, he is consumed by Joanna from the moment he sees her. The problem is that his friend, Devlin, seems to like her too. Paulo could never compete with Devlin’s yacht and billionaire lifestyle, but under the spell of the most beautiful woman he has ever seen, Paulo isn’t about to give Joanna up without a fight… even if that means joining the two on a sexually charged sailing adventure that Paulo could never have imagined.
DEVLIN
When Devlin met Joanna, he knew immediately that he had met his match. She was gorgeous, funny, and had a mouth like a sailor. Who better to sail the seven seas with? Okay, the turquoise waters of the Bahamas wasn’t exactly the seven seas. But when you sail your fifty-foot superyacht under the pirate flag, you get to call things what you want. In fact, Devlin always got what he wanted until he met his drop-dead good looking friend, Paulo. The sexual tension between the two had always been sizzling. And now with Joanna in the mix, Devlin has a plan to get his pirate booty.
Steamy nights, high seas piracy, unexpected twists and turns, add that together and you’ve got some delicious island candy.
‘Island Candy’ is a very steamy, very funny, ultra high heat standalone bisexual menage romance with explicit MF, MM, MFM and MMF scenes. Contains a not-to-be-missed HEA ending!
*****
Island Candy
Devlin looked out of the window as the plane approached its destination. The water surrounding the island was so clear that Devlin was sure that he could see the bottom. This would be his first time in the Bahamas. It had been a place he had always wanted to visit.
Devlin didn’t know how many chances he would get to see the sights, though. This trip was all business. After three years of research, two years of deal making, and after spending all the money he had, he was close to closing the deal that would make him one of the richest man in the world. There was only one thing standing in his way. His name was Sergio Ortega and Devlin would be spending the weekend with Sergio and his wife in Nassau on an estate called Nygard Cay.
“Please prepare for landing,” the captain announced over the PA.
Devlin returned his seat to an upright position and stared out as the island got closer. He went over his talking points once again. Sergio was the largest shareholder in the biotech company that wanted to acquire the two companies Devlin had nurtured for seven years. He wasn’t sure why the board of Sergio’s company approved the merger while Sergio didn’t, but if he wasn’t going to end up on the streets, he was going to have to find out and change Sergio’s mind.
After the plane landed, Devlin collected his stuff and exit the plane. Descending the stairs and entering the blistering sun, he was shocked to find out how hot it was. As he crossed the tarmac to the airport, he realized it wasn’t the heat, but the humidity. There was certainly humidity in New York, but what he experienced now was the equivalent of walking through soup.
Loosening two buttons on his tailored dress shirt, he was relieved to enter the air-conditioned building. Snaking through the hallways and passing through the lines, he didn’t look forward to reentering the heat again. But knowing that there was a car outside waiting for him, he collected his luggage, loosens another button, and ventured forward.
Scanning the faces outside of the railing, he spotted a man with the sign.
“I’m Devlin,” he said approaching him.
“Right this way, sir,” the man said in a singsong accent.
Ushered into an SUV, Devlin was again relieved to feel the air-conditioning. The temperature truly was a shock to his system. It made him wonder how English soldiers could stand to wear their uniforms in the1800s. That time in history had always fascinated Devlin, and so much of the most interesting parts took place in Bahamian waters.
“Is it always this warm?” Devlin said leaning forward.
“This is nothing, sir. You came while it was still cool.”
The slight smile on the driver’s face told Devlin he was joking. The driver was having a little fun with him. Devlin decided to play along.
“Yeah, I’ve read stories that the birds here sometimes just burst into flame,” Devlin joked.
“You read that too?” The driver said delighted that Devlin was playing along. “I’ve seen it. It happens all the time.”
Devlin smiled and leaned back. The driver’s humor had helped. Sure, it was hot, but it really wasn’t that hot. He was going to have to loosen up. Everything he had learned about Sergio told him that Sergio wouldn’t respond well to uptight New York types.
“Have you ever been to Nygard Cay before?” The driver asked him.
“No. This is my first time in the Bahamas. Is it nice?”
“I think you’ll like it. Do you remember that show ‘Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous?’”
“Kind of,” Devlin offered.
“It was on that show a couple of times. They shot a few other TV shows there too. It’s one of the great estates in the world.”
Devlin considered what he had heard and then turned his attention outside the window. The vegetation was distinct from anything he had seen in the United States. There were skinny pine trees and an abundance of flowers. Devlin wasn’t sure if he had ever seen so many flowers.
Everything about the place relaxed him. He was beginning to feel ready for the most important business meeting of his life. And entering the gated neighborhood where Nygard Cay was located, he knew he was almost there.
“That’s where Sean Connery lives,” the driver said pointing to a modest two-story house.
“It’s not very impressive,” Devlin said teasingly.
“That’s because you don’t know the price tag. That little house costs millions and millions of dollars.”
Devlin looked at it again. That house would be the type he dreamed of having. Devlin didn’t come from money. He had worked his way up. The fact that he was on the verge of closing a billion-dollar deal was a testament to his tenacity. Although he had turned himself into a millionaire a few years ago, Devlin burned to take that final step to become one of the most successful people on the planet.
Devlin looked ahead at the gate at the end of the street. Above it was a sprawling sign telling them that they had arrived. Allowed in with a nod from the guard, they were immediately surrounded by a grove of coconut trees. Further down the street were what looked like resort bungalows. Shaped like Tahitian huts, all of the buildings were reminiscent of Mayan architecture.
The estate was apparently designed by its eccentric billionaire owner. Devlin had been told that Nygard was a friend of Sergio’s. And considering some of Sergio’s rumored eccentricities, Sergio and Nygard he seemed the perfect combination.
Parked, a man dressed in a uniform escorted Delvin to a bungalow. Depositing his luggage, the man next led him to what looked like a
n outdoor living room. As Devlin approached, he readied himself to give the business pitch of his life. He had prepared an elaborate oral presentation and all of it was designed to begin at the first moment he saw Sergio.
Seeing someone on the high-backed couch in front of him, Devlin took a deep nervous inhale. He felt himself shaking. This was it. His future depended on this moment. Gathering all of his courage he rounded the couch and stared at the person seated before him. He couldn’t breathe.
It wasn’t Sergio seated before him, though. It was a woman with sultry green eyes and a curvy voluptuous body. She was breathtakingly beautiful.
“I assume you are my husband guest?” The woman said sensually.