Beast's Rose

by L M Wilson

  That’s what my stomach feels like seeing that wink. They only get worse as he makes his way over to the sink and gets a glass of water. Watching him drink is like watching my own personal porno. Beads of sweat drip down his neck as his Adam’s apple bobs with each swallow. My breathing goes from calm to erratic in seconds and I swear the room temperature is climbing. He smirks and runs the sink, refilling the glass, tipping its contents slowly back and drinking the whole glass in one breath. I groan as my wings pop out and without saying a word, he saunters out of the cottage leaving me feeling frustrated and extremely unsatisfied.

  Almost an hour passes before I see any of them again. This time it’s Fader who comes inside. He nods his head in greeting then grabs one of the duffle bags and disappears into the bathroom.

  Without shutting the door.

  I hear the water turn on and my gaze doesn’t move from the plastic curtain surrounding the shower area. I’m tempted to walk in there and offer to help him wash his back.

  But…

  Nope, I really can’t think of a good reason not to.

  I get up from my spot at the breakfast bar and take a step towards the bathroom.

  “Hey Rose.”

  I freeze mid step.

  “Yes Fader?”

  “I forgot to bring my towel in with me, could you be a dear and grab one for me?”

  Gulp.

  I am a mature, four hundred and seventeen-year-old woman. I can walk into a bathroom with a sexy naked man, with gorgeous, hypnotic eyes and a body that looks like it was carved by the gods themselves…

  Quickly grabbing one of the spare towels from the drawers next to the bathroom door, I walk into the bathroom and freeze. My eyes refuse to behave. They go straight to the naked, dripping wet man standing in the middle of the shower.

  I am so fucked!

  “Keep staring at me like that and you will be.”

  “I said that out loud, huh?” I laugh, trying to hide my embarrassment but my eyes drop to his Adonis-V and follow the path leading down. My face goes red as my wings pop out. He’s as hard as a rock and pointing right at me as though begging me to touch him.

  Back away. Look away. Say something. I scream silently at myself but my body refuses to obey.

  “Probably a good idea to close the door if you’re going for a shower babe. Not all of us have the strength to behave.” Bryant nods to the door as though expecting me to close it.

  “I… No, I…” My stumbling only gets worse as Fader steps out from behind the shower curtain. “It’s not… We didn’t… I… He forgot to grab a towel.”

  “He has three towels in his duffle bag.” Bryant snickers, pointing at the duffle bag lying open on top of the bathroom bench.

  I round on Fader. “You….”

  “She’s adorable when she’s flustered, don’t you think Bry?”

  “So, fucking adorable.” Bryant stalks across the cabin, the look in his emerald eyes is pure sin.

  I’ve got nowhere to hide. No chance of running.

  If I’m being honest here, I really don’t want to run. I want these men to kiss me silly. I want them to drive me wild and fill me in ways that I’ve never been fulfilled.

  But that just isn’t going to be today.

  Bryant makes it as far as the door to the bathroom before the front door of the cabin is kicked in with a loud splintering of wood.

  I’m pushed to the back of the room, both a very naked Fader and a very pissed off wolf now barring my way out of the bathroom and blocking my view of the intruder.

  “Oh my, Miss Belladonna, what have you been doing with yourself these last hundred years?”

  I’d recognise that voice anywhere.

  Loki Bromamere.

  “Now why do you two look so familiar?” There’s only the growl of Bryant’s wolf for a few seconds then the snap of Loki clicking his fingers. “Ah, you must be that uppity little shit who slept with my fourth wife. What was that name…” Another snap of his fingers. “Ah yes I remember, Bryant Beastly.”

  I cower behind Fader’s wings. My entire view obstructed.

  “A demon? What are you doing in my realm?” Loki sounds like he’s amused by the situation. Me, I’m cowering like a… well a coward.

  “Demi-demon actually and I’ve been searching for the bastard who killed my mother.” I gasp. Forrest Fader is a demi, just like me. No wonder I feel a strong connection to him.

  “Your mother huh? She wouldn’t happen to have been killed, oh say, about a hundred and fifty odd years ago?”

  Fader visibly trembles with rage.

  “Never mind son, your mother was just one in a long line of mistakes. Now Rose Belladonna here, she’s special. I hope none of you tainted her in any way. Can’t have my plans messed up by a quick, meaningless romp in the sack, now can we?”

  “Maybe we have, father.” Fader growls back.

  “Oh, don’t tempt me son. Just because you came from my loins doesn’t mean I won’t kill you.”

  I gasp as the truth hits me. Forrest Fader is the son of the man who has tormented me for centuries.

  What the fuck? This is why I don’t have friends, or anyone visit me. Too much drama.

  “Come on out here Miss Belladonna. It’s time for our song and dance. Maybe this time you’ll have a more satisfactory answer for me.”

  “Her answer is still no!” Fader shouts.

  “Grown attached, have we?”

  There’s a grunt from near the front door, then both wolf-Bryant and Fader rush out of the bathroom, leaving me standing in the doorway.

  “Perhaps we should see just how attached Miss Belladonna is to the three of you.” Loki says as an unconscious Kalum quite literally floats through the front door.

  Bryant makes it to Loki first and I watch, horrified as he lunges for his throat. His jaws snap on thin air as Loki vanishes in a puff of smoke. Fader must have predicted the move, as he turns with his hand out and catches Loki by the throat as he rematerializes right in front of Fader.

  Fader’s fingers dig into the soft flesh around Loki’s Adam’s apple and with the most sickening sound I’ve ever heard, Fader rips it from Loki’s neck.

  Bile rises up in the back of my throat as Fader shakes his hand, flinging bits of blood and flesh onto the floor. He spins on his heel and starts coming towards me. In a panic I back up and grab the door, intending to slam it before he can attack me, but Fader shoves his boot into the gap, stopping it from shutting all the way.

  “Shit, I wasn’t going to hurt you Rose. I just wanted to wash my hands. His fucking blood is eating through my skin like acid.” Fader’s blood covered hand pokes through the gap and I gasp at the sight of his flesh being dissolved before my eyes.

  I swallow and reluctantly release the door, hiding myself inside the shower as Fader comes in and turns on the taps. My fear dissipates as I see just how damaged Fader’s hand is. Without a thought for my own safety, I grab his hand and shove it under the water.

  “Um I don’t think ripping his throat out was enough Fade.” A worried sounding Bryant calls from the other room.

  I tear my eyes away from the blood gushing from Fader’s hand long enough to peek past the curtain and out into the lounge area. There’s a hissing and bubbling sound coming from Loki’s body but what has me grabbing Fader and pulling him closer to me is the form that is slowly emerging from inside the melted pile of flesh and blood on the floor.

  Huge wings that look like they’ve been shredded, frame the tall thin beast. Its eyes are an eerie looking pale yellow; the kind of yellow you see on an infected wound. Its skin is sallow and stretched tight over its bones. Four long, sharp looking claws jut out from the ends of its long bony fingers. On either side of its head, just above its temples are two long horns that curl up and over themselves, almost like the horns you see on rams. I shudder as it opens its too wide mouth and shows off its yellow pointed teeth.

  “Forrest.” My voice is barely a whisper. I’m shaking so hard and I don’t t
hink I could move even if I wanted to.

  “It’s okay Rose. We won’t let anything happen to you. Whatever that thing is, we’ll kill it.” He doesn’t sound too sure of himself. I open my mouth to tell him as much, but the creature breathes in deeply, wheezing with the effort and lets out an awful sounding scream.

  My hands slam over my sensitive ears as all the windows in the cottage shatter. Dropping to my knees, I try desperately to shield myself as much as I can.

  Fader covers my body with his as glass from the shattered window rains down all around us.

  A sticky warmth trickles out and coats the palms of my hands that are still covering my ears.

  The scream stops and the silence left in its wake is far creepier than the sound itself.

  Breaking: Rose

  All I can hear is silence. It’s as though someone has hit mute on the entire world. I’m scared the silence will last forever. That I will never get to hear the guys’ voices or the sweet sound of music. The beauty of birds singing their morning songs or the soft patter of the rain as it drops through the trees. All the things that until this very moment, I had heard and thought so little of.

  A tap on my shoulder has me jumping away from the person and letting out a scream. I’m sure it would be one of those ear-splitting screams if anyone could hear it.

  Bryant’s hand slaps across my mouth and he motions for me to stay quiet. Leaning in, I see his lips move as though he’s whispering to me, so I wave my hands at my ears, trying to explain to him that I can’t hear.

  “Fuck I really wish she was a shifter.”

  I frown up at Bryant, I swear he just spoke into my mind.

  “Then at least we could link telepathically and communicate.”

  Bryant lets go of me, gets to his feet, and starts looking around on the bench and in the cupboards in the kitchen.

  “I just need to tell her that Fader and Kalum are chasing after the demon and that we have to stay here and keep quiet. Ah! Pen and paper, where the hell is the pen and paper.”

  I giggle at his thoughts, but he doesn’t seem to hear me.

  “I know I saw it around here somewhere.” Bryant continues to rummage around in the kitchen searching. After a good five minutes of listening to him ramble, I decide to let the cat out of the bag. Carefully, I tiptoe out of the bathroom, dodge around the slush that remains of Loki and make my way over to where Bryant is.

  I tap him on the shoulder much like he did me, but instead of staying still, I sidestep, half expecting him to take a swing at whoever startled him. His fist comes up but stops near his hip.

  “Fuck! I could have hurt her. What the hell is she doing? I told her to stay in the bathroom.”

  I roll my eyes at his annoyance and bend down to riffle through the bottom drawer.

  “Oh, come on, not now. This is definitely not the time to be getting a boner. If only she wasn’t wiggling that sexy ass around in the air. Fuck, just look away man. Think of anything else. Pumpkin, old people with wrinkly skin, cute little puppies.”

  With my cheeks flaming, I finally locate the pen and paper and turn to face Bryant. How the hell am I going to tell him now, after hearing those thoughts?

  Fuck it!

  I stand up fully, walk right up to him and grab his face, pulling it down closer to my own.

  Bloody tall people! Not that I’m really short or anything, Bryant, Fader and Kalum are all taller than me though, the bastards are well over six foot while I’m an average five-five, which is why trying to kiss Bryant right now is a little awkward.

  The second our lips touch though… nope no awkwardness here.

  The ease with which our bodies meld together, hip to hip, chest to chest and lip to lip; you’d think we’d been doing this all our lives.

  The kiss isn’t electric. It isn’t frenzied. It’s soft and passionate and feels like I’ve finally come home.

  At some point my wings have popped out, Bryant’s hands have gone under the hem of my shirt and my own have found their way into his hair.

  With no idea how long we’ve been standing here, our mouths fused together, tongues dancing and hands exploring; I gently ease out of the kiss and pull away from Bryant. Retrieving the pen and paper from the floor where they fell as my fingers went through his hair. I quickly jot down a note.

  I can hear you in my head sometimes.

  His eyes go wide. Those kissable lips open and close a few times.

  I cock my head to the side, trying to hear him thinking, but I don’t hear anything. Frowning up at him, I watch as he seems to fight with something inside himself. His mouth snaps shut, then he sort of looks at me without really seeing me. He blinks and I jump as his voice rings out in my head.

  “Sorry, I put a block up to stop you from hearing things you really don’t want to hear.”

  I quickly write my response.

  You mean, things like “getting a boner from staring at my sexy ass”

  He’s so adorable, especially with bright red cheeks. I really want to keep teasing him but now is definitely not the time.

  What do we do now?

  “We wait for Fader and Kalum to return.”

  Could we at least clean up this mess? That is really starting to stink.

  I point the pen at the gross pile of ooze and chunky bits lying in the middle of my floor. I don’t really want to think too hard on what it actually is. My wings disappear the second I focus on the mess. For now, I’ll just pretend that this is just a normal day.

  Where I’m home, alone, with a very sexy man.

  Nope!

  Gross yucky mess to clean up. Don’t think about the sexy guy who is bending over and grabbing a dustpan and brush from beneath the sink. Oh, definitely don’t think about how good it would feel to have that ass in my hands while he’s pumping himself inside….

  “Shit, I can hear you Rose!”

  I jump clear out of my skin, my wings popping out and knocking plates off the bench. My entire body feels like it’s on fire, burning so bright from embarrassment that all I want is for a hole to open up and swallow me.

  “Guess we should get to work, lots of cleaning to do.”

  I nod and we manage to get all the glass cleaned up, all the grossness bagged, (I didn’t ask Bryant what he planned to do with the ick once it was bagged up.) and we managed to board over all the windows before Kalum and Fader came back. Once we all sit down, we discover that it’s not just our ears that aren’t working, my voice box seems to be broken as well.

  With pens and paper for my benefit, the guys tell us that they are all able to hear again and that they lost the demon somewhere in the woods and that we all need to be extra careful now.

  They keep giving each other looks every time I write a response. So, I tell them not to worry about me.

  My ears still don’t work, it’s like a bomb went off and the blast caused something to pop inside them. I’m hoping it’s not permanent but even if it is, I’ll be fine. For some reason even though my body ages slightly, it resets every time I die. I’ve never made it past five years without dying. I have no idea if it’s just because I’m clumsy, or if it’s part of the curse but I always die within five years of coming back to life. So, we have nothing really to worry about. I’ll heal.

  Fader asks something out loud and the three guys turn to stare at me with even worse looks of worry on their faces.

  What?

  “They’re worried that the curses might be broken. Fader wants to know if you die, will you come back or if….” Bryant trails off, unable to finish the thought.

  They want to know if I’ll die in a few years. Shaking my head, I write in capital letters.

  I’M NOT DEAD YET.

  An idea occurs to me.

  Can Kalum feel? Or does he still shift? And if you really want to test the curse theory then mine is easy to test. I could go outside tonight, if I relive all my deaths then the curse is still there. Bryant, we’ll know if yours is still there when you shift at night right?
/>
  Again, the guys talk it over, then Bryant answers inside my head.

  “Kalum said he is really worried, but he hasn’t shifted since he was jumped outside. Even when they were hunting for the demon, he didn’t shift.”

  I study Kalum for a moment, then nod my head. Unsure how he or the others will take it, especially since I have kissed two of them already, I hesitate halfway to him. All three of the guys are watching me with curious looks on their handsome faces. Taking a deep breath, I grab Kalum’s hand and motion for him to follow me.

  Hiding behind the divider that separates my bedroom from the loungeroom, I turn to face Kalum. My hands are shaking by my side as I just stand there. Kissing Fader was so intense. Kissing Bryant just felt natural but kissing Kalum just to test a theory feels wrong. I’m not exactly sure what the guys are to me yet and now I’m second guessing everything.

  I look up into Kalum’s golden eyes and everything else fades away. All my worries, fears, even my thoughts.

  There’s just him and me.

  I blink and his huge hand cups my face. Tilting my chin up slightly. He says something but I still can’t hear. A small shake of his head, then his lips are on mine.

  He’s devouring me.

  This kiss is so different from Fader and Bryant’s kisses. It’s the kind of kiss that makes your head spin. The kind of kiss that makes your heart feel like it’s skipping a few beats.

  His lips are really soft, but his tongue is demanding and enticing at the same time. I moan from the overload of sensations, but I don’t dare close my eyes. If I do, I’m afraid this will end. I’m afraid I’ll wake up and it won’t be real.

  Kalum lifts me up and I wrap my legs around his waist. I can feel his hardness between my legs. I rock into it and he curses against my lips, then lets out a frustrated groan.

  Wait! I pull away from Kalum, dropping my legs to the floor, my chest heaving with the effort to catch my breath. “I can hear!” I practically shout.

  Kalum groans, scrubbing his hands down his face. “Yeah, great timing.” He mutters as he turns his back on me and goes back into the loungeroom. I stand there with my jaw hanging, leaning against the divider.