Beasty (A Royal's Tale Book 2)

by Jennise K

  Letting my own seat belt go, I turned on my seat and leaned towards him, silently wrapping my arms around Romanov’s neck.

  “Remember when you told me you love me the day you were consoling me about my dad?” I said as I held him closer. “I tried to ignore it because I felt like you were just trying to make me feel better.”

  “I’m sorry. I love you, too.”

  Chapter 31

  “I’m sorry. I love you too.”

  In the darkness of the frosty night, the car remained silent except for our ragged breaths as I held onto Romanov’s neck.

  I was half-heartedly hoping that he would turn around and smile so that all could be forgotten, but the other half of me hoped that he would at least continue yelling out his frustration and de-stress.

  Romanov did neither. Still silent and devoid of any emotion, he slowly reached up and grasped my hand and calmly peeled them off him. Immediately, I let go, flinching because somehow this felt like rejection.

  Shuffling back in the seat, I watched in embarrassment as the silent Romanov found the door’s handle again and, with a small movement, pushed the door open.

  I have never felt so embarrassed in my life.

  I heaved out an embarrassed sigh as I shook my breath and let my head drop, my fingers cradling my temple.

  That’s right. Let him walk in. I’ll just go when I’m ready. Then I’ll pretend like this never happened. Wait…do I sleep in another room tonight? No…Rome won’t let that happen. But he’s really upset. Do I sleep somewhere else now? Do I go back ho—are we on a break now? Wait. I can’t leave him. I love him. Yes, I need to pacify hi—

  Suddenly, the passenger side’s door opened, and a pair of warm arms pulled me out of the car, cutting me out of my trail of thoughts. A shocked gasp fell from my lips just as my fingers wrapped around Romanov’s arms, desperately trying to steady myself.

  His strong hands left my arms and slowly wrapped around my waist. My breath hitched in my throat as my eyes snapped up to meet a pair of dark ones. “Rome,” I whispered.

  Rome’s dark eyes peered deep into mine. The coldness of the evening air didn’t affect us as I stayed wrapped in the arms of the tall, warm beast. Slowly, Romanov’s hand moved from my waist and towards the back of my head as he slowly tipped my head against his chest, hugging me closer.

  A relieved smile immediately found its way on my lips, and I quickly went on the tip of my toes as I slipped my arms around Romanov’s neck once again and hugged him back.

  “Livia…I’m glad it’s you…”

  ~

  I’m back.

  – EL

  “Vell, vho iz back?”

  “Apparently, you are, Madame Crawfort. Welcome back. How was your stay in the loo?” Abigail whispered cheekily as a group of customers walked into the boutique.

  Nudging Abigail obnoxiously as she passed the girl, Madame Crawfort slipped behind the counter. Abigail and I grinned at each other as I tucked the diary into my backpack and edged my way out, giving Madame Crawfort back the space I was holding for her.

  “You should really let the bonbons go, Madame Crawfort,” I mumbled as I watched the woman eye her unopened packet of chocolate. It was quite obvious that her digestive tract and bonbons didn’t work well together.

  “Do yoo know ve vill all die vone day?” Madame Crawfort cocked an eyebrow up as she leaned on the counter, her newly dyed bright chestnut hair shining under the light of the boutique.

  I frowned. Ye—Yes?”

  “Let’z juzt zay I vood razer die haapi zen viz—ooh, how doo you zay eet?—reegret!”

  “Have you always been this dramatic?” Adyl cocked an eyebrow up as he made his way towards the counter with a mesmerised-looking boy behind him, a couple of clothing articles in his arms.

  Looking at the boy behind him, I grinned when the boy mouthed, He’s so good-looking.

  I know right! I mouthed back as I winked at the boy, grinning at Adyl when he shot me a curious gaze. Witnessing everything, Abigail let out an amused snort before turning around to quickly escape the scene.

  “Zat vill be a hundzred fifty dollarz, darling.” Madame Crawfort smiled as she waited for the fellow to pay.

  The boy presented his card, and taking it from his hand, Madame Crawfort turned towards us. “Can yoo go back and zheck zhe inventory, Olivia? Iz almozt clozing time.”

  “Sure, Madame Crawfort.” I nodded before quickly beginning to walk towards the back room. Immediately, I felt Adyl follow behind.

  “You were serving a customer.” I sighed as I heard the door close behind me. Still, my eyes remained on the clipboard I held in my hand as I began checking the inventory.

  “The full moon is tonight. We need to protect you more or else the king will kill us.”

  I scoffed. “No, he won’t.”

  Adyl scoffed right back. “Yeah, right. When it comes to you, I wouldn’t scoff it off that easily.”

  “Right. You know, I haven’t even seen him all day,” I muttered as I shook my head and restarted counting the black Jane Doe crop tops. Despite my cold reply, I couldn’t help but feel restless as the butterflies in my belly began fluttering once again.

  “Well, you’ve been busy between classes and work, and he’s been busy with the new overturn they’re making in one of his textile companies,” Adyl casually explained, leaning against the tall steel counter. “Things aren’t always going to be romantic. Sometimes it’ll just be plain old life.”

  “Yes, Mother!” I sighed while I leaned over a box of high-waisted jeans.

  “It’s been a week since you’ve given your phone to the royal beta and delta. Any progress?” Adyl inquired, tilting his eyebrows up as he curiously watched me take inventory. I could feel his eyes on me.

  “Nope, but they’ve had that makeover event today, so I’m sure we’ll have a lead soon enough.” I shrugged before my eyes found Adyl’s, and I stopped at what I was doing. “Why? What are you thinking?”

  “I can feel it. You’re getting closer. You’re almost there. That’s why we need to protect you. She’ll come for you soon. They both will.” Adyl’s exotic eyes held me captive while he uttered the words that had secretly been shaking my heart with fear.

  They both will? Edika and who? My breath stopped. Edika and that little daughter of Julian? The daughter who turned into a banshee? No way. She’s real too?

  “Stop. You’re scaring me,” I told Adyl, embarrassed as I turned away with my warm cheeks and rapidly beating heart.

  “I’m sorry. I can’t ignore the gift I have. Sometimes it just happens,” Adyl said, stepping away from the wall he was leaning against and strolled deeper into the inventory room. “Do you mind if I help you with that?”

  I gave a grateful grin to Adyl. “Sure.”

  ~

  “Are you guys done yet? The boutique’s about to close, and Madame Crawfort wants to take us out for a meal,” Abigail asked loudly, popping her head into the room as she held the door slightly open. Then, in a tiny voice, she said, “Please convince her to shift this.”

  “Yeah, she’s done,” Adyl replied before I could as he sat on a box that contained the ripped jeans.

  Jotting down the final piece’s number, I smiled at my best friend as I nodded. “Yeah, I’m done, but you know we can’t go on a meal tonight, Aby. There’s a full moon tonight.”

  “I know. I’m itching to get to Jay. That’s why, could you please convince her?”

  I sighed, nodding at my best friend. There was no other way out of this.

  Tucking the clipboard under my arm, I walked out of the room and into the boutique.

  “Madame Crawfort?” I called out as I walked across the floor space towards my employer.

  “Yez, dear?”

  I made an awfully pitiful face as I stopped before her. “I’m so sorry, Madame Crawfort, but my fiancé is really sick, and I don’t think I’ll be able to make it today. And since you’re treating us, I really don’t want to miss the dinner a
nd offend you. I hope you understand.”

  Immediately, being as naively kind as she was, Madame Crawfort reached forward and took my hand. “Oh, is nozing, dear. Don’t you vorry. Ve vill go for dinner next veek Friday, then? Iz zat alright wiz everyone?”

  “Yes!”

  The room’s collective reply was instantaneous, almost so much so that it made Madame Crawfort stare at everyone in surprise for a short second before she chuckled and nodded. “Ah! I remember vhen I vas young. Fridayz vere the nightz to look forvard to. Ah! Young blood. Fridayz, full of romance, dance, and zex. Vhat vonderful dayz.”

  ~

  “Are you going to be all right?”

  The car had been silent until the question. I watched dozens of trees rolling by as the car took another left turn on the highway.

  My eyes snapped up and met Fin’s in the rearview mirror and nodded. “Yeah, I’m all right.” Then I frowned. “Don’t you guys have mates? It’s the full moon. What are you doing here driving me home?”

  “When I met my mate, she was already married. I’m not a home-wrecker, so I decided to approach her and make her say that she doesn’t want me.” Fin smiled at me through the rearview mirror, and I felt my heart drop.

  “When I found my mate, she was already dead.” Adyl shrugged. My wide eyes moved from Fin’s to Adyl’s beside me.

  “What?”

  “I’m a criminal profiler by profession, Olli. She was a rich heir of her dead parent’s fortune. She was a recluse, very sheltered by her guardian who was her maternal uncle. She was my case.”

  “Who killed her?” It was Fin who asked this question, while I continued to stare at Adyl. For the first time, I saw Adyl’s hazel eyes turn black.

  “The uncle.”

  “I’m so sorry,” I whispered as I adjusted in my seat. We were now parked in front of the castle. The night outside seemed just as silent as it was inside the car. The two men in the car flinched but just laughed it off afterward.

  However, I knew deep in my heart that I shouldn’t have asked them. Fin had laughed as he talked about his mate. Adyl had shrugged like it was nothing important. But I knew. I knew…it was so important.

  I didn’t know what to think about soulmates anymore. We were designed for each other, and we could be wonderful together, but only if we wanted it? Only if fate allowed it? Only if life decided it?

  “You don’t have to be sorry, Olli. Soulmates are a wonderful creation. Especially if both soulmates are beasts. Because they both know, they both wait. But we all know it’s different when you have a human soulmate. It’s rare that you end up with them.” Adyl smiled as he placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly.

  “Yeah! Besides, this doesn’t mean we can’t fall in love again or anything. It’s all up to our beasts. Someday, I’ll find someone else and learn to love her, then my soul will adjust itself to build a mate bond with her,” Fin added lightly, smiling at me warmly.

  “You can do that?” I sniffled as I let the guilty tears slip down my cheeks and quickly wiped them away.

  “Of course! Bonds are made for you or you make bonds. Both cannot exist with the other. If the bonds built for you are somehow broken, you can build your own bond. Do you understand what I’m saying?” Fin asked in a tone an old brother would use.

  “Yes.” I nodded, wiping at my tears.

  “Now off you go. The full moon is almost visible now.” Fin urged as I nodded again and, opening the car’s door, took a step outside.

  “Good night,” I mumbled as I turned to face the car again. Adyl waved at me before getting into the front passenger’s seat. I leaned down to wave at both guys before turning around, quickly making my way towards the castle’s front door.

  “Welcome, Miss Olivia,” Orik whispered as I stepped into the castle.

  “Hi, Orik,” I whispered back.

  Soon enough, I heard the large castle door close behind me. “Master is in his study,” the fair-headed man whispered again before he quickly turned around and disappeared behind one of the doors.

  That’s strange.

  I frowned as I noticed how quiet it was inside the castle tonight. Slowly, I began making my way up the grand stairs. My fingers reached up and found my tense shoulder muscles, and I groaned as my fingers hit a sore spot.

  I passed through corridor after corridor as I slowly made my way towards our room.

  My sweaty palm on the cold doorknob felt tacky, and I retrieved my hand, quickly wiping them against my jeans before grasping the doorknob again.

  “Hi.”

  I felt him before I heard him. His strong arm wrapped around my waist while the other grasped the doorknob and twisted it for me, pushing both of us through the open door a second later.

  “I’m covered in dust from the day,” I said, grasping onto Romanov’s shirt as he lifted me up and pressed me against the closed door.

  “You’ll be covered in something else soon,” Romanov growled as he ripped my blouse away from my body and did the same to the black bra underneath with a snap of his fingers.

  The large dent in his pants pressed against me, and I tightened my legs around him, pressing my centre closer to his solid member. I was already completely wet.

  Romanov let out a growl, let me down, and turned me around. The feel of my warm breasts against the cold door made me shudder, and all the more as I felt my centre get wetter with anticipation.

  “Rome,” I moaned, feeling my jeans being peeled away. An instant later, my knickers followed.

  I was now completely naked and utterly vulnerable before him. Still, on his knees behind me, I gasped when I felt Romanov place a kiss on the swell of my arse, immediately sinking his teeth in and biting it. As he straightened, I felt as one of his hands slipped around my hips and his fingers found my soft folds, while the other covered one of my breasts. Immediately, my hand grasped his, stopping him. “Rome…bed?”

  “I’m going to take you in every place and in every way tonight, Livia,” Romanov growled into my ear as he pushed a finger into my centre.

  I gasped then moaned. At this rate, I didn’t think we could make it to bed.

  “You’re so wet. So wet for me,” Romanov said as he slid another finger into me, pumping harder while I clenched around his fingers.

  I was powerless. Tonight was the full moon, and Romanov was completely out of control and so was I. I needed him—needed him over and over again. And so, I could only gasp and press myself closer against him.

  “Why do you smell like other men?” Romanov growled against my shoulder, his canines nipping at my upper back, and I froze. He was losing himself to his beast; he was getting more and more irrational now.

  Despite his over-possessiveness, I felt my core pooling further, if that was even possible. Ever since the first time he’d kissed me, I’d realised that he was a natural aphrodisiac. Everything he did winded me up, and I could almost never stay away.

  “I had an…a-afternoon shift today…at the bou…boutique,” I moaned out between pants, holding Romanov’s hand as his fingers danced inside me.

  “Oh really?” Romanov growled. In a blur, I was turned around, facing a now naked Romanov. His hand immediately went under my thighs, lifting me up against the door.

  “Remember the last time I took you against the door? You couldn’t stop wanting more. I’ll fuck you till you pass out, Livia.”

  In that second, Romanov plunged into me, his lips smacking against mine to muffle the loud scream from leaving my lips. My walls tried to adjust to his large self. Instantly, I wrapped my arms around Romanov, and I moaned as he bounced me on his dick. The pressure of almost feeling like I was going to be split into two was driving me wild.

  This was my secret pleasure. I loved how Romanov filled me completely—how he made me so full inside.

  “You love this, don’t you?” Romanov whispered against me as he slipped out his tongue and tentatively took a taste of my neck. I shuddered as I held him closer. “Oh God! So full!�
�

  Again, and again, and again.

  Raw, fast, and rough. He was completely wild.

  “Oh my God, oh my God,” I chanted as I curled my arms around Romanov’s neck and buried my fingers into his hair, pulling on it mercilessly as his thrusts got more intense.

  Pulling his hair was one of Romanov’s little weaknesses. And as I did so, Romanov’s groans and growls got louder while I cried out his name and shuddered in his arms as his pace surprisingly increased.

  “I’ll make you feel nothing but me inside you,” Romanov said as he took himself out and plunged right back into me.

  I replied with a whimper as I held onto him more. I couldn’t feel my legs anymore. The tips of my fingers felt like they were buzzing with need. My chest felt light. My whole boy was trembling. I could feel the pressure building up within me. I desperately needed release.

  I knew what Romanov was doing. He was driving me crazy. He wanted me to beg him. I didn’t want to. I wanted to take him by surprise.

  My eyes snapped open as I watched a trickle of sweat slip down between my breasts. I saw Romanov’s clenched jaw, his nose, his trembling lips, his heavy-lidded, dark eyes, his soft ears, and his strong neck.

  Romanov plunged in harder, and I saw stars. I let out a loud yelp and tightened my thighs around his hips. Immediately, he let out a growl, and his eyes closed. I smiled. I knew what Romanov liked, what drove him crazy.

  Instantly, I leaned in and pulled his earlobes between my lips. Lightly running my tongue along it, I nipped and nibbled on it before slowly beginning to suck on the sensitive skin, moaning as I did so.

  Romanov went wild. His thrusts almost became punishing as he turned me around and began walking towards the bed. He continued shoving himself into me, slapping a hand across my arse loudly. I let out a loud moan at the sting.

  As my back touched the mattress and his heavy weight settled on me, I pulled on his hair and his face close to mine. His glazed eyes focused on mine as Romanov’s dark pools darkened until he growled, burying his face into my neck.

  Suddenly, Romanov slammed his entire length into me, and I bit into his shoulder to muffle down the scream leaving my lips as the orgasm rocked through me, soaring me to the clouds then bringing me down with the remnants of the earth-shattering love Romanov and I had just made.