Beast Lord: (Beauty and the Beast) (Tangled Tales Book 3) (14 page)

“It is a headpiece,” he told her. “You have such a pure heart that I thought this would be a perfect way to show you what you mean to me. Let me help you put it on.”

He reached out and helped her don it, the little crystal heart settling against her forehead. She looked beautiful. Her skin was creamy white and smooth, and he could smell rose water in her hair. So dainty and precious was she, and so rough and crude was he. They didn’t belong together and anyone could see that. She wouldn’t be happy with a man . . . or beast like him. Who was he kidding?

“Thank you, Stefan,” she said, her voice sounding like the chirping of dainty meadow pipits in his ears. “You are so thoughtful.”

Did he dare admit to her that he was doing this to get her to love him? Then again did he dare admit to himself that it wasn’t really the only reason? Even if she never loved him in this lifetime, he would still do all he could to make sure she was pampered and treated the way he wanted her to be. He knew she was betrothed to another man who would be at the castle gate any day and take her away from him forever. He also knew they would try to take the castle from him. If they did, he would fight to the death to save not only his castle but also his woman.

She stood on her toes and lifted her chin and his hand went out to guide her as he brought his face closer to hers to share a kiss. Like a ripe berry on the vine just longing to be picked, delicious pleasure ran through him as their mouths pressed together, and he could feel desire emanating from her too.

Hecuba had told him it wasn’t lust that would break the curse, but love, and he believed that was true. But being so close to Bonnibel and touching her soft skin and kissing her sweet lips, made him want her just the same.

His hands slipped down her shoulders and he pulled her closer, pressing his mouth against hers harder this time. She didn’t back away like he thought she would. Instead, she raised her arms and threw them around his neck and pressed her body against his. Heat, searing heat, coursed through him and her female musky scent drew him to her like two animals in mating season. He knew if they kept this up, he was going to have to have her. Without thinking what he was doing or how she’d react, he lifted her into his arms and she squealed.

“Stefan, what are you doing?”

“I’m taking you to my bed.”

He should have stopped and turned around and walked right out of the room, but he didn’t. Instead, he laid her across the soft, down-filled mattress of the tower room bed and positioned himself over her. A smile painted her face, but she looked frightened. She was obviously confused and so was he.

“Bonnie, I won’t lie. I want you. Badly. And if you turn me away, I will live in darkness the rest of my days because I will not be able to show you my deepest desires concerning you.”

“Stefan . . . I’m not that kind of woman. I thought I already made that clear. I’m a lady and also betrothed to another man.”

“A man you don’t know. I’ve heard from a reliable source that your betrothed might be the same man who attacked the castle and has taken your father. I will die to protect you before I let you go to a man like that.”

“You . . . you would do that? For me?”

He skimmed the side of her face with his fingers, and reached down and kissed her mouth softly. Her eyes closed and then she kissed him back. “Yes, I would,” he answered. “And I don’t want you to marry Lord Wickhambreaux.”

“Stefan, what you say about Lord Wickhambreaux, I’m sure is naught but idle gossip. It’s not true, it can’t be. My father would never have betrothed me to a man who would turn around and betray him. I don’t believe it. I’m sure it’s just one person’s opinion.”

“Brother Andrew told me.”

“And I told you not to trust him. I don’t. My father never would have hired a monk and kept him hidden. I’ll bet the monk never even knew my mother. Don’t listen to his nonsense. Like I said, it’s only an opinion. And I’m sure people have opinions that you’re bad, too, but yet I don’t believe it.”

He sat up and looked down at her, shaking his head. “You are foolish if you believe that.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not sure any longer that I’m not bad. Actually, if you stay here any longer you’ll find out just how bad I am.” He ran a hand over his tufts of hair in aggravation. Like the true beast within him, he wanted to take her here and now. But as the cautious, honorable knight he’d been in the past, he knew it wasn’t right and therefore he could not do it.

“You don’t know what you’re saying,” she said in a mere whisper.

“I don’t know anything anymore,” he said, feeling the beast within him becoming angry. He felt trapped. Trapped inside this castle, inside the relationship with Bonnibel, and inside himself. “I don’t know who I am or who I was – or what to do with you.”

“Just follow your heart, Stefan.”

“Arrrgh!” He stood up with his fists clenched at his side. “I don’t even know if I have a heart anymore, so how can you even ask me to do that?”

“Do you really want to bed me?” she asked softly.

“More than you know.” He paced back and forth. “Part of me wants to, but another part of me doesn’t want to ruin you for a possible suitor in the future.”

“Since you were honest with me, now I’ll also be honest with you.” She scooted to the edge of the bed and put her feet on the floor. “I’m ashamed to say I’ve been having the same thoughts about wanting to make love with you. I don’t want to marry Lord Wickhambreaux. I came to Breckenridge at the request of my father, but with intentions to tell him I do not want to marry.”

“Don’t want to marry?” He stopped pacing, thinking he’d heard her wrong. “Why would you say such a thing? You need to marry a strong knight who will protect you and protect your lands. You need to have heirs and –”

“And you need to stop telling me what to do!” She stood up and used her hands to push the wrinkles from her gown. “You are starting to sound like my father.”

“Your loose tongue is going to get you in trouble. Now stop being so foolish, because you have no idea of what you want or what’s good for you.”

“And you do?”

He groaned. “I know I’m not good for you, if that’s what you mean.”

“Well, what if I thought you were?” She reached up and kissed him again, and he knew he was going to have to do something to either make her love him or hate him. And since the only thing he knew that might make a woman love a man was to couple with her – something he could not do – he had no choice other than to frighten her away.

She looked as if she were going to kiss him again, and this made him angry. She was taunting him though she didn’t even know it, and the struggle within him was getting harder to control.

“Don’t touch me! I’m not good for you.”

“Stefan, stop it,” she said, this time kissing him on the mouth. He felt the urge to couple with her growing stronger, and so was his struggle of trying to stop himself because he knew this was all wrong. She played with him although it meant nothing to her. She didn’t love him, so why would she lead him on, especially since she was betrothed to another man? He would play her game if that’s what she wanted, but this time it would be on his terms.

He reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her to him. Kissing her, his hands skimmed down her shoulders, and his fingers brushed across her breasts in the process.

“Stefan,” she whispered and her head tilted back and her eyes closed. “Kiss me again.”

Like a siren calling him to his death, she called to the beast and the beast arose. He felt his chest expanding and hair emerged on his knuckles. His scars throbbed with pain and the lust within him was like a fire raging out of control.

“You continue to kiss me and play this game, although you’ve made it clear you’re not a loose woman. I also told you how hard it was for me to turn away, but yet I would not couple with you. So now, if you continue to taunt me, then you will look at me when you do it.”

“What?” Her eyelids flickered open and by the expression on her face, he was sure the whites of his eyes had turned red. He saw fear in her eyes, there was no mistaken. Why wouldn’t she fear him when he was turning into a beast right in front of her?

“Stefan, I am just as confused about all this as you are.”

“I said look at me when you kiss me, or I’ll know everything you said about thinking I was good was a lie.”

She backed away slightly. “It’s not a lie. I do think you are a good man and I care for you, Stefan.” 

“You could never care for someone like me.”

“I do.”

“You don’t!” He heard his own voice grow low and gravelly, and he could only imagine what he looked like to her right now. “Now look me in the eye when we kiss. Look at who I really am and what I’m destined to be.” He reached out and kissed her roughly, trying to prove his point. He knew he looked uglier than hell right now, and in a second, she’d be running for the door.

It was what he wanted, he told himself. She deserved someone better than a cursed man, and he couldn’t doom her to a life with someone like him.

The beast was alive and growing inside him now, but when he pulled her to him and kissed her again, he found himself closing his eyes instead. He pretended that things were different and that he was just a man and she his lover. It is what he wanted – what he dreamed of – and what could never be.

Her lips were normally soft and supple, but when he felt them go rigid and hard, he opened his eyes to see her staring at him. He backed away.

“What?” he asked, feeling a surge of emotions within him. He wasn’t sure anymore how he felt or how he was trying to make her feel.

“
Your
eyes were closed, not mine,” she spat. “So mayhap I’m not the one who has trouble facing the facts of what really is.”

“I – I was lost in passion,” he tried to explain.

“You were in your beast form, as you still are right now. Look!” she said, pointing to the standing mirror across the room.

He turned his head to see what she said was true. His reflection was not that of Sir Stefan the knight, but instead he saw the Beast Lord, and it was not a pretty sight.

“You were trying to frighten me away weren’t you?”

He felt like a child being scolded and just looked to the ground. “So what if I was?”

“You are no different than my father, or any other man. You think you know how I should feel, yet you don’t even know how you feel about certain situations yourself. I told you I cared for you, yet you didn’t believe me.”

“I’m a beast, Bonnie. No one could care for a beast.”

“I could have . . . but now I’m not so sure. I don’t want to be with a man who doesn’t believe me, trust me, or who tries to purposely frighten me into agreeing with him.”

“You are a wench!” he shouted, his beast form rising to the surface. “You will do as I say, what I say, and when I say it, and not question my actions again.”

“You are not the true lord of this castle and I will not lower myself to being tricked by a – a beast lord, ever again!”

She walked over and stuffed a book into her travel bag and slung it over her shoulder and stormed from the room, leaving him standing there wondering what just happened. Had she truly cared for him and would she have said she loved him if he’d waited just a little longer? If so, the curse could have been lifted forever. After pacing and pondering the situation for a few minutes, he heard commotion in the courtyard and ran to the tower window to look out.

There, just outside the castle’s gate was a messenger atop a horse with a mounted guard on each side of him.

Stefan’s men had arrows pointed at the man from their posts atop the battlements and he noticed MacKay and Kin hurrying across the courtyard toward the drawbridge with their swords drawn. A pain shot through his chest and he gripped at it, doing all he could to stand. Then another pain felt like the stab of a sword in his side, and his head dizzied. His eyes shot over to the rose standing in the decanter of water atop the table. He didn’t need to actually see it, because he knew without looking that another petal had fallen – actually this time it was two. There were only a few petals left and he was no closer to making Bonnibel love him now, than he was when he’d first met her. His time was almost up.

The secret passageway door opened and the monk hurried inside and came to Stefan’s aid. “My lord, how can I assist you?”

He pushed upright and got to his feet.

“I think the time has come,” he said. “There are visitors in the courtyard and I know it only means trouble. Come with me to find out what they want.”

“Aye, my lord. Of course,” said the monk, helping him toward the door.

Stefan had to take command of his small army of mercenaries and protect his castle while it was still under his control.

Chapter 15

Stefan hurried out to the courtyard, ignoring the searing pain shooting through his body as his beast form became more prominent. The girl hadn’t said she loved him – she’d actually left him – and that wasn’t a good thing at all. But before he could even think about that, he needed to deal with the messenger at his door.

“What’s this?” he growled as he approached the drawbridge. His voice was gruff and rough, taking the attention of all of his men.

“He is a messenger from Lord Wickhambreaux’s castle,” MacKay told him. “He’s come with two guards to escort him. I’ve instructed the mercenaries to hold them at bay in case there is a whole army lurking in the shadows just waiting to attack.”

The men were anxious, and of course MacKay and the paid assassins were itching for a fight. Stefan noticed

“What do you want?” he called out to the men, feeling as suspicious as his brothers. The attackers had never returned since the day he got to the castle, and it wasn’t likely they would stay away forever.

“I am Lord Wickhambreaux’s messenger,” the man answered, handing him a missive. “I have been sent to collect his betrothed, Lady Bonnibel.” He looked back and forth across the courtyard nervously. The guards with him did the same and rested their hands atop the hilts of their swords.

“He’s here for Lady Bonnibel?” asked Kin. “I don’t like it.”

“My lord,” said Brother Andrew, from his side. “This is no good. Don’t send the girl with them.”

“Her father is not here,” Stefan told the men. “Come back when he is here and able to seal the alliance himself.”

“Lord Breckenridge is at Sineint Castle with Lord Wickhambreaux,” the man relayed.

Stefan read the missive and threw it to the ground. “If he is there, then why doesn’t he come calling for his daughter himself?” He turned and stormed back to his brothers.

“That’s true,” MacKay said in a soft voice. “And why doesn’t he come back to claim his castle? I don’t like it.”

“I don’t like it either,” whispered Kin. “I say we kill these three now and send troops out to scour the woods for any more of them.”

“It’s possible he doesn’t return because he doesn’t want to fight. He’s lost most his men in the battle and the rest have disappeared,” said Stefan.

“You’re being cautious again. And foolish,” said MacKay. “Can’t you see something is wrong?”

Stefan thought about what the monk had told him. That his suspicions were that Lord Wickhambreaux himself attacked the castle. Could it be true? Why would he do that if he was already betrothed to the man’s daughter? This didn’t make sense and he needed time to think about it. “I have no proof, and until I do I’ll not get upset about it nor will I take needless action.” He was about to send them away when Bonnibel came bolting out of keep and ran up to the man.

“You know where my father is?” she asked the man. “Can you take me to him? Is he harmed in any way?”

“Bonnibel, get back,” warned Stefan, but the girl walked right up to the messenger.

“Take me to him, please,” she said, adjusting her travel bag over her shoulder.

Before Stefan could protest, the man reached down and lifted Bonnibel up onto the back of his horse.

“Nay!” growled Stefan, his beast voice filling the courtyard. “You will not take the girl. Bonnibel, get down from the horse anon.” With a nod of Stefan’s head, his men moved in closer.

“I’m going to my father,” she announced, defying him in front of everyone. “My father must be hurt if he didn’t return to take back his castle. He needs me. I am going to my betrothed as well.”

“Your betrothed is not much of a man if he sends a messenger in his stead and doesn’t help your father reclaim his castle. Now I said – get down from there!” He stormed over to her, planning on grabbing her, but the messenger quickly turned his horse and headed away with his guards right behind him. Bonnibel looked over her shoulder and their eyes interlocked.

“Bonnibel!” he shouted. “Is this really what you want?”

“It is,” she told him. “Now please, just let me go.”

Another pain clenched at his stomach, and Stefan dropped to his knees, holding his stomach as Bonnibel rode out of his life.

Bonnibel rode away, just watching as the beast emerged from Stefan as he angered and shouted for her to return. She didn’t want the beast commanding her to do anything, and she would not adhere to his wishes. Especially since she finally was about to find her father. She moved quickly because she knew he wasn’t going to let her go. But now that she knew where her father was, and had someone taking her right to him, there was no way she was going to just let them ride away without her. It was a hard choice to leave Stefan and Breckenridge, but it was the choice she made because of her father. He needed her, and she was all he had left now. She couldn’t count on Stefan and his brothers to help her. After all, it was obvious they didn’t want her father to return since Stefan already claimed the castle as his own, and had done nothing to help her find him although he said he would.

While she had no intention of marrying Lord Wickhambreaux, she had no choice at the moment but to go to him. She would trade one beast for another if it meant finding her father, and when she saw her father she would convince him to change his mind about the betrothal.

They rode for hours and finally at dusk the outline of a castle appeared on the hill.

“Is that my betrothed’s castle?” she asked.

“Aye,” answered the messenger.

“Is my father there?”

“He is. And you will see him soon.”

The moon rose in the night sky and lit up their surroundings in a bluish-white glow. She had the distinct feeling she’d seen this castle before. Then when he heard the sound of a wolf howling in the distance, she remembered where she’d seen this castle before. In her dreams. Her father was running and frightened, and heading toward it for safety. Or so she’d thought at the time. But now she started to wonder if he had possibly been trying to get away from the castle instead.