Beauty and Her Beastly Love (Passion-Filled Fairy Tales Book 2) (12 page)

Ella had delivered the sketches of plants to Mr. Halliwell, the owner of the apothecary that sat at the edge of the town market. She’d done this today, as discreetly as she had on any delivery day for the previous six months. He’d paid her a small sum, which she had tucked in her shoe, so her family wouldn’t know about it. When she first started doing this, walking with the coin squeezed into her already tiny shoes had been hard. But Ella was used to it now. In fact, she enjoyed the discomfort just a bit. It was a reminder of her plan. That if she could just save enough money, she could get away from her evil stepmother and stepsisters.

“Ella,” she heard a voice call out, and turned to see her friend Faye running toward her through the market. Faye was a stout, tough girl who’d had a life as full of tough breaks as Ella’s. They’d become fast friends, confiding in each other the mutual miseries of life. While they shared misery, Ella did recognize that she had it better than Faye. Ella’s father had been noble. Even though Ella was banished to the cold north tower to sleep and treated like a servant, the home she lived in was much nicer than any part of the meager dwelling Faye occupied. Like Ella, both of Faye’s parents were dead. But unlike Ella, Faye had lived in a home for orphans and just recently moved into her own little room in a boarding house. Faye was a little older than Ella, but as resilient as the wind and willing to give anyone a chance, so long as they did right by her.

That was one of the reasons why Faye was Ella’s best friend. Ella had had a tough time making friends. Her stepmother rarely let her hang about and chatter with friends, the way she let her own daughters. Ella’s stepsisters had friends and attended the social events, so they might find a suitable husband while Ella was left to do household chores and errands. But Ella was not sad about that, for if the rest of the girls were as vapid as Bathilda, she was glad not to participate. And if her stepmother had been nicer, Ella might not have become friends with Faye, whose life was also mainly work.

Ella smiled and started toward Faye. She knew talking to Faye would make her late and her stepmother would be mad, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her. If Faye needed something from her, she would offer it. Faye was really Ella’s only friend, and while her stepmother had taken so many things from Ella, she couldn’t take away Faye. This friendship was the only part of her life that Lady Kenna could not control.

Ella stopped in front of Faye, in the midst of the crowded street. “Yes, Faye,” Ella said, a smile on her pink lips, her cheeks a little flush from the heat of the late summer day. Faye shook her head, grabbed Ella by the arm, and pulled her away from the heat and pungent odor of the crowds. People generally made way for Faye, for while she was short, she was quite wide and had a face like a bulldog, one that seemed ready to bite if you crossed her.

Faye tugged Ella into a little alley and then Ella knitted her brows and gave her friend an expectant look. “What is it?” she asked when Faye didn’t answer quickly.

Faye stood on her tippy toes to look over Ella’s shoulders. She apparently saw nothing to give her pause, but still spoke softly. “Ella, I think I know a way for you to save enough money to escape your family, like you want to. Save enough money in just a couple of weeks”

Ella was shocked. That much money. There was no way she could earn enough money in such a short period of time. Drawing the plants and earning money from Mr. Halliwell was a slow process. Her plans to start over in a kingdom far away required patience, and the ability to start over with the most meager of sums. She had been sure it would take more than a year to save up. “What do you mean?” Ella asked.

“There’s a man, a man who is willing to pay girls for their time,” she said, her voice low. “He’ll pay them a whole king’s gold for a night of work.”

Ella narrowed her eyes and focused on Faye, trying to figure out the catch. She knew there was something wrong with that. That was a month of pay for a night of “work.” She gritted herself and asked, “What kind of work?”

Faye lowered her eyes for a moment, then looked up at her friend. “The kind of thing your stepmother tried to get you to do with that gentleman a few months ago.”

Ella balled her hands into fists and tried not to let the disappointment she felt turn into anger. She remembered the time her stepmother had told her a man was going to pay for the privilege of painting Ella. She’d been sent to Marigold’s bedroom to pose, which should have tipped her off. Only she had been naive then. She didn’t realize, until he was asking her to disrobe and planting kisses on her neck, what he really wanted, what her stepmother Lady Kenna had really given him permission to do. She’d screamed, kneeing the man right in his dangly thing, and run out.

She ran straight to Lady Kenna and said, “I am not a prostitute and you won’t make me one. If you try again, I swear, the spirit of my dead father will haunt you for the rest of your life. For all the cruelty you commit to me now is within your rights. But what you just tried to do, is beyond your right and you will pay for all eternity if you ever try that again.”

She’d tried to sound brave and fearless. She supposed she must have sounded so, because Lady Kenna did not bring another man around to “paint” or do anything else to Ella. The idea of having sex with a strange man who simply wanted a body, not caring if it were hers or someone else’s, bothered her. She supposed she clung to the memories she had of her parents’ marriage: happy, kind, loving, and filled with mutual adoration.

Ella shook her head. “I can’t,” she sputtered. “Faye, you know I can’t do that.”

Faye frowned. “It’s a lot of money, Ella. It won’t be so bad to do it. And you’d be able to get away from that torture Lady Kenna heaps on you each day.”

Ella thought about her dream of walking out on that hag who had inherited all of her father’s estate, who had spent all that should have been hers. Part of her hated Lady Kenna for her cruelty, but part of her understood it. It was nearly impossible for noble women to earn money of their own. At least noble women who wanted to pretend they had the wealth to accommodate their station. They were dependent on men for everything, so when Ella’s father had died, Lady Kenna had to make sure she was taken care of, that her daughters were taken care of. That, Ella understood. What she didn’t understand was why Lady Kenna couldn’t include her in the family, why Ella couldn’t benefit from the largesse. She closed her eyes, breathed out. She’d had Lady Kenna as a stepmother and Marigold and Bathilda as stepsisters, for the last nine years and withstood it well enough.

A few months ago, Ella had gotten lucky by running into Mr. Halliwell in the woods near her home. She was drawing a bird on some scraps of paper she’d saved, when she spotted Mr. Halliwell stooped over collecting plants to use in his medicines. When he saw how well she’d drawn the bird, he asked if she could sketch some plants for him. He was training his sons to apprentice him, but knew that the oldest wanted the current business, while the youngest planned to open an apothecary in a town further over that had no such shop. He wanted to give the youngest information to take with him, but his arthritis had made it impossible for him to draw anything. Halliwell had agreed to pay her to draw some of the herbs he used, and then his son would write the pertinent information beneath it. Mr. Halliwell didn’t pay a lot, but it was more than nothing, which is what Ella received from Lady Kenna. So, she’d happily taken the assignments. And if he kept giving them to her, she’d have enough money to leave. “I’m already halfway to my goal, Faye. Thank you, but I don’t need this.”

Faye frowned. “I thought at least one of us could get out,” she said.

“Why don’t you do it, Faye?” Ella asked encouragingly.

Faye shook her head, looked down at her feet. “You know why, Ella. I’m not pretty. Not like you. You’ve got the most gorgeous blonde hair ever, big bosoms, a nice figure. You’d be perfect for this. The man told me he needed a pretty girl. He laughed when I suggested me, but I told him I’d send my friend instead. And it’s not like it would be riff-raff. Apparently, a cousin of the King or something is visiting and wants some companionship.”

Ella stared at Faye. That was interesting. A royal relation who wanted a prostitute. “And where was I supposed to go?” she asked, more out of curiosity than any intention to go.

“He said to meet at the rear castle gate at 10 tonight, and to say that you were Faye’s friend who wanted to inquire about royal nuts.”

Ella couldn’t help but laugh. That was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard. “Faye,” she said. “Are you sure he wasn’t foolin’ on you?”

Faye shook her head. “No, he’s a royal servant. I seen him before.” She paused, then added, dreamily, “He wears such fine clothing. It always looks so soft and warm and clean. Not like the stuff we wear.”

Ella nodded. She knew of such clothes. They were the kind that Lady Kenna, Bathilda and Marigold wore. Fine, expensive and not for her. She sighed and tilted her head skyward. It was a dark orangish purple. The sun was setting. She grabbed Faye, wrapping her arms as much around her stout friend as she could. “Thank you for thinking of me for this, but I can’t. And I have to get home or Lady Kenna will have my hide.”

Faye nodded. Ella pulled away and ran toward home. She had to hurry.

***If you enjoyed this preview, the rest of the story is available from
Amazon
as a purchase or a FREE borrow by Kindle Unlimited subscribers). ***

Rosetta Bloom loves a good love story. She also likes a steamy tale with two characters who find solace in each other’s arms. So, she writes romance and erotic romances, and all of them end happily, because Rosetta hates sad endings. If you want a story that has a few surprises, and lots of heart, then she’s writing the story for you.

Rosetta Bloom’s primary novels and novellas are sexy retellings of classic fairy tales. They include
The Princess, the Pea and the Night of Passion
;
Beauty and Her Beastly Love; Cinders and Ash: A Cinderella Story
; and
Dream Trysts: A Sleeping Beauty Story
. Rosetta loves adding new life to these classic tales and hopes you enjoy the tweaked versions, too. Rosetta also has a series of really short erotic love stories called the
Romance: Trysts
series. You can read the first one,
Dr. Carter & Mrs. Sinn
, FREE. There are four in the series, and if you like the first, you can grab the rest individually or pick up the boxed set,
Romance: Trysts Volumes 1-4
.

To learn more about Rosetta Bloom or either series, visit her website,
http://rosettabloom.com
.

The Princess, the Pea and the Night of Passion
.
If you love royal romances, and princesses in distress, you’ll love this story!

In this grown-up version of the famous fairy tale, Princess Adara is running from her old life and a forced betrothal. Adara wants love and passion, but knows she can’t get them back home. When a raging storm halts her escape, Adara seeks refuge in the first dwelling she sees.

Prince Richard is tired of the trite, vain, frigid princesses his mother introduces him to in hopes he’ll marry. On this stormy night, he's in the mood to love a woman, but he's all alone. Then, Adara arrives on the castle doorstep, saying she’s a princess in need of help. The queen is doubtful and decides to lock Adara in a room with a pea to determine if the girl is a real princess. Richard believes the beautiful, charming stranger, but he wants her locked in a bedroom for other reasons.

When Richard and Adara hook up, there’s more than a pea-sized bit of passion involved....

(This book is free at all retailers)

Cinders & Ash: A Cinderella Story
. Ella would like nothing more than to leave her wicked stepmother and spoiled stepsisters behind. Only, she needs money to do so. The young lass has been secretly working for a local shopkeeper to earn some cash, but when her stepmother, Lady Kenna, finds out, she gets her stepdaughter fired, and takes all the cash. Ella's friend suggest she head to the castle for a job that pays well and requires not a ton of effort. Desperate to get away, Ella consents.

Ash is a prince confined to a castle. The queen is convinced magic fairies are real and are out to do her son harm. That doesn't stop the young prince from having companionship delivered. When a beautiful maiden is brought to him one evening, he's completely intrigued. By her beauty, by her demeanor, by the fact that she'll only give her name as Cinders.

In this steamy retelling of the Cinderella story,
Cinders & Ash
find love, romance and a fairy tale happy ending.

Available
now
. This book is FREE to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.

Dream Trysts: A Sleeping Beauty Story.
A wicked fairy who curses a child to a hundred years of slumber because she wasn’t invited to a party. Seems harsh… but the real story is so much more interesting and way sexier.

In this re-telling of Sleeping Beauty, the wicked fairy Maurelle isn’t mad at not receiving an invitation — no she’s got deeper reason for being upset at King Edmund and Queen Blissa. And little princess Briar Rose, before she’s cursed, is given the gift of dream sight, which allows her to interact with others in her dreams. All is not changed, though. Prince Charming is still, well, charming. He’s just a tad bit sexier and knows exactly how to please.

Find yourself a comfy spot and make yourself at home as you start this imaginative, adult version of the classic fairy tale.

Available
now
. This book is FREE to Kindle Unlimited Subscribers.