Beauty and the Beast (18 page)

Her hands glided over the areas Bruce had kissed. His words, actions, and touch were of a man in love, she finally admitted. Fairy tales do come true.

She reached over to the hook on the back of the door and took the satin negligee off the hanger—another item Bruce had bought her. The golden yellow material slid over her head and along her body. I need to tell Bruce how I feel. She touched her cheeks. Though he’d accepted the marks on her body, fear still lingered. The scars on her body hadn’t chased away her father.

 
I can’t keep torturing myself. He’ll either accept all of me or not. No more uncertainty. I want to know.
She locked onto her reflection in the mirror. “Bruce, I’m in love with you.” Ready to take on the world, she cleaned and mentally prepared to do an unveiling.

Hand on the doorknob, she paused. “Maybe I should just tell him how I feel and let him get used to the idea, then unveil later.” She swung the bathroom door open and stepped into the bedroom. “Stop being a coward.”

The sound of a large amount of glass shattering startled her. “What the…” Fear gripped her.
Oh my God. Butch did escape!
Barefoot, she crept across the suite floor, but a hollow thump, thump stopped her. Fists clenched, she rushed to the door to wake Bruce and the rest of the household.
And they have the audacity to say I’m a heavy sleeper.

Slowly opening the bedroom door, she peeked out to make sure the coast was clear and was surprised to see Anna and Victoria standing in front of Bruce’s door. The robed women were discussing something in hushed tones. Another crash gave everyone a start. Nefertiti’s hands went to her mouth.
Bruce.
She quickly retrieved and donned her yellow veil, then went to Bruce’s aid.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Anna blocked Nefertiti’s way.

“I need to see Bruce.”

Victoria stood beside Anna. “No, darling, not when he’s like this. Let him burn it out.”

“I can help him. Please. Let me in.”

Anna tsked. “Look, Nef, I know you have him wrapped around your finger, but when he’s like this he isn’t himself. He becomes a beast. That beast doesn’t know you from Jimmy Bahloo. And from the sound of things, it’s dangerous to even walk in there. You know how dark he keeps it.”

Nefertiti ran her hands through her hair. She couldn’t believe her ears. “Bruce has never attacked anyone,” she defended. “Stop calling him a beast. Unless you’re planning on physically stopping me, I suggest you move.”

“Darling,” Victoria pleaded, “I know how you feel about him, but—”

“No disrespect, Auntie, but I know in here,” she rested her hand on her heart, “he needs me as much as I need him. Please move.”

“I’ll kill them! I’ll kill them all!” roared the beast.

Rachel raced down the hallway. “You’re not actually letting her go in there, are you?” Breathless, she tugged on Nefertiti’s negligee. “Don’t do this. Give him time to cool off.”

“I’m not afraid of Bruce. He wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

The young woman rolled her eyes. “He’s planning on murdering someone.”

“Haven’t you ever said ‘I’ll kill him’ when you were angry with someone?”

“This is insane, Nef.”

“Auntie Vic, you know him as well as I do.”

Victoria slowly stepped to the side. “Come on, Anna and Rachel. Let’s go downstairs until things quiet up here.”

“You’ve got to be kidding!” Anna snapped.

Nefertiti hugged Victoria, then turned to the other two women. “I appreciate your concern, and love you for it.”

“You’re as crazy as him.” Anna stalked down the hall.

Nefertiti listened at the doorway a bit and heard nothing.
Good, he’s calmed
. She entered the room and closed the door behind her. The moonlight poured in through the partially open drapes, but she couldn’t see clearly yet. Had he gone to his office to sleep?

“Bruce.” She waited a few extra moments for her eyes to adjust. He could also be exhausted and lying on the floor. “Fire ninja.” The room wasn’t as bad off as she’d expected it to be: the mattress and box spring were on the floor, the armchair usually sitting beside the bed now took up residency in several areas of the room; the full-length mirror on the back of his closet door was history. He’d need to order yet another laptop.

“If I step on glass, I’m kicking your tail.” She strained to find Bruce.

She couldn’t see him, but she heard him breathing heavily. The plan—keep him talking until he was back to his usual ol’ grumpy self, just as she’d done when they were children. She carefully approached the darkened corner she suspected he stood in.

“Leave me alone!”

“I will as soon as you give your honest opinion on an idea I have for the resort.” Déjà vu hit her, except she remembered showing him a picture of a lion and him saying something about a man being eaten. She stepped over the broken arm of a chair.

“You’re kidding, right?” He moved from the shadows into the moonlight. He wore nothing but his briefs.

Dayummmm!
Broad shoulders, tapered waist, powerful thighs, and his hands… Oh how she longed to have them on her again, him in her again.

“No,” she uttered.

“I’m in no mood to talk about Dixon right now. I put you in charge of the first floor. Do whatever you want with it. Humph, you should add a gladiator attraction. Man eating lions and all.” As if he were also experiencing some strange sort of déjà vu, he paused. “What are you doing in here?” he growled.

“Where else would I be?” she asked as she neared. “We’re two of a kind.”

That statement earned a genuine laugh from him. “You are crazy! You’re sunshine and I’m rain. Too much rain causes floods.”

“Too much sun causes droughts. I guess we need each other.” Close enough to touch him, she rested her hands on his chest and gazed into his sorrowful brown eyes. She could see his mood had stabilized.

Voice lowered and husky, he repeated, “What are you doing here?”

“Where else would I be?”

“Cowering with Anna and Auntie Vic. I’ll bet the new girl is scared shitless,” he joked, but she could tell he’d been hurt by their reactions, kind of like the way she was hurt by her father’s reaction.

“Rachel. Her name is Rachel.” She wrapped her arms around him and listened to the steady beat of his heart.

“Have they sent you to calm the savage beast?”

“If so, then I’m in love with a beast.” She could swear she heard his heart skip a beat.

He wove his fingers through her hair and tilted her face up. “You still love me?”

“I’m in love with you , but…” She loved him, but was love enough? She lowered her gaze. “Daddy hasn’t even spoken to me since they removed the bandages from my face.”

“My mother gave me away because she believes me a monster…”

“You’re not a monster.”

“I know that now, but as a child… Don’t let your father’s issues become yours. I’m sorry about earlier. I shouldn’t have made my proposal sound like some last-ditch attempt to keep you safe. I love you, Nefertiti.” His hands slowly moved from her hair to under the veil. He rested his forehead on hers as he traced her facial scars with his fingertips. “I’ve seen these.”

“H—how… When?”

“It doesn’t matter.” He smoothed her tears and many of her fears away with the pads of his thumbs. “You’re still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” He continued caressing her face. “I won’t lie to you. I get angry when I think about what you’ve gone through—what you’re going through.” Voice barely over a whisper, he said, “Trust me, baby.”

Decision made, she slowly unhooked the veil from her ears. The sheer yellow material fell to the floor. The world didn’t stop. A giant spotlight didn’t pop out from nowhere and train on her. Bruce didn’t sour his face in repulsion or even cringe. Yet she wouldn’t use his term from earlier and call this event “anti-climatic.”

The way his gaze appreciatively brushed over her face was anything but anti-climatic. The way his hands glided along her back to her bottom voided the term. The way he drew her into his hard body refused to be associated with anything anti-climatic.

A low sensual growl escaped him as he rubbed his cheek against hers. The stubble from his ten o’clock shadow prickled, but she savored this moment. She’d waited such a long time. With the veil gone, she could enjoy him fully.

Something in his growl called to the less civilized part of her nature. In answer to his call, she nibbled his lower lip. She’d always loved his lips. And now she could suck, nip, and taste them all she wanted.

His hands firmly grasped her backside and lifted her. As she slid along his hardness, his body, she wrapped her legs around him and her arms around his neck. Now nose to nose, she could delve deeply into his mouth—spicy hot and wild.

He lifted her higher, until his mouth was level with her breast. The feel of his tongue massaging her breast through the material… She almost melted into a pool of rapture. He lowered her and stepped toward the mattress, now lying on the floor. He stumbled over the seat of the armchair. As they fell, he turned their bodies so she’d land on him. She straightened her legs and reached out to break their fall, but with lightning speed, he pulled her arms in close to her body.

The force of the thump when they landed on the mattress worried her. “Oh my God, Bruce.” Belatedly, she realized he was trying to keep her from re-injuring her wrists.

He lay on his back eyes closed and arms out to his sides. Pain didn’t ravage his face, yet besides breathing heavily, he wasn’t moving or making a sound.

“You’re scaring me. Say something.”

Without a word, he opened his eyes, laced his fingers through her hair, pulled her to his lips and kissed her so thoroughly he set the bar higher for what could be considered “toe curling.”

“Umm,” she purred. “Glad to see our little fall didn’t injure you.” She suckled along his neck to his chest. Between her legs the glorious throb of his hardness against her heat excited her. More than ready, she sat up and gyrated to his beat.

His hands slowly traveled along her back to her hips. They both groaned as he cupped her backside. Her whole body hummed with delight, but she wanted—needed—more. “Bruce,” she murmured.

“I know, baby.” He slipped his hands under her negligee and caressed her waist. He pushed the negligee up as his hands ventured to her breasts. To give him better access, she pulled the yellow satin over her head and dropped it to the floor.

“Oh God, puh-leez tell me you see my nightstand somewhere close.”

She quickly scanned the room. Thankfully, the nightstand was beside the bed frame, just turned on its side. “I see it.”

“In the drawer.”

She crawled toward the nightstand. He rolled over and reached for her panties, which she easily slid out of. She opened the drawer and found a box of condoms, grabbed one of the foil packets and ripped it open as she returned to Bruce, who had taken off his briefs.

The first time they’d made love, she’d been so caught up she hadn’t fully appreciated his manly beauty.

“Woman, if you don’t stop licking your lips…” he teased.

“Just lie back and let me enjoy myself.” She wrapped her hand around his hardness and stroked gently.

He softly growled his encouragement as he sank two of his fingers into her heat.

“Ummm,” she moaned. “Licking my lips isn’t the only thing I can do.” She took him into her mouth. Nefertiti sucked, stroked, and licked Bruce’s pulsating member until his body quivered.