Bella's Beast (5 page)

Love
didn’t happen overnight. Did it?

Chapter Eight

“It’s
getting late, Bella. We need to get out of the water,”
Elijio
said, eyes toward the windows as the sun went down.

“Aw,
but I’m having too much fun. Tell me about you time in Paris again. Is it as
beautiful as they say?”

“I’ll
tell you, after we get cleaned up and dressed for dinner.” Bella splashed him.

“Don’t
mess up a good day, Elijio. Just come do a few more laps with me,” she
said,
her mouth in a pretty pout. What he could do with
those lips of hers. He shook his head, clearing the thought as he climbed from
the water. The change was already starting. He could feel it. With the coming
night the beast would be gone, and he’d be able to taste her again. That
spurned him on, happier for the pain of the transition in a way he hadn’t been
in a very long time.

“Party
pooper,” Bella said but climbed from the pool, the water sluicing off her
frame. He wanted to be that water. He groaned, painfully, as his stomach
crapped.
No, not yet
, he begged.

“What’s
wrong?” Bella asked, rushing to his side. He fell to his knees as thousands of
knives pierced his flesh at one time. He felt like his skin was too tight, as
if it would rip away at any moment. The pain, the witch had told him, would be
to remind him of her, every time he shifted. The plan, he was sure, backfired,
because it didn’t make him want to repent. It only made him hate her more. Made
him wish he’d torn her limb from pretty little limb, when she’d cursed him.

“Elijio,
talk to me,” Bella said soothingly, and gripped his arms. Where her hands
touched they soothed the fire inside of him, but he couldn’t relish it. He was
howling, his body contorting and bones snapping until his fur fell away and he
was a man once more. He lay there, in Bella’s lap, as she wiped his brow and
ran her fingers through his hair.

“Is
that how it always is?” she asked in a whisper.

“Every
time I go from the wolf to the man,” Elijio gasped out.

“That
bitch,” Bella cursed the witch.

“My sentiments exactly.”
He chuckled
painfully.

“Every
night I am a man, and every day I am the beast, forever linked by the rising
and setting of the sun. It has become my nemesis during my existence. To think,
I’d once loved it.”

“There
has to be a way to break this curse, Elijio. You can’t hope to live like this
forever. Don’t get me wrong, I kind of like the beast, but you shouldn’t be a
prisoner in your own body.”

“It’s
my life, Bella. I’ve come to understand that.” He lifted his palm to her face,
and caressed her cheek.

“But
you make it better,” he said with so much in his eyes she couldn’t fathom
exactly what it meant.

Chapter Nine

The
days flew by. Bella explored Elijio’s home with him at her side. He had a large
library with every book she could imagine stocking the shelves and a computer
set up in the room that allowed her to have access to any online book she
didn’t have at her fingertips. He had a gym, a playroom with game systems that
she enjoyed, and a ballroom with a kick-ass sound system in it. They’d played
music all night and danced their asses off until he’d felt the change coming
and they’d went to his room. And Bella stayed by his side.

He
never went through the change again by himself, and every day she felt like she
saw another side of him she hadn’t seen before. She found herself loving the
intelligence and strength of the beast, as much as she desired the touch of the
man. She didn’t know which one she’d fallen in love with first, but suddenly
she couldn’t imagine her life without them. They shared meals together, and
talked about their lives. He knew her better than anyone in the world and, she
thought, she knew him too.
Knew that he loved to have his
back scratched, in beast or human form, and loved to have intellectual debates
over their breakfast coffee.
Knew that he had a lighter side of him that
would make her hide somewhere in the large mansion and use only his nose, which
was totally unfair, to come find her. He was a gifted, strong, caring, and
tortured soul that she loved.

She
just couldn’t tell him.

Every
time she broached the subject of emotions or happy ever afters he would clam up
or change the subject. She wondered if he felt the same, if the look in his
eyes she’d come to crave was misleading her. In her heart she didn’t’ doubt
that he felt something more for her than he let on. Hell, her “debt” had been
paid long ago, and still they didn’t part ways. That gave her the strength to
believe there was something more between them than he admitted. They sat now,
having dinner, and she couldn’t take her eyes off him. She needed to tell him,
needed to know if he felt the same way about her.

“What
is it?” Elijio asked, wiping his mouth, his dark eyes showing concern. The
night had fallen and he sat before her as a man, dressed in a black silk shirt
and slacks. She’d dressed in a blue minidress with a keyhole neckline and
overlaid with lace. They’d decided to dress up a little for dinner for the pure
fun of it. She’d had an ulterior motive, though, for coming up with the idea.

She
didn’t answer him. She stood up instead and came around the table to his side.
He watched her quizzically until she reached for the clasp of her dress at the
back of her neck, then his eyes heated with desire. Moving slowly, she undid
each button until the back of her dress gapped a bit. Then she pulled it down,
over her shoulders and lifted her arms out of the dress. He watched her
silently, pushing back from the table and turning toward her in his seat as she
shimmied
the tight material off her hips. She smiled
as he eyes followed the dress as it pooled at her feet.

“Did
you like my dress?” she asked as she stepped out of it and kicked it away to
the side. She stood now before him in a white lace boy-short and bra ensemble.
He swallowed before he spoke and finally looked over at her.

“Loved
it,” he said with a growl. She loved that.
Loved when his
voice went dangerous and dark.
When she could hear the
grumble of his wolf just on the edge of the surface.
The wolf didn’t
scare him anymore. It excited her. With a seductive smile she arched her back
and unhooked her bra. The cups dropped as the bands slid down her arms. She
played with the straps for a little, turning away from
Elijio
as she did.

“It
seems I’ve lost my bra,” she teased him.

“You’ll
lose more than that if you don’t get the rest
off
,”
he threatened.

“Temper,
temper,” she scolded playfully. Once she let the bra dropped she stretched,
arching her back.
Elijio
sucked in a breath. He
exhaled as she fingered the band of her underwear. Achingly slow she peeled it
off, bending over as she pushed it down her legs. She stepped out of them and
stayed bent over.

“I
think I’m still hungry,
Elijio
,” she whispered
looking over her shoulder at him. With silent hands he unbuckled his pants and
pulled his cock from the confines of his slacks. His breathing was rough as he
stared at her with heavy lids.

“I
wouldn’t want you to not be satisfied,” he said roughly. “Come taste this. See
if it will quench that appetite of yours.”

Bella
stood slowly and turned. When she did she sank gracefully to her hands and
knees. She crawled toward him, inch by inch, keeping her eyes in his
magnificent cock. It pulsed as she got closer, shiny with his pre-come. She
licked her lips, eager for a taste. The head was bright and shiny, stretching
the confines of his skin.
Elijio
held it toward her.
When she reached him she slid her hands up his legs before gripping him between
her hands. She licked her way up to the head and sucked it into her mouth. She
twisted her head, gathering saliva in her mouth before letting it run down his
cock. She moved her hands out of the way so that he got wet all over.

Using
the wetness to make the glide easier she moved both hands on him, moving in the
opposite twisting motion, as she sucked him down her throat.

“Just
like that,” he said with a moan. She bobbed her head, keeping him wet so she
could glide over him easily. Her tongue worked fiercely over the head of his
cock, taking time to dip a bit into the hole. His thighs clenched against her
thighs and he buried his fingers in her hair. She let him guide her up and down
on his cock.

“
Mmmm
,” she moaned over his flesh, loving the feel of his
velvet covered steel. He felt alive under her fingers.
So
very good in her mouth.
She kept sucking him, hollowing out her cheeks
to give him better friction. She let go of him with one hand and lifted his
balls. Still pumping and twisting with one hand she flicked her tongue across
his balls before tracing her way down to the smooth skin underneath. She played
with him there before coming back up

“Fuck,”
he cursed roughly.

“That’s
what I had in mind,” she whispered against his dick before she sucked him back
in her mouth. Slowly she stood up, still using her hands on him, and keeping
her mouth moving up and down. The bent over position was a bit awkward, but she
held it. She kissed her way up his stomach, still working her hands, and up and
over his chest. Finally she shifted forward, taking her hands away from his
cock and bracing herself on his shoulders. She stepped forward so that she had
a foot on each side of him and was straddled over him. She wanted tonight to be
special, because she was going to tell him she loved him. She couldn’t keep it
in anymore.

“I
was thinking how best to tell you what’s been on my mind,” she began, slowly
sinking over his length. She went quiet as she let her head fall back, enjoying
the feel of his thickness touching the sides of her sensitive walls. God, he
felt so good inside of her. She worked herself up and down his length, slow
inch by delicious inch, until she was seated over him.

“
Elijio
—” she started, but he shook his head.

“Don’t,
Bella. Let’s leave it as it is. We don’t have to say any words,” he argued. He
gripped her hips, and took over control of the motion, moving in and out of her
steadily. The pleasure tried to crash over her but she struggled to keep her
head on right.

“Why
do you have such a problem with feelings?” she said with a gasp, trying to sill
her hips. He wouldn’t let her, pushing into her harder and faster. She moaned,
gripping his wrists. She had to tell him. He needed to hear it. She knew it.

“You
don’t have that issue any other time,” she said finally, struggling to speak. “We’ve
talked about everything in the world. Why can’t we talk about this?”

“You
don’t understand,” He argued. Suddenly he stood up and pulled her off him. She
didn’t have a chance to protest because he was turning her, and bending her
over the table. Between one breath and the next he slammed into her. She
screamed, holding on to the edge of the table for dear life.

“Make
me understand,
Elijio
. Take the time. You know I’ll
listen,” she said finally. He wasn’t going to stop her from having this
conversation. This was supposed to be a loving moment.
A time
when they told each other how they felt and then came together in that feeling
of love.
She tried to express through her body. Tried to show him what
he refused to listen to. She threw her back into his body, forcing him to bend
over her and grip the table alongside of her. She clamped her inner muscles,
tightening until he was gasping. He tucked his face in the curve of her neck,
teeth sinking into her flesh in his favorite spot over her pulse. He moved
slower now, deeper. His touch softened, and the pleasure was profound.

“Please,”
she begged him. When he lifted his face to him she saw the pain there. She
kissed his lips softly, closing her eyes against the tears that clouded her
vision. When she opened her eyes he was still looking at her. He opened his
mouth to respond but the phone
rang,
a shrill sound
that stopped them both cold. Elijio frowned. Bella realized that he really
didn’t have much contact with the outside world. He didn’t have friends that
called regularly to check up on him. They’d been trapped in their own little
world. Bella’s stomach dropped, getting the feeling that the call didn’t bode
well.

“Hold
on,”
Elijio
said, all business, and stood up. He slid
from her and buckled his slacks as he strode away from the table. She felt cold
as she found her dress and held it up in front of her body. He picked up the
cordless phone and answered curtly.

“
Elijio
… Who?
Why? I see … and
who made the offer? Tell them I’ll be there.
Same meeting
place.”
Elijio hung up the phone and turned to her, his face a mask of
cold steel. She’d never seen him so cold before. She stood on shaky feet, not
wanting to sit and hear his news.

“Your
brother has found himself in trouble again.”

“What?”
Bella cried, coming around the table, nakedness forgotten.

“But
an offer has been made. We are to meet them within the hour to talk terms.”

“Is
he okay? Did they say how he was doing?”

“It
was him that I was talking to. He didn’t sound harmed.”

“They
must have put him up to it. We have to go. Please help me. I know I’m asking
you a lot, but—”

“Are
you listening to yourself? You’ve been here for over a month, Bella. Nearly
two, and the only time you’ve talked to you brother was when I first paid for
his release, and now he’s looking for you to get paid again.”

“We’ve
never talked every day. He knows that. It may seem odd to you but that doesn’t
mean we aren’t close. If he called it’s because he’s in trouble.”

“Then
let him be in trouble. He hasn’t cared about you, or how you got the money.
According to him, your rich boyfriend, namely me, should be able to cover the
cost. No one would touch him, knowing that he is under my protection. That’s
why you came to me. Think, Bella.”

“But
if he doesn’t pay, or you don’t protect him, then they will hurt him. He’s my
brother Elijio.”

“A
brother that didn’t give a damn about you, or how you paid for him the last
time until he needed you again,” Elijio roared. She wasn’t afraid of him
though. Not anymore. She balled her fist, glaring at him.

“I’m
asking you to help me. If you don’t, then I’ll find someone who will. My debt
has been paid to you.” He stared at her, incredulously, pain lacing his gaze,
but she couldn’t take back her words. He hadn’t wanted to hear hers anyway. The
most important
ones,
and the pain of that spiraled
through her head. She moved away from him, searching for her undergarments. She
got dressed with angry, jerky movements. She couldn’t even bring herself to
look at the table.

“Your debt?
Is that all
this was? That’s all?” he asked, but before she could answer he cut her off.

“If
you want me to do this, I will.
But after this, no more.
I’m done.
We are done.
”

“Elijio,
please, he’s the only family I got.”

“Then
we better save him.”
Elijio
spun on his heels and she
had to run to keep up as he stalked out o the house. Richard rushed behind them
out the door, from where she had no idea, and produced keys to Elijio’s car.

In
silence Bella got inside and rode as
Elijio
raced
from his private drive and across the city. Her heart was breaking as she stared
at his cold visage. He didn’t look her way, or take his attention off the road.
She’d wanted to tell him that she’d loved him tonight. Wanted to make love to
him, in the bed she’d begun to think of as theirs, and start a new life with
him. One that was clear of the way they met, and what brought them together.
But, now here they were, rushing to her brother’s aide, and she may have lost
the man she loved in the process.