“How many, Sir?”
Please, please don’t be a lot.
“I will stop when I feel you’ve had enough. I have considered one lash for every hour you kept me waiting…” He paused. “Perhaps next time you won’t give me all day to think about it.”
With that, he stood on his hind legs, and once again she felt so small next to his towering mass. The helplessness of her situation overwhelmed her. Chained to his dungeon wall, unable to break free, unable to leave, forced to accept whatever punishment he deemed fit to give her.
For some reason, that very helplessness soothed her, and made it all right. If she couldn’t escape, then she may as well relax, and not fight. He could do what he wanted, and she would survive, because he promised her so.
And she believed him. The Beast, in everything he had done and said, had always been honest with her. She was safe in his care.
The whip made a horrible whistling sound as it swooshed through the cold air and lashed across her back. Belle shrieked, more in surprise than pain—although the pain was there, definitely— a sharp burn across her tender flesh.
“Count them off, Belle,” he ordered.
“One,” she said, surprised her voice was so strong. It filled the dungeon.
He took the whip and turned it around in his hand, so that the thick handle faced her. No! He couldn’t beat her with the handle, she would break into pieces.
“Please,” she whispered, but the Beast shook his head.
“You forgot to say Sir,” he said.
She winced, waiting for the force of the thick handle of the whip, but it didn’t come. Instead, he nudged the handle between her legs, rubbing it against her clit slowly.
What on earth? She closed her eyes, resting her forehead against the dungeon wall, as he slid the handle, not inside her, no, but back and forth along her clit.
She gasped as pleasure flowed over her, but then, he stopped.
No!
“Please,” she said again, but this time she had no idea what she pleaded for. For more? Yes. More.
But the lash whistled through the air again, striking her on the buttocks this time. Belle cried out.
“Two, Sir,” she said, her body twisting in the chains.
Another lash of the whip. Oh God, the agony!
“Three, Sir,” she cried.
And then, the handle of the whip was between her shaking thighs once more. She bucked her hips against it, grinding her cunny down onto the handle, needing more. The Beast teased her, bringing her once more to the brink of climax before stopping completely.
She cried out again, before he even whipped her, when he stopped. Now she craved that lash, because if she could just live through that moment of pain, he would reward her.
Unless this—this teasing—was also her punishment. A sob wracked through her as the lash flicked against her thighs.
“Four, Sir,” she said. Again.
“Five, Sir. Six, Sir. Oh God, please, Beast, please—”
Now his hands were on her, running along the flare of her hips, and finally settling between her thighs. Moisture ran down her inner thighs, and she hid her face in the crook of her elbow. It felt so good, too good.
“Please,” she begged, and he kept rubbing her there, so slowly, so tortuously.
“Please, what?” he asked, and took her long hair in one meaty fist, forcing her to unhide her face.
“Please, Sir, Beast. Please let me come.”
“You are being punished, Beauty,” he said softly. He played with her clit again, moving his thick fingers so slowly she thought she might die.
And then he stopped. The Beast unchained her, and she sighed with gratitude, but her relief was short lived. He immediately repositioned her arms behind her and latched her wrists to the stone wall once more.
While the new position made her more comfortable than she’d been with her arms so high above her head, being bound in the Beast’s dungeon left her little room to be grateful for that small kindness.
“You’ll stay here tonight,” he said. “It will make you appreciate your accommodations in your suite upstairs, and our…arrangement.”
“Don’t leave me like this, Beast,” she begged, stepping forward the small bit her restraints would allow. The chains clattered as they bounced against the stone.
“
You
left
me
, Belle. You’re the one who walked away first.”
She groaned miserably, and his expression softened, as if he couldn’t help but to feel sorry for her.
“Perhaps in your dreams,” he said, “your playmate will relieve your discomfort.”
The Beast withdrew, leaving her alone once more in the cold, dark dungeon.
6: Beauty’s Library
The Beast
wanted to see her in her dreams, he did. He wanted to be Frederick with her once more.
He took a glass of whiskey to the parlor and sat heavily. Could he sleep when she did—and was that even a requisite for the magic to work? The poor girl, how would she sleep when he’d left her in such an uncomfortable state?
The Beast went over to his desk and picked up the looking glass. The looking glass was no ordinary mirror; like most items in his castle, it had not escaped the enchantress’s spell. This particular mirror could show him anything he wished to see, without having to leave the castle walls.
“Show me my Beauty,” he said, staring at his monstrous reflection.
A swirl of fog hazed the looking glass, then cleared as if by a sudden breeze. Belle was as he’d left her, naked, chained to the dungeon wall, and in the sweetest distress he’d ever seen. She turned in her restraints, rolling her head back against the wall, and sighed.
“Sleep, Belle. I’ll see you soon.” The Beast set the looking glass down, knowing she couldn’t hear him, and sipped deeply from his glass of whiskey.
The wound on his chest was feeling better, so he didn’t have much of an excuse for laudanam, but perhaps he should take some anyway? Something, something to send him off to dreamland, where he could regain his masculine form and comfort his beautiful prisoner.
But the events of the day settled on his shoulders, and as he sat, he drifted off on his own, the glass dropping from his hand harmlessly to the sofa, only narrowly missing the stone floor by centimeters.
And in his sleep, he was Frederick.
Frederick rose from the sofa and ran his hands over his torso, confirming that he was, indeed, himself. He grinned rakishly and bounded down the hall to the dungeon stairs. What time was it? Would Beauty be ready for him?
“Belle?” he whispered into the darkness of the dungeon.
“H-hello?” she replied, from the far wall. “I’m here!”
Frederick lit a sconce on the wall, and warm light flooded their corner of the dungeon. Belle hid her face, as if doing so would somehow make her less naked, less vulnerable.
“Are you all right?” Frederick asked. “What have you done to be punished like this?”
He knew it had to do with the Beast, but at the moment, the two worlds seemed so far apart. Which was his true self, the Beast or the Prince? He didn’t know, himself. Right now, he was Frederick. That was all that mattered.
“I’m fine,” Belle said, finally peeking out from behind her curtain of hair. “The Beast had a lesson to teach me, and I do, I suppose, have quite a bit to learn.” She laughed, an unexpected sound, considering her predicament.
He smiled. “You’re in quite the good spirits, considering you are naked and chained to a wall, and I am a man known for my love of bound women.”
At this, she smiled. “It’s only a dream, you can do anything to me in a dream. Nothing matters if it’s not real.”
He stepped closer, close enough to feel the heat radiating off of her naked flesh. “What if it is real?”
“Then I truly am in a predicament.” Belle laughed nervously. “Am I safe with you, Frederick?”
Her lips were so full, begging for a kiss. He smoothed her hair out of her face and smiled. “I won’t harm you.”
“You sound like my Beast.”
“Mmmm.” Frederick leaned in and kissed her lips gently, then pulled back, waiting for her response.
“It is a dream, right?”
“I don’t know,” he replied honestly. Was it? “I think so.”
“I’ve been searching for you. The Beast won’t tell me where he’s keeping you captive in the castle. How did you find me?”
Frederick frowned. “I knew where you were. Perhaps the castle guided me to you.” He shrugged. “Does it matter? I’m here. I’ve missed you.”
Belle smiled. “I missed you too. I did as you told me, Frederick. I agreed to begin my service to the Beast.”
“Good!” Joy filled him, but he wasn’t sure why. Yes, it was good. She needed to be with the Beast. To fall in love with the Beast.
“Why?” she whispered, echoing the very same question floating through his own mind. “Why would you want me to be with anyone other than you?”
“It’s not because I care for you any less, Beauty. I can’t explain it. Just know that the Beast is good, and he adores you. You must learn to love the Beast.”
“He left me in quite the state,” she mumbled. “Will you rescue me? Or are you here to take advantage of a captive woman?”
“Both,” he grinned, his mouth close to hers. “Let’s do both.”
“All right,” she giggled.
Belle stood on her tiptoes, pressing her mouth to his, her eyes shining brightly with excitement.
“Let me see if I can rescue you from this particular predicament you’re in,” he suggested, dropping his hand down to the curve of her waist. “Open your thighs for me.”
She breathed out shakily, and obeyed. Before he could even bring his fingers to her wet heat, Belle moaned in anticipation.
“You’ve really been left wanting, now haven’t you?” he asked, touching her clit.
“Yes,” she said, pushing her hips forward, as if hoping to pull his fingers into her body by sheer force of will.
He opened her nether lips, teasing the edges of her tiny bud.
“Oh, Frederick, yes…”
“This is a fine look on you,” he murmured.
“Please, please.”
Frederick gave her a warning swat on her bottom and she jumped, the chains rattling. When she stilled, her resumed his ministrations. One finger inside her, then two… rubbing his hand against her cunny until she ground against him, crying out in pleasure.
“Do you like this?” he asked, although the wetness covering his hand told her tale.
“I do, Frederick, I do.”
Then, like the Beast had done before, he stopped, leaving her on the brink of climax. She nearly screamed in frustration at another thwarted orgasm.
Now he had her full attention. “You must learn to love the Beast, Belle. Can you do that for me?”
Her eyes were clear but wild with lust as she stared at him. “I will do anything for you, Frederick. Anything.”
Satisfied, he built up a steady rhythm, faster and faster, until Belle cried out, the chains clattering against the stone and her screams of passion echoing throughout the underground lair.
When she was finished, she rested her head against her arm once more, panting.
“Do you have a key?” she asked, after a few moments.
Frederick laughed. “A key, that’s what you want me for? I feel used.”
“I want you for all sorts of things,” she said. “But a key would be especially useful at this juncture.”
“I have a key for your juncture,” he teased, reaching for his belt buckle.
“No!” she gasped. “You mustn’t! The Beast knows I’m a virgin. If you take me, he’ll know.”
“Don’t you want me?”
“Do I have any choice in the matter?” she asked. Her voice had lost its desirous ring. Now she sounded sad.
He had still only been teasing, and not in the least put off her refusal. But her response wounded him.
Quickly, Frederick pulled the keys off of the far wall and unlatched her restraints, careful to support her as he set her free. She sank to the floor and pulled her knees to her chest.
“Thank you,” she said.
“You have a choice, Belle,” he said. “With me, with the Beast, you can choose. It may not feel like it, but I care for your happiness. I know the Beast does too.”
“How do you know what the Beast cares for?”
“He could’ve ravished you the moment he had you to himself. There was no need to give you a suite, or time to decide how you felt about things, or any of that. You are his prisoner, Belle. You belong to him until he sets you free. Don’t you see that?”
“Oh yes, I see that quite clearly.”
“And yet, you still remain a virgin.”
A look of understanding crossed her face. “I suppose. But he will take me eventually.”
Frederick smiled at her and sat down on the cold stone floor beside her. “And when he does, it will be wonderful. You’ll want it as badly as you wanted me to touch you just now.”
“When I’m with you,” she said, “that doesn’t seem possible. But when…when I’m alone with the Beast, something comes over me. A strange desire, mixed right in with my fear. Is that odd?”