Authors: LeTeisha Newton
And
the way he made her feel?
God,
she’d been an idiot letting him paw all over her.
Please
, she thought in a quick reverent prayer,
don’t let it be him. Please.
Chapter Two
Elijio
stared at the woman who’d got his blood pumping more than any other in his
fucking existence, and that was a long time. He’d smelled the desperation and
need on her, even over the liquor, body odor, and perfumes in the club. The
summer rain scent of her flesh had been the first thing to catch his attention,
her body the second. She’d danced around the floor as if no one was watching,
her full lips curled into a come-hither smile against white teeth. Her long
hair made him want to grab it, luxuriate in the strands, and burry his nose in
her neck. Her face was heart shaped, with big doe eyes that were almost too
large for her face, but enchanting on her. Add a pert little nose and he was
enraptured.
Not
to mention that hot body of hers.
Call
it the animal in him, but he wanted her—preferably on all fours, in front of
him, taking every inch of him deep in her body.
He’d
been the beast for so long, ruled by an affliction that forced him never to
venture out in the day, and pushed the human side of him toward aggressiveness
in astronomical proportions. He normally got paid, very well, for that
aggressiveness. He counted his checks in the millions. Something that he was
sure that bitch of a witch hadn’t planned on when she’d cursed him over two
hundred years ago. It may have taken time, but his sort of retribution came at
a high price in the current century. Humans now weren’t afraid of the seeding
things that went bump in the night, at least the ones who made their homes in
the darkness didn’t.
But
this woman, so afraid and sad, and yet dancing the night away with a freedom he
envied, made him stop. Made him worry over the blood he had on his hands. For a
moment, inside, he hadn’t wanted to touch her.
Hadn’t wanted
to mar her with the sins of his past.
Centuries cursed for spurning a
woman he hadn’t known was a witch had left him raw inside and aching for
something more. It had been his fault, really. He’d been careless, taking a
woman to his bed, without knowing more than her want of him. She’d wanted more
than he’d been willing to give. Was he supposed to marry her? Give her his
name, his life, and all the prestige that would have come with it, simply for
sleeping with her for one night? It hadn’t been either of their first times, and,
even in the era of his birth, she had known the game she played would end. He
just hadn’t known how he would suffer. The curst that would turn him into
something no woman would ever again want near them.
Who
could ever love a beast?
A man that wasn’t a man in the
daylight, and didn’t always care who his victims were?
But love
him,
they had to, in order to break the curse.
Not fucking likely,
he said to himself.
He wasn’t looking for love, not anymore, but he could look for companionship.
“Do
you want my help, or not?” he asked roughly as the woman stared at him in
shock.
“You?
You’re Elijio
Vargas?”
“This
century I am,” he muttered.
“What
was that?”
“Nothing.
What’s your
name?” he asked. He didn’t even remember the name he was born with. The first
few decades after the curse had been bestowed on him he hadn’t been much more
than an animal. He only remembered what happened from the time he woke up, and
that was it. He chose whatever name fit the times and lived with it.
“Isabella
Thomas, but they call me Bella,” she answered, taking a deep breath. He watched
her gather her resolve around her and stand a little taller. He admired her
spirit, her strength, but, for some reason, he missed that free woman he’d seen
in the bar. It didn’t matter. Whatever he had to do to get her in his bed, so
be it. He wasn’t above nefarious deeds to get her there. What was the point of
being a bad guy if he didn’t have any fun?
“Bella,
it fits.”
“I
was coming to see you, tomorrow.” He lifted a brow at that. She’d been in the
muck a long time if she knew enough to come to him.
Better
for him.
“Then
I saved you the trip. Get in the car. Let’s go.”
“What
about my car?”
“I’ll
send someone to fetch it. Do you want my help, or not?”
“Yes,”
she whispered and came toward him. He opened her car door and waited for her to
slide in. He then got in on his side and started the car with a satisfying
purr. He sped out of the club parking lot and toward his home.
“Tell
me your story.”
“Nate,
my brother, has been gambling a long time. At first, it was a little amount
here and there.
Enough that he could cover with his
paychecks.
He was a pretty well-off physician at one time. It didn’t
take long, though, for him to ruin that. Eventually he was stealing from the
clinic he ran and was evading the cops. That didn’t stop him from going to
casinos though. And then he got really excited, he got invited to an exclusive
club. He thought he’d win everything back and clean up his act.”
“Drawing
in the whale,” Elijio commented. “It’s a tactic,” he continued when she looked
at him, “that loan sharks and bosses use. They see someone who loses big, and
fast, and they invite them to exclusive parties. The loan sharks lend money
when necessary and the bosses get a kickback. The whales keep losing, always
looking for that big win, and the loan sharks and bosses get fatter. He fell
for it.”
“You
don’t have to tell me my brother is stupid. I know that already,” she gritted
out.
“It
is what it is. You want blue skies and puffy
clouds,
find someone else to save your brother. I need to know who he’s in with.”
Bella
sighed roughly, balling into her seat. “The Giuseppe brothers,” Bella whispered.
The
Giuseppe brothers only took on clients that at least made marginal winnings,
enough to keep them in money, but they also only rolled with big fish. If Nate
owed them then he’d spent a lot more than Bella had imagined. It was more
likely that the two million
was
the
inflation point and the true debt was more than she could ever hope to pay. The
brothers probably planned on milking this family dry.
“I
know it’s bad.”
“You
have no idea,” Elijio agreed, taking the exit off the highway to head toward
his estate. Situated on the city lines, it was on several thousand acres of
land, plenty of open space to let his beast run free. Bella would be safe
there, for the time being, but first—“Bella, I’ve got to say, that’s asking a
lot, even for me. The Giuseppe brothers don’t deal in single digit millions.
The amount they told you is probably just the inflation amount. I don’t know
what your brother lied about to get them in his circle, but he’s deeper than
you can imagine.”
“So
you won’t help me?” she asked.
“Oh,
I didn’t say that,” he said, as he streaked up the drive to his mansion. He’d
help all right.
“I’ll
take care of his debt. But you will owe me for his debt.”
“I
don’t have that kind of money,” she said.
“You
didn’t have that money when you thought about asking me. And you know, from
what I gather, about me enough to know that I don’t take IOUs, don’t you,
Bella?”
“Yes,”
she answered, wringing her hands.
“Then
it’s simple. I pay his debt, and it becomes yours.”
“And
how will I pay you?” she asked.
“In
any way I see fit.”
Chapter Three
Elijio’s
home towered
over head as they got out of the car. Bella didn’t think her legs would hold
her, but she forced her body to move. She’d gotten what she’d wanted. Her
brother would be safe, but his debt was now hers. She’d already lost her job,
her life, and possibly now her morals, for her brother. She swore she could
hear the death tolls ringing in her ears as she walked into the dark stone
mansion with gargoyles perched on top.
She
only picked up on a few things, her mind in a haze, as she stepped into the
home. The ceilings were high above her, with soft lighting leading the way. The
foyer was like the entrance to a cathedral, the archways painstakingly
detailed. The floors were marble with runners up the hallway to silence the
sounds of shoes on the floor. The lighting on the walls was understated and yet
beautiful, with golden half-moon covers that pushed the light upward and out.
For all its appearance as something cold, it gave a warm feeling.
Too
bad her heart didn’t feel the thaw.
A
butler, dressed smartly in black and white, took Elijio’s keys and walked out
the door, even as another stepped up and asked if they would be needing
refreshments. He looked like a man possibly in his forties or so, not the aged
butler she would have imagined in her mind. His eyes were kind as they touched
on her, but she couldn’t summon enough courage to return his small entreaty.
She was too focused on the man in front of her. Her mouth went dry as Elijio
declined and walked toward a large spiral staircase.
She
stared at
Elijio’s
broad back, so in awe that she
felt her blood quickening as he moved. His muscles rolled under the black T-shirt
he wore, his long legs eating up the distance in dark jeans. His attire didn’t
fit the home in any way. He struck his own path. Had she lost her mind? She’d
planned to do this, give herself to save her brother, but the reality was more
than she bargained for. She had seen the heat in his eyes, the bulge in his
pants when he’d told her how she’d pay him. She had no doubt that he would make
demands on her body.
I’d pay him
, her
subconscious screamed, and Bella shook her head. She had to be going crazy. She
was supposed to be meeting her fate as a dutiful and honor bound sister, not an
eager woman wanting the touch of a man who set her soul on fire. She tried to
be the former, but her body was acting the latter. Elijio pulled a slim phone
out of his back pocket as she followed him, and she heard, barely, his
conversation.
“I
need Pace … Yes.” He paused with the phone to his ear. “It’s
Elijio
. Pace, I’ll pay the debt for Nate Thomas.”
Elijio
raised one eyebrow before narrowing his eyes and
spoke slowly into the phone. “He’s covered. He needs to be home, in one piece
and no worse than he is right now, within the hour.” He paused once more,
listening into the phone. His voice, when he spoke again, was colder than ice.
“Don’t make me find you, Pace. We both know that isn’t what you want.” He
listened again. “Good. I’ll have the amount wired. How much?
Done.”
He disconnected the call and slid the phone back in his pocket.
“Twenty
million,” he said to her.
“What?”
she stammered.
“That’s
how much your brother is in for.
Twenty million.
I’ve
taken care of it. If you need the proof, my butler will bring you the paperwork
and you’ll get proof of life within the hour.”
Bella
stumbled, nearly falling, but Elijio spun and grabbed her, faster than should
have been possible. She sucked in her breath, that same familiar shock twisting
through her. Heat blazed over her nerve endings as she curled her fingers,
gripping his biceps in confusion. No one, ever in her life, could make her lose
her head like he could. His eyes dilated as he started at her, nostrils flaring
as he inhaled roughly. His tongue flicked out of his mouth, as he ran it over
his lips, tasting the air. God help her, but she wanted him to taste her. She
gripped him
harder,
pulling him toward her without
even realizing what she was doing until his face was close to hers. She felt
heavy, her pussy throbbing with her heartbeat and her mouth going dry. She
wondered what he would taste like. If his tongue would be slick and cool, or
hot and damp. She wanted him. She wanted to give in. She couldn’t look away
from those eyes.
“Please,”
she whimpered, not sure if she was asking for his kiss, or begging him to
release his spell on her. She gasped, but before she could say anything, his
mouth was on hers. His tongue slid into her lips, sliding wetly against hers.
He didn’t ask, or seek, he dominated. He disentangled her arms from his biceps
and made her clasp her hands up over his shoulders and behind his neck. His
strong hands gripped her head, turning her head for a better fit. His lips,
full and yet firm, glided over hears with masterful ease. She moaned, the juice-laced
taste of his tongue making her head spin. No other part of his body other than
his hands and mouth touched hers, but she felt the connection deep in her gut.
Her nipples hardened, her stomach shook, and her pussy moistened. This was
desire, this was lust. All thoughts of being here for payment flew from her
mind.
She
couldn’t think of any reason not to be in his arms. It felt too right.
Too explosive to ignore.
She pushed against him. The rock
solid shape of his abs slid against her ribcage as her breasts were crushed
against his diaphragm. Again she was struck by his height, and the way he
curved around her. Her touch must
of
triggered
something because he gathered her up into his arms and lifted her off her feet.
He broke the kiss and nipped her bottom lip. She swallowed convulsively as he
sucked his way down the side of her throat. He bit at the pulse at the base of
her throat.
“Ah,”
she cried out as he licked the sting away, only to do it again.
This
man was rearranging her, and she couldn’t fight it. She sank into him, tightening
her arms around his neck and sliding her fingers into his hair.
He
growled,
the sound rumbling through her as he pushed
her up against a wall. The shock of the cold had her arching her back, forcing
her body even closer to him. The shift rubbed his cock over her teasingly. She wrapped
her legs around him on instinct and he ground his cloth-covered cock against
her. Her thighs shook as she held him close and fought the urge to open wider
for him. She whimpered and moaned. She thrashed against him and pulled him
close. She fell under the wave of his desire as he took her mouth again in a
punishing kiss. She could do nothing more than hold him tight against her. His
hands left her back and traced their way to her front. He lifted enough away
from her to mold her breasts, plumping them with skillful strokes.
“That’s
right, baby, give in,” he said, and his voice galvanized her. What was she
doing?
“Stop,”
she said, between deep breaths. His eyes flared with something, something she
couldn’t described before he stepped back, letting her fall to her feet hard
enough to jar her teeth.
“You
knew what you were here for.”
“Give
me a second,” she said.
“I
did my part of the bargain, but it’s just as easy to change it. Each time you
sleep with me, it’ll take a million off your debt. I’m sure this is the best
paying job you’ve had in your life.” Before she could think she reached up and
slapped him, the sound echoing in the hallway. Her hand stung from the impact.
Elijio roared. Actually stepped back from her, crouched, and roared. The sound
filled the hallway, and sending fear curling through her.
He
didn’t look like a man. His teeth were sharp, like canines, his face twisting
and contorting until he didn’t look human, and his eyes snapping to gold. She
screamed, frozen, until he took a step forward. She twisted away and ran back
down the hallway. She slid as she reached the stairs and gripped the railing to
steady her before jumping the stairs, taking two and three at a time. A butler
appeared in front of her, looking harried, and she slammed into him. The jarring
impact threw her onto her butt, but she scrambled, on her hands and knees,
until she could get to her feet.
“Ma’am!”
the butler called, but she wasn’t listening. She had to get out.
Had to get free.
She raced down the foyer toward the door,
her breath coming out in harsh pants. She was just at the door, right there at
freedom, when a body slammed into her from behind, rolling with her as she hit
the ground so she hit him instead of the hard marble floors.
“Mine!”
Elijio yelled and she screamed, coming face to face with a beast. She struggled
to get out of his arms. Elijio clung, nails digging into the soft flesh at her
sides. She cried out, the pain pinching her, and the nails were immediately
retracted. She used his moment of slack to kick at him, hitting between his
legs. He hollered, but didn’t release her. They scrambled there on the floor
until the butler she’d run into grasped her shoulders with more strength than
she thought possible and pulled her to her feet. The man pushed her behind him
and stood against Elijio as he clambered to a stand.
“Elijio, not like this.
Not like this,”
the butler whispered.
“Mine,”
Elijio answered.
“I
know, but you are scaring her. Let me take her to her room. Once you calm down,
come back to her. She’ll be here.”
“Please
let me go,” Bella said.
“Mine,”
Elijio repeated, staring at her.
“Be
quiet, ma’am, please,” the butler whispered fiercely. “She’ll be here, Elijio,
when you calm down, in her room. She’s not leaving. She’s yours.” The butler’s
words seemed to calm Elijio enough. He took a deep breath before spinning
around, away from them.
“Go,”
he ordered, his words scratchy.
“Come
on, ma’am,” the butler said, pulling her back toward the stairs. Bella
struggled, but when she heard a soft growl, and Elijio turned, his face
changing again, she stopped, and walked behind the butler. She followed meekly
as he took her back up the stairs and took a right at the top instead of the
left she and Elijio had made before. Not too far from there the butler opened a
door and ushered her inside. He closed the door behind him.
“Please
help me get out.”
“I
can’t do that. My name is Richard,” the butler said, with an apologetic look in
his eyes. “Just give him a chance, ma’am. He’s a good man. You can’t imagine
what he’s been through. In the morning I’ll come and take you to see you
brother and give you the details of the money transfer.”
“I
don’t care. Let me out of here.”
“I’m
sorry,” the butler said, shaking his head and rushed from the room. Bella
followed him, and pounded on the door when she heard the heavy click of a lock.
She jiggled the handle but it didn’t give. She yelled until her voice went
hoarse, cried until she couldn’t anymore, and then finally flung herself on the
bed in defeat.
She
had sold her soul to a beast.