Beastly Desires

Chapter Fourty-Three

Colette did not realize how much she missed the smell of their little cottage. As soon as she opened the door a waft of paint and ash blew past her and a relief she hadn't known she needed settled into her bones. Home. They were home.

"Let me help you papa." Colette made to push her father through the threshold but he swatted her hand away.

"My dearest. You have been pestering me the whole way home. Let me help myself."

Colette grimaced as she watched her father crank the wooden handles on either side of his chair and the shafts began to bob up and down, forcing the wheels on either side of it to roll forward. It was an odd looking chair. Something beyond her comprehension but when her father saw it and grudgingly accepted the gift from Niel, he quietly admired the craftsmanship and mechanics of it. Being a tinker of sorts she knew he would have complimented the design if it hadn't been designed by Sébastien. Instead he mumbled a thank you before Niel and her helped him into the cart and lifted the chair into it after him.

Now she stood with watchful concern as her father steered it into the cottage. The large wheel in the back turned in whatever direction he needed it to go by a twist of a lever. The chair itself was simple looking. The body of it was crafted from a dark, mahogany wood and the tufted cushions were a deep blue velvet. Niel had informed her that they were made from a seamstress in the town over by the castle and assured her that the material was soft and comfortable. The cushions themselves were stuffed with a mixture of cotton and hay. And at  the back of the chair two curved handles were fastened to it if he ever got tired and needed Colette to push him. The chair was fastened to a wooden frame similar to a cart but without walls and the shaft of the two wheels on either side were exposed between the legs of the chair.

"I can hear your teeth grinding against one another." Her father teased through the door.

Colette smiled softly. She missed her fathers caring humor. "Will you be alright by yourself?"

She wanted nothing more than to stay with him but she knew Gregorie was waiting for her back at his estate. It took every ounce of her shoving her need to wait on him down to gritt out that question.

He turned to face her in his chair and his face was full of sincerity. "You will make a wonderful wife."
Colette swallowed the knot in her throat. "I won't be long. Goodbye." She waved a farewell and set off towards the Dubois estate.

The estate was as she last remembered it. The country house was settled on a small hill that was now covered in a thin layer of frost. The two chimneys on either side of it spewed  smoke into the sky and candle light illuminated the shuddered windows. She made her way up the hill and around to the stables out back. She prayed Gregorie was still waiting for her as she guided his mare towards a stable. She didn't receive a letter back from him by the time she left this morning. She hoped Niel was firm on his word and that he had received hers.

The mare neighed, bobbing its long face as it recognized the familiar stable. She guessed she wasn't the only one happy to be home.

"Colette." Gregories voice called from inside the stable and she didn't have time to respond when all two meters of him came bounding out. He was shirtless and wore his brown trousers belted around his waist. Most of him was covered in dust and hay but his face. His face. It was gleaming with joy and his eyes filled with relief as he scooped her  into his arms.

Colette yelped helplessly while he twirled her around, holding her close to his bare chest. She had never seen the skin here before and it was even more freckled and soft. Damp from his sweat. He smelled like hay and fresh grass and his lean chest was covered in a matting of red curly hair.

"Colette. Beautiful Colette. My Colette." He cooed, breathless from twirling them both around and around. He settled them and they staggered some from the dizziness of the action.

Colette looked up into his eyes and saw something she hadn't before. Love. She didn't know how she knew what the feeling looked like but the light in his brown eyes and the flush across his face, the way he held her in his arms. It made her feel... loved. She could love him, she thought.

"Gregorie." She didn't know what to say. She forgot all that she wrote to him other than her keeping the promise of marrying him.

"I missed you." He said, leaning his forehead against hers. "I missed you." He repeated, leaning further into her and planted a kiss right above her nose. "I missed you so much." His mouth brushed her upper lip and Colette stilled beneath the unspoken question. She tentatively accepted the offer and tilted her face up. Gregorie  slanted his mouth down on hers.

She would be a wonderful wife to him. She would love him and care for him. Meet all of his needs. She would do it. For him.

His lips were soft, if not a bit salty from sweat. Gregorie kissed her in such a loving way she found herself leaning further into him, savoring the gentle kisses he planted on her mouth, around it, along her cheek. It was until he nuzzled his nose against the scarf she had wrapped around her neck then did she pull back.

"I... I'm sorry." She said, a little breathless. He couldn't see what Sébastien had done to her. How he left his mark upon her neck.

Gregorie eyed her warily before releasing her. "No. I'm sorry. I was... taken by desire." Desire. Did he struggle with his impulses as much as Sébastien did? She was relieved by his admittance. She had to be more careful.

"Why are you shirtless?" She asked, eyeing his slender torso and muscled stomach. It was cold outside. Not as cold as it had been at the castle but the autumn air was frigid with winter riding its back.

He sheepishly looked down at himself. "I was heading inside to wash up from working  in the animal pins."

"So you started undressing yourself in the stable?" Colette mused. She felt her old self returning. She missed the teasing.

Gregorie smirked and shifted his weight onto one leg and put a hand on his hip. He gestured down the front of him. "Would you like me to continue?"

Colette blushed at the retort and she looked away, feeling suddenly hot. "You are infuriating." Keep going. Maybe she could forget Sebastain.

"Don't fret Colette. You'll see the rest after we marry." He added with a smug look on his face.

His confidence was alarming, but familiar. She had no idea what to expect once they sealed their vows. Would he be aggressive like Sébastien had been last night. Oh, god. She closed her eyes for a second. The things she did last night. The places she touched. Her blush deepened at the memory.

Gregories smirk lessened and his eyes went soft. "You'll marry me, Colette...?"

It was a question. A question he had asked dozens of times and yet, this time it felt different. She felt different. There was a seriousness to his voice. A plea hidden behind those brown eyes. Colette stared down at her hands. She could be happy with him?

"Yes."