Beast within the Beauty || A Beauty and the Beast Retelling

Chapter Three || To Murder a Beast

THE ENTIRETY OF my spine grew rigid, tightening so that a metal rod could have been bound to my back. My body shook as he spoke into my ear, my arms tensed and something in the pits of my abdomen began to clench. I parted my lips, surprised to hear that my voice came out softly. "They have no agenda in sending me," I began, "they only wish that I be the one who satiates your wrath."

He released a low, dry laugh into my ear as his heated hands found my clothed elbows. "And does my lady bride suppose she is capable of doing that?"

"If you will let me," I whispered as I slowly held his palms and directed them to either side of my hips. I raised my own fingertips to his jaw, startled with the bite of cold steel. I spread my fingers, touching along the edge of the metal until my thumb and index grasped the ridge.

When I made a move to pull his mask away, he brought his hand to mine and stopped me. He tsked, clicking his tongue as his fingers wrapped around my wrist and redirected them from his mask. "While I do appreciate eagerness in a woman," he murmured against my nape, "I will be the one who does all of the undressing." As if to prove his point, he began to trace the skin from my collarbone, across the lacings between my breasts, down to my navel.

I turned in his arms, stepping onto my toes as to kiss his neck. I closed my eyes and I pressed my lips to his throat, nipping and kissing any bit of skin I could reach. I did not want to see this, to remember any details more than necessary. I only needed to seduce him, stab him, and be done with it. He held me inches from the floor and straightened up, turning so that I had stumbled back into the bedchambers.

His hands stroked my bare back, caressing my skin in warm, large sweeping motions. As he did that, I raised my arms to loop them around his neck. His movements were alarming, I had not expected him to touch me with the intent to entice. I did not think he would graze on my skin so, never thought his callused fingers would burn against my flesh. My brow furrowed. It should have been only I who did the seducing.

No sooner had I tilted my head up, I felt his mouth crash down onto mine and my heels collided against the frame of the bed. I fell back, his body over mine, his hands trapped beneath my back. My hands trailed toward the back of his head, spread so that the thick tendrils laced along my fingers. I kissed him back with equal fierceness, distracting him, moving my lips against his and taking his lower lip between my own.

The growl he released into my mouth had my toes curling and I felt the entirety of my spine arch. His kiss was relentless, heated and filled with desire and...and it was so utterly unrepulsive. I shoved the thought away and fought to keep my mind with me, for the temptation to let him have his way was strong. This was not what I had prepared for, no, not at all. My hand clenched, tugging a fistful of his hair that drew another sound from his throat. He was bracing himself on his elbow, as the remainder of his hands were beneath me, his palms spread across my shoulder blades.

While I kept my husband occupied with my mouth, I slid my right hand into the sleeve of the left, drawing out the knife. His kiss grew deeper with every passing moment and I struggled to reciprocate. I allowed him to distract himself. With slow, calculated movements, I brought the edge of the knife to his jugular.

Suddenly, he shifted, and my wrist was jerked away from his neck. "So they have sent me a snake, I see," he snarled, pinning my arm down.

I wasted no time in drawing out the second dagger, ready to plunge it through his chest. To my horror, he caught that hand and immobilized it with his body weight. My eyes met the steel he wore over his face and I knew it masked furry and rage. Merde.

"Who sent you?" He did not shout but it felt as though he were bellowing against my very soul.

I fought to keep my composure as his fingers tightened around my wrist. No—no, this could not be happening. I clenched my jaw, staring up at the masked face hovering over me. My voice shook as I lied through my teeth, "I did this on my own accord."