Beauty's Cursed Beast Page 15

  “You know what I mean.” Belle lifted her book to hide the rosy hue that colored her cheeks at accidentally referring to the two of them as a unit.

  “I do,” Adam assured her. Without looking at her, he reached over to run his finger from her elbow to her wrist. He smirked when Belle nearly dropped her book as a slight chill ran through her.

  Without a discussion, without eye contact and without reservations, Belle’s wrist turned upward as her hand drifted down to her armrest, which was pressed up against his. The two sat in desire-laden silence, both pretending that what they were reading was the most fascinating thing in the universe, while Adam slowly ran his fingernails up and down the tender inside of Belle’s forearm. In his periphery, he caught the flutter of Belle’s long lashes. It was the first time his claws hadn’t seemed like such a curse.

  Lucien came in only to restoke the fire, casting barely contained looks of glee at the tantalizing touches that breathed life into the whole castle.

  Adam narrowed his eyes at Lucien, silently telling him to scram so the candelabra didn’t jinx it.

  The next few nights were spent the exact same way. After Belle had exhausted herself cleaning the castle and Adam had put in a full day’s work, the two wound down in the library. Adam made sure to finish his work before dinner so that after their meal, he could read to her by the fire. When the armrests between them became too much a separation, he moved a two-person leather couch into the library. Nothing was better than the feel of Belle cuddled into his side.

  Adam’s favorite part of all was the nighttime. Though he’d been well for nearly a week now, there had been no mention of him moving back up to his bedroom in the West wing. Every night, he slept in Belle’s bed, with her curled up next to him. It was the best he’d ever slept.

  Though he desperately wanted to kiss her lips that pouted while she slept, he didn’t want to scare her with his fangs. When he’d kissed Rory to attempt to wake her from her coma, he’d accidentally cut his friend’s lip, making her bleed. He couldn’t bear the thought of accidentally nicking Belle, so he tucked his desires away as much as he was able, permitting the indulgence of sleeping next to her, since he reasoned he couldn’t hurt her that way.

  That night, Belle kissed his cheek before her head rested on his firm shoulder, as if she had no cares at all in the world. As if she hadn’t received another letter from Sheriff Aston that afternoon. Usually she would rip it into dozens of pieces and then burn it in the fire. She didn’t like to speak about it, and Adam knew better than to ask. Gabe’s letters made her irritable, and she took her anger out on the dust bunnies, muttering to herself as she cleaned more than her usual workload.

  Adam didn’t question her about the letters, even when they started to come every day. One particular evening, however, Belle was quiet and skipped the dinner she’d made, opting for anger to feed her stomach instead. She’d even ditched out on their nightly ritual of reading together by the fire, losing track of the time (and losing a little bit of herself) while she scrubbed the floors. The entire first floor of the castle was almost completely spotless, but still she wanted to tear her way through more.

  She didn’t stop until Adam’s voice reached her from the doorway. “I realize I can’t order you to dine with me. But is there a way I can put it in your job description to sit by the fire with me while we read? Is there some kind of medical condition I can say I’ve developed that can only be cured by that?” He forced two coughs, wishing anything he did could make her laugh.

  Belle’s shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize how late it was. I’ll go wash up. Did you need anything?”

  “You,” he admitted. “But it doesn’t look like there’s much of you here right now. Anything I can help with?”

  Belle sat back on her heels and slid an envelope out of her apron’s pocket. She wiped her cheek with the back of her dirty hand, smearing soot across her face. “It’s never going to end, is it.”

  Adam extended his hand, holding his palm out to her expectantly. “I can’t help you if you don’t let me. Let me read the letter.”

  “What are you going to do with it?”

  “I’m going to turn it in to the Department of Criminal Investigation agent who’s handling the case I’ve quietly building against Gabe. He’s been gathering proof of the illegal levies and unlawful evictions. To add stalking and harassment to that? It would move things along a lot quicker.”

  Belle’s hesitation kept the note clenched in her grip. She was ready to deny Adam again, but it was the steadiness in his eyes that pushed her to hand over the note that haunted her.

  Adam opened the envelope, feeling his blood pressure rise at the uneven scrawl of a man who knew nothing but how to take shortcuts. He tucked the letter into his pocket when he finished, moving toward her and kneeling in her eyeline. When Belle lowered her chin, he tucked his finger under it and raised it to make sure she saw the sincerity on his face. “Listen to me, Belle. No one is going to take your father’s home away from him. That Gabe is threatening to evict your father again if you don’t move in with him is just the evidence we need.”

  “All my money goes back to my father to bring the mortgage payments up to date. I don’t understand how he can do this! I know we’re not behind on the payments anymore.”

  “You’re current on your father’s loan,” Adam confirmed. “I checked on the status last week. I’ll call him tonight and reassure him that I won’t let anything like that happen again.”

  “You will?” Her phone had been lost in the snow, and she’d been borrowing Adam’s to check on her father every night.

  “Of course. Sheriff Aston has no grounds for any of this. I’m the one who has to initiate the eviction process, and I’ve never had to do that on your father’s property.”

  Belle was on all fours, and at his assurance, her shoulders slumped, her hair falling forward from the messy ponytail. “Thank you for checking. I’ve been driving myself crazy trying to think of how the money could’ve been misplaced.” She blinked rapidly to keep any moisture from falling from her eyes. “Gabe will never leave me alone, will he. No matter how much I take care of things, he’ll never let me go!”

  At this, Adam chuckled, surprising Belle with his levity. “You live here now. There’s nowhere safer. He can try all he wants; he’ll never put his hands on you again.”

  Belle leaned forward, warming to the promise that seemed too beautiful to hope for. “What about when I go back home to visit my dad?”

  Adam drew her into his arms, not caring that his khakis and green polo were getting grimy from the hug. He was content when she looped her arms around his neck, his eyes closing when her cheek touched his neck. She was trusting him with something big, so he swore to himself he would learn to be gentle with a situation that was so very fragile. His whisper tickled her ear when he turned his head so his lips could brush across the shell. “I’ll go with you, then. If you want to see your father, I’ll take you there. Let the sheriff try his intimidation tactics on me.”

  Belle inhaled sharply, and then brought her hand to rest on the breast of his polo, tracing the muscle there as she tried to collect herself. “You’d really do that? You’d come to the West Village for me?”

  “That you think there’s anything I wouldn’t do for you just goes to show how little you know me.”

  Belle smiled through her sadness and squeezed him tighter around the neck. His shoulders were hairier than they’d been the night before, and she buried her nose into the fur as if she meant to hide her sorrows there. “If that’s true, then don’t let go. Hold me just a little while longer. I was so worried, thinking something happened to the money I sent in. I’m still coming down from it all.”

  “You are so demanding,” Adam pretended to grumble. “Hold a beautiful woman? Let her arms stay around me? Let her feel safe when I tell her I’ll come to her aid? I don’t know, Belle.” He waited for her soft giggle, and counted her breaths as they grew more measured
. “You made me dine alone tonight.”

  “I wasn’t hungry.”

  “How about this: instead of cleaning all night, I draw you a hot bath. While you’re unwinding, I’ll get you something to eat.”

  Belle pulled her face back from his, her mouth popping open. “But you don’t cook.”

  “For you, I just might.” Then he rolled his eyes. “Chef Bouche will most likely do the actual cooking. But I’ll bring you food, okay?”

  They paused when the sound of wolves outside broke the sweetness of their connection. The howls were a warning, letting Adam know his time was nigh.

  Adam’s jaw clenched, and he gripped Belle a little tighter until the howling at the moon finally stopped. Now it was him who needed to be held, so Belle squeezed him tighter around the neck.

  “I only have a short time left that I’ll be able to eat upright. Don’t make me dine alone again,” he begged quietly.

  “Never,” Belle promised. “And when you turn, don’t leave. Stay here with me.” She fought with her daring, but chickened out. “Audra loves you.”

  The corner of Adam’s mouth drew up. “She does, does she? Well, I love her, as well.”

  In a move so fluid, Belle could scarcely understand how it happened, she found herself swept up in his arms as he stood, unimpeded by the weight of her as he walked through the hallways to her bedroom.

  23

  Howling in the Night

  Belle fell asleep that night with her hand atop Adam’s broad chest, her fingers tangled in the fur. He could’ve gone back to his bedroom days and days ago, but they both preferred he remain with her. When he would wake in the night, afraid and filled with anxiety over his impending change, Belle would soothe him, her eyes lidded and lips puffy from sleep. After each time she comforted him back to slumber, their bodies wound more tightly around each other.

  It wasn’t until three in the morning that Belle roused fully to the piercing sound of a wolf’s howl. She startled, untangling her limbs from his as she sat up, perplexed as to why the wolf sounded so near, like he was in the bedroom.

  The second bark sounded from just outside their window. Belle’s head whipped toward the sound, every bone in her body on high alert. “Adam?” she whispered, but he was still fast asleep.

  When his lips parted but his eyes didn’t open, she expected him to mutter something in his sleep. She jumped when a loud howl erupted from his mouth and filled the room. He wasn’t even awake, yet he was answering the wolf outside. Wolf-speak was a language that was unknown to the two-legged folk, yet it seemed Adam’s mind was making room for the new method of communication.

  Belle eyed his fangs, which had never bothered her before. Now they seemed sharper, longer and if possible, hungrier. She knew she should probably get out so she didn’t run the risk of getting bitten, but she found that she couldn’t leave his side. He began to twitch and twist in the sheets, as if in the throes of a nightmare as he answered the wolf out in the snow.

  Belle got out of bed and fetched a washcloth, running it under cold water to lay across his forehead, hoping it might soothe the angst that was slashed across his face even in slumber.

  When the sun rose, Belle was exhausted, and Adam had no idea that he’d progressed in his transition during his sleep. He made animated chit-chat over breakfast about the mini-ball they would have that night, since Henry and Rory agreed that the snow had let up enough to bring their dates over for an evening.

  “You look tired,” he observed across the dining room table over his oatmeal. “Did I snore?”

  “Something like that.” When Belle explained what she’d witnessed, Adam’s spoon lowered until his appetite was gone.

  “So it’s getting closer, then,” he observed quietly. “I’ll sleep upstairs tonight and bolt the door.”

  “No! No, Adam. It didn’t bother me to get woken up. Please don’t pull away.”

  Adam hung his head, ashamed that there were complicated sides to him that were better left untouched. “It’s only going to get worse, Belle. Eventually I’ll be more wolf than man, and I’ll belong to the pack. Who knows what I’ll do in my sleep. What if I’d bitten you last night? What then?”

  “Jeez, if only I was a nurse who knew how to sew up a minor flesh wound,” she cast out flippantly with a toss of her hair over her shoulder. “You act like I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I know all about your curse, Adam, and I’m not afraid of you.”

  “Well, I’m afraid of me! I’m afraid I’ll wake up to find I can’t tell you how much I…” He leaned his elbows on the table and ground his knuckles into his forehead. “I’m afraid of what’s going to happen when it all slips out of my fingers.”

  “We’ll figure it out when it comes,” she assured him, standing up to move to his side. She lightly scratched his back, placing a kiss to the top of his head. “When we were down for the count out in the snow, do you remember who saved us?”

  “The woman with the red cloak.”

  “The woman with the red cloak and her wolf. He still had his mind about him. He worked with the woman in red. He had enough of himself not to turn completely feral. That could be you.” She leaned her cheek atop his head. “That could be us.”

  Adam inhaled a lengthy, cleansing breath through his nose as he straightened in his chair. He held onto her wrist, bringing it to his lips to press a chaste kiss to the inside of the tender flesh. “Do you really think so? I’d never seen a human communicate with the Lupine like that before. But you’re right, it did seem like they were able to work in tandem.”

  “See? Then those are worries for another day. Today you’re having your friends over. You’re a regular guy who does normal things. Let’s go with that for now.”

  “You truly want to stay with me after I transition? You’d live in the castle with me and keep things as they are? You’d look after the staff and not abandon them to ruin?”

  “Of course. I like it here.”

  This seemed to seal something for Adam. He nodded once to himself, and then slid his chair back from the table. “Very well. Then I have some things to see to.” He stood, leaving his bowl of oatmeal half-eaten.

  24

  Unexpected Arrangements

  Belle frowned when he left, unsure what he was up to. She hoped he wasn’t slipping back into his melancholy. Belle finished her breakfast with Bosworth chatting her ear off about the grand plans he had for the quaint ball that evening. He followed her around the castle as she cleaned, taking notes on everything she wanted done, and assigning duties to the staff, who grumbled and asked under their breath how exactly he was planning to help. Bosworth huffed with a haughty air, arms akimbo as his hour hand and second hand screwed up on his face, as they usually did when he was working up a good indignant rant. “I’m tending to the Lady of the House, if you don’t mind. If she needs something, I’m first to know.”

  Belle sniggered while she swept the rooms and hallways, as she did every morning after breakfast. Vivienne started first, dusting each room, and then Belle followed behind with the broom. The first floor was so vast that it usually took her until noon to get just that task done. She started in on the second floor, picking the first two rooms in the east wing at random to scrub from top to bottom.

  “Milady, I believe it’s time for you to get ready. The guests will arrive within the hour,” Lucien said to her with a bow from the doorway.

  “Oh, wow. I guess I lost track of the time. Let me just finish up this room, and I’ll hop in the shower.”

  Lucien paused, and when Belle turned to glance at him, she saw his arms crossed and a frown tugging at his features. “Surely you don’t think you can get rid of me that easily. Vivienne can keep working, but you need to wash up. This is a grand occasion, and it was your idea.”

  “I know, I know. In my head, it sounded better than me making a fool of myself on the dance floor in front of Adam’s closest friends. It’s not like they’re a big deal – only the Prince of Avondale and the Sl
eeping Beauty. Not intimidating at all.”

  Lucien scoffed at her insecurity, and then ambled over to her and tipped the broom from her hand. “You already know Prince Henry, and Rory’s no one to worry yourself about.”

  Belle followed Lucien out the door and down the steps after Vivienne swooshed her feathers in Belle’s face to get her moving, making her sneeze over and over until Belle forfeited her claim on the cleaning equipment.

  Belle showered quickly. Each minute that passed by built her nerves up into a dam of anxiety. Thomas brushed her hair for her, taking his time with the chestnut tresses as he dried and curled them, fixing it all into an ornate bun atop her head. “Beautiful,” he declared of his masterpiece.

  Belle was too nervous to look in the mirror to confirm or deny his assessment. “The Chancellor’s daughter, is she nice? I’ve only seen interviews with her.”

  “Rory is wonderful. If it weren’t for her and Prince Henry, Adam would never have seen the sun. Their fight was hard on the master, though he would never admit that. Reuniting Adam with his oldest friend is the kindest thing you could’ve done for him, though I know it cost you your car.”

  Belle swallowed hard, wondering when she would have enough saved for a decent down-payment towards a gently used vehicle. She’d received the call that between the crash and the damage to the interior from the snow, her rickety vehicle would be better off totaled. “After I get a little more saved, then I can think about replacing my car. A couple months.”

  After a few minutes of fiddling with the hem of the slip Simone had made her, a knock drew her attention away from her current nervousness. She slid on the silk rose-hued robe and cinched it around her waist before opening the door.

  Before she could stem her reaction, a gasp flew from her lips. “Adam!” She’d never seen him in a tuxedo before, but knew she’d never forget the sight. He was dapper, and though his clean-shaven face would only last a few hours before his beard would grow back in, she drank in every inch of his features with unguarded appreciation.