Beauty Conquers the Beast Read online

  We ate in silence. I was frankly too hungry to be concerned with polite conversation, and Alex had never had a reputation as a raconteur. I was a tiny bit fascinated with how deftly he wielded his knife and fork. Despite the fur and claws, his hands were still fundamentally human.

  The tea was hot and faintly smoky. Delicious. I drank a second cup in place of dessert. The invisible servants cleared away, while Alex and I sat on. Finally, the door closed and he looked directly at me.

  I assumed that meant we were alone. “Can you see your servants?”

  “Yes, and hear them.”

  It was an intriguing twist to Godmother Morningstar’s curse.

  “I told them not to join me in the curse.” He sounded frustrated and his hands curled into massive fists. “If not for them, I would accept the curse as my fate.”

  “But why?”

  He pushed back his chair. When he walked to me, he was so tall that I had to tilt my head right back to continue to meet his eyes. “The library will be more comfortable. We need to talk.” He offered me his arm.

  With great daring, I stood and rested my fingers lightly on the fine weave of his jacket as it covered his muscular arm. He smelled clean and fresh, of newly laundered linen, sage and the wild forest.

  Chapter 4

  Naturally enough, the library was filled with books. Shelves stretched to the high ceiling. But there were also maps and curious objects, globes and paintings of Alex’s family. A couch, notable for its shabbiness, was situated facing the fire. I sat on one end of it, and Alex claimed the other. It took me a full minute to understand that the scratches in its leather were from his claws. Evidently he lay here, like the giant cat his beast-form resembled, and basked in the heat of the fire.

  A quiver surprised me at the thought of Alex stretched out where I sat, his shirt open and his powerful body at rest.

  Even now, he wore no boots. The feet he stretched to the fire were furred and clawed.

  “The princesses could not break my curse,” he said.

  My back stiffened. “So I gathered when they emerged wailing from the Sighaway Forest and hurried back to hide in their kingdoms. However, I am not a princess.”

  “Is that pertinent?” He studied me curiously.

  “Princesses have to look pretty,” I told him. “As a duke’s daughter, my role is to get things done.”

  “Ah. I hear the echo of your father in that statement.” His words could have been amused. Instead, they were flat. “So, duty brought you here.”

  “Yes.”

  He stood abruptly and took off his jacket, flinging it away before unlacing his shirt.

  “What are you doing?” I wished I could have believed my tone sounded sharp or chiding, but I feared my apprehension came through.

  “Calm yourself, Lady Nora. I’m merely shedding the trappings of civilization. I’ve never been comfortable with them, and my beast form is choked by them.” He leaned against the mantelpiece and looked into the flames.

  For the first time I realized he had a tail! It resembled a lion’s tail, and it twitched slowly, just the tip; almost as if aware that I observed it.

  Hastily, I jerked my gaze away before Alex noticed me staring. I’d accepted his fur and claws and strange face, but the tail was too much. I abandoned all notions of dignity, toed off my evening slippers, and curled my feet under me on the sofa. Magic was a strange and tricky power, and disconcerting for mere mortals.

  “What did the princesses try to break your curse? Did any of them kiss you?”

  “One gathered all of her courage and managed to kiss my paw.” He waved his left hand.

  Oh, drat. I’d hoped that the princesses would at least have managed to check off some of the obvious ways to break a curse. But a kiss on the hand? That was pathetic. Even I, an unwed and sheltered daughter of a duke, knew that a kiss on the hand shirked the issue.

  A curse required passion to break it.

  “Well, that won’t do,” I said. “Come here.”

  “Why?” Alex eyed me cautiously.

  The Beast of Sighaway Forest’s caution ought to have amused me. He acted as if I was the scary one here. But I was too nervous to find the humor in his behavior.

  “Because I want to pull your tail,” I snapped sarcastically.

  Then I slapped a hand over my mouth.

  After a startled moment, he roared with laughter.

  “Alex, I am so sorry.” I was mortified.

  He dropped down on the couch beside me, his thigh brushing mine. His arm went around me in a comradely hug. “You can pull my tail any time you like.” He snorted with laughter.

  I slapped his knee. Then I giggled. It was a little bit funny.

  When he ceased laughing, I didn’t stop to think, just stretched up and kissed him on the mouth. Like taking medicine, if it had to be done, it was best done swiftly.

  His whole body tensed. Apparently, my lips had the ability to turn a beast to stone.

  “I don’t have much practice kissing,” I whispered. “You need to help.”

  His mouth relaxed its stern line. His lips were soft and human. “I don’t have much more practice.”

  I didn’t believe that. He was a prince. Princes, even big and brutal ones who were on the ugly side of attractive, got kisses.

  Yet paradoxically, in his beast form, I didn’t find him big and brutal; although obviously he was. But he acted so carefully around me.

  Godmother Morningstar’s wisdom returned to me and for the first time I had an inkling of how a woman could find attractive a strong man who was capable of tenderness.

  Alex’s lips pressed mine, using a faintly biting motion that sent uncertain shivers through me. He cupped the back of my head, tilting my face to a better angle, while his light brown eyes stared into mine.

  I had no idea what he searched for. Perhaps some hint that the curse was breaking?

  My lips parted on a gasp of hope, and his eyes darkened. His lips pressed more firmly against mine. As much as I wanted to watch the curse break, my eyes closed as a sudden exciting pleasure broke though me.

  Alex was scratching my scalp ever so lightly with his claws, and shivers of delight shimmied over and through me. I clutched his shirt, and perhaps some of the fur beneath it, as his mouth left mine and kissed a trail down my throat.

  This was why young ladies were chaperoned. The fire from the hearth had invaded my body and I was burning with inexperienced lust.

  Alex tipped me sideways and I was lying on my back on the couch, with him braced over me. “Nora, you are so beautiful.”

  I smiled for his nonsense. At my best, I was passably pretty. But his kisses at my throat and his hands at my breasts, made me feel beautiful. He tugged the laces of my gown undone and pushed down the low neckline of my chemise.

  For the first time I felt a man’s hand on my naked breasts, and that hand was tipped in claws.

  I shuddered, shaken into awareness of what I allowed, and with whom. “I…I guess this proves a kiss won’t break your curse.”

  Alex looked at me, his eyes going wide, then he leapt away.

  I struggled upright, clutching my gaping gown together.

  “You let me touch you.” His voice was a growl from the far side of the couch. “You liked my touch.”

  “Yes.” I wouldn’t compound my shame by lying.

  The tense set of his shoulders relaxed. “Nora…”

  I stood up, fumbling with the laces of my gown. “I should go. I’m tired. Riding through the forest all day. Walking across your garden. It’s so big. Too green. It needs flowers.” My words jumbled and tumbled over one another. I forced myself to stop and breathe.

  Alex watched me intently. The firelight reflected in his eyes, dancing and gleaming red.

  “Alex, can we talk tomorrow?” I pleaded. Right now, I needed to escape and regroup. He’d brought me to the library to discuss the curse, but my wits had gone begging. He’d scattered them with his kisses and caresses.

&
nbsp; “Of course. I’ll have a maid see you to your room.”

  It was only when I was alone in bed that I remembered his words at the dinner table.

  If not for them (the servants), I would accept the curse as my fate.

  Why would he be willing to remain a beast?

  Chapter 5

  In the morning I chose a lovely daffodil-yellow gown and dressed for a day that could bring anything. It was odd, since I was here to break a curse, but I couldn’t deny that my primary emotion was one of happy anticipation. I was eager to talk with Alex. Yes, last night’s indiscretions were embarrassing—who would have guessed that I could forget myself and all decorum for a kiss?—but I wanted to learn why on earth he would be willing to accept the curse.

  I also had some plans for breaking it.

  When I opened my door, a servant waited to guide me. In place of last night’s candlestick, a vase with a single, lushly scented red rose served to mark the servant’s presence. I followed the rose down to a sunny sitting room where a round table was laid for breakfast—with a single setting.

  “Where’s Alex?” I asked impulsively.

  It wasn’t a question that could be answered with a yes-or-no bob of the rose.

  I sighed. “Never mind.” I had no right to demand his whereabouts, anyway. Alex was a prince.

  The pastries were delicious, flaky and buttery, and pots of preserved fruits were available, too. The tea I’d enjoyed last night was poured by invisible hands.

  I drank and ate and studied the view from the window. It looked over the garden that I’d traversed last night. Today, the sky was clear and a perfectly oval pond in the distance reflected its azure blue. A pair of white swans floated serenely on it.

  I finished my breakfast and stood decisively. If Alex was going to waste my time and ruin my happy mood with his absence, then I’d find my own occupation. “Please guide me to the stables. I wish to check on my horse.” It wasn’t something a lady guest would normally do, but then, this was far from a normal situation.

  The stables were grand. Tall, wide and sensibly designed, they were also scrupulously maintained. Each horse, and there were twenty or so, had a stall with thick fresh straw and clean water.

  Daisy allowed me to pet her, but her true interest was the hay net in the corner. I gave her a final pat and walked along the row, patting other equine heads as they popped over their stall doors to assess me, the stranger. Horses are curious by nature. It said good things about the stable master that these horses were also friendly.

  By the time I reached the end of the row, my hands were dirty and smelled of horse. A bowl of warm water, soap and a towel waited for me. “That is thoughtful. Thank you.”

  My mood had definitely improved due to the visit to the stables. Then I walked outside, and straight into Alex.

  He looked bigger and wilder outside in daylight. His black shirt was unlaced and black breeches strained over his powerful thighs. His clawed toes curled into the dirt of the yard.

  “Good morning, Prince Alexander.”

  “Good morning, Lady Nora.” His polite greeting seemed to mock my chilly courtesy. “Will you do me the honor of walking with me in the garden?” He offered his arm.

  I slipped my hand into the crook of his elbow. The garden would give our conversation privacy, and the fact that we could be seen would prevent me doing anything rash. I hoped.

  Walking beside Alex, with him carefully shortening his stride so that I could keep pace, vanquished my annoyance that he’d left me to breakfast alone. “Alex, why would you be willing to endure this curse?”

  He was leading me along a straight path to the ornamental lake. “I’m not. My people here need to be freed and the Sighaway Forest returned to normal. I only meant, that I, personally, am not much different human or beast.”

  I stopped, and the suddenness caught him by surprise. My hand slipped from his elbow as he walked on.

  A moment later, he spun to face me.

  “There is a big difference in being a man or a beast, Alex.” Shock that he could doubt it rang in my voice.

  “Is there?” His mouth curled in the odd feline smile I’d noticed yesterday. “Perhaps for other men, but for me…at least my beast form is an honest disappointment.”

  I approached him slowly, puzzled. “I don’t understand.”

  He shook his head at me. “Do you realize you’ve given me more conversation in my beast form than ever in my other life?” I flushed, and he touched the color in my cheeks with a gentle finger. “You’re not the only person who doesn’t like me, Lady Nora. Not the only woman who finds me overly large and too rough. Too wild. As a beast…”

  “You are not a beast!” I gripped his hand. The fur of it was silky under my fingers. “You are a man under a curse.” I gave his hand an impatient shake. “Why were you so foolish as to offend the Enchantress Morningstar?”

  “It was a dare. My cousin Rory challenged me to acquire the enchantress’s grimoire.”

  “Is that what you stole?” I hadn’t heard the details. Only that Morningstar had caught Alex trespassing; and Morningstar fiercely and famously protected her privacy.

  “Borrowed,” Alex corrected me with a growl.

  I frowned. My love for my godmother struggled to understand the curse she’d laid on Alex for a boyish dare. “But didn’t you try to explain to her—” I broke off at his snarling laugh.

  “Morningstar despises me.”

  I thought of how my godmother had urged me to break her curse. She’d almost encouraged me to think well of Alex. “I don’t think she does.”

  He stared at me for a long moment. The wind swept through the garden and sent eddies rippling over the pond. He moved so that he blocked the wind from me. “Three years ago, Morningstar warned me to stay away from you.”

  “What?!!” Three years ago I’d been eighteen; a somewhat shy and uncertain debutante. “Why would she need to do that? You’ve never liked me.”

  His eyes widened and he growled something under his breath. It sounded like “unbelievable”. He also pulled his hand away from my clasp, breaking the connection between us. “Do you remember your debut dance?”

  “Of course I do.” Just the memory of it could douse me in red hot embarrassment. I lifted my chin, determined not to let him upset me. “You could barely bring yourself to touch me.” As prince, he’d been the one to lead me onto the floor for my debut dance. My mother had spent months planning the ball with the Queen. Poor Mother. She was beautiful and fashionable, and although I was neither, she never complained or tried to force me into her own mold. It was why I’d gone along with her excited plans for my debut. Including the pink monstrosity of a dress that had required seven fittings.

  “What do you mean, I couldn’t bear to touch you?” Alex paced away and back, prowling in obvious agitation. “You looked like a delicate fairy, as if my clumsy hands could break you. I was terrified I would. I practiced my dance steps with more attention than for my own first dance, just so that I wouldn’t step on your toes.”

  His admission surprised a choke of rueful laughter from me. “Instead, I managed to trip over my own feet,” I said. In fact, I’d caught my heel in the hem of the elaborate pink gown. I’d been so relieved at getting through the dance without embarrassing myself that I’d given my heels an extra zippy kick in the final steps, and that had been my downfall, literally.

  Those final steps were the only time dance partners separated. Alex had been too far away to catch me. I’d seen his eyes widen in horror as he’d lunged forward in a desperate attempt to catch me. Instead, I’d fallen into the woman next to me, who’d staggered into her partner, who’d fallen against another pair. Like dominos, the ballroom had toppled into chaos, and I’d fled in tears.

  The next morning, Alex’s cousin Rory had circulated a new nickname for me: Lady Disaster.

  And it had been Rory who’d dared Alex to trespass at Morningstar’s cottage.

  “Your cousin Rory is an ass,” I
said.

  “I planned to beat him up when he called you Lady Disaster.” Alex stopped prowling and stood close. “I was hunting him through the palace when Morningstar found me. She told me not to fight for you.”

  I nodded, cheered at my godmother’s support. She believed in me. “That’s right.”

  Alex’s mouth compressed to a thin line. Unhappiness darkened the brown of his eyes.

  “I dealt with Rory myself. I made up an itching powder and sprinkled it over his underclothes.”

  Alex’s mouth dropped open. He spluttered. “You…Rory…I thought he hurried home to escape me.”

  “Nope.” I smiled cheerfully, completely unrepentant. “He had an embarrassing rash to deal with. You see, Morningstar was right, Alex. I can fight my own battles.”

  His answering smile, both of us enjoying the thought of Rory suffering, died. “That wasn’t what Morningstar meant.”

  “Pardon?”

  “She didn’t tell me that you could fight your own battles. She warned me away from fighting for you. She didn’t want me courting you.”

  It was my turn for my mouth to drop open. “Huh?”

  He inhaled resolutely, resignedly. “And I knew she was right because you wouldn’t even meet my eyes when I finally cornered you to ask how you were after the ball.”

  “I was embarrassed!” I shrieked.

  He flinched at the high note my voice struck.

  “Oh good grief.” I paced in a circle. Then I stopped in front of him. Close in front of him. I jabbed a finger at his furred chest. “What other stupid ideas do you have in your head?”

  “I’m not sure.” He scratched his head, seeming bewildered.

  “All right, then. Why do you think you should stay in beast form? Why hesitate to break the curse?”

  He backed away from me.

  I paced forward.

  He held his paws up in surrender and kept retreating. “It’s just that I’ll be a terrible king. My father isn’t old. He’ll reign for years. I hope he does! Everyone respects him. He’s a master diplomat. He’s kept the peace in the region for two decades. I can never match his abilities. When I finally become king, everyone’ll be disappointed. I can see it in their eyes, now. I’m too large and unpolished. I prefer hunting to talking. I—”