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

Chapter Twenty-Six || To Divert a Beast

His head tilted slightly, revealing the shadowed blemish beneath the corner of his jaw. The marks mirrored the ones he had given me. I thought I would rather slit my own throat than hear him make mention of it. "It is not lewd for a man to privately visit his bride in her bedchambers."

"That would depend on your intentions," I stated evenly, despite the shakiness of my fingers and heart. "It is rather difficult for me to believe that you had not come here in hopes of an advancement of...earlier events." I ignored the sudden flitting of my heart. "Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not believe that would entail anything less than lewd."

"You would make a fair point had I come here with that intention," he replied, now stepping closer. "I see you are dressed far more modestly than last night."

"Lest you deigned to invite yourself into my chamber," I muttered under my breath, knowing far too well the extent of that truth. "That sort of clothing is not meant to be worn in the presence of others."

He neared a step and soon pressed his arms on either side of me, eliciting a skip and quiver from my heart. The flames lit half his face, drawing attention to the scars scattered across his jaw and beneath his eye. I felt his breath along the side of my nape. "Then, do you mean to say that last night's attire had been intended only for your lord husband's eyes?"

Lest I accidentally sealed the distance between us, I knotted my fingers and stared at the flame. "If it were so, then clearly I am foolish to wait on a man who takes his leisure time in visiting his bride. 'Tis a shame that you left me to fend for myself. I was rather curious as to what claims you would defend yourself with."

His eyes studied mine carefully. "There is not a claim I must refute except your insistence of nothing happening last night." He spoke it as if it were some promise he would never veer from.

My jaw clenched. "Nothing. Happened."

"Nothing?" he prompted, drawing my hair to a side and setting his lips against the shell of my ear. I felt, rather than heard, the sharp edge in his voice. "The whispered words, the kisses, the marks upon your neck...you consider it nothing?"

I bit my lip, masking the unevenness of my breath. "If it wounds you then yes, I do." A soft chuckle found my ears.

"It wounds me no more than the prick of a thorn," he assured me. The tip of his nose met the nook beneath my jaw.

"In your case, such an event equates to death."

"Unless you are present to spare me." He shifted away, likely laying his eyes to the blemishes upon my neck. "Ismae," he murmured. "These—"

I pressed a finger to his lips. "Don't," I whispered.

A finger skimmed along my nape, acknowledging the reddened spots tenderly. Ringlets of burnished copper and gold fell over my shoulder as he wove his fingers through my hair.

"Your lordship...I must ask, what made you decide to visit me privately in my chambers after having left me to fend for myself for the majority of the morning?"

"Initially, I thought to allow you time to compose yourself after the events of last night, which were, of course, nothing." I turned slightly, noting the hint of amusement in his eyes. His palms cupped my elbows. "I hoped you would be the one to seek me, but alas, you spent the morning hiding in the library."

"How utterly considerate," I muttered dryly.

"Surely it inspires you?" He stepped back, allowing me the distance to turn away.

I strengthened hold of my bearings."Inspires me only to continue my negligence."

"Ah," he drawled smoothly, his voice deep and little more than a whisper. I turned my back to him and neared the drawn curtains. "But you acknowledge it?"