Sixteen
Beast pressed his forehead to mine. His warm breaths tickled my frosted cheek. Hands tightened and fisted my skirts in crumpled heaps, tugging at the material until my hips were flush against his. "Say yes," he murmured in my ear. His lips caressed my jaw in breathtaking kisses that seared my skin. My eyes squeezed shut from the pleasure shooting through me. How had we gotten to this? For the life of me I couldn't remember.
"I... I can't," I panted.
His arm wrapped around my waist, and suddenly the ground disappeared out from under me. My back touched the snow with a careful tenderness as he set me down, his body hovering over mine. I welcomed his warmth and grasped for more. His lips never ceased its assault on my cheek, my jaw, my neck and back up again. He paused at the corner of my mouth. "Say it." His hand grazed my thigh.
I jumped. "Beast, I don't know! Please!"
I didn't know what exactly I was begging him for— more of his touch or for him to stop it altogether. He didn't let me explain. His mouth crashed down on mine with a fervent intensity that drew a gasp from my lips, allowing him entrance. His body pressed to mine, his lips muffling my moans. My mouth ached from the bruising passion of the kiss. I raked my hands along his bare arms, mesmerized by the smooth feel of his warm skin. His hand felt along my hip, sliding under the hem of my dress and—
My eyes snapped open with a gasp. A loud moan echoed throughout the room— mine, I realized in shock. My stomach was tangled in boiling knots, my body trembling ever so slightly as my hands fisted the sheets around me. I blinked up at the ceiling and listened to the loud drum beating in my chest. What the hell just happened? I touched a hand to my lips. They were sore, slightly swollen, and still moving to the memory of a dreamed kiss. It had felt so real...
I sat up with a sigh, trying to slow my racing heart, and pressed my palms to my gritty eyes. The grandfather clock ticked quietly in the corner. 3:06. My bones cracked. I slid my legs over the edge of the bed and hunched forward to rub my throbbing head.
Voices pulled me from my daze. Whispered conversations drew to the door on the pads of my toes. The thick wood dampened the words, but I instantly recognized the lilting tone of Lumea's voice. Her words were hushed and hurried with a panicked frenzy that made my fingers twitch. Mrs. Potter's own motherly cries did very little to soothe her. I gripped the doorknob in my hand.
Suddenly their words stopped. Footsteps bounded toward my door, another set darting away. I jumped away from the door and threw myself into the bed. I sank into the mattress and stuffed the blankets on top of me. Hush! I begged my heart. If their hearing was as good as an actual wolf's there would be no rambling my way out of this one. It settled into an anxious skip the more time passed. I squeezed my eyes shut. Waited.
But the door's groan never came.
❆
I nearly choked into my cup as Beast strode into the dining hall. Beside me, Mrs. Potter gave a knowing smile and bowed as she left. Heat stormed my face, no doubt turning it the same shade as the blood in my veins.
"Good morning," he said, his tone more animated today than ever. His smile was somehow even more dashing.
Dashing? I turned my head away from him. What the hell is wrong with me? I lifted my glass to my lips again. My hands shook ever so slightly. "Good morning." I wrangled them back into my lap and met his amused gaze. Something glinted in his silver eyes, a warm taunt that made me feel as if I'd missed out on a secret joke. He settled into his chair and tucked his napkin onto his lap. Mrs. Potter bustled in with our plates of steaming eggs and sausage, fruit of all kinds of exotic assortments. Her smile never faltered as she handed each of us our silverware. A rosy blush stained her wrinkled cheeks. She flashed me a quick wink and hurried back out.
He scooped up his fork. "How did you sleep?"
I watched his long fingers dance along the shimmering silver and felt my mouth dry at the recollection of last night's dream. How they'd touched and caressed me, drowning me in a fire only he could put out. My stomach tightened. I banished the thoughts from my head. "F-Fine, thank you." I sipped my water, watching him observe me from the corner of my eye. I let the glass slide back onto the table and forced my mind to focus on something other than the heat of his gaze. I stared at the empty chairs. "Where's Lumea?"
This seemed to snap his attention back to the present. His eyes fell to his plate as he stabbed an egg and watched it bleed yolk over the sausage. "A message from the city came late last night. She set off just before dawn."
My heart thumped. I tapped my fingers on the table. "Is everything okay?" The fear leaked into my voice.
His head snapped up to look at me. "Your brothers are fine, Adaira. I'm sure it was just for her to pay the physicians and pick up more medicine. There's nothing to worry about." His lips tugged into a reassuring smile.
I released a heavy breath and nodded, sinking back into my seat. "Would you take me to see them if there was?" His jaw clenched. He dabbed the napkin at the corners of his mouth. "If Hendric got worse, or if Kenji got sick? Would you take me to them?"
His silver eyes clouded over and for several long seconds glared into the marks on the table. Then he sighed. "Your brothers are fine."
That wasn't the answer I needed. "Would you?" I repeated more desperately.
His eyes darted between mine, uncertainty slithering through the hard mask he usually wore. The seconds felt like eternity as they ticked by in cold silence. Then his hand stretched over the black table and captured mine in a delicate grip. "Of course."
"Promise?"
His eyes cleared, the storm clouds dispersed at the single question. His lips parted as he gaped at me. "I promise," he said, his voice distant and his dark features puzzled. I should have been repulsed by the fact that he was touching me. A few weeks ago I would have yelled and cursed at him had he ever tried to even put a finger on me. Yet here I was, my breath shaking and my body humming.
My sanity snapped back into place. I stole my hand back down to my side and cleared my throat. "Thank you."
He seemed to remember himself. Sitting up straighter, he adjusted the cuffs of his sleeves and plunged into the delicacies on his plate. We muttered quick and polite words back and forth to each other around our mouths of food. My thoughts continued to run rampant, my mind replaying the images of last night's dream over and over again. I could feel my face growing warm again, my cheeks reddening with every second that I couldn't control myself. I watched his jaw move as he ate, the large muscles of his throat flexing as he swallowed.
"Not hungry?" His voice startled me out of my twisted daydreams.
I stared down at my hands, which had lain completely frozen and fisted on either sides of the plate. I slid them into my lap. My body was too aware of the way he pinned me in place with his gaze. "I guess not." I hated the way I squirmed at the sight of his lips curving. For so long all I wanted to do was claw them off; now I couldn't stop imagining what they would feel like on mine and I hated it.
The doors blew open before he could say more. Coggington strode into the dining hall and directly up to Beast, lowering his mouth to whisper something in his ear. Beast's expression darkened. He closed his eyes briefly on a sigh. His slender fingers pinched the sharp bridge of his nose. "Thank you, Coggington." He paused, tapping the table in slow rhythms with a pained look on his handsome face. "I suppose I should get ready, then. You'll take care of everything?"
He nodded. "Yes, of course. Will you be here for dinner?" I sat up straighter at this. Where was he going?
"No, I'll leave the burden of hunting to you, old man." They exchanged brilliant smiles. He pushed himself back from the table and stood.
The words left my lips before I could stop them. "Can I go?" I leapt to my feet. They stared at me. Coggington's perplexed gaze contrasted darkly with Beast's amused one. His silver eyes began an immediate protest but I didn't let it breach his tongue. "Not with you," I said quickly, shaking my head. I glanced at Coggington. "Can I go hunting with you?"
The old man stood still for several long moments and I feared that as my answer. His eyes switched between Beast and me. "I don't know if that—"
"It's alright, Coggington," Beast suddenly interjected. I switched my gaze to him, smiling. "Now I will definitely have a reason to come home early." He bowed, his left eye closing in a wink so brief I wasn't sure if it was real. Then he shuffled from the hall and out the large doors.
My gaze darted to Coggington as soon as I heard the doors click. He stared at me with his expression drawn tightly in a retrained mask. His nose scrunched as he looked me over.
"What?" I asked.
He pursed his lips. "Mhmm," was all he said as he waved for me to follow him.
Mrs. Potter gave us warm smiles as we passed her in the kitchen on our way out to the main doors. I couldn't help the way I searched the halls for Beast in the hope I would see him before he left. Against every instinct I knew was buried somewhere inside of me, I wanted to ask him where he was going and exactly why he had to drop everything to see to it. He'd said that he would take me to the city if something were to happen to my brothers, but he hadn't mentioned them after Coggington walked in. Whatever it was must have been important enough to have consumed him completely and forced him to run off so quickly. The look on his face when Coggington had muttered those words to him still ran inside my thoughts. His eyes had took on a dark aura, his body tensing and his features becoming as stone.
I fought the irrational pang of disappointment in my chest as we picked our coats from the foyer hooks. Beast's was already gone and so was he. Coggington mumbled for me to wait while he went to retrieve the rifles and a net. He was agile for an old man and returned only seconds later with one rifle and a pocket full of shells. "Shall we?" He waved me in front of him and opened the door.
Harsh gusts of frozen wind slashed at my cheeks the minute I stepped out. I buried my nose as far down into the fur lining as much as I could. Snow crunched beneath my boots and blew across my face in swarming sheets of white ice. My skin instantly began to freeze. Coggington held out his arm for me to take; I hurried to cling to him and bask in the warmth he naturally radiated. We trekked through the tangled line of trees, careful to keep out footsteps as quiet as possible. His footfalls were like soft whispers in the snow, whereas mine sounded like a yeti stomping on cracking ice.
Birds scattered at the very sight of us, already knowing what would happen if they stayed. I followed the tracks of several woodland creatures and potential meals, but Coggington warned me not to wander off. The images of the wolves still haunted the back of my mind; I kept close to him. It was funny to think he was protecting me. In Kinnot it was always the duty of the young to take care of the elderly. But, I reminded myself, he wasn't an ordinary old man. No. He was whatever Beast was. And Lumea. I suspected Mrs. Potter as well. The night we were taken there had been four wolves. Lumea was the white, Beast the gold, and Coggington the gray. That left red— Mrs. Potter. They were all monsters.
Or they used to be, at least.
Now I didn't know what they were. Beast especially.
Coggington's light chuckle next to me drew my attention away from my thoughts. "I see your relationship with the master has improved," he remarked smugly.
I squinted at him. "There is no relationship; we're just friends."
He didn't seem convinced. "Friends don't give one another the hope that they could be more." He paused, gauging my reaction. Seeing none, he shrugged. "Not true friends, anyway."
I turned away from him, rolling my eyes and continuing my steps in the snow. Exactly just what kind of relationship did he think his "master" and I would ever have? It seemed like just days ago I was plunging a knife into his chest and seething when he didn't keel over. Yet only hours ago my body was tied into knots dreaming of his skin on mine. I banished the thought and pushed on through the cold.
An hour into the hunt and the only things we came across that could pass as food were pinecones. I was growing restless, squatting into the snow time after time to shoot, only for a sound to spook dinner away. I growled and moved on.
A piercing squawk filled my ears. My head snapped up to the sky. Black and red feathers coated the fine body of a large hawk. It perched on the branch just above my head, taunting me. My tongue slithered out of my mouth to wet my lips. I lifted the rifle. Aimed. Pulled back the hammer.
Coggington's full weight crashed into me. "No!" His arm chopped the rifle from my hands, pointing the barrel at the ground before my finger could squeeze the trigger. I shot him a lethal glare. "Not that one." His eyes widened at the bird. His mouth curled into a round shape and released several coos. The hawk floated down and landed on the his arm. Its head cocked forward and waited for fingers to brush against it. I marveled at the sight of the wild animal melting in the man's grip. He was tame. Coggington tugged off the small tube of paper wrapped around the bird's leg and settled the creature on his shoulder, unfolding the sliver. His eyes rounded.
I swallowed. "What is it?"
He fisted the paper in his hand. "We must get back. Fast." He walked without giving me a chance to ask what had happened.
I shouldered the rifle and hurried to catch up to him. "What was it?" He caught a glimpse of me from the corner of his eye and immediately pulled his gaze away. He remained silent the entire time we rushed back to the castle. We burst through the doors carried on a harsh wind. His eyes roamed the halls. "He's left already," I panted, trying to keep up with him.
He took the stairs two at a time, startling me with his nimbleness. I clamored after him. He marched right up to the black door and pounded his meaty fist against the wood.
Surprisingly, the door swung open almost instantly. Beast met us with a confused and furious look. "What are you—" Coggington thrust the paper into his hands. The silver eyes stiffened. He lifted his head to look at me.
"What?" I echoed. He said nothing. "What?"
Hesitantly, he handed me the slip. I snatched the sliver from his fingers and smoothed it out in my own. My heart dropped at the words scrawled before me.
"Bring her to say goodbye."
The world fell away. Both men were far away as they gawked at me, waiting for me to speak. My entire body felt like a frozen river. I could feel my blood slowly churning inside me but I was helpless to move. My knees trembled.
A hand touched my wrist. I followed the arm attached to it and stared blindly into a sea of silver. Coggington's voice wormed through the dull warbling in my ears. "Sir, you still have to go up the mountain."
Beast watched me intently. "I know," he growled through gritted teeth, but when he looked back at me his features softened once again, his eyes pulling down in sorrow. Or was it pity? "It will have to wait, I suppose."
"I can take her."
The silver orbs snapped to attention, gleaming like the sharp metal of a knife. "No," he snapped darkly. My feet instinctively took a step back. He flexed his clenched hands and took a deep breath to calm himself. "We'll all go. Coggington, inform Mrs. Potter and prepare the carriage." The old man bowed and hurried away. As soon as his footsteps faded my exterior fell away. My knees buckled and would have been ground into the floor had an arm not circled my waist and held me against him. "Adaira, listen." His hand brushed the wet hair from my face. I struggled to meet his gaze. "We're going to be there by nightfall, but you'll have to pack a bag quickly. Can you do that?"
In some distant land I saw myself nod. His hand was uncertain as he let me go. I swayed on my feet, but drifted down the hall anyway to the stairwell. At the bottom, the feeling in my feet returned. I urged myself to run and tore through the halls until I was in my room. I dug through the chest at the foot of the bed and snatched up the trunk inside it. I grabbed several shirts and pants from the bureau and stuffed them in, running back out into the hall. I waited in the foyer with an impatient itch and my heart beating furiously in my throat.
A hand suddenly grabbed mine and coaxed my arms into a thicker coat. Beast wrapped several scarves around my neck and crammed my frozen fingers into wool gloves. He twined our fingers and picked up my case, tucking it under his arm. He pulled me out the doors and into the cold again. Mrs. Potter was already seated inside the carriage car, Coggington holding the reins in the driver seat. I froze on the step.
His hand pumped new warmth into mine. "It's going to be alright."
I turned to stare at him. "You don't know that."
"I know that you're a fighter and he raised you. That means he's just as strong as you are. It'll be okay." He ripped open the car door and urged me in. Then he climbed up beside Coggington and snapped the reins and we set off to the city.
~Hi everyone! I don't usually write author's notes, but this once I will make an exception:
Very quickly I just want to say thank you to everyone for reading, especially maysen101 for all her comments and votes:)
Second, and the reason I'm writing this, is because this weekend is my 18th birthday, and I was thinking that I could give you all a little something special! Friday I will be posting chapter seventeen, but on Saturday the 16th I will also be posting a special chapter that is a birthday edition. If all goes well, I will turn it into more on Sunday.
I hope you all enjoy! Thank you!