eyes at the sound of the hardwood floors creaking behind me as Calum shifts his weight.
Although my father protests, telling me to answer him and questioning where I am again, Calum’s hand wraps around my front, splaying across my belly, and he pulls my back into his broad chest.
“I need you to listen to me.” My voice is softer, easier with his touch.
All I’m given in response is a curse of frustration. Until he screams, “I’ll fucking kill him for hurting you!”
“He didn’t hurt me,” I object. “I left with him last night because I wanted to.” Calum plants a soft kiss below my ear in that sensitive spot that elicits the sweetest of chills down my shoulder.
There is only silence on the other end of the line.
“I’m going to stay with him for a while. I want a break, and I can still—” Just as I’m offering to still do the book-keeping, my father’s voice turns questioning.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you have feelings for that beast of a man . . .”
“It’s something like that . . .”
“This isn’t going to end well for you.” His voice is foreboding.
It’s a tale as old as time, isn’t it? Instead of speaking, I offer him silence as Calum breaks away from me, only watching from behind.
“You’re making a mistake.” My father’s tone is harsh.
“I’m making a choice. I want more than this life.” I don’t know exactly what lies ahead, but it’s something more. It’s something I never knew how badly I wanted.
“This life?” my father questions with distaste, and then ignores me and what I’ve just said. They all do. They always have, and I’m tired of being ignored. “Did he threaten you?”
“No.”
“Does this have to do with the debt?”
“No.” Lie. Lie after lie. But I want the beast. I want to live in his dark castle and let him do whatever he wants to me.
“I’m with Calum now. I only called to tell you. I love you.”
“Belle, please.” Stress lingers over the line from my father’s plea. It doesn’t matter what he says though, I want this. I want to be captive to Calum. I want him to leave me deliciously used. It’s not quite a fairytale, but it’s certainly my fantasy.
“I’ll call again soon.” The old phone clicks as I set it down on Calum’s desk, staring at the antique wood and wondering what I’ve just done. What fate I’ve chosen.
“Does he believe you?” Harrison’s darkly murmured question catches me off guard. I swear this place holds a spell over me. With both of my hands gripping the desk behind me, I face him, the beast I’ve chosen.
“Does he believe what?” What were my lies? I can’t even remember. The chill that runs down my spine when Calum peers down at me with his sharp hazel gaze is warmed by the simple touch. At first, it’s only the rough pad of his thumb trailing down my jaw. Then it’s his hand on my throat, wrapped around it, but not too tight as he plants a single kiss against my lips. The warmth flows just as the desire does, lower and lower to the pit of my belly. When my eyes close, his masculine scent wraps around me, and I can barely breathe.
“It doesn’t matter, Belle,” he whispers against my lips, and his warm breath travels down the crook of my neck as he plants a kiss there.
The unbuckling of his belt forces my eyes open only to be staring straight ahead at the faint scar along his jaw. Goosebumps travel down my heated skin as he plants one more kiss at the sensitive bit of my neck, just below my ear. My whimper of need is accompanied by his hard chest brushing against my breasts. He whispers, his lips at the shell of my ear, “Get on your knees.”
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Jack & the Beanstalk
Marley Valentine
1
On all fours, my body hovers over his, my gloved hand circling around his throat, squeezing tight. Wide eyes stare up at me in horror, confusion, and fear, wondering how after a quiet night out in the city he ended up here.
My hold on him increases, squeezing enough to block his airways, but not enough to kill him. When I drag the sharp,