Tame his Beast - Claire C. Riley Page 0,59

friend. The places I’ll take her, the things I’ll show her. You’re doing the right thing by not fighting this; what could a beast like you ever offer a woman like her?”

“You got a death wish?”

He chuckled, dragging a hand over his mouth and chin and looking up at me through dark lashes, that sardonic smile still on his smarmy face.

“What did you think? That she would pick you over me?” He shook his head. “It’s not about the money, my friend, it’s about respect. And you don’t have any for her or anyone else.” He looked me up and down. “You barely have any for yourself.”

I grabbed my dick over the thin cotton nightgown. “I gave her all the respect she needed just yesterday,” I sneered.

His smile faltered momentarily as he realized what I was suggesting, but he fixed it back in place with a shrug. “No matter, I’ll just have to work twice as hard to make sure I erase any memory of you.”

“Not going to happen,” I snarled, staring him down. “I’m not that easy to forget.”

“We’ll see,” he replied, and turned away from me. He took her hand and guided her away, and I stood there watching her go, my chest heaving as I tried to control myself.

From somewhere I could hear the sound of hospital security showing up and Doctor Collins ranting about getting me out of there. The prospect was arguing my corner and telling everyone to stay back, and in the distance I heard the sound of motorcycles coming as my brothers arrived to take me home. Belle looked back one last time as they left the hospital. Even from there I could see the tears in her eyes, and that was my cue to walk away.

Lorenzo was right.

I hated it, and I’d never admit it to anyone, but he was right.

It was about respect.

I’d never shown her any, but I would now. I’d let her leave with him. He’d treat her right; like she deserved. Her pure soul was too good for me anyway. She deserved more than a broken-down biker like me, but that was all I’d ever be to the world.

Not all stories have a happy ending, and there was certainly no happily ever after at the end of ours. We were two different people, from two different worlds, and we would never work.

“Come on, brother,” the prospect said, guiding me through the throng of people and back to my room.

Doctor Collins was stood in the doorway looking flustered. “You have 30 minutes before the cops are called and you’re dragged out of here in handcuffs,” he sniped. “I’m done jumping when you criminals tell me to.”

I reached over and grabbed him, slamming up against the wall, my hand tightening around his throat as I pressed my forehead into his.

“You ever speak to me like that again and I will end you!” I roared in his face.

The prospect was pulling on my arm and trying to get me to let go but I shook him off, pain threading through my still tender skin. Doc looked like he was about to cry as I squeezed harder, his face going red. It would be so easy to squeeze the life out of him right now. Just another couple of seconds and he would be gone. His eyeballs bugged in their sockets, his hands clawing uselessly at mine.

“Beast!” the prospect roared from behind me. “Let go of him.”

“When we say jump, you say how high?” I shook him, his head bouncing off the wall.

I watched the light fading in the Doc’s eyes, wishing that it was me and not him. Wishing with everything I was that I could have been good enough for Belle. That I could have been someone different for her. Or at the very least, that I could have died in that barn.

It was a sick thing bringing me back from the brink, because now I had nowhere to go. I didn’t know who I was anymore and I didn’t know where I belonged. All I knew was that this world has chewed me up and spit me out for the last time.

I was done trying to survive it.

The next time death came knocking, I was opening the door.

I let go of the Doc’s throat, letting his body drop to the floor. He gasped for air, his eyes rolling in his head and the second I stepped away a couple of nurses rushed to his side to bring him back round.

“We need to get the fuck out of here now!” the prospect said, pulling me away. “Fucking move!” he yelled.

I stumbled after him, big white ass still on show and my heart a bloody pulp in my chest, determined never to come back here ever again.

Part Two out 28th September 2020

A note from the author

I’m sorry!!!

Oh my god I’m so so sorry!

This story just took on a life of its own and morphed into something much bigger than I had planned. When I came up with the original idea for Beast and Belle it was supposed to be a quick, romantic fairy tale retelling, but these characters had a mind of their own from the get go. I could show you the original outline I wrote, but honestly, that’s a completely different story to this one because Beast and Belle were just so vibrant and wild that they couldn’t be contained to such a simple outline.

The plan was simple for this series of books;

Fairy tale retellings with a 40k limit.

Well, Tame his Beast is already 47k and I can promise you that there is SO much more to come… To cut any of it to fit the brief would have been a disservice to you and to the characters. I have so much more to write about these two. There’s so much story left to happen for them, and maybe, just maybe, they’ll each get their happily ever afters.

So look at it this way…

The fairy tale isn’t over yet—there’s more Beast and Belle to come, and that can never be a bad thing, right?

*This book was written as part of the fairy tale retellings limited release series*

Pre-order now:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Claire C. Riley is a USA Today and international bestselling author.

She’s a genre-jumping book nerd who likes to write about psycho stalkers, alpha males, anti-heroes, and the end of the bloody world! A lover of all things dark and dirty, she likes to write books that f**k with your heart and your head.

She lives in the United Kingdom with her husband, three daughters, and ridiculously naughty rescue beagle, aka Dogface.

Also by Claire C. Riley

MC & Mafia Romance:

Ride or Die The Devil’s Highwaymen series

The Devil’s Highwaymen Nomad Series:

Crank #1, Sketch #2, Battle #3, Fighter #4,

Last Night in Georgia; Caleb & Arla’s story

(coming September 2020 – originally a short story for the ‘Take me to Bed’ charity anthology but now fully extended)

Tame his Beast: Beast & Belle’s story

Guns Blazing anthology – Royal Blood: a reverse harem mafia romance

Post-Apocalypse romance:

Odium The Dead Saga series.