Beast in Shining Armor (20 page)

Don’t
trust a beast.

E-I-E-I-O

Testimony
of Old MacDonald
- The People of the Northlands vs. Prince Avenant

“I
feel like you’re looking at my behind.  Are you looking at my behind?”

“Absolutely,
I am.”

Belle
stopped climbing and glowered down at him.

“What? 
You said you wanted me to be honest.”  Avenant sounded like she was the one
being unreasonable.  “You have an incredible ass.  Of course I’m going to look
at it.  It’s certainly better than staring down at the ground, isn’t it?”

Belle
sighed in frustrated.  “Why don’t we switch places and I’ll sexually objectify
you
,
for a while.”

It
wasn’t that she minded his ogling exactly, but her nerves were frayed and he
was a convenient target.  She really hated heights.  A lot.  Falling through
the rabbit hole had been scary enough, but this was freaking her out.  It took
everything in her to put one hand in front of the other.

Don’t
look down.  Don’t look down.  Don’t look down.

“I
would love for you to do all kind of sexual things to me, Bella.”  His hand
gripped her ankle, helping her find a foothold.  “But, I need to be back here
to make sure you don’t fall.  You can’t see as well as I can.”

Damn
it, it was hard to argue with him when he was being logical.  Belle made a face
and kept climbing up the stone wall.  They were ten stories in the air, with
nothing but jagged rocks beneath them.  Knoss had better be right about the
bridge.

“Explain
to me again why you can see in the dark and I can’t.”  She instructed.  She
could concentrate on something besides her impending pancaking into
two-dimensionality.

“The
Beast.”  Avenant said shortly.

She
could tell by his tone that he didn’t want to talk about it.  That just
encouraged her to press harder.  If they were going to make this True Love
thing work, he was going to have to open up.  Even if she had to use force.  “So
you
can see better or the
Beast
can see better?”  She asked,
wanting to understand.

“Both
of us.  I can see through his eyes.”

Belle
considered that for a moment.  “Maybe you’re just seeing through
your
eyes.”

“What?”

“Maybe
there isn’t a ‘both’ of you.  Maybe there’s just
one
of you.  Maybe what
you think is a Beast is just a part of you that you’re trying to repress.”

“That’s
insane.”

“Is
it?  You’re not someone particularly in touch with his feelings.”  Belle dug
her fingers into the next handhold and dragged herself up another few inches. 
Don’t
look down.  Don’t look down.  Don’t look down
.  “I think you try to wall up
huge parts of yourself and maybe the Beast is just one of those parts.”

“It’s
a physical change, Belle.  It’s not all in my head.”

“So? 
Wolves physically change.  They turn from people into…”

He
cut her off, sounding affronted.  “First you compare me to minotaurs and now
wolves?
”

“Oh
for God sake.  I’m not saying…”  She broke off with a cry as gravel moved
beneath her hand.  Belle slid backward, trying to find purchase.  For one heart
stopping second, she thought she was going to fall.  She looked down into the
darkness and swore she could see it rushing up to meet…

Instantly,
Avenant’s palm was there to steady her.  Belle released a relieved breath, her
pulse pounding in her ears.  It was okay.  Avenant was right behind her,
keeping her safe.

“Thank
you.”  She got out.

“You’re
welcome, my love.”

She
loved it when he called her that.  The man was a total jerk, but she might just
be adapting to having him around.  “Anyway, I’m not saying you’re a wolf.”  She
continued, resuming the climb. 
Don’t look down.  Don’t look down.  Don’t
look down.
  “Not that there’s anything
wrong
with being a wolf, Mr. Judgmental.”

He
gave a snort.  “You clearly haven’t spent much time with Marrok.”

Belle
disregarded that.  “I’m just saying that wolves go through physical changes,
but they’re still who they are.”

“Yeah,
they’re still wolves.”  Avenant snarked.  “I’m not a wolf. 
They’re
refugees
from the zoo and
I’m
a prince.”

God,
he really was a snob.  “Just take a second and think about the maybes. 
Maybe
you shouldn’t try so hard to keep this ‘Beast’ part of you separate. 
Maybe
if you let it loose, you’ll find out that it isn’t so Bad. 
Maybe
your
claustrophobia and emotional frigidity comes from boxing up huge parts of
yourself. 
Maybe
you have to accept all the aspects of yourself if
you’re going to be whole.”

“
Maybe
I’d sooner jump off the rocks than think about those maybes.”

She
really wished he wouldn’t talk about jumping.  “Just
try t
o think about
it, then.”

He
gave an unconvinced grunt.  “You’re almost to the top.  How about you focus on
reaching it and I’ll focus on your cute little posterior and we’ll skip the
psychoanalysis.”

Belle
made a face.  “You can never just admit when I’m right.”  She heaved her way
onto the summit and then turned to help him up.  “Are you okay?”  She asked
when they were both standing on solid ground.  “Did the climb hurt your
shoulder?”

Avenant
frowned at her as she checked the makeshift bandage she’d fashioned for him
earlier.  “You shouldn’t show any weakness.”  He lectured in a particularly
lecture-y tone.  “You worry about my bullet scratch or waste your time trying
to find the Good side of the Beast, when you
should’ve
left me behind
and had Knoss show you this path on your own.  You won’t win unless you’re strong.”

“I’ll
bear that in mind.”  Belle assured him dryly.  “How’s your shoulder?”

He
let out a sigh that suggested he was sane one in their relationship.  “It’s
fine.”

“Good.” 
Belle moved on to check the gash on his temple.  “How’s your head?”

“You’re
so fucking soft.”  For once, it didn’t sound like a complaint.  Instead,
Avenant gave her a small smile, as if he found her amazing.  “Even when I know
I should try and change you…  I would
never
want you to change.”

“Of
course you wouldn’t.”  She arched a brow.  “Because you think you’re going to
beat me.  But, you
won’t
.  I’m not going to lie down and just let you
win.”

“I
don’t want you to let me win.”  He adjusted the backpack over his arm and shook
his head.  “That won’t get me what I’m after.”

“It
would get you the sword.  What else is there?”

Avenant
rolled his eyes and headed in the direction of the bridge.  “What do you
think?
 
I want you to give me a chance.  I told you that.  This contest is just a means
to an end.”

She
had no idea how his mind worked sometimes.  “So, you really did all this to convince
me we were True Loves?”

“
Yes.
”

“What
if someone else gets to Excalibur first?  Did you even think of that?”

He
scoffed at that idea.  “No one else will free that sword.”

“What
if they
do?
  Or what if
I
do?  What if you lose the Northlands
because you were so determined to maneuver me into bed?”

Avenant
gave an unconcerned shrug.  “Then, I’ll figure out a way to get it back.”

“What
if you can’t?”  She hurried to catch up with him.  “You say I make emotional
choices, but it doesn’t seem like you’ve been acting so rationally, either.”

And
that gave her more hope than anything else he’d done.

Belle
needed to be important to the man she married.  She needed to be the most vital
part of his world.  Growing up, her parents had forgotten to set a place for
her at dinner countless times, because she just wasn’t important enough to
remember.  They once went on a weeklong vacation and didn’t notice that they’d
left her at home.  If she’d blinked out of existence, they probably would’ve
just felt guilty relief that she wasn’t around to embarrass them at cocktail parties
and then never thought of her again.  Belle couldn’t spend the rest of her life
as the overlooked guest in her own family.  She
wouldn’t
.

The
more she thought about it, though, the more it seemed like Avenant had just put
his crown on the line to try and win her over.  If Avenant did something so
stupid, then he couldn’t possibly be cold all the way through.  This True Love
bond must matter to him.  That meant maybe
Belle
could matter to him.  She
just had to encourage him to drop some of his walls and realize that emotions
weren’t so scary, after all.

Since
she already knew what she felt for the jerk, the least he could was reciprocate. 
She just needed to show him how.

Belle
took a chance.  “Would you have left me behind to go for the sword alone?”  They’d
agreed to end their partnership when they were close to the finish line, after
all.  “Do you want to play every man for himself?”

Avenant’s
jaw ticked.  “No.”  The word was quiet.  “I want to win with you beside me.”

“And
I’m
going
to win with you beside
me
.”  She assured him sweetly. 
“That way you can clap in awe.”

He
gave a snort.  “I love it when you’re a bitch.”

Belle
smiled at that.  “The point is, I think we should stick together right to the
end.”  She saw the quick flash of relief on his face and kept going.  “In fact,
I’ll consider a permanent truce.”

That
caught him off guard.  “What do you mean?”

“I
mean, we could extend our partnership after we get out of here.  Working
together, is a hell of a lot better than constantly fighting, don’t you think? 
We’re certainly accomplishing a lot more pooling our resources than we were
battling each other.”

Avenant
mulled that over like he was looking for traps.  “You want to be… friends?”  He
translated, apparently braced for her to start laughing or something.

Belle
had no clue why he was wary about the idea.  “Would that be so terrible?  If we
can’t even be friends, I don’t see how you expect us to be True Loves.  It’s
the only way I…”

“I
want
to be friends with you.”  He interrupted.  “I always have.  You’re
the one who never thought I was Good enough.”

“That’s
ridiculous.”  Except, she could see he actually thought it was true.  “How in
the world could you think
I
was the one keeping us from being friends,
Avenant?”  The man was insane.  “Actually --you know what?-- it doesn’t even
matter.”  She waved a hand.  “Let’s just start over and…
start
over
.”

“Start
over?”  He still looked suspicious.

“Yeah. 
Watch.”  Belle quickened her step so she was beside him and held out a palm. 
“Hi.  I’m Rosabella Aria Ashman.  I own a bookstore and sometimes run the
Northlands.  Who are you, handsome stranger?”

His
eyes met hers and something warm moved in their arctic depths.  “I’m Avenant.” 
He murmured, his hand clasping hers.  “I’m a prince and an ex-convict and your
True Love.”

“My
True Love?  Wow.  Nice to meet you.  I’m sure glad you just
told
me,
instead of doing something sneaky and underhanded to get your own way.”

“Well,
I’m a nice guy.”

“That’s
good news, because I have thing for nice guys.”  She made an exaggerated
expression of surprise.  “Hey, we should be friends.”

“First
impression of me and I strike you as friendly?”

“I
guess it’s your cheery personality.  What do you say?”

Avenant’s
mouth curved.  “I say, you’ve
always
been my best friend, Belle.  From
the time we were kids, I’ve been waiting for you to let me show you that.”  He
paused.  “Even though we just met.”

The
man was irresistible, damn it.  “Funny.  I feel the same way.”  She drawled
out.  “We should probably try to build off that.”

“Well,
I certainly support the idea of you seducing me, if you’re considering a
‘friends with benefits’ thing.”

“No,
I was thinking more like dinner or…”

“Oh,
come on.”  He interrupted with a quick grin.  “Give seduction a shot.  I dare
you.”

She
glanced at him from the corner of her eye.  Belle couldn’t refuse a dare,
especially not a teasing one.  It was about time he lightened up a little bit. 
“Alright.”  She arched an exaggerated brow and cleared her throat.  “So… you
come here often?”  She tried.

He
got extra credit for keeping a perfectly straight face.  “All the time.  I like
the atmosphere of this pit.  The mold invigorates my lungs.”

“Prince,
ex-convict, True Love and wiseass.”  She nodded like a world-weary femme fatal. 
“It’s a tricky combination, but I can handle it.”