The Beast's Bride (9 page)

He returned to the table a moment later and laid down three pawns and the king. His voice was hard. "The queens are missing. We cannot play."

"Nonsense," Pippa said, glancing around the room for a substitute. "We'll use something else.

Do you have anything that would work?"

5He thought for a moment, and then moved to a large trunk at the foot of his destroyed bed.

She hadn't even noticed it there. He opened it and pulled out a box, dug something out, and then held them out to her, paw turned up.

Pippa moved to his side and blinked in amazement. He held out two rings that were easily as big as her knuckle, both encrusted with diamonds and colorful gems. "Wow. These look expensive."

"Useless," he said with a shrug of his leonine shoulders. "I cannot wear rings on these hands.

They are not even hands any longer."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Pippa chided. "You're not as bad as you think you are. A little intimidating at first, but truly, nothing to be afraid of."

"You are not afraid," he said slowly.

"I'm not."

"And yet your sister quakes in fear if I lean too close."

"Like I said, go slow. And woo."

He grimaced, the expression looking more like a snarl. "I am not experienced with wooing. I do not know what to do."

"That's okay! That's what I'm here for. You can practice on me if you like."

"Practice…upon you?" That feline gaze turned to her, and his voice dropped a husky octave.

"You wish me to attempt to woo you?"

Oh wow, his voice was sexy when he talked like that. She felt her nipples prick into awareness and a blush creep up her cheeks. "If it'll make you feel more comfortable approaching Belle, I don't mind."
I don't mind at all.
She forced her mind to shush. She wasn't here for herself. This wouldn't work unless Belle married the beast.

He studied her for a minute, tilting his shaggy head. Then he said in a gruff voice, "I cherish you."

"Um. Probably need a bit more subtlety than that."

He nodded and reached for her hand. She gave it to him, and he lifted it, considering it for a long moment. Then, he raised the back of it to his mouth and lightly brushed his lips over it.

For some reason, he didn't feel…beastlike. If she closed her eyes, she could have imagined that it was a man brushing his lips over the back of her hand, not a beast with a lion mouth. She 5closed her eyes, thinking of yesterday in the garden, when his large, heavy body had covered hers and pressed her to the ground. "Better."

She felt him turn her hand over, and then felt him nuzzle the palm. It sent goosebumps rippling through her body, goosebumps of pleasure. She kept her eyes closed, enjoying the sensation of his touch. Definitely felt like human lips on her. "See," she breathed. "You're a natural at this. You'll have Belle eating out of your palm in no time."

He nipped at her fingertips, one after the other.

A strangled little gasp escaped her throat. Oh…lord. That had sent a bolt of sensation straight from her hand to her sex. Was it weird that she was getting aroused by the beast's flirting? His mouth moved delicately over her fingertips, and it sent all kinds of wild sensations through her body. It made her flushed and warm…

And really, really turned on.

Which was wrong. He wasn't even meant for her. As he nipped at her pinky finger, she reluctantly pulled her hand from his and opened her eyes, breathing hard.

"See," she told him, breathless. "You'll be just fine as long as you take it slow with her."

"That was…pleasurable," he told her in a gruff voice.

She gave him a thumbs up. Pleasurable was an understatement. Disturbingly erotic might have been more appropriate.

"What is this gesture?" He clasped her hand again, and she felt the warmth of his large body seeping through her. It felt entirely too good. "Why do you point your thumb at the ceiling?"

"Oh." She stared down at her hand clasped between his large, furry ones. "It means something like good job, or nice going."

"I see." He released her hand and very carefully curled his fist and showed her a thumbs up, complete with tipped claw. "You have good advice, Pippa. I will try gentleness."

"Good call. It's very…effective."

He watched her with those odd, golden eyes. "I appreciate your help, lady."

"Pippa," she told him. "My name is Pippa." And then she realized she had no idea what his name was. That seemed wrong, somehow. She didn't want to keep calling him 'the beast'. Not if she was going to make Belle see him as something other than just a monster.

"Pippa," he breathed, as if savoring her name. And for some reason, that made her all aroused all over again.

5 "What's your name? You've never said."

"My name?" He seemed oddly pleased that she asked. "Duncan."

She smiled at him. "Good name."

"Aye. Though not as lovely as Pippa."

"That's the spirit," she teased. "See, you're a natural."

"'Tis easy when I'm with you."

And that made her flush with pleasure all over again. Determined not to squirm in response, Pippa pasted a bright smile to her face. "Shall we play chess, then? You might have to take it easy on me. It's been a few years since I've played."

"Take it easy?" His eyes gleamed at the challenge. "I think not. You have a cunning mind, and I am determined to use any advantage I have to seize control."

She grinned at him and sat down in her ripped chair once more. When he put it like that, how could she resist?

~~***~~

They played chess on into the afternoon, and Pippa couldn't remember the last time she'd had so much fun. At first, it had been slow. Neither she nor the beast could remember some of the chess movement rules, and so they'd made a few things up as they'd gone along. When the beast won the first round, he'd quietly moved his queen into checkmate and waited for her response.

She'd insisted that he'd cheated and they needed a rematch. So they had. And when she'd won the next round, he'd gruffly told her that they needed a third round to ensure the true winner. Best two out of three. It had turned into three out of five, and by the time the late afternoon sun was spilling into the room, they'd spent the whole day laughing and talking and playing chess.

Pippa was competitive and didn't like to lose. For some reason, the beast—Duncan, she reminded herself—found this vastly amusing, and couldn't resist teasing her when she lost. He'd make the occasional move that was so clearly brilliant that she found herself wondering if he was deliberately losing a round here and there simply to hook her in to yet another match.

He denied it of course, but always with that same teeth-baring look that she was starting to associate with a grin. And for the first time since she'd arrived in this weird place, Pippa felt like she had a friend. Belle was sweet, but with this strange set-up, she was a bit like the enemy.

5Which was odd to think. The animal-headed servants didn't talk, and Muffin was more of a drill sergeant than a friend. She hadn't realized until they'd sat down just how nice it was to talk to someone for the sheer pleasure of talking.

And while they hadn't had many subjects in common, Duncan seemed just as pleased to talk to her as she was to him. He told her about the castle, and how many servants there were, and the maze in the gardens. The overgrown rats. He'd asked her for stories about Belle, but she hadn't truly had any, so she told him stories about her own childhood, instead. How her parents had loved to travel and her memories of the beach, the ocean, the time that crab snapped at her big toe, her sadness when they'd passed away. She'd caught herself in a lie, realizing that her 'father'

of this place and time was still alive, and so she had made up a story about how he was her stepfather and she was not truly related to Belle. Given that they looked completely different, she felt it was a safe bet. After all, she was the ugly stepsister in this, wasn't she?

All too soon, the boar-headed servant had shown up with a plate of raw meat for Duncan's meal. Her own stomach growled, and Pippa got up with a small sigh. "I suppose I should check on Belle and see how she's doing. She's probably worried."

"Will you return?" Duncan asked.

"Only if I can bring Belle," she told him, feeling a bit disloyal that she had to say it. But she needed to get the two of them together. It was crucial. The mental image of her body, crumpled at the foot of the stairs, skirt over her head, flashed through her mind and bolstered her resolve.

"I'm sure she'd like to play chess, too."

He looked skeptical but nodded. "If not tonight, then tomorrow."

"Sounds good."

Duncan paused, and then said in a low voice, "I very much enjoyed your company this day, Pippa." And he took her hand in his.

"I had a lot of fun, too," she said softly. And because his touch was giving her prickles that felt entirely too good, she withdrew her hand from his and forced herself to go.

~~***~~

"I'm back," Pippa told Belle. "Sorry I've been gone so long."

5Belle yawned and shrugged, rolling out of bed. She rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand. "Were you? I took a nap."

"Glad to see you were concerned," Pippa said drily. "So what did you do while I was gone?"

Belle yawned and stretched. "I took a nap."

"Yeah, I got that part."

"Oh, and I took your dress in for you like you asked. It's a shame your bosoms are so small, Pippy."

Pippa gritted her teeth. She didn't recall asking for that particular favor, but maybe 'Philippa'

had. Judging by Belle's guileless face, she hadn't intended to insult her sister. It wasn't Belle's fault that Pippa wasn't quite as bouncy in the front as Belle was. Or bouncy at all. The beast hadn't seemed to notice or even care.

And then Pippa felt lousy that she'd even thought such a thing. Belle was here to marry the beast. Pippa was not. The fairy tale never said that the beast married the wicked stepsister.

She thought of his mouth on her fingertips and, for a moment, felt very wicked indeed.

There was a knock at the door, interrupting Pippa's thoughts. Belle bounded to the door and pulled it open, then gasped with delight. "Is that for us?"

Silence, of course, which meant one of the servants was at the door. Pippa peeked around the door and saw one of the maids—this one with a mouse head—who had a tray of tea and scones, and a large parcel wrapped in burlap and tied with a string.

A present.

Well, it certainly hadn't taken Duncan long to step up to the plate. Which was good, she supposed, and she squashed that little twinge of jealousy when the mouse-woman handed it to Belle and gestured that it was for her. Pippa grabbed the tea tray instead and busied herself with bringing it into the room. That was fine. She was hungry. Let Belle fawn over her present.

When the door was shut, Belle bounced to the bed with a giddy laugh and began to pull at the twine holding her present closed. Pippa watched out of the corner of her eye, unable to help herself. Belle gasped and then pulled the burlap down, exposing a large folded square of silk fabric in a pale, embroidered yellow. "Oh Pippy! Isn't this the most beautiful cloth you've ever seen?"

"It's very pretty," Pippa agreed, watching Belle hold it up to her chest as if seeing a dress in the fabric. To appease her jealousy, she grabbed a scone and shoved it into her mouth, chewing 5vigorously. Of course there was no fabric in there for her. She wasn't the one that needed to be romanced.

But still.

It's a shame your bosoms are so small, Pippy.

Bleh.

Pippa sat down, still chewing, and began to pour herself some tea into a small china teacup while Belle preened and stroked the fabric.

"Pssst. How's it going?" A voice whispered.

Muffin? Pippa glanced around, but didn't see the fairy godmother anywhere.

"Over here. In your hand."

Her gaze went to the teapot in her hand and found that it had Muffin's features, the spout forming an extra-long nose for the fairy godmother. She groaned. "Seriously? A teapot?"

"Hey, you're the one that's so into the movie," Muffin told her. "I'm just playing along. So how are things going?"

Pippa set the teapot down carefully and glanced over at Belle. "Slowly," she whispered.

"Belle's kind of…well, frightened. And the beast isn't exactly smooth with the ladies. I'm trying to coach him but they don't even like to be in the same room together. I'm running low on ideas."

"It's a tough one, huh?"

"You could say that." Pippa set the teapot down and leaned in. "This has to work, right? I mean, the fairy tale exists because at some point this worked out for these two, right?"

"Yes, but it's not quite that simple," the teapot told her. "If it was, you wouldn't be here pulling the strings."

"Um, Pippy?" Belle's voice rose from the bed. "Who are you talking to?"

She froze. Tried to think of a plausible explanation. Failed. "The teapot."

"Oh, okay." She went back to toying with the fabric.

Allllrighty then. Pippa glanced down at Muffin. "You see what I'm working with, here?"

"I do. I never said it'd be easy."

"I know. You've said that like, four times now." She leaned in closer to the teapot. "What if he tied her up and forced her to marry him? Would that work?"

"First of all, no. Second of all, ew. You'd do that to your own sister?"

5Pippa rested her hand on her chin. "My own neck is on the line here. Plus, is it bad that I think my sister would come around if she realized that the beast was actually a handsome prince?"

"That's cold," Muffin said. "Stone cold. But probably true."

"Well, I had a suspicion that wouldn't work. I've been trying to teach Duncan to romance her."

"Duncan, eh?"

"It's his real name. I can't exactly go around calling him 'Beast' all day long."

"Mmmhhmmm. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Can you scratch my nose?”

“Beg pardon?”

“I don't have hands and it itches. Now scratch, woman."

Pippa blinked down at the teapot. Muffin's mouth was screwed up and she was wiggling the spout as if trying to hold back a sneeze. She reached out to touch the teapot and gave it a tentative scratch.