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“O UCH, DAMMIT! WILL you please be gentler?”

“Then will you please be still?”

Arabella fumed, but this time she did so in silence and did her best not to fidget on the settee, seeing the wisdom in Aurélien’s request.

Outside the windows, the storm continued to rage, its deafening noise a constant reminder of the fate she had almost suffered. In front of her, the fire swayed a slumberous dance, its golden light illuminating Aurélien from behind—-

The thought made Arabella blink furiously.

Now is not the time to cry—-

The billionaire resumed cleaning the last wounds on her face.

Because now was the time to scream in pain.

“Daaaaaaaammit.”

Aurélien’s lips twitched. “I guess that is better.” As he had requested, Arabella hadn’t moved a muscle and instead channeled her pain by screaming his ears off. And so it continued for seven tortuous minutes, and when he was finally done, both of them were relieved.

“Thanks,” Arabella muttered.

“Anything for you, ma belle .”

And her teeth gnashed. How could he say things so easily when she still felt so... awkward ?

As he turned his back to her and started stacking the unused bandages and ointment back into the medical kit, Arabella couldn’t help but stare at him...and marvel at how silly she had been.

With her head now thankfully clear from the IQ-lowering effects of booze, Arabella could only cringe at the memory of her cowardly ways. How could she have treated him like a monster and forget that he was the man she had fallen in love with simply because he didn’t look like other men?

Other men were overrated, Arabella thought irritably. And she had known that from the start, so why the heck did she have to act like a ninny just because he had horns?

And fangs?

And—-

The sight of Aurélien facing her disrupted her thoughts, and Arabella couldn’t help tensing when he clasped his hands behind his back.

The time for awkwardness, Arabella thought, has arrived. First, they would beat around the bush, testing the ice—-

“You may start anytime, ma belle .”

Arabella blinked in genuine bewilderment. “Start what?”

Making a languid gesture towards the floor, Aurélien drawled, “Grovel, of course.”

Arabella’s cheeks turned red.

“After all, you were quite cruel to me, calling me a monster—-”

Arabella cringed.

“And several times, might I add—-” He paused. “So, will you do it now?” Arabella’s lips parted, but before she could answer, he beat her to speaking again. “No?”

“I—-”

But he only cut her off, saying, “If you don’t want to then...”

Arabella’s eyebrows shot up in panic. What? She hadn’t even managed to say a word edgewise, and now he was making it seem like she was too proud to apologize?

“Wait a fucking minute—-”

At the same time, Aurélien murmured, “Then let me be first to grovel.”

And in the blink of an eye, he was suddenly down on his knees before her.

Arabella paled. “Aurélien—-”

The beast shook its head, saying quietly, “I should be the one to grovel first, Arabella. Because we both know between the two of us, I was the one who had drawn first blood.”

Arabella exhaled painfully at the words. “Why did you?” she whispered shakily. “You just started ignoring me all of a sudden, and it hurt. It made me feel like a fool, a slut—-”

“Never,” the beast growled. “I love you, Arabella. I love you, and I never stopped.”

“Then why?”

Its lips twisted. “Because I saw the letter on your desk.”

Her brows furrowed. “What letter are you—-” And then the memory came to her. “Oh. The one with the dead butterfly?”

Aurélien nodded grimly. “It is the symbol of The Naturalis.”

She was incredulous. “The cult that killed your father?” When Aurélien nodded again, she stammered helplessly, “I didn’t mean to bring back bad memories. I was...” And left with no choice, she had to tell him about her failed plan to search for the secret passageways he used, which then led her to discover the letter hidden in the fireplace.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized gloomily once more when she finished. “I really didn’t mean—-”

“Hush. It’s not your fault.”

“But—-”

“You did not kill my father, Arabella. They did. You were not the ones who attacked Louise and me that night. They did. And that’s why when I saw that letter and recognized their mark—-” The beast inhaled sharply. “It shook me. I was terrified that the same thing would happen to you, and I was suddenly ashamed of myself, to have let you in my life—-”

Arabella’s eyes flashed. “Stop!”

Aurélien’s eyebrows lifted slightly at being interrupted so suddenly.

“Don’t think like this ever again. I’m scared that if you do, you’ll find yourself pushing me away again and—-” Arabella’s eyes stung. “Just don’t , okay?”

The beast slowly nodded. “I promise, ma belle .”

“G-good.” And biting her lip hard, she said unevenly, “And now it’s my turn.”

The beast immediately shook its head. “No. I was merely teasing—-”

But still she went on, saying simply, “I’m sorry for wanting to hurt you by calling you a monster.”

“There’s no need, ma belle—- ”

“There’s every need because—-” And her lips twisted. “I’m the real monster here. That time, I was hurting so much that I just really wanted to see you hurt. I wanted to see you bleed, and—-” A shattered sigh escaped her. “I don’t even know if I’m fit to love, Aurélien. Isn’t love supposed to make us better people? But when you left me, I loved you so much that I wanted you broken. My love makes me ugly—-”

“No.” The beast’s blazing blue eyes captured the gaze of the woman it loved for the first time. “Your love is what love is supposed to be.”

“How can you say that?” she demanded brokenly.

“Because it wasn’t that love made you ugly, Arabella. It was that love made you human.”

She sucked in her breath at the words, but still they stayed with her, embracing her even as she fought to shun them, forgiving her even as she was desperate to punish herself.

“I hate you.”

The beast smiled.

“I love you, I love you so much more now, Aurélien, but I also hate you because you always say the prettiest things.”

The beast inclined its head ever so slightly, drawling, “But of course.” And with an exaggerated accent, it added, “I am French, after all.”

And Arabella laughed. And she cried. And because she couldn’t help herself anymore, she wrapped her arms around his neck—-

The beast stiffened.

She tightened her arms around him and leaned closer to whisper, “Make love to me.”

The beast jerked. “It’s too soon—-” But when she only shook her head at it, the beast let out a ragged sigh. “You do not know what you are asking for. You still need time to adjust and—-”

But the rest of what the beast had to say was rendered insignificant as Arabella’s arms unwrapped from its neck so she could reach for its horns.

A hiss escaped the beast, and tension imprisoned its powerful body as it felt her fingers slowly stroke its horns as if to familiarize itself with the texture. A moment later, her hands drifted down, reaching for the beast’s own hands—-

Her small palms fitted against the beast’s hands, and they looked impossibly frail against its larger ones. After, her hands slowly moved up, and the beast drew its breath sharply as she touched its claws.

“It seems so tough,” she whispered.

“It should be,” the beast said grimly, “since it’s the genetically improved version of a lion’s claws.”

“Does it hurt?” she asked worriedly.

The beast didn’t answer right away. A part of it was still reeling at the way she had so quickly adjusted to the reality of its appearance – and now, even her fears were for the beast rather than of it—-

She was too damn good to be true , the beast thought painfully, but through some twist of fate, Arabella Blume belonged to the beast—-

And now it was too late for the beast to ever let her go.

“Aurélien?” Arabella’s concern grew when she saw the distant look in his gaze.

The beast shook its head. “I’m sorry,” it rasped. “I was just...”

“We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” she offered quickly.

The beast shook its head again. “No. I want to. And I think—-” The beast reined itself in with an effort. “I need to.” And after taking a deep breath, it slowly told her about how grief had twisted its father’s mind, and in a moment of madness it had attempted to change its son so that it would be immortal and avoid death the way its mother had been unable to.

“When he saw what happened instead,” the beast continued grimly, “the shock gave his sanity back and from then on, he devoted his life to finding a way to reverse what he had done.”

“And The Naturalis?”

“Their cult is all about preserving the world for its biblical species, and obviously—-” The beast’s lips twisted. “I’m not a part of that. They killed my dad so that no one could ever perform such an experiment again—-”

“Bastards.” Arabella’s voice shook. “If I ever come face to face with them again, I’ll gut them alive.”

The beast raised a brow. “Who’s being the beast now?”

Arabella was momentarily shocked, and then she couldn’t help laughing. “I guess I’m better than you at being beastly.”

“Why does that not surp—-mmph!”

With her lips pressed against his, Arabella asked shakily, “What about this? Does this surprise you?”

But before he could answer, her tongue was already darting out—

The beast closed its eyes as her tongue began to trace the outline of its lips.

“I thought about it for a long time,” Arabella confessed, “and I get it now. You didn’t want me kissing you because I’d have felt your fangs.”

Slowly, the beast nodded.

“But I know about it now...” She slowly lifted her mouth from his. “Won’t you please take over?”

The beast didn’t answer.

She paled. “You don’t want me anymore?”

The words had the beast cursing in its mind. “You misunderstand,” it said harshly. “Nothing will give me greater pleasure than to make love to you, ma belle, but – are you sure you are doing this because you want it? And not because you merely feel guilt or pity—-”

The beast broke off when Arabella suddenly reached for its hand, and to its shock, she brought its hand under her skirt.

The beast jerked. “Arabella—-”

And then she was pressing its hand against her core.

Her core, which was slick with wetness.

“Does that feel guilt to you? Or pity?”

“No,” the beast rasped.

And its blue eyes turned red.

“It does not.”

And then the next thing she knew, Aurélien had already swept her up in his arms. One blink, and he had ripped her clothes off—-

The marks that his claws left on her clothes made her eyes widen in belated understanding.

Ooooooh!

So that was why he kept stealing her clothes—-

Another blink, and he, too, was naked.

Another blink, and he was positioned above her, his hands slowly but firmly pushing her legs wide open.

Wider, wider, wider—-

She couldn’t help raising herself on her elbows, curiosity getting the better of her.

A strangled gasp escaped Arabella.

“Oh my God.” She looked up at him dazedly. “Y-your cock—-” She swallowed hard.

The beast smirked. “Don’t worry, ma belle. It will fit.”

“No,” she choked out. “It will not. It just—-”

But then Aurélien had already started thrusting his cock inside of her, and she moaned.

Inch after inch after inch—-

And she couldn’t stop staring, couldn’t stop moaning, and oh my God, that was so long—-

Inch after inch after inch—-

Oh my God, there was still more?

Inch after inch after inch—-

Arabella collapsed against her back, panting, shaking, and feeling so stuffed. She knew it was a psychological thing, but seeing Aurélien’s actual cock slide inside of her just made things feel different. It was better, more vivid, more—-

Aaaaaah!

Aurélien had already started to move, faster and faster, and she hastily held on to him. Her hands found his shoulders first, and then they moved up to his neck, and when she touched the edge of his horns—-

The beast roared, and raising itself to its haunches, it drove its cock deeper into her pussy.

She screamed, her legs automatically locking around his waist, and her hands moved up further.

Her fingers locked around his horns.

The beast shuddered.

Her eyes widened.

Could it be—-

She started to stroke his horns.

The beast started pumping its hips faster against hers.

Oh my, it was!

“How kinky,” she said with a giggle. “Touching your horns actually turns you on?”

“Tais-toi.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t—-mmph!” His mouth locked over hers to silence her, and it was her turn to shudder against him.

So... tais-toi meant ‘shut up’?

She wasn’t really sure, didn’t really care.

Because right now, this was their first kiss—-

And it was everything she could ever dream of.

Her tongue moved hesitantly against his at first, a part of Arabella terrified that she would accidentally cut herself with his fangs. But as the kiss deepened and she had yet to shed a drop of blood, Arabella began to relax, realizing that Aurélien would never let anything happen to her.

When the beast finally managed to wrench its mouth away, Arabella protested in a sob, “Nooooo—-”

“Hush,” the beast whispered. “It will be better.” And it was true to its word as it reached down for her clit. Using the pad of its thumb, the beast was able to stimulate the tiny nub of flesh without pricking her skin, and Arabella’s body arched against the beast’s at the very first stroke. A second stroke and her eyes began to roll back. And by the time the beast was able to match the rhythm of its strokes with the thrusts of its cock—-

Arabella shattered in its arms, her orgasm making her body curve like a bow while the sweetest gasp of pleasure spilled past her lips.

“Aurélien, oh God!” She wrapped herself around him as tightly as she could as wave after wave of pleasure pummeled her, and when she heard Aurélien growl and felt his body become taut against hers—-

She pulled away to look into his eyes. “I love you.” And when she reached to stroke his horns, a strangled gasp escaped the beast –

Her touch liberated him, changing the beast from the inside, but most of all, the beast could feel her touch returning the human part of it – without changing its other half. And when it looked into Arabella’s dark eyes—-

In her gaze, there was the beast...and Aurélien.

And Arabella loved both of them equally.

“I love you, Aurélien. I love you, La Bête Sauvage .”

The beast roared, and as it released its cum into her warm and welcoming core – it could feel its old self returning—-

The beast was Aurélien Sauvage again.

And it was all because of his Arabella.

The End