Seven Kisses: A Beauty and the Beast Dark Romance (10 page)

When she stretched her fingers, she could almost feel the slick latex of Madame’s cat suit. She tried to touch it as the weird woman asked, “How do you like that, my child? Does Madame do your ass justice? Does she treat you as you ought to be treated?”

Thank goodness Gabrielle couldn’t answer those questions, because she’d only get herself in trouble.

“If only I could fill you with my own skin.”  The intensity of Madame’s thrusts increased with the violence of her voice.  “If I could grow a cock by snapping my fingers, I’d fuck you until you wept.”

When Madame’s voice cracked, the spell was broken. Fear replaced desire. She didn’t seem in control of her senses anymore, and that scared Gabrielle so much she started formulating an escape plan.

“What’s wrong, Suzanne? You’ve tightened your ass so much I can hardly move.”

Gabrielle’s throat made a whimpering noise that must have given away her mental state, because Madame cracked the crop across her ass.

“You were told to relax, Suzanne.  Relax your ass or I will punish you again!”

“Aye ah uuhahh!”

I’m not Suzanne!

“Very well, my child.” The leather tongue licked Gabrielle’s ass cheek like a demon, sending a cruel blaze across her skin, making her scream. “You girls, you
girls
!”

Gabrielle whimpered and cried, choking on the tears trapped at the back of her throat.

“You pretty little girls have no idea the attention you attract.”  Madame filled her, fucked her, pummelled her ass and smacked it simultaneously. “The way you walk, the way you talk, the way you flirt without seeming to notice, without seeming to care the desire you arouse.
Enfant terrible
.  You bring out the beast in me, Suzanne.”

“Aye ah uuhahh!”

I’m not Suzanne!
  If only Madame could hear her. If only Madame understood.

Her ass blaze. The harder she clenched, the fuller she felt. Who would willingly subject themselves to a torture like this? To think, only moments ago Gabrielle had tasted the sweet anticipation of a sordid new experience. To think she’d identified with her captor! The thought made her so sick she nearly retched.

Madame dealt her another blow that burned her flesh.  “You beg to be fucked and you don’t even notice.”  The riding crop slid down the side of her ass and Gabrielle nearly breathed a sigh of relief… but then the cruel crop rose up between her legs. It caught her clit like a bolt of lightning, and for a brief moment Gabrielle truly believed she was about to die. 

“It’s your fault, Suzanne. It’s your fault I cannot function. It’s your fault I cannot control my impulses.  I must have you. I must make you mine.”

Gabrielle shook her head wildly. She had no idea what was coming next, but it scared her to tears. Her heart jumped erratically, like it was trying to escape her chest. Her ribs ached from sobbing. Her jaw ached from the bit.  Her body burned, her skin blazed, and she cursed Mme de Villeneuve with every fibre of her being.

“Tell me you are mine.” 

Dropping the crop, Madame struggled with the buckles that kept the harness on Gabrielle’s head.  She pulled it off, releasing Gabrielle from the bit, and then pulled out of her ass so swiftly Gabrielle was left with nothing but pain.

“Tell me, Suzanne.” 

Madame gripped her tight, and her sweating skin stuck strangely to the latex body suit. The big blue dildo wedged between her pussy lips. She somehow ended up straddling it the way a witch would straddle a broomstick. 

“Stay with me. Tell me you are mine. I reject my role as your therapist. My heart holds your heart inside it and I know you feel the same way about me.”

Gabrielle’s entire body began to shake. Her muscles had a mind of their own, and all they could do was rattle inside her skin.  She couldn’t close her mouth.  It hung open as she shook her head wildly. Her neck seemed to be the only part of her body that would function the way she wanted it to.

No! No! No! No! No!

As her body trembled, it rode Mme de Villeneuve’s dildo, smashing wildly against the latex cat suit. Her whole body went into spasm. An orgasm shot through her like a star, leaving nothing behind but a blazing burnt-out scar.

Madame grasped Gabrielle’s bound-up arms, pulled her close, and planted a kiss on her lips. Gabrielle would carry that kiss on her tongue for the rest of her life, like an aftertaste of shame and repulsion. She tried to wriggle away, but her body was too lost in its insidious climax. God help her, she returned Madame’s terrible kiss. She surrendered her tongue to her captor and participated to the fullest extent.  Why was she doing it? Why didn’t she back away? She hated herself for that kiss. She hated herself for everything.

When Madame broke away, it was to say, “I knew you loved me, Suzanne.  I knew you would be mine.”

Gabrielle couldn’t speak. She couldn’t stop shaking. But her eyes could cry, and they wept a flurry of tears. She couldn’t bear the weight of existence much longer.  When she collapsed to her knees and her swollen pussy met the prickle of straw, she bowed her head and hoped for death. 

Chapter 11

Had she been drugged again, or had life simply devolved into such a hellish existence that her mind refused to operate at full capacity?

Madame had gone away. Gabrielle didn’t know where and didn’t know why.  She rested one shoulder against a hay bale. She couldn’t feel the straw jabbing into her skin anymore, though she was sure she’d have marks from that too, if she survived the night.

Wait… what was that light shining through the cracks between wooden slats?  Had the sun come up?  Disappointment weighed heavy on Gabrielle’s heart. At night, she could hide her shame under cover of darkness. Now, when the daylight illuminated the many sins committed against her flesh, she couldn’t deny what kind of woman she’d become.

A willing victim. A captive whore.

Her asshole ached. She had to pee, so she did, all down the smooth skin of her calf. What difference did it make?  She was dirty on the inside. Might as well be dirty on the outside, too.

When her nose itched, she reached up to scratch it before remembering her wrists were bound behind her back. She tried rubbing her nose against her shoulder, but she just couldn’t reach. The itch would drive her crazy.

A latch clicked and she thought, “Here I go, over the edge…”

She expected Madame’s heels to click-clack against the concrete. She was ready for anything, at that point. If the woman rode in naked like Lady Godiva, she wouldn’t have been surprised in the least. But when a dark-haired man peeked over the stall door, her shoulders shook.

“Who are you?” she asked. Her jaw hung loose and she had trouble closing her mouth.

When he unlatched the stall door, Gabrielle’s feet started moving of their own accord, sliding in loose hay.  She pressed her shoulders back against one bale and then another, urging her body to stand. Alone, she’d nearly forgotten she was naked. As soon as that man’s blazing eyes found her flesh, she felt not only naked but inside-out. He could see everything about her. She was sure of it.

He stepped inside and stood by the door, which he didn’t latch.  His skin was golden. His hair was slick.  She tried not to think of him as handsome because she wasn’t sure what he might do to her.

“Don’t you know me?” he asked.

“Should I?” She gazed down at his dusty jeans, his leather shoes. He had on a threadbare T-shirt and held a pile of folded clothing against his chest. Wait… that was
her
clothing!  The outfit she’d been wearing when she committed herself to this place.  “Who are you? How did you get my stuff?”

“After everything that’s happened you really don’t know me?  Look into my eyes.”

She couldn’t look away from her bundle of clothes.  “That’s mine. I want it. Leave it here. Leave me alone.”

“You don’t know me?” he asked again.  “You would if you looked deeper.”

Wait, she couldn’t put her clothes on if she was bound up.  She wanted him to undo the leather straps that held her hands behind her back, but she also didn’t want to turn her back on him.  “You need to let me go.”

“I will,” he said. “That’s why I’m here. Don’t you know who I am?”

“My guardian angel, I hope. Because if you’re real then you’re a man and I don’t have a lot of faith in men right now. Or women, for that matter. Humans generally. So you’d better be an angel.”

He chuckled and his voice was so warm and caring she felt it in her spleen.  “I’m no angel, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to hurt you. I’ve done enough of that for one week.”

She did look at him, then. She looked into his eyes and let her gaze mingle with his.  Yes, there was something familiar in there, like she knew him from a dream.

“You wanted to see me with my mask off. Well, here I am. The mask is gone. I’m no longer your beast, Gabrielle.”

Her heart beat uncomfortably slowly as she put the pieces together.  “You know my name.  You know my real name.”

He nodded.  “I need to tell you something.”

“Give me my clothes.  Untie my hands.  That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?  To let me escape?”

“There’s a little more to it than that.”

When she heard those words, her heart wept.
You can take the beast out of the mask, but you can’t take the beast out of the man
. 

“What now?” she asked.  “Did Madame send you to stick pins in my eyes?”

He scrunched up his nose. “Eww. Gross. No, why would you… never mind. We don’t have a lot of time. Turn around.”

She did as he asked, putting her faith in him because she had nothing left. He’d failed her before, but she needed him now.  “Do whatever you want to me. I honestly don’t care anymore. You and your lady friend broke my spirit.”

“Don’t say that.”

“Why? Isn’t that what you were going for?”

“No!”  He set her clothes on a hay bale, gently, like he was laying an infant in its crib.  “And she’s not my… anything.” 

The unmasked beast worked the knots in the reins, pinching Gabrielle’s skin as he struggled to untie them.  She bit her lip, trying not to make a sound, trying not to reveal any weakness after everything he’d put her through.  But her flesh was cut and bruised and when the leather dug into her, she couldn’t help but gasp.

“Sorry,” the beast said. “Mme de Villeneuve is a pro with these things.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Gabrielle wriggled and struggled against the binds.

“Stop moving.”

“But I want out.”

“I’m getting you out!”

“Go faster!”

“I’m…” He let go of the reins. “Look, do you want me to just leave?”

“No!”

“I’m trying to help. Don’t you trust me?”

“Hey, there’s a stupid question.”

She could feel his gaze burning into her naked back, but he did nothing for a moment. He didn’t even touch her.

“Keep going,” she said.  “We don’t have all day.”

Without turning around, she could see his smirk. He untied her binds, let them fall to the floor, and then took a step back.  “There. You’re free. Happy now?”

“No.”

The word just slipped out. Gabrielle had no idea where it came from.

“Look, your skin’s all scraped up. Let me clean those cuts before they get infected.”

The beast opened her stall door and left it like that as he stomped across the stables.  She could have run. The barn door wasn’t locked. She could see it. It was still open a crack.

He wasn’t lying. This wasn’t a trick. He was really going to let her go.

“Who are you?” she asked, though it came out as an angry shout.

He returned to her with gauze and a bottle of iodine.  “Fidel.”

“Fidel Castro?”

Rolling his eyes, he said, “Yes, you’ve been fucking Fidel Castro all week. Surprise!”

“He’s been fucking me,” Gabrielle grumbled, trying for a joke, but the memories of all that had happened left such mixed emotions in her heart that she really didn’t know how to feel.

Pouring iodine on the gauze, Fidel asked, “Is it okay if I touch you?”

“Now you ask.”

He gazed at her blankly, and his shoulders fell.  Looking away, he said, “You signed the consent form. I thought you knew what you were getting into. I didn’t realize…”

“So that was meant to be therapy?”  Gabrielle cocked her head, suddenly filled with rage, though not entirely sure why. “Does that mean you do this to other women too?  I’m not the only one?”

With a sheepish chuckle, he said, “You’re the only one this week.”

“You bastard!”  Gabrielle’s eyes filled with tears.  “I said no and you didn’t listen. I said no and you did it anyway.”

“That’s the therapy,” he told her.

“But I shouldn’t have been here. I didn’t know. I mean, I…”

“You’re not Suzanne,” he said.

“That’s right.”

“You’re Gabrielle.”

“Right.”

She stared at him, and he returned her stalwart gaze.  “Why did you get so mad when I tried to take off your mask?  I thought you must be hideous, but you’re not. You’re really…”  She stopped herself before she could say “handsome.”

“It was all part of the therapy. I’m supposed to represent your desire. My body’s a metaphor. I’m not supposed to be a real person, for you.”

“But how could you not be?”

“It’s therapy.”

“But you touched me,” she said, her voice quivering as it rose in anger.  “I don’t go around sleeping with random men. When you touched me, it meant something. When you made that concert happen, it was like magic.  You made me…” 

…fall in love with you. 

“Never mind,” she said, bitterly.

He didn’t apologize.  He just held out the gauze and said, “Give me your arms. I want to clean out those wounds.”

“I can’t,” she growled.

“Come on. You just have to trust me.”

“I can’t!”

“I’m not going to bite you.”

“No, I mean I can’t move my arms. They’re stuck.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“So turn around, then.”

She looked into the same eyes she’d beheld in the grips of deadly fear, and saw them in a different light.  “Who are you?”

He glanced away.  “Looks like your chest is scratched too.”

“It’s from the hay,” she said. “I’m scratched all over.”

He hesitated.

“You can clean my chest for me, if you want.”

“I don’t want it to get infected,” he said, and brushed the gauze gently across her scraped-up skin.

“Ouch. Goddamn it!”

“Hurts?”

“Yes.”

“Sorry.”

She let him clean her wounds, despite the sting to her belly and breasts as he traced the iodine along her skin. As he helped her, she tried again.  “Who are you really? You came in here without that mask, so you must be willing to tell me.”

“Turn around.” He grabbed her shoulder unexpectedly firmly and spun her around.

She wasn’t prepared for it.  She fell forward, catching her knees on the hay bale. Still, she wouldn’t give up.  “Why won’t you just say who you are? You don’t think I deserve to know? After everything you put me through?”

“Don’t blame me for that,” he said, though there was a trace of insecurity in his voice.  “I was just doing my job.”

“Oh, were you?”

“Yes.” He traced a fresh pool of iodine down her forearm and she screamed bloody murder.

“Shut up! She’ll come out here.  You want to get caught?”

Gabrielle whipped her head around. “You mean she seriously doesn’t know you’re letting me go?”

“No! Are you kidding? Mme de Villeneuve doesn’t take kindly to people who flee before their program is finished.”

“Oh my goodness.” Gabrielle suppressed the urge to howl as he traced gauze down her other arm. “What’ll she do to me?”

“Nothing as long as you actually escape the grounds. It’s not like she’ll come chasing after you. She…” Fidel looked shifty, now. He wouldn’t meet her gaze.  “She can’t exactly do that.”

“Why not?”

“Well, she doesn’t know who you are, for starters. She thinks you’re this girl Suzanne.”

“I know. I played along. I shouldn’t have played along.”

“Yeah, why would you do that? This place is creepy as hell. Why would you want to stay here?”

“Why would
you
want to stay here?” Gabrielle shot back. “What’s so fucked up about you that you’re willing to rape people for a living?”

She expected him to get angry, but instead he said, “Thaaat’s… a fair question.”

“So what’s the answer?”

He ran the gauze all the way from her elbow to her wrist. “There. That should do the trick.”

“What’s the answer?”  She wasn’t letting this guy off the hook.

With a sigh, he strode to the hay bale and picked up her clothes.  “I just… I’ve always had a complex relationship with my mother.”

Gabrielle’s eyes bulged so hard she was amazed they didn’t fly out of her head.  “Mme de Villeneuve is your mother?”

“Eww. No! Why would you… no!”

“Sorry! Jeeze.”  Gabrielle tried to grab her clothing, but her arms remained locked. “Fidel?”

“Gabrielle?”

“Could you help me put on my clothes? I can’t…”

“Oh. Yeah. Sure.”  He got down on his knees, spreading the waist of her black yoga pants open so she could step in inside.

“Fidel?”

“Yeah?”

“Underwear first.”

“Oh.” His cheeks reddened as he grabbed her panties from the stack.

The idea of him seeing her underwear made her feel ridiculously embarrassed, especially considering she was standing in front of him naked.  She stepped into one hole and then the other. He pulled them up quickly, snapping the waistband around her waist. “Oww.”

“Sorry.”

“You still never told me why you’re here.”