The Fairy Tales Collection (11 page)
Read The Fairy Tales Collection Online
Authors: Elizabeth Kelly
Bennett stared numbly at him. “Did my
parents know?”
“About my wife?”
He nodded and Maurice shook his head.
“No. My wife was a stay-at-home mother and she didn’t much like to socialize
with other shifters. You know how the tiger shifters are.”
Bennett sat silently. He wasn’t surprised
by that. Tiger shifters were loners and they rarely had anything to do with
shifters outside of their own kind.
“I’ve fucked up a lot of things in my life
and most of it has hurt Belle terribly,” Maurice said softly. “I’m asking you
- no, I’m
begging
you - to not give up on her. That girl has loved you
since she was seven years old. Even a drunk fool like me could see that.”
“She won’t have anything to do with me,” Bennett
said. “You heard what she said.”
“I did.” Maurice picked up one of the
rehab brochures with a trembling hand and stared fixedly at it. “If she knew
she didn’t have to worry about me, if she knew that I was finally taking care
of myself, I bet she’d change her mind.”
“You want to go to rehab?” Bennett asked.
“I’m an old man and I’ve ruined most of my
life and my daughter’s life and I’m terribly afraid that it’s too late for me
to change but, yeah, I want to go to rehab.”
“I’ll pay for it,” Bennett said
immediately. “If you’re serious about this, I’ll cover the costs.”
Maurice frowned at him. “That’s generous
of you but I can’t accept it.”
“You won’t be able to go if you don’t,” Bennett
said. “I’m not trying to get rid of you, Maurice, I’m not. I want you to get
healthy so you can be a part of Belle’s life, a part of
our
life,
instead of being a burden to her.”
Maurice winced and then sighed deeply.
“Well, that stung a little but I can’t say I didn’t deserve it.”
He studied the brochure again before
holding out his hand. “You have yourself a deal, Bennett Saxby. Now, go to my
daughter and tell her the truth.”
“That I’m a bear shifter?”
Maurice smiled a little. “You can start
with that – don’t say anything about her mama yet, I’ll tell her before I go to
rehab – but that’s not what I was talking about. Tell her the truth about your
love for her.”
“I do love her,” Bennett said hoarsely.
“I’ve loved her for eighteen years.”
“Then go and tell her,” Maurice said
softly.
* * *
Belle tightened the belt on her robe and
stared into the fridge. She should eat something, she knew she should, but
even though her headache had subsided, her stomach was rolling with nausea and
the thought of eating made her want to vomit. She would have a nap and then
try and eat before going back to the hospital.
She closed the fridge and turned, shrieking
and staggering back when she caught sight of Bennett through the screen door,
his hand raised to knock.
“Mirabelle!” He opened the door and
hurried inside as she leaned against the counter and rested her hand against
her pounding heart.
“Oh my God, Bennett. Stop doing that to
me!” She snapped.
“I’m sorry, honey,” he said. He reached
out to touch her and she shrank back.
“Don’t, Bennett.”
Hurt crossed his face and she gave him a
pleading look. “Please don’t look at me that way. I – I don’t mean to hurt
you, I really don’t. We can’t be together, why can’t you just accept that?”
He turned and started for the door and,
despite what she had said, her heart sank. Fuck, she couldn’t live without
him, she really couldn’t. It felt like her heart was being ripped out of her
chest and she stared in confusion when he closed the inside door and locked
it. He went into the living room, she trailed after him, and quickly closed
the curtains.
“Bennett? What are you doing?”
“I have something to tell you and show you,
honey,” he said.
He started stripping off his clothes and
she closed her eyes. “Bennett, I’m not in the mood to be seduced.”
Why not? What better way to forget your
problems than having Bennett Saxby in your bed? C’mon, Belle, do this for me
, her mind pleaded.
He chuckled and her eyes flew open.
“What’s so funny?”
He just smiled and she stared greedily at
his cock when he pushed his briefs down and stepped out of them.
“Stop looking at me like that, Mirabelle,
or I won’t be able to stop myself from fucking you,” he said warningly as he
stood completely naked in her living room.
She tore her gaze away from his crotch and
scowled at him. “Bennett, this really isn’t the time to….”
Her voice died off in a whispery moan as Bennett
closed his eyes. His body swelled and dark fur began to sprout across his body
and face. His nails lengthened and thickened before turning black and fangs
extended from his mouth with a soft pop. In less than ten seconds, Bennett
Saxby was gone and a massive grizzly bear stood in his place. She stared
unblinkingly at the bear as it dropped to all fours and moved slowly to her.
He sniffed at her hand before nudging it
with his giant head. Numbly she raised her hand and scratched the side of his
face, digging her fingers into the thick fur as he made a chuffing noise of
pleasure and leaned his cheek against her hand.
“Holy shit,” she said softly and the bear
chuffed again before shuffling back.
He shifted to his human form and said, “Are
you okay, Mirabelle?”
“I knew it!” She shouted. “I knew you
were a fucking bear!”
He winced and held up his hands. “Honey,
shh.”
She glanced at the closed front door.
“Shit. I’m sorry.”
She dropped her voice and whispered, “I
knew you were a fucking bear.”
His smile disappeared when she stalked
forward and punched him in the stomach. “That’s for lying to me!”
He had barely felt the blow but she was
cursing under her breath and holding her hand and he took it and massaged it
gently. “I’m sorry I lied to you, Mirabelle.”
“Why did you?” She asked and he secretly
celebrated when she didn’t pull her hand away.
“My father had it drilled into me from a
very young age that I couldn’t ever let humans know what I really was. That I
– I would be taken away from him and mom and dissected in a lab.”
“Oh, Bennett,” she said softly. She took a
step toward him and he put his arm around her waist and pulled her into his
embrace.
“I wanted to tell you,” he said. “I begged
my father to let me talk to you, that I could convince you not to tell anyone,
but he was afraid. He made us pack up our things and leave the day after the
attack.”
“I won’t tell anyone,” she said. “I
promise you.”
“I know,” he said. “I trust you,
Mirabelle. I just wish things could have been different.”
“Me too,” she said as he rested his
forehead against hers. “You said you had something to tell me and show me.
What did you want to tell me?”
He pulled his head back and studied her
carefully. “You just found out that shifters exist. You’re being remarkably
calm about it.”
She shrugged. “I always knew, Bennett.
Even after you came back and denied it, there was a part of me that just
knew.” She paused, “Are there other kinds of shifters?”
He nodded and a small smile crossed her
face. “Other shifters in our town?”
He hesitated before nodding again and she
squeezed his arms gently. “You don’t have to tell me who. But I want to know
what you wanted to tell me.”
He took a deep breath and said, “I love
you, Mirabelle. I’ve been in love with you since I was nine years old.”
“I love you too,” she said softly.
He smiled widely and bent to kiss her. She
pulled her head back and said sadly, “But it doesn’t change anything. I still
can’t be with you.”
“Your father is going to rehab.”
“What?”
“Your father was awake while we were
talking and he heard everything. After you left, we talked and he said he knew
how much he had messed up and that he wanted to go to rehab.”
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “Are you – are
you being serious?”
“I am,” he said. “I’m going to pay for him
to go to rehab.”
“Ben, I can’t – I can’t let you do that,”
she said.
“You can and you will,” he said firmly.
“Besides, it’s not up to you. I’ve already discussed it with your dad and he’s
agreed to let me pay for it.”
He could see the hope starting in her eyes
and he leaned down and kissed her firmly. “I love you, Mirabelle, and I’m not
letting you go. Ever. Your dad will get help, he’ll get better, and if he
doesn’t – we’ll handle it together. Okay?”
She started to cry and he wiped at her
tears with his thumbs. “Don’t cry, honey.”
“I love you,” she whispered again. “I love
you so much.”
He lifted her up and hugged her tightly as
she buried her face in his neck. After a few minutes, she raised her head and
smiled at him. “Take me to bed, Bennett.”
“You do look pretty tired,” he teased
gently.
She smacked him lightly on the back before
wrapping her legs around his waist and rubbing her pelvis against his abdomen.
“Keep talking like that and I’ll take away the honey for a week.”
He growled at her and she giggled. “You
don’t scare me, little bear.”
He kissed her again, his tongue slipping
into her mouth as his hands moved to her ass and squeezed firmly.
“I love you, Mirabelle Vale.”
“I love you, Bennett Saxby.”
END
Keep reading for Ella’s and Duncan’s story in “Ella”.
THE FAIRY TALES
COLLECTION
ELLA
(Book Two)
By Elizabeth Kelly
Copyright 2016 Elizabeth Kelly
This book is the copyrighted property of the author, and may
not be reproduced, scanned or distributed for commercial or non-commercial
purposes. Quotes used in reviews are the exception. No alteration of content
is allowed.
Your support and respect for the property of this author is
appreciated.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to
persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental.
The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used
fictitiously.
Adult Reading Material
Cover art by The Final Wrap
ELLA
Ella Cinders is looking for a fresh start.
Tired of working for her stepmother’s cleaning company and anxious to start her
own massage therapy business, she’ll do anything – even accepting Duncan Gillis
as a client. She hates the arrogant, golden-haired playboy who pulled her
braids when they were children and was witness to her most humiliating moment,
so why does his touch make her blood burn? Why does his insistence that she
belongs to him make her want to join him in his bed? And why does
her
touch
make him purr?
* * *
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Table of Contents
She fought bitterly against them as they
dragged her toward the closet. She tried to scream but the sound was muffled
against a palm. She tried to punch and kick, but the girls were older and
stronger than her. They shoved her into the closet, their girlish laughter
shrill and unpleasant and slammed the door behind her.
“No!” She screamed and pulled uselessly at
the door handle before pounding on the door so hard it made her hands throb.
The door didn’t budge and, sobbing and panting, she backed away. She screamed
again when her back hit the metal shelf and small tubs of paint and boxes of coloured
pencils tumbled down onto her. She twisted to her left and banged into the
wall before sliding to her butt and clutching at her chest.
It was recess and she had snuck into the
art room, telling herself she wanted to admire the work of the older boys and
girls, not hide from her stepsisters and their gang of friends. It was
partially true. Although she didn’t have any skill when it came to drawing or
painting, she was fascinated by those who did. Still, if she was being
completely honest, she had wanted just one recess where she wasn’t tormented and
had figured the art room was the perfect place to hide.
She was wrong, terribly wrong. The older girls
had entered the room giggling and laughing, intent on taunting her. She had
tried to dodge past them but they had caught her. It was easy to do when it
was five against one. It was her stepsister, Ana, who had suggested they lock
her in the art supply closet. She knew of Ella’s fear of the dark and enclosed
spaces. Of course she did. It was Ana who had shoved her into the tiny closet
in her bedroom and locked her in there for hours when Ella was only three.
She screamed again and one of the girls
pounded on the door. “Be quiet in there or we’ll never let you out!”
Her seven-year-old brain panicked at the
thought of being trapped forever and she staggered to her feet and ran forward
blindly. She banged into the shelf again and more bottles tumbled down to
strike her in the face. Sobbing loudly, she slammed her fists repeatedly on
the door as terror knifed through her. She was trapped like a rat in a cage. As
fresh panic filled her body, her bladder let go and warm wetness flooded her
crotch.
She shrieked again. Her voice was hoarse
and her throat raw. When the door opened unexpectedly, she pitched forward
onto her knees in the bright classroom.
“You okay, Ella?”
His voice sent fresh embarrassment through
her and her cheeks, already red from crying, turned brighter. Why did it have
to be him? Her hair was hanging in her face and she stared up at him through
the golden strands. Duncan Gillis, his hair as blond as hers and his blue eyes
filled with worry, stared back at her.
Tears streaming down her cheeks, snot
dripping from her nose, she made a cry like a wounded animal when his hand
gripped her arm and he pulled her gently to her feet. He had freed her from
her cage but at this very moment she was almost tempted to run back into it.
She hadn’t told anyone, not even her best friends Belle and Rowan, that she had
a crush on the boy who pulled her braids nearly every day. She would never
admit that she liked the attention from the handsome nine-year-old. For him to
see her now was almost more than she could take.
“Ella, are you okay?” He repeated.
“She’s fine,” her stepsister said with a
shrill laugh. “She’s just a big baby who…”
She trailed off before screaming laughter
and pointing to Ella’s crotch. “She peed her pants! She peed her pants!”
The other girls stared and then joined in
the laughter, pointing and giggling as Ella cried harder.
“Shut up, all of you!” Duncan snapped.
“Ella, don’t cry. It’s okay. Just don’t cry, please.”
He glanced at the wet spot on the front of
her jeans and her fragile control broke. She yanked her arm from his hand and
fled for the door of the classroom, her stepsister’s cruel laughter echoing
down the hallway.