I felt like something had shifted in me after the washing encounter with the Beast.

It had only been a day since we shared that experience, but it had been all I was able to think about.

In my mind, I kept envisioning my hand sliding over his powerful, inhuman body. I even found myself throbbing between my thighs, had reached down and touched my soaking wet slit when I made my way back into my room last night.

Biting my lip as those memories crowded my mind, I remembered how good it had felt. But there had been something missing, and as I felt my orgasm claim me in the darkness, I knew what was missing.

The Beast should have been the one who was stroking me, who had brought me to climax.

I’d been wandering in the hallways, forcing myself not to seek him out because I was afraid of myself around him, terrified of how I was feeling.

Leaning against the wall, I rested my head back and closed my eyes as I thought about the vulgar, obscene things he said. I grew wet all over again as the images of the lewd things I witnessed played on repeat in my mind.

I opened my eyes and stared across the foyer, lifting a hand and touching the center of my throat, feeling my pulse beating rapidly.

I felt warm and wet and soft all over at the very thought of just submitting myself to the sexual whims of the Beast.

I wanted depravity. I wanted to see what it would be like—feel like—to just lie in the center of the Beast’s bed naked and spread out and let him have his filthy way with me.

“Oh, God, I’m losing my mind.”

“Miss Belle?”

The sound of my name being called had me pacing to the side and seeing a slender woman in livery attire standing at the entrance of the foyer, holding a letter in her hand.

“Mail for you, Miss.” She held it out to me and I smoothed my hands along my skirting, walking forward and taking the envelope. I gave her a thankful smile.

The young woman was gone before I could say anything else, and I glanced down at the envelope to see it was from my father.

My heart was racing as I tore into it with anxious fingers, unfolded the paper, and started reading the almost illegible text.

My dearest daughter, I’ve come into trouble. I would humbly beg that you ask for help from your husband. I know this comes at an inopportune time giving your recent nuptials, but if I don’t get help, I fear, my dear Belle, this may be the last time we ever speak. I need money. A lot of it. Please meet me tonight at the village south entrance, and bring your beastly husband as he’s the only one who can help. I’ll wait for you in hopes you come to my aid.

FOR A SECOND I didn’t move, just kept reading the letter over and over again until finally my fingers curled around the paper on their own until it was nothing but a ball in my palm.

The truth of the matter was—I shouldn’t feel any kind of obligation to help my father. He’d tossed me aside to save his own hide, and he hadn’t even bothered to check up on me since.

He didn’t care about how I felt in the slightest. He didn’t ask how I was doing, or if I fared well.

He didn’t ask if I was happy.

No, he’d immediately wanted something from me.

I was angry and hurt, but my anger took a front seat despite an errant tear slipping down my cheek.

I shouldn’t have thought anymore about it, yet I found myself moving through the house in search of one of the staff that could lead me to where the Beast was.

I ended up finding Madame in the kitchen. She was with the young woman who’d given me the letter. They were folding linen napkins when they spotted me and stopped. Madame gave me a soft smile when I held out the crumpled letter.

“I need to speak with the Beast.”

She glanced at the letter, then at the young woman, before giving me a small nod. “Master can be found in his study. Upper level, third room on the left. Would you like me to show you?”

I shook my head, murmured my thanks, and then I was leaving, heading up the stairs and into the room she directed.

When I stood on the other side of the massive double oak doors, I lifted my hand but hesitated to knock.

I glanced down at the crumpled-up letter again. Once more asking myself why I was doing any of this. Why did I care? But at the end of the day, he was my father.

My only family.

If I didn’t help him, it would make me no better to him than a stranger.

“Come in, wife,” the Beast called out before I even knocked on the door.

My hand shook as I reached out and turned the handle, pushing the heavy wood inward before stepping inside.

For a moment, I was taken aback by the interior. Everything was dark wood with engraved accents. There was a massive desk with a roaring fire behind it, and bookshelves lining three out of four of the walls.

The Beast stood by the fireplace, the cloak he wore making him seem even larger, which seemed unbelievable.

“How did you know I was out there before I even made myself known?” The question didn’t really matter, nor did his answer. I was stalling from the real reason I was here.

The Beast looked over his shoulder at me. The flames from the fireplace, coupled with the fact this room didn’t have a single window to let in sunlight, gave it all lowlights and eerie shadows.

“I’ll always know where you’re at, Belle. I can sense you in any part of the castle. I can smell the sweet scent that surrounds you.”

My face heated at his words because they seemed so very intimate, and then when I thought that, the memories of what we shared last night came back to mind.

He turned and faced me, and I told myself not to look, but still I glanced down at his trews, seeing he was already hardening, as if my very presence was an aphrodisiac.

His gaze flickered to the crumpled-up paper in my hand, and I looked down to stare at it, loosening my fingers around the edges.

“My father sent a letter,” I said almost absentmindedly. “He’s asked for help.” I lifted my head and stared at the Beast. “From you. Monetary help. Of course.” I swallowed harshly, feeling embarrassment that I was asking the Beast for this.

It didn’t matter if we were legally husband and wife. I’d only been here for such a short time.

And the shame that my father continuously got himself into these messes, and that I was the one who bailed him out, had my face heating and had me glancing down to the ground in humiliation.

When I felt his finger under my chin, lifting my head up, I stared into his eyes.

We didn’t say anything for long moments, but the low humming sound he made could’ve been interpreted in many ways.

Pleasure. Empathy. Displeasure.

“I’m sorry,” I found myself saying, and if the Beast’s expression could soften, I felt like it would’ve in that moment.

He cupped the side of my face, his palm so big that one could easily cover my entire head.

It wasn’t lost on me every time I was near him that the Beast could break me as if I were nothing but a toothpick between his teeth, snapping me in half until I was but a splinter.

“My father’s troubles aren’t your concern but—”

“He’s your family. Your only family.” He smoothed a claw gently along my jawline. “That was the past, though. You have me now. So if he needs help, that’s an extension of you and I’ll gladly step in. Because I care for you.”

I felt my belly tighten, my heart skip a beat. How could this Beast, so big and fearsome, be gentle and soft? How could he completely go against everything I’d ever heard about him?

Was he just misunderstood or was he this gentle only with me?

I cupped the back of his palm, my hand so insubstantial compared to his, his fur so soft beneath my touch.

I smoothed my thumb over his prominent knuckles, could feel his body visibly shiver, and heard a deep sound leave him.

Because of me.

“I will leave momentarily. I will fix whatever wrongs he’s done that directly affect you.”

“I’ll go with you,” I said instantly but he was already shaking his head.

“I would prefer you stay here, in the safety of the castle. I will not put you at risk.”

I felt a smile curve my lips. “But I have you to protect me.”

He growled low and moved his hand to curl it around my nape. “You are my only priority. I will protect you until it kills me.”

I felt that flush of heat move through me, that warm wetness between my thighs once more.

I let my gaze move around his face, memorizing every dip and hollow, everything that had once been unusual to me but now seemed fantastically beautiful. I stared at his mouth, so foreign yet so attractive.

I actually found myself taking a step forward, placing my hands on his furry chest, feeling his muscles and sinew clench and relax against my touch.

He didn’t say anything but he started breathing faster and harder as I lifted up on my toes, bringing us closer together.

As if he knew where my thoughts were going, he lowered his head at the same time I tipped mine back.

“You’re not what I expected,” I whispered, our mouth so close together that my bottom lip almost touched his tusks.

“You are everything I envisioned.” His words were a deep rumble that I felt all the way down to my toes.

He still had his paw around my nape, the gentle prick of his claws against the side of my throat reminding me how very deadly he was. But I knew without a shadow of a doubt, deep within my soul, that he’d never hurt me.

He would always keep me safe. And with that thought in mind, I gently pressed my mouth to his and gave the Beast my first kiss.

He groaned deeply but didn’t kiss me back, just held still as he let me explore his mouth. I ran my tongue along his bottom lip, then over one tusk before dragging it up and touching the point.

He growled anew, and I felt his paw tighten around the back of my neck as he pulled me in closer, my breasts smashed to his chest, my nipples painfully hard.

He was panting against my mouth, his lips slightly parted as I tentatively pressed my tongue inside, exploring him, touching mine with his.

He tasted spicy like cinnamon. So wild and potent that I couldn’t stop the moan that was pulled from me. And then he was tilting his head to the side and crushing his mouth harder to mine.

He moved his tongue along mine and I was shocked to feel it was textured, rough like a feline’s.

The kiss wasn’t gentle or soft. It was slightly awkward given his fangs and tusks, but God, it felt so good. And he tasted even better.

He broke away far too soon, but he didn’t pull away and instead ran his big, fat, textured tongue down my cheek, along my jawline, and down my neck.

I gasped at how strange it felt, the warm wetness of him literally licking me.

He did this back and forth, up and down the side of my neck, bathing me in this very primal way before he kissed me once more. I opened wide, my mouth far too small to fit well against his, but it didn’t matter. It all felt so good.

He dragged his tongue over my lips before plunging it inside, pulling out and repeating the action.

But all too soon, he pulled away. I leaned forward, staring up at him with no doubt a dazed expression. I curled my fingers tighter into his fur, pulling him toward me, wanting more.

He groaned and smoothed a thick pad along my bottom lip. “If I don’t stop, I’ll take you here right now, Belle.”

My pussy clenched and I felt more wetness coat my lips and smear along my inner thighs. He inhaled sharply. I knew he smelled me, my arousal.

“And I want you in my bed, spread and soaked—that juicy cunt all primed for me—when I fuck you for the first time.” He growled. “But after that first time…” His eyes flashed red. “I will fuck you in every single room in the castle, marking you with my scent so it saturates the air.”

I clenched my thighs together and bit my lip.

“But make no mistake. I want to fuck you and fuck you hard and thoroughly. I want to fill up every hole you have. I want you to be covered in my cum so you smell like me all over.”

He took a step back and focused on my breasts, which were heaving beneath my bodice.

“I want to fuck you between those huge tits, Belle. I want my cum to cover your neck, want to smear it all over you and make you taste me.”

I closed my eyes at his obscene words, feeling dizzy.

I forced my eyes open to see his eyes flashing red.

“I can smell how wet your pussy is for me.”

I sucked in a startled breath.

“Leave and go get ready.” The Beast’s voice was harsh as he turned from me. “If you don’t leave right now, I’m liable to tear off that gown, spread your thighs, and fuck your cunt hard and rough like the animal I am.”

I only stood there for a second, but then he turned back around and growled. He took a step forward, his head lowering, his gaze still trained on me. A part of me wanted to stay right where I was, to see how far I could push him.

But I wasn’t a fool. I couldn’t do this right now. No matter how much I wanted to see how beastly my new husband was.