Bella's Beast by LeTeisha Newton Read Free Book Online

him,
dumbfounded.
    “What?”
he asked.
    “Why
would you have women clothing, on hand? Why would you assume I’d want to be in
your room? And how would they have access to my things if you didn’t ask me for
the keys?”
    “Number
one, you aren’t my first female client, just the first one I ...” he trailed
off, shaking his head. She liked the addition he’d made to the statement,
nonetheless. Otherwise there might have been some furniture moving up in there.
    “Second,
you are welcome to try and sleep in the other room. I’ll just come and get you
anyway, and we both know you won’t stop me. So why argue? Lastly, because I
can, and your things were put up for you by my staff, from when we left the
club. They have your keys and, I’m sure, are smart enough to figure out what
goes to what.”
    As
he finished a salt-and-pepper haired woman, slightly shorter than Bella, came
in to the pool area. Her black and white garb, much like Richard, made Bella
think she must be the infamous Mary. What she said made Bella know she was
right.
    “Sir,
the bathing suit for Ms. Thomas,” Mary said before she handed a bright red
bundle to Bella and left.
    “The
restroom is to the left of the sauna,” Elijio pointed out and Bella went to
change. The one piece suit was understated, and yet sexy, with the back out
with cuts out of the sides. It hid her trouble areas and accented her pleasing
features. She loved it, instantly.
    “Let’s
play,” she cried, jumping into the water after coming out of the bathroom.
Elijio dove in smoothly, his coat growing slick and lying down over his form in
the water. He didn’t look as big like that. That was until he shook, like a
dog, flinging water in her face. She couldn’t help a giggle from escaping as
she laughed and splashed him back. It only made him shake more. Hours filtered
by, with only breaks to rest on the lounge chairs, or to take a dip in the
Jacuzzi. Elijio told her about his life, the years he’d seen.
    “The
beginning was the hardest for me. I was so angry that I was trapped as a beast
in the beginning. I ran away, afraid someone would kill me for sorcery.”
    “Sorcery?” Bella asked.
    “Yes, Bella. Back in that
time anything that couldn’t be explained, or was feared, or didn’t fall into
the church’s teaching was considered of the devil. I
didn’t want to be killed. After a decade or so, I started trying to branch out.
The wolf is a solitary creature, but humans, truly, are not. So I started
reaching out.” He ran his fingers over his body as he spoke, and Bella’s eyes
were drawn to his scars.
    “The
women turned on you?” He nodded simply at her soft spoken question, ears going
down close to his head. She reached out and ran a hand down the side of his
muzzle.
    “I’m
sorry,” she said.
    “It
taught me a good lesson. I couldn’t force someone to care about me, and I
couldn’t let everyone know I had the gift. Richard’s family stayed with me,
growing with me. We moved thousands of miles away from my birth home and
started over. I cultivated a new face, a new enigma around who I was. It wasn’t
as hard in America in the later years. I amassed great wealth, and the fear
those had of me? That was useful. It helped me survive.”
    It
was nearly possible to wrap her mind around. So much time, alone, with no one
who truly understood him, and yet fighting to keep his baser instincts from taking
over. How evil could he be, truly? She wasn’t sure, honestly, if he was a bad
boy with good boy tendencies, or a bad boy with a heart.
    And
part of her didn’t think she cared.
    The
way he’d touched her the night before, showed her softness when she’d expected
strength. Sadness when she’d expected arrogance. She hadn’t thought that she
would enjoy her penance for saving her brother. Other than when he’d scared her
shitless by partially shifting in front of her, she hadn’t even cared that she
was here because he’d paid the price for her brother’s