Her Beast

He didn’t want her to go without.

When he picked her up in his arms, she wrapped her legs around him. “I’ve got to clean it up.”

“You’ve got to rest in the bath, and I’ll take care of that. You don’t have to worry about a thing.”

He lowered her into the bath. Tilting her head back, he took her lips once again, unable to deny himself the pleasure of her kiss. “I will deal with the sheets.”

“It’s gross.”

“No, it confirms you’re mine.” He kissed her once again. “I’ll be back. Do not leave this bathroom.”

Entering his bedroom, he removed the sheet and stared at the stain on the sheet.

A virgin.

His virgin.

His woman.

No matter what he thought, he felt this consuming need to keep her.

Even as she wanted to leave town, he wanted her to stay.

There’s ways of keeping her.

He knew there were a lot of ways to keep her. The first one was fear, which he didn’t want. The last thing he wanted was for her to be afraid of him. He loved it when she smiled at him, talked with him.

The moment fear entered any situation, something as easy as talking became a challenge.

She’d already had so much fear in her life, and had seen darkness. He wasn’t going to bring that to her again. The other way was pregnancy. He didn’t like that one either, even though that would be the most effective.

Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, he threw the sheet into the laundry basket and changed the bed before entering the bathroom. She was lying back when he entered. She sat up as she saw him, her cheeks flaming red.

He didn’t wait for an invitation. Sliding in the bath behind her, he wrapped his arms around her waist, tugging her back so that she was lying against him. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about when you’re with me.” He kissed her shoulder. “I don’t want you to keep anything from me.”

“I guess I’m confused right now.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know what this is. Doesn’t protocol say that I’ve got to go to my own room now, and never look at you again?”

He burst out laughing. “Protocol? For what?”

“I don’t know. One-night stands? I don’t know what this is.”

Resting his hand on her stomach, he kissed the side of her head. “I thought you wanted to be taught. All those delightful little positions you’ve caught sight of in that very dirty book.”

She relaxed against him.

“This can be anything you want it to be, Hope. It doesn’t have to be something quick and over in an instant. This can be a lot more, and you don’t have to put a label on it. I know I’m not.”

“I don’t want it to be over.” She looked up at him. “I’m … I won’t be clingy or anything. I still have school, and in a couple of weeks I’m going to be looking at colleges. I don’t want to leave it to the last minute.”

He didn’t like the thought of her leaving, but there wasn’t much he could do about it, at least not yet. “I can help you with college applications.”

“You can?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t want Dwayne to know,” she said, biting her lip. “I’m not embarrassed, but we don’t really get along, and I don’t know what he’d say at school, and it’s already weird—”

“Even if he was to find out, I’d make sure that he didn’t say anything. No one is ever going to make you feel anything you don’t want, Hope.”

She giggled. “Does your power run to the entire school?”

“No, but I’ve got Dwayne. Just say the words, and you can be the most popular girl in school by the end of Monday.”

Hope shook her head. “I’ve never wanted to be popular. It looks way too exhausting. I like being left alone. I don’t make friends easily. I always had my mom.”

Guilt washed over him.

Her mother had been taken away, and she’d been trying to survive on her own.

Gritting his teeth, he reached for the sponge and began to wash her body.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to go a bit dark on you.”

“You’ve not gone dark.” He cupped her face, stroking her cheek. “I don’t want you to keep anything from me. I want to know every single secret.”

“What’s the point of there being secrets if I tell you?”

“A lot of secrets are meant to be shared.” He ran his thumb across her bottom lip.

“I can try,” she said. “Will you share secrets with me?”

“I don’t like broccoli. I’ve never liked it. I think it’s the food of the devil.”

She burst out laughing, and he smiled. It was the truth. He never told anyone, and he always left it when it was on his plate. He hated the stuff.

“That’s not a big secret.”

“No, but it’s something no one else knows.”