The Fairy Tales Collection (7 page)

She laughed and reached for his hand. 
Before she could take it there was a low, almost growling noise behind her. 
She gasped sharply when her arm was taken in a firm grip and she was spun
around.

“Duncan?  What are you doing here?”  She
gaped in surprise at the blond man.

Ignoring her, he glared at the man standing
in front of her.  “The woman is mine.”

“Oh for the love of God, Duncan Gillis. 
This is ridiculous!”  Ella said as he wrapped his arm around her waist, yanked
her up against his body and steered her away from the man.

“You’re holding me too tightly,” she hissed
at him.

He responded by pulling her even closer,
his thick arm like a band around her waist and his free hand wrapping around
the back of her neck to hold her firmly.

“What are you even doing here?”  She asked
as he swayed lightly to the music.

“What are
you
doing here?”  He
replied.

“Trying to have fun with my friends,” she
said.  “And I was succeeding until you showed up.”

A look of hurt crossed his face and she
felt a moment of guilt that she ignored.

“That man who you were about to dance with
is dangerous, Ella.”

“Do you know him?”  She tried to turn her
head to stare at the man who had returned to his table but Duncan’s grip
prevented her from moving.

“Not exactly.”

“Then you can’t possibly know he’s
dangerous,” she said.  “Duncan, I don’t want to dance with you.”

Another one of those oddly hurt looks and
her guilt increased.  “Duncan, I – “

“Just one dance, Ella,” he suddenly said. 
“Please.”

She bit at her bottom lip before nodding. 
“I – okay.  One dance.”

He dropped his hand from her neck and put
both arms around her waist.  Trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach,
she draped her arms around his shoulders and made a low startled noise when he
pulled her body against his until every part of them was touching.  She stared
over his shoulder as his warm breath stirred her hair.

* * *

“So, what’s your name, beautiful?”  The man
rested his hand on the top of her ass and Belle reached behind her to move it
up to her lower back.

“My name is – “

“Excuse me,” the low almost polite voice
spoke behind her and she froze in surprise as the man she was dancing with scowled.

“Can I help you, buddy?”

“You can take your hand off my woman’s
ass.”

“And if I don’t?”  The man said coolly.

“I’ll break it,” Bennett replied calmly.

The man gave him a long, assessing look,
his nostrils flaring as he sniffed the air, before releasing Belle and taking a
step back.  He held his hands up and shrugged carelessly.  “She’s all yours.”

“That’s right.  She is,” Bennett replied.

He pulled Belle into his embrace as the man
turned and walked off the dance floor.

Belle stared up at Bennett as he took her
left hand in his right and slung his arm around her waist.  He let his hand
linger low on her hip as he continued to glare at the man’s retreating back.

“What the hell, Bennett Saxby?”  She said.

“What?”  He was still staring over her head
and she smacked him lightly on the chest. 

“Suddenly I’m your woman?”  She said. 
“Sleeping with you once doesn’t make me your woman.”

He didn’t reply but his hold on her hip
tightened and he swung her in a tight circle until she was clinging to him.

“What are you and Duncan even doing here?” 
She peered around Bennett’s wide body.  Ella, every inch of her curvy body
pressed up against Duncan’s, had her eyes closed as Duncan moved her slowly
across the dance floor.  There was a look of contentment on her face and she
didn’t object when Duncan nuzzled his face into her soft, blonde hair.

“Well?”  Belle demanded.  “Are you
following me?”

“No,” Bennett said.  “Duncan wanted to go
here instead of Gaston’s and dragged me with him.  And thank God he did.  Do
you have any idea what kind of guy that is you were dancing with?”

“No.  I don’t even know him,” Belle said.

“You were dancing with him, letting him
touch your ass,” Bennett said accusingly.

“I wasn’t
letting
him touch my ass,”
Belle said.  “And even if I was – it’s none of your damn business, Bennett
Saxby.  Let me go.  I don’t feel like dancing anymore.”

He gave her a look of frustration but
refused to release her.  “Mirabelle, I’m sorry about earlier today.  Truly I
am.”

“Yes, I know,” she said.  “You’ve already
made it perfectly clear that I was a mistake.”

“No!”  Bennett nearly shouted.  He took a
deep breath and made his voice low.  “I mean I’m sorry for what I said, not
what happened between us.  I was a complete idiot.”

“Yes, you were,” Belle said.

“I was just – well, surprised that you
hadn’t had sex before,” he said.

She blushed lightly and stared at his broad
chest.  “It’s not that big of a deal, Bennett.”

“Yes, it is,” he insisted.  “A woman’s
first time shouldn’t be on the floor of a goddamn library.”

“The library is my favourite place,” she
said.

The earnestness in her voice made him grin
and she blushed again.  “Well, it is.”

“Why haven’t you slept with anyone,
Mirabelle?”  He asked as they swayed to the music.  “A woman who looks like you
must have men doing everything they can to get her into bed.”

She didn’t reply and he gave her a hesitant
look.  “Were you – were you saving yourself for me?”

She stared up at him and it was his turn to
blush.  “Sorry, that was a stupid thing to ask.”

Belle closed her eyes for a moment before
taking a deep breath.  “Everyone in this town thinks I’m crazy, Bennett.  Guys
don’t want to date me and if they do it’s because they want bragging rights for
bedding the crazy girl who believes a boy can turn into a bear.”

He winced and she gave him a solemn look. 
“At least that’s what I told myself for years.  Only, I think there was a part
of me that was waiting for you.  Waiting for you to come back and tell me that
you had thought about me as much as I thought about you for the last eighteen
years.  Waiting to give you a gift that you didn’t even want.”

She sighed and dropped her gaze to his
chest again.  “What an idiot I was.”

“Don’t say that,” he said.  “You’re not an
idiot, Mirabelle.”

“I am,” she said.  “I was an idiot to think
that you would be happy that I had a crush on you.  Happy that I had waited for
you.  Instead, you were upset that you were my first.”

“No,” he said before stopping at the edge
of the dance floor and cupping her face.  “I wasn’t upset about that.”

“Yes you were,” she argued.  “I saw it in
your face.”

“What you saw was regret for taking you the
way I did,” he said.  “Your first time should be special and I feel horrible
that it wasn’t.”

“It was,” she said.  “Despite how it ended
up, it was special, Bennett.  I – I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.”

He studied her closely for a moment before
taking her hand again and moving her slowly around the dance floor.

“A relationship between us wouldn’t work,”
he said softly.

“Why not?”

“It just wouldn’t.  We’re from two
different worlds.”

“I suppose we are,” she said with a note of
sadness that made his chest tighten.  “I know you’re rich, Bennett.  It doesn’t
take a genius to figure that out and I don’t blame you for not wanting a
relationship with an unemployed library assistant who lives in a single wide
trailer with her alcoholic father.”

“That isn’t what I meant, Mirabelle.  I
don’t care if you’re – “

“It doesn’t matter,” she interrupted. 
“You’re right.”

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“Me too,” she said bleakly.

He held her a little closer and she rested
her head on his broad chest for a moment before staring up at him.

“But just out of, uh, curiosity, what would
you have done differently if you’d known I was a virgin?”  She asked.

His heart pounding, he lowered his mouth to
her ear.  “I would have given you multiple orgasms first so that your sweet
pussy was soaking wet and completely ready for me.”

She inhaled sharply and he bit back his
groan when her pelvis pressed against him.  “I – I had an orgasm before we had
sex.”

“You should have had more than one,” he
murmured.  “I should have taken you to my bed, undressed you slowly, and
touched every inch of your warm body before I buried my face between your legs
and licked your pussy until you were begging me to fuck you.”

“Oh,” she whispered and then gasped when he
ground his erection against her stomach.

“Have you had your pussy eaten before,
little Belle?”  He asked before licking the curve of her ear.

“N-no,” she gasped.

“I want you in my bed so much, sweet
Belle,” he groaned.  “I want to touch every part of your body, I want to taste
your pussy and hear you scream my name.  You have no idea how hard it is to not
take you away from this goddamn place and drive you straight to my house.”

“Yes,” she said.

He gave her a startled look.  “What?”

“Yes,” she repeated.  “Let’s go back to
your place.  Right now, Bennett.”

“Mirabelle, we can’t,” he said.  “We just
said that we can’t have a relationship.”

“I’m not asking for a relationship,” she
said.  “I’m asking you to take me home so we can have a do-over.”

“A do-over?”

She smiled sweetly at him.  “You feel bad
about how you took my virginity, right?  So take me home and spend tonight
showing me what you wish you had done.”

“Mirabelle, I can’t – “

“Just for tonight, Ben,” she whispered
persuasively.  “I won’t ask you for anything more after tonight.  I promise.”

“This is a very bad idea,” he groaned.

“No it isn’t,” she said before standing on
her tiptoes and pressing a kiss against his mouth.  “It’s a very good idea. 
Will you take me home, Ben?  Will you take me to your bed?”

He stared at her sweet face before
nodding.  “Hell, yes.”

“Good.”  She took his hand and tugged him
toward Duncan and Ella.

* * *

Rowan eased out the back door of the pub
and took a deep breath of the warm summer air.  She glanced around guiltily
before pulling the pack of cigarettes from her pocket and lighting one.  She
took a deep drag, holding the smoke in her lungs before blowing it out.

She smiled happily and checked her cell
before sticking it in her back pocket.  Technically she had quit smoking six
months ago, at least that’s what she had told Belle and Ella, and she wasn’t
exactly lying.  She really didn’t smoke that much anymore but there was
something about being at the pub and having a beer that made her crave a
cigarette.  She took another drag of the stale cigarette and blew a couple of
smoke rings before staring at the sky.  Stars, glimmering faintly, dotted the
darkness and she smiled to herself.  Belle and Ella were being pursued by Bennett
and Duncan, they could deny it all they wanted but it didn’t make it less true,
and she was ridiculously happy about it.  They deserved love, both of them.

So do you.

Yeah, she did.  But the men in this town
weren’t exactly stellar quality.

Didn’t stop you from fucking half of
them.

Her smile broadened.  Her inner voice had a
point but hell, she loved sex.  Just because she didn’t want to marry or date
any of the town boys didn’t mean she had to deny herself a little fun.

Maybe it’s because it’s not a boy you
want but a man.

An image of Rafe Taggert’s face flickered
in her head and she took another puff of her cigarette before pushing Rafe’s
image from her head.  Thinking she had a chance with him was idiotic.  The guy
was fifteen years older than her.  That didn’t bother her in the least but
despite what Belle had said earlier about him checking her out, she was certain
that Rafe Taggert had zero interest in her.  Why would he?  She was just the
short little redhead who served him beer at Gaston’s.  It was best to just
ignore the fact that she’d been crushing on him since she hit puberty and
ignore the butterflies she felt on those rare occasions that she saw him and
just –

The door to the pub opened, bringing a wave
of fried-onion-scented air and a blast of music and she dropped her cigarette
to the ground, crushing it with her heel before swinging around guiltily.  Her
relief that it was neither Belle nor Ella was short-lived when the dark-haired
man grinned at her.

“Hey there, pretty lady.”