letting him see her face for the first time. She reached up and pulled the leather thong, releasing her dirty but long, flowing hair.
The Beast stared at her, amazed and stunned. He struggled to maintain his icy demeanour, to hide his disconcerting reaction from her. Beauty was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, at least her face was, even covered as it was with dirt. She was young, maybe eighteen, barely more than a girl, and seemed very petite. She had clear blue eyes, perfect cheekbones, a generous mouth with even white teeth, smooth clear skin and thick dark blond hair.
The Beast found his voice and snarled, “You’ve been working in the fields too long, lass, and you are very dirty. Indeed, right now you look more like a plough horse in need of a good grooming than a lass I wouldst bed, but I will admit you could clean up passably well, and your teeth do seem to be decent. Now drop your cloak and let me see if there’s a body worthy of my interest under all that wrapping.”
Beauty was torn between being insulted, defiant and afraid. Her eyes flashed as she struggled to hold her tongue and her mind worked feverishly to figure out if she was helping her brother at all or hurting his cause. Slowly, her eyes down, she removed the heavy, concealing cloak, dropping it to the floor.
The Beast was no stranger to a woman’s charms so he could tell that she had a stunning figure beneath her loose, bulky dress. Her breasts were very full and round for someone so slender. They stood out proudly against the rough material. He was amazed and more than a little angry that she’d been hidden from him. After all, she was his property!
He decided to get a little revenge. It would be fun to see how long it would take him to shatter her spirit. Even through the dress, he noted her shaking legs and wondered if she would even last out the night.
“You still have too many clothes on. For all I can tell you have no shape at all,” the Beast snarled. “I said disrobe.”
“M’lord!” Beauty blushed.
“Is not your brother worth it? What did you think would happen when you offered to do anything to save him? Didst you think I would leave him go without demanding payment?” The Beast was without mercy, leaning into her pale, ashen face as he finished with deadly quiet. “Without seizing payment from your body and your very soul?”
“I am more than ready to do anything you ask of me to save my brother’s life,” Beauty replied softly as she slowly struggled to remove her clothes with numb fingers. “But, M’lord, I am an innocent, a virgin. No man has ever seen me undressed or touched me. I admit I’m afraid of you, yet I will do whatever you ask if you will but free my brother.”
“You will do whatever I ask of you whether or not I free your brother.” That it was a statement of cold, hard fact, and not a threat made the utterance even more chilling. “If I wanted to bed you in the shadow of your brother’s hanging corpse, you would obey.”
She gave a soft involuntary gasp at his bitter statement. She had undressed down to her soft shift and knew it offered no protection from his piercing eyes. She stood still before him, her erect nipples clearly outlined against the thin fabric, eyes down and knees shaking. The Beast looked her over, noting the firm thrust of her breasts, the curve of her tiny waist and the soft flare of the hips. His eyes skimmed down and he realized that her legs were long and well formed. She seemed flawless. He felt himself grow hard with desire.
“The shift too, if you think your brother’s life is worth it,” he growled roughly.
Without a word she slowly slid the straps of the shift off her shoulders, letting it fall gently to the floor. She raised her eyes, staring straight ahead. Naked, she stood before him, looking proud and unafraid. It was a sham; although she appeared outwardly calm, inside her stomach was roiling, and she struggled hard not to faint.
The Beast knew well how to read the tension in her face, the slight clenching of her jaw, the furrow between her brows. He knew the effort she made to appear calm and felt a faint hint of admiration for her courage. Knights had shown more fear facing him than did this lass.
He tamped down the admiration and sneered cruelly, “Why should I release your brother? You are mine anyway, and I can have you anytime I want. I should hang your brother for trying to hide you from me, and if I could do it twice, in all likelihood, I would. God’s truth, I should have you whipped for hiding yourself from me but I’d hate to mar that silky skin before I had a chance to touch it. You were very foolish indeed to come here. Now, go upstairs and prepare yourself. I’ll attend to you shortly, after I have hanged your brother.”
“No!” Beauty shrieked.
In that instant, all her attempts to appear calm and unafraid were for naught. She struggled to control her sobs as her legs gave out and she slumped once more to the cold stone floor. She raised her teary eyes with tremendous effort, and for the first time deliberately met the Beast’s gaze head on and held his eyes.
What she saw in his eyes both amazed and strangely saddened her. The eyes of the Beast, eyes that were known far and wide to be merciless and cold, filled with cruel rage and hate were instead bleak, touched with pain, filled with loneliness and hopelessness.
“M’lord, I am not a fool. I knew well the peril I faced coming here. Truly, you can and probably will ravage me anytime you feel the urge, and do anything with me, however vicious and cruel, that fills your dark desire. I know I cannot withstand you or refuse you anything, including my own death. That is the power you hold over me, over all of us in the village. It is your privilege by right of conquest and by sheer strength.” She swallowed a few times, still holding his eyes. “I am only a commoner and a woman, a small woman at that. You may take my body and demand anything you want to from me, but there is still one thing you cannot take from me by force, something I can still give or withhold from you only at my own will.”
“What is that?” She’d barely managed to pique his curiosity but it was just enough to bring the question out.
“The thing you claim never to have felt or known, real affection, mayhap even love.” Beauty paused, choosing her words with care. “You can rape me now, ‘tis true, but if you will release my brother unharmed, I promise I will stay with you willingly tonight and do anything you ask, freely and with affection. If you release my brother unharmed you can do anything you want to me: Rape me, beat me, use me in any odious way you choose, and I will still strive to love you and serve you faithfully in any way I possibly can all through the night.”
“All through the night? What if one night isn’t enough for me?” the Beast asked sourly. “What if all the things I want to do to you, to your body and to your very soul, take more than one night? Is the rest of your brother’s life only worth one night of yours?”
“Truly, I meant to put no limits on what I would do for you, M’lord, or how long I would stay with you,” Beauty told him seemingly calmly. “Tis just that it’s well known that you only use a woman for one night. No woman has ever been known to hold your interest any longer than that. Why should I think to be any different from the others?”
“If I were to free your brother, I would ask much more of you than one night in bed, even with your willingness. I would ask that for as long as I want you to serve me, you would do so. I would ask for the use of your body in my bed and for you to service me in any way I wish during the day, either as my lowest servant or as my whore. If I tire of you, I would put you away from me in whatever manner I wish. I may give you to one of my soldiers as a reward for his good service or I may even
