Beau and the Beastess Read online

  Her stable hands were waiting, her horse ready, and Annabelle crossed to her stead as quickly as she could without startling him. Once she was mounted, they took off at a gallop, and although she was fighting back tears, Annabelle did not look back.

  Chapter Eight

  Beau

  Walking from the en suite after his shower, Beau felt decidedly refreshed. He’d slept like a baby, rather than a man who’d been taken off the street by his home, and woke feeling optimistic.

  He felt as though he’d seen another side of Annabelle the night before. She had many layers to her story, and he was a curious enough person to want to dig deeper. There was a softness to her that he was sure most people didn’t get to see.

  Then there was the reaction that his body had whenever their skin touched. Beau wasn’t sure what to make of it, but he needed to learn more.

  Was it a chemical reaction, or something deeper?

  He intended to find out, hopefully today.

  Beau finished dressing and was about to exit his room in search of breakfast and Annabelle, when the door opened.

  “Hello?” he called, but didn’t receive an answer. Beau could tell by the person’s smell that it wasn’t Annabelle, it was more masculine, and oddly familiar.

  Before he could say anything further, Beau was grabbed and lifted forcibly, until he was once again hanging over someone’s shoulder.

  “What is this? Put me down?” he yelled to no avail.

  He was jostled as they went outside and down the stairs, then he was thrust into the back of a car once again. The odor of the interior alerted Beau to the fact that it was the same car he’d been taken in before, but he still felt around for a way out.

  The car started and took off down the lane, and Beau tried once again to get a response from his captor.

  “What is going on? Where are you taking me now? Where’s Annabelle?”

  Nothing.

  Twenty minutes of silence from The Driver, while Beau asked questions and tried to find a way out without causing an accident.

  When the car stopped, Beau braced. The door opened and a hand reached in to help him out of the car. Once on the sidewalk, Beau could sense The Driver moving away, so he reached out his hand and grasped on to the man’s sleeves.

  “Please, tell me what’s happening.”

  “You’ve been returned. No harm…best of luck to you.”

  The Driver tried to move, but Beau held fast.

  “Wait,” Beau cried, pulling on his sleeve. “What about Annabelle?”

  “Sorry, bloke, you’ll never see hide nor hair from her again. Now, let me go.”

  After a slight struggle, The Driver got free and left Beau standing on the sidewalk.

  He knew instinctively that he was back where they’d started, on the walkway in front of his apartment building.

  “Excuse me, sir?” a voice called from next to him. “I think you dropped this.”

  Beau reached out his hand and felt a small business card being placed inside.

  “Thank you,” he told the stranger, but didn’t move from his spot on the sidewalk.

  And as he heard the car driving away, listening until the sound got more and more faint, Beau wondered why he wasn’t happier to be free.

  Annabelle

  It was taking over…she could feel it.

  Since she’d returned home and found Beau gone, just as she’d requested, Annabelle had found it easier to give in to The Beast.

  Tired of being lonely, sad, and pitifully hopeful, Annabelle allowed herself to sink deep inside, feeding The Beast. Giving it what it wanted.

  Total control.

  The servants had long since left, and Annabelle knew they weren’t just hiding in the house. They were gone.

  The contingency plan they’d had in place since she’d arrived in this world, found her home, and started her hunt, had been implemented. The servants knew the time had come, that Annabelle’s fight was over, and it was time for The Beast to reign.

  She could smell the last, sweet smell of the lilacs as they wilted and began to fall. Smattering the floor of her garden with their pretty purple petals. What had once lived was dying, rapidly and for eternity, never to return.

  The Beast roared as she wandered her grounds, triumphant and ready to take control.

  Chapter Nine

  Beau

  “Beau, honey, this is ludicrous,” his mother said fiercely as she hugged him to her. She was a tiny thing, but her arms were strong as steel wrapped around his waist.

  “I know how it sounds,” Beau replied, leaning down to rest his lips against the hair of the woman who had taken him in and given him everything she had to give. “But, Mom, the dreams have been more vivid, and they feel more like a memory. I can’t explain it, and I know it sounds insane, but I think Annabelle was telling the truth, and I think I’m from the same place and time that she is…”

  When Beau had finally left the sidewalk to return to his apartment, he’d been bombarded by frantic messages on his machine. Wanting to ease his family’s mind, he’d called and his mother had immediately rushed over.

  He’d told her everything. About being kidnapped, his time with Annabelle, and the way he’d been unceremoniously returned. Beau hadn’t left anything out, and he knew although he’d explained his feelings in detail, his mother didn’t understand why he wanted to go back.

  And at the same time, he could tell she was worried that if he did, he’d never return.

  Beau was afraid his mother was correct. If he was from Annabelle’s other world, like he believed, and he was able to break whatever curse it was that held them here, he was sure the reward would be to return to his land.

  As much as he hated the thought of leaving the family he loved behind, the need to know where he came from, what happened to him, and how he’d ended up here, was too great to be denied.

  His mother gave one last sniffle, before pulling back to look up at him and place her hands on his cheeks.

  “I know you do, Beau,” she said her voice wavering. “I always knew this time would come…knew you were from something or someone greater than here…you had to be. I just hate the possibility that I’ll never see this handsome face again.”

  “I love you, and you know I could never thank you for everything you’ve done…”

  “And you’ll never have to.”

  Beau pulled the business card out of his back pocket and held it out.

  “Can you tell me what this says? It’s the only clue I have to find the man who can get me back to Annabelle.”

  Beau felt his mother shift away and dropped his arms to his side, fighting the need to fidget.

  “It’s for a bar, The Dusty Saddle. I’ve heard of it before, it’s about ten minutes from here.”

  “Great,” he said, reaching his hand out to take the card back. “I’m going to throw some things in my backpack and grab a cab.”

  Beau’s mother put her hand on his arm, causing him to pause.

  “No, don’t do that… I’ll take you.”

  “Are you sure?” Beau asked with concern. “I know how hard this is for you.”

  “Of course I’m sure,” she replied, lovingly. “I plan to take you all the way to the end of your journey. If you end up having to go, I want to be there for you when you leave, just like I was when you arrived.”

  Beau tugged her, pulling her in for one last hug, before kissing her head and turning to go get his stuff together.

  Two hours later, Beau and his mother were still sitting in the bar, their dinner long gone. They sat there, nursing their beers so the bartender wouldn’t feel inclined to throw them out.

  Beau’s nerves were fraught.

  What if the card hadn’t come out of The Driver’s pocket?

  What if he didn’t come to this place often?

  What if Beau was already too late?

  He felt his mom’s hand come to his leg, trying to still his bouncing knee.

  “You okay?” s
he asked.

  Beau was about to respond when he caught a whiff of a familiar scent, then heard

  The Driver ask, “How about a pint for a weary bloke?”

  Rising quickly, Beau followed the sound of that voice to the bar. He heard his mother close behind him.

  “Excuse me,” he said, reaching his hand out to reassure him someone was actually there. He felt fabric and hoped he had the right person.

  “What the ‘ell?” The Driver asked, and Beau knew he’d found who he was looking for. “How’d ya find me?”

  Rather than answer the question, Beau said, “I need to go back to Annabelle.”

  “Sorry, boy, I’m no longer under her employ… Contingency plan is in effect and I’ll never be driving to that cursed place again.”

  “I don’t need you to take me, just tell me how to get there.”

  “What are you going to do, hire a cab? I can promise you, no company around here is going out to Thorne Manor.”

  “Thorne Manor, is that the name of her estate?”

  “Please,” his mother pleaded from beside him. “Tell us how to get there and we’ll leave you in peace.”

  The Driver reluctantly gave them directions and told them to be careful.

  “The change has begun… I’m afraid you’re already too late.”

  Chapter Ten

  Annabelle

  The sound of her name being called filtered through the overgrown confines of her now dead garden. But Annabelle didn’t stir, she was fading fast, deep within The Beast who paced through her once peaceful oasis.

  “Annabelle!”

  The sound was getting closer, and Annabelle realized she must be at the end, because she could have sworn it was Beau’s voice she heard.

  “Annabelle!”

  “Beau, I see something over there…it looks like… No! Don’t go over there,” A woman’s voice pleaded.

  They turned to look at the direction of the voices, and, although it was like looking through a tunnel, Annabelle could see Beau and an older woman. Beau was running around the side of the house and the woman was chasing after him.

  “Beau,” she tried to yell, but it came out half garbled, ending with a roar.

  Beau changed direction and charged toward her.

  The Beast wanted to rage, but Annabelle used all of her remaining will power to keep it in check.

  “Arrr,” she tried again, and it was enough to alert Beau to her position.

  “Annabelle… please, don’t let me be too late,” he pleaded when he reached her, his hand coming out to caress her mane. “I know why you sent me away, but I can’t leave you… I believe you… I feel the connection every time we touch and I think I’m from the same place and time as you. I don’t know how or why, but I’m certain we’re meant to be together…Now and then…and I’m certain I can break the curse and send us back. Trust me?”

  She did, with all her heart, but The Beast was doing its best to beat her back. Annabelle could no longer speak, so she squeezed his hand roughly, hoping that would be enough to make him understand.

  Annabelle saw the shape of him moving toward her, then the soft cool touch of his lips as they brushed against hers, whisper soft.

  She was still marveling at the fact that he’d come back for her, when the world began to tilt and shift.

  Swirling, twirling, like a dust storm, Annabelle kept Beau’s hand clasped tightly in hers as they tumbled.

  What could have been moments, or centuries later, Annabelle came to. Lying on a bed of grass, Beau’s hand still in hers, she rose to sitting and looked around.

  In the distance she could see it, her castle, her home, and she turned to Beau with an excited laugh.

  Turning to shake him awake, Annabelle cried, “Beau, you did it, we’re here.”

  She looked down as she moved him, the smooth pale skin of her arm catching her eye.

  “Oh,” she exclaimed as she stood, running her hands along as much of her body as she could reach. “I’m human again.”

  “Annabelle?” Beau’s eyes began to flutter, and when she gazed upon him once more, Annabelle noticed he looked much younger. His hair was down to his shoulders, a burnished brown that curled slightly, and his beautiful face was full with youth.

  “We did it,” she said happily, dropping to her knees to help him into sitting position. “Are you okay, did you get hurt?”

  Beau shook his head, a dazed expression on his face. He turned his head to and fro, then his eyes met hers, shocked.

  “I can see.”

  Epilogue

  The wedding of Annabelle and Beau was a splendid affair.

  People came from kingdoms far and wide to see the union of the now famous pair, their story already a legend told in pubs and households throughout the land.

  When he’d heard of the curse the evil Georgiana had cast on his intended, young Prince Beau had vowed to follow his betrothed, break the curse, and return them both to the bosom of their homeland.

  Not able to counteract the curse, the good witch Beau called upon had warned him that his quest would not be an easy one, and that there was a great chance he’d fail. Not realizing Georgiana had found out his plan and added her own special blinding curse to the good witch’s spell, the brave and honorable Beau had been sure he’d be able to find Annabelle quickly and break the curse.

  Luckily, although they had to live harshly for nineteen years, fate intervened and Beau was able to break the curse as promised.

  Now, back with their families as if no time had passed, the young Annabelle and Beau were free to marry and live their lives as fate had intended. But it turned out Georgiana had given them a gift after all, for neither of them would ever forget the struggles they’d faced in the other world, or the fact that they’d almost been doomed to spend eternity apart, and therefore, they would never take their lives, or each other, for granted.

  And, they lived Happily Ever After.

  Also by Bethany Lopez

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  New Adult:

  Friends & Lovers Trilogy

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  I Choose You

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  Contemporary Romance:

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  8 Weeks

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  Romantic Comedy/Suspense:

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  Women’s Fiction:

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  Short Stories:

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  Fantasy:

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  Beau and the Beastess

  Cookbook:

  Love & Recipes

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  Children’s:

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  About the Author

  Award-Winning Author Bethany Lopez began self-publishing in June 2011. She's a lover of all things romance: books, movies, music, and life, and she incorporates that into the books she writes. When she isn't reading or writing, she loves spending time with her husband and children, traveling whenever possible. Some of her favorite things are: Kristen Ashley Books, coffee in the morning, and In N Out burgers.

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