Beauty in the Beast by Christine Danse Page B

served food during the day and sang songs for the dinner crowd. She and Michael took a liking to each other. Perhaps participating in a tryst was shameful after all he had done—for all that his family had only been dead one season. But he missed his wife and the company of a female, so when the woman invited him to stay the night with her, he readily took advantage of her offer… He would have been content just to lie with her and try to imagine that her body was the body of his wife. However, she had other intentions, and his passion got the best of him.
    “When the first wave of shivers ran over his body, he simply thought it was part of his excitement, but he curled over her body in sudden pain and horror. She watched him as his fingers curled, and his face lengthened, and the fur spread over his skin. Her eyes were wide and she pressed back against the bed as if pinned there, frozen with shock and terror. He let out an animal’s cry of rage.
    “He fled like an animal flees, her belated screams driving him on. He could smell everything and see everything in the night. Above him hung the full silver moon—the moon he’d thought he could forget. His fleet legs took him to the forest’s edge like the wind, where he hoped to lose himself in the trees before the beast’s mind took over.
    “It did not. He ran until he could smell nothing but trees, powerful and monstrous, but his thoughts remained his own. Human and terrified. An aching hunger stabbed at his gut and shook his muscles. He took his hunger and his anger out on the trees, raging against them with claws and teeth.
    “The witch’s magic had not cured him. It only gave him a tenuous grip over his own human form and returned his human consciousness to the beast body. Now he was burdened with the hunger of the monster and the responsibility to hold it in check.”

Chapter Six
    Rolph’s voice died to silence. For many moments, none of us spoke.
    “Oh, dear.” I chuckled nervously to break the tension and flashed a weak smile at Miles. “And you said my story was fit to make a man jump off a bridge.” With a quick blush, I turned to Rolph. “Pardon me! I only mean that it was a very sad story, and very well told.”
    Rolph nodded, eyes nearly black and mouth set in a somber line. He canted his head, as if considering the sound of the wind. “Stay until morning.” He stood, and I could see that his hands were trembling again. “I’ll be back with drinks and with meat to refresh the stew.” He bent to take something from the table next to his chair, and I saw that it was the amber vial of liquid.
    Beth watched me watch him go. She sat up and drew her eyebrows together. “You don’t truly fancy him, do you?”
    In a voice as hushed as hers, I replied, “And if I do?”
    “He’s just so…coarse.”
    I frowned. “What’s wrong with coarse?”
    She glanced around us, as if to say the preoccupation with dead animals could mean anything about his character. In answer, I looked at the painting of the water drop above the mantel.
    “Hey! No secret girl talks,” said Fred.
    Miles leaned over to bury his mouth in Beth’s hair. “Did the story scare you?” He circled his arms around her middle.
    She squirmed and pecked his nose. “No…” She flicked a look at me, then added, “Maybe. Just a little bit.”
    “Come here,” he said, and scooted from the bench to the floor to pull her onto his lap. She curled against his chest while he rocked her and kissed the top of her head. “I love you.”
    She nodded her head against him. “I love you too.”
    A sudden deep longing burned in my chest, and I quickly found somewhere else to focus my gaze. Ah, love. I closed my eyes. Love and loss. The threat of old tears warmed my eyes, and I breathed softly until it passed.
    “Tara?” inquired Beth, when I stood and laced on my boots.
    “Nature’s chamber pot,” I said, jerking my thumb toward the door, but I could not tease a smile from her. I found