Beauty and Her Beastly Love (Passion-Filled Fairy Tales Book 2) by Rosetta Bloom Page B

trapped in this house. She pretended to be asleep.

Chapter 17
     
    There was a knock at Beauty’s bedroom door. It could only be Beast, for no one else was in the house except him. Even so, he always knocked, offering her a chance to deny or welcome his entry. “Come in” she called, as she tied a ribbon around the waist of her chemise like it was a belt.
    “I like it when you walk around undressed,” Beast said.
    Beauty smiled. “Well, it’s just you and me, so there’s not much point in the corset and petticoats and all that. I figured I’d go with just what I needed.”
    Beast nodded, and had a look of yearning on his face as he eyed Beauty. She wasn’t sure she was up for any more sex, as they’d been at it so much lately. Watching him pleasure himself had been interesting, but pleasuring each other was infinitely more rewarding.
    “You came to stare at me in my chemise?” she asked.
    He shook his head. “No,” he said, then smiled slyly. “I think I have a solution to your problem.”
    Beauty stared at him quizzically. “And what problem is that?”
    “That you want to see your father.”
    Beauty’s mouth opened in shock then she smiled. “You’ll let me go see him?” she asked, but he was shaking his head no even before she had finished the question. “Then what?” she asked, feeling betrayed.
    “I’ll show you,” he said, holding out a hand. “Come with me.”
    Beauty looked at his outstretched palm, and then placed her own hand inside his, with slight hesitation. He had never hurt her before, but she wasn’t sure she liked whatever he was going to show her. She wanted to see her father, and if she couldn’t leave, she couldn’t see him.
    Beauty followed Beast out of her room, down a hallway, to a book case with a statue on it. Beast touched the statue, and the wall opened. Beauty stared, shocked. This manor had a secret room. She followed Beast inside a small room with a single chair in it and a mirror on the wall.
    “It’s enchanted,” he said.
    “The room?” Beauty asked.
    Beast shook his head. “The mirror,” he said. “You simply ask it to see anyone you wish and it will show you that person.” Beauty was speechless, her mind still not quite believing what she was seeing. She looked at the mirror, wondering if it really could be. “I’ll show you,” Beast said. He turned to the mirror, and said, “Show me Odette.”
    Before them on the mirror, a young girl appeared. She was probably 14 or 15, with honey blonde hair and a beautiful smile. The family must have been well off, as she was wearing a fancy dress and expensive-looking jewelry. She was sitting in a room with a woman who appeared to be her tutor.
    They watched for a few seconds as the girl wrote something on a piece of paper, but the moment Odette opened her mouth to speak, Beast said, “Stop.” The image of the girl went away and the mirror reflected Beauty and Beast in the room. Beast was staring at the floor, his fist clenched. She’d thought it had been a sign of a hard heart that he’d told her to forget about her family, but as she watched his reaction to his sister, she realized she’d been wrong. He’d told her to forget because that’s what he wanted — to forget the anguish he felt at missing his family.
    She grasped his hand and gave it a squeeze. “That was amazing — that the mirror let you see her,” she said softly. Beast nodded. “How do you do it exactly? Do you have to know where the person is to see them?
    Beast shook his head. “No, just ask for the person, and it will know where they are and show them to you?”
    Beauty nodded. That seemed simple enough. She bit her lower lip and thought. But, she wanted more than just to see her father. “Can the person see you, or just you see the person? Can we talk to the person?”
    The Beast hesitated, then said, “It depends.” Beauty raised her eyebrows, so Beast continued. “I’ve found that I have the ability to…