Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 25821 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25821 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
“Master has picked out each piece. He has impeccable taste and knew just the things to get you so they would accentuate your natural beauty.”
I glanced at Madame and felt my throat tighten. I didn’t know what to think about the Beast hand-selecting anything, especially gowns as delicate and exquisite as the ones that were now mine.
“The lavatories are through that door.”
I was thankful she changed the subject as she pointed to a door in the corner.
“Dinner will be ready at half past six. Master has requested your attendance.” The way she said that last part had me bristling, as if I wasn’t to even think of disobeying. Not that I would. I’d willingly come here, knew my role, and wouldn’t change my mind.
My father may have put me in horrible positions over and over again throughout my life, but he was the only family I had left, and throwing him to the wolves to save my own skin wasn’t in my nature.
“Master has also selected your dinner attire.” She gestured to the bed, where a large white box tied with a red satin ribbon sat atop the lush mattress.
I’d been so stunned by everything that I hadn’t noticed it at first.
With one more smile she left me alone, closing the door behind her.
For a second I was frozen in place, my knees threatening to buckle, but I closed my eyes and breathed out slowly.
I was now legally bound to the man—the Beast—they called Master. Forms had been signed before I’d been picked up to be taken to my new home. My father had apologized repeatedly, but I’d been in too much of a fog to pay attention to him or what he said.
How could I pay attention to anything but being legally bound to my new husband—his will something I had to bend to, submit to?
I only allowed ten minutes of alone time to compose myself. I wanted to cry, scream, break something, and just get the frustration out, but I knew none of that would help me right now.
And refusing wasn’t an option, not when my father’s life was at stake.
This all seemed like a dream, with the expensive things, the lavish attendance, and the waitstaff serving me hand and foot. But I wasn’t a fool in knowing what this reality really was about.
I’d read the paperwork before I signed it.
This wasn’t just the Beast needing a wife. He wanted heirs.
Chapter
Three
Belle
I tightened my hands around the skirting of the dress the Beast had picked out for me to wear for dinner tonight.
It was a soft blue with a yellow satin ribbon tied under the bust. The sleeves were dainty and capped, and my neck, shoulders, and most of my arms were exposed.
I was dressed but somehow felt bare.
I was about to step out of the room and go downstairs when Madame arrived and instantly eyed me. She tsked as she came to stop before me and lifted a lock of my long brown hair.
“This won’t do. Master wants your hair up and out of the way.”
Out of the way for what, exactly?
She said it so matter-of-factly that I was too stunned to speak and just stood there as she expertly tied my hair into a chignon at the crown of my head.
With a few more fusses to my dress, and after she applied another generous swipe of red lipstick to my lips, she ushered me out of the room.
I felt as if I were in a fog as we descended the long, ornate staircase and I was led into the grand dining room.
The table sat in the center of the room, long and lavishly dressed with candelabras lit, crystal and porcelain dishware, and large, dome-covered silver platters hiding the food underneath.
There were bowls of fresh fruit, cut cheeses, freshly baked rolls, squares of butter on tiny gold-leaf plates, and wine goblets sat at the place settings.
The fireplace mantel was grand, double my size in height and width, a fire intimately crackling and throwing light and shadow throughout the entire room. The crystal chandelier that hung above the table cast prisms of rainbows across the room.
This certainly hadn’t been what I envisioned of the Beast’s home. I’d pictured dank and dark living quarters, mold-infested walls, and steel-barred cells I’d call home.
I hadn’t expected such… beauty.
Maybe the rumors I’d heard of my new husband were false? Maybe he wasn’t some ugly, horrid Beast that I’d have to sleep with. Maybe he was a gorgeous prince with flowing golden locks and gentle blue eyes who wanted us to get to know each other before we consummated the marriage.
“Master will be here momentarily. Per his request, dinner and wine are already set and waiting. Staff have been sent away for the evening.”
My throat once again tightened at the prospect of being alone with him, my anxiety filling every recess of my body.