Loving the Beast: Fairy Tales Unleashed by Naima Simone

Author:Naima Simone [Simone, Naima]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Erotica, Contemporary Women, Contemporary, Fiction
ISBN: 9781926930602
Google: EfbxjILuTyUC
Publisher: Breathless Press
Published: 2011-06-02T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

“Why don’t you leave money on the nightstand? That would show

me. Consider it a tip. Or better yet, just subtract it off the top of the

money I’m spreading my legs for.”

“You’re beautiful.”

Gwendolyn’s words from that morning echoed in his head like a

never-ending reel of audio tape. He gazed out the dining room win-

dow into the dark, his reflection like a condemning finger staring back

at him. His fists tightened at his sides. He didn’t know which state-

ment had hurt him more—her accusation that he treated her like a

whore, or the lie about his beauty. Xavier closed his eyes, and for once

it wasn’t to shut out the sight of his ruined face. No, he could no lon-

ger bear the sight of the entire man.

When had he become such a cowardly bastard?

It shamed him. He’d considered himself strong. The accident,

his father’s death, so close on the heels of his brother’s, had nearly

brought him to his knees. He almost hadn’t recovered from the blow

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Naima Simone

of losing the man he’d admired above all others. But he had survived.

Then Evelyn had walked out.

That had almost broken him. The signs had been there—her re-

fusal to look him directly in the face, her reluctance to be seen with

him in public because of the stares. Yet he still hadn’t expected her be-

trayal, because he’d believed they were in love. Or that he’d loved her.

No, Evelyn hadn’t broken him. But she’d damn well shattered

something inside him.

When she left, she’d taken that last tenuous link to the life he’d

known before the accident. A charmed life with family, friends, and

joy—one that was irrevocably gone. And he had no clue how to deal

with the new existence fate had dealt him. His family would never be

whole again. Those he’d called friends had turned their backs on him,

and he was alone. So fucking alone.

Enter Gwendolyn.

He sucked in a breath and opened his eyes. Instead of his like-

ness, he viewed flashes of the previous night in the darkened glass.

His stomach tightened with arousal, and his cock swelled at the re-

membered feel of her pussy squeezing it. Of her skin pressed to his.

Of her arms wrapped around him, holding him close. Locked in her

embrace, the loneliness had vanished.

And it had scared the shit out of him.

When he’d curled up behind her after she’d drifted to sleep,

dreams he’d believed no longer possible had stirred in his heart. Love.

A woman who wanted him in spite of his imperfections. A family

of his own. Fear had spurred him out of the warm bed and tangled

sheets. As he’d jerked on his clothes, he shut down the faint, burgeon-

ing hope and refused to allow himself one last look at the sleeping

woman.

There were no happily-ever-afters for him.

He would be a fool to become attached to Gwendolyn when the

only reason she slumbered in his bed was due to fucking blackmail.

If not for the community center, he would be as alone tonight as he’d

been for the past year.

He and Gwendolyn had a business contract.

Nothing more.

But his determination to set their relationship back on the agreed-

upon terms didn’t excuse the hurt that had darkened her eyes that

morning—hurt he’d caused.

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