Rhys is rumored to be at my bedside while I’m on life support but also sleeping with women on our honeymoon in the French Riviera. Where people get these things, I have no idea. Until the truth comes out, I’m living my bestBeauty and the Beastdreams—growly beast included.
The sound of the heavy antique door closing races down my spine as Rhys slowly steps toward me, stalking me like a lion. And I guess that’s true because he is the king of this jungle. With each step he takes, I retreat two more until the back of my legs hit the bed and my eyes go wide as he reaches for the hem of my sweater, drawing it up and over my head.
“I thought you said we were going to talk?” I ask.
He tosses the garment aside and slides his fingers under the band of my bralette and off that goes too,leaving me topless, the cool country air grazing my skin as it warms under his gaze.
“We are,” Rhys answers. He reaches between his shoulders and grabs the neck of his henley, pulling it up and over, mesmerizing me with an unencumbered view of his hard chest and abs.
I’m so distracted that I miss him dropping to his knees in front of me and only shake off my stupor when he gently lifts my foot to slide off my Ugg loafer before placing it back to the floor and repeating the move with my other leg. When he’s done, he grabs the waist of my leggings and slowly draws them down. I feel moisture pool between my legs at the hungry way he’s watching me.
“Then what are you doing, husband?” I ask as he stands to tower over me.
He unbuckles his belt before undoing the button on his jeans. Apparently, my husband is very casual in the country and I kind of like it.
“Why I’m just making sure we’re comfortable for our talk, wife,” he replies as he pushes his jeans to the floor and steps out of them.
“Hmm.”
He reaches around me to grab the covers and flip them back before saying, “Now get in bed, hen.”
I scramble back onto my hands and my backside, and Rhys follows me down, flipping us as he moves. He drags me up the bed and over his body, until we’re positioned so that his back is against the headboard andI’m secure in his arms, our legs tangled together.
“There now,” he says when I exhale the last of my reserves and relax into his arms. “That’s more comfortable.”
“Hmm,” is my only reply because he’s not wrong and I’m not in a mood to argue with the man I’ve been married to for half of a month. “You had something to tell me…”
“I do.”
“And it’s important.”
“Aye.”
“And we had to be naked for you to impart this wisdom on me?” I ask.
“No,” he chuckles softly. “It just makes it more fun for me.”
“What about me?”
“Your fun will come after, when my attention isn’t divided,” he replies with a tone to his voice that has me scraping my legs together like a cricket.
“So, this important information…” I hedge, steering the subject back to whatever this was supposed to be and not what Rhys is trying to distract himself or both of us with.
With a sigh, he begins…
“You have to suspend your disbelief for a moment, my hen,” he says. “I know this will seem wilder than anything our imaginations could dream up, but I promise you it’s not a tale; it’s the truth.”
“Then I guess you better just start at the beginningand we’ll go from there.”
“A long, long time ago—” he starts and before I can help myself, I interrupt him.
“In a galaxy far, far away?”
“Hen,” he reprimands me.
“Sorry. Carry on.”
He lets out a frustrated breath and I school my facial features before he starts again. “Long before either of us were born, long before our fathers or our grandfathers were born, there was a queen who had a lot of power and had amassed a considerable amount of wealth as well. None of which was the norm at the time… but she wanted more.”