The Fairy Tales Collection Read online

  “What would you make working for the cleaning company?”

  “Uh, I’m not sure. Probably about eleven dollars an hour.”

  “I’ll pay you twenty-five an hour,” he said.

  Her mouth dropped open and she blinked at him. “To catalogue books?”

  He nodded. “Yes. I’d like it if you worked eight hours a day, five days a week, but you can decide when you want to work those eight hours. I sleep pretty soundly so if you’re a night owl and want to work at night, I’m fine with that.”

  “What about the money my dad owes you?” She asked. “Maybe I could work for the cleaning company the first couple of months until I can pay you back and then work here full time.”

  He waved his hand impatiently. “I’ll take a hundred bucks off of each paycheque until it’s repaid. What do you say? Will you help me?”

  She took a deep breath, inhaling the much-loved scent of old books, before holding out her hand and grinning happily at him. “When do you want me to start?”

  Chapter 4

  “So are you and Bennett knockin’ boots yet or what?”

  “Rowan!” Belle, blushing furiously, glanced around the diner. “Keep your voice down!”

  Rowan grinned and stuck another forkful of eggs into her mouth. “Answer the question, my sweet Belle.”

  “No, we are not knocking boots,” Belle said in a low voice.

  “Why not? You’ve been at his place every day for the last three days,” Rowan replied.

  “Because I’m working for him. You know that, Ro,” Belle said.

  “Working at getting into his pants. Am I right or am I right, Ella?” She elbowed the chubby blonde in the side and wiggled her eyebrows at her.

  Ella looked up from her coffee mug. “Sorry, what?”

  Belle frowned. Ella was pale and there were dark circles under her eyes. “Ella, what’s wrong, honey?”

  “Nothing, I’m fine. I just haven’t been sleeping well lately. What were we talking about?”

  “Belle and Bennett having sex,” Rowan said cheerfully.

  Ella’s eyes widened. “You had sex with Bennett?”

  “No!” Belle said. “I’m cataloguing the books in his library, that’s it. I haven’t even really seen him the last three days.”

  That, much to her dismay, was completely true. He had greeted her Monday morning, made some polite small talk and given her a key to the house. Since then, she’d only seen him when she’d peeked out the library windows to watch him working in the backyard. She decided she wouldn’t admit to her best friends that she kept peeking throughout the day in the hopes that he would take off his shirt. Sadly, he had kept on all of his clothes.

  “You haven’t seen him at all?” Rowan asked.

  “Not really. He’s been letting me do my own thing. I asked him if he wanted to approve the spreadsheet I was setting up to catalogue the books but he just said that he trusted me.”

  She glanced at her cell phone. “Crap! I need to go. I wanted to be at Bennett’s by nine this morning.”

  “So do I,” Ella replied. “My stepmother added two more houses to my schedule today and I have no idea how I’m going to get everything done.”

  She slid out of the booth and smoothed down her shirt. “I’m fairly certain she’s trying to kill me.”

  Rowan gave her a sympathetic look. “Did you hear back from the bank yet about the business loan?”

  Ella smiled ruefully. “I forgot to tell you – I was turned down.”

  “What? Why?” Belle asked.

  “Because they don’t think I have enough experience as a massage therapist to run a successful business. They have a point – working for three months at the Magic Spa Retreat doesn’t exactly give me strong work experience.”

  “It’s not your fault the spa closed down,” Rowan said.

  “No, but it was the only place in town that offered massage therapy. Unless I start my own business, the money I spent earning my massage therapy certificate will be completely wasted.”

  “You could always find a position in a city,” Rowan said gently.

  “I love it here, you know I don’t want to leave,” Ella replied.

  “I know. But you don’t have to leave forever. Gain some experience, save up some cash and then move back and start your own business.”

  “I keep telling you,” Belle said, “you’ve got a massage table and the other supplies, just start your business with that. You can have people come to your apartment or you could go to them. You could be the travelling massage therapist! Just make sure people know it’s therapeutic massage. Most of the guys in this town would kill to have your hands on them in a decidedly non-therapeutic sense.”

  Ella rolled her eyes. “That’s an exaggeration.”

  “Like hell it is,” Belle replied.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Rowan said with a grin. “You’re both forgetting that Duncan Gillis has vowed to murder anyone who touches our sweet Ella.”

  Ella flushed to the roots of her blonde hair before slinging her purse over her shoulder. “I have to go.”

  She scurried out of the diner as Rowan gave Belle an odd look. “What was that about?”

  Belle shook her head worriedly. “I’m not sure. She’s been acting weird ever since that night at the bar. We shouldn’t tease her about what Duncan said. I know she says she hates him but I’m not so sure she’s telling the truth. She always gets awkward and nervous when she sees him, you know? Besides, Duncan told me he was really drunk that night so he – “

  “Like hell he was,” Rowan interrupted. “He’d only been there maybe fifteen minutes and I’d served him one beer. Anyway, you have to go and I’m headed to Nana’s place. It’s been a couple of weeks since I visited her. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

  “Okay,” Belle replied. She added her share of money to the bill and followed Rowan out the door.

  * * *

  Belle stretched and gently moved her head from side to side. She had been hunched over for most of the day, inputting books into the spreadsheet on the laptop Bennett had provided and she was feeling stiff and sore. She stood and walked across the library to look out the window. The backyard remained empty and she sighed loudly. Bennett had been gone when she arrived this morning and hadn’t returned. She hadn’t taken the job specifically so that she would get to spend time with Bennett but she had been thinking of it as a job perk. Last week she had been positive that he was attracted to her but now doubt was creeping in. Would he be so obviously avoiding her if he was?

  No, she decided, he wouldn’t. She sighed again before unzipping her hoodie and tugging it off. It left her in just a thin tank top which wasn’t exactly work appropriate but it was hot in the library and besides, Bennett wasn’t around.

  Your nearly twenty-year crush on a guy you met once is kind of ridiculous. You know that, right?

  Yeah, she did. But dammit, did he have to grow up to be so damn big and handsome? She was itching to touch him and to taste him. The idea that he would feel the same way about her just because he had looked at her once in a way that suggested he might want to lick her all over was ridiculous.

  She stretched again and then froze when there was a sharp inhale behind her. She turned around and butterflies flickered to life in her stomach when she saw Bennett standing in the library.

  “Hi,” she said as his gaze drifted down her body. She crossed her arms nervously over her torso and glanced at the hoodie she had draped across the table. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

  He strode forward, the floor shook lightly beneath his feet, and she twitched in surprise when he grasped her upper arms and gently turned her around.

  “Bennett, what – “

  Her voice died out when he traced the top of the four ragged scars on her upper back.

  “Mirabelle, I’m so sorry,” he whispered. His deep voice scraped along her nerve endings, making them sing with anticipation.

  “It’s not your fault,” she said.
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  “Are they painful?” He asked as she shivered delicately.

  “N-no,” she stuttered. “They’re just kind of ugly.”

  “Nothing about you is ugly,” he murmured.

  She couldn’t stop the soft moan when she felt his lips brush against the scarring on her back. His hands grasped the edge of her tank top and she cleared her throat nervously.

  “Bennett, what are you doing?”

  “Lift your arms. I want to see all of it,” he said in a softly-demanding voice.

  Like a woman in a dream, she raised her arms and allowed him to pull the tank top over her head. He dropped it to the floor and she dug her fingers into the window sill in front of her. She could see his reflection in the window and she watched as a look of sorrow crossed his face.

  “Bennett, it’s fine,” she whispered. “Really.”

  “This is my fault.”

  “It isn’t,” she insisted. “Don’t think that – oh my God.”

  His fingers had flicked open the clasps of the pale pink bra she was wearing and she automatically clamped her hands over her breasts as the fabric loosened. He dipped his head and she arched her back when he licked the length of one scar. The scars ran from her upper back to the waistband of her pants and she didn’t object when he placed one arm around her waist and drew her back against him before licking a second scar. His t-shirt was warm from the sun and he smelled so good, she felt nearly faint from his closeness. His hand curled around her hip and held her firmly as he placed a row of soft kisses across the top of her shoulder.

  “Bennett, please,” she whispered before turning her head to stare at his mouth. His eyes darkened until they were almost black and she made a soft pleading noise. He bent his head and pressed his mouth against hers. She was surprised by his gentleness. She wasn’t exactly sure what she had expected but it wasn’t this feather-light touch of his warm lips against hers. She parted her lips eagerly and he brushed the tip of his tongue against her upper lip like he was tasting her. Even that light touch was enough to set her on fire and she ground her ass shamelessly against his growing erection.

  She licked his lip in return and he growled softly against her mouth before sliding his tongue between her lips to dart and flick lightly at hers. She moaned again and returned his kisses eagerly. When his hand slid up her round stomach, she dropped her arms and thrust out her chest. He raised his hand without touching her suddenly-aching breasts but her groan of disappointment ended when he pulled off her bra and dropped it to the floor as well.

  He studied her breasts over her shoulder – she could feel his heart pounding against her back – before cupping the right one in one big hand. He held it firmly, testing the weight in his hand, as her nipple pebbled against his palm. Her back arched again when he used his thumb and finger to pull lightly on her stiff nipple.

  “Oh my God,” she whispered again.

  “I’ve dreamed about seeing you like this,” he rumbled into her ear as his second hand cupped her left breast. He kneaded and rubbed them gently as he pressed his pelvis rhythmically against her ass. “Do you have any idea how much I want you, Mirabelle?”

  “I want you too, Ben,” she whispered.

  His hands tightened on her breasts and then he was kissing her again, this time hard and deep, his tongue pushing past the barrier of her lips to claim her mouth. She returned his kisses, their tongues stroking and sliding against each other as he reached down and unbuttoned her jeans. He slid his hand into her panties and cupped her aching core.

  “You’re so wet, little Mirabelle,” he whispered against her lips before pushing one finger deep inside of her. She rose up on her tiptoes at the unexpected invasion and he stroked and squeezed one breast soothingly before easing his finger out of her. He rubbed her clit lightly as he placed hot, wet kisses against her neck and shoulder.

  “I want to fuck you,” he said. “I want that so much. It’s all I can think about.”

  “Me too,” she said breathlessly.

  “Good,” he muttered. “But first I want to watch you come all over my fingers.”

  She inhaled sharply, her hand latching onto his wrist and squeezing tightly as he rubbed roughly at her clit. It was already swollen and throbbing and she bucked her hips against his hand as he stroked lightly then roughly. The need was a fevered pitch inside of her now and she closed her eyes and arched her back, soft cries spilling from her lips as he brought her closer and closer to her release.

  “Ben, oh, Ben, oh God,” she moaned. “It feels so good. It feels so – “

  Her body stiffened and she rode the wave of her orgasm as he growled again in her ear and rubbed his cock against her ass. She collapsed against him, he held her weight easily, and he sucked lightly on her earlobe before turning her around and yanking her jeans and panties down her legs. She stepped out of them. Her legs were still weak from her orgasm and she gave him a shy look as he studied her body in the sunlight.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he said hoarsely.

  “You’re beautiful too,” she whispered.

  Belle mourned the loss of his hard body when he suddenly took a step back and pulled his t-shirt over his head. She studied his broad chest and watched as he inhaled sharply when she ran a trembling hand through the layer of dark hair that covered it.

  “Fuck, I’m going to come in my pants if I don’t take you right now,” he muttered.

  He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and she watched as he took a condom from the billfold. He unbuttoned his jeans, shoving them and his briefs down his legs and her eyes widened at the size of him. She pushed down the thin trickle of apprehension as he kicked off his shoes and finished removing his clothes.

  He reached for her and she gasped in surprise when he pushed her to the floor. He rolled the condom onto his cock and lowered his heavy body onto hers, his thighs pushing hers apart.

  “Ben,” she said nervously. “You – you’ll be gentle, right?”

  “Yes,” he said before kissing her lightly. “I won’t hurt you, Mirabelle.”

  She doubted that was true, there was no way he couldn’t not hurt her – not with a cock that size – but her anxiety disappeared when his mouth dropped to her breasts and he sucked one nipple into his mouth.

  “OH!” She arched against him, his cock rubbing against her pussy, and threaded her hands through his thick, dark hair as he pulled lightly on her nipple with his teeth. He nipped it lightly before switching to the other breast. When she was panting and wiggling beneath him, he reached between them and guided his cock to her wet opening.

  As the head breached her opening, she tensed and gripped at his broad, smooth back. “Ben, I – “

  She cried out, her hands digging into his hard flesh as he pushed completely into her in one smooth motion. The flare of pain brought tears to her eyes and his groan of pleasure trailed off as he stiffened above her.

  “Mirabelle?” He said hoarsely. “Have you had sex before?”

  Her face flushed bright red and she clung tightly to him when he tried to withdraw. “Don’t stop, Ben.”

  He propped himself up on his hands and stared down at her. “Are you a virgin?”

  She hesitated and then nodded, blinking back the tears when a look of dismay crossed his face.

  “Fuck!” He muttered. “What have I done?”

  “Don’t be angry,” she said.

  “I’m not angry.” He stroked her dark hair lightly. “But I’ve hurt you and I – “

  “It doesn’t hurt anymore,” she interrupted.

  It was true. The pain was starting to fade and she moved experimentally beneath him. His breath hissed out and she gasped when he made a slow thrust in response.

  “Mirabelle,” he muttered, “I think we should stop.”

  “No!” She wrapped her legs around his waist and gave him a pleading look. “Please don’t stop, Ben. I want this so much.”

  She pushed her pelvis up and felt a thrilling sense of power when he thrust aga
inst her with a look of almost helpless need.

  “I – I don’t want to stop,” he groaned.

  “I know,” she soothed. “I don’t want you to stop either.”

  He groaned again before moving within her in long, slow strokes. She braced her feet on the floor and met each of his strokes as she watched his face carefully.

  “You feel so good, my sweet Mirabelle,” he whispered and she smiled at him as the pace of his thrusts increased. The pain was gone now, leaving just warmth and an odd feeling of fullness, and she thought she could stay connected to him like this forever. It didn’t matter if she ever came again, it was enough to feel him inside of her, to watch his face as he found pleasure in her body. She touched his dark beard with her fingertips as he closed his eyes and pushed harder and deeper. A small frown crossed her face – did he have a beard before? She couldn’t remember. He must have. He couldn’t grow a beard in a matter of minutes and –

  Her internal musing was forgotten when Bennett reached between them and rubbed one rough finger against her clit. It brought her nerve endings screaming to life and she bucked her hips against him as tension coiled in her belly.

  “Come for me again, Mirabelle.” His deep voice made her pleasure grow. “I want to feel your pussy squeezing around my cock when you come.”

  “Ben,” she gasped as she dug her nails into his back. “Oh my God, Ben.”

  “Can you do that for me, little Belle?” He whispered into her ear. “Can you come all over my thick cock?”

  The sound of her nickname being said in his rough voice, the touch of his warm fingers against her clit and the dirty things he was whispering brought a surge of wetness between her legs and a shot of pleasure straight from her crotch to her toes.

  “Yes,” she gasped. “Yes, Ben.”

  “Then do it,” he growled. “Come all over my cock, little Belle.”

  She arched her back as his fingers tugged at her clit and came with a screaming, roaring rush of pleasure that blotted out everything but the feel of Bennett’s hard body, his hot breath blowing in her ear and the exquisite feeling of fullness as he drove into her a final time and climaxed.