PETALS AND THORNS by JENNIFER PARIS Page A

looked up and sobbed in relief to find him looking at her.
    “Amarantha, I must ask you a question.”
    “Yes!” she said. “Yes, I'll do it. I'd rather be alive with you than living like a dead woman in a world without you in it.”
    “Amarantha, my bride, will you beg me to collar you, chain you to my bed, and fuck you?”
    She could feel the power of the ritual question now. It charged the air between them. Amarantha took a deep breath. She could do this. “Yes.”
    With a growl, the Beast roared to life. He seized her by the wrists and flung her over his shoulder, ignoring her startled shriek. He carried her upstairs, the manse flaring to blazing life as they moved through it. Amarantha's face pounded with blood. Would he really make her beg for this?
    Yes. He had to, she thought.
    He bypassed her chambers and continued down the hallway. Ah yes. Chained to his bed. The massive doors flung open, and he strode through a sitting room piled high with books and into the bedroom, where a giant four-poster bed dominated the room.
    The Beast dropped her onto the bed. Amarantha trembled to see him. He seemed completely overcome. His green eyes flashed fire, and his claws were unsheathed. The animal had taken over as he'd predicted. None of the man she knew remained.
    “Beg,” he growled.

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    Amarantha looked around in desperation. A heavy silver collar lay open on the ruby coverlet, attached by a chain to the headboard. Each post of the bed offered another chain of silver links, finished by an open manacle. She would be completely helpless.
    “Beg!” the Beast roared.
    Shivers of terror rocking her, she studied the Beast for signs of humanity. And found them in her heart. She trusted that he wouldn't truly hurt her. Even when he'd said he lost control, the slight scratches he'd given her hadn't been deep. They had already nearly healed.
    She had said yes because she loved him. Nothing had changed.
    “Please,” she said, “I beg you to collar me.”
    “Put it on, then.”
    With shaking hands, Amarantha picked up the silver collar and locked it around her slender throat. The click sounded through the silent room. She looked up and found the Beast watching her with unbearable intensity.
    “I beg you, my Lord Beast, please chain me to your bed.”
    “Lie back and place your hands in the manacles.”
    Shuddering, she obeyed. She laid her wrists inside the open manacles, having to drag the chains a bit closer. The Beast stripped off his gloves and locked the cuffs around her little wrists. Then he tightened the chains so her arms stretched out tightly.
    “Spread your legs.”
    Her eyes fixed on the canopy, Amarantha opened herself to the Beast. He chained her feet, pulling her wider, so she lay in a naked X in the center of the great bed. The Beast stood at the foot of the bed. Waiting.
    “Please make me your wife in truth, my husband. I beg you to take my virginity.”

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    The Beast climbed up onto the bed, crawling over her. He dragged himself against her naked skin, and she realized he'd stripped. His face loomed over her, and Amarantha saw he'd finally pulled off his mask too. The features of the beast warred with the man, distorting his face.
    “The words, Amarantha. Give me the words. I must have them.”
    She could feel him, hot and heavy on her thigh, poised before her virgin passage. The fear rocketed through her. But no shame, she realized.
    “Please fuck me,” she whispered.
    A fierce wind billowed through the house, shattering the silence. The Beast threw back his head and roared. Amarantha braced herself for the thrust that would rend her. And felt human lips on her own. A man's skin against hers.
    “My Amarantha, my bride,” he said, his voice clear and deep. “I fear I cannot wait, but I will make this good for you.”
    Amarantha stared in wonder at the man braced above her. The man inside the distortion of the Beast. The green eyes were exactly the same.
    He shifted himself between her spread