Belle’s Quest (Fairytale Bureau #3)

Chapter 11

11

Morning came, and so did my skin. I patted my face to ensure the smoothness. No beard or mustache. A peek in my undies showed a normal-sized bush. For now. I had no doubt, by nightfall, that would change. I’d have to make the most of the day.

Knowing the clock ticked before my next shift had me eager to head out, a departure that would have been easier if something hadn’t crushed the cars overnight.

Like, literally.

After we all showered and had breakfast, we stood outside looking at the squashed vehicles in the driveway. The confiscated car from the agents the day before and Clive’s MINI Cooper. The windows had shattered from whatever had dented the roof.

“Well, that’s not going to be a fast fix,” Clive drawled.

“We’re stuck.” I jutted my lower lip in a pout.

Clive guffawed. “Bah, that’s not my only means of transportation. How do you feel about travelling old school?”

By that, he meant horses and a carriage, the kind with big hoop wheels and enclosed seating, except for the driver who sat outside on a bench at the front.

“Um…” I stared because, quite honestly, I’d never seen the likes in real life before.

“Don’t you worry. Bessy and Bertha are solid gals, aren’t you?” Clive stroked the muzzles of the horses.

“Won’t a carriage take longer?” I remained all too aware the clock ticked before my next beastly change.

“Once we get to Padstow, we’ll rent a car,” Hannah reassured.

At her claim, Clive shook his head. “Padstow’s got a barricade up and ain’t allowing outsiders anywhere close to town. We ain’t the only ones with trouble last night. Word is the whole town’s shut tight while they clean up the mess. Something about foxes and hens, cookie crumbles, and dragon shit.”

Yikes. I hoped I’d not been the cause for the chaos overnight.

“If Padstow is out, then I guess we’ll be travelling a little farther before we swap horsies for a car.” Hannah glanced at Gerome. “You handling the horses or riding shotgun? ”

“I’ve seen how you drive,” Gerome grumbled as he clambered onto the seat.

Hannah stepped onto a ledge at the back and looked her arm through a rail. Her other hand gripped a rifle.

The prince opened the door to the carriage and flipped out a little step before offering me a hand. “After you, wifey poo.”

I rolled my eyes. “That is a ridiculous nickname.”

“And here I’m rather fond of it.”

“Very well, hubby dubby.” Probably the lamest comeback in the history of comebacks. I placed my hand in his and climbed inside the carriage. It had worn leather seats that faced each other, meaning I had no choice but to look at Killian.

He lounged across from me, looking relaxed as we lurched into motion. It proved to be bumpier than expected, and I slid around until he grabbed hold of me and dragged me into his lap.

“What are you doing?” I squeaked.

“Preventing a concussion.”

I’d like to claim he exaggerated, but… I kind of liked my new spot. His arms wrapped around me, and his face nuzzled my hair, but it was the burgeoning erection under my bottom that heated my cheeks.

“So once we get to the hamlet Ashbrittle, we’ll have to be observant,” I stated breathily to try and distract myself.

“Mmm-hmm.”

“Given Ashbrittle appears to have experienced the earliest cases, chances are the source is nearby.”

“But most likely hidden since no one’s ever seen or mentioned anything.”

“Or they didn’t know what they found. We’ll have to question the village folk.”

“And what shall we ask?”

That was a stumbling point. “I don’t know,” I had to admit.

“We should have brought a drone.”

“What for?”

“An aerial view might have shown us any structures that don’t appear on a map. Perhaps some terrain anomalies.”

“Maybe we’ll find one in the town when we stop to rent a car.”

He didn’t reply, but he did kiss my nape, sending a shiver down my spine. When he did speak, it was to softly murmur, “Have you given thought to my suggestion?”

I could have played dumb. Instead, I half turned in his lap. “You still want to stay married to me after all that’s happened? ”

“As if a few dragons, ravens, and car-crushing monsters would change my mind.” His lips held a smile.

“And the fact I’m hairy half the day?”

“Would you feel better if I stopped shaving? We could be hairy in solidarity.”

“Hardly the same.”

“You haven’t seen the facial hair I can grow,” he boasted.

“You’re really determined.”

“I am, especially when it’s something I believe in.”

“How can you be so sure we’d work? We haven’t even properly kissed.”

“Only because you wanted to wait.”

It wasn’t that I wanted to wait. I wanted to kiss him. So much. But what if… What if I cursed him?

He read my mind and whispered, “I’m willing to take that chance.”

Before I could change my mind, I pressed my mouth to his. Just a touch.

Nothing happened, unless the tingling that started between my legs counted.

“That’s not a kiss, wifey poo,” he complained when I pulled away.

“I don’t have much experience,” I had to admit. Usually, by this point, I was fending off claw and fangs.

“Then let me show you how it’s done.” His mouth slanted over mine, claiming, branding me with passion. My breath hitched at the sensations that raced through me. Excitement, desire, urgency.

I wanted more. Especially since he remained human. That had never happened before. Usually by now, there was roaring and hair pulling, and blame. So much blame.

Our teeth clashed as I kissed him back, clumsy but eager. His hands helped to turn me so I sat straddling him, all the better to mesh our mouths.

But our lips weren’t the only things having fun. His hands roamed me. Sliding up my back, squeezing my bum. I kneaded his shoulders and stroked his arms, reveling in the fact I could touch him. My pussy pressed against his groin, his erection a hard bulge that felt good when I rocked just right.

I could have done this all day, but he whispered, “Turn around so your back is tucked to my chest.”

I wasn’t questioning the man who had me floating. I flipped as asked and figured out the why really quick as his hand slid into my pants. I gasped when he touched me. It felt wondrous and strange. Previously, I’d been the only one to lay fingers on that intimate part of me. I liked it better when he did it. The tip of his finger circled my clit, parted my nether lips, teased me to the point I writhed on his lap .

He sat me on the bench and knelt before me, tugging down my pants, and I was too lost in the pleasure to care he could see me. He kept touching me. Stroking me. Making me claw at the leather seats at the pleasure.

When he blew hotly on me, I came off the seat for a second as I clenched in bliss.

He pinned my thighs and did it again. I shuddered as I came, a tiny orgasm that squeezed my eyes tight and my pussy even tighter.

But he wasn’t done.

His lips touched me next, and his tongue, and… oh.

Oh.

He stroked me with his mouth, made me feel things I’d never imagined. Brought a coiling intensity to my body that had me striving for a peak I’d never even come close to reaching before.

I came. Not a tiny little orgasm that barely satisfied. I finally grasped what the books meant when they claimed to see stars. I floated, undulated, clenched, and expanded. The pleasure was unlike anything, and as I lay there limply, basking in the afterglow, I could only murmur, “Wow.”

“That’s nothing, dear wife. The pleasure has only just begun.”

“Really?” It took effort to open my heavy eyes, and no surprise, he knelt between my legs with a pleased grin.

A smile I ruined when the carriage abruptly halted and I slammed into Killian’s face.