Beauty and the Beast (Demon Tales 1)

Erotic Romance

Secret Cravings Publishing

www.secretcravingspublishing.com

Smashwords Edition © 2014
Kerrianne Coombes

ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED:
Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE
LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal
computer or device.
You do not have resell or distribution
rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher
and the copyright owner of this book.
This book cannot be
copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your
computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer
program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such
action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law.
Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline,
in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet
to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore,
you must delete it from your computer.

WARNING: The unauthorized
reproduction or
distribution of this
copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement,
including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by
the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a
fine of $250,000."

If you find a Secret Cravings
Publishing e-book being sold or shared illegally, please let us
know at
[email protected]

A Secret Cravings Publishing Book

Erotic Romance

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (DEMON TALES 1)

Copyright © 2012 Kerrianne
Coombes

E-book ISBN:
978-1-61885-249-6

First E-book Publication: May 2012

Cover design by Dawne Dominique

Edited by L. Fish

Proofread by Rene
Flowers

All cover art and logo copyright © 2012 by Secret
Cravings Publishing

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED:
This literary work may not be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or
photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express
written permission.

All characters and events in this book are
fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is
strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER

Secret Cravings Publishing

www.secretcravingspublishing.com

This one is for my children,
my heart.

The reason I try so hard, is
to make you proud.

I love you.

(DEMON TALES 1)

Copyright © 2012

Cally snapped her eyes wide open as
consciousness flew into her mind, yanking her from sweet nothing
and dropping her instantly into a cold vat of pain. Her limbs
ached, throbbed, as agony washed over her in slow moving waves,
stealing her breath, pushing on her chest and pounding in her
brain. Darkness surrounded her, covered her like a weightless
blanket forcing her hold her breath.

She startled like a skittish cat when a
scrape of movement came from behind, causing a whiplash of pain to
burn through her body. She tugged at her bound arms and regretted
it instantly when darkness swamped her vision and her empty stomach
rolled. The now familiar disappointment crashed into her mind as
she realized that she was still a captive of the disgusting,
bearded bastard who had snatched her from her life not one week
ago.

Cally closed her eyes against the nip of
tears, and swallowed the painful ball of emotion that lodged in her
throat. So far removed from her normal life of opulence and
comfort, Princess Callindra was helpless. Tied, bound and beaten.
She was hopeless.

Time wound on slowly, quietly as if trying
to pass Cally without her notice, but she noticed. It was a heavy
beat in her heart and a constant ache in her chest. She had been
kept a prisoner on a dirty floor for many days, and she had no idea
how to get free.

Cally tried to shift her body from her right
side to her left. She was desperate to lie on her back, but the way
her arms had been wrenched and tied behind her, it was impossible
to change positions. Not for the first time, she gave it a bloody
good try. She dug her heels into the gritty dirt, and grunted and
huffed like a stuck pig as she used her stiff muscles to rock
herself over. She bit her cheeks against the sudden fizz of pain
that shot through her muscles, but Cally welcomed the small amount
of relief brought by the blood rushing back into her right-hand
side. Her thin cotton shirt and trousers were not much padding
against the cold and biting floor, but she was grateful for what
little protection they did offer.

She landed on her left side. The cool ache
of each limb grew until Cally regretted her even moving, but at
least her view had changed from muddy craggy wall to muddy craggy
cave. The bearded man who had kidnapped her was brought into her
view, sitting in front of the small fire, holding out a knife and
cooking some of the disgusting black meat that he had eaten almost
constantly. Her stomach gave a growl of protest against the abuse
of not being fed properly for days, bringing the foul man’s
attention her way.

His beady brown eyes held a mocking glee as
he chewed his meal noisily. His disgusting odour and vile features
never failed to make her gag. Built like a Viking but looking more
like a gnome, Cally’s captor was definitely not human—and
definitely not a devotee of washing. Even in the muted light of the
cave she could see that her captor was filthy, and the bitter
stench of dirt emanated from him

Living on the edge of the demon realms Cally
had heard of various sorts of different demon, but nothing and no
names came to mind when she looked at him.

When his unblinking, gaze stayed trained on
her, Cally’s heart tripped over and she found herself wincing away
from his mocking stare. She shoved with her feet, moving her body
backwards until the wall and restraints blocked her retreat,
forcing her to stay within the disgusting demon’s line of sight.
She had never hated a wall so much in her entire life.

The longer he watched her, the more she felt
the barbed wire of terror wind its way through her brain, cutting
sharply. When he stood up and walked her way, all of Cally’s
thoughts stalled in her mind. The demon bent his knees and crouched
in front of her. His disgusting odour filled her nose and burned
her senses. Smells that reminded her of death and rotting flesh
assaulted her, bringing a surge of hot acid into her mouth. Cally
whimpered and closed her eyes, desperate to control her petrified
heart. She tried to conjure up images of home and things that she
loved—the castle, her bed—but the sheer potency of his smell
dragged her awareness back into the cave where she was nothing but
a body on the floor.

“Eat?” he grunted, blowing hot, fetid breath
over her hair. She opened her eyes and saw the blackened piece of
meat on offer, held in his filthy fingers. Images of shit and piss
and just about everything else disgusting filled her mind, making
her shake her head at his offer.

“Fine. See if I care,” he grumbled, tossing
the meat into his mouth and chewing with teeth-slapping vigour. “I
don’t much mind if you die, But Demi told me that he’d pay
handsomely for the likes of you.” His beady eyes passed over her,
pausing on places she would much rather not think about. “Don’t
say’s I know why.” He shrugged and picked his teeth with his knife.
“Far too skinny, all bone and nothing. Wassa man to grab onto?” He
grunted again and threw another piece of meat into his stinking
mouth.

Cally tried, without success, to wipe away
the image his words had shoved forcefully into her mind. She
pictured a hefty, smelly man heaving over her, blowing hot, putrid
breath with every thrust. She turned her face away and stared at
the craggy damp wall, fighting with the force of her hunger against
the will to not eat from his toxic hands.

Memories of splendid meals with all the
trimmings assailed her mind, making her stomach cramp in pain.
Torturous images fed by her taunting brain—of roast chicken and
rump steak—created vivid pictures, so clear she could swear that
she could smell them, taste them. Her mouth watered and her stomach
rolled, forcing her to face the vile man once again.

He was sitting once more in front of the
warming fire. Cally watched him for a moment, trying to think of
any way she could escape his vile presence. She racked her brain
for the hundredth time over the small amount of information she had
garnered.

On occasion another man, who looked just
like him, had entered their cave. They had discussed her as if she
were not there, snapping and growling as if irritated. As their
grunted conversation filled the cave, she had learned that they
were waiting for someone—maybe the person called Demi—whom they had
mentioned in their hurried conversations on hushed breaths.

No matter the discussion, no matter the
rush, Cally had learned one thing for certain—that she was to be
sold.

Fabulous! She had run away from her parents
and her upcoming loveless political marriage, only to fall into a
worse variant of the same problem. The only real difference was the
ties on her arms and uncomfortable lodgings. Either way, Cally’s
life was not her own. It had never been her own, really. She was
always under the rule of another, whether it be her mother or this
disgusting creature, Cally was destined to live as another
intended, never to live just for herself.

Bitter resentment burned at her mind when
she remembered her beautiful bedroom, with her comfortable bed and
sumptuous duvet. Anger throbbed in her veins when her mother’s
words flitted through her brain, taunting her with their
accuracy.

“
You will never amount to anything. You
will always be nothing—unless you marry a prince.”
She had been
right. Cally had run away, desperate to find the ‘happily ever
after’, and what was she now?

A bitter laugh boiled up and out of her
throat at the same time as tears slipped from her eyes. The
agonizing ache from being bound and treated rougher than a
worthless street dog began crawling over her body again, spreading
through her limbs in a slow glide. It felt as if hands recently
dipped in ice were stroking her skin, leaving a stinging throb in
their wake, only joined this time by a betraying pressure in her
bladder. Cally groaned, angered by her basic needs, wishing like
hell that she didn’t need to ask the repellent man for
anything—especially not this. But even as she thought about how
utterly mortifying the whole episode of going to relieve herself
was, her mind reminded her that she would at least get to stretch
her limbs for the first time in hours.

Bolstered by that one morsel of positivity,
she cleared her dry, painful throat, cringing repulsively when his
greasy stare once more turned her way. Half chewed food sat
forgotten on his grubby beard while his tongue swiped over his
bottom lip, leaving it wet and slimy. Cally’s hands itched to
tighten around his throat, to squeeze the air from his lungs. Over
the last god-knows–how-long she had dreamed of all the ways she
could kill him. Her favourite idea was using the ties on her arms
to throttle him. If only she could get free, then, she would give
it a damn good go.

A slow, brown-toothed smile slid across his
face. He lifted his hand and waggled a limp piece of meat in front
of his face. “Want some o’ this?”

A small draft wafted his odour her way,
mingling with the burned meat smell. Cally swallowed past the
repulsion as it snaked over her skin, trying to decide if her
bladder could hold on for longer. A throb of pressure pulsed as if
on cue and she reluctantly gave in to her body.

“No.” A rib-cracking cough ripped up her dry
throat.

“She speaks!” He rose from his position and
dropped to his knees in front of her, bringing with him his death
odour. She yelped with shock when he grabbed a fistful of her hair
and tipped her head backwards. A white hot dart of pain lanced
through her body, his yanking movements caused her arms to twist
against the rope. Cally gasped, and her eyes watered.