Castles & Curses

Chapter 1: An Act of Kindness

CHAPTER 1 

AN ACT OF KINDESS 

ARABELLA POV

Warm. I'm so warm. I start to wonder where the warm blanket came from when a picture of a face flashes behind my eyes. The man I'd met in the woods. My eyes fly open only to see him there in front of me with his arm around my waist. I start to scream until I see the bags under his eyes and the dried mud on his clothes. I lift the blanket and see I'm wearing a man's shirt and I'm clean. The kindness of the act causes tears to form in my eyes. No one has ever been this nice to me before without wanting something.  

I shake my head refusing to believe the worst in this man when I know he fell asleep still in his filthy clothes while I was clean. With this thought I realize his touch isn't sending me in a panic and that is strangely comforting even if it does feel as if an electric current is pulsing through me.

So I take the time to look at his beautiful yet horrific features. He has very masculine features with a strong jaw and I remember those deep set blue eyes from the night of the storm. But the scars that slash across his features tell their own story and I wish I knew what it was. I'm so absorbed in him that I don't realize he's awake until he speaks. 

"I'm a beast. I know." I jerk back in surprise and would have fallen off the bed if it wasn't for his strong hand gripping my waist pulling me close. My breath stutters at our proximity as I blink at him. His eyes regard me for a moment before he speaks. 

"I'll just go now. I didn't mean to fall asleep. I just wanted to make sure you were okay." His voice is low as if the normal loud tremor of his voice might scare me. I say nothing as he releases his hold on me and slides off the bed before walking to the door. He stops when I call out. 

"Wait!" He looks back at me his eyes filled with some unnamed emotion. 

"Thank you. My name's Arabella, by the way." Then he is gone and I am left in a large spacious room with high ceilings and bay windows wondering when exactly I stepped into a fairy tale. After mussing for several more minutes I slide from the bed and walk into the spacious bathroom.

My eyes widen at the room. Everything thing in the room is black and red, right down to the toilet. I look over my shoulder to the bed room. It's all black and red as well, even the walls. How did I not notice this before? Lifting the shirt I'm wearing I breath in the same woodsy smell the man had. It's then I realize that not only am I wearing his clothes but I'm in his room as well. I shake my head at my thoughts and walk across the bathroom floor to turn on the shower. The mystery of the beast will just have to wait til after I am more awake.

....................

It isn't until I step out of the shower that I realize that I need more clothes to wear. Clutching the large towel to my chest I peek out the bathroom door to see if it is clear of people. Only it isn't. A woman with large gray bedroom eyes and bright red hair is standing right on the other side of the door. I squeak in surprise and stumble back causing the door to open as I fall  backwards on my butt. The woman gasps and steps forward, fluttering her hands all around, as she speaks. 

"Shite! I'm sorry lass. I didna mean to startle ye. Master told me to get ye some clothes. May I help ye up lass?" I blink at the word Master as I look her over again and realize she's wearing a black and white maid's uniform and not a perverted male fantasy one either, just a black dress and an apron. I open my mouth to answer her when the bedroom door slams open and a voice bellows. 

"Mary! What's wrong I heard Ara..." The voice trails off as the man that saved me fills the bathroom doorway and catches my sprawled position on the floor. His mouth falls open and I glance down to see that the towel has slipped and my body is bare for all to see. Letting out a sound of distress I quickly grab the towel and pull it back around me as I speak.