Savage, Broken, Beautiful: A Sexy Contemporary Rom-Com Retelling of Beauty and the Beast Read online

  Savage, Broken, Beautiful

  Marian Tee

  Contents

  Author Note

  Blurb

  ABOUT THE BOOK

  Also by Marian Tee

  Once Upon a Time…

  The Real Beast

  Maison de Sauvage

  Into the Woods

  Who’s There?

  What Am I Here For?

  Be Our Guest

  Whispers in the Dark

  Of Captors and Captives

  There Is No Us

  Try Me

  Glass Houses

  Dead Butterflies

  Playing God

  How Kinky

  Dear Reader,

  Also by Marian Tee

  About the Author

  Author Note

  This is a contemporary retelling of Beauty and the Beast. It’s written for (my personal fangirling pleasure) grown-ups with a taste for (explicitly) sexy rom-coms, so expect HOT SEX, with some bordering on TABOO.

  Like all my books, this story is absolutely ONE HUNDRED PERCENT ESCAPIST FICTION. Also, my heroes are unapologetic alphas while my heroines are unapologetically nice.

  If none of that has scared you off (or has you blowing your top), then this book may offer you a little bit of fun, maybe even make you forget your problems for a precious while.

  You have been duly warned!

  Blurb

  To save her father from prison, geeky graphic artist Arabella Blume agrees to sell herself to Aurélien Sauvage, a young French billionaire whose life is shrouded in mystery and strange and conflicting rumors.

  When she’s immediately whisked away to a remote island, Arabella braces herself for all kinds of torture. But instead, her new life is more perplexing than terrifying.

  During the day, the staff pampers her like a princess.

  But as for the nights –

  They’ve become her most precious and shameful secret.

  When all is silent and dark, Arabella succumbs to the dangerously addictive passion of her master. Night after night, he listens to her, he talks to her, he makes her laugh, he makes her forget – and later on, he fucks her.

  He fucks her long and hard, he fucks her until she passes out, he fucks her so, so beautifully, and Aurélien promises to cherish her forever – for as long as she doesn’t break his rules.

  Never talk about me to anyone.

  And she doesn’t.

  Never kiss me.

  And she doesn’t.

  And the most imperative, my beauty – never, ever try to look at me in the light.

  But Arabella does.

  She doesn’t mean to, but it happens, and that’s when Arabella realizes all along she’s been making love to an animal.

  A man with a beautiful face, sapphire eyes, and a lethally powerful body, but at the same time a beast with terrifying horns, claws, and fangs –

  Oh my God.

  La bête Sauvage.

  It’s what the islanders have been whispering about – something they’ve always known but never told her, something she thought she understood but didn’t, something that may change the way she sees him –

  Aurélien.

  Her owner.

  Her lover.

  And he seems to know this, too, as the beast – her beast – asks quietly,

  Do I frighten you now, ma belle?

  Do I disgust you?

  Do you want me still?

  ABOUT THE BOOK

  When Arabella finally turned to face the shadows, she heard her mysterious billionaire ask, “Qu’est-ce qui se passé, ma belle?” His soft, accented words tickled her ears, and despite herself, she could feel a smile starting to tug at the corner of her lips. Fortunately, she caught herself in time and instead managed to ask irritably, “You know I don’t speak French, so why do you keep using it with me?”

  “Because I know you have a fetish for it,” the beast answered simply.

  “I do not!” Actually, she did, but the bad thing about it was that she had never known she had one – until she had heard him speak French.

  “Je pense que c’est l’accent,” the beast murmured.

  Inside her shoes, Arabella’s toes curled hard. Shit!

  “I think,” the beast translated, “it’s the accent.” He then switched back to English, saying, “It is very sexy, oui?”

  Also by Marian Tee

  Want More Hot Alpha Billionaire and Biker Romances from Marian Tee?

  Enjoy exclusive excerpts about my newest and upcoming releases by signing up for my newsletter.

  Standalone Novels

  Savage, Broken, Beautiful

  A contemporary and sizzling-hot retelling of the Beauty and the Beast, this story starts when Arabella sells herself to a mysterious French billionaire who has her whisked to his remote island.

  Eternal Night

  This is a retelling of Hades and Persephone’s love story, but this time the God of the Underworld finds himself falling for a mortal girl.

  Captivated: 4-in-1 Friends Romance Boxed Set

  Enjoy four standalone romances between passionate, domineering billionaires and the women who were their friends first before becoming their lovers.

  All stories have either happy-ever-after or happy-for-now endings.

  His Fair Lady

  Prince Julian knows the blind fortuneteller Cass is everything he wants in a woman, but she can never be his bride.

  Devoured and Secrets

  Back-to-back standalone novels about cynical Italian billionaire Luca Valencia who buys himself a wife in order to give his little girl the mother she needed and deserved. His choice: innocent Vivian Day, who he knew could ill afford to reject his proposition.

  The Marriage Dare

  Quintessential girl Friday Jane can’t ever say no to a dare. And so when her friends challenge her to make out with a beautiful stranger, she does it. And when said stranger dares her to marry him – she does it, too.

  Greek Billionaire Romance Serials

  The Art of Catching a Greek Billionaire (FREE!)

  The Art of Trusting a Greek Billionaire

  The Art of Loving a Greek Billionaire

  The Art of Forgiving a Greek Billionaire

  The Art of Wedding a Greek Billionaire

  The Art of Kissing a Greek Billionaire (FREE!)

  The Greek Billionaire and I (Standalone)

  The Greek Billionaire and His Secretary Series

  The Greek Billionaire and His Secretary (FREE)

  Dear Greek Billionaire

  Love, Your Greek Billionaire

  Forever and Ever, My Greek Billionaire

  That One Time (Standalone)

  My Dutch Billionaire Trilogy

  Part 1 (FREE)

  Part 2

  Part 3

  Pollyanna and the Greek Billionaire Trilogy (Innocent and Betrayed)

  Part 1 (FREE)

  Part 2

  Part 3

  How Not to be Seduced Series / Mediterranean Affairs (According to Reading Order)

  Nik & Daria

  A Fling with the Greek Billionaire: Prequel (FREE)

  A Fling with the Greek Billionaire: Standalone

  Eternally Seduced: Contemporary Romance (7-in-1 Boxed set)

  Included in this bundle: How Not to be Seduced by Billionaires, How Not to be Seduced by Rockstars, How Not to be Seduced by Dukes Part 1

  The Ice Around My Heart (How Not to be Seduced by Dukes Part 2)

  The Rockstar and His Fangirl
(Standalone)

  The Rockstar I’ve Loved for So Long (Standalone)

  BBF Series: Christopoulos University (According to Reading Order)

  Warning: Love Moderately Duology (Derek & Jaike)

  Unwillingly Yours (FREE!)

  Meant to Be Yours

  Park & Violet (Standalone)

  Nick & Lilac (Standalone)

  Jason & Keanne (Standalone)

  Prince of Darkness Duology

  Part 1

  Part 2

  For Angelo (Standalone)

  BEASTS Series (All Standalone Books)

  My Russian Beast (Sergei & Fredericka)

  My Greek Beast (Alyx & Nathan)

  My Italian Beast (Anneke & Marcus)

  Heart Racer – Billionaire Biker Romance Series: Christopoulos University (According to Reading Order)

  Leandro & Bobby: Duology

  Heart Racer (FREE!)

  Driven by Love

  Helios & MJ Trilogy

  Swish (FREE!)

  Burn

  Click

  Kellion & Aria (Standalone)

  Yuri & Kalli (Standalone)

  Drawn / Russian Stepbrother Romance / Play With Me Sports Romance Series: Christopoulos University (According to Reading Order)

  Drawn (Standalone)

  Russian Stepbrother Romance Trilogy

  When I Moan

  When I Hurt

  When I Love

  Play With Me (Standalone)

  This Round I’m Yours (Standalone)

  Visit Marian Tee’s website for her other titles.

  Want More Hot Alpha Billionaire and Biker Romances from Marian Tee?

  Enjoy exclusive excerpts about my newest and upcoming releases by signing up for my newsletter.

  Savage, Broken, Beautiful

  BY

  Marian Tee

  Copyright 2017 by Streak Digital Publishing

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Created with Vellum

  Once Upon a Time…

  There was an island off the coast of France, remote and ruggedly beautiful. Its master – a wealthy old widower – lived in a jewel of a mansion set atop a treacherously steep cliff, together with his infant son and loyal servants.

  Realizing that a life of isolation wouldn’t be ideal for a child, the wealthy widower began a careful and thorough search of people he could invite to live in his island. Those who wished for redemption, those whom life had unfairly dealt a bad hand, those who were lonely and had hope and joy stolen from them for all kinds of reasons – these were the people he chose because the wealthy widower knew that they would understand his secret.

  And so letters were sent out, and soon boat after boat sailed into the shallow waters of St. Marianne. The newcomers were welcomed warmly by the servants, taken to their new homes, and shown around the island. There was a local school, a well-equipped clinic, a small plaza, and even the promise of an annual feast to celebrate the island’s patron saint, and all of it at the expense of the island’s owner.

  For dinner, they were all invited to join the master in his mansion, and their first glimpse of the place left them awestruck. A sprawling, landscaped garden preceded the mansion, where rows upon rows of the most exquisite winter flowers bloomed. There was even a charming little bridge to cross, arching over a manmade lake whose shiny frozen surface promised endless hours of skating delight.

  Once inside the mansion, the sights were even more splendid, enough to cast a spellbinding silence over its audience. Centuries of breathtaking art and furniture rich in history and priceless in value were all around them. And in the corner of the grand ballroom, a solemn-looking maestro played behind the grand piano. A famous classical piece, but one they couldn’t name, and it made the newcomers feel even more out of depth.

  Why would a man, who owned a place as magnificent as this, be interested in helping them turn their lives around?

  It was the question they all wanted to ask, but none of them had the courage to speak of. And when their host finally joined them, a bespectacled gentleman with a kind-looking face, they found themselves a little relieved but even more confused.

  The host introduced himself simply as Monsieur Sauvage, a doctor and a widower. He then proceeded to regale them with funny snippets of island living, which they all lapped up eagerly even as their curiosity grew and grew. As their host entertained them, plate after plate of sumptuous food was served, but strangely absent was any presence of wine – or any kind of spirits for that matter. Perhaps the good doctor had taken a vow of abstinence?

  When dessert was served together with coffee, Monsieur Sauvage said ever so mildly, “And now, let me address the questions you have been so courteous to keep to yourselves.” There was a brief smile. “It only proves that I have chosen well.”

  The doctor began to tell them of his beloved wife, the only woman he had ever cared for. They had only been married for a few months when she had become enceinte. Both of them had been surprised but overjoyed, and the doctor more so when they found out it was a boy. They would talk for days about the life they would lead, of how happy they would be - but in the end, their words were nothing but words, dreams that would never come true.

  His wife died delivering their child, and her hardships were such that not even the most skilled physicians could save her from the talons of death. Her loss devastated him, but worse was how he was then tormented by the fear that his son would one day leave him, too.

  As days passed, his fear grew, turning into paranoia, while his grief, deep-seated and inconsolable, turned into insanity. The doctor locked himself up for months in his laboratory, determined to go beyond protecting his son. He might not have been able to save his beloved wife, but by God he would make sure that the same fate would not befall his son.

  This time, Death would not win, for the doctor would make his son immortal.

  And so it was one wintry night that the doctor injected his prized creation into the blood of his son. As the infant started to cry, the doctor took his child into his arms, and kissing his baby’s downy head, he whispered, “You have nothing to fear now.” The words were true, but in a way that the doctor did not intend.

  The next day, a terrified scream woke the doctor from his nightmare-riddled sleep and when he realized it was coming from his child’s nurse, he started running, his heart beating hard. C’est impossible! It could not be, it could not be! The drug would never have killed his son. It should’ve been the opposite. It would have made him the strongest, the fastest, the most cunning---

  Monsieur Sauvage caught sight of the nurse running away like the devil was after her, but fearing he had no time to lose, he charged towards the nursery---

  Mon Dieu.

  The doctor fell to his knees.

  What had he done?

  Sheer horror destroyed the last chains of grief and insanity, and he started to weep.

  Indestructible horns of the most powerful bull –

  Razor-sharp fangs of the most dangerous wolf –

  Viciously deadly claws of the most ferocious lion –

  His son had it all…because the doctor had turned his son into a monster.

  The last words of Monsieur Sauvage fell into an uneasy silence, and the doctor smiled grimly at the uneasy expressions of his guests. “Ce n’est pas une blague, mes amies.” It is not a joke, my friends.

  And as the monsieur spoke, a middle-aged woman came in, bearing an infant swathed in layers of cotton. The doctor murmured his thanks as he took his son from the nurse, and he presented his little one to his guests. “Mon fils.” My son.

  The newcomers began to laugh, relieved but still just a little wary, when they saw
a pair of brilliantly blue eyes and a face that promised breathtaking handsomeness once the child reached adulthood.

  But then the baby started to smile.

  And that was when they saw the fangs.

  The doctor calmly peeled the cotton off his son’s squirming body.

  And they saw the horns –

  And the claws -

  Une bête. A beast.

  As horror filled their faces, the doctor’s own face hardened. “I gave all of you a chance when the rest of the world did not. Am I asking too much now, that you show the same courtesy to my child? He has only smiled at the lot of you in his innocence – does that warrant the way you are looking at him now?”

  The doctor’s words, spoken in a voice that shook with great emotion, had shame gradually replacing the people’s fear.

  “It is but one simple thing that I ask of all of you – one simple reason why I offered all of you a chance to turn your lives around. Give my son a chance to be human. Show him that it is what’s inside that makes us human.”

  The Real Beast

  The room was almost cavernous in its vastness, the darkness interrupted only by the golden light coming from the ornate Victorian chandelier hanging over the majestic four-poster bed. Its rays spilled over the tapestried walls, the rich midnight-black carpet, and the priceless furniture in the room, one of which was an antique camelback sofa where the master and his mistress were currently fucking.

  “Aurélien, oh, oh!” The golden-haired woman, naked from the waist down, bounced wildly on her lover’s lap, her slender body wanting more and more of the monstrous cock she was impaled on.