* * *

WILLOW

Later that night, when it grows colder and the crickets begin to chirp, I reluctantly shut my window and return to my bed. It has been a long, quiet day of blindness, and I touch my blindfold once more to ensure that it's firmly in place. Once I've reassured myself that it is, I pull my nightgown over my head and toss it to the floor, crawling under the blankets. I'm going to make sure he notices every little thing I do to myself tonight, even if he doesn't want to.

I suspect he'll be back again. Even if he doesn't want to talk to me, I don't think he'll be able to resist watching me. For all I know, he's been quietly watching me all day.

The thought of him watching me even now makes me quiver. I slide a hand under the blankets, cupping my breast. Does he see this? Has he been watching as I undressed? Wondering at my actions?

"Ruari?" I say softly, pushing the blankets down with my other hand so he can see my breasts. "Are you there?"

It's utterly silent. But that doesn't mean anything. That just means I haven't caught him off guard enough.

"I think you are," I say quietly. "I think if you only have a guest for a few days out of the year, you're going to come and watch her even if you don't want to. I think you won't be able to stay away."

There's no response.

I start to wonder if I'm wrong. Maybe he's not here watching me. Maybe he's not interested in me at all. It won't matter if Leta thinks I can break the curse if he isn't interested in me in the slightest. I slide my hands over my breasts and rub my nipples, tilting my head as if he's there and I'm speaking to him anyhow. "Do you want to watch me touch myself again tonight? Because I'm going to."

"Why do you do this?" His thick voice rasps after a moment. It sounds fiercer than before, more bestial. "Do you seek to torture me?"

"Not at all." I slide a hand down my belly. "Why can't I touch myself? Get what pleasure I want before my time is up?"

Footsteps. When he speaks next, he sounds a lot closer to my bed. "You wear your blindfold yet."

"I do." It's securely in place and I can't see a thing. I feel a little stab of regret that I can't see his face. I want to know what he looks like. I want to know everything about him. I want to see his eyes, because I want to know what he's thinking.

RIght now I'm just having to go on faith.

"Do you not wish to look upon the beast?" he asks me.

More than anything, I think to myself, but I continue to run my hands over my naked skin, touching myself. "Does it matter what you look like? It changes nothing about any of this."

"You might be horrified to see what I am truly like."

"You could be the ugliest creature in the world, and I am still here to become your bride," I tell him, softening the severity of my words with a smile. "We are both trapped in this, you and I. So I'd just prefer to let our minds meet for a while and let the rest work itself out."

Ruari pauses again. "You are...different from the others."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment." I move my hand down my thigh. "And you must like it or you wouldn't be back."

He makes the broken gravel sound, and I realize he's laughing. I like that. I lie back in the pillows again and arch my back, thrusting my breasts into the air. It feels sensuous and I'm getting turned on at the idea of him watching me. There's something freeing about the blindfold despite it limiting my vision. I don't have to worry about looking foolish when I writhe on the bed because who is there to see? Who will care except me and Ruari? It gives me a bit more courage to do as I like.

"It makes no difference if I like it - or you. None of this will matter in two days. You will just be another rose for me to lament over."

His words strike a note of fear in my heart, but I choose to ignore it. I'm going to have faith in what Leta told me. I recline on my side and slide a hand over my hip. "Then why do you care if you like me or not? Why not enjoy ourselves for the time we have?" I move my hand between my thighs and cup my pussy. "Want to see me touch myself again?"

"More than anything." His breathing is raspy, and I feel his presence at the side of my bed.

I grow bolder at hearing his excitement. I'm wet already, and my nipples feel tight and hard with excitement. "Then you have to give me something, too," I tell him. I slip a finger between my folds and rub my clit, just a little, just enough to make a gasp escape my throat.

Ruari growls. "Name it." 

"I want you to touch yourself."

"I shall give that freely. Take off your mask so you can watch." I like how raspy his breath is, as if the very thought drives him wild.

With a little shake of my head, I continue to play with my pussy. "The mask must stay on."

"Then how do you expect to see me touch myself?"

"I'll experience it with my hands."

He growls again. "You...want to touch me?"

"More than anything," I whisper. The thought is a deliciously naughty one. Touching the beast? Putting my hands on him while he pleasures himself? It's not done. Not at all. Maybe that's why I want it so very badly. There's so much to experience and I have to cram it into these last two days...

Just in case Leta is wrong.  Just in case.

"Very well," he tells me. "But you must go first." 

"I planned on it," I tell him softly, and run my fingertip over my clit, just like I always do when I touch myself.

Ruari lets out a choked sound. "Do that again."

I bite my lip and do just that, sliding my finger through my wet folds and then circling against my clit. The little nub is tingling with every touch, and I feel my nipples grow tighter in response. The hollow ache begins in my belly and a sigh escapes me. It feels good, and yet I want so much more.

"Spread your legs for me," he murmurs, voice low. Something hot fans over my skin and I think it's his breath. Oh. Is he that close? 

I do as he asks, letting my fingers explore my pussy before gliding back up to my clit again. Normally when I touch myself, I go straight for my clit and don't stop until I've come. But with him watching, it makes me want to take my time, to play a little more. To hear his reactions as I pleasure myself. "Are you...are you going to touch me?" The thought makes my legs jerk, as if I'm about to come. I like it far too much.

"You want the beast to touch you? To stroke your sweetness?"

"I want you to touch me, Ruari." The thought is so exciting I'm practically coming off the bed. I wait, panting with anticipation. Is he going to do it? Or is he going to leave me wanting?

After what feels like an excruciating amount of time, I feel a hand on my stomach. His skin feels hot against mine, but he still feels completely and utterly human. Strange -- and wonderful. I moan at the small touch, and my thighs automatically begin to close as I feel a bit of shyness creep in. 

"No," he rasps. "Open for me."

My breath catches in my throat and I force myself to do as he commands, to part my thighs and give him access to my most secret parts. His big hand cups my pussy, scorchingly hot. I moan, unable to remain quiet. It's the most intimate thing I've ever felt, and it makes me feel excited and squirmy both at once.

"Your cunt is so wet."

His blunt words make me gasp, and when he rubs a finger along the seam of my folds, I moan again. "Is that bad?" He sounds surprised, and I wonder if it's something that's not done, getting all slick and hot when you're turned on. I've never given it much thought; it's something that's always happened when I got aroused.

"No. It's very, very good," Ruari whispers. "I like it."

"I like your touch," I tell him, and then moan again when one of his big, blunt fingers strokes over my clit. "Just like that!"

"Tell me how you want it," he commands. I feel a big hand land on my belly, his other between my thighs. It's like he's holding me down so he can touch me, and it's the most arousing thing ever. I can't stop moaning or moving underneath his grip. I want to raise my hips up, to put more friction against the gentle strokes he's giving my pussy but he's holding me in place.

I pant, my hands going to my breasts so I can pluck at my nipples while he toys with my folds. "Rub me again," I demand of him. "Go in little circles around my clit. Soft touches."

"Like this?" He drags the pad of one finger over my clit and I nearly come off the bed. I cry out, my body jolting with a surge of intense pleasure, and the hand on my belly reaches up and grabs a fistful of my hair, anchoring me down. "I've got you, pretty Willow," he murmurs close to my ear, the beast-like growl in his throat making his words that much more erotic. "Are you going to come all over my fingers? Soak my hand with your juices?" He continues to tell me all sorts of filthy things as he rubs me just as I've demanded, until I'm sobbing my need and I splinter apart in his arms. 

As I come, I feel him lean down and his forehead presses against mine, against the blindfold.

Panting with my release, I reach up and touch his hair. It's soft and thick, tangled and long enough to brush his shoulders. "Are you all right?" I murmur.

"I...just need a moment," he tells me. He lifts his head and steps away. Ruari inhales deeply and then groans. There's a faint sound of licking. "Your taste is incredible." 

I squirm with pleasure and embarrassment both as I hear that. He's tasting me? "What does it taste like?"

"The sweetest thing ever."

I bite my lip, wishing I could see it. Damn, I hate this stupid blindfold. I want to see everything and all I get are sounds. It's so unfair. "Did you come?" I ask, curious. Maybe he did and I didn't realize it because I didn't feel it hit my arm this time.

He's silent, and I take that as a no.

"Can...can I touch you?" I ask, all breathless at the thought. 

"You want to touch me?"

"Of course." My answer sounds a little too pat, even for my own ears, so I add, "I'd love to. If you don't mind, that is."

He laughs, that same broken, raspy laugh that sounds like it's coming from too many teeth. "As if I would turn away the touch of a lovely woman?"

"Well, you might," I say meekly. "But I'd be disappointed if you did."

"You can touch me, but I cannot guarantee you will like it." He hesitates for a long moment and grabs my hand when I reach out. "I am...a beast in all ways."

I shake my head. "You're just a man to me," I tell him. And I slowly reach forward and put a hand on his chest. I'm not entirely surprised to find it bare - maybe beasts don't wear a lot of clothing - nor am I surprised to find that his chest is hard and smooth and muscular, with just a hint of chest hair. It doesn't feel beastly at all.

I can feel just how tense he is under my touch, though. He truly expects me to reject him, and my heart breaks for Ruari. I move to the edge of the bed, putting both of my hands on his chest. "I see nothing wrong with the way you feel," I say softly. "You feel warm and strong to me." I trail a hand down one muscular arm. Maybe this is part of his curse - maybe he looks beastly on the outside but feels human. Maybe he doesn't even realize this himself.

Or maybe it's the blindfold that allows me to see what's truly here instead of the curse? Who can say.

All I know is that it's incredibly pleasurable to touch him, and I want to explore all of his body. "Ruari," I whisper. "I'm glad I'm here with you." It seems like we're in this together, and I feel incredibly bonded to him right now. We're drawn together in this curse, and in our mutual pleasure. It's fascinating and it makes me hungry for more and more. 

Three days won't be enough to explore all of this.

But since it's what I've got, that's why I'm moving so fast. Maybe the Willow that has lived, sheltered and lonely on her parents' farm at the edge of Windybrook wouldn't be hungry for a stranger's body. Maybe that Willow would be too shy to blatantly grab at his arms and squeeze the hard muscles, or to run her fingers down his abdomen, learning his body by touch. That Willow might never cup his sac to feel its gentle weight, or skim her fingers along the long, veined length of his cock. The Willow of the curse, however, will take everything she can grab with both her hands, and more. She's going to get all of her living in if three days is all she has.

Ruari's breath hitches when I touch his cock. He doesn't move as I learn his length with my hands, or when I discover the drops of wetness at the tip and bring them to my mouth to taste them. It's a strong flavor, but not an unpleasant one. "Ruari," I whisper again, because I like to hear his name on my lips...and I love the shuddering response it brings.

"I want to see your face, Willow. All of it. I want you to see me." 

And to my horror, I feel him reach for the blindfold.

I shriek, flinging myself backward. The blindfold fabric has worked its way into my hair and snarls on several strands of my hair, hanging barely over my eyes. I squeeze them tightly shut and curl myself into a protective ball, shielding my face. "Don't! You can't do that!"

The beast snarls. "Why? Tell me why!"

I can't. "I won't!"

"Do you mock me, Willow? Is that what this is? Some game of yours?" His rage is terrible to hear. "Shall I rip it off your face and end this charade for myself?"

"Do that, and you lose me forever," I whisper. You lose everything.

"I only have you for one more day anyhow," he says, and his voice is so, so bitter. "What does it matter?"

"It matters to me." And because I can't trust him, I pull the covers back over my entire body, ducking my head underneath like a child, until none of me is visible to him. "Leave me, please. Don't come back. I can't trust you."

Ruari gives another beastlike snarl of rage, and then I hear him storm out of my room, claws clicking on the stone floor.