Freeing the Beast: Taming the Beast, Book 1 Read Online Free Page A

really.”
    Becca crossed her arms beneath her breasts. “When was the last time you were a woman?”
    “Never. I don’t have to be. I’ve dated hundreds to know how they operate.”
    Okay, now he was bragging…maybe. “Hundreds?”
    “If I’d told you the truth, that it was thousands, you wouldn’t have believed me.”
    A prick of jealousy hurt her gut. She shook it off with a laugh. “Thousands? And they all dumped you?”
    “Not right away.” Misery crossed his face.
    Damn. Becca felt like a shit for causing him any pain. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so…”
    “Bitchy?”
    “Sure, we’ll go with that.” She pushed her bangs off her forehead.
    “I really do like your hair color,” he said, regarding it. Admiring it.
    Warmth poured through Becca so quickly, she started to sweat again. The last time she’d felt this flustered was in tenth grade when the football captain had accidentally shoved her into a locker and blurted, “Sorry. Didn’t see you.”
    It wasn’t his apology, but the way he’d said it. As though he’d actually considered her a human being. Not an inanimate object.
    Eric seemed unable to focus on anything except her. Not even the weird sounds pouring from the other rooms distracted him. Was his attention real or simply part of his innate genetic charm?
    Somehow, Becca didn’t want to know and risk disappointment. “Are you saying you want us to release your beast? That is, if you have any.”
    “I do.” He pushed to a sitting position. “I must. No one’s perfect.”
    He was pretty damn close.
    “You want us to make you rude, obnoxious, selfish, vulgar and basically unbearable like our other clients when they first come here?”
    “I don’t want to offend. But hey, a little of that stuff wouldn’t hurt.”
    She rubbed her forehead. “I think you have the wrong idea about women. We really do want an honorable man. Someone who’s kind.”
    “How many have you kept dating like that?”
    None. She’d always fallen for the bad boys, delighted when they threw a crumb of attention her way, determined to turn those morsels into a whole loaf of love. Never happened. They used her. She got hurt, swore never to do it again, then did. Except for the last six months. Becca had kept her pledge, hadn’t screwed in half a year, and was ready to jump out of her skin. She dropped her hand. “We’re not talking about me.”
    “Fair enough. Let’s ask your staff.”
    “Zoe’s sworn off men and sex.”
    “Lucky guys.”
    Becca twisted her mouth.
    “Careful,” he teased. “Your face might freeze that way.”
    She was not going to smile.
    Eric inclined his head to the hall. “Have you been listening to that?”
    “The groans and howls?” To Becca they were background noise.
    “No. The conversation.”
    She went to the door and opened it. Four staff members were huddled close to one of the treatment rooms, giggling worse than tweens. Constance—a black voodoo priestess—wore her signature turban and flowing gown, tonight’s garb in peacock blue and iridescent green. Next to Constance’s vibrancy, Heather looked even more delicate than the typical fairy. At least, those envisioned by artists and Hollywood. Although she was of normal height and didn’t have wings, she was so blonde, pale and slender she seemed in danger of fading away. The other two staff members were twins Becca could never tell apart.
    “We really shouldn’t change him,” Constance said. “He’s fine just as he is.”
    Twin One pressed her hands to her chest and sighed. “I love how he knows what he wants and tells me. Gets right to the freaking point, you know?”
    “Do I,” Twin Two said. “When he growls an order, I can’t move fast enough. Imagine what he’d be like in bed.”
    “Along with that freaking tail of his,” her sister added. “Imagine the places it’d take you.”
    Constance nodded knowingly. “He’s one helluva demon. Talk about a deep voice. I bet women can hear it