Beauty & The Beast (Charmed & Santos)

Corina wandered through the darkening forest as she walked along the familiar path from her home in search of the castle of the elusive and wealthy Vladimir- the only one who could help her get her beloved father back home safely. She'd grown up around here in the woods and surrounding areas so she knew her way around fairly well. Yet, she felt the first real tendrils of fear as she passed by a large, knarled oak tree...the same exact one that had so frightened her as a child. The sudden feral roar of an animal in the distance, only enhanced her anxiety and she began to run as panic threatened to consume her.

She didn't know how long she ran for or in which direction when a cramp in her side forced her to stop by a swift moving stream. She dropped to her knees and pulled her long blond hair away from her face as she scooped up a handful of water and drank it down greedily. After quenching her thirst, she stood up and gasped in surprise at the sight before her.

A huge castle stood just over a small hill in front of her. "That has to be it!" she said to herself. The sky was quickly fading to dark, and she was relieved to get in out of the wild night.

It didn't take her long to cross over the hill and make her way to the massive wooden doors of the dark and gloomy castle where she hesitantly knocked and waited for someone to answer..... "Hello? Is anyone home..?"

Corina stumbled backwards a bit at the menacing voice that came from behind the slightly opened door. Although she'd heard the rumors of the cursed Vladimir Romanov, a part of her had believed that they were just that..rumors. Yet that voice, that was really more like a growl, made her second guess those assumptions.

Then, as fear threatened to overwhelm her, she took a deep breath and reminded herself of why she was here, You've come this far, Corina! Don't back down now..not with papa's life on the line! Be brave! she thought to herself as she steadied herself on her feet. " I....I've come to see Vladimir Romanov, my name is Corina Braun." she said with a shaky voice, " Please, it is imperitive that I speak with him..... "

A loud and eery howl rent the darkening night sky from somewhere in the depths of the forest behind her and she turned with frightened eyes at the sound. Nighttime in the forest could be a very dangerous place as any number of wild animals and evil creatures came out from hiding to hunt and track prey. The thought of being turned away to face such terrors had her trembling in fear as she returned her wide eyed stare back to the door and waited for a response...

" I...I'm sorry to..to have bothered you Mr. Romanov, it's just that well, you're my last hope. I assure you it is of a life or death situation that has brought me here to...to beg of your help."

Corina fought against the welling of tears in her sapphire blue eyes but her emotions were too frayed to stop them. She lowered her head and stared at her feet in an attempt to hide the fact that she was crying, as she quickly wiped away the tears as they fell.

Another deep breath and then another, and she finally composed herself enough to continue, " May I...May I please..come in?"

She exhaled the breath she hadn't even been aware she'd been holding at his curt invitation. She closed the huge, heavy door behind her and was instantly plunged into an eery darkness. The only lighting came from sparsely placed candles that hung on the walls ahead of her and down a short hallway in which she followed his tall, broad form.

He led her into a cavernous room that had very little furnishings and what little she could see looked to be covered in white sheets, as if the room hadn't been used in quite some time. At the far end of the room sat an old but beautiful piano, it was uncovered as was the bench in front of it. At first, she thought it was the only place available to sit but then his deep timbred voice came from somewhere in the shadows off to her right and told her to have a seat. When she turned her head she saw a small leather couch with 2 fabric covered chairs flanking it.

She was slightly startled when all of a sudden flames erupted in a fireplace that was behind the couch. She sat down on the couch but still couldn't see him, but she knew he was there.

She cleared her throat and began to speak. She started at the beginning about her father's illness and all that had been done in attempts to help him. She even told him of her mother's death and how heartbroken her father had been ever since. She was amazed at how calm she remained, at how well she kept her composure throughout the telling of her desperate plight. Finally, she got to the hardest part, where she had to ask..to beg for the money for one last operation to help save her father's life from the cancer that was slowly destroying him.

Afterwards, there was total and complete silence. She choked on a sob as she briefly thought he hadn't been there listening afterall-

Whatever she had been expecting his reply to be- it wasn't that. She remained silent for a minute as she considered his conditions. But what is there to truly consider? she thought to herself as she nervously worried her bottom lip between her teeth, This is what I've been hoping for- what else could I possibly say but yes?

Without turning her head behind her to where his voice had come from, she answered him with complete dedication and clarity, " It's a deal." The truth of the matter was that she'd have done almost anything he demanded, in return for his assistance.

She looked around the spacious room and wondered if he lived here all alone or if he had any maids or servants to help with the upkeep of such a grand home? Yet, she put that along with any other questions aside for the moment as there were more important things to discuss first.

" Y..you said I would be staying here..? Starting..tonight?" she asked. " I wasn't prepared to stay over....night" her voice trembled slightly. Yet as soon as the words left her mouth, an image of her walking back home, alone, through the dark and creepy forest came to mind and she realized that staying here wasn't such a bad idea. " On second thought, it would probably be best that I stayed and to begin on the work we've agreed upon..."

She wished she could say she had a better idea of the mansions layout and thus the kind of work she had set out for her after the brief tour he'd given her, but unfortunately the lack of lighting throughout made it very difficult for her to see anything but shadows. Vladimir however, seemed to have absolutely no trouble whatsoever guiding her effortlessly through the many dark and empty hallways, up and down several flights of stairs and in and out of too many rooms to count- with only the light from a single candle he held in his large grasp.

''Any questions?''

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he asked her rather gruffly as he stopped in front of a door she assumed was hers. Hundreds, actually...where would you like me to start? she thought privately, but with an outward shake of her blond head, she indicated she had none.

As she watched his massive shadow turn away and start to leave she suddenly spoke up, " Um...Mr. Romanov?" her voice trembled in the darkness, " Might I get you to leave the candle....I'm somewhat af....afraid of the dark.."

She was quite shocked at his abrupt coldness and gasped at the sudden pitch darkness he'd left her standing in.

Well, you should have know none of this would be easy she told herself as she hesitantly opened the door to her room. Once her eyes adjusted to the dark cavernous interior she made out the shape of a queen sized bed that surprisingly looked to have clean sheets and blankets on it- well, somewhat clean she realized upon closer inspection.

Before she let herself collapse in exhaustion, she gingerly made her way to the other side of the bed to the large window that was covered with dark, heavy brocaded draperies. The layer of dust that her touch freed into the air, made her sneeze but she wasn't afraid of a little dust and moved them away to give way for the moon's glowing light to shine into her room.

As she looked out into the inky black night, her attention was immediately drawn to several dark moving shapes below her. She looked closer and gasped when she saw that there were 4 very large, red eyed wolves congregating in the side gardens of the mansion.

She quickly closed the curtains back, plunging the room back into darkness. Her heart beat so hard against her ribcage she feared it might burst. Corina fought the tears that threatened to fall as she raced to the bed and crawled beneath the covers. It was a long time before she fell asleep.....

Corina shot up at the ferocious sounding voice that echoed through her room. " Wha..? Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" she mumbled, still half asleep. It had taken her forever to finally fall asleep last night and even when she did sleep, she was plagued with horrible nightmares about evil wolves and haunted mansions.

She trembled as she threw the blankets away and stood to face him. As she did so, she glanced down and gasped when she noticed that at some point during the night she'd removed her clothing except for her panties. Which, in and of itself wasn't unusual, as it was the way she typically slept but here?

She quickly grabbed the coverlet and drew it around her as a blush crept up her neck to her face.

She stood there in shock, as a trickle of blood dribbled from the very corner of her mouth to her chin from where her teeth had cut into her gum with his cruel slap. Yet, the fact that he'd hit her wasn't the only revelation about Vladimir that scared her. He looked like a monster! Literally! She suddenly knew why he kept himself isolated from society.

Yet, despite her fear and absolute horror that he'd actually hit her, she felt a hint of sadness as she watched him storm away. How awful it must be for him to live such a life...

She cast those thoughts away and got dressed, then went about making his breakfast.

Undaunted by the task of quite literally " whipping up" a quick but tasty breakfast for Vlad, Corina was surprised to find a well stocked but rather unorganized kitchen. That would definately be on her "To Do" list for the day she thought as she went about making his meal.

''What are you making?''

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she heard him yell from another room. He didn't sound quite as angry anymore but she replied quickly nonetheless, " Steak & Eggs". She had figured that well, with his size, he'd require a substantial breakfast.

Twenty minutes later she called out to him " Breakfast is ready!" and set the table, for one, and hoped he enjoyed her hard work.

''If you aren't going to eat your breakfast then go to the living room and start working''

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Corina quickly exited the kitchen in order to start the almost monumental task of her cleaning duties. Even though it was daytime, the mansion remained dark and gloomy and she noticed, as she glanced out of one of the heavily draped windows, that the sunlight had since been taken over by some omnious looking storm clouds. She shivered with a sudden sense of dread and worry for her dear father. I must remember I'm doing this for him- my father needs me! she reminded herself before she went looking for cleaning supplies.

''Can't you do your job properly for once?!''

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She jumped at the sound of his voice which was really more like a growl. " I....I'm sorry, I was looking for cleaning supplies and haven't yet found any..." she kept her eyes looking down at her feet to hide the tears that were quickly forming in her eyes. It seemed there would never be anyway to properly please him and she felt a sense of doom fall upon her.

She turned away from him as she muttered, " I will try harder my lord.."

She stared, in shock, at his back as he walked away from her from where she'd landed on the cold, hard floor. With tears falling freely down her bruised cheek, she forced herself to get up, albeit slowly, and began cleaning.

Seven hours later, she'd completed one whole wing of the huge mansion - from top to bottom. There wasn't a speck of dust left anywhere and both the floors and walls shone brightly. She was tired and so very hungry as she walked back through the house to her room, where she wanted to take a long soak in the tub.

Once there, she stripped out of her dirty, torn clothing and took a bath by candle light, since there were no electric lights in her room. There had to be, however, in other rooms of the house, as she'd seen the light switches when she was cleaning. She wondered briefly why there weren't any here in this room but forgot all about it as she started to doze off to sleep in the tub.....

She was dreaming of an unknown, faceless man who only came to her in her dreams and while she couldn't see him she knew he wouldn't harm her as she could feel his exquisite touch send desire throughout her body. She'd never been with a man before and her dream lover somehow sensed this as he used gentle fingers to probe the hidden secrets of her body that had never been explored before. Yet he was experienced in many areas of sensual play which excited her and made her moan and whimper with need- wanting him to teach her all he knew...

Corina's eyes opened slightly to complete darkness and she felt his touch on her thigh, which made her think she was still dreaming. She once again moaned with pleasure and spread open her thighs giving him better access.

She closed her eyes once again, alternating between a sleeping state and a barely wakeful one where her "dream lover" washed her body with gentle, sensual hands, raising her desire to a fevered pitch. She wasn't shy about her reactions- why should she be? It was only a dream afterall....

Oddly enough, the closer he came to taking her, the further she retreated into her dreamlike state. Her subconscious mind reveled in the attention being paid to her, as she welcomed him between her spread thighs.

For some strange reason, her cruel, harsh employers image suddenly flashed through her mind. She wasn't afraid of him due to his beastly appearance, quite the opposite actually. She had initially been intrigued and drawn to him for reasons she couldn't explain, until he had treated her so badly. So why then, was his the image she pictured when she imagined what her "dream lover" looked like?

Just the thought of him touching her so sensually, so erotically- got mixed up with her dream and as soon as she felt two fingers slide deep into her core, she cried out "Oh, Vlad!"