14 11
After spending a few days locked in a cell, Beast was tired, cranky, and in no mood to deal with a frightened woman. If he wasn’t running on zero sleep, maybe he would have more tolerance or at least tried to offer her more comfort. But, right then, he was more focused on the food on the table in front of him than the beautiful woman cowering on the floor.
“Don’t worry,” he told her while heading to get a plate. He wasn’t surprised to see her scurry under the table in an effort to get away from him.
Beast rolled his eyes.
He understood her fears, even anticipated them, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t annoyed by her exaggerated reactions. Because, really, hiding under the table would protect her if he truly wanted to do her harm.
That was one of the things that annoyed him most about women. Matter of fact, that was what annoyed him about most people—always going on with their silly antics or overreacting when something they didn’t understand was before them.
“You don’t have to hide.” His tone carried a hint of annoyance as he walked around the large feast and took his seat at the head of the table. His mouth watered, and he licked the tips of his fangs. It had been a long time since Camren had prepared such a meal. Years, in fact. As he reached for a thick slice of ham and stuffed it into his mouth, he growled, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as flavor exploded in his mouth.
No doubt his brother’s cooking had not only improved over the last quarter of a century, but it even surpassed Beast’s. As much as he refused to give Cassandra credit for anything, he couldn’t deny that ever since his brother had… he didn’t even want to think about what… Camren’s domestic skills had greatly improved. If it wasn’t for the fact that Beast currently had a mouth full of food, he would have laughed.
Beast’s gaze slid to the seat his reluctant guest had occupied. Once again, he rolled his eyes at the fact she still hadn’t come out from under the table. Swallowing a mouth full of food, he scooted his chair back and peeked under the table. Their gazes instantly locked, and he felt a chill go over his body. Her wide-eyed gaze pulled him in and refused to let him go.
Truly, he had never seen a woman more beautiful than her. It seemed, unlike him, she had managed to get more than an hour of sleep over the previous few days. She looked refreshed, a subtle glow surrounding her that hadn’t been there before. She must have just finger-combed through her dark head of hair before she came down because it was a sexy mess on top of her head. Disheveled hair and intense brown eyes enticed him and had his claws aching to wrap one thick curl around them.
“What… what do you want from me?” She stuttered, her fear and anxiety heightening the scent of cinnamon spice and woman. A scent he instantly fell in love with and wanted more of. His nostrils flared, and he groaned.
“Please.” Her voice cracked, and he was forced from the perverted thoughts swirling in his head.
“I don’t want anything from you.” That was a lie, and they both knew it.
For a moment, her fear receded, and she pinned him with an angry and impatient stare. “Bullshit.”
Her sudden change in attitude caught him off guard. All he managed to get out was a simple, “Excuse me.”
She shrunk back a little more but didn’t back down. “I said… bullshit.”
“True, I do want something from you.” He wasn’t sure if he should be amused or offended at the way the color drained from her face. He chose neither as he brushed off her comment and continued, “I want you to have lunch with me.”
The look she gave him, as if he had three heads, annoyed him. Still, he reined in his temper.
“Come on.” He took on a gentler tone. “I can tell that you’re hungry. I can practically hear your stomach all the way from here.”
Other than a slight coloring of her cheeks, she remained silent, and he became even more annoyed. He didn’t have time for this. Not only were they on a time schedule, but he still had a table full of food that he needed to finish.
Beast let out a breath and prayed for patience. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. It’s up to you,” he told her. Still, she made no move to come out from under the table. Annoyance caused a growl to escape him. He saw her flinch, and he cursed. But his annoyance was slowly turning into hunger, which fueled his anger.
“Either you come out, or I drag you out.”
Other than another one of her little flinches, she refused to move.
“Fine!” he growled out, and just as he was about to reach and snatch her from under the table, his brother walked into the dining room.
“What are you doing?” Camren asked as he strolled into the room, looking as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
Sitting upright in his chair, Beast responded, “She won’t come out.”
Suddenly, he felt like he was dealing with a frightened animal instead of a person. Well, when he thought about it, she did remind him of a small animal, trapped and lost in a world she knew nothing about.
“Beauty? What have you done?”
He gave his brother a dull stare.
“Well, where is she?” Camren asked as he flopped down in the chair Beauty had been in.
Rolling his eyes, Beast told his brother, “Under the table.”
Camren chucked. “She’s under the table? No way.” He bent and looked under the table. “Uh-huh,” Camren mumbled, and then he straightened in his chair. “Stop fucking with me. Where is she? Because she is not under the table.”
“What?” Looking under the table, Beast wanted to roar out his rage. Sure as shit, Beauty was nowhere to be found.
Damn it!
Forget falling in love, how the hell was he supposed to get her to even know him if she kept running away from him?
Pissed off, he jumped to his feet, his chair falling to the floor behind him, and headed out of the dining room.
“You need to calm down,” Camren said as he fell into step beside his brother.
Calm down? How was he supposed to calm down when his future hung in the balance?
“Jacks.”
Beast spared a glance to his brother, knowing he was right. Beast needed to calm down and get himself under control before he ended up back in the cold and dark cell he had just come from.
It was something definitely easier said than done, especially given how quickly his anger was rising.
The moment he burst into the hallway, he was hit with her cinnamon scent. Quickly, he took off down the hall, hoping he could catch her before she made it outside. As he ran, suddenly realizing the direction she had headed in, Beast’s heart rate tripled. The back doors of the castle were normally locked and off-limits. However, over the last few years, he had become lax with keeping them sealed. Rounding the hallway, Beast continued his run until the doors of the back of the castle became visible.
He cursed when he noticed the castle doors had been pushed wide open.
“Mother fuc…” His harsh curse trailed off as he burst through the double doors and into the background of the palace.
Just how the hell had she gotten past him that fast?
Had his anger distracted him so much that she could easily slip through his fingers like that?
“Calm down.”
He swore that if Camren said to calm down one more time, Beast was going to bite his brother’s head off. “Steam is coming out of your nostrils.” Camren pointed out. “She couldn’t have gotten that far.”
Before that moment, never had the urge to punch him in the face been so strong.
She will be fine… does he forget where we live?
“Did you forget that we are surrounded by an enchanted forest?” Beast growled and took Camren’s silence to mean he understood.
Most days the forest surrounding the castle was peaceful and kept them hidden from the outside world. Then, there were days when the forest did whatever it wanted and let outsiders into the forest, although that was something new that had developed. Cassandra had cursed the forest a long time ago. There was no telling what really lurked deeper in the forest. Horrible creatures, hungry beasts… there really was no telling what that wicked witch had put in place just in case he ever tried to escape.
But whatever layout there, Beauty was in no position to take it on. What little parts of him that remained human pushed to find her. He couldn’t allow anything to happen to her.
“Even so, she couldn’t have gotten—” Camren’s words were cut off as a terrified scream sounded from deep within the woods.
Without another word, Beast took off in the direction of the scream, Camren following close behind him.
Damn it. I should have watched her better.
Beast chastised himself, all the while rushing towards the thickness of the forest trees. Just as another scream echoed, he pushed past the branches blocking his way, rushing into the forest to save his precious Beauty.
