Read Online Lord Beast by Ashlyn Montgomery - Free Book Online Page B

occurred
whereby nobody answered her summons. Not that she expected them to so she let
herself in and ambled slowly up the grand staircase, sensing rather than
knowing where to go.
    Thankfully, there was a light
streaming through from under a door on the first level, rather close to the
stairs, and Dani headed in that direction. She knocked soundly before entering
and her breath caught at the achingly familiar sight of him.
    He was cloaked, dark and
foreboding, and leaning against the hearth where a fire was lit, casting the
room in a warm glow. It appeared that she had located him in his study, if the
huge mahogany desk and shelves of books and correspondence were anything to go
by.
    His hooded face turned to her and
his shoulders seemed to droop.
    “Danielle.”
    The flatness of his voice wasn’t
as encouraging as the note had been but she clutched to the image of his bold
handwriting and apology to spur her on.
    “I…” What was she to say? Thank
you for the flowers. It just didn’t fit the situation. “I got your note,”
she mumbled expressionlessly.
    “What note?”
    What note? A lazy flutter of
panic began to beat within her breast. Surely he was joking, or he was
confused. He must be surprised by her presence and had forgotten what he had
done to cause it. “The… note.”
    He sighed, frustrated. “I didn’t
send any note, Danielle,” he growled.
    She frowned, not liking the
renewed pang of humiliation and hurt threading its way through her bones.
“Rhys, I saw the flowers… a-and the note. You called me… freckles.”
    “Damnit, Danielle, I didn’t send
any note !” he barked.
    “I see.” But she didn’t. If he
didn’t send the note, then who did? As far as she knew, he was the only one who
had ever called her freckles and they had been quite alone in the maze that
day. Oh, he was cruel and Dani was swimming in utter humiliation and hurt. It threatened
to choke her and, to her horror, tears began to prick her eyes. She refused to
let them fall.
    “Why would I send you flowers and
a note?” he raged, seething.
    “I-I don’t know,” she answered
flatly. “I can see I misjudged the situation. I’ll… I’ll be going now.”
    “Good.”
    She turned and began to exit but
she stopped herself. If he was going to hurt her, then let him do it properly,
because deep down in her heart she couldn’t let herself think he didn’t send
those flowers and the note. It was not in her nature not to have her say or to
act like a coward. She may be quiet and reserved, but if the opportunity struck
to take a stand and speak her mind, she was usually keen to obey it. So she
turned back to him, noticing that he seemed a bit dejected as he leaned against
the fireplace, not nearly as foreboding as he usually was.
    “I’m not sure why you’re pushing
me away,” she began in a strong voice, “but I won’t tolerate it, Rhys. You may
not know what you want, but I do. You can’t send me away. I’m not going away.
In fact, I don’t believe for one second that you didn’t send that note although
why you would deny it now is beyond me. So I’m going to tell you why I decided
to come here anyway and I know that you won’t like it.”
    “Danielle…”
    Ignoring the warning tone in his
voice, she delved a hand into a pocket at her waist and pulled out the
invitation she had intended giving him. “A masquerade,” she told him haughtily,
lifting the invite slightly. “You should go. It would be the perfect
opportunity to-”
    “No!”
    That stilled her. She looked at him
strangely, wondering at the sharpness and anger in his voice. He was rigid now,
fury pouring off him in waves and pummelling into her with a force she could
feel across the chamber.
    “Rhys,” she said slowly,
cautiously, “I think you should consider-”
    “Jesus Christ ,” he hissed
venomously, pushing off the mantle and prowling towards her with magnificent
dynamism. “Danielle, you clearly don’t understand what danger you are