Read Online Loving an Ugly Beast by Danielle Monsch - Free Book Online Page B

Most would find it hard to believe.”
    “Where I grew up, talk of magic and of fairy godmothers is very common. Several people I knew and loved swore they were helped by one or knew someone who was. I’ve always half-believed in them. That was what made me believe you. You used the words fairy godmother .” Byron was Benton but he wasn’t, and now there was no more Byron, was there? “Are you going to be Byron anymore?”
    He shook his head, his pale-ice eyes direct and unflinching. “No, I can never be him again.”
    She ran her thumb over the rough stone surface of the cup, her eyes following the movement in an excuse not to look at him. Her emotions were riding hard over her. Her Benton was back, but as grateful as she was for that, she mourned the loss of Byron. No, she didn’t love him, but he was becoming a good friend, a friend in a different way than either Marie or Benton could lay claim to in her life.
    Byron was not Benton – at least, their attitudes were not the same. Neither were their strengths or how they reacted to the world. Was Byron what Benton would have become if he’d grown up handsome? Or was he entirely created by the fairy godmother? “How did you become Byron?”
    He rose and went over to the bed, straightening the covers as he talked. “It was a wish that came true. I didn’t believe her when she said she was a fairy godmother and offered to grant my wish, not really. But there was something about her. I didn’t believe, but in one corner of my heart, I did. And I made a wish, and she granted it.”
    “What exactly was your wish?” Her eyes fixed on Benton again in time to see him falter for a fraction of a beat before he finished with the bed.
    “Does it matter?”
    Her hands tightened on the cup. “It does to me. After all, you gave up your wish to protect me. That’s what… last night… was about, wasn’t it? Why you kept yelling at me to focus on you. By telling me, that’s what broke the wish and made you turn back.” The light hit the bottom of Benton’s face, and she saw his bottom lip was swollen and chewed through. “What happened to your face?”
    “Nothing,” he said, the response so quick that it could only mean it was something to do with her.
    Nissa set the cup aside and stood, walking over to him. He kept his focus on the bed, but the tenseness in his body told her he was aware of every move she made.
    She had missed him so much these last few weeks. Byron had been interesting and she had considered him a friend, but she could never fully relax around the beautiful man. She had thought it was because of the disparity in their looks, that she would always wonder when Byron would leave her and pursue a more worthy woman, but on closer reflection that wasn’t the truth.
    The truth was Byron’s glibness never appealed to her the same way Benton’s quiet strength and strong presence did.
    Nissa placed gentle hands on either side of his face and turned it towards her own. “Benton,” she said, voice low but firm. “Look at me. Don’t turn me away now.”
    He didn’t take his head out of her hold, but his eyes would not meet hers. “I’m sorry.”
    The wrongness of the words hit her hard. She blinked several times, trying to process them, but they still made no sense. “What are you talking about?”
    “I’m sorry I took him away from you, and now it’s just me.”
    The words were a sucker punch, leaving her reeling, unable to breathe as his features took on a cast of shame and sorrow. “Do you hear what you are saying? You’re apologizing for giving up this gift in order to save me? Benton, you gave me my life last night. I owe you everything.”
    He shook his head, the movement not hard or fast enough to dislodge her hands. “You owe nothing. I would give anything for you.”
    “Why? Because I’m your friend?” He still wouldn’t look at her, but he did not move away from her either.
    A friend? Yes, he was her friend, but this went beyond