Lord Beast

by Ashlyn Montgomery

  At that, he wanted to laugh. He wanted to taunt her, to make her uncomfortable and wary, to hurt her as she had him. But he didn’t. Coolly, dispassionately, he crossed his arms over his wide chest and considered her indifferently.

  “It is our wedding night, is it not?”

  He witnessed the fear waver across her face, the way her throat constricted to work and the sudden paleness of her skin. Good. Let her fear him. It was what he wanted, wasn’t it?

  Her arm lowered unsteadily and she set the brush aside on her extensive vanity, her movements deliberately slow as if she were attempting to stall for time so she could think of what to say next. At length, she faced him again and her eyes were unreadable, dark and wide. “No,” was all she mouthed. The sound was firm and supported with conviction, causing his body to tauten with anger.

  Who was she to refuse him his rights? Thrusting his shoulder from the frame he had been leaning on, he stalked towards her, noting that she held her ground proudly, the fingers of her hands folded primly against the silken waves of the peignoir. “No?” he repeated, dangerously.

  Her chin wobbled, but she didn’t cower or flinch when he stopped inches before her, his powerful body towering above her. He could easily overwhelm her and she knew it. “No,” she said again, this time a shaky whisper of a sound.

  “You do realise, wife,” he snarled viciously, “that you are not at liberty to deny me anything?”

  Her eyes were bright and shining as they bored up into his and Rhys watched her face intently, his heart aching at the lovely and familiar contours, the dips of her cheeks and the smooth line of her stubborn jaw, and the freckles… Lord, the freckles. “The law may state that,” she informed him, “but I may not agree with it.”

  “You don’t have a choice to agree with it!”

  “I’ll not lie with you willingly until this marriage improves,” she told him and tears suddenly pricked her eyes, causing her to look away, studying the top buttons of his shirt which was just about eye-level for her.

  “Always a condition,” he snapped coldly. “I’m beginning to doubt the intention was ever there in the first place.”

  Her eyes returned to his poignantly and the hurt displayed in them made his gut clench impulsively with a flicker of guilt. He ignored the reaction, forcing himself to recall her outright deceit instead.

  “Don’t,” she told him urgently. “Please, don’t. Rhys, it was never my intention to force our suit. I don’t know why-”

  “Shut up!”

  Abruptly, he pushed her up and onto her vanity, the various bottles and containers tinkling in protest at the sudden disruption, and leaned her against the long mirror. She gasped in surprise, in fear, and clutched the tops of his arms, restraining the force of his actions, of his anger.

  “Rhys, no-”

  “You wanted to marry me,” he growled, yanking her arms away from his person and trapping them above her head, pressing her hands against the coldness of the glass. “This comes with the wedding, sweetheart.”

  “Please,” she murmured brokenly, her eyes imploring, as she wiggled a wrist free and spread her fingers over his cheek, over the scars there. He shuddered involuntarily at her touch. “Believe me. I love you.”

  “Stop,” he said raggedly, jerking his face away and re-fastening her hand above her head. He brought his head down, intending to kiss her, but she turned her head to the side, her eyes downcast. Her breathing was hard and fast, her chest pressed against his, and Rhys stilled, studying her profile. A niggling sensation of doubt began to plague him and he watched, profoundly, as a single tear materialised out of the corner of her eye and slid languidly down her pale cheek. What if he were wrong?

  What if everything he had thought about her, every single wretched, vile thing had been incorrect? What if she wasn’t the liar he thought she was, the cunning little actress out to deceive a forgotten earl in order to gain access to his title, his wealth? Could he really believe that Danielle wasn’t like that? Could he be sure?

  And if she wasn’t, then he had hurt her terribly. The significance of that, of her suffering at his hand, he could not bear. Lovely, soft, sweet Danielle… no, he couldn’t live with himself if he had been the cause of her tears, her pain, when all she had done was declare her love for him despite his resilience to remain pig-headed and accusingly judgmental.

  He went cold and he suddenly hated himself, hated all the things he had done to her. Even if she had deceived him into marriage, he didn’t really think she’d be capable of using her love in such a flippant manner, yet he had refuted it, thrown it back in her face. She had remained proud and steadfast and lovely and he… oh, he was vile, the lowest form of life.

  He didn’t deserve her.

  He didn’t deserve her sweet attempts at taming him, at making him soften towards him.

  Surely, if she had done something wrong, she would apologize, and if she did, surely he could be the decent human being she thought he was and accept it? But no. He’d gone too far. He’d been irrepressibly and deliberately hurtful.

  Even if he was still not sure whether he could trust her, there was no excuse for his behaviour.

  Cursing, he pulled away from her and left her chambers, closing the door that separated them with a quiet but resolute thud.

  Later, after she had recovered sufficiently from her last encounter with Rhys, Dani took a moment to reflect on what should have been the happiest day of her life. If she had only been more appreciative and less self-absorbed, she would have enjoyed and appreciated the lavishness of the affair set out for her.

  Truly, it would have been quite a spectacular party if Dani hadn’t been so mired in her own self-pity. The food was exquisite, of the highest standard and quality, and the servants had done a splendid job decorating the dining hall with candles and flowers.

  She should have taken more time to appreciate the niceties around her. After all, it was her wedding day- her only wedding day- and she should have made the most of it. As such, the ceremony itself was a miserable memory she didn’t like to dwell on and the reception, with the foreboding man beside her, hadn’t perked up either. Not even Victoria’s cheerful banter about everything and anything had managed to lift up the sullenness of Dani’s mood (the woman even prattled on about green moss at one point, Lord knows why).

  The serving staff were a nice change to Falmouth. The castle came alive with homeliness and Dani couldn’t help but notice the vast difference it made to have somebody around to open and dust the drapes. The place became warmer, almost welcoming, rather than the cold dark hovel Rhys had insisted burying himself in for the last five years.

  After bidding the guests’ goodnight downstairs, Dani had retired to her chambers- a huge, overbearing circular room that was adjoined to Rhys’s through a connecting door. All her belongings had been transported earlier from the small cottage and unpacked into her new home accordingly. She had even been assigned a ladies maid, which was entirely new. She’d never been privileged enough to have her own maid before now.

  It had been an emotionally draining day, to be sure, and then to have her wedding night ruined because of the irredeemable stubbornness of one’s husband… it was all too much to bear, to handle with a modicum of dignity, and to vent some of that frustration Dani had walloped a pillow so brutally hard against the wall that it had exploded, showering her with feathers and resulting in a sneezing fit that lasted well into the morning.

  It was every young girl’s (secret) dream to have a magical wedding night of her own, a night brimming with sensual promise and illicit delight that was never uttered in polite society but certainly hinted at… Oh, and Rhys had hinted at it, all right. Now he just had to be so dratted ornery and unaccommodating it just wasn’t fair!

  As Dani clambered into a bed that was all too big for her person, having only been used to the narrow cot in her aunt and uncle’s cottage and was now practically swallowed whole by the cumbersome quilt and widely soft mattress, she realised that de
spite a castle with a host of servants and a husband in the room adjoining hers, she had never felt so alone in her life before.

  Not even when it was just her and her mother in London and Dani was forced to cancel arrangements with a small group of friends to nurse another episode that would occasionally envelope her mother had she felt so inconsolably alone. Those moments of loneliness were trumped by the urgent desire to tend to the one person who depended on her, who needed her for their own survival. Dani had gladly confined them away from prying eyes while she battled her mother’s self-inflicted injuries, her dark moods and fits of violence, her lethargy and the illnesses that followed. It had been difficult, yes, but she hadn’t felt terribly alone.

  Now, she did. She didn’t have anyone that depended on her, who needed her. She had… nothing.

  Sneezing, she settled herself comfortably in her big, empty bed. He should be beside her. They should be happy. That’s how things were supposed to be not like… not like this. She recalled her uncle’s words about honesty, about how Rhys cherished the quality above all others and how she had been blatantly honest with him this evening.

  She had tried, truly she had. What more could she do? She had been more honest with Rhys than she had been with herself at times. Oh, the man was stubborn. How more honest could she possibly get? How could she make him believe her, that she was being truthful?

  Maybe, just maybe, she was going about this all wrong. Perhaps Rhys put more value in actions, rather than words, and she would have to figure out some way to prove to him that she was being purely honest. However, Dani wasn’t that innovative. Oh, she could voice pretty little limericks and conjure vivid images with the swish of a pen, but when it came to actually doing or plotting an action, she was sincerely useless. What she needed was advice from someone equally creative, who was married to an equally stubborn man, and had somehow succeeded in making the man fall in love with her despite everything else about her.

  What Dani needed was advice from Victoria Sinclair and the Lord knew just how difficult it must have been to fall in love with that woman.

  Chapter 24

  Two Days Later

  Dani stretched her back after the long carriage journey to Hawthorne, craning her neck and shading her eyes from the bright sun so that she could better observe the towering grey walls of the extensive house. Her bonnet dangled from her wrist, teased gently by the mellifluous breeze that accompanied the first few days of spring.

  A footman opened the doors as she gingerly climbed the steps towards the entrance and she was ushered inside, the butler already having taken it upon himself to announce her presence to Lady Sinclair. Another servant removed her coat before the butler returned to show her directly to the drawing room where Victoria was awaiting her arrival.

  Dani found herself smiling at the thought of Grayson ever doing something like that for guests at Falmouth Castle. In fact, Grayson would not even bother to be so cordial, not to her or his master.

  Upon seeing Dani, Victoria bolted out of her chair and embraced her tightly. “You look better,” she said, leaning back to study her face carefully. “Well, at least you’re smiling.”

  Dani pursed her lips. “What do you mean?”

  Vicky waved her hand dismissively as she frowned concernedly down at her. “Oh, nothing really,” she explained. “It’s just that you’ve been looking a little… under the weather. Tired, really, and not your usual self. You’ve lost a lot of weight.”

  That could very well be true, Dani mused, as she hadn’t had much of an appetite of late, preferring to nibble at her food rather, especially while she dined alone at an enormous table with only the servants looking on. It was quite discomforting that Rhys had not bothered to join her for meals the past couple of days. “I’m fine,” she told her friend after a moment.

  “Let’s sit while I call some tea,” Vicky urged, guiding them towards a femininely pink settee and ensuring that Dani took her seat before she rung for a servant.

  “Where is Gabriel?” Dani asked curiously, studying the expanse of the room as if the man were hiding behind a pink curtain or under a shawl of lace somewhere. “Is he not joining us?”

  Vicky raised a humorous brow, her lips quirking dryly. “Would you like him to?” she asked. “I gathered from your note that you wanted to discuss matters of a personal nature, so I excluded Gabriel from this little meeting. I believe he has buried his nose in the morning papers, going over his stock or some such nonsense.”

  “No, no. That’s quite alright. I wouldn’t want to bother him and, anyway, I did specifically want to discuss something with you and you are correct. It is of a very delicate nature and it would probably be best if Gabriel never hears of this.”

  “Oh!” Victoria leaned forward excitedly, eagerly encouraging Dani to continue with her wide, inquisitive eyes. “You’ve got me intrigued now, Dani. Go on.”

  Dani cleared her throat delicately before looking Vicky straight in the eye. She knew she could be comfortable with her friend, that anything she wished to discuss she could do so uninhibited by judgment from her, but it was still a bit disconcerting asking your best friend how she got anyone to fall in love with her. Dani would have to choose her words wisely. “Uh…” she began thickly, her tongue gluing itself to the top of her palate. “Well, what I want to ask exactly is, er, how… hmmm. You and Gabriel.”

  “Yes?”

  “Gabriel and you.”

  “We have established that,” Victoria teased her dryly, “the topic of conversation here is Gabriel and I. Now, if you wouldn’t mind, some specifics would be most welcome.”

  Dani blushed a little and twiddled her fingers distractedly in her lap. Oh, bother. She might as well just come clean with it. “Fine, alright, so… You and Gabriel…” Vicky raised her brows in disbelief. “Damn. Well, simply, how did you get him to fall in love with you?” At the shocked expression on her face, Dani hastily aimed to amend, “I mean, what did you do? If you did indeed do anything? Oh, blast. Look, I’m trying to ask you if there was anything special you did that might have, er, sped up the process of Gabriel falling in love with you?”

  There was an incredibly dry yet understanding smile on Vicky’s face. “Let me get this straight,” she clarified cheerfully, “you want to know if I made Gabriel fall in love with me. Is that it?”

  “Well, not precisely, but you may look at it from that perspective I suppose.”

  Victoria smiled before glancing up at the ceiling, contemplating her answer. “Well, no, to be honest. As you well know, I was quite impossible back then. In fact, I think I may have coordinated all my actions so that I deliberately stepped on his toes.”

  “And yet, somehow, he fell hopelessly in love with you?”

  “I don’t like your tone,” Vicky told her darkly, absently smoothing down a wrinkle in the skirt of her gown. “Now what’s this all about, anyway? Don’t tell me you need advice about how to get Rhys to fall in love with you? The man is already besotted with you.”

  Dani snorted. Unfortunately she had just taken a sip of her hot tea when Victoria uttered those words and, as a result, she began to choke and snort gracelessly.

  “This is hardly a laughing matter, Dani,” she chided, chuckling as she began to wallop the other woman on the back. “I do wish you would take things more seriously.”

  When most of the searing liquid had been beaten from her lungs, Dani cast Vicky a withering glower. “You are terrible,” she told her, “and you know that I was not laughing.”

  “Yes, well,” Vicky continued blithely, calmly and daintily taking an unperturbed sip of her tea, “you were about to tell me what all this nonsense is about.”

  In order to clear up some of the burning in her throat, Dani tentatively raised the teacup to her lips again before answering. “You are aware that Rhys and I are having some problems,” she began. “I can’t seem to get him to show even the littlest affection for me. I’ve followed my uncle’s advice about being honest with him, but tha
t didn’t work. I’m at a complete loss as to what to do, Vicky. He hasn’t even bothered to see me since the wedding.” Finishing off on a miserable and petulant note, Dani considered her friend sulkily, almost demanding an answer.

  “Hmmm.” Vicky stared out the window beside them, her face basking in the warm golden light of the day. “Charming weather we’re having for this time of year.”

  “Vicky!” Dani whined.

  Vicky turned to her with a beauteous smile. “Oh, alright,” she teased, “I think I can help you a little but you should probably know that only he or you can really fix it and that’s only if the other person really wants to fix it.”

  “You’re babbling.”

  Vicky gave her an irked glance. “First, tell me,” she said in a straightforward, no-nonsense kind of manner, “did you have a… wedding night?”

  Dani looked at her incredulously.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” Vicky told her off snippily, “just answer the question please.”

  “But I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”

  Vicky rolled her eyes impatiently and made an indecipherable gesture with her hand. “You know,” she gritted out. “Did you…er… be intimate with Rhys?”

  Dani blushed and had to cover a smile with her hand. Really, Victoria could be quite ridiculous when it came to explaining some things. “No,” she squeaked, then cleared her throat before reaffirming, “No, we didn’t. I think he intended to.”

  Vicky’s eyes widened at that. “You, uh, withheld certain rights from him, did you?”

  “Oh, don’t look at me like I’m some sort of beast, Victoria,” Dani reprimanded, hurt. “He was being the most uncivilised barbarian I had ever had the misfortune to meet. Surely you understand?”

  At that, Vicky giggled and stifled the sound by clapping her hand over her mouth, eyes apologetically meeting Dani’s narrowed glower. “Oh, I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it,” she amended quickly, but her eyes were grinning gleefully at the thought of Dani’s predicament. “It is a little bit funny, though.”