Page 20 of Beauty and Her Beasts (Dirty Paranormal Fairytale Haremlan 1)

I groaned. “Sarcasm isn’t going to save you from becoming destitute if your inhibitions continue to go unchecked.”

He snorted. “Well, if it isn’t the pot calling the kettle black. How hypocritical of you.”

“Declan, you could have ruined everything with your slip-up,” I said.

“And what about your little ‘slip up?’” he asked, whirling on me. “You didn’t seem to care too much about the plan when you had your grubby claws all over her, now did you?”

“I stopped myself. I’m curious about what stopped you?” I asked, voice growing louder with each word.

Declan stood and faced me, hands clenched at his sides. I frowned, but if a fight was what he wanted, then a fight was what he was going to get.

“The how doesn’t matter in the great scheme of Gunnar’s plan, does it? I stopped, didn’t I?” Declan asked. “That’s what’s important.”

Moon growled another warning.

I eyed the wolf again before settling my glare on the man standing in front of me. “I’m warning you,dog, watch your next move. You don’t know what you are getting yourself into. I won’t think twice about putting either of you down.”

Declan smirked. “Nor do you,bear, know of the can of worms you are opening by confronting me like this. I’m not in the mood to deal with you or your high horse.”

I smirked. “Cute. Whatever helps you sleep at night… so long as it doesn’t involve laying another finger on Allana. Your stench is a slight on her beauty.”

My words must have pushed Declan over the edge. Because he charged me.

I prepared for the hit by engaging my solar plexus. My arms went out to my sides, ready to catch him. If he intended to knock me to the ground to get the upper hand, he was sorely mistaken. I was massive compared to him, and there was no way he would have the strength in his half-breed body to knock me to the ground.

Surprisingly, however, his body hit me like a wrecking ball. I grunted against the force and dug my feet into the ground. He had a very misleading stature for the amount of force he packed into his smaller frame. I slammed my fist into his side, trying to get him to release me, but he wouldn’t.

Instead, he delivered punches of his own while his damn wolf started to nip at my heels. I bit against the sting of Moon’s teeth while Declan continued to push against me. Then he lowered his arms around my thighs and hefted me into the air. I was surprised once again by the sheer strength the man had as my body collided with the ground. The air was knocked from my lungs. It took me a few seconds for my mind to catch up to things.

I kicked out his legs, sending him tumbling to the ground. Moon staggered out the way as I climbed above Declan. He wrapped his arms around my torso and rolled. He and I twisted around each other, wrestling on the ground, squishing everything in our path.

Declan, surprising me yet again, got the upper hand when he managed to straddle my waist and pin my arms at an unnatural angle. Pressure bled through my muscles, causing me to wince.

“Are you done?” he asked.

Through gritted teeth I asked, “Are you going to keep your hands to yourself?”

“Not if your life depended on it,” Declan said.

“Then no,” I grunted out, “I’m not.”

“So be it,” he said.

I bucked him, sending him over my head and to his back. I quickly scrambled to my feet and tried to slam my foot into his head.

Declan was quicker than I anticipated as well. He rolled out of the way quicker than I blinked and wrapped his legs around mine, forcing me to lose balance and I fell to the ground again.

He managed to put my arms in that same grip again. This time, he added a little more pressure, making it feel like my muscles were being ripped apart.

“Never threaten me again,” he spat.

“Who said anything about a threat?” I asked, gritting through the pain shooting through my arms, staring at the man above me as serious as death. I wasn’t ready for this fight to be over with. I wanted one of us to walk away bloody.

“Do you really want to do this?” he asked.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice your scent all over Allana?” I asked.

“She doesn’t belong to you,” Declan snapped.

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