Page 41 of Beauty and Her Beasts (Dirty Paranormal Fairytale Haremlan 1)

“Who wants to know?” he asked.

“A friend of a friend,” I said.

He scrunched up his eyebrows, clearly confused and far from connecting the dots.

I held up the letter I took from Allana before heading toFleuve Villewith King. His words he used to taunt the woman I was rapidly falling in love with faced him so there was no question as to who I was there for. He scrunched his eyebrows and then settled his attention on me. His nose flared, and I knew then, beyond any doubt, I had the right person.

“Where did you get that?” he asked. His words held a thinly veiled threat.

“Your real question ought to be what I’m going to do about stopping you,” I said deep and low.

“If you touch me, you’ll only be making things worse for her,” he warned, backing inside his room like that was going to protect him.

I smirked and slowly stalked forward. “You don’t get it, do you? She’s not yours. Allana doesn’t belong to you and never will. And so long as I live and breathe, you will never touch so much as a hair on her head ever again.”

Collin’s eyes turned a darker shade of blue, and his lips curved up slightly at the corners. He seemed pleased by something I had said to him. Some hidden secret I had just revealed to him. “Then you stop breathing today,” he said. “Because no matter what you do, or how many so-called men she sends after me, I won’t stop until she is where she belongs.”

I growled. My animal started to break free. I bit against the shift and continued forward. Collin’s eyes grew wide.

“What are you?” he asked.

“Your worst nightmare,” I said, voice sounding like a growl.

“Stay back!” He held up his hands toward me, like that was going to stop me from coming after him. “Beast! Monster!”

“What makes you think I would do anything like that?” I asked, continuing to approach.

He pressed himself against the farthest wall of his room, snug between his dresser and desk. He still clutched the bottle of brandy and started to hyperventilate. I smirked to myself.

Chicken shit.

Apparently, Collin was one of those men who fought tooth and nail when backed into a corner. Because, as I approached him with his back pressed against the wall, he sucked in a single breath. I could almost see the resolution settle on his shoulders, the clarity in his eyes as he accepted his fate and acknowledged the fact he wasn’t getting out of this without a fight. The moment when he realized I meant business and I wasn’t backing down.

Collin sent a right hook into my chin and instantly shattered the last of the bottle of brandy on my head. The alcohol instantly stung like fire as the liquid bled into my vision. For a human, he had some power behind his fists and ability to think quickly. But that was what made him dangerous. And that meant I couldn’t back down anymore than I could before I showed up here. If I backed away now, Allana would forever be in danger. He had strength. Strength in which I was sure he had demonstrated to Allana on more than one occasion.

The thought of him hurting her made my blood boil.

I backhanded the man and sent him flying through the air. He landed on the desk, and it collapsed to the ground. With a groan, he stood and faced me again, fists held up on either side of his face.

I shook my head. “You’re not a bad hitter. For a human.”

“Beast!” Collin spat out the word as though it was poison in his mouth. “Foul monster!”

“Half-beast, if you must know.” I waved a hand between us. “But, semantics.”

“You’re a black mark on this world. You’re unnatural,” he spat, backing up again as I continued to close the space between us.

I sighed. “Blah, blah, blah… you would think with your smarts, you would come up with some better insults. I’m hurt.”

“Stay back! I’m warning you,” he said.

Fear had made him a bit frantic. That was a dangerous thing to confront when it came to the likes of him. He could go unhinged and kill me. Not that killing me was highly likely. It wasn’t likely at all, really. A very small percentage. But still, I haven’t crossed paths with many people like him, but one thing continued to ring true.

Fear was a dangerous thing when it came to humans. It made them irrational and prone to doing stupid things.

But I just couldn’t help myself...

I chuckled. “You’re warning me? Oh, this I do have to hear. Tell me, Collin, what are you going to do to me if I don’t?”

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