Beastly

Fall

Placing the box on the table she stalked to the shelf where she had found it the first time, climbing the ladder to the first half, she searched really old looking books and any she found boring enough to hide pieces of an intriguing story, what if it was hidden in different books,she thought as she took more books than she could carry,she carried them with both her hands as she tried stepping down carefully,one step at a time.

Maybe it was a bad idea carrying all this book,silly her , she could have done it one at a time,she breathed in and took another step down and another but when she made to take another one,she missed her footing and fell back wards,she shrieked in fear,she would break bones when she hits the floor ,and probably be in bed for months in the process of recovery, with the weight of the book she was carrying she didn't doubt that it would hurt much worse than it was supposed to but after a few seconds and she didn't feel any pain her frightened brain registered the powerful scent of the overbearing male she was on.

"Ivor."she whispered,her heart pounding frantically in her chest,he had this woodsy masculine scent,with a touch of mint,he was a breath of fresh air, made her feel like she was running through an evergreen forest,free from all the stress and trouble and there was nothing to stop her , except in reality he would be the one to stop her and with that she was out of her day dream opening her eyes to look into grey furious eyes,he cursed something vile under his breath before he dropped her down on the table bracing it with both his hands trapping her there.

"For the love of God! , care to explain what exactly you were doing up there?,you would have landed on the floor if I didn't arrive just in the nick of time or worse broken your neck."he yelled with a scowl.

"I-i needed to get some books."she said looking past him to the books on the floor.

"And I would like to believe you were done reading the ones below."he said still angry,she didn't know why he was so angry and she looked at his grip on the table,he was struggling ,with what?,it seemed like he was afraid to lose his temper completely and as per his question, he should have noticed by now that she was more interested in things that were out of her reach.

"They we-weren't quite as good as the ones I found up-"she stopped as she saw that she was only making matters worse by talking back at him,she wasn't scared,just nervous, for someone who had just survived a fall he should be more consoling.

He bent his head as he shut his eyes his hands digging deeper into the table,he was hurting.

She looked down at her hands fisted on her lap,she didn't quite like being the reason for anyone's pain even if it was this one person that caused her family pain,she unclenched her hand and very slowly she reached out for his,she didn't know why it hurt,but she didn't want to cause him more pain,it was a weird thought because all she had wanted to do to him was get him angry,make him see she wasn't fit to be his queen ,she touched his hand very lightly at first then her hand rested fully on his, he instantly released his grip on the table but he didn't move for a while,then he turned his hand and clasped hers, rubbing his thumb gently over the pulse on her wrist and she was flooded with a wave of heat on such a small gesture,she took a deep breath resisting the urge to pull her hand away,then he raised his head to look straight at her.

"Do you always land on your back or is a recent habit you cultivated in my presence."he said and a small smile played on his lips again,she didn't quiet hear him she was awestruck,how could anyone be so handsome, it was not fair,how was her poor heart supposed to survive?,as usual his midnight black hair was combed back neatly, resting on the nape of his neck,there was never a hair out of place,he had thick long lashes any woman would die for,well sculptured jaw,her finger itched for reasons she was yet to identify why,and his eyes seemed darker than usual but it only added to his features making it more sophisticated,why had she never noticed them?,why now?,she was instantly broken out of the spell of the moment by the clearing of a throat from a few meters behind them and she instantly pulled her hand away from his hold and lowered her face rubbing her wrist with her other hand trying to disperse the heat,her heart was pounding for no reason at all,yes ,she had almost fallen from the ladder but that wasn't even the reason for her heart's protest.

"Lord Bergamot is waiting milord,he has the papers we require."Roman said dutifully.

Ivor nodded standing erect he smiled at her again and left with his Roman,she sat on the table for a while,now she was sure she had to leave, she ran her finger on the dents his fingers created, there was one thing she was definitely sure of,the lord of Nightfalls wasn't a normal person,now she didn't doubt that he could destroy an army with the snap of his finger although it still sounded exaggerated and impossible but then again she had foresight, so anything was possible, speaking of foresight she didn't sense his presence,she never does and that was another mystery she didn't feel the need to uncover, lifting her fingers from the table she looked at the empty space before her,the space once occupied by the box,she hurriedly walked around the table, she went back to the spot she had read it searched through the pile of books on the floor, where was it?,then it hit her,did he ,no... did he take it?