Running from His Claim (Beauty and the Beast #2)

Chapter 7

I was pacing angrily in my room that night. Victor hadn't been responding to my calls, and I was plotting all the ways I was going to kill him when I next got my hands on him. Our kiss came back to mind, and my cheeks burned. That only made me angrier.

And if I was honest with myself, beneath that anger was guilt. How could I have kissed someone else just days after the man I loved -

Okay, couldn't finish that thought. I took a deep, calming breath. I still didn't understand these panic attacks, and what was enough to trigger them or just make my heart squeeze painfully and my breathing erratic. Like now.

I stood still in my room, clenching my fists in frustration as I forced myself to calm down so my breathing would regulate.

Get it together, damn it! If I'm going back to school tomorrow, I have to have this under control.

I felt a slight breeze blow into my room. I spun round to see Victor hovering in my room, about to land. "Why're you blowing up my -"

"You!" I charged at him furiously, wondering which murder attempt to try first. "You did this!"

"Okay, whoa." He kept just inches above the ground, still hovering as he leaned back. "Hold on there."

"You cocky, arrogant, insufferable, utterly worthless moron!" I yelled, punctuating each word with an angry stride.

He was still floating as he backed away from me while I chased him all over my room. When I finished, he angled his head and smirked, "Are you...cussing me out?"

"What the hell were you thinking?!" I demanded when he stopped near a wall. "Do you even know what you did?"

"I take it you're still mad about this morning," he guessed, finally lowering to my floor.

"Oh, mad doesn't begin to cover it!"

"Okay, listen. Listen," he insisted at my growl and placed a hand on my shoulder, keeping me back. "Dane looked like he needed help and I was sort of available."

"And you decided to kiss me?"

"Well, I could have picked a fight with you, but I couldn't be sure how long that would have to go on before I hit paydirt. Plus, there was always the possibility that I'd say the absolutely wrong thing and you'd just hate me."

"I hate you now!" I retorted.

He shrugged, dismissing that. "Nah."

"You kissed me!" I yelled.

"Fastest way to get you to respond, to feel."

My jaw dropped as I realised it. "You knew exactly what you were doing."

"You mean breaking through that numbing shell you had around you?"

I turned away now, feeling overwhelmed. "Why? It was protecting me."

He stepped closer - I felt him behind me even before he spoke close to my ear. "No, it wasn't. It was just postponing the inevitable, and poisoning you while at it."

"How do you know that?"

He slipped an arm around my waist, turned me round to him. And when I looked up, he was smiling softly. That innocent look could still get me, apparently, because my anger subsided. "You had something like it around you when we first met. It made me curious about you. And Dane was right, this was worse than before. I could smell what it was doing to you and I didn't like it, so I figured the best way to punch a hole through it was to bring out a powerful emotion. I figured you'd either get pissed, break down crying again, or jump me." He grinned wickedly. "And after that kiss, I can't say I'm not disappointed that you didn't try to have your way with me."