The Beast Who Loved Me by Samantha Holt

Author:Samantha Holt
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2017-03-24T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Wilde had offered his arm out of habit. Albeit a habit that he had not used in a long time. He’d thought nothing of it. Nothing at all.

Until she looped her arm through his.

There had been times in his past when he’d partaken in many sordid activities. He saw enough female flesh to last a man many lifetimes. He had touched enough too. Yet nothing quite compared to the feeling of a woman’s arm through his. No, not just any woman. Isabel’s.

That simple gesture of trust had his heart racing like galloping horses. He longed to put his other hand over the carefully curled fingers that wrapped about his forearm so perfectly but he didn’t have the courage in him to do it.

Coward, he scolded himself. Always a coward.

He led her to the far corner of the library where the fireplace and his chair and table sat.

Turning, he gestured to the vast room. “This is the best view of the room.”

Wilde could not help watch as she gazed, wide-eyed at the library. She twisted her head this way and that, tilted it up to eye the top shelves. Then she glanced back at his reading nook.

“This is where you read?” She removed her arm from his and touched the open book upon the table.

“It has the best light, the best view, and is the warmest spot.”

“It’s perfect,” she breathed. “Just perfect.” Her eyes shone with so much excitement that he forgot his disappointment that he was no longer holding her arm.

“It is my favorite place to be,” he agreed.

“You spend most of your time here?”

He nodded. All of it, if truth be told. If he was not sleeping, he was here. Sometimes he even fell asleep on the chair too. Nowhere else provided the feeling that he could achieve here. In the library, he was no longer a beast who killed his wife. He was not hideous and deformed. Once he delved into those books, he was anything he wanted to be. Handsome again. Adventurous. Brave and strong. Honorable. He had never really been any of those—apart from handsome—even before the accident. It had taken him a while to realize that his indulgence of the rakish lifestyle had been one of cowardice—an unwillingness to take on his duties and make a success of them.

Well, he had paid dearly for his arrogance and cowardly behavior. Now he would only ever adventure through the pages of a book or find love through the eyes of a hero on the pages.

Love.

He scowled to himself. He did not think he had considered he was missing out on that before. Not until…

Wilde watched her once more. It was addictive, eyeing the arch of her neck while she gaped at the shelves and swept her fingers over the ornate carvings on each pillar.

“This is beautiful.” Her gaze finally met his. “I had heard that you had one of the best libraries in England but I could never have imagined….” She grinned. “How many books do you have?”

“I could not say for sure.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.