The beast and the blessed novel by Ashley Breanne novel Chapter 16

Sixteen: Natalie

Natalie’s p.o.v.

After collecting myself, I tried to leave the room, only to find the door sealed shut. Joselin was surely the culprit, and I mentally cursed the witch.

I could flick the lock back and forth and even turn the knob, but the door wouldn't budge.

When I knocked on it and received a rhythmic tapping in return, I knew Tobias was at least out there, guarding me still. It helped me to feel like I wasn't completely alone.

After the first two hours, I accepted that it was going to be a long night. I wasn't sure when dinner would be arriving or if it would at all, and I could only hope that Killian would at least make it home at a reasonable time.

After a long, hot shower, the sound of the bedroom door being slammed shut made me jump, and I wrapped the towel around me in a hurry. I could hear things being thrown around the room, and I tiptoed to the door, peering out through the crack into the bedroom. Killian stood with his hands gripping the edge of the dresser. The muscles in his back were moving, coiling, and tensing as he appeared to be fighting off the shift.

I had seen him angry before, but not like this. His reflection in the mirror showed that he was absolutely livid. His glowing red eyes were burning into the wood of the dresser top. I flinched as his arm swung out, and he knocked the candle from the wooden surface, the glass shattering as it collided with the wall next to my side of the bed.

The loud roar of anger that followed shook me to my core, but I wasn't scared. I was deeply worried for him. All rational thought to escape the violent and angered beast vanished from my mind, and I pulled the bathroom door open and rushed toward him.

"Killian," I called out softly, only an arm's length away.

He didn't have to say anything as he turned to face me. I stood there in my towel with my hair dripping on the floor, but he never looked away from my eyes. His chest was rising and falling rapidly, and his hands were clenched in fists.

I could see it clearer now that I was so close. He wasn't just angry. He was hurting.

It was all I needed to swallow back my last bit of hesitation, and I moved forward to wrap my arms around him. Killian raised his arms as he stiffened further, but I tightened my hold.

My cheek pressed against his chest, and I could hear his heart start to slow the longer I held him. I squeezed my eyes shut as I waited for the moment he would shut down and push me off him. Instead, I let out the breath I had been holding as his arms dropped down around me, and he held me just as tightly to his chest as I held him to mine.

"What happened?" I whispered, scared that I would ruin the moment if I spoke too loudly, but he didn't let go.

"There was an attack on one of my men.’ His voice dropped as he picked me up, my feet swaying beneath me as he moved. I pushed my chest against him harder, hoping to keep my towel up as he moved to the armchair by the balcony doors. He sat down, pulling me into his lap.

My hand shot out to fix the bottom of my towel as he turned me sideways with my legs over the arm of the chair. But I paused as Killian adjusted it for me, pulling it over my thigh and placing his hand on top to keep it from moving. He wasn't even looking at me, and the unconscious move took me by surprise.

"Is he okay?"