In Bed with the Beast (Naughty Princess Club 2)

Vincent takes a step back and slams the door in Dusty’s face without saying a word.

“Well, that was rude,” I mutter as Vincent whirls around and glares at me from across the room.

I take a few steps back until I run into the wall behind me. He’s more than twenty feet away from me, but that look in his eyes is a little frightening.

“You. Broke. A. Rule.”

Each word is clipped and spoken through clenched teeth. For the first time since I met him, I shiver with fear instead of excitement. Sure, I told the girls breaking into that room wasn’t right, but I should have put up more of a fight. I should have argued and put my foot down and never, ever let myself drink so much wine that I forgot all about the trust Vincent showed me when he told me not to go in that room.

“I-I-I-know,” I stutter. “I said I was sorry and—”

“I DON’T GIVE A SHIT IF YOU’RE FUCKING SORRY!” he bellows, his thunderous voice practically shaking the entire house. “YOU WEREN’T SUPPOSED TO GO IN THAT FUCKING ROOM. IT WAS LOCKED FOR A GODDAMN REASON. YOU AGREED TO THE RULES, AND YOU FUCKING LIED!”

He stands there with his feet spread and chest heaving, both of his fists still clenched tightly down by his thighs. I know I shouldn’t say anything to poke the beast even further, but it’s impossible for me to keep quiet. I know I’m in the wrong, and I know I should be groveling at his feet, but I also know that I’m no longer the kind of person who just lets someone talk to me that way, even if I did something to warrant it.

“What the hell is wrong with you?! Calm down and stop acting like a . . .”

He stalks across the room towards me, and instead of moving back even further to try and become one with the wall behind me, I put my hands on my hips and stand my ground.

“Like a what? Like a FUCKING BEAST?!” he shouts. “This is who I am, princess! How many fucking times do I have to tell you?”

“This is not who you are, this is who you choose to be! I’ve seen you be kind and sweet, so don’t even try to act like you’re nothing but an animal who can’t control his temper. I said I was sorry. I’m not a liar. I just wanted to understand you better.”

He takes another menacing step towards me, fire raging in his eyes as he stares me down.

“There’s nothing to understand. Stay out of that fucking room. I’m not a prince in one of those fucking fairy tales you read, so get that out of your goddamn head! I said I’d help you with this ridiculous idea of learning how to be sexy, but that’s as far as it goes.”

“So what the hell was that kiss for the other night?” I fire back. “And don’t you even try to tell me that was a lesson, because we both know that’s bullshit!”

“It was a momentary lapse in judgment and it won’t happen again, you hear me?”

I smack my hands against his chest and shove as hard as I can until he moves out of my way, stomping around him before I break down in tears.

“Oh, don’t worry. I got that message loud and clear!” I yell back to him as I make my way towards the front door.

“Where the hell are you going?”

“NONE OF YOUR GODDAMN BUSINESS!” I shout, flinging the door open, more than a little surprised to see Dusty sitting on the front steps.

When I slam the door closed behind me, he turns around and looks up at me with a smile.

Marching across the porch, I reach down and grab his arm, dragging him up his feet.

“Let’s go. And I’m telling you right now, this better be the best damn date you’ve ever taken anyone on!”

* * *

This is the worst date I’ve ever been on.

It could be my mood that has soured this date, but I’m guessing that even if I were having the best day ever, this date would still be atrocious. It’s sad, too. For the first hour or so, Dusty seemed exactly my type. He even wore a similar pair of black-rimmed glasses as me, which he continuously had to push up the bridge of his nose all evening. He likes talking about books and he knows more random, useless facts than I do.

But Dusty is . . . how should I put this? A little too handsy.

“I’ve never been here before. It’s a nice place, a little crowded, but it’s still nice,” Dusty says loudly over the noise in the packed bar, his hand immediately reaching out and grabbing my butt.

I swat his hand away and give him another glare, just like I’ve done ten other times since we got here. I know I should punch him in the face, but considering I already did that to one of my dates, and I really, really don’t want to go back to Vincent’s house anytime soon, I’m trying my hardest to keep my cool. Maybe a bar wasn’t the best suggestion, but I wanted somewhere busy with lots of people, considering I didn’t know this guy. But a packed bar where we couldn’t sit down and were forced to stand in between people sitting on stools at the bar where Dusty could easily grope me probably wasn’t my best decision tonight.