He entered the kitchen with a flourish, nearly startling Mrs. Tuff out of her apron.
“Goodness, you scared me,” the housekeeper gasped, her hand flying to her throat.
She quickly spun around to face the stove, an obvious attempt to avoid looking at him. “What can I do for you, sir?”
“I’m heading across the river. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, so don’t make a plate for me.”
The housekeeper nodded while keeping her back to him. “I’ll leave your food in the oven, sir. It should keep it warm for a bit.”
Not bothering to answer, Lincoln exited the kitchen through the back door and trailed off toward the boathouse.
Stiles emerged seconds before Lincoln reached the dock. “Would you like for me to go with you, Mr. Barone?”
Lincoln shook his cloak-covered head. “I’ll be going alone.”
“Very well. May I ask where you’re going, sir? In case Templeton calls.”
“That’s not your business any more than it is his,” Lincoln barked, brushing past the butler to enter the boathouse. It annoyed the hell out of him to be questioned. Especially by the paid staff.
He stepped over into the boat that Stiles had readied for him and gripped the wheel.
Backing out of the boat slip, Lincoln turned the boat toward the opposite shore, his gaze glued to the lights of the French Quarter.
He thought about the last time he’d seen Ruby Atwood. She couldn’t have been more than sixteen years old. He’d watched her from the shadows as she walked home from her afterschool job at Coleman’s Cajun Grill.
The beast inside Lincoln had wanted to snatch her into the alley and rip out her throat. To destroy her life as her grandmother had destroyed his.
He remembered how she’d walked the sidewalks of the French Quarter as if she owned the entire town, her chin held high and a spring to her step. How she’d stop off at Spencer Write’s house on Burgundy Street and stay for an hour before going home.
The Beast ground his teeth at the power of resentment that still burned in his veins. Ruby Atwood had lived a life of love and luxury while Lincoln had hovered in the shadows, alone and angry, unable to attend school or do any of the normal things that teenagers participated in.
He’d been ridiculed and mocked as a child, harassed and beaten until he’d lost control and attacked a neighboring bully, hospitalizing the child for several days.
Stanford had quickly pulled him from school and hired a tutor to homeschool him.
Lincoln’s loneliness had eventually turned to resentment, bitterness, and finally…hate.
He shook off his unwanted thoughts and parked the boat near the French Market and Jackson Square.
Tying the craft to a dock, the Beast leapt onto the seawall and dropped lithely to the ground.
Between the black cloak and the cover of darkness, he slipped unseen into an alley and headed toward Royal Street.
There were no windows on the side of Ruby’s house, only stucco and vines.
The Beast slipped quietly toward the back, flattening himself against the wall as the sound of a splash echoed around him.
Someone’s in the pool, he silently acknowledged, easing up behind a rosebush situated at the corner of the house.
He lowered to his haunches, pushed a cluster of roses aside, and zeroed in on the silhouette of a female gliding along the bottom of the pool.
The female form suddenly surfaced, and Lincoln’s breath caught.
There, emerging from the pool, wearing a skimpy pink bikini was none other than Ruby Atwood.
Lincoln couldn’t move. All the breath seemed to freeze in his lungs. He’d never seen anything so perfect in all his life.
She climbed the steps from the pool, water sluicing down her body, her skimpy scrap of a swimsuit clinging to her womanly parts like a second skin.
His gaze landed on her breasts, and he was mesmerized by the hardened points of her nipples straining against the material.
The Beast swallowed around a throat gone dry and allowed his gaze to travel down her stomach, to her tiny belly button. Lower still, to the top of her bikini bottom, eventually settling on the small, delicate triangle at the juncture of her thighs.
The swimsuit bottoms left little to the imagination, kicking him in the gut with a massive dose of desire. He was lusting after his most hated enemy…Ruby Atwood.
A growl of rage rose in his throat, but he managed to swallow it back. Barely.
Ruby turned just then, giving him a view of her amply rounded backside.
The throbbing erection he now had only added to his rapidly growing anger.
He removed his hand from the rosebush, allowing the ruby-red flowers to fall back into place. Even their color reminded him of her name.
Fighting against the sexual tension that centered in his groin, Lincoln stood and leaned against the side of the house, sucking in great gulps of air. But no matter how hard he tried to push her from his mind, visions of her in that damnable scrap of material tormented his every thought.
“Ruby?” a small voice called out, pulling the Beast out of his mental anguish.
He lowered himself once more to peer through the rosebush.
A small boy entered his line of sight, carrying a cell phone in his hand.
“Somebody wants to talk to you,” the boy announced, handing Ruby the phone.
“Thank you, Cam. I’ll be in shortly.”
Cameron Atwood, the Beast surmised, watching the boy scamper back inside. Charles’s youngest spawn.
“Hello?” Ruby murmured, lifting the cell to her ear.
Lincoln held completely still, straining to hear the muffled voice coming from the phone, but he was too far away.
“Spencer. Hi.”
The beast noticed Ruby’s shoulders slightly relax. She absently shook her head, switching the phone to her other ear. “I haven’t been home long.”
Ruby grew quiet for a moment. “Thank you, Spencer, that means a lot. Okay. I’ll see you shortly.”
Lincoln remained in the shadows, his gaze glued to Ruby as she laid the cell phone on a chair and returned to the water.
She swam with poise, her strokes sure and strong. And why wouldn’t she ooze a level of confidence? the Beast asked himself. Her body was perfection. Unlike his own disfigured form.
The old familiar resentment boiled to the surface, seeping into his veins and tunneling his vision.
The Beast saw nothing but Ruby, her body slicing through the water, her voice echoing inside his head, over and over.
She’d lived a life of luxury, surrounded by family and friends, while Lincoln hid away, an outcast...an unholy abomination.
No more, Lincoln silently swore. No longer would she remain free while he lived out the rest of his days in isolation.
Ruby might not be responsible for the curse on Lincoln’s head, but Agatha Atwood’s blood flowed in her veins. And that was as close to revenge as the Beast would ever get.
Chapter Seven
Ruby emerged from the pool and reached for the dry towel that lay folded on top of a small glass table.
She brought the material to her nose, breathing in the familiar scent of home before stepping into her favorite pair of flip-flops.
A feeling of being watched suddenly came over her.
She slowly lowered the towel and scanned the surrounding area. Her gaze landed on the old rosebush at the corner of the house. Did it just move?
Dropping the towel onto the back of a chair, Ruby crept forward, her eyes squinted against the inky black darkness of the alley between her house and the next. “Hello?”
Most of the rosebush hovered in the shadows, leaving only the front visible.
She lifted a hand, easing forward another inch.
“Ruby?”
Nearly jumping from her skin, Ruby let her hand fall away and spun around. “Spencer, you scared me.”
“I didn’t mean to.” He met her halfway across the yard, wrapping her in
the welcoming heat of his arms. “What are you doing out here in the dark?”
Ruby hugged him back. “I thought I heard something. God, it’s good to see you.”
Spencer kissed the top of her head. “It’s good to see you too, babe. I’m sorry about your dad.”
The mention of her father brought tears to her eyes once more. She snuggled closer, needing the comfort Spencer offered. “I’ve missed you.”
“Not half as much as I missed you.” Spencer pulled back enough to gaze into her eyes. “When did you get home?”
“Around noon, yesterday.”
Disappointment shadowed his handsome face. “And you’re just now seeing me?”
Ruby felt contrite. “It’s really the first chance I’ve had. There’s been a lot going on with Daddy’s…passing.”
“I understand,” Spencer murmured, running his fingertips along her cheek. “But I could have helped. That’s what boyfriends do, Ruby.”
A sound, barely audible, reached Ruby’s ears. She turned her head back in the direction of the rosebush.
“What’s wrong?” Spencer removed his hand from her face.
“I thought I heard something in the alley.”
Pulling away, Spencer strode toward the alley in question. “It’s probably just a stray cat,” he called over his shoulder.
Ruby quickly caught up to him, staying close behind. “Shouldn’t we grab a flashlight? It’s black as sin back here.”
Spencer rounded the rosebush, pulling a set of keys from his pocket. He fumbled around for a moment until a bright blue LED light appeared in the darkness. “Never leave home without it.”
A small animal abruptly scurried across the alley, eliciting a gasp from Ruby.
“Jesus,” she whispered, stepping in closer to Spencer’s side. “Was that a rat?”
A soft laugh escaped him. “Come here.”
He gently pulled Ruby into his arms and buried his face against her neck. “I got you.”
The smell of his cologne was overpowering, Ruby noticed, turning her face to the side.
She’d been seeing Spencer since the tenth grade. And as much as she cared about him, something always held her back when it came to intimacy.
Spencer had always respected Ruby’s wishes to wait when it came to sex. Sure, they’d done some heavy petting and made out a few times, but Ruby had always stopped it before it could get out of hand.
She wanted her first time to be perfect, special. Not in the backseat of a car or in some cheap motel room.
Ruby wanted the fairy tale.
Spencer’s hands coasted down her back to cup her bikini-covered rear. He pulled her more firmly against him, pressing his now obvious erection along the juncture of her thighs.
Ruby stared into the darkness, wondering why she didn’t return his desire, yet somehow relieved that she didn’t.
“Spencer...”
He eased back immediately. “I’m sorry, babe. I know my timing sucks. I just can’t seem to help myself when I’m around you. Come on, let’s get you inside.”
Ruby accepted his hand and allowed him to lead her from the alley.
She snagged her towel from the back of the chair, wrapped it around her body, and followed Spencer through the glass sliding doors.
“Make yourself at home,” she announced as the door slid shut behind her. “I’ll be right back.”
Rushing up the stairs to her room, Ruby quickly changed into a pair of jean cutoff shorts and a pink V-neck t-shirt. She ran a brush through her damp hair, pulling it back into a ponytail.
Gazing at herself in the mirror, Ruby somehow felt detached, as if the girl staring back at her were someone else.
Her hazel eyes looked tired, and her normally olive-colored skin appeared pale, clashing with the dark chestnut tint of her hair.
Her life had been forever changed over the past couple of days. And no matter how much she might wish it to be so, she couldn’t turn back the clock and set things right. Her father was gone and never coming back.
Taking a deep breath of resolve, Ruby turned from her reflection and made her way back downstairs to find Spencer in the kitchen where she’d left him.
“Would you like something to drink?” Ruby inquired on her way to the fridge.
“I’ll take a beer if you’ll have one with me.”
She paused with her fingers on the handle of the refrigerator and glanced over her shoulder. “Some of us haven’t turned twenty-one yet.”
Spencer grinned. “Since when has that ever stopped you, college girl? You run off to California and get religion?”
Ruby found herself returning his smile. “I guess one or two wouldn’t hurt.”
“That’s my girl.”
“Ruby?” Cameron rushed into the kitchen. “Mrs. Fleming wants to know if I can help her with some chores in the morning. She said she’ll pay me twenty dollars.”
Poor Cam, Ruby thought, staring into his soft brown eyes. He’d been keeping busy since the news of their father’s passing. “Sure. What time does she want you there?”
“She said I can stay the night, so we don’t have to wake you up so early.”
The thought of spending the night alone in her big, empty house didn’t appeal to Ruby, but Cameron needed the distraction, so she relented. Not to mention, she had to make funeral arrangements, and not having Cam underfoot would make things a tad easier. “Go get your things. And don’t forget your toothbrush.”
He hurried over and threw his arms around her legs. “I love you, Ruby.”
“I love you too, Cam.”
Spencer eased up behind her the second Cameron disappeared around the corner. “I can stay if you don’t want to be alone.”
Ruby shook her head. “I appreciate it, Spencer, but I have a lot to do, and I need to be able to think clearly.”
“You can’t do anything tonight, babe. You can do what needs to be done tomorrow while Cameron’s in school. I’ll help you.”
She glanced down at the beer in her hand before setting it on the bar. “Summer break starts tomorrow. Cameron’s out of school for the next ten weeks. Would you be too upset with me if I said my goodnights now?”
As much as she wanted to talk to him about the money owed on the house, Ruby couldn’t bring herself to do it. She didn’t want his pity. No, she would figure something out on her own.
“Of course, I won’t be upset with you. I completely understand, sweetheart. Just know that I’m only a couple of blocks away if you need me for anything.”
Ruby turned in his arms and hugged him close. “I know. You’ve always been there for me.”
“That’s because I love you.”
Pulling back slightly, she met Spencer’s gaze. “Do you really?”
“You know I do. What kind of a question is that?”
She glanced away before returning his stare. “It’s just that…”
“Just that what?” he prompted, giving her a gentle nudge with his arm.
Stepping out of his embrace, Ruby turned to gaze out the glass sliding door at the light of the pool beyond. “We’ve been seeing each other since the tenth grade. I’m on my second year in college, and we have yet to…”
“Have sex?”
“I was going to say, make love. But yes, have sex. I don’t expect you to continue to wait on me, Spencer.”
“Have you waited?”
Not surprised by his question, Ruby turned to face him. “You think I’ve cheated on you?”
“I’m sorry if I sounded accusing,” Spencer stated. “I only meant that… Well, I… You’re a gorgeous girl, Ruby. I know it can’t be easy for you to abstain around all those college guys. Especially for two years.”
“I haven’t strayed, Spencer. It seems like we have this conversation every time I come home.”
Spencer ran a hand through his blond hair. “I know, and my timing couldn’t suck more. I’m really sorry, Ruby. About everything. My ignorant questions…your dad. Seriously. Forgive me?”<
br />
“There’s nothing to forgive.” She trailed over to the sliding glass doors. “But I do have a ton to do tonight and funeral arrangements to make. Call you tomorrow?”
Stepping in close, Spencer leaned down and brushed his lips across the corner of Ruby’s mouth. “I’ll bring you coffee and a beignet around nine o’clock in the morning.”
“Sounds good. Goodnight, Spencer.”
The hairs on Ruby’s arms stood on end as she stood in the kitchen and watched Spencer disappear around the corner of the house.
Her gaze scanned the shadows beyond, the feeling of being watched overcoming her once more.
With a slight shiver, she slid the door closed and locked it behind her.
Chapter Eight
The Beast remained in the shadows of Ruby’s backyard long after Spencer Wright’s departure.
Lincoln knew all about Spencer. He’d made it his life’s mission to know everything there was to know about Ruby and anyone close to her.
Spencer was definitely close to her, Lincoln admitted after silently observing their intimate exchange. If there had been any doubt, it left the moment the blond jock placed his palms on Ruby’s half-bare ass.
A growl rose up at the memory of Ruby in Spencer’s arms.
Angry that he’d allowed the little tart to get under his skin, the Beast skirted the shrubs along the privacy fence and headed to the east side of the house.
He stepped onto the central air unit and jumped, his fingers locking onto the railing of the balcony above. The balcony to Ruby’s bedroom.
The lights were off in her room as he quietly eased the sliding glass door open and slipped inside.
Her scent hit him full in the face, nearly taking him to his knees with its tantalizing sweetness. He’d never smelled anything so incredible in all his life.
Disgust gripped him at the direction of his thoughts. How could he think of Agatha Atwood’s granddaughter in any way other than loathsome?
The sound of the front door closing brought Lincoln out of his detestable musing. He inched back, listening intently as the echo of footsteps entered the kitchen below and traveled to the stairs.
Ruby and the Beast: A Beauty and the Beast Novel Page 3
