The Mask Of The Monster - Chapter 77

(From Ella’s Perspective)

I was not sure if I was right, but I wanted to take the chance. I followed him from a distance until he went inside a room on the second floor. He closed the door from the inside. I sighed in frustration.

Leandro was downstairs talking to that man, Charles. Charles was not much old, perhaps one or two years older than Leandro. He had the same black hair as Leandro with the same type of facial features, but their eyes were not the same. Charles had green eyes, unlike Leandro. His face had a lot of scars. I wondered how he had scars if he was a shifter. Leandro told me that shifters could heal their scars.

Even though Charles was calling Leandro ‘my lord’, I could not help but think that they were blood-related. Perhaps they were cousins or something like that. I read on the internet that even family members would talk to each other with formalities in royal families. Perhaps that was the reason he was calling Leandro ‘my lord’.

When we were talking, I noticed the man. He was perhaps in his forties with tall stature and a not-so-bad-looking face. I could not help but feel like I knew him. That was the reason I followed him. I could not tell Leandro or he would not let me follow the man.

There was no one in front of the room. I slowly made my way towards it and looked here and there before pressing my ear against the door.

I could hear nothing but the sound of pacing on the hardwood floor. It was like someone was walking all around the room without stopping. No one was else was in the room, or I could hear a single sound of their talking. No one could keep quiet for that long, right?

Suddenly I heard someone’s footsteps coming this way. I hastily moved away from the door and pretended as if I was interested in the piece of art nearby.

“Do you like it?”

It was a guy with red hair and hazel eyes. He was not as tall as Leandro, just a bit shorter than him. He had a friendly smile on his face, but I still did not like the way he was looking at me.

“It’s not so bad,” I said, looking at the drawing of a bowl full of grapes though I could not find what exactly was good about it. “But not too good either.”

“It’s not a very good picture, perhaps that’s why you can’t find something good in it,” he said. “I have a collection of portraits in my house. I collect them out of a hobby. I think they are better.”

“Good for you,” I mumbled.

“I am Dane Lysander,” he said, holding out his hand.

“Leora Edrei,” I said and shook his hand. His hand was soft for some reason, unlike Leandro’s and I would choose Leandro’s rough and hard ones again and again.

“Can I call you Leora?”

“You can’t possibly call me Edrei, right?”

“Right, right. So Leora, why are you here?”

“I’m here with my_ husband. He has business here,” I replied.

“You’re married?” he asked, shocked.

“Yes.”

He seemed to be disappointed for some reason. Was this git attracted to me? The thought made me laugh. The way Leandro could be jealous, I was sure that in this case, he would not hesitate to kill this guy.

“So will you stay here for a while?” he asked.

I glanced at the door where the man I was following went in. He had not gotten out yet. I thought of waiting a bit more time here.

“Yeah. Lee is probably talking to his business partner. It’ll take a bit of time. It’s boring, so I’m wandering around,” I said.

“Your husband’s name is Lee?”

“Yes. Lee Edrei.”

“Is he old?” he asked.

I knew he was trying to know more about us, but if I wanted to continue the conversation and keep an eye on the man at the same time, I needed to cooperate even though I did not want to.

“He is twenty-two,” I replied.

“And you are?”

“Twenty-five.”

He laughed. “You’re lying, Leora. You can’t be twenty-five.”

“Why can’t I be?”

“You don’t look that mature,” he said.

“I just don’t look my age.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“That’s your problem, not mine,” I said.

“You can’t be more than eighteen,” he said.

“If you’re done guessing my age, I will take my leave now,” I said and I knew he would stop me.

“No, fine! Though I don’t believe that you’re twenty-five, I won’t talk about that now. Will you please stay with me for a while?”

“You kind of look like my brother,” I muttered.

“Pardon?”

“You heard me. You look like my brother.”

“You have a brother?”

“Imaginary brother. I would not mind having a brother,” I said.

He faked a laugh. “Yeah, sure, sure,” he muttered uncomfortably.

Suddenly I heard a sound from behind and in front of me, the color from Dane’s face fed away. I wondered what he saw to make him look like a frightened cat.

I looked behind and right that moment understood why he was frightened. I would be too if I had not known the person perfectly.

“Lee! What’re you doing here?” I exclaimed seeing Leandro standing behind me with his eyes angry and dangerous, his hands clenched tightly into fists.

He was not saying anything as he kept his gaze like fire fixed on Dane who was looking between me and Leandro uncomfortably. I sensed danger and I knew right away that I needed to do something.

“Dane, this is my husband Lee I talked about. And Lee, this is Dane. We met just now,” I said, but Leandro’s face did not relax as he kept burning Dane with his eyes.

“Nice meeting you, sir. I was just talking to your wife about life and stuff,” Dane said extending his hand. Leandro did not shake his hand, rather he held my hand tightly, making me tremble a bit as well.

“Come with me,” Leandro said to me and pulled me with him. I did not want to go, but the way he was behaving, I thought that it was better if I did not argue.

“We’ll meet again, Leora,” Dane said from behind and I had to admit he was quite brave to say this.

“Call her Mrs. Edrei,” Leandro said dangerously and without waiting for a response, he pulled me with him as he made his way towards a door. I did not know where he was taking me, but I did not ask him anything either. He was behaving dangerously. I had never seen him like this before.

He opened the door he was headed to with one hand using more force than required. There was a bed in the middle of the room which was well-organized, a brown couch stood in one corner right beside the window. I could say that the couch was pretty soft by the look of it. There were semi-precious artifacts in the room. If I had not been sleeping in the same bed with Leandro for a long time, I would get scared thinking about what he was up to.

I knew he was angry, but I also knew that he would not do something that I would not say yes to. But tonight, I had to admit that I was a bit scared.

He threw me on the bed and I landed on the soft mattress, bouncing once. He got rid of his mask and cap while I was looking at him, thinking what the hell was happening.

“Leandro_ what…”

“Don’t talk,” he said, his voice dangerous.

And before I knew what was going to happen, he claimed my lips. His lips moved in furious sync on mine as I started feeling my mind going numb all of a sudden while my body started to react to his movements. He was kissing me senselessly like a boy eating the last piece of his chocolate and the way he was doing it, I had a feeling that he was not going to stop anytime soon.

His lips were as rough as always with a blend of softness. I had my weight on my elbows as he grasped my neck tightly, pulling me more into him as if he would never let me go. How much I wished that what I was thinking was true! How much I wished that he would never let me go!

His other hand slid behind me, caressing the fabric on my back, his thumb nail tracing down the zipper line making a false sensation of unzipping. His lips did not stop even for a while, but he did not bite on my bottom lips tonight, rather I willingly subconsciously opened my lips for him, inviting his tongue to seal our mouths together.

Perhaps I was crazy. Then I thought it would not hurt to be a little crazy for him, would it?