The Monster in the Manor: Chapter 31

Stella comes for dinner, upsetting the balance.

Peony

I spend all the next day preparing for dinner so I don’t have to think about what happened. It’s unsettling, but I believe that eventually, the media will get bored of us and move on to something else.

Though it’s not every day that a real-life monster appears in the world. People are fascinated with Rupert. Rumors have spread like wildfire since he’s failed to make any additional appearances, taking on the aura of a bigfoot. Some people wonder if it was a prank, some animatronic apparatus, or perhaps generative AI.

Until Rupert appeared to save me at the front gate, and now every major news outlet is running footage of him bellowing threats. Very good PR.

I know it rattled him. He worries about my safety, and this only cemented that fact for him. Perhaps he’s right that we would be better off at one of his other properties, one even more remote and anonymous than this one.

But I don’t want to retreat even further. It’s not fair to either of us, not when Rupert has only just shown himself.

I prepare the same meal I had planned last time. Rupert offers to help, but I’m on a mission and I insist on doing all of it myself. I want to prove to Stella I’m fine on my own, that I never needed her help anyway. And now, I’m happy here with Rupert.

My great-aunt arrives in a black limo thirty minutes late and strides out wearing sunglasses even though it’s nearly dark. I’m waiting for her at the front door, and she hands her jacket to Kellen without sparing him a glance. He looks down at it with an irritated huff, then hangs it up by the door.

 When she sees Rupert in the dining room, Stella pauses, but then sniffs and enters as if nothing is amiss. We exchange greetings, but Stella gives Rupert’s outstretched hand a skeptical look without shaking it.

Once everyone’s seated, including Kellen, I hurry to produce my appetizer. Stella studies it critically before taking a sample bite.

Even she can’t hide that she likes it. It brings me the barest amount of pleasure to surprise her, though she would never admit openly how delicious it is.

As we eat, the first thing she brings up is how we were all over the news again.

“Perhaps,” she says over dinner, “you ought to consider showing yourself more rather than less, Mr. Edgewood. Do an interview in a controlled environment. Answer the people’s questions.”

Rupert glares at her with unabashed distaste.

“I am not some curiosity for their amusement,” he snaps. But Stella is unfazed, though he looks fierce and frightening.

She goes on to gossip about the other members of the club in town, people whose names mean nothing to either of us.

“You ought to at least show your face there,” she says as I bring out the main course. She tests it with her fork as if the food might bite her. “It would do wonders for your reputation.”

“I do not care for my reputation,” Rupert snarls in response.

“Hmm.” Stella eats with a genteel delicacy. “You ought to. Peony was only abducted because that man saw her driving a fancy car. He knew that if she was working for you, she had money. Your reputation is what landed you in this in the first place.”

Rupert’s lip curls like he’s going to say something harsh in return, but I nudge him with my foot under the table. His mouth falls closed, then he stares down at his plate, brows furrowed, and doesn’t speak for the rest of the meal.

I try to fill the empty space, asking Stella about our extended family.

“I do not communicate with them often.” She raises her narrowed eyes to mine. “Though after the event at the bank, I did hear from your father.”

Dad. I can’t imagine what he thought after seeing it. Now he knows he was right, that Andy was the real villain. So I say nothing, biting my lip as Stella continues.

“I told him how you came to be in Mr. Edgewood’s employ, all thanks to me.”

I can’t help myself, so I ask, “What did he say?”

“He was disappointed, watching you go right into another man’s tangle.” Her words are like a knife to my gut. “You never contacted him when you needed help. He was insulted.”

Shame washes over me. I didn’t reach out to him. I didn’t because I thought he wouldn’t want to help me after how we left things.

I stew on this for the rest of the meal as Stella prattles on about other subjects. Kellen, the backbone of this family that he is, keeps the conversation going while Rupert and I are quiet.

My father is disappointed in me. Another man’s tangle. 

I hope that he’s wrong.

---

Rupert

My money.

That ratty old lady is right. I hate, hate that she’s right, more than anything.

While I remain a rich fool, Peony will never escape the danger of being associated with me and my fortune. She is not safe—and will never be safe—as long as I am who I am. That very same money I traded everything for? It’s also the thing that Andy nearly killed her to get.

Giancarlo was wrong. The old man’s curse has returned for me, as it always will, on and on until the end of time. I do not get to have happiness. I do not get to have the woman I love, not while I am this.

After Stella leaves that night, Peony angrily cleans the kitchen, and I give her a hand as best I can without asking questions. She is rightfully upset over what Stella said about her father, and I am lost in my own thoughts, obsessing over what I need to do. What the right thing is to do. 

I wish I could throw all my money into the ocean to undo it. I don’t need the funds—I never really have. But no matter how much I give away to charitable causes, the money always grows, as it has since I was changed. Still, I would trade it all if it meant I could be with Peony forever.

But as long as I am near… I can never be sure that something awful won’t happen to her in order to punish me and fulfill the curse.

That night, I don’t mind that Peony uses me to vent her frustration, climbing up into my lap and sinking down on me, slinging her arms over my shoulders and fucking me with everything she has until she sags against me, and then I take over, lifting her by the ass. She comes quietly, but it’s not enough for me.

My flower deserves better. She deserves the world.

I press her down to the bed, looming over her, my cock slick and dripping with us. I spread the lips of her pussy with my fingers, then ease myself inside her again while she’s still tight from her orgasm. She moans as she swallows me up, and I lean forward to silence her with my lips. I devour her mouth while I methodically make love to her, keeping her pinned to the bed, hiking her legs up so I can get the best possible angle. A few times I simply slow down, almost to stopping, keeping myself fully sheathed inside her warm, pulsing heat.

“Peony.” I nuzzle her nose, sweeping her hair back from her sweaty face. She whimpers for me to fuck her more, but I simply warm my cock inside her, gently rocking. “I love you. I love you more than I can put into words.”

I see it on her face as her heart blooms, spreading its wings wide for me, to accept me and bring me inside. It nearly brings tears to my eyes just to see the pure affection and devotion on her face.

“I love you, too, Rupert. More than I knew I could love someone.” She pulls me close, wrapping me up in her arms, and I begin once again to move slowly. Her moans climb, turning into cries as I seek out the place that will push her over the edge.

I will love her as completely as I can, so she will remember it when we’re no longer together. I breathe through my nose to keep my own finish locked tightly away, because I want to show her the most perfect bliss while I still can.

And then, I swallow her pleasure, kissing her as she screams into my mouth. I want to consume her so I never have to live without her. So she can never leave me.

But it’s true what they say: sometimes when you love something, you have to let it go.

---

Peony

Rupert is strangely solemn the day after Stella’s visit, and I suppose what she said has affected both of us. Perhaps it really would be right to leave the manor for now, at least until the fervor of the media dies down.

I decide to broach the subject with him that afternoon on our walk. The clouds are threatening us with snow, and the air is chilly, but I don’t want to give up this time to stretch my legs and have a serious talk with Rupert about what we should do next.

“I decided that I like your idea,” I say, breaking the quiet between us. “About leaving for a while and going to one of your other properties, where the media can’t find us.”

He does not look as pleased by this suggestion as I expected him to be.

“Peony…” Rupert slows his steps, and I slow down, too, until we’ve both come to a stop.

“What is it?”

Something indecipherable darkens his lion-like features, and his eyes slide away from mine. He bares his fangs down at the ground as if the brown leaves there have betrayed him.

“I think it’s best if you go.” He still won’t look at me. “You should pack up your things and live there. Without me.”

I’m not sure I heard him right. He wants me to go? Alone?

“Are you…” My voice comes out choked, because I can’t believe what I’m hearing. “Are you asking me to leave, Rupert?”

It looks as if I’ve physically slapped him the way that his gaze jumps to mine, and his body straightens.

“No, no, Peony.” His eyes are reddened around the edges, and strangely wet. “I want you. I want you more than anything. I want you right at my side, but…” He clears his throat and wipes his eyes with one wrist. “But you’re not safe while you’re with me. Whether we’re here at the manor, or somewhere else—wherever I go, you’re at risk.”

“But they don’t know where your other house is, right? I’m sure we could lose them so they can’t follow us.” Even as I say the words, dread is creeping into my heart at the look on his face. “We can just lie low for a while. Keep an eye on the news.”

“No.”

Rupert’s tone is firm. Unyielding.

“What?” I ask, reaching for him, wanting him to take my hand in his and reassure me. “What do you mean, ‘no’?”

“You are going. I am not.” He steps away from me, putting space between us. My hand falls back to my side. “Your association with me will only make life harder for you. I will always attract attention. My money will always put you at physical risk. If not Andy, someone else might try to abduct you for a ransom, or worse.”

“No one’s going to abduct me for a ransom!” My voice is rising higher as my heart rate quickens. He can’t be doing what I think he’s doing. “What are you talking about, Rupert? I don’t care about the reporters. I just want to be with you.”

“You shouldn’t.” His expression is painfully hard, his eyes flashing. “I will only hurt you, Peony. You aren’t safe with me. You will never be safe with me. Even now, I’m hurting you.”

“Because you’re dumping me!” It comes out strangled by the sob rising in my throat.

Rupert turns his head away but doesn’t refute my words. A powerful bolt of pain rips through me, radiating out from my chest. 

He wants me to go away. Without him.

“All because, what, you think I’m in danger?” I ask, hoarse.

“It’s what the old man said to me. Back then, back when he changed me.” Rupert hisses between his teeth. “That’s part of my curse, Peony. The part I didn’t tell you, but I should have. Everything bad that’s happened to you… It’s all my fault. It’s the spell. The curse.”

“What are you talking about?” I’m afraid, so afraid, of what Rupert might do right now. He wouldn’t really destroy this thing between us, would he? After everything we’ve shared, what we conquered to get here?

My monster rounds on me, his fangs glinting. “And you will never, ever be happy. Those were the words the old man said when he cast the spell. And now I truly understand them.” He growls low in his throat, and I find myself stepping back, not recognizing this version of him. “Every time I have been happy, every time I’ve been on the cusp of finding joy in my life with you… something threatens to take you away from me. Andy kidnapping you, the press on our heels? That’s why! Because I’m cursed, Peony! Because I traded away living a life with you for that useless thing called money.”

With that, Rupert spits on the ground.

I’m too shocked, too hurt, to even speak. He would end things between us because of some silly words?

Suddenly, I’m angry. “That’s just some shit he said to upset you!” My voice is rising in volume. “Nobody can keep you from happiness except you, Rupert.”

“He was able to turn me into what I am now,” he snaps, surprisingly venomous. I would almost think he’s trying to hurt my feelings. “Who says he’s lying? That he didn’t doom me to a life devoid of joy, where anyone in my crosshairs gets hurt?”

I could simply scream and stomp my foot. “I can’t believe you’d be so delusional.” I cross my arms over my chest. “That you would… that you would get rid of me because of some utter nonsense!”

I turn around and start walking back the way we came. Behind me, Rupert snarls, and he jogs to catch up and walk alongside me.

“Listen to me, please,” he says, his voice softer this time. “You can’t be with me. It will only bring you pain—”

“Rupert!” I shout in my frustration. “If you do this, if you abandon me because of some made-up reason like this, I will never forgive you. I will leave you and never come back. Because it means you never cared about me at all.”

It looks as if this has reached him. He gapes at me as if I’ve buried a dagger in his chest.

“I… I love you, Peony,” he says, desperation in his voice. “I would never—I would only—it’s because—” His eyes are rimmed with red and shining. “I can’t have you. You will be safer if you go.”

“I get it.” I continue walking back to the manor, stifling my own tears. “You want me to leave, I’ll leave.”

I hear Rupert’s footsteps behind me, but then, they stop. He doesn’t follow as I continue alone, through the woods to the garden. When I peek over my shoulder, he’s gone.

There’s no point in holding back anymore, so I cry as I head inside the back doors of the manor, and I hold my peacoat close. Back in my room, I yank my clothes down from the few pathetic hangers they occupy in the big closet, then pull the other clothes out of the drawers, stuffing them into my duffel bag.

Superstitious asshole. No matter what I say, he won’t hear me.

I’ve never been so angry in my life as I hurl my things together. All this because of some jackass wizard? Rupert is going to let a grouchy old guy dictate his entire future when we’ve fought so hard to get here?

I can’t let this go. After everything we’ve been through, I won’t allow Rupert to do this to us.

My hand stops halfway around a pair of shoes. I know what to do.