A Dark Guardian Read Online Free PDF Page A

glanced at Theresa, and for an instant, thought Theresa would shriek with fury as her face mottled with rage. She wasn’t used to men turning her down.

    Theresa stood and stared at Hugh. She turned to his men and smiled sweetly.
    “Excuse me, gentlemen, I must see to the duties of the castle,” she ended and threw a hate filled look at Mina.

    Once Theresa had departed the hall, Mina let out the breath she had held. She reached for her goblet of water and found all six men watching her keenly. “Do I have something on me?” she asked as embarrassment engulfed her. She had never had so many men stare at her before.

    “Nay,” Val the scarred said.

    Their stares began to unnerve her. She turned toward Hugh. “What is it?”

    “We are trying to understand how a brother and sister could detest a sibling so.”
    She sighed and shrugged. “’Tis always been so. What can you expect from two people who are so beautiful to have someone like me in their family?”

    “Do you jest, my lady?” Darrick the trickster asked, his usual smile gone.

    She shook her head and placed a piece of warm bread in her mouth. “There is no need to be kind. I know I wasn’t blessed with Theresa and Bernard’s good looks. Even my betrothed couldn’t stand the look of me and took Theresa instead.” She scrunched her mouth. “I can’t believe that slipped out.”

    “Are you telling us that Theresa took your betrothed?” Hugh asked, disbelief etched on his handsome face.

    Mina nodded. “But don’t blame Lord Charles. He had no wish to be bound to one so ugly.”

    She jumped as Roderick banged his fist on the table and stood. “I’ll see to the horses,” he said before he walked from the castle.

    Mina was ashamed of herself. “I didn’t mean to speak ill of Lord Charles.”

    “You didn’t,” Hugh said. “Roderick was raised different than most people. He detests seeing someone treated unfairly.”

    The meal quickly grew unbearable with the men staring at her with a mixture pity and sorrow. Not to mention, she wanted to leave before Bernard or Theresa came back.

    “If you are ready, we can ride to the ruins now.” To her surprise, Hugh held out her chair for her. She wasn’t used to having men dote on her as they did with Theresa, and it brought a small smile to her lips.

    “Thank you,” she said and couldn’t believe she sounded so breathless, as if she had run to the gatehouse and back. “I’ll just go and change.” He smiled at her. “There is no threat of rain.” She stopped and gaped at him. “I’ve never known a man who would intentionally lie to Theresa. Every man I have ever known has fallen over themselves to gain her attention.”

    “As I told you last night, my lady, I am not like most men.”

    “So I’ve noticed,” she murmured and walked from the hall. When she stepped through the door, she found Roderick standing with John holding the horses. John was grinning like a lad who had been given a king’s ransom.

    When she reached the horse John had selected for her, a gray mare that Theresa usually rode, she found Hugh beside her. Before she could open her mouth, he lifted her onto the horse.

    His large hands had touched her gently and left a strange tingling running through her. He made her almost feel like a woman, something she had never felt.

    Could this be what it was like to be Theresa? To have men doting on her? She knew they were just being kind, but their kindness meant more to her than they would ever realize.

    “Aren’t you afraid of meeting the creature during the day?” she asked them.

    They exchanged looks before Hugh said, “It only comes out at night.” She narrowed her eyes at them, suddenly suspicious. “How did you know that?”

    “Like I told you, we hunt them.”
    And
    he
    was
a hunter. Just to look at Hugh’s chiseled face and rugged features was to know that this man would conquer anything he set his mind to. He was a warrior, a leader.

    With a nudge,