Page 28 of Alone with the Beastly Duke
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Jasmine sprang awake from her nightmare to the sound of crashing and rapid footsteps. Terrified that the intruder had come to attack her, she cried out loud. Her sleepy eyes caught the outline of a man at the doorway, and she shuddered, frightened.
“Help!” she said softly as she squirmed in the bed, tears streaming down her eyes.
“I am here, My Lady,” a voice that she immediately recognized as Axel’s said, rushing to her side.
“Someone was here. A...a man crashed in and...” she uttered while the sobs racked her body
“It was I,” Axel replied.
Instead of being relieved by the information, she sobbed even more. He sat beside her on the bed and wrapped his arms around her. Jasmine leaned against him, and she felt the fear and sobs slowly dissipate.
“You are safe,” he whispered.
They sat there in silence until she felt better.
“Thank you,” she finally said.
“It is fine,” he replied. “The least I can do as your host is to help you feel better after a nightmare.”
“My parents came to check on me after a nightmare,” she suddenly blurted out.
“All right,” he replied.
“I am sorry. I should not have said that,” she quickly apologized.
“Do not be sorry. I am here to listen if you need to talk about anything that have you worried,” he replied.
Jasmine swallowed as a strange sensation overwhelmed her. There, in the complete darkness, she felt safe. As if the lack of light offered her some sort of anonymity, she did not fight the urge to talk to a man she barely knew about her deepest feelings and thoughts.
“Even though I have a big family, I have been lonely all my life,” she said.
“Why is that?” Axel asked.
“None of them ever wanted to spend time with me. Father is simply too busy with his work to be bothered about me, and mother is constantly making sure that the household is in order,” she explained.
“But what about your siblings?” Axel asked.
She sighed.
“Rose and I used to be very close, but that was before she became interested in science, and then she did not want to spend time with me anymore. William, being the heir, is too self-important to talk to his younger sister. The twins have each other, and all they ever want with me is to pull pranks on me. I sometimes feel like I am simply a bother to them all.”
“I am sure that is not true. I bet your parents find you delightful,” Axel said.
Jasmine chuckled.
“Indeed. They found me so delightful that they abandoned me at home and traveled without me,” she pointed out.
“Maybe they were too busy,” he suggested.
“What parent or sibling is too busy not to notice that someone is not around? They even forgot me when we went to Bond Street and I had to find my way home all by myself,” she lamented.
“I reckon that must feel awful.”
“And then they would start eating dinner and breakfast before I got to the table. Then, when I got to the table, their expressions often told me that they had even forgotten that I was not already present. Sometimes, Father would call me Daphne or even Rose by accident.”
“I’m sorry you had to experience that,” Axel said, pressing a kiss to her hair. “I cannot imagine anyone overlooking your presence or that sassy mouth of yours.”
