Hero Unmasked: 3 (Heroes of Saturn) (15 page)

Tears spilled from her eyes and the anger she kept leashed burst from its confines. She lacked the breath and energy to shout, so she bit his shoulder, drawing blood, for he had spoken out loud the very dream she had begun to hold in her heart.

Forever.

It was a beautiful thought. Forever holding, kissing, loving each other. Joining their lives and making babies. Motherhood had never been one of her aspirations, but lately the thought was in her peripheral vision. She had wanted to carry Cam’s child and give him the family he had given up when he came to this new world.

But those dreams were about Cam, not Dhavin. Who was this man who shuddered in her arms and held her to him as if to absorb her into his skin? Was he a man she could love?

Did she even want to find out?

When Dhavin had crashed through Earth’s atmosphere his body had gone through transformations so intense he had been left pulverized and had to relearn how to move his body to accommodate his new powers. That experience had been like a shot of B-12 compared to a night spent under Mistress Fiona and far less transformative.

For the first time in his life, he was whole. The part of himself he had believed he’d left behind on Skandavia was found. Yes, his cousins meant everything to him. It was why he risked his life to save them. They were his family, but they weren’t
his
family. With Fiona at his side, those dreams were soon to become a reality. He found his home.

By the Gods, his woman was filled with surprises. Incredulously his cock stirred as if he hadn’t been drained to his marrow in one of the most sexually intense experiences of his life, which was no small feat considering his best friend owned a sex club.

With one hand, he cupped his swelling shaft while the other blindly reached across the mattress in anticipation of what she had planned for breakfast.

Cold sheets met his palm. The chill worked down his spine like a warning beacon.

He sat up with a jerk and spotted Fiona standing near the foot of the bed.

Mistress Fiona was long gone, and the way she was dressed, wearing jeans, boots, scarf and a winter coat buttoned up to her chin, Dhavin wondered if he had dreamt the entire evening. Only the sticky residue on his flesh and the smooth skin around his groin confirmed the events of the night before.

Her cold, vacant stare drew his balls up into his body. Whatever thoughts were going through her mind were not good. Under the mantle of determination that kept her shoulders straight, she carried a sadness so profound it made his hearts ache. It was as if she had lost her best friend.

“Fiona. What is it?”

Her mouth opened then shut. Several times she appeared ready to speak but stopped short. Each attempt tightened the anxiety in his gut until he couldn’t breathe.

“You know.” She paused and closed her eyes. The derisive laughter that puffed from her lips didn’t lessen his tension. “I’ve been thinking of what I would say to you at this moment for a while now, but I don’t think there’s anything that will make me feel better, so I’ll just leave it at goodbye. Goodbye, Dhavin. It’s been…real.”

Dhavin?

What was the phrase? Ah, yes. The shit was hitting the fan.

“Fiona.” He leapt from the bed, blocking her path to the door as she stepped toward the exit. “Wait. I don’t understand.”

“Are you kidding me?” she screeched. “Look me in the eye and swear you’re not Dhavin Kilsgaard.”

“I—” Cold air burned his heaving lungs. “I. Can’t.”

He reached up and pulled off the mask covering his head. Even though not a stitch of clothing covered his body, removing the hood left him feeling exposed in ways he had never experienced.

Fiona’s eyes widened and her breath hitched. The determination he had sensed in her earlier increased tenfold. She swirled a finger, indicating his face. “I rest my case.”

He sidestepped to block her again. “I was going to tell you the truth.”

“When? Tomorrow? Next month? On your deathbed? On my deathbed? After you knocked me up?”

“No.” Although that would have been nice. His thoughts must have shown on his face for she gasped in outrage and stomped her little foot.

“Look, if you don’t mind, I’m trying to keep this civil, so goodbye.”

He allowed her to march out the door so he could pull some pants on. His cock was not behaving in an appropriate manner and needed to be pinned down for his brain to begin to function fast enough to match her wit. She had only taken three steps toward her car before he swept her up in his arms and deposited her back in the cabin. The door swung closed with a solid thud behind him.

Jesu
, how did this morning became such a clusterfuck?

“You must give me the chance to explain. The Chameleon is not my secret to bear alone. If you know who I am, then you know who my family is. I couldn’t risk their identities by telling you the truth so early.”

“You think I haven’t thought of that?” She pushed against his chest for him to release her, but he kept her in the circle of his arms. “Look, I’m not upset because Cam kept his identity from me. I’m angry because you,” she pushed her finger into his sternum, “Dhavin, tricked me. I told you I wasn’t interested in going out with you and you used your powers to sense my emotions and manipulated me to get your way.”

“That’s because you wouldn’t give me a chance to court you properly. You believed I was arrogant and deceitful.”

She snatched the cowl from his hand and waved it like a flag. “Thank you for proving my point.”

“The only thing I’ve lied about to you is my role as the Chameleon. Everything else has been true.”

“All of it?” She crossed her arms in challenge. “Every word?”

“Yes.”

“Are you really from a planet called Skandavia?”

“Yes.”

“Were you really a royal guard?”

“Yes.”

“Were you banished for not protecting the queen?”

“Actually, that was Kristos.”

“I’m outta here.”

“Wait.” He gripped her by the shoulders, dropping his hands when she slapped at his wrists. “Kristos was the one who was banished, as was Lucian. I came to Earth to warn them about a plot to end their lives. If I told you about my journey, you would have guessed the truth about Kristos and Lucian.”

“Don’t remind me of them. I’m sure you’ve all had a good laugh over the stupid Earth-girl.”

“Is that what you think?” He didn’t need to ask. The sour taste of her embarrassment coated his tongue and curdled his stomach. “Never, Fiona. Believe me, I have not found any part of this deception humorous. The reason I’ve been hesitant to tell you the truth is because I feared this very moment. I did not want to see you look at me like I physically struck you. The fact I’ve caused the woman I love pain wounds me deep.”

“You don’t love me. Those are pretty words Dhavin would say to charm a woman.”

“No. I mean what I say.” He took her hand and placed it on the center of his chest. “My feelings have always been true. I love you, Fiona. And I know you love me. We can make this work.”

Her fingers flexed on his skin, pressing gently into the muscle before pulling away. She looked up at him with eyes that shimmered as if she were looking at him from the bottom of a wishing well. “You’re wrong. I loved Cam, and he doesn’t exist. I don’t even know who Dhavin is. And I don’t think I want to know.”

“Fiona.”

She dodged his outstretched hand. “Leave me alone. Please. If you come near me, I’ll tell the sheriff one of her deputies is harassing me. Don’t push me on this.”

Dhavin let her go although everything in his being screamed at him to drag her back again and use the broken straps to tie her to the bed until she saw reason, but he needed to rebuild her trust and riding roughshod over her wishes now was not going to help his cause.

Anger and embarrassment dictated her actions now. In time she’d come around. He wouldn’t accept less.

As the heavy cloud of her disappointment hung in the air like a musty perfume, Dhavin shivered with uncertainty. Perhaps a talk with Brett on how human men grovel at their woman’s feet was needed.

* * * * *

Dhavin couldn’t decide what was worse. The ache in his chest from where Fiona ripped out his soul, or the burning in his groin where a five o’clock shadow was appearing on his balls. There was little doubt in his mind that this torture was exactly what Fiona had intended when she planned her grand seduction. Crafty minx.

The icepack on his crotch and the beer coursing through his blood soothed a little of the fire in his loins. The blaring television was mindless distraction, passing away the minutes until he could walk without a limp. Yet despite the discomfort, a sense of hope buoyed his spirits. In order for Fiona to be this vindictive, she had to have been hurt deeply, which meant she had to care just as deeply.

Plus, there were her parting words that replayed in his mind every time he shut his eyes. She didn’t think she wanted to get to know Dhavin. Not want. Think. If optimism was all he had to cling to, then he’d hold on until every sinew in his arms disintegrated and dropped him into the well of oblivion.

With time her wound would close and he could begin his courtship again. He’d give her just as long as it took for the burning to subside before he launched his pursuit. By midnight, she’d be in his arms.

“Dhavin,” Kristos bellowed from outside. The heavy pounding of his boots on the front steps rocked the house. “Where are you, you lazy arse?”

Dhavin reached for a throw pillow to settle across his lap, but he was too slow for Kristos who used his key and speed to open the front door.

If it hadn’t been directed at him, Dhavin would have thought the stunned look on Kristos’ face was hysterical.

“By the Gods,” he sputtered and pointed toward the ice pack. “Your woman nailed you in the nuts.”

“No. She didn’t.” He sank deeper into the couch and closed his eyes. That amused look on his cousin’s face was as painful to bear as his laughter fizzing across his sensitive skin. “Leave, please.”

“Are you kidding? And miss out on the details? When Brett told me you called in ill, I had to come over. What happened?”

Dhavin released a heavy sigh. “Fiona figured out I’m the Chameleon.”

“How?”

“She’s a smart woman. I’m actually proud she knows her lover so well she could no longer be fooled.”

“Well bully for you.” Kristos crossed his arms. “Can she be trusted with our secret?”

“For certain. She’s more angry that I used the mask to seduce her than over the knowledge of my identity. She won’t tell anyone.”

“Ah, so she did nail you in the nuts.”

“Will you stop saying that and leave me be? Honestly, I think I would have preferred she physically struck me than the actuality.”

The grin that lit his cousin’s face tightened Dhavin’s grip on the plastic bag. “What
did
she do to you?”

He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. If he ignored Kristos, then Kristos didn’t exist. Of course, with his eyes closed he missed the moment his cousin leapt into action, snatching the icepack and holding it high in the air from across the other side of the room before the warm air touched his jeans.

“Give it back.” Dhavin hobbled across the room and jumped for the bag.

Suddenly they were children again, with Kristos holding one of his treasured warrior figures over his head and daring Dhavin to reclaim it. But they weren’t boys anymore, and he was no longer the runt of the family. He had skills he was not above using against relations.

He pinned Kristos’ arm to the wall and landed a jab to his stomach followed by a head butt to the chin. Kristos’ grip loosened enough for Dhavin to gain control of the bag, which he quickly tucked down into his jeans. He dared his cousin to try to steal it now.

A warrior howl sounded a nanosecond before Kristos tackled him to the floor, wedging his knee into Dhavin’s back and the other across his left shoulder. Cubes of ice dug into his pelvis as he bucked and writhed, trying to dislodge the two-hundred-and-thirty-pound man off his back. The smooth grain of the hardwood floor held no traction under his palm that slickened with sweat from the exertion.

Kristos wrestled a thick arm under his windpipe and flexed. “What did she do to you?”

Spots floated in his vision. “Get off me, you smelly disease-infested
bourhund
.”

“Oh-ho. If you can insult me, then you can talk. Confess, lad. I have nowhere to be. Do you still require ice? Here, let me assist you.” He pressed with his knees, digging the sharp cubes into his groin.

“You fucking prick,” he eked out of his crushed windpipe.

“That’s a good American insult. What else have you got?”

His lungs burned and the ability to compose a really good comeback was nonexistent. Tears leaked from his eyes to pool on the floor beneath his head. Lucian had once pinned Kristos in this same fashion when he tried to steal Lucian’s favorite cruiser. Even when Kristos passed out, Lucian held his position until he regained consciousness and questioned him again. Kristos learned from the master and Dhavin hated to admit the truth that Kristos would not release him until he yielded.

He pressed his face into the floor with defeat and mumbled, “She shvnebe.”

Kristos leaned closer. “I apologize. Can you please repeat that?”

He sighed. “She shaved me.”

“What does that mean?”

He needed an explanation! “She scalped me, all right? Now the hair is growing back and it burns. Happy now?”

The sudden rush of air to his lungs burned just as badly as his throat as Kristos jumped to a stand. “Was this before or after she told you she knew you were the Chameleon?”

“Before.”

“Are you serious?”

Dhavin glared at him over his shoulder and rubbed at his throat.