Darkness & Lies: A Brotherhood Novel (#1) (21 page)

Yeah
,
right.

She turned her back to him trying to hold it all t
o
gether. It just figured, the one time she was willing to put herself out there
,
and she gets rejected. And the worst part, she didn’t even know why. Hot one
minute,
cold the next. Was she too fat? She hadn’t worked out at the gym in
a while,
but she always stayed so
active. She
didn’t really think that it had made that much of a
difference, but
could it
have?

As soon as the first tear hit her
pillow,
he was wrapping his arm around her and pulling her back into
him.

“It’s nothing you did wrong,” he breathed into her hair.

“Then what is it?” she asked, barely holding herself together. She hated crying. It made her uncomfortable and she knew it made others uncomfortable
,
which just made her even more uncomfortable. It was a vicious circle.

“I just don’t want you to wake up tomorrow mor
n
ing and realize you made a huge mistake.”

“A mistake? Why would you think I would think that?”

“I don’t know. Hero envy?”

Cheyenne crinkled her nose up even though it was dark as pitch in
there,
and she knew the benefit of it was lost on him. “Gee, you’re not egotistical at all are you?”

“Actually, I know it might seem like that to most people, but I’m really not.” It was just a defense mech
a
nism. He hated people getting too close. They always died in the
end,
and he found it easier just
to
push them away before they even had the chance to decide they might like
him.

“Mm hmm, okay then. If you’re not an egotist
,
then you should know I’m not one to make many mistakes. I’m a big
girl,
and I know what I am doing.” Rolling onto her back, she reached up to touch his face. “And I definit
e
ly don’t have hero envy...even if you did save my life. Which I am totally grateful for.”

He was completely lost when she rolled the rest of the way into his arms and threw her leg over his
hip
. Her kisses were hot and moist against his
jaw,
and when he slipped inside of her, he thought he might die from the sheer pleasure of
it.

Chapter 16

He had only one explanation for why he had done it. Jealousy.

And a small case of self
–preservation.

Scratching his nails across his scalp, Behr paced the confines of the opulent bedroom waiting for her return. It was crazy. He’d never considered himself a
narc, and
he definitely never made it a habit to go back on his
word, but
when he was sent to check in on
Erias,
he had flashed into a beautiful scene of the two of them, limbs
tangled and sheets in disarray…

The longing he felt in his heart was almost too much to bear. He wanted the slice of happiness that he knew would never come for him. And since he couldn’t have it, he was determined not to be alone.

Misery loved company.

So while they slept peacefully in each other’s arms, Behr set out to report his findings to
Persephone,
just as she had requested. Now he sat inside her
 
bedchambers waiting while she did some investigating.

He regretted what he had done with every fiber of his being. In one moment of weakness
and jealousy
, he had possibly destroyed his only friend’s life. As if they all didn’t have little enough to live for, he had taken the only thing that meant anything to him since his death.

Love.

Damn it
all, if
he could just get out of here he could try to warn him. As it was, the little bitch had taken all of his clothes and weapons before leaving. And now he was stuck in her frilly palace with nothing more than a bed to sit on and a fireplace to warm his naked
body.

He just hoped to the gods that her husband didn’t find him before she came back. He hadn’t heard too many good things about the man. Besides, anyone who could run this joint had to be
a
badass. Behr had barely slipped through with all of his vital organs
intact.

Standing before the dancing flames
,
watching as they licked at up the hearth walls, he hoped even more that she didn’t decide to take any liberties while he was in this vulnerable state because he’d hate to have to smack a bitch and get thrown into the sea of perpetual agony for it.

That would really suck. Not that he deserved an
y
thing less for his treachery.

With nothing more to do but wait, Behr rested his forehead against the mantel and let his mind wander down memory lane.

Her muscles were deliciously sore as she stretched and turned over in his arms. That’s where he’d kept her all night; in his arms as if he was afraid she’d disappear if he didn’t keep her close. They’d made love several times throughout the night, Erias’s appetite for her insatiable.

And she’d loved every minute.

She still couldn’t believe that she had waited as long as she had to do
it, but
she was grateful she had saved it because her night with Erias had been amazing. Better than her wildest dreams,
even.

Looking at him now, she traced her fingers over his face, across his cheekbones and down the bridge of his nose. He was a beautiful man. For all his strength and f
e
rocity, last night she had experienced a softer side of him. A gentle side that she was sure he kept well-hidden from the outside world.

He’d made her feel beautiful. Taking his time, he’d worshiped every part of her body, taking precious care not to hurt
her,
just as she realized now he’d be the kind of man to take just as precious care of a woman’s heart if she was willing to trust him with it. And she wanted to trust
him.

She did trust him.

Snuggling in, Cheyenne tucked her head under his chin and pressed a soft kiss to his chest, right over his heart, and closed her eyes, breathing in his masculine scent.

Erias was a good man, of that she was positive.

His arms constricted around her, squeezing the breath out of her, and he whimpered, then cried out a sound of pure agony that shook her to the core.

“Erias,” she managed, trying to push against him. “Wake up, you’re dreaming.” When he only seemed to get angrier and his hold on her tighter, she panicked. Raising her leg, she jammed her knee into his crotch, not enough to cause him lasting damage, but enough to shock him awake. And he did wake up.

A jolt of pain shot up through his
crotch,
and Erias woke with a start. Glancing around the room, the first thing he noted was that he was free of the nightmare. The second thing was Cheyenne. She was lying beside him, her face
still
glowing from
a
night of love
making.

He grinned, lowering himself onto his elbow so he could still peer down at her. Fingering a lock of her red hair, he said, “Good morning. Did you sleep well?”

She smiled demurely. “Very well.” Then her eyes turned
worried,
and she frowned. “Until you nearly smot
h
ered me. What were you dreaming about?”

He wasn’t shocked that she had picked up on the nightmare. He’d woken up many times to his own screams, but it worried him that he might have hurt her. “Are you alright?” he asked, scanning her body for any obvious signs of trauma.

“Fine.” She smiled again. “But I want to know what you were dreaming about. What made you so upset?”

Erias shifted uncomfortably. He didn’t like thinking about it, much less talking about it. It was his private to
r
ment. “Nothing. It’s nothing.”

Cheyenne watched as Erias got up and searched the room for his clothes. She appreciated the view, but she was worried. She could feel the wall he’d erected between them like a tangible force, and she wanted that wall down. Now.

“Erias.” She sat up, clutching the sheets to her chest. “Talk to me.”

Busily pulling his pants on, Erias chose to ignore her request. Instead, he put on a bright smile then went over and kissed her lips briefly. “How about some breakfast?”

“How about you tell me about your dream,” she challenged. Pulling back the blankets, she patted the ma
t
tress in invitation.

Reluctantly, Erias sat down next to her. “There’s not much to tell. Just a bad dream. Everyone has them. So, what would you like to eat? I can order some strawberries and pancakes. Coffee, maybe? Or Gretchen makes these mean little—”

“Sounds great”—Cheyenne cut him off—“but I’d rather you level with me, then we can eat.”

Erias sighed, knowing he wouldn’t be able to get out of this. Cheyenne was feisty and he had a feeling she was used to getting her way.

“It was nine-hundred years ago,” he began, “that my village was destroyed, and with it, everyone I loved.”

Cheyenne listened intently,
her
thoughts racing at the things he said that were too astonishing for words. And it wasn’t just the fact that he was talking about ancient hi
s
tory here. No, it was also the unspeakable horrors that he was reliving. She could feel the pain, the anguish in his
words,
and they spoke to the pain in her own heart from the scars left behind by her mother’s
death.

It broke her heart to imagine the nightmare he spoke of. And to think that he lived it again every night? She couldn’t imagine how he managed to face it without going mad. Maybe that was why he was so angry all the time. As far as she was concerned, he was doing fairly well. He hadn’t gone Jack the Ripper yet, to her knowledge anyway. Lesser minds would have snapped long ago, maybe killed themselves or someone else by now just to escape it all.

She admired his strength. He wasn’t just a
good-looking 
face and hard
body. He
had substance. And she found that quality very
endearing.

Erias’s head was in turmoil. As he spoke, all he could think about, see, was his Helena and Emile. He wan
t
ed to rage and pillage, to exact revenge on those vile cre
a
tures all over
again,
but
all the vengeance in the world hadn’t healed his heart or made what happened
alright.

He had to stop talking before he spilled every gory detail and sent Cheyenne running for the
hills, or
the mou
n
tain, as the case may
be.

“And I’ve been guarding The Gate ever since.” He turned his head to look at her, seeing the grief in her own eyes that she felt for his loss. He reached out and stroked her cheek. “Now do you see why it is so important that you and your team stay off of that mountain? If The Gate opens all hell is going to break loose, literally, and you will be right in the heart of it.”

Cheyenne nodded, her chest tightening at ever
y
thing she was still struggling to process. Erias’s life story was
horrid,
and she felt incredibly remorseful even though she had no hand in it, but she was also devastated. All that hard work, the time, the money it took to follow this lead, for
nothing.

“My whole life has been nothing but one disa
p
pointment after another,” she accused no one in particular. “We have been from one side of the globe to the other chasing myths
only
now
to
find out that we were actually right, and we can’t even pursue it without ending the world!” She slapped her hands on the bed in frustration. “What are the guys going to say when I tell them? I’ll be lucky if they don’t toss me in a padded cell and throw away the key.”

Erias shifted so he could look
at
her fully in the eyes. “Listen to me, Cheyenne, you can’t tell them. The more people that know, the worse it’s going to be to keep this a secret. No one can know about what’s up there. No one.”

Cheyenne stared at him in confusion. “Then what am I supposed to tell them, that I had a change of heart? Never mind, guys, I changed my mind. Let’s go home!” She shook her head. “I can’t do that. Don’t ask me to lie to my friends.”

“Then don’t,” he insisted. “Just do what I do and tell them a partial truth.” She raised a delicate brow. “Don’t look at me like that, it’s called omission, and it’s saved my life and my sanity more times than I’d care to count.” He pulled her closer, tucking her under his arm. “Trust me, the less they know, the better. You’ll be protecting them, Cheyenne.”