He pulled back and rubbed his thumb gently over her cheek. “We shouldn’t, Hera. It’s just going to make things complicated. Things ended before for a reason. We both know that.”
“Then why did you even agree to come here?” she asked. “Why did you get my hopes up?”
“Because I’m doing my duty.”
Her lips turned down. “Your duty. Right. That’s all it is, obviously.”
“Am I missing something here?” he asked. “You said you wanted me to come out and pretend to be your fiancé. I said fine to that. I didn’t say I would come out here and be with you again. That was never part of the bargain.”
She blinked rapidly, tears lighting her eyes, and he pulled her against him. He didn’t want to hurt her; that was too much for him. He held her close, stroking a hand over her back. Then he pulled back and wiped tears off her cheeks.
“Where’s my strong Hera?” he asked.
“She’s been alone too long. Regretting losing you,” she answered.
“We always knew it might not work out,” he said. “When I rushed into things with you, my logical mind knew I was crazy. But I didn’t care. This time I care. I don’t want either of us to be hurt again.”
She held his arm. “Then don’t leave me.”
“Hera, you can do better. You belong here. With people like you. Men who can give you everything. Not just some bodyguard at a small agency with no family history to speak of.”
“I don’t care about that,” she affirmed.
“You did at one point,” he said.
“Only because I didn’t get what you were hiding from me. I still don’t.”
He took her hand in his, marveling at how small it was. He thought about someone like her, someone so perfect and so full of light, being with a person like him, all darkness.
He’d been in La-la Land all along if he’d ever thought that was going to be a match. “You deserve better. I promise.” He stroked her hair back. It was light and soft. “I can’t tell you why, but you do. And I’m here to keep you safe and make sure you find it. I promise I’ll help you find it.”
She shook her head. “That’s not part of your job.”
“Looking out for you will always be part of my job.”
“You let me go before,” she said.
“Because it was the right thing to do. Because you were better off without me, no matter what I wanted.”
She sighed. “There’s no getting through to you, is there?”
He shook his head slowly. There really wasn’t. The small part of him that had opened up and hoped for more when they were together had all but closed shut. Even if just sitting next to her was starting to crack his resolve, he couldn’t give in.
She would go on with someone else and learn to love properly.
“Fine,” she said. “So you’re rejecting being with me. But I came all the way here. You might as well kiss me.”
He bit back a groan. That was like touching fire.
“That’s the least you can do,” she goaded. “I scaled the wall for you, after all.”
“You what?” he asked, standing and pacing to the window to look out. “You’re crazy. You aren’t doing that again.”
“Okay.” She shrugged. “But you might as well make it worth my while.”
“You’ll agree we can’t make it?” he asked, as she came in front of him and they both stood in the window, surrounded by moonlight.
“I won’t,” she said. “I’m going to keep fighting for us.”
He sighed. “And I’m going to keep telling you it’s pointless.” No matter how much I’ll always love you.
“Say that after kissing me,” she said, running a hand up and along his neck. He sighed and arched back, relishing in it.
“Hera…”
“You never could say no to me,” she said, rising up on tiptoes, bringing herself closer to his mouth.
And then it was all too much. He’d said his piece. He’d told her the truth about their chances. The rest wasn’t his fault. And he could no sooner say no to her than hold back the sun.
So he kissed her. Lowered his lips to hers and plundered them slowly, achingly, letting the feelings of the past sweep through them both.
Hera gasped and sagged in his arms, and he held her up, held her close, supported her as his tongue tangled with hers in a heated dance that made his knees want to go weak.
When he finally pulled back, they were both gasping, breathless.
The power of what they had between them was incredible.
It always had been. It was almost enough to make him forget he was half monster.
“Hera…” he said, lost as to what to do next.
“I get it.” She stepped back and touched her lips. She could see how lost he was. “You did what I asked. I’ll go.” She turned back to him as she sulked toward the door. “But I’m not letting this go.”
“You’ll have to,” he said. “Because I can’t stay.”
Her eyes shuttered at that, but she squared her shoulders and pulled her robe tighter around her, looking haughty and proud. “We’ll see about that, Hercules. We’ll see if you can really give me up to someone else and walk away. Because I think you can’t.”
“Don’t scale my wall again,” he said, even though seeing her again was everything his bear wanted.
She nodded tightly. “Next time, I won’t have to. You’ll be knocking on my door.” And then she disappeared through the door, leaving him alone with his heart pounding.
He looked at the window and the moonlight streaming through.
Dammit, the minx was probably right.
Chapter 6
The next day, Hera walked down to breakfast, feeling remarkably well-rested, considering what had happened the night before. She almost felt bad for pressuring Hercules into kissing her, but then again, it was the only way to remind him just how strong, just how right things had been between them.
She only had to hope that delicious taste would make him ache for more. If not, it was the backfire of the century, because she was definitely aching badly.
She sat in the chair next to Hercules and tried not to let everyone see her blush as his hand brushed hers while handing her a plate of food.
“Late morning?” her dad asked, stabbing his eggs as he looked between them.
“Not really,” Hera said, checking her watch. “Eight a.m. isn’t exactly noon, is it?”
Her father’s lips pursed into a frown. Lately, they just hadn’t been getting along. Sometimes she wished she wasn’t an only child. Then there wouldn’t have been so much attention on her. So much riding on her existence.
“So what do you two have planned for this morning?” he asked. “The other guys should be here around noon. I’m hoping we can all spend a civil couple days together, even considering the awkward circumstances.” He turned his stern gaze onto Hercules. “As a male, I know how difficult this will be, but the men coming here are sons of friends and business acquaintances, and if at all possible, I would like things to remain peaceful.”
Hercules shot her a look, and there was so much in those deep-brown eyes she had to clamp her legs together in response to how handsome he looked this morning. “I would prefer that as well. However, should someone bother Valerie, I’m not going to simply stand by.”
Her father folded his arms. “Me as well.”
“So we’re settled,” Hera said, wolfing down her breakfast so she could take Hercules’s hand and stand. “We’re headed outside to spend some more time together. After all, we’ve been long distance for so long.”
Her mom smiled at them and took Hera’s dad’s hand, his expression finally softening.
“All right, we’ll call for you when your guests are here.”
She turned sharply on him. “Your guests. Not mine. That needs to be clear, Dad.”
“Yes, sorry.” He relented.
Hercules looked uncomfortable, so she took his hand and led him onto the balcony outside the
kitchen. As they viewed over it, she could hear her mother cleaning up breakfast. Her dad would be reading the paper. They were as good as alone.
Gazing out over the sprawling grounds and the forest around them, she felt clean and free in the air. But previous to this, there had always been loneliness around her. With Hercules there, that was gone.
“How are you feeling?” she asked, putting a hand over his as they both rested on the balustrade.
“Fine,” he said. “You gave me a lot to think about last night. But I’m ready to get to work this morning.”
She nodded. Her heart was racing just standing this close to him. What was he hiding? Why did he feel so unworthy? “So I guess you’re going to meet the candidates for my heart?”
His face tightened and his fingers curled over the marble as he looked out over the lawn. “I guess so.”
The morning wind caught a lock of his hair and lifted it, letting the light catch it and shoot gold through the strands. He tucked it back, looking like a pirate captain on the bow of his ship.
“I enjoyed last night,” she said. “Kissing you is just as amazing as I remembered.”
He sent her a sideways glance, and she could swear she saw a blush moving up into his neck. “I’m glad.”
“So are you really going to pick one of them for me?”
He grimaced. “Obviously, the actual picking is up to you. I’m just here to help and bat away the douchebags.”
She sighed. “I’m not sure I even want to be mated.”
He looked over at her, long lashes shading his brown eyes. “That would be a shame. Anyone would be lucky to mate you. The world would be better with more like you in it as well.”
She frowned. The thought of that with anyone but him stung her deeply. That’s why she’d remained alone since she’d left the armed forces. “I don’t know.”
“You should keep an open mind.” He reached over to squeeze her hand. Just that motion made her weak in the knees.
“I wish you’d just tell me more about you and let me decide if you’re worthy,” she said.
He opened his mouth and then closed it, then leaned on the railing. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”
She shrugged. “You couldn’t before, so I don’t know why it would be different now. And I guess it wouldn’t matter since you’re determined we can’t be together.”
He shrugged in return. But there was something in his eyes as he stared at her. A heat that couldn’t be hidden.
They were connected somehow. Like a thread of fate stretched between them.
She wasn’t going to give up easily.
The moment was broken as the doorbell rang, loud and melodic and disruptive. He raised his head and looked over his shoulder irritably. “I guess that’s the first of them.”
She nodded.
“So how do you want me to play fake fiancé? Super possessive? Polite and distant? Reserved and entitled?”
“Just be who you are?” she suggested helpfully.
He laughed. “A super-jealous merc who wants to launch rockets at anyone who looks at you? Bad idea.”
She shivered at the hotness of that idea and then pushed it aside. “I guess reserved and polite, then,” she said. “As the situation calls for it.”
He nodded. He was wearing a light-gray sweater over a blue button-up shirt and dark-blue designer jeans with leather loafers. He looked every bit the Ivy Leaguer she’d be expected to be paired up with.
“So you’re really just going to put on a show and then walk away at the end, after giving your opinion?”
“If I feel you’re safe, and if any of them are good enough, yes,” he said firmly, rising to his full height and squaring himself as he reached for the door.
“I see,” she said stiffly, folding her arms and stepping in front of him as he opened it. “I guess we should go greet them, then.”
“I guess so,” he said tersely.
She sighed because it was clear both of them hated this, but he was never going to admit it. She’d just have to go along until she could call his bluff. The man who had kissed her last night like her life depended on it would never be able to let her walk away with someone else.
She walked into the main foyer and saw her mother and father were already at the door, talking to a blond man and his dark-haired friend.
Bentley and Adam were here. Just great.
Hercules eyed the two piles of trash here to win over his mate.
No, not his mate. His mate if he’d been allowed one. His mate if he were that type of being.
For now, just his fake fiancé. The closest he’d ever get to the real thing.
He tried to remember what he’d just said to Hera—that he could encourage her to pick a better man if possible. But his bear had roared so loudly at that his ears were still ringing.
Metaphorically speaking.
After kissing her last night, how could he even think about giving her up?
But after being an animal who spent most of his life in a cage, how could he think of letting her make him her future?
The sensation of a needle pressing into his skin jerked at him, and he bit down on his cheek and forced himself back to the present.
There were no more needles. Not anymore. And he needed to guard against zoning out, or the nightmares would come back. And he wouldn’t be able to watch out properly for Hera.
He strode to the door after Hera, wanting to make sure the men saw her as his.
The first man looked up at him from shaking Rob’s hand. As their eyes locked, the smile on the other man’s face turned mean; his blue eyes went cold. He pushed past the others and stood in front of Herc.
He was a tall man. Well dressed with a navy blazer over a polo and jeans and designer shoes. He had short blond hair, perfectly gelled back. Built like a bear shifter.
But not, to Hercules’s relief, built like a demigod. Even just a few inches shorter than him, Hercules dwarfed the other man. Still, as the man stepped to the side and took one of Hera’s hands in both of his, he made the woman Herc loved look small.
She was wearing a dress today, knee length with little blue flowers on a white background, and she gave the man before her a polite smile.
“Bentley,” she said. “This is John, my fiancé.”
So the douchey douche had a douchey name to match. Hercules stepped forward and grasped Bentley’s hand. Their gazes locked again as they engaged in a hard handshake meant to intimidate rather than introduce.
Hercules got the unsettling feeling this man didn’t respect Hercules’s size or his relationship with Hera, at all.
It was a weird feeling, having someone he didn’t like not look afraid of him.
Clearly, Bentley was a man who felt his power exceeded all. Perhaps money and breeding did that to a person.
Hercules gave him a fake smile and pulled his hand back to put it around Hera and hold her close.
If the man touched his mate, he’d show him how little breeding or money could protect him.
“Calm down,” Hera said quietly, touching his hand. She always could read his mood. “He’s harmless.”
Hercules didn’t think so.
“Adam,” Hera said, waving to the other man, who was still standing at the door, talking with her parents. Clearly, they all went back a long way.
Adam, a dark-haired man with dark eyes and an unremarkable face, waved. He didn’t look particularly interested. Just one of Bentley’s cronies, then.
Bentley, on the other hand, was sneaking his eyes all over Hera like she was a juicy steak whenever he could get away with it. Hercules stepped slightly in front of his mate, blocking her off.
Bentley’s eyes narrowed, and he looked like he was going to make something of it, but then Hera called for attention.
“Why don’t we go outside and set up croquet?” she asked, and everyone looked over.
“We also have the perfect lawn for bowling as well, as you probably remember,” May said to Adam and Bentley.
Bentley took a step back, but Hercules still felt aware the man didn’t respect him.
He needed to be put in his place.
But Hera gave him another warning glance, and he realized now wasn’t the time. Plus, Rob had asked for peace if possible.
Well, he’d try to give them peace. But if anyone touched his woman, if anyone caused her distress, there’d be war.
He followed the others out to play lawn sports, whatever that meant.
Chapter 7
Hercules quickly discovered he wasn’t a fan of croquet. The mallets were awkward. There wasn’t enough movement in the sun, and there was far too much time for chitchat. Particularly for Bentley to keep walking to the next wicket with Hera after knocking Hercules’s ball out of the way.
It wasn’t Herc’s fault he’d spent his childhood alone in the dark rather than out in the sun, knocking balls around with other boys.
That was unfair to Bentley, though, because he clearly was most interested in knocking balls around with Hera.
Hercules stifled a growl and resisted the urge to kick the ball next to him—into the back of Bentley’s gelled head.
“You coming?” Bentley called back, putting a casual arm around Hera’s shoulder. He nearly shot forward, but she gently removed the arm and gave Herc another warning look.
He tried to calm down. But the whole morning he’d been watching Bentley blatantly disrespect his fake relationship with his fake fiancé.
He was about to swing his mallet at a ball out of turn when he heard a male voice call out from behind them. A tall, brown-haired man was walking across the lawn toward them.
Unlike Bentley or Adam, the man had a presence about him that Hercules instantly respected. He still had a refined demeanor, but there was something about him, something hidden under the surface that seemed like carefully contained danger.
Hercules liked him instantly. He looked over at the other two dudes, who seemed dismayed another man was joining them. Even if Adam didn’t seem interested in Hera, he was firmly in Bentley’s corner when it came to him winning her.
Bear-ly Human (Bear Claw Security Book 4) Page 5