Shadow's Kiss (Monstrous Hearts: Fleur's Story)

Chapter Ten

Back home, Fleur tossed her keys and wallet on the counter. Her vision was starting to swim from being so tired. Dario, on the other hand, still vibrated with tension. She didn't know what had pissed him off so much, but she was too drained to care. "I need sleep."

He nodded stiffly. "Any orders for me?"

"Nope. Do whatever you want."

When he said nothing else, she moved for her bedroom. Inside, she immediately stripped down to her t-shirt and panties and crawled into bed. Despite the hot day, she pulled the covers over herself, wanting the comfort of blankets. Just as her head sank against the pillow, she heard it: the dull, meaty thwack of fists against the punching bag in the gym room.

She pulled her pillow over her head, hoping to muffle the noise. It didn't help. She tried two pillows next, telling herself that whatever was bothering him, he was sweating it out and didn't need her involvement. Maybe he even wanted to be alone, just like she sometimes felt when she disappeared into a video game. Of course, once she finished playing, everything always slid right back into her mind, leaving her just as miserable as before.

With a groan, she rolled out of bed again and pulled her shorts back on. If she was going to stay awake and talk to him, she needed more than reluctant sympathy fueling her.

Alice, bless her, had filled up the kitchen cabinets with two grocery bags' worth of Fleur's favorite junk food. The nearest bag of chips had a note on it in her sister's handwriting. Try to stay hydrated and eat enough. Being roofied can make you as sick as a bad hangover.

She was pretty dry-mouthed. While pulling out a bottle of soda from the fridge, she vaguely wondered what the hell her sister had gone through while estranged from the rest of the family to know things like this. Then she headed for the gym room even though the noise had dimmed to the clank of metal. She guessed Dario had switched to the strength training equipment.

Their home gym was big and well-equipped, although Fleur wasn't sure why. Only her mom used it, and even then just for cardio or resistance band exercises. Occasionally, her father used the treadmill, but all the weights and bars were ignored. She herself had never been interested in fitness once horseback riding had been locked off to her.

By the time she walked inside, Dario was doing chin-ups. He had stripped down to his navy boxer briefs, revealing all those chiseled muscles and the sheen of sweat on them. He didn't even look over when she sat on a nearby bench, his movements steady and perfect. He also still looked pissed off, eyes intense and jaw tight.

Fleur watched him for a few moments. "How do you know what chin-ups are? Greg looked like he never worked out."

"I searched for modern exercises while on your computer."

"Why?"

"Because fencing barely exists anymore." He dropped down briefly to switch to pull-ups instead.

"And why are you exercising now?"

"To think clearly."

"You think with your abs?"

He made that growling sound she had liked so much and dropped to the ground for good, breathing hard. The sheen of sweat only magnified the beauty of his muscles, and she found herself trying not to stare. Her parents had made her take martial arts for a year to learn self-defense moves. A lot of the lessons meant grabbing or wrestling other students, so she had been close to sweaty boys before. It had been mildly disgusting, a blur of clammy skin, wet uniforms, and mouths gaping open for breath.

Now, as she watched sweat trail down those broad shoulders and the hard plane of his stomach, she once again marveled at how he pushed all the right buttons. He didn't even smell repulsive despite his hard workout, instead just like clean sweat, hot skin, and some kind of musky scent that was too primal to be called pleasant.