Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 82080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Hades slumps down next to us and I turn my face so I can see him. He looks… happy. Relaxed in a way I’ve never witnessed. As happy and relaxed as I feel. He takes my hand and presses a kiss to the tattoo on wrist and gives me a wry smile. We don’t need words, though. Not right now, not when everything is exactly as it should be.
Maybe… maybe this can actually work.
It takes time to recover enough to regain the use of my legs, but the moment I do, they haul me into the shower and we take turns cleaning one another up. It could be a foreplay all its own, but I’m so exhausted, I’m weaving on my feet. The last twelve hours have been a lot. More than a lot.
Back in Hercules’s bedroom, I stare at the messy sheets and shake my head. We’ve ruined them. There are a spare set in the closet, but the thought of putting even that much effort is too much. “Well, hell.”
A silk robe touches my shoulders and I slip my arms into it and belt it around my waist. I glance at Hades. “Since when are my clothes in here?”
He gives me a look but ignores the question. He’s wearing his slacks and pulls on his shirt. I don’t know why my stomach drops with each button he closes, but I can’t shake the feeling that this was only a magical moment in time. That it can’t last. I push the fear away. I told them I’d trust them, and I will. No matter what.
Hercules has on a pair of lounge pants and nothing else. He stares at the bed. “That won’t work.”
“Come along.” Hades opens the door and walks out.
I sigh. “I hate it when he does this.”
“Do you, though?” Hercules chuckles and heads for the door.
I glare at his back. “Fine. No, I don’t.”
I half expect Hades to walk to my room, but he bypasses my door and heads for the elevator. We take it up to the top floor, and I can’t help watching Hercules’s face as we step out. His eyes go a little wide as he steps out into Hades’s penthouse, and he turns a slow circle. “Wow.”
Wow is right. The rest of the building, Hades’s personal office excepted, is all clean lines and minimalist decorations. Not so with his living space. It’s… not cluttered, exactly, but filled with evidence of a life well-lived. There’s a shelf filled with knickknacks he’s collected on his various travels, and bookshelves filled with more books than one man could possibly read in a single lifetime.
Hades doesn’t stop to let Hercules take it all in. He strides down the short hall to the bedroom. Here, it’s a little darker, a little broodier, a little more expected of someone who runs the Underworld. The windows all have blackout blinds and the giant custom-made bed has deep red sheets that are an obscenely high thread count. The walk-in closet is larger than most people’s apartments, and the bathroom larger yet. Hades likes his luxuries.
Hercules huffs out a laugh. “You do nothing halfway, do you?”
“Why bother?” Hades flips back the comforter. “In bed, both of you. Before you fall asleep where you stand.”
I don’t have to look outside to know that the sun is creeping up from the horizon. We have a few hours before I need to be in my office, and I’m tired enough to need them. I drop my robe and climb into the bed. After the briefest hesitation, Hercules follows me. Hades stands at the foot of the bed and stares at us for a long moment, possession and something like longing lingering in those dark eyes. “Mine.”
I shiver and try to keep the vulnerability out of my voice. “I take it you’re not joining us?”
“Not yet.” His gaze softens. “Sleep, love. You two deserve it. You’ve pleased me greatly.”
There’s no point in arguing. It will waste both my breath and my time. I finally tuck myself against Hercules’s chest and relax into him as he wraps his arms around me. The man is an inferno, chasing away the chill that worked its way beneath my skin on the walk up here. I always sleep well in Hades’s bed, surrounded by his presence even when he’s not in the bed with me. This time, with Hercules holding me, it’s doubly true. I close my eyes and let myself relax against him.
Maybe they’re right and this is the start of something new. Something special.
Maybe this really won’t blow up in our faces.
Maybe.
Chapter 25
Hades
Something akin to guilt pricks me as I sit in my private office and turn on my computer. Leaving Hercules and Meg in my bed was harder than I anticipated. They fit there, just like I suspected they would. We fit. The knowledge still sits strangely with me. Hercules may give himself freely and without reservation, but that’s not the man I am. I know my Meg cares deeply for him. Despite herself, perhaps, but it’s there all the same.