Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 92659 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92659 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Orpheus raises his brows. He really is pretty in a way that makes me want to smudge him up a bit. His lips curve. “Keep telling yourself that if you want.” His gaze drops to my mouth, and for a moment I really fucking hope he’ll kiss me. His smile fades, and he steps back slowly, almost as if he craves the contact as much as I do. “I might have come here for her, but plans change.”
I have to swallow down my desire before I can speak with anything resembling a normal voice. Only the fact that he’s suffering the same tempers the experience. “She might still send you away.”
“Yeah, I know.” He drags a hand through his hair. “Not a whole lot I can do about that. If she tells me to get lost, then I’ll respect her decision.”
“I don’t understand you,” I say softly. “I know your reputation, and I know what she’s told me about you in the moments when she was willing to talk about before, but you’re not acting like I expected.”
He shrugs, though there’s a new tension in his shoulders. “Both Eurydice and I have changed a lot in the last year.”
That’s the damn truth. Even as I tell myself now isn’t the time, I can’t help thinking about what we did this morning. Of her riding my mouth as he sucked my cock. A perfectly choreographed dance of three. There was no clashing of egos or friction to slow us down. I don’t know if we can get that synergy outside the bedroom, but if we can…
A car pulls up before I can finish that thought. I tense as Hades steps out. Gone is the relaxed man I talked to in the study earlier today. Instead, this is the lord of the lower city, the holder of one of the three legacy titles of the Thirteen. Two other cars pull up and Thanatos climbs out of one. He looks at me, and something almost like fear crosses his expression, but before he can say anything, someone starts cursing behind him, and he’s unceremoniously pushed aside.
Calypso takes his place. She’s a beautiful plus-sized woman with long dark hair and a mean streak longer than the River Styx. She’s also a gigantic pain in my ass. It looks like she’s going to keep that trend today.
“Please tell me you’re not all planning on standing out here like the firing squad.”
Hades gives her a cold look. “She claimed sanctuary.”
“Exactly.” She props her hands on her broad hips and glares. “No matter how she feels about what’s happening in there, she’s going to have a lot of conflict going on in her head when she walks out that door. The lot of you are going to scare the shit out of her.”
Sometimes I wonder what Medusa sees in her, but what do I know? The only parts of Calypso I ever witness are influenced by the fact that she doesn’t particularly like me much. She doesn’t seem to like anyone much. I try to take it as a compliment, since she wouldn’t have dared be honest about her feelings while living in the upper city, but it’s hard to appreciate the sharp side of her tongue.
For his part, Hades is mostly unaffected. “You have a suggestion, I’m sure.”
“We’ll take her.” She holds up a hand, even though no one is jumping in to offer a different option. “You don’t mean to, but you scare people, Hades.”
“Who says he doesn’t mean to?” Thanatos mutters.
“She’ll be safe enough with me and Medusa. We’ll give her a couple days to find her feet, and then bring her to you.” She raises a brow. “And then you can truthfully say you don’t have her when the rest of the peacocks come rattling your door.”
Hades considers that for several long moments. He finally nods slowly. “What you’re saying makes sense.”
“Gee, thanks.”
His lips quirk, but the smile dies before it can fully appear. He nods at Thanatos. “Escort them home, and wait until Medusa gets there. Have someone watch the street through the night.”
Calypso glares. “That’s not necessary.”
“I say it is.” He crosses to me and lowers his voice. “Did you know about this?”
I hate admitting the truth; it burns my throat. “No. She was supposed to go to lunch with Persephone and then come back to the lower city.”
“I see.” He glances at the door again. “Do you want to handle that, or should I?”
I have to clench my jaw to avoid telling him that there’s no fucking way I’ll let him handle Eurydice. It’s not a normal reaction, and I know Hades well enough that such a statement shouldn’t have me fighting not to punch him in the face. What the fuck is wrong with me? I clear my throat. “I’ll take care of it.”