Total pages in book: 187
Estimated words: 184867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 924(@200wpm)___ 739(@250wpm)___ 616(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 184867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 924(@200wpm)___ 739(@250wpm)___ 616(@300wpm)
“Ahhh, the smell of opulence and hedonism. My two favorite things,” I murmur as I follow everyone inside.
I’m happy as can be to see my own place again. I even missed my fellow Tartarus boys that come and greet us at the door.
“Welcome back, boys. Glad to see you’re doing well, but I won’t ask,” Arlo says, winking before giving us all a bro-hug. “Miss us?”
“Not a chance,” Caleb retorts, making everyone laugh.
“I did,” I reply. “But most of all, my books.”
“Wow, more than me?” Arlo adds a wink, and it makes us all snigger. “Just kidding, I know about your addiction.”
“Addicted to romance, correct,” I reply, smiling.
I can’t wait to finish the book I’d started before all of this went down because the reading material in that hospital was beyond pitiful. And a mind like mine needs nurturing, sustenance, and romance.
I take a deep breath and snort the smell of the Tartarus House, then hug the pillar. “Oh, darling, I missed you so.”
Everyone’s laughing, but I don’t care.
“Is he okay? Talking to a house now,” Caleb asks Crystal, who bursts into laughter.
“I’m perfect!” I respond, and I wrap my arms around Caleb instead, hugging him as tightly as I just did to the pillar.
“Stop. Crushing. Me.”
“See? Perfect,” I say.
“Fine, fine, you missed this place,” he says. “I get it.”
“Missed it? That’s an understatement. I could’ve possibly never seen it again,” I quip.
He makes a tsk sound. “Doubt it.”
“I almost died, Caleb. DIED. Do you even care?”
“Of course, I do, asshole,” he retorts, folding his arms. “I already told you that.”
“Did you?” I tilt my head. “But I love hearing you say it.”
He rolls his eyes and punches me in the side, and I groan. “Not there.”
“Sorry,” he replies. “Forgot.”
A wretched smile forms on my face. “Of course, you did.”
“Okay, enough with the back-and-forth bullying,” Ares interrupts. “Caleb, help me unpack upstairs.”
“Wait, but …” Crystal glances at the door. “It’s still open.”
Ares tilts his head. “It is.”
My eyes narrow.
That was intentional.
I turn to Crystal, who stays put near the door that is still wide open, ready for her to close. She’s wistfully staring at the two boys walking upstairs, and I just know thoughts are swirling through her head.
So I place a hand on her shoulder and say, “You made it through alive … and now you’re free.”
She smiles. “So are you.”
My brows draw together. “Yet here we are.”
She tilts her head. “He saved your life; you saved his. The debt is gone. So what will you do now?”
I grin and lift my hands, showing off the beauty that is Tartarus. “Darling, I belong here. There isn’t anywhere in the world I’d rather be.” I place one fingertip against her chest. “Except with you.”
A blush creeps onto her cheeks, and I lean in to press a kiss to her lips, tasting her deliciously sweet virtue, making me all hot and bothered once more.
“And if you want to leave, I’ll follow,” I whisper against her lips.
Her eyes open while our mouths are still connected, and she kisses me back only once before whispering, “I don’t think I can.”
My fingers entwine with hers as I plant another kiss beneath her ear. “I told you they wouldn’t ever let you go.” And I smile against her neck when her heart rate picks up. “It’s a good thing you made us all fall in love with you, darling. Because you wouldn’t have survived otherwise.”
I wink as I lean back and watch the smug grin besmudge her pretty little face. “Now go on.” I slap her ass in the direction of the stairs. “Get up there and talk to them.”
“One more thing,” she says, waltzing toward the door to give it a good swivel so it closes on its own.
And I’m so fucking proud of her. No one can slap the beaming smile off my face.
Not even Caleb and his insufferably bad quips.
Caleb
I place a box of clothes on the floor and pull out some of his shirts. “Jesus, you needed all this in a hospital?”
“You’re the one who packed it,” Ares replies, making me snort.
“True.”
When I hang it in the closet, he wraps his arms around me and sniffs my neck. “I missed you. I missed this.” He presses his lips down on my neck, and I tilt my head back. “But I don’t want to move too quickly after you just lost your mother.”
I turn my head sideways and glance at him. “You and Crystal are what keep me together, keep me sane. Keep me from wanting to die with her.”
He turns me around and kisses me on the lips, claiming my mouth in the same way I remember he always used to before we all got destroyed by sorrow. But we will build each other up again and fix what was broken.
When my eyes open, Crystal’s staring at us from the doorway, and my lips tear away. Ares turns his head to look at her, and her cheeky blush clearly gives away she enjoyed watching us.