Chapter Sixteen
The house was quiet, but the scent of freshly brewed coffee led me into the kitchen. A grandfather clock I passed told me it was after 10. I had slept in. How wonderful was that? For more than a year, I’d been too stressed to sleep in. Doubtless, that contributed to my lack of eye bags. It's amazing what a good night's sleep can do.
It was nice to step into an empty kitchen. The amount of people underfoot at Silas's place had grated on my nerves. I've always lived alone, and I enjoyed the peacefulness of that. I didn't think I'd find that peace here, with three men in residence. What a pleasant surprise.
As I headed to the coffee pot, I saw the plastic dome on the island. A note was stuck to it. It read; Good morning, Indigo Darling. Warm this in the microwave before you eat it. I smiled as I lifted the dome to reveal more pancakes, these spotted with chocolate chips. There was a pile of sausages too. I grabbed one and popped it in my mouth before I took the plate to the microwave. As my food heated, I went to the fridge and got the butter and cream. By the time I fixed my coffee, the food was ready. Instead of heading into the dining room, I sat on a stool at the kitchen island. There was a window across the room, over the sink, and it provided a lovely view of the garden.
As I ate, I surveyed the landscape. There was a hint of water to the left and more than a hint ahead of us. Were we on a lake? Curious, I got up, leaving my breakfast behind to take a quick peek. My eyes widened when I saw we were on a peninsula. There was water on all sides of the enormous yard. And there were other buildings out there too. One of them was large enough that it could have been someone else's home, but I didn't think so. Not with the front of the property being gated. It wouldn't make sense to have someone else living there.
But it wasn't the other house or the water that held my attention. It was the Hounds. They were exercising in a sandy square of ground just beyond the back porch. Although, I wasn't sure if exercise was the proper word for it. I'd never seen anyone work out as they did. It was intense, to say the least.
All three men were bare-chested and were only a few yards away from the house, which was why I couldn't see them when I'd been sitting at the island. It was also why I could now see every drop of sweat on their glistening, sculpted, muscular, gorgeous . . . oh, fuck, snap out of it, Indie!
I mentally slapped myself, but it didn't help. Because on top of their exquisite physiques, their exercise tactics were unusual. I could only assume that normal weight sets wouldn't do anything for them. Because the Hounds of Hades were resorting to some unorthodox weights.
Gage was doing laps around the area with enormous chains looped over his shoulders. Chains that could have anchored a battleship. Speaking of anchors, Garret was bench-pressing one—holding the thing by its curved bottom. And Gideon did squats with a log across his shoulders—a big one that he could barely get his arms around.
As I watched, Gage drew a length of chain off his shoulder and swung it over his head like a lasso. He tossed it before him, still running, then yanked it back. Garret sat up with his anchor and tossed it aside. The thing landed with a thud that vibrated the floor beneath my feet.
“You wanna play?” Garret asked Gage.
I lifted my brows. What was this now?
“Sure.” Gage stopped running and tossed the chain at Garret.
In an astounding feat of dexterity, Gage kept unwinding the chain as he tossed it until the whole thing was shooting through the air like a metal anaconda. Garret reached up and caught the chain, spinning as he did to wind it around his body.
“Jesus Christ,” I whispered.
Laughing, Garret lifted the entire mass like he was pulling off a sweater and tossed it at Gideon. “Think fast, Gid!”
Gideon grunted, let the log fall, and caught the chain. Then the boys were playing “toss the chain,” their arms bulging and their faces split into grins. I watched, mesmerized, my breakfast forgotten. Was this what Hercules was like?
“Holy shit! They're demigods! A god made them. That makes them demigods, right?” I frowned. “Maybe not. Damn, I don't know. But . . . just damn.” I grabbed my food from the island, set it on the counter, and got back to eating as I watched the men work out. “Breakfast and a show,” I murmured.
And what a show. Between their gorgeous grins and godly displays of power, I couldn't look away. Not even when Garret noticed me watching. I just smiled and waved. Yeah, you caught me ogling you, but I don't care. Garret didn't either. Or rather, he appeared to enjoy it, grinning and waving back at me.
And then he got smacked in the chest by a wad of industrial chain.
I shrieked, but Garret only laughed and motioned at me as if to say that he was fine. The hit hadn't even made him sway. When they noticed Garret's focus, the other two men looked over, said something to each other, and then headed for the house. Heart racing, I pressed a hand to my chest and reminded myself that they were immortal. That chain would have broken the ribs of a regular man, but Garret was not a regular man. A regular man couldn't have thrown the chain, to begin with.
“Dear God,” I whispered. It was sinking in. Well, sinking deeper. “No wonder Silas is desperate to know their weaknesses. I thought Michael was strong, but they're otherworldly. Or underworldly.”
“Hey, you!” Garret said as he came into the kitchen through the backdoor.
He was mopping sweat from his chest with a towel, and I found myself wondering what life as his towel would be like.
I cleared my throat and said, “Good morning. Thank you for breakfast.”
“We would have taken you out, but you slept too late,” Gideon said. “We got hungry.”
“But we can go out for lunch,” Gage said.
I looked from one shiny, muscular chest to another, appreciating the similarities and the differences. Garret had a bit of hair sprinkled at the top of his chest, and so did Gideon, but Gid's was blond and harder to see. Gage, however, was smooth. Absolutely smooth.
I swallowed past the dryness in my throat and concentrated. What had he said? Right. Lunch. “I thought you wanted to keep me here for the time being?”
“We don't want you cooped up,” Garret said. “As long as we're with you, it will be all right. Michael couldn't even possess you with us near.”
That broke through my lust. “Hold on. What? Michael could possess me?”
“Well, yes,” Gideon said. “He can jump bodies, remember? But we're protected by Hades.” He tapped a tattoo on his upper left arm that I hadn't noticed amid all the muscles. It was an odd sort of weapon. Kind of looked like a trident, but with two prongs instead of three, and a short handle. “That protection extends about a foot around us. So, as long as you stay close, Michael can't get you.”
“You . . . is that some sort of sigil?” I waved at the tattoo.
“It's the Mark of Hades,” Garret said and turned to show me an identical tattoo on his back. Well, nearly identical. His tattoo was on his left shoulder and the shaft was longer than Gage's, going down to his waist. It clarified that it was a type of spear, not a dagger.
“I'm not showing you mine yet.” Gideon winked at me.
“It's our link to Hades,” Gage said.
“It protects you from possession?”
“Among other things,” Gideon said. “And it will protect you as well. Even more so if you become our mate.”
“Gid, not yet,” Garret said.
“I'd like to know what I'm getting into. You know, in case I can get . . . into . . . it.” I grimaced. “I don't know what I'm saying.” Grabbing my plate and coffee, I went back to the island to finish eating. “And yes, I'd like to go out for lunch later.”
“Great.” Garret pulled up a stool next to mine and hung his towel around his neck.
Meanwhile, Gage and Gideon went to the fridge and pulled out some bottles of Gatorade. Gideon tossed one to Garret.
“Thanks,” Garret said. Then he looked at me. “What do you want to know?”
“Everything.” I shrugged. “What would being your mate mean? What would it entail?”
“Entail?” Garret grinned. “Are you trying to ask what the sex will be like?”
“Yes and no. Yes, I think I need to know what kind of sexual relationship we'd have so I can prepare myself for the possibility, but also, what else? How do three men share one woman?”
Gage snorted. “Good question.”
“You don't know?” I asked.
“We can only go by what we've seen and heard,” Gideon said as he twisted off the cap of his bottle. “Dominic, from the Spokane Cerberus was the one who called us to ask us to watch over you. While we were talking, I asked him about his mate, and he said it was wonderful. They're all thrilled.”
“They're happy sharing her?” I asked. “Really?”
“You have to understand our bond,” Garret said.
“You said you can feel each other's emotions.”
“Yes, and that makes us closer than brothers.”
“We're three individuals, but we're also parts of one whole,” Gage said. “Hades made us to become one entity if necessary.”
“One entity?” I asked. “Are you saying that you can literally bond? Like merge bodies?”
“Only our hound bodies,” Gage said. “We can become the Cerberus of the myths—a giant, three-headed hound. But that's only in times of great need.”
“Holy shit,” I whispered. “Three parts of a whole. Wow. It kind of boggles my mind that you can merge into one body and then just separate again.”
“It's why we're so close,” Garret said.
“Look, I'm going to be candid with you.” Gideon leaned onto the island to look me in the eye. “We can also feel what each other is experiencing. Physically. I assume this will be an interesting bonus in the bedroom.”
I blinked. Processed. “Are you saying that I could have sex with one of you and the other two would climax with him, even if you weren't in the room?”
“Probably,” Gage said. “We don't know yet. And frankly, I think I'd rather come with you, not alone.”
I blushed but said nothing because I had asked. They were just being honest. Very honest. Then Gage blinked slowly and slid his stare toward the others. They grinned.
“What's that about?” I asked.
“Nothing,” Gage said.
“Uh-uh.” I wagged my finger at them. “You can't do that if you want me to trust you. What is it?”
“We can, uh. Oh, fuck,” Garret muttered.
“You're turned on,” Gage said and tapped his nose. “Nothing to be embarrassed about. We're all turned on by the thought of being with you. It's natural.”
I cleared my throat again. “Well, that confirms it.”
“Your arousal?” Gideon asked with a grin.
“No, that you have supernatural senses. I suspected you might. Can you smell me?”
“See?” Garret waved at me. “Now, she thinks we're freaks.”
“I don't think you're freaks,” I said. “It just makes me nervous that I can't hide an automatic physical response.”
“We can't hide it either.” Gage waved at his pants. “It seems fair to me.”
I looked down to see a massive bulge there. “Dear God! I don't know if I can handle that thing.”
Gage burst out laughing, then said, “Come on. You've been with a black man. Don't they tend to be well-endowed?”
“I don't think you can say shit like that these days,” Gideon said.
“Why not? It's a compliment. And we're the only ones here,” Gage said.
“You may have just offended Indigo.”
Gage rolled his eyes, then asked me, “Did I offend you?”
“No,” I said. “But I'm not a black man. I don't think I get to be offended on their behalf just because I used to have sex with one. Although, I agree that most men would find it complimentary, not offensive.”
“You used to have sex with him,” Garret said. “Let's keep it that way—in the past tense.”
I lifted my brows at him.
“Sorry! Shit!” Garret shook his head. “I need a shower. All these endorphins and hormones are merging to make me possessive when I don't have the right to be. Sorry!” He rushed out of the room.
I stared after him.
“Shall we get back to discussing whether you can handle my cock?” Gage asked as he leaned onto the island beside me.
“Excuse me?!” I shot off my stool. “You don't get to speak to me like that. Garret just raced out of the room for getting possessive with me and then you follow it up with talking to me like that? What the hell is wrong with you?”
Gage jerked back upright. “Uh, but, you, uh, you started it.”
“That was a blurted exclamation that I couldn't control. We were having an adult conversation about a possible intimate relationship. We were not getting nasty. At least, I wasn't. Just because I'm speaking about sex with you, it doesn't make me a coarse woman. You will treat me like a lady!” I pointed at him.
“Yes, ma'am,” Gage said and hung his head. “Sorry, ma'am.”
I inhaled, taking myself up to my full five feet and six inches, then nodded. “Forgiven. We haven't established a foundation for our relationship yet. Until we do, we're all figuring things out. I understand. But please do not speak to me like that again. Not unless we get intimate enough that naughty words are acceptable.”
Gage lifted a brow. “So, you're into that then?”
“Ugh!” I tossed up my hands and left the room.
“She's into it,” Gage said. “Did you smell that? She's so into it.”
“I heard that!” I shouted.
“You're so not getting into it,” Gideon declared, then laughed his ass off.
“I don't know why you're laughing,” Gage said. “If I don't get her, neither do you.”
The laughter ended.