Chapter 6
The menacing laugh Hades belted out as soon as Harley shoved off the bike rang in the air as she tried rubbing circles around her stomach, feeling like she was going to be sick. His laughing triggered the hell out of her because he reminded her of her father, taunting her when she was young for being afraid of his motorcycle.
She cut her eyes at him but chose not to say anything, doing her best to contain her feelings and the contents of her stomach, which she realized wasn’t much. She’d barely had anything to eat in the last couple of days, and she made a mental note to DoorDash some food when she got back to Hades’s house.
“How you so afraid of motorcycles and your name is Harley? William and Arthur would be so disappointed.”
“Who?” Harley asked with a tilt of her head before she eyed the building in front of her. Underworld Customs. Of course that was the name of his shop. Eris mentioned that he owned a custom motorcycle shop, but Harley had no idea it would look like this . He really took his name seriously.
The building was on a corner with a large door and big windows. It was a mix between elegant and haunting, with black and pops of blue, just like Hades in the movie Hercules she used to love so much when she was young.
When she looked back at Hades, she saw he stared at her with a mug on his face, all humor gone, and looking at her like she was an alien. “William Harley and Arthur Davidson… the co-founders of Harley Davidson. How you named after them and don’t know this shit?”
Harley scoffed. “Who said I was named after them?”
She was, but Hades didn’t need to know that. Hades stared at her stunned, as if he hadn’t considered that, before his mean mug masked his face again, and he stalked toward the front door of his business.
Harley trailed behind him, her palms sweating, and fear lacing her. It had been a long time since she went to church . Her father used to drag her and her older sister along to his motorcycle meetings, and she had the worst memories of those occasions. The dusty bar… the men… her sister. The men in her father’s motorcycle club were never particularly nice, but she never got the worst of the memories. Those belonged to her sister.
As Hades opened the door and held it open for her, she bit on her back teeth and tried to swallow the lump in her throat, all while nodding in surprise at him for opening the door for her. That caught her so off guard, thoughts of her father melted away as she looked around Underworld Customs.
The black floors were sleek, and she marveled at the beautiful motorcycles that were on pedestals, showcased through the space. She hated motorcycles, but even she had to appreciate the beauty of the ones before her. Toward the back of the space was a sleek black reception desk. The place looked closed since nobody was around, but there were blue and black-lit back lights that lit up the bikes in a beautiful display.
“This place is amazing,” Harley murmured as she looked around. Eventually, her eyes landed back on Hades, who watched her intently.
They stared at each other for several long seconds before he muttered, “Thanks.” He turned and walked toward the back, leaving her to jog after him.
She finally caught up to him at a discreet elevator hidden completely from the front. He had already pressed the button, so she stepped on alongside him and was surprised when the elevator moved down.
Harley glanced over at him and caught him eying her once again. She looked down at the floor and shuffled her feet, praying this meeting went by quickly so she could get home to her baby. She needed some puppy love at the moment more than anything.
The first thing she noticed when the elevator doors opened was the smell. Her stomach growled as she smelled something savory and fried in the air. Hades eyed her but didn’t comment as he stepped off the elevator, once again leaving her to trail behind him.
It was like they stepped into a whole new world. Upstairs was a business, but down here was like an upscale club. A dazzling chandelier hung from the ceiling, hookahs sat on the tables, and there was a full bar with mirrors fastened to the wall behind it.
They were also no longer alone. People were spread through the room, drinking, eating, and smoking. When Hades entered the space, everyone noticed. Harley trailed behind him, bashfully avoiding eye contact and doing her best to prevent a nervous breakdown.
“Lady Bug?”
Harley whirled around at the sound of her nickname. Only two people in the world called her that anymore… It was the only thing she allowed to breach over into her adult life. When she told Sage and Blair about her childhood early on in their friendship, the nickname slipped, and her friends took to it. She allowed it because it reminded her of the only person who ever loved her in her childhood.
Tears filled her eyes as her mind tried to compute what she saw.
“ Cati ?” Harley felt as though she had seen a ghost. Twenty years was a long time to go without seeing someone, but Harley would recognize her sister anywhere. She had grown, of course, but she still looked the same. Cati. Her Cati .
Harley stood frozen as they stared at one another, taking each other in. It felt like hours passed, but it was only seconds. Oddly, the only thing Harley could compute at the moment was her sister’s eyes. They mirrored her own, dark as obsidian and full of emotion.
When Cati took a step toward her, Harley snapped out of her daze and stumbled backward before turning and bolting toward the elevator. Nothing else mattered at that moment but running from her past—from her sister.
Harley jammed her finger into the elevator button repeatedly and slipped inside as soon as it opened up enough for her to do so. Just as she was about to jam her finger into the door close button, she was shoved against the elevator wall with a large hand around her throat.
“You running from me, Tink?” Hades’s deep, gravelly voice thundered in her ears as her hands instinctively went to his large one that wrapped around her throat.
She was vaguely aware that they were moving up, but she was too focused on allowing air into her lungs to rejoice in the distance between her and her sister.
“Please.” Her words squeaked out as she struggled against him.
He growled in her face. Like actually growled , and amid everything currently happening, Harley noted her panties soaking as her nipples hardened.
What the hell is wrong with me?
She hadn’t been turned on by a man since she and Drew broke up. There had been some subtle tension between her and Hades, but this was insane to her. This was not the time for her coochie to literally be leaking when this maniac was growling in her face and cutting off her air supply.
When the elevator doors opened, Hades let go of her neck, and she gasped for air as he yanked her by her arm and pulled her into yet another new space. They must have been right above the showroom, and this had to be Hades’s office.
The large windows in the room allowed the brightly shining sun to show off, and under different circumstances, Harley would have marveled at the space.
When they reached the large desk, Harley jumped when Hades used one of his large arms to swipe everything, including a MacBook, off the surface. The next thing she knew, she was sitting on the desk while he stood in front of her, glaring down at her.
“You’re new here, so you don’t know the rules. For that, I’ll give you a pass. One fuckin’ pass, Tink. I told you that you’re staying with me to take care of my nephew, right?”
Tears fell from her eyes as she gazed up at him. Her body trembled as her emotions ran wild. She thought she was shell-shocked or something because she couldn’t comprehend a single thought as he waited for her response. Finally, she found her voice and whispered, “Yes, but?—”
“Then why the fuck did you run from me?” he roared.
“I w-wasn’t?—”
His hand wrapped around her throat again, this time with less pressure as a crazed look shaped his features. He leaned forward so his mouth was inches from hers. “You. Are. Not. Allowed. To. Go. Anywhere.”
His words were clipped, and his breathing seemed staggered as their chests heaved from the tension radiating between them.
Harley felt as though that panic attack she had been holding at bay was finally pushing forward. Tears streamed down her face as she tried to catch her breath and take in everything that had happened in the last five minutes.
“I-I…”
Once again, she was cut off. This time, though, Hades’s lips pressed against hers, stunning her. She stiffened slightly as she felt the panic shove back inside before she relaxed into the kiss, allowing her feverish body to take over her actions.
Her small hands gripped his shirt as she pulled him closer, opening her legs so he stood between them. A low rumble vibrated through his chest and ricocheted off hers.
His large hand went from her neck down to her breasts, squeezing one roughly and causing her to moan into him. Tears still fell from her eyes, but she let them fall freely as she enjoyed the sensations Hades offered her.
Slowly, his hand moved down to the waistband of her leggings, and he tugged them down while she lifted to make it easier. She didn’t think. She didn’t allow her worries or her thoughts to get in the way of Hades exploring her body.
As soon as she was exposed to him, Hades slid a thick finger over her wet clit. Her back arched as she moaned, moving against him. It had been so long since she’d been touched like this, and she craved more.
“Shit.” Hades muttered under his breath as he slipped his finger inside her. “Grippin’ the fuck out my shit.” His eyes lifted to hers, and he seemed to peer into her soul. “You’re not going anywhere. You hear me? You’re not leaving me.”
“I-I hear… y-you.” She would agree to anything as long as he kept stroking her pussy with his finger.
“But do you understand?”
“Yes,” she breathed out.
He chuckled sinisterly, and she knew he enjoyed seeing her squirm underneath him.
“You want to cum?” She nodded. “Use your words, Tink. Tell me you want to cum.”
“I want to cum… Please, Hades,” she uttered, gripping onto his large biceps.
He kissed her once again, and as their tongues got acquainted, he applied pressure to her clit, pushing his finger in and out of her. It took no time for her pussy to clench around him before she shuddered and threw her head back, riding the wave of the orgasm that took over her entire body.
As soon as she came down, embarrassment filled her, and she avoided eye contact with Hades, who snatched his finger out of her and took a few steps back. He nodded his head to the left. “Bathroom is over there. Get cleaned up.”
Shame at what she just allowed to happen flooded her body as she quickly hopped off the desk, grabbed her leggings, and rushed into the bathroom before closing the door behind her.