Chapter 20 Hades
Hades
I take a very, very long walk down the beautiful French coastline.
It’s far too hot even though when I leave, the sun is already beginning to slip behind the distant horizon.
I look out at the coast and instinctively turn away from the city, trudging along.
It’s hard to keep pace with my thoughts, which whirl around my head, spiked and spiny and violent, their rhythm stochastic.
What the fuck did I just do?
I keep picturing Persephone's look of perfect surprise when I untied her and then hurried to the warehouse door. She looked truly crestfallen, or at least hurt somehow.
Knowing that I am the source of that pain doesn’t sit well with me in the least.
I put my head down and walk faster. Going for a run would be nice right now, but I don’t have tennis shoes or nylon shorts with me.
So, I have to content myself with angrily walking down the shore, startling the occasional sea bird that gets too near me.
I kick rocks with my heavy boots, and they spin and bounce against the sandy ground, often sinking into the ocean as I move past.
If only I hadn’t let a woman get so close to me… but it’s too late for that. Pretty little Persephone is in my head and under my fucking skin. My expression twists into a grimace.
A quarter of a mile down the rocky shoreline, I stop and stare out at the sea. It’s been windy since we arrived here, the sea restless. I understand that feeling all too well.
Perhaps the sea has made the same mistakes as I have. It’s possible that the mysterious body of water before me has many secrets, some of them less divine than others.
I fish my new phone out of my pocket and screw my face up. Dialing Eros’s number, I suck in a breath.
He answers right away.
“Hades! I was wondering where ye had gotten lost.”
“Eros,” I say, my voice gruff. “How are things going?”
There’s a moment’s pause as he presumably tries to decide just what I mean. “Things are progressing here. I just had a meeting with…” He pauses. “I would rather not get into it over the phone, where people can listen in. Let’s just say I had good news. Ye’ll be pleased.”
I grunt. “Hmm.”
Eros sighs. “Do ye have any idea who your visitors were back in Spain?”
“No. I have to think it was our American friend. But I didn’t wait around to find out.”
“I see.” There is a long pause. “How are things with the girl, Hades? Are ye having trouble managing her?”
I can feel my neck grow warm. “What? No.” I say it too fast though and my words don’t sound convincing at all. “I can’t wait until this job is over. That’s all.”
A few seconds of silence. “If she’s causing ye problems, brother, just say the word. We can switch our tasks.”
“I need ye right where ye are,” I say.
“No, ye need a person ye trust in this position. Ares and I fit that bill.”
My lips thin. “Those are the people I trust? It’s not a very long list.”
He gives a low chuckle of laughter. “Maybe instead of calling me, ye should be trying to expand that list. Ye know, ye could add Persephone to our members. Relax a little, have a drink together… maybe fuck the shit out of her.”
My jaw clenches. “Fuck off.”
Eros goes quiet for a beat. “What does that mean, Hades? Did ye already fuck her?” Then, softer: “Did it go badly?”
I snarl at him. “Mind yer own fucking business!”
He sighs, unperturbed. “If ye are looking for a way out, all ye have to do is say so. I’ll come and take care of her. Ye can go about yer own business. And I promise not to fuck her, if that’s what yer worried about…”
I hang up, gripping the phone and staring down at its face. It takes every bit of willpower not to whip the phone into the ocean and walk away.
By the time I return to the warehouse, it has been dark for an hour or so. I roll open the door to find Persephone standing in the well-lit work area, unpacking boxes.
She turns her head to see me walking in. Her nostrils flare. Her chin lifts, her eyes tightening just a little bit, her body language growing taut.
Then she turns back to opening and spreading out thick sheets of paper. As I walk to the bedroom, I catch a distinctly frosty wave radiating off of her.
She produces the white earbuds that came with her phone, pops them in her ears, and proceeds to turn the music up loud in her phone.
Glowering at her back, I realize that my whole body is tense. What I need is a shower.
The whole time I’m in the shower, I stand under the water and try not to think of how hot Persephone is. She’s hot when she’s angry, like she is right now.
But that has nothing on having her tied up and moaning underneath my body. The little gasping breath she sucked in right before her silky pussy began to spasm…
I swear, it was hotter than nuclear fission. Maybe that’s why I’m still hard just thinking about it.
Imagining what it would be like to actually fuck Persephone is actually so hot it overloads my senses. I can feel my brain shutting down every time I start to fantasize about feeling her legs clamp around my body as her slick little pussy fucking drains my balls.
I clench my teeth, jerking my thoughts away. This? This is why I can’t just fuck her.
She already owns as much of me as I can stand. And I can’t afford to lose my shit over some raven haired siren.
Not now.
Not ever.
When I’m out of the steamy shower, I take care with dressing myself. Black slacks. Black shirt. Black tie. Black socks and matching ass kicking boots.
I catch my hair behind my head and tie it back in a low ponytail. Looking down at my hands, I catch myself thinking that something has fundamentally changed. Something essential. Something important.
But what that thing might be, I can’t say.
Flexing both of my hands, I expel a breath. I have to talk to Persephone.
I should explain why what we did — what almost happened between us? That was a terrible choice.
For both our sakes, I have to keep my eyes on the prize and watch for any sign that we might have caught outside attention.
That’s the most important thing. It also happens to be what I am best at.
Pushing my cheek out with my tongue, I stalk over to the work area. Persephone looks up, her eyes narrowing. She doesn’t stop her task, standing paintbrushes upright and shoving them into mason jars.
I narrow my eyes on her hands. She is sorting the brushes by some mysterious method. Every once in a while, she stops, holds a brush up to the light. Then she makes some decision about it, sorting it into one of two piles.
The two piles seem almost identical to me. My lips flatten into a thin line as I walk up to the worktable, folding my arms and cocking my hip to rest against it.
She’s doesn’t acknowledge me in any way. Just glares at a pile of paint brushes like they have personally offended her.
I gesture for her to take out her earbuds. Persephone slows, taking one earbud out but leaving her music cranked up.
“Yes?” she asks. She is very careful not to look at me.
“We need to talk,” I say. I lean over, planning on pulling her other earbud from her ear. But she rears up, catching my hand and pushing it away.
She takes a big step back. “I’m working. Can it wait?”
Tensing my jaw, I shake my head. “No.”
Persephone finally gives me the eye roll I’ve been expecting and turns off her music.
“What’s so important that it can’t wait a few hours?”
I don’t like this side of Persephone. She crosses her arms, hiding beneath another oversized sweater, and looks at her nails. She seems… disinterested in hearing what I have to say.
Clenching my fists, I pin her with my gaze.
“I think we can both agree that what happened earlier was a mistake.”
Her nostrils flare. She sucks her teeth, pissed off. “Yep.”
“I think it would be better if we kept our distance. I’ll move my bed over to the other side of the room— “
She waves a dismissive hand at me. “Whatever you say.”
I dart my tongue out, running it slowly along my upper lip. Persephone is intentionally looking anywhere but at me, which is driving me fucking nuts.
I don’t dare touch her to get her full attention, though. There’s something between us, some spark, that threatens to ignite every time I get close to this woman.
“Look. It was bound to happen. Two very attractive people. Close quarters. A volatile situation.” I shrug, my chest tight.
She sends me a defiant, haughty look. “It’s not as if I had a choice, is it?”
I glare at her. “Ye have never come so hard in yer fucking life. Don’t pretend that ye didn’t love every fucking second of it.”
She crosses her arms, her face going red. She pushes her cheek out with her tongue and doesn’t respond.
I wave a hand. “All I’m saying is, I don’t want to repeat it.”
Persephone licks her lips, something fiery passing through her gaze. She looks directly at me, almost sneering.
“Are we done?” She swallows, as if she is trying to stay unemotional. “I agree with you. Okay? Now let me get to fucking work. The sooner I start, the sooner I can get the fuck away from you. Permanently.”
I grit my teeth. Hearing her say that is an awful lot like hearing the words I want to leave you.
“Go, then.” I jerk my head toward her worktable, piled high with ink, paper and paintbrushes. “Let me know— “
She immediately starts cramming her earbuds back in her ears and gives me the cold shoulder. She’s telling me to back the fuck off.
In that moment, I understand her completely.
It’s the reaction that I hoped to provoke, after all. So why the hell do I hate it so much?
Clenching my teeth, I keep my reaction to myself. Instead, I turn and walk back to the beds, beginning to move the untouched one toward the work area.