Chapter 15 #2
And find myself suddenly trapped by a strong arm around my waist. “Let me hold you, please,” he says softly against my ear. “I want an opportunity to take care of you, Serapina. In my own way.”
I swallow, my mind instantly sifting through Persephone’s memories for information that will help me understand Hades’s motives. However, I can’t find a single instance of him saying those words to her.
Actually, it seems they didn’t often say much to each other. Just let their bodies do all the communicating. Not just with sex, though. With simply being near one another.
I shake my head, wanting to clear it.
And Hades drops his arm. “I understand,” he murmurs, leaning back. No hint of annoyance or hurt. Just… a stoic comment.
“Understand what?” I ask, confused again.
“Your refusal. I’ll never make you do anything, Serapina.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to remark on how he almost made me marry him, but I realize he’s misunderstood my reason for shaking my head. “I wasn’t refusing you,” I tell him as I glance back to meet his dark gaze. “I was just… trying to clear my head. There’s a lot going on up there right now.”
He studies me for a moment. “Because of your new bonds?”
I frown. “Actually, no.” I shift my attention to Morpheus and Maliki, then back to Hades. “I meant with Persephone’s memories.”
Why can’t I hear you? I think at my two mates.
Because you’re naturally shielding, Morpheus replies into my mind. We’re not closed off to you, sweetheart. You can access our minds at any time; you just have to think about it.
And you? I ask, looking at him. “Are you able to hear my thoughts anytime you wish?” I switch to speaking aloud because Maliki was also trying to mentally talk to me and I didn’t want him to think I was ignoring him. It’s just that there’s only so much room in my mind right now.
“Yes,” Morpheus confirms. “But I know how to respect your boundaries, Serapina. That’s just as natural to me as it is to you.”
“What he said,” Maliki echoes. “Or that last part, anyway. Not sure what he said in your head.”
Morpheus’s blue-green eyes go to Maliki. “I just told her that we’ll never shut our minds off from her; she just has to want to reach us to be able to talk to us or hear us.”
Maliki nods. “Okay, then yes, what he said.” He folds his arms. “I’ve never been mentally connected to anyone before today, but I don’t feel all that different. Just closer to you.” He looks at Hades. “Both of you.”
My eyebrow lifts. “You can hear Hades?”
“Yep,” Maliki replies, his lips popping on the p. “Much to his chagrin, I’m sure.”
Hades scoffs at that. “You can’t hear me, just sense certain things.”
“Pretty much the same thing,” Maliki drawls. “All a bunch of brooding air.” He waves his hands around in a careless motion. “Now, are we going to eat or let the food continue to cool?”
Hades’s arm encircles me again as he shifts forward to resume filling a plate. “Maliki fancies himself an Alpha,” he murmurs. I’m not sure if the words are for me or for Morpheus. “Seems to think he can command the entire mate-circle now, too.”
“Someone has to do it,” Maliki returns, though he doesn’t sound annoyed so much as amused.
“Hmm,” Hades hums, then focuses entirely on sorting through all the various food items.
I’m not sure what half of them are, but I recognize the Italian cuisine. Reaper introduced me to several over the last year, mostly because he seems to favor pizza. But Orcus likes a variety of other dishes—including a spicy tomato dish like the one Hades scoops onto the plate now.
“Shrimp fra diavolo?” Morpheus asks.
“With a twist,” Maliki replies. “I added some sausage crumbles.”
“And this one?” Morpheus points to a pan with circular white noodles—or… or I think it’s a noodle?—and no sauce.
“Decided to add a garlic butter option for the scallops. Will pair nicely with the angel hair.”
Morpheus nods. “Excellent.”
“Do you want to try a scallop?” Hades asks me, perhaps noting that I’m still staring at the sauceless item.
“What’s a scallop?” I question, uncertain if I want to try it or not.
“A bivalve mollusk,” Maliki answers, making me blink. “It’s similar to the shrimp. A meat from the Human Realm.”
“Yes, Maliki is obsessed with Human Realm foods and culture and movies,” Hades drawls. “Don’t ask him to make anything from the Elemental Fae Kingdom. He’ll fail.”
“I would not fail,” Maliki argues. “But I would hate every minute of it.”
“Then perhaps you should make a shroom loaf tomorrow,” Hades suggests. “Maybe Serapina would like it.”
“Why do you hate me?” Maliki asks him, sounding wounded.
Hades chuckles. “It’s not like I requested troll fat.”
“Troll fat?” I repeat, my nose scrunching.
“It tastes like bacon,” Hades tells me, sounding amused.
Maliki gags. “It’s disgusting.”
“Dragonsteak, then?” Hades offers.
My eyes go wide. “Elemental Fae eat dragons?”
“No, sweetheart. It’s just a type of food. It’s not even meat, if I recall correctly,” Morpheus says. “Elemental Fae are a strange breed with peculiar cuisine tastes.”
“Oh.” My nose crinkles again. “I don’t think… I don’t think I want to go there.”
“Their realm is actually quite beautiful.” Hades repositions me in his lap, bringing my legs over his opposite thigh so that I’m sitting with my shoulder against his chest as his one arm braces his back. “Now open. I’ve cut a scallop in half for you to try it.”
I have half a mind to refuse him, mostly because it sounds very strange. But the garlic notes wafting off the fork have me parting my lips instead.
The moment the flavor touches my tongue, I’m very glad my body acted on my behalf and didn’t allow my reservations to stop this experience from happening. Because wow. Wow. “That’s really good,” I mumble around the mouthful of food.
“Try chewing,” Maliki suggests. “I hear it’s good for you.”
I really want to roll my eyes at him, but I’m enjoying his scallops too much to bother.
Chewing, though, does end up being an excellent idea because it spreads the flavor out through my senses.
As soon as I’m done, another bite appears. But this one is from the tomato dish—the shrimp fra diavolo.
It’s equally as delicious as the other, but so different in taste. I’m not sure which one I like more. Fortunately, I don’t have to decide because Hades continues to feed me both options.
Along with a garlic roll—the bread is warm and so, so good.
Plus some sort of fruity drink.
A salad of greens flavored by a spicy vinaigrette.
Another vegetable that Maliki calls asparagus, which I’m not as keen on, but the lemon flavor helps.
More pasta.
More shrimp.
More scallops.
I just keep eating.
Because Hades doesn’t stop feeding me.
His purr seems to be the only sound anchoring me to the present as he brings the fork up to my mouth, my body doing the rest. I’m vaguely aware that he’s holding a conversation with Maliki and Morpheus.
Something about the maze. Alterations. I don’t really know or care.
I’m consumed by sensations of rightness. Calmness. Security.
It’s… it’s like the food has drugged me.
Or maybe it’s my exhaustion finally catching up to me.
I’m pretty sure I’ve been awake for more than twenty-four hours. Other than my nap, anyway. Maybe even more time has passed.
I also had a lot of sex.
Which… which was very good. Amazing, actually. I want more, I think, sighing. But sleep… sleep would be good, too.
I’m only partly aware that I’ve stopped eating. Even less aware that I’ve curled myself up on Hades’s lap, my head against his chest.
Perhaps it’s his purr that drugged me, not the food, I consider, yawning. Hmm, doesn’t matter. Because I’m comfortable. Warm. And very, very tired. I’ll just close my eyes for a min… hmm, like this… yeah… ’kay.