Chapter 27

Chapter

Twenty-Seven

P ersephone

I’ve never seen him sleep. I’m not sure what I expected. Perhaps that the hard lines of his face would soften. That his jaw would smooth. That some of the power he constantly radiated would ebb.

None of that happens. Hades is, as ever, radiating power.

Minutes tick by and I wait for him to wake, but when he doesn’t, I slowly peel the covers from my body to slide from the bed. My bed. In the room he provided for me.

He’s never slept with me here, but after the shower where he made me come apart, and I fell to my knees to do the same for him, the rest of the night is a blur. We clearly made it to the bed, and obviously fell asleep quickly thereafter, because I’m naked.

Holding my breath, I tiptoe to the bathroom where I slide into the fuzzy robe that hangs on the back of the door. I snuggle into the warmth and swallow, wincing a little at the burn in the back of my throat.

I think only for a moment that I may be getting sick when a flash of last night sprouts through the haze of my muddled thoughts. At first, Hades had tried to pull away from me, but that damning ache, like an itch in my bones, had flared with a violence that had me falling to my knees before him. I’d taken his leaking tip into my mouth, sucking hard enough to earn the low moan of a battle lost.

His big hands had twisted into my hair, and he’d thrust into my mouth. With his powerful legs spread wide enough to bracket my much smaller body, Hades had thrust his hips again and again. His hot tip had burned the back of my throat, spilling a raw scorch of hunger into the deep of my belly, where my already sated core ignited the flame of new need.

I watched, eyes tipped up, as he lost himself to my mouth. He’d grunted with each thrust, his lips curling back from his teeth, the ghost of dangerous possession flaring in his eyes. When he thrust down the back of my throat, forcing me to open around him, take him deeper, I’d watched in ravenous hunger as he threw his head back and roared to the ceiling. Veins burst in his thick neck, spidering down the muscles of his chest as his hands fisted brutally in my hair.

Gone was the tender, carefully composed man I knew.

Gone was the flash of fear I’d seen sparking in his eyes.

I’d called the primal beast to the surface with the promise of play he couldn’t deny. I’d submitted to the darkness he housed. The darkness he was always so careful to keep from revealing to me. But I’d seen it last night.

I’d watched, enchanted, as he lost himself to the pleasure of my mouth. With my hands on his ass, pushing his hot cock deeper even as I choked around him, Hades lost himself inside me. When he burst, hot seed spilling down my throat into my belly—that was when the itch along my bones abated.

And that was when my memories of the night before ended.

In the mirror now, I try to make sense of the night before. Of the hunger that had burned inside me with an itch I’d been unable to rid with the scratch of my nails.

When Hades had appeared, I’d been in the shower distraught with the need to scrub the very flesh from my bones with the pretty pink loofah Hades provided. The itch had been that extreme.

Now, I’m not entirely certain I’d been feeling an itch at all .

The shift of my thoughts grows dark as I squeeze toothpaste onto my toothbrush, scrubbing my teeth near violently. Could the itch I’d felt last night have been yet another fracture in the ever-waning sanity of my mind?

Slipping from the bathroom to the closet, I dress in shorts and a tank top before pulling a cardigan from a hanger and tiptoeing from the room. If I’m being honest, I’m surprised Hades is still asleep. Whatever he’d been doing the last week, wherever he’d been, he’d obviously been busy.

Making my way down the hall, I slip into the cardigan. Golden sunlight spills in through the wall of windows in the living room, lighting my way as I get the coffee pot started. Happy to finally be fulfilling my work arrangement with Hades as his in-home cook—and not just the companion part—I pull eggs, veggies, and bacon from the fridge. I try my best not to let my thoughts drift too far into the anger and hurt I’d felt when Hades had disappeared , and the questions I have regarding the last week when he’d been absent. Instead, I focus on cooking the bacon. Then I focus on the omelet, keeping my thoughts simple, sipping coffee.

I feel him before I see him. The hair on my arms stands erect, as though he is the charge and I am the electric current. The spark when he pauses close to my back, his hand finally making contact with me, is near violent. Still, I don’t jump and he doesn’t pull away .

Instead, he drops his head to the nook of my neck, inhaling deep. The sharp scruff of his beard pulls a shiver from the deep of me, and even as I bite my lip, a little sigh escapes.

“Good morning,” he murmurs. “You’re up early. Why didn’t you wake me?”

“You looked like you needed to sleep.” I reach for the grated cheese, sprinkling it on the omelet. “Besides, I figured it’s high time I actually earn the money you pay me.”

Hades makes a noise, and then I feel his lips on my skin. That ache I’m becoming so familiar with blooms in my core as his big hands move from my hips, around to my belly. He pulls me into his chest, and I feel the hard length of his arousal against my spine.

The ache intensifies.

I grit my teeth. “Breakfast is ready.” I dance out of his hold, filling two plates with breakfast as Hades smirks knowingly, pouring coffee into his cup before topping my nearly finished cup up.

I grunt a noise of thanks. Lifting my coffee and plate to the spot I’ve claimed as mine at the island, I sit. Then I dig in, avoiding his eyes.

Okay, so I said I was trying not to let my thoughts drift to too dark a place while I cooked—and I did try—but I mostly failed. That’s evident now as I shovel food into my mouth, the blood that pumps through my heart with every beat simmering.

I’m mad at him, as I should be .

“You’re upset.”

Obviously, I’m no good at hiding my emotions.

“Shouldn’t I be?”

I catch the rise of his brow. “You didn’t seem so upset last night.”

“I was focused on other things last night.” I harrumph.

Hades chuckles. “That was clear.”

I huff, my spine snapping straight as I finally let my eyes land on him. He’s so frigging handsome. Honestly, it’s not fair. And right now, with his dark hair a mess of waves around his shoulders and his chest bare, rippling with powerful muscles a man my age couldn’t possibly possess, he’s even sexier than usual.

I swallow the moan that threatens to spill, refusing to give him that. Instead, I demand, “Where were you last week?”

The shadows in his eyes stop dancing, darkening. “I was unable to contact you, Persephone. I’m sorry.”

“So, you won’t tell me where you were?”

He shakes his head slowly. “I can’t tell you.”

“You can’t or you won’t?”

His chest expands with a big breath. “I’m sorry.”

Why does that feel like a cop-out? “You’re sorry?”

“I am.”

I narrow my eyes on him as an ugly thought enters my mind. It starts small, but grows fast. Its toxic roots have the food in my belly souring, turning rancid. I gasp, “Do you—do you have a family?”

His eyes dart up to mine. “A family?”

“Yes, a family. Somewhere else?”

His jaw hardens and I think his back teeth grind. “What are you asking?”

I shake my head. “I can’t think of another reason that you would disappear without any explanation for an entire week, not even bothering to text or call.” I shrug. “You clearly aren’t hurt, Hades. I mean?—”

He pushes from his stool, prowling dangerously closer to me. “You are the only woman in my life.” His hand pushes between my hair and neck, and he grips me. “But am I the only man in your life, little goddess?”

I blink up at him, stunned. “You think I have someone else?”

“I know Addison wants you.” His lip curls, dark menace leaking from his glare. “And I smelled a man on you last night.”

My eyes bulge. “What?”

“Herman, Persephone. I could smell him as soon as I entered. You’ve been with him, haven’t you?”

I can’t believe he’s the one who disappeared without any explanation, and yet he’s turned this around on me. I should refuse to speak, call him on his manipulations. But I don’t. “He’s been at the bar every night while you were gone. ”

His grip on my neck pulses. My heart skips a beat. “Why?”

I shake my head, my eyes sliding to the side. “He said he owed it to you to ensure I was safe while you were gone.”

Hades’ grip loosens just a little. “Is that so?”

“ I wouldn’t lie to you.”

“Wouldn’t you?”

I flinch. “No.”

Hades sighs. “Then why did you go to see Herman at his clinic with Minthe?”

For a moment, I’m stunned speechless. “You know about that?” Just asking the question has a bloom of red shame heating my skin. Emotion pricks in my eyes. “I—nothing came of it.”

“Why did you go?”

I glare at him through my lashes. “You don’t already know?”

“I want to hear it from you, Persephone.” When I don’t speak, Hades lifts his other hand to grip my face between tender hands that are capable of complete destruction. “I would like it if you could trust me enough to let me inside.”

“But you already know…” I don’t want to have to speak the words. Speaking them makes everything so much more real. So much more devastating. So terribly tragic.

“Trust me,” Hades begs.

I crack. Emotion, thick with sorrow, pours from me as I whisper, “I went because I’ve been seeing things—things that aren’t real. I—hoped maybe there was something growing in my brain. Something that could explain all the—” I shake my head, slamming my eyes closed to sever the softness I see in his. “Something that could explain away my crazy. Something that could maybe be cut out.”

“Persephone,” he breathes my name, but I can’t make myself look at him. I can’t make myself see the pity I know is there in his eyes. His thumbs brush away the tears that leak from my eyes. “There is a reason you are seeing the things you see.”

“There isn’t, though.” I force my eyes open to look at Hades. At the man I’m falling so desperately in love with. A violent sob quakes my body. “Herman found nothing .”