Page 25 of Learn My Lesson
I don’t know what I expect after that. I honestly don’t. But nowhere in my realm of possibilities is it for Hades to take care of us. He eases me back from Meg and cleans up my stomach before I can dredge up the energy to do it myself. Another blanket appears and he guides me back to the floor next to the couch. At some point Aurora gets up, gives my shoulder a quick squeeze, and slips out of the room. The shame from before hasn’t gone anywhere, and it only worms its way deeper as I huddle beneath that fucking blanket and watch Hades tend to Meg.
He leans down and says something in her ear and cups her pussy in a possessive way that raises a strange kind of jealousy in me. Jealousy because I want her, yes, but jealousy in the level of caring she receives from him.?2 She means something to him, something special. I might not understand the many undercurrents of their relationship, but even I can see that.
Hades uncuffs her and scoops her into his arms. Meg always seems larger than life, so it’s almost shocking to see how small she really is. He carries her easily to the couch and wraps another blanket around her while she’s still in his lap. Am I supposed to leave? The thought hurts. A lot. More than it has right to.
Somehow, he knows.
Hades taps the couch next to him with a single finger. “Up.”
My legs shake as I obey. I feel both too light and too raw, as if he’s ripped me open for his perusal. Maybe he has. I must take too long, because he grips the back of my neck and guides me until I’m leaning against them, my head in Meg’s lap. She has to spread her legs to make room for my shoulders, and that could have been an invitation of sorts, but it doesn’t feel like it. I close my eyes. One of them sifts their fingers through my hair, but I can’t work up the energy to open my eyes to know who. Does it even matter?
I don’t understand any of this. The actions, yes. Not the motive behind them. I can’t shake the feeling they chose me on purpose, trapped me on purpose. My father has a long history of fucking people over, and sometimes those people want revenge. Could Hades somehow be one of those people? His name certainly suggests a connection, even if he denies it. In absence of better evidence, all signs point to him targeting me specifically, which means he likely is using me to get to my father.
I almost laugh at the thought, might even do it if I had the energy. Hades might know a lot, might have some complicated plans running, but he obviously doesn’t realize how deep my hatred for my father goes. If he wants to use me against that monster, he’s more than welcome to.
None of that explains Meg, though. She was surprised by the turn of events, which means she has no idea what Hades is planning. The thought of her being inadvertently hurt by this… Yeah, I’ll keep my mouth shut and pay attention until I know for sure. If I think for a second Meg is in danger, then I’ll fight Hades, strange attraction to him or not.
Until then, I wait.
I don’t mean to fall asleep. I have every intention of getting up and making my way…somewhere. Back to my room, I guess. I’m in no shape to sling drinks right now. But the darkness behind my eyes gains new depth and pulls me down despite myself.
My last thought is how absurdly safe I feel right now, with two people who I most definitely shouldn’t trust.
1 Hades is so mean, but also this was the beginning of “the hero trying not to come in his pants is hot, actually” for me.
2 My books are never meant to be instructions for kink or polyamory. Triads are the most complicated relationships to maintain and aren’t generally recommended by the community…but it amuses me greatly that I’m probably being most accurate with the potential complications in this book. MESSY.
MEG
“What game are you playing, Hades?”
He strokes a hand down the back of my thigh, directly over the welts he striped there. A comforting touch and still a reminder of his power. Everything is like that with him, always has been. Layers upon layers. There are days when I’d give my right eye for him to just speak plainly. Just once. I already know his answer won’t satisfy before he says, “A deep one, love.”
I look down at Hercules. His body has gone slack with sleep, the adrenaline drop knocking him out as surely as any drug. If we can’t rouse him enough to get him down to his suite, he’ll end up here on the couch. It won’t be the first time something like this has happened, but my stomach twists at the thought of him waking up and thinking he’s been abandoned. “He’s an innocent.”
“He’s from Olympus. There are no innocents there, not in the circles he moved in.”?1
Finally, a hint at the truth. I should have made the connection the second Hercules picked that as his safe word, but I’d been too busy wallowing in anger and self-pity. I lean back enough so that I can see Hades’s face. “He’s too young to be connected to your exile.”
“Yes.”
No elaboration, and why would there be? Everyone thinks that Hades talks to me, that he divulges secrets to me and me alone. He used to, but that was a long time ago, before he started shutting me out. Now, when I’m actually trying to reach him despite every instinct screaming at me to protect myself, he’s still shutting me out. Frustration blooms in my chest, chasing away the last bit of buzz from the scene we just finished. “I wish you would just talk to me.”
He strokes my jaw. For a moment, the barriers between us disintegrate, and I can see how fucking tired he is. Tired down to his very soul. An exhaustion that could swallow mine. It’s only a moment, though. I blink and then he’s the enigma again, a soft smile playing at his lips. “Trust me, love. You never used to have such reservations when it came to following my lead.”
Hurt lances my chest, a deeper pain than the cane welts. Closed out yet again. A demand for trust that he stopped earning when he stopped talking to me. Did I really think this time would be different, that he would suddenly change his ways? I know better. A thousand times over. My throat burns, and I look away. “I’m very tired. I’d like to go to bed.”
For the briefest of hesitations, I think he may actually change his mind and let me in. But Hades just nods. “There’s a meeting with the liquor distributer at ten tomorrow.”
Just business. Always just business. “I’m aware,” I grind out. Silly to let this hurt me. I slide out from beneath Hercules’s head and it’s only sheer force of will that keeps my knees from buckling when I stand. Hades may own me in every way that counts, but he’s no longer my safe space. I’m not even sure if he ever was, or if those bright years were just a figment of my imagination, an illusion a desperate girl wove around herself and the man she viewed as her savior.
I let the blanket drop and walk on steady legs to my discarded clothing. It’s not uncommon for subs to navigate the club in only a blanket—or naked—but I am not a normal sub. My clothing is my armor, and no matter how dazed I feel right now, I can’t afford to let anyone see. The Underworld is filled to the brim with predators, and it’s their nature to pounce on weakness. Even me. Especially me.
I’m almost to the door when Hades speaks again. “Megaera.”
I stop. “Yes?”
“You pleased me greatly tonight.”
