Page 44 of Hades' Shadow
“And you are now?” I ask, staring pointedly at his arms where his shadows are writhing and pulsing with his anger.
“You make me fucking crazy, you know that?” He jumps to his feet, gripping his hair before leaning over me, anger and something else in his eyes that I don’t dare name.
“You are always crazy,” I whisper, staring into his eyes, showing my hurt and anger toward him.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” he says, moving in even closer. “I see that kiss every time I look at you and it fuels the rage. I want to kill Dax every time I see him trailing after you.”
“I told you that wasn’t my fault, yet you keep punishing me for it.” Raising my brow at him, I reach out to push him out of my space, but the second my hands are on his chest, they grasp the thin material of his shirt and pull him closer.
“What are you doing,” he croaks.
“Showing you what I want because obviously telling you does no good.” I run my hand up the hard muscle of his chest to the back of his neck and pull him forward.
My lips crash against his and he groans, leaning in further until my back is against the headboard and our chests are pressed together.
I wrap my legs around him as his arm snakes around me. His hand on my back has me arching into him even more.
Jayden licks at the seam of my lips and I open for him immediately. Our tongues battle for dominance and my hips buck up into him, feeling his hard cock lined up with me.
Jayden’s eyes widen and suddenly he jumps back and away from me. What the fuck? He turns, running a hand through his hair.
“Why did you do that?” Jayden growls, spinning back to me and glaring at me.
I deflate immediately. What is his problem? He kissed me back. I may have instigated it but he participated. Hurt fills me and tears make my vision blurry, but I refuse to let them fall.
“Fuck you, Jayden.” I jump up from the bed and walk into the bathroom, slamming the door behind me and clicking the lock. I need to get a hold of myself. He’s an asshole, which I already knew.
“Beth,” he calls through the bathroom door, but I ignore him. “I just meant that we don’t have time for this.”
He sounds tortured but I have to remember this is Jayden, and every time we start anything between us, I end up getting hurt. We are toxic together. I need to let it go.
Logically, I know this, but my heart and body do not think logically. I sigh, splash some water on my face, and walk back into the room.
“I’m sorry,” Jayden says softly.
“It’s fine, Jayden. I don’t know why I keep doing this to myself. We are probably better as friends.” I shake my head. There has never been a time we were actually friends.
“What?” He takes a step forward. “What are you talking about, being just friends?”
“I get hurt every time we get close. I think it’s better that we just don’t.” I sit on the bed and grab my pillow, not realizing it’s the one that smells like Jayden until it’s too late and I’m breathing in his scent again.
“I’m the one who got hurt last time,” he yells.
“See, we keep hurting each other. I’m right. We’re toxic together.” I cover my face with the pillow and scream into it.
He went from wanting nothing to do with me to fighting for something we never really had. He’s exhausting.
“Fine, Beth,” he says, his voice soft and hollow.
I don’t remove the pillow from my face and the door clicks shut. I sit up quickly but don’t know why I expect him to be there. My gut clenches with sadness. I can’t figure out why when he just gave me what I asked for. I told him I didn’t think we were a good idea, but I didn’t tell him to leave.
Sighing, I stand and walk to the closet. I need to pack because we don’t have a lot of time before the underworld literally implodes.
I grab my duffel bag and open it up on the bench. I grab clothes for chilly weather, remembering how cold it was in the throne room. Such a contradiction to what I would think the underworld would be.
I grab the book, indecision warring within me on whether I should take it or not. Should I take something to the underworld that could give Hades exactly what he always wanted? Probably not, but what if someone breaks into my room while we are gone and finds it?
Decision made, I gently put the book in my bag and head out the door to go see Cross. I’m not entirely sure that I won’t need to borrow it again, but I feel safer leaving it with Cross than I do having it in my room while I’m gone.
