Page 41 of Desperate Measures
I almost laugh out loud at the idiocy of the thought. Yasmina might like the way she comes on my cock, but if all things were in balance, she’d walk away and never look back. She has her sights set on a world outside the one we move in, and I’d be a monster to hold her to the shadows when she was obviously meant to walk in the sunshine.
I am a monster.
I shrug out of my jacket and wrap it around her. It’s not that cold outside, but I like the sight of her in my clothes. A statement, yes, but for once, I don’t give a fuck who might see. It settles something in my chest. “I have one thing to take care of, and then we’re leaving.”
Her gaze sharpens. “You want to talk to Hades.”?3
No point in lying to her. It doesn’t even occur to me to try. “Ali shouldn’t have been able to get past the security.” I need to know if he’s that good or if Hades has his own reasons for letting the man in, and I need to know it soon. Yasmina’s safety hangs in the balance.
She meets my gaze. “I’d like to come with you.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to deny her. Ali got into the room, so I’m hardly going to leave her here, but I know for a fact that Meg and the other two women in Hades’s inner circle wind down in the early mornings in the lounge. I don’t trust anyone, but Hades and his people care about reputation above all else. Even if he’s playing two sides against the middle, he won’t hand over someone under his protection.
He’ll just pretend not to know anything about it after Ali snatches her.
Yasmina touches my arm. “I’ll remember the rules.”
Eyes down. Silent.
It should please me. She’s taken to submission so godsdamned naturally. But I can barely breathe past the jagged feeling in my throat. “No.” The word seems to surprise her as much as it surprises me. I take her hand and place it in the crook of my arm. “No, this concerns you as much as it concerns me. More.”?4
“Jafar.” She finally looks up at me. Even with her expression intentionally smoothed out, there are marks of weariness around her eyes and the faintest tremble where her fingers touch my arm. Ali was in the room with her, close enough to do or say something that left her physically sick. I can’t think about that too hard or I’m going to lose my shit.
I want to bundle her up, to do something to make her feel safe, to put her feet back on solid ground. It’s not in my skill set. I destroy things. I don’t protect them.
I clear my throat. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here.”
She frowns at me as if she’s never seen me before. “If he came through that door while you were in bed with me, he could have killed you.”
As much as I wish I could say otherwise, when she and I are fucking, I’m so wrapped up in her, an elephant could stampede through the room and I’d be none the wiser.
She shakes her head sharply. “It doesn’t matter. I’m fine.”
It does matter. She’s mine to conquer, yes, but more importantly, she’s mine to protect. “He won’t get to you again.”
For a second, I think she might fight me just for the sake of fighting. I can’t blame her for the urge. A cornered animal will swipe out at friend and foe alike. I’m still not sure which I am for this woman. Both. Neither. I want to burn this new fucking uncertainty inside me to ash and let it blow away in the wind. It won’t happen as long as I’m touching her, and leaving her alone in this moment isn’t an option. She needs me. She might cut out her own tongue before she admits it, but it’s the damn truth.
“Ready?”
She nods slowly. “I wish you hadn’t torn my dress. It feels like visiting a king in my underwear.”
“Baby girl, you are essentially in your underwear.” I lean down and murmur in her ear. “And you loved it when I ripped your clothes off. I had you wet and begging for my cock before I had even touched your pussy.”
She shivers. “I like what I like.” As simple as that.
Fuck, but if ever there was a woman who could send me to my knees, it’s this one. “I’m going to spend a fortune in clothes on you.” I chuckle. The sound feels strange in my throat. The impulse to laugh only seems to come to life around her. “It’s worth it.”
“I know,” she says primly, once again the little queen. It makes me want to fuck that control right out of her. Again.
Not now. Not while there are enemies circling and I have no idea how deep the rot goes. “Let’s go.”
I don’t usually stay overnight in the Underworld if I can help it, but I have these hallways memorized. A plan is only as good as its exit strategy. I’ve trusted Hades up to this point to follow his own rules. Ali gaining access to the club isn’t a direct violation of that, but his coming into an occupied room without an invitation, touching my baby girl without invitation…
I’ll fucking kill him.
Unsurprisingly, it’s Meg who meets us at the small elevator that leads up to Hades’s office from this floor. She looks just as fresh this morning as she did last night, though she’s changed clothes and hairstyles somewhere along the way. Now, she’s in a pair of slacks and a button-down shirt that’s barely buttoned, leaving a large swathe of skin exposed from her neck to her stomach. She smiles at us, though there’s a coldness in her blue eyes that she usually masks. “You’re headed in the wrong direction for the exit.”
“We need to speak with Hades. Please.” I could demand to see him, throw my weight around, but it’ll only result in him pulling a power play just to prove he can. Dealing with Hades is a constant dance of dominance and power, and I only come out on top about half the time.
