Page 22 of Learn My Lesson
“Don’t we all?” I take a step back, make sure she’s steady on her feet, and then sink into the chair. “Very well, pet. Come get your reward.” I spread my legs.
She shoots a look at Hades and Hercules, and against my better judgment, I do the same. The sight of them steals my breath and muddies my thoughts. Hercules is languid in the way only a recent orgasm can bring—and the evidence of it is right there on his chest. He’s slumped between Hades’s legs, his head on his thigh. For his part, Hades appears completely relaxed…until I meet his dark eyes. They’re all predator as he takes me in. My scene with Aurora might end once she’s received her reward, but the scene with Hades isn’t over. Not by a long shot. This was just warm up.
They haven’t forgotten me after all.?2
Aurora runs her hands up my thighs and smiles in a happy way that warms my heart. My life would be so much easier if I had fallen for someone like her instead of someone like Hades. She is light and springtime and sweetness. She might even make me a better person just by virtue of loving me.
Or at least that’s the fairy tale.
I sink my fingers into her pink hair. “You’re teasing.”
“Sorry.” But she doesn’t look the least bit sorry. That’s okay. I’m not either. Aurora presses a prim little kiss to my pussy, and then she goes after me with abandon. She gives herself completely, unabashedly.
I wish I could enjoy this for what it is. If it were just us in the room, I would. Aurora and I have played plenty of times before without Hades present, and I’ve never had a problem focusing everything on her. But now? I should feel powerful in this moment. I’ve made my submissive feel good. She’s driving me closer and closer to orgasm. I should be walking on top of the world.
Instead, I look at Hades and Hercules, and I feel my reality fracturing in a way that has nothing to do with pleasure and everything to do with unwelcome pain. Change always hurts. Always. Hades might think he has control of this situation, but I don’t. I’m out of control and spinning out.
Hercules shifts, drawing my attention fully. He’s hard again. I might laugh if there were more air in the room. His attention seems to be everywhere at once—the curve of Aurora’s back, her mass of pink waves as she licks my pussy, my flushed body bared on the couch. He finally meets my gaze. Those blue eyes are wide and hot, and he looks like he’s been led into hell and only now realized that there’s no going back.
Welcome. Plenty of suffering to go around.
Aurora sucks my clit hard, setting her teeth against the sensitive bundle of nerves. My orgasm surges, and I don’t know where to look, Hades or Hercules, Hercules or Hades. In the end, I close my eyes and shut them both out, letting Aurora tease me through the waves. My body finally gives way, and I slump down on the couch. “Well done, pet.”
She makes a happy sound and climbs up to cuddle against my side. This is as important as the rest, the opportunity to bring us both down. I stroke her hair idly, letting her warmth sink into me. I don’t want to open my eyes yet. I truly don’t. The second I do, the next stage begins, and I don’t know if I’m ready for it. I don’t know if I can survive whatever Hades has planned—tonight or in the future.
There once was a time when I didn’t even question it, when I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was first in Hades’s world—first before the Underworld, before all who patronized the place, first even before his ambition. I would walk into a room, and it didn’t matter what he was doing, he would level that intense focus on me and smile. We’d talk for hours, and fuck, and talk again. He built up the trust that had been fractured with Declan, the asshole who convinced me to bargain myself away.
Some people looked at us and assumed that Hades built me into the woman I am. It’s not the truth. He simply gave me the platform and freedom to figure out who I was meant to be. To explore the dominant nature I’d dimmed for past partners, for the world itself. To lose myself in the freedom of submission.
We plotted and planned and together. We boosted the Underworld into the hub of power in the center of Carver City that it is today. No one fucked with us, and that was partly because of my role, my plans, my help.
Until it all changed—not all at once. I didn’t even notice at first. Our conversations shortened and eventually stopped almost completely. Hades started shutting me out, and I didn’t know what to do but shut him out in return. I know this man better than any other person in this world, but right now he feels like a stranger to me.
“Meg.”
I obey the command and look at him. So cold, those dark eyes behind his black frames. As cold as they were when I first came to the Underworld, before he let me in. It takes everything I have not to tense. “Yes, Sir?”
“It’s time.” His expression thaws as he looks at Aurora. “You did well.”
I can actually feel her blooming under his regard. I don’t blame her for it. Impossible not to feel like the sun has turned in your direction when his smile is warm and genuine. She sits up a little. “Thank you, Hades.”
“Would you like to watch what comes next?”
Aurora nods quickly. “Yes, please!”
“Meg.” A snap of command in his voice in response to my reluctance. I bite down a sigh and slide out from my spot. I round to the cedar chest on the other side of the chair and pull out a blanket. I take my time wrapping it around Aurora, partly to spite Hades, partly because I don’t want her to feel anything but warm and fuzzy about our scene.
I press a kiss to her forehead. “You good?”
She cuddles the blanket more firmly around her shoulders and beams at me. “I’m good.”
I take a deep breath and turn to face Hades. I don’t allow myself to look at Hercules, though I can feel his eyes on me. Hades raises an eyebrow, and I sink to my knees, my body obeying before my mind has a chance to catch up. I press my palms to my thighs and spread my legs the way he likes, keeping my gaze down.
He shifts out from behind Hercules and stands. Anyone else would struggle to their feet after sitting like that so long, but Hades is perpetually graceful. One of the many things that used to fill me with awe but now is simply part of Hades. He circles me slowly, building anticipation. Building the smallest bit of fear. I know he’ll never harm me, not on purpose, and I have absolutely no doubts that he’ll respect my safe word. Hades might bend and manipulate and make deals with the worst people in existence, but he won’t cross this line. Not with me. Not with anyone.
He finally stops in front of me. “I think the cane.”
Even though I know better, shock has me raising my gaze. “What?”
