Page 55 of Learn My Lesson
It takes time to recover enough to regain the use of my legs, but the moment I do, they haul me into the shower and we take turns cleaning one another up. It could be foreplay all its own, but I’m so exhausted, I’m swaying on my feet. The last twelve hours have been a lot. More than a lot.
Back in Hercules’s bedroom, I stare at the messy sheets and shake my head. We’ve ruined them. There is a spare set in the closet, but the thought of putting even that much effort is too much. “Well, fuck.”
A silk robe touches my shoulders and I slip my arms into it and belt it around my waist. I glance at Hades. “Since when are my clothes in Hercules’s room?”
He gives me a look but ignores the question. He’s wearing his slacks and pulls on his shirt. I don’t know why my stomach drops with each button he closes, but I can’t shake the feeling that this was only a magical moment in time. That it can’t last. I push the fear away. I told them I’d trust them, and I will. No matter what.
Hercules has on a pair of lounge pants and nothing else. He stares at the bed. “That won’t work.”
“Come along.” Hades opens the door and walks out.
I sigh. “I hate it when he does this.”
“Do you, though?” Hercules chuckles and heads for the door.
I glare at his back. “Fine. No, I don’t.”
I half expect Hades to walk to my room, but he bypasses my door and heads for the elevator. We take it up to the top floor, and I can’t help watching Hercules’s face as we step out. His eyes go a little wide as he steps out into Hades’s penthouse, and he turns a slow circle. “Wow.”
Wow is right. The rest of the building, Hades’s personal office excepted, is all clean lines and minimalist decorations. Not so with his living space. It’s…not cluttered exactly but filled with evidence of a life well-lived. There’s a shelf filled with knickknacks he’s collected on his various travels and bookshelves filled with more books than one man could possibly read in a single lifetime.
Hades doesn’t stop to let Hercules take it all in. He strides down the short hall to the bedroom. Here, it’s a little darker, a little broodier, a little more expected of someone who runs the Underworld. The windows all have blackout blinds and the giant custom-made bed has deep red sheets that are an obscenely high thread count. The walk-in closet is larger than most people’s apartments, and the bathroom larger yet. Hades likes his luxuries.
Hercules huffs out a laugh. “You do nothing halfway, do you?”
“Why bother?” Hades flips back the comforter. “In bed, both of you. Before you fall asleep where you stand.”
I don’t have to look outside to know that the sun is creeping up from the horizon. We have a few hours before I need to be in my office, and I’m tired enough to need them. I drop my robe and climb into the bed. After the briefest hesitation, Hercules follows me. Hades stands at the foot of the bed and stares at us for a long moment, possession and something like longing lingering in those dark eyes. “Mine.”
I shiver and try to keep the vulnerability out of my voice. “I take it you’re not joining us?”
“Not yet.” His gaze softens. “Sleep, love. You two deserve it. You’ve pleased me greatly.”
There’s no point in arguing. It will waste both my breath and my time. I finally tuck myself against Hercules’s chest and relax into him as he wraps his arms around me. The man is an inferno, chasing away the chill that worked its way beneath my skin on the walk up here. I always sleep well in Hades’s bed, surrounded by his presence even when he’s not in the bed with me. This time, with Hercules holding me, it’s doubly true. I close my eyes and let myself relax against him.
Maybe they’re right and this is the start of something new. Something special. Maybe this really won’t blow up in our faces.
Maybe.
1 Meg is a true switch, but Hercules isn’t. He does a little topping from the bottom sometimes, but he’s submissive right down to his soul.
2 I deeply love the fact that Hades is like “Hercules will fix the problem with me and Meg” and then he promptly falls for the big himbo and they have to convince her to give the whole thing a real shot.
HADES
Something akin to guilt pricks me as I sit in my private office and turn on my computer. Leaving Hercules and Meg in my bed was harder than I anticipated. They fit there, just like I suspected they would. We fit. The knowledge still sits strangely with me. Hercules may give himself freely and without reservation, but that’s not the man I am. I know my Meg cares deeply for him. Despite herself, perhaps, but it’s there all the same.
My feelings are a bit more complicated.
I click to bring up the video that was recorded earlier tonight. The three of us in my public office, Hercules trussed up with the nipple clamps and cock ring, the metal chain glinting with every movement. My cock in his mouth. Meg behind him, fucking his ass. The video is high quality and there’s absolutely no doubt of our identities, just like there’s no doubt that Hercules is a happy, willing participant in his fall from grace.?1
It takes the space of a few moments to cut the video down to size, a thirty-second clip that sends the message I require. I attach it to the email and hesitate. Hercules all but gave permission for this. He wants to cause his father pain, and he’s willing to play whipping boy to ensure it happens. Meg and I have our own reputations, and this video will do nothing to damage them, even if it’s shared widely. And I highly doubt it will be shared. That’s not what this is about. It’s simply to reinforce my message to Zeus.
Your son belongs to me.
He does, albeit in a way I never could have anticipated. Becoming entangled in Hercules, allowing him to attach himself to the one relationship I value above all others… I only meant for it to be temporary. A fix to bind Meg and I together until we could find our footing again. I never expected for him to fit in a way that could work in the long term. I can’t say I’m sorry it’s happened. Because he does fit. He softens our sharp edges and makes us stronger as a unit.
I care about him.
