by AJ Merlin
Length: Lifetime.
Hades’ icon was under the words; a small, round photo of him with his head propped on a black pillow, smirking at the camera with his playful green eyes bright.
My jaw fell open in shock.
“Your birthday is April fourth,” Noah called back. “Don’t test me.”
“Did you send me this?” I pitched my voice, listening to him clean up whatever he’d dropped.
“Did I send you what?”
“A premium subscription to Hades’ Prowl account.”
The sound from his room stopped. A second later his footsteps thundered down the hallway and my roommate fell onto the bed beside me, eyes on the screen of my phone. “What the hell?” He plucked my phone from me, reading over the messages. “How did you get this? Did you just empty your whole bank account on a lifetime membership?”
“No.” I watched his cat, Miss Murple, swagger into the room with all the dignity befitting one of her great bulk. The long-haired white cat hopped up onto the bed, purring, and rubbed her face against my cheek, paws on my shoulder.
I scratched her absently, eyes on my phone.
“You just got it?”
“Maybe it’s a sign-on bonus? Some places pay you, but Prowl gives you free content?” My words tumbled out of their mouth of their own accord, barely passing through my awed brain.
“I didn’t get a sign-on bonus,” Noah informed me, hand going to his chest as if I’d wounded him.
“Clearly they just like me.” I plucked my phone from his grip, leaning over so Miss Murple could transport her impressive mass to his chest.
I navigated to Hades’ page and sure enough, all of his content was unlocked for me.
All of it.
Not just the teasing, slightly short videos. Oh no. When I clicked the first one marked premium, it showed Hades in a different bedroom than I was used to, his button up hanging loose around his shoulders and his fly undone.
“Hey, hey.” Noah pushed my phone away. “We don’t have time for you to binge his content. We’re leaving.”
“We are?” I very reluctantly locked my phone, my stomach unclenching from its anticipatory nerves. As I did so, I made a pointed face at Noah so he’d know just how I felt about closing my phone on the app.
I couldn’t help but remember my encounter with Hades this morning. I couldn’t avoid remembering his scent, and the way he’d looked at me.
The way he’d smelled like sex under his natural scent, all rounded out by that iron-tinge of alpha was enough to end me, I was sure.
Noah pulled away from me with an effort, rubbing at his nose. “Yeah, okay. I love you and all, but you’re really, uh, coming on strong with your scent.”
“What?” I blinked up at him, embarrassment tinging my features red. “Shit, Noah, I’m sorry.” I tried to calm my body, taking deep breaths and trying to be as calm as still water.
I knew it was working when Noah’s own clean, neutral scent found my nose. As a rule, Beta’s were like air fresheners. They didn’t have the warm invitation and strength of an omega’s, and certainly not the allure and promise of an alpha’s.
It must’ve been really nice to be a beta and not have people react to you without thinking, just based on your biology.
Sighing, I got to my feet. “You’re ready?” I asked, surveying his snug-fitting, long-sleeved v-neck and very flattering jeans. His hair was styled perfectly, pushed back from his face, and his eyes were accented with just the slightest bit of liner.
Honestly, this was a look Noah pulled off well. It took away some of that boyishness he usually had, lending him a more solemn and mature air.
“Yeah. You too?”
“Sure. I mean, not that I would know what to wear to a kink dungeon at someone’s house.” We’d only ever gone to the more well-known ones that were housed in respectable places.
Like warehouses in deserted areas of town.
To be fair, the house was in an area of its own in a small cul-de-sac. With a bigger yard more than double the size of the others on the street and eight-foot privacy fences lining the sides, it looked simply like any other two-story house in the nice, newly built neighborhood.
From the outside, anyway.
Noah parked behind another car, taking a breath as I laid my phone down in my lap. “Emma invited me,” he explained for the third time. I was surprised he was so nervous, though I silently wondered how much it had to do with Emma expressing some interest in him last time we’d gone out.
“I know. And it’ll be fine. It’s new for us to go somewhere like this. It’ll be fun,” I pressed, trying to convince myself as much as him.
Neither of us had come to get dirty, though I wished Noah all the luck in the world in finding a pretty lady to dominate him tonight.
After mostly amazing experiences, there were few reasons for Noah to worry about not meeting someone he liked in a place like this. Sure, it was normally just a one or two time thing for him, but he preferred that in his BDSM partners.
I, on the other hand, had a year-old rule about playing with strange alphas in the dungeon.
It had taken a total of one time, during which the monitors had to be called, I’d sustained a broken arm, and the alpha in question had been carted off with a broken nose, for me to decide that I needed better boundaries.
So, it was simply safer to come here for the social opportunities, see friends that we didn’t get to talk to much, and simply mingle.
Not go panting after alphas who may-or-may-not have a penchant for satiating my praise kink.
Noah’s car door closed, but I sat for a second longer, my chest tightening ever so slightly.
I was nervous, but I wasn’t completely sure why. Was it because we’d never been here? Because I might have to go through the song and dance of making sure any alpha here knew I was unavailable under any circumstance?
Probably that.
Before my best friend could get suspicious, I kicked open my own door and stood, smoothing down my long-sleeved dress and fixing the oversized hood so it fell over my shoulders.
“I hear the lady who owns the house makes really good sweet tea,” Noah remarked as we walked from the sidewalk to the dark gate that sat next to the equally dark house. A streetlight showed us the path to the gate more easily, and lent the ground around us an orange-toned hue.
“Oh yeah?” I raised a brow. “Lemon or no lemon?”
“I don’t know why I’d ever know that.”
“The same way you knew that Mistress Opal’s brownies were full of pistachios before we met her?”
The gate opened when we neared, creaking only slightly on its hinges.
On the inside sidewalk, a plastic table had been placed by the wall of the house, and a woman sat at it.
“IDs?” she asked before we could do much more than walk up to her.
Both of us handed them over, watching her examine them without the need of any artificial light. “You’ve never been here before,” she guessed, looking between our faces with only the slightest amount of interest.
“Emma invited us. Well, me. But she’s my plus one.” Noah smiled at her brilliantly and I affixed a polite grin on my own face.
She looked between us with something close to pity for our obvious discomfort.
“Rules are simple,” the lady said. “I’m Sadie, and this is my house. If I say leave, you leave. No means no, whether it’s just talking or a scene. If you’re going to make a mess, put a towel down first. No screaming in the yard. I have neighbors.” She crossed her arms over her chest, drawing my eyes to the intricate tattoos on her dark skin.
“I love your tattoos,” I said without thinking, before she could continue.
She blinked at me, bemused, while my heart beat in my throat in reprisal for my unthinking outburst during her spiel.
“What’s your name?” she inquired.
“Alek.”
Her eyes went over me once, and I had to remind my treacherous body that
wanted me to bare my throat and see if she liked it to stop that immediately.
No alphas from dungeons, Alek, I chastised myself. We’ve been over this.
“Adorable.” She gave me a once over again. “As I was saying. You make a mess, you clean it up. You’re responsible for your partners. If you leave them before they’re all right, you will not be welcome back here. If you violate anyone’s safe word or boundaries, you will not like the consequences.” She smiled, showing off sharp canines. “Do you both agree?”
We nodded fervently.
“Then you’re free to stay. There’s tea in the kitchen, and the bathroom is just down the hall behind it.” Her smile became friendly, and she lifted a hand in a brief wave as we left.
“I like her,” Noah said, once we were out of earshot. “Did you see her fangs?”
“I can’t believe she has them in her human shape,” I admitted. “Do you think she had them filed?”
“I think she can bite me so I can find out.”
“Wow.” We walked across the yard, stepping around a group of people that spoke quietly and who were all dressed in leather.
“Oh look. Tash is here.” My best friend elbowed me lightly, drawing my attention to an outdoor seating area facing one of the tall walls.
A movie was being projected onto it, lending the yard much of its light. The sofas had been set up in front of it, mirroring each other over a stone table that held a small, flickering fire. On the side closest to us was another outdoor sofa, this one longer than the other two.
Okay, so movie had been a polite term. What played on the fence was porn, and currently a shifter with his fangs out and eyes glowing was pinning another man to a wall, both of them naked. Their mouths were open, lips moving in words I couldn’t hear but could most likely guess at while the half-shifted man held the other against the wall, rocking into him hard. I watched them impassively, filing through the reasons that I would not be finding that kind of new friend tonight.
Glancing down, I found that our friends had seen us. Tash, a longtime friend, waved me over, a smile lighting her features when she caught my eyes.
We went, sitting down on opposite sofas. Me with Tash and another omega, Brody, while Noah sat with one of his dude friends and Emma, the woman who’d invited Noah and me tonight.
Well, mostly she’d invited Noah. They were much more acquainted than I was, in the most intimate sense of the word.
“Did you see?” Tash leaned forward, her familiar, floral scent enveloping me. She gestured towards her neck, chin tipped upward so I could see what she wore.
“I remember you telling me about this,” I said, smiling and leaning closer so I could more easily examine the collar that her partner had given her. “I’m so excited for you guys.” I flashed a smile to her partner, Jess, who lifted her cup in a mock toast. “Seriously, congratulations. And this is the cutest collar I’ve ever seen.” In true Tash fashion, the collar was just as pink as her hair.
“When are you gonna have one, huh?” she teased with a mischievous glint in her eye. “I know how much you like trying on mine.”
I laughed, sitting back with my legs curled up under me. “I don’t think that’s in the cards for me,” I told her, reflecting uncomfortably on the events from this afternoon.
What would I do with an alpha? I’d laughed in response to their mocking. Coddle it? Tell it that it’s very pretty?
I’d said that, yeah, and it wasn’t the first time I’d said something like it, but…
I let out a breath through my nose, still smiling as the pink-haired omega talked more about her collar.
There were a lot of things I could do with an alpha. A lot of things my body and kinky mind wanted to do with an alpha.
Or rather, what I wanted an alpha to do to me.
I schooled my scent again, before Noah got another dose of unwanted, misplaced lust.
“Have you guys been inside?” I asked curiously, getting to my feet during a lull in their conversation. While I was somewhat more vocal around this group of friends than most people, they were still used to having a conversation around me, to compensate for all the times I just didn’t feel like talking.
“About an hour ago, when we first got here,” Brody admitted.
“I might go look. Or at least go to the kitchen, since I’ve heard good things about some sweet tea.”
“You want some company?” Tash was already half way to her feet, but I shook my head and shooed her back down.
“No, don’t get up, It’s fine! I just want to look around for a minute. I’m nosy,” I teased, glancing towards Noah when he laughed too-loudly at something Emma had said.
At my movement he looked my way, eyebrows lifting, and I grinned. “Just going to look around.”
“Report back if you find anything interesting?” He wiggled his brows suggestively.
“Sure. Sure.”
With a last look at the movie, which now had both men on screen a little bit shifted and looking very feral, I stepped around the sofa to survey the yard from a new angle.
More people had arrived, and the quiet flow of conversation filled the air pleasantly. Other little sitting areas were set up around the ample-sized yard, and a sliding glass door was open and led into a well lit room. I made my way towards that, stepping up on the stone patio and through the open door.
The smell of freshly baked brownies washed over me, along with the sight of sugary snacks and an assortment of drinks. It wasn’t just for politeness or shifters with the munchies, I knew. A lot of people liked something sugary to eat or drink after a scene, so this was pretty standard.
I snagged a cookie off the table, walking through the marble countered kitchen and its shiny, new appliances.
Apparently Sadie was very successful, if she could afford a place like this.
Music drifted from speakers high on the walls, getting louder when I approached the hallway.
A long hallway led off the kitchen, and I didn’t bother with the doors that were closed. Not when I could hear the sounds of people behind them who were obviously in the middle of things.
Instead I kept walking, taking a bite of my cookie until finally I came to an open archway that led from the hallway into another room. In here, the music from the hallway seemed to vibrate in my very bones, and I could only barely hear the hum of conversation over it, though there was no way I could make out what anyone was saying unless I was right beside them.
What once might have been a great room had been turned into a classy dungeon. X-shaped stands sat against the walls, one of them occupied by a very petite girl, and various bits of play-furniture were sprinkled throughout the room.
Couches, too, had been placed artfully against walls. My eyes slid over couples or groups that occupied them while watching the different things going on in the middle of the room and occupying themselves in other ways.
At last, my eyes fell on the area directly across from me. It was obscured enough that I had to step to the side to see past the bondage furniture, and when I did, I was greeted with the sight of a throne.
Really, there was no other word for it.
Made of dark, reddish wood that arched in a high, decoratively carved back, the chair was upholstered with dark red, plush fabric. It gleamed in the dim light, and a matching stool sat askew beside it.
Belatedly, I noticed the man on the throne.
Hades.
With him there, dressed in leather pants that looked glued to his legs and a white t-shirt that was thin enough to be nearly see-through, he looked every inch a debauched king. All he needed was a crown in his curling black hair.
Absently my eyes trailed up, from where his hands rested on the arms of the throne like he’d never been more comfortable anywhere else, and how his chin held a tilt of arrogance. His full mouth was slightly parted in a smile, olive skin of his lower face obscured by the beginnings of a beard.
And his eyes–
My stomach jolted, and my breath stu
ttered in my throat.
His green gaze was fixed directly on mine.
As if he’d just been waiting for me to make eye contact.
When I did, his mouth curled ever so slightly, falling quickly enough that I might have been imagining it.
Had that been satisfaction? It had looked like it. A deep, primal satisfaction that he had my entire attention fixed just on him.
Without a doubt, Hades Ahlleron certainly didn’t look upset that I’d just spent the last thirty seconds appreciating every inch of him that I could see.
Chapter Five
Damn it, Alek, I mentally chastised myself, unable to look away from his face. Why was I like this? Couldn’t I have checked to see if he was looking at me before I ran my eyes up his body like I wanted to do with my tongue?
Oh–and that wasn’t a very helpful thought. Not with him right there and me right here. Sure, it’d be a few steps and a lunge across the room, but if I thought about it, I was barely that far from him at all.
His mouth twitched into a smirk, as if he could read my thoughts. That was a terrifying thought. If he could, I had no doubt he’d be concerned.
After all, I was just some random omega that subscribed to his content, like about a million other omegas on the planet, who now couldn’t tear her eyes away from him after she’d been caught.
Inhaling, I nearly choked on oxygen. How in the world could I scent him all the way over here?! There was no mistaking it. I’d never smelled such a heady combination of spice and sharpness before this morning.
Before I could think to look away or run away or something sensible, one of his companions tapped her hand against his shoulder. He smiled, flicking his eyes up to hers for a moment before finding mine again and said something that I didn’t stand a chance of hearing.
That was fine. Maybe if she distracted him, I could just creep away and lick my wounded pride.
I wasn’t prepared for the woman in lacy lingerie to drape herself across his lap, giggling at whatever he’d said and hooking her arm over his.
She barely looked at him, only kicked her leg out to get the attention of someone else the two of them were with. She certainly didn’t look to see if Hades was paying attention to her.
