by Katee Robert
What he’s saying, what they’re both saying… Surely it can’t be that simple? I’ve seen poly relationships in the Underworld. Hell, I am poly for all intents and purposes, but we’ve never tried it as a relationship. It’s always just been fucking, with Hades and I circling each other, the only constant. “What about your revenge?”
“It will take shape regardless of what happens with us here now.”
The words are right, but something is off in his tone. Maybe he distrusts this perfect solution as much as I do. I run my hands over Hercules’s arms where he holds me. “This can’t be the life you wanted. To chain yourself to us.”
“Why don’t you let me worry about what I want?” Hercules gives me a squeeze. “What I want is you. Both of you.”
“You hate us.” Why can’t I let this go and just accept it? It’s easier to let lust and love have their way than to pick apart their solution, but I can’t seem to stop. “You’re furious at us for lying to you, for trapping you.”
“Yeah, I was.” He chuckles against my hair. “Maybe I’m still kind of pissed, but you were right before. I have no one to blame but myself.”
He’s too good. Too pure. We’ll tarnish him. It might take a few weeks, months, years, but eventually he’ll lose that shine and start compromising the values that makes Hercules the man he is. He won’t be able to avoid it, not if he wants to survive this world. It hurts me to think about, but telling him to go would hurt too. “This can’t possibly work,” I whisper.
“We won’t know unless we try it for real.” Hercules runs his hands over my body like he’s trying to soothe a startled animal. “We can do this. There will be some bumps along the way, a whole lot of communication, some mistakes, but we can make it work.”
I reach up and tentatively touch Hades’s chin. He’s staring at me like he can read the doubts on my soul. I can’t seem to stop shaking. “This is a trick.”
“No trick.” He covers my hand with his, sealing me to him. “This is… an alternate route.”
An alternate route. As if it is really that simple. “But—”
“Megaera.” He doesn’t raise his voice, but he doesn’t have to for me to know I won’t like what he’s about to say. “I am not Declan. After all this time, you should know that. I won’t treat you as carelessly as he did. Ever.”
Hercules tenses. “Who is Declan?”
How dare Hades spill forth my darkest shame like that? His eyes are still tender, but there’s a challenge there now too. He’s willing to compromise his vengeance, to offer a part of himself up on the altar that could be this new relationship. Am I willing to do the same? I close my eyes and let the soft sound of their breathing soothe me. I’m scared. I’m so scared. “Declan is the man who convinced me to bargain myself away to further his own goals. He wanted something only Hades could provide and so he convinced me to make a deal on his behalf. My freedom for his ambition.”
Hercules’s shocked inhale is too pure. “You took that deal?”
“I had my reasons.”
I open my eyes, I can’t help it. Hades is looking at me just like he did that first day, all warmth and danger and a sweet possession that calls to every part of me. I lick my lips. “Do you remember the first thing you said to me upon sealing that bargain?”
He strokes the back of my hand. “That you are destined to be a queen, not some man’s pawn.”
Hercules is still tense behind me. “You let her sell herself for some piece of shit. What the hell, Hades?”
He lifts his gaze to the man behind me. “I’d think you would know by now that I’m not a good man, little Hercules. I wanted Meg from the first moment I saw her, and when she offered herself to me, I took her.”
Hercules huffs out a breath. “Yeah, I get that. That’s not my fucking problem, Hades. You let him profit off her sacrifice.”
“Ah. That.” Hades presses a kiss to my knuckles and releases me. “Would you like to tell him, love, or should I?”
It’s been a long, long time since I thought about Declan or the beginning of my relationship with Hades. He didn’t fuck me that first year I was under contract with him. He simply trained me in everything from BDSM to the politics of Carver City. There were nights where we’d talk for hours after a scene, and I felt like I’d found another part of my soul I didn’t know I was missing.
It strikes me that I have that same sensation with Hercules, too, albeit in a very different way.
My chest goes warm and tight. “Declan was running a small territory just south of Jasmine’s father’s.” A vicious part of me rises to the fore at the memory and I smile. “About a year after we made our bargain, Hades dismantled his support system in the space of a week. And when he came crawling into the Underworld to beg for help, Hades exiled him from the city entirely.”
“You can do that?”
Hades shrugs. “If I start running major players out of town, they’ll all turn on me. Neutral territory is my strength, and so I don’t directly meddle with power squabbles in the various territories.” His eyes go lethal. “However, it was a special circumstance, and everyone recognized it as such.”
The others saw it as a courting gift, a way of balancing the scales. It helped that I was already developing a reputation in the Underworld and most of them liked me. Nine years later, and they still gravitate to me, but there’s a healthy dose of fear mixed in. I’m one small step down from Hades in their eyes, and they treat me with every respect and courtesy.
Hercules is quiet for a long moment, obviously processing. “It doesn’t seem like enough.”
I jerk away and sit up. “What?” Did he seriously just say that?
Hades isn’t looking at me now. He’s got a strange expression on his face, as if Hercules has done something delightful. “He hasn’t been seen in nearly a decade, little Hercules.”
I freeze. “Hades, you didn’t.”
Now he turns that look in my direction. “The terms were clear, love. If he attempted to come back to Carver City, I would ensure it never happened again.”
I remember that, of course. But no one crosses Hades. Surely Declan wasn’t stupid enough to try. I open my mouth to ask, but reconsider. Does it really matter? Hades’s hands aren’t clean. They haven’t been for the entirety of the time I’ve known him. They won’t be in the future either. Will knowing that he killed my ex make a difference?
Yes. Yes, it would.
“Did he come back?”
He doesn’t blink. “Yes.”
I can’t breathe. “When?”
“A week after he left. He attempted to slide back into his old role.” His eyes give me nothing. “He couldn’t get to me, so he blamed you for the broken bargain. I ensured he ceased to be a threat.”
That sounds like Declan. Even after all these years, I remember his rage. When we were first together, I was naive enough to think it was sexy. A man with emotions. I didn’t realize how toxic he was until it was far too late and I’d signed my life away. Declan never loved me. He loved that I loved him and he found me useful. Having me be the reason Hades turned on him must have driven him mad. Funny that I never stopped to consider it until now. I was too busy forcefully shucking off my innocence, shedding it like a skin that no longer fit. Declan was like all the other things in my past—something I wanted to leave behind and never think of again.
“You killed him.” Hercules still has that strange expression on his face, as if he can’t decide whether he’s horrified or not.
“I’ll do anything to protect those I love, little Hercules.” Hades doesn’t look away from my face. “Anything.”
“I get it,” Hercules says slowly. Now he’s looking at me, too, his expression contemplative. “Some people are worth protecting, no matter the cost.”
If I were a different person, I’d be running screaming from the room right now. Hades is a dangerous man and I knew that from the moment I met him. This information about Declan might be new, but it’s not surprising. For the firs
t time, I’m realizing that Hercules is just as dangerous in a different way. He won’t play out a revenge scheme over the space of years, a spider in his web waiting for the unwary fly to come to him. No, Hercules will charge forth to do what he thinks is necessary with no thought to himself. He wouldn’t have waited for Declan to break the rules. He would have chased the man down and ensured he never got a chance to try.
I shouldn’t find that so sexy, either of these scenarios, but I’ve long since given up the concept of should.
Still, I can’t quite believe this is real. I take each of their hands and look down at them. “You mean it when you say you want this with us. Truly?”
“Yes.” Hercules doesn’t hesitate.
Hades lets me see him, lets me see exactly what he’s thinking for the first time in a long time. He planned this, yes, but he has his own reservations despite wanting this just as much as I’m afraid to. “Yes,” he says. He drags his thumb over my palm. “The question remains—do you?”
I laugh. I can’t help it. “It’s going to blow up in our faces.”
“No, it won’t.” Hercules sits up, and I’d have to be dead not to appreciate the way the muscles in his stomach flex when he does. “Come on, Meg. Let’s give it a shot.”
There’s really only one answer. There’s been only one answer from the moment I sat in that restaurant and Hades told me he wanted me to fuck a waiter. I look at Hercules and then Hades. Are they holding their breath the same way I am? I can’t be sure. I finally nod. “Yes. Let’s do this.”
Chapter 23
Hercules
I kiss Meg. It seems only right after her agreement. She barely lets me sink into the taste of her when she pushes me back to the bed. “Hades?”
“Mmmm?”
She lightly rakes her nails down my chest, but her attention is on him where he reclines next to us. “Thank you for my gift.”
“Anything for you, love.” He gives Meg’s hair a tiny tug and she leans in to accept his mouth.
Every single time they’re together, touching, kissing, coming, I can barely breathe past the perfection of it. This time is no different. When Hades finally leans back and glances at me, his satisfaction rolls off him in a wave. “Voyeur.”
Meg twists to look at me. She takes in my body, my obvious desire, in a single sweep. “Oh, Hercules, we’re going to have such fun with you.” For once, she doesn’t seem tormented or angry. She’s grinning at me like I’ve gifted her the perfect present. Like I am the perfect present. Which I suppose is exactly what I am.
She kisses my jaw, neatly avoiding my mouth even as I turn to take hers, and moves down my body with an intention that has my cock going so hard I get a little light-headed. Hades takes my mouth even as Meg sucks my cock down, fighting against my length to seal her lips to the base of me. I groan and Hades swallows the sound, kissing me deeper. Claiming me. They overwhelm me, sensation bleeding into one another until there’s no room for anything but the way she drags her tongue up the underside of my cock like she’s licking her favorite ice cream or the way he grips my throat and urges my jaw to a different angle to allow him better access.
Theirs. I am theirs.
And they are mine.
I find Meg’s hair with one hand. I don’t guide her. I’m simply hanging on for dear life. I run my other hand down Hades’s chest to grip his cock. He chuckles against my mouth. The sound vibrates through me. He lifts his head. “Slow.” For a second, I think he’s talking to me, until he reaches down and drags Meg off my cock. She makes a protesting sound, but Hades is having none of it. He pushes her down onto the bed next to me and uses a hold on my throat to guide me to her mouth.
Kissing Hades feels like being thrown into a hurricane. Wild and free and a little terrifying. With Meg, it’s sinking into a pool of cool water. I want to stay here forever, to take every bit of her, to kiss her until it doesn’t matter where she ends or I begin because we are one. I tangle my fingers in her hair and give myself over to this. I’m only vaguely aware of Hades moving down her body, but when she moans, I can’t help but look.
Hades is always so controlled and restrained. It’s sexy as fuck. I won’t even lie and pretend it’s not. But he doesn’t look controlled or restrained right now. He holds Meg in place with a hand spread across her lower stomach and he’s going after her pussy like he’ll never get another chance to taste her again. Like he craves her coming on his face the same way he craves his next breath. He’s fucking lost for her.
In that moment, I know the truth. I’ve fallen for him. I’ve fucking fallen for both of them. No matter how little sense it makes. It’s the truth and not one I’m willing to fight.
I palm Meg’s breasts and nip her bottom lip. “Come all over his face.”
“Dirty boy.” She starts to reach for Hades, but I grab her wrists on instinct and guide them over her head. The scene makes me dizzy with desire. Both my hands and Hades’s holding her down. Keeping her in place until he’s done with her. Until we both are. I glance down to find Hades watching me.
He drags the flat of his tongue over her clit. “You know what to do.”
I guess I do. I climb up onto my knees, letting my weight press Meg’s wrists more firmly against the mattress. She moans and shoves against me, but not like she wants to get away. More like she enjoys knowing she can’t. I shift to grip both her wrists in one hand and use my other to stroke my cock. “Do you want a taste?”
She blinks hazy blue eyes at me. “Should have known you pick up some of Hades’s bossiness just by proximity.”
“He asked you a question, love.”
She lifts her head to glare down at Hades, but he pushes two fingers into her and it bows her back. “Damn it, yes, I want a taste.”
It takes me a second to find the right angle to allow me to guide my cock into her mouth. In her position, she can’t do more than take what I give her, and I have to fight not to come just from that knowledge alone. Meg sucks me down eagerly, fighting my hold as if I’m not going fast enough for her.
“Harder.” Hades’s sharp command lashes me. “Fuck her mouth, little Hercules. She can take it.” He gives her another long lick that has her moaning around my cock. “You know the drill if you get overwhelmed, love.” He must sense my question, because he elaborates. “She will tap with her foot and I will tell you to stop. Don’t hold back.” Hades gives me a slow grin. “I’m not going to when I fuck your ass later.”
My balls draw up and I curse softly.
I begin fucking Meg’s mouth. I trust her to communicate if it’s too much, and I trust Hades to tell me if she does. I find the right angle that will allow me deep. The way she relaxes to give me full access is so fucking hot, I can barely stand it. I experiment with long strokes and finally find a rhythm that works, fucking her just as Hades told me to. Just like I want to.
I want it to last forever. This control, this pleasure, this moment of pure understanding.
In the end, I am only human. Pleasure and pressure and a tiny bit of pain overwhelm me. I curse. “I’m going to come.”
“Down her throat.”
Hades’s words drive me on, pumping into her mouth as my balls draw up and I orgasm. She drinks me down without hesitation and gives me another few pulls as if she can’t get enough. That makes two of us. Three of us. I finally withdraw, but I don’t release her. Not yet. Instead, I twist to watch Hades finish her. He must have been teasing her this whole time, bringing her to the edge without letting her cross the threshold. He stops teasing now. He goes after her with the kind of intention that would be terrifying in a different situation. With Meg’s pleasure his focus, it’s sexy as hell. In an enemy searching for weakness? Less so.
He’s not my enemy. Not anymore.
Right?
Meg comes with a cry and a shudder that nearly dislodges my grip on her wrists. She’s beautiful all the time, but when she orgasms, it’s like the walls falling away. She’s unguarded for a few precious seconds. I love those mom
ents. I’m learning to crave them.
Hades moves up her body and kisses her. He cups her pussy possessively, but it seems the contact is meant more as grounding than to send her flying to new heights. I reach out a tentative hand and run my fingers down his back as he brushes soft kisses against Meg’s lips. It still feels surreal that I’m allowed to touch him just because I want to. And, fuck, do I want to.
He finally lifts his head enough to say. “You’re mine, love. And I’m yours.” He turns those dark eyes my way and Meg follows the movement. “And little Hercules is ours.”
“Not so little,” she murmurs with the beginnings of a wicked smile.
Hades chuckles. “Not so little,” he agrees.
My cock’s already stirring. When I’m with these two, I feel like a man possessed, and yet I’m more present in my skin than I’ve been at any other time in my life. My world narrows down to touch and taste and scent. I only worry about what comes next, allowing them to lead me to new heights. I’m not in the mood to be led right now. I know what I want. “I want more.”
Hades’s smile takes on a mocking edge that promises wickedness. “You have a suggestion I assume.”
“I fuck her. You fuck me.”
Meg lifts a hand still limp with pleasure. “Sign me up.”
Hades shakes his head. “Two mouthy subs.”
“You love it.” Meg suddenly laughs. “Maybe you have a bit of a masochistic streak, Hades.”
“Perhaps.” He props himself up on his elbows and looks down at her. “It’s good to hear you laugh, love. It’s been a long time.”
Instantly, she shuttered. “I laugh.”
“Yes, you do. But not like this.” He smooths her hair back from her face. “You’ve dimmed your light, and I’m to blame, at least in part.”
I find myself holding my breath. This is what I want. Well, I want a lot of things, but this is so fucking important. These two people are two broken halves to the same whole, and they’re in danger of shattering because they don’t talk. It seems the simplest of fixes, but ten years is a lot of time to build up baggage. It’s easier for me to pinpoint the problems because I haven’t been here this whole time. I have an outsider’s perspective.
