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“What the hell, Hades?”

“You’re welcome for what appears to be a most satisfying gift.”

Her glare can’t completely diminish the way she practically glows after her time with him. “What was that little song and dance about? You acted like you own me. You rubbed it in his face.”

I’m not ready to discuss my plans. “I do own you.”

“Hades, you’re such an asshole sometimes.”

I grab the back of her neck and tow her over my lap. “I give you leeway, Meg. I indulge you.”

“Damn it, let me go!”

I shove up her dress and deliver two hard smacks to her ass. “Tell me your safe word.” When she doesn’t immediately respond, I shove two fingers deep into her pussy. She’s still drenched from her orgasms and Hercules’s mouth. If I spread her wide, will I taste him there? My cock hardens even further at the thought. I have to close my eyes and fight for control. Soon. Very soon. “Tell me.”

“Cerberus,” she mutters.

“That’s right. Cerberus.” I press hard on her inner wall, just like she loves, and she writhes for me. “The safe word you neglected to use once during our little game. You wanted to fuck the golden boy, and you wanted me to watch, and when I told you to come, you orgasmed all the harder for how dirty it made you feel. I know you, Meg. I know your body and your soul. You may play the martyr for the public, but you don’t get to play it with me.”

“I hate you,” she sobs even as she spreads her thighs wider to give me better access. It’s always like this with us. Always a fight to the finish, and even in the soft aftermath of fucking, we still jostle each other with power games.

“No, you don’t. I give you what you need. Remember that, even when you’re getting starry-eyed over a waiter.” Hercules is hardly just a waiter, but that fact is immaterial in the face of this conversation. We’ve taken our first step to reclaiming what we once had, even if I have to drag Meg along with me inch by inch. “Tell me ‘thank you’ for the spectacular gift I gave you tonight.”

She pants and writhes, but she’s not really fighting to get free. She’s struggling solely so I’ll hold her down and bend her to my will. I spank her again with my free hand. Once. Twice. A third time. “Now, Meg.”

“Thank you, Sir.” The words come out as if a curse.

“Good girl.” I topple her onto the back seat and move to kneel on the floorboards. “You performed marvelously. Would you like your reward?”

She bites her bottom lip like she wants to tell me to fuck off again out of sheer perversity, but desire overcomes all else. At the end of the night, I’ve given her exactly what she needs and she knows it. Meg pulls her dress up higher. “Yes, Sir. I would love my reward now.”

“That’s what I thought.” I smooth a hand down her stomach and part her pussy with my fingers. She’s pink and swollen from what she’s done. I pin her in place and drag the flat of my tongue over her. Meg lets loose a whimper and reaches behind her to grab the headrest.

I can taste him on her skin. I can smell him on her skin.

I wedge my hands beneath her ass and lift her closer to my mouth, devouring her with a ferocity bordering on frenzy. Even as she screams her way through an orgasm, even as I replace her on the seat and she opens my slacks to withdraw my cock, even as she rides me in slow, decadent strokes…

I can’t say for certain if it’s jealousy of Hercules that spurns me on.

Or desire for him.

Chapter 5

Hercules

I can’t let it go.

Every time I close my eyes, I see Meg forced to sit at his feet. I see the graceful curve of her body as she bends like she was created to occupy that position. I see the possessive way he strokes her hair—possessive and controlling. No matter that he walked in on us, no matter that he apparently wanted her to have sex with me, no matter that I don’t understand anything about what the fuck happened in that room.

No, that’s a lie.

I understand the triumph written across his beautiful face when he called her away from me and she obeyed.

I understand the frustration and anger on her face too.

She’s trapped. This guy has some kind of hold on her, one I recognize right down to my bones. I know all about being stuck in a place that slowly strangles the life out of a person, about what pieces of yourself you have to cut off in order to gain your freedom. I left parts of myself back in Olympus, but I count the cost worth it. I’m free, after all.