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Serenity

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

“You should have called me,” Otis says over the phone.

“What for? Anyway, it all happened so quickly.”

“It has nothing to do with this dating I, Serenity, but with our friendship. I care about you.”

“I’m fine, Otis. And as for our dating . . . I think it’s best we stop here.” I feel like a secret agent, talking in code. I don’t want the Kostanidou to hear me.

“Are you serious? You want to break up with me over the phone?”

Despite everything, I can still smile. “Don’t be an idiot. I have a reputation to maintain. I’m tired of getting cheated on.”

“I never did”—he pauses and laughs—"in public.”

“I didn’t expect you to be celibate, but I’m releasing you now.”

I notice a shadow hovering over me, and when I open my eyes, I realize it’s Ares. He doesn’t even pretend he’s not listening to the conversation, and I pray he only caught the end of it. Him finding out that the dating was fake would be too embarrassing.

Looking back, I wonder why I proposed such a thing. I was really childish to think that Ares would care whether or not I had someone. He has already made it very clear that he sees me as a child.

I purposely keep talking to Otis for another minute, and he tells me he’s no longer sure if he’ll come to the United States. I wonder if it’s because I said I wanted to stop the fake relationship, but I quickly dismiss the idea. He is handsome and rich. If he adds “single” to the label, he will become irresistible.

I finally end the call, and without ceremony, Ares sits in front of me.

“Trouble in paradise?” he asks.

“Were you listening to my conversation?”

“Just the part where you said you didn’t expect him to be celibate but now you were kicking him out of your bed.”

“Good God, do you think this is an appropriate conversation to have with your ward?” I try to sound angry, but the truth is he has the power to bring me back to life. I left New Orleans super depressed. Ares makes my blood boil.

“Should I treat you like a little girl? Make up your mind, Serenity: are you a girl or a woman?”

“What do you think?”

“I haven’t been able to come to a conclusion yet.”

“Wrong. You see me as a girl, otherwise you wouldn’t have spanked my ass in the hospital.”

I hear a snort of laughter, and I think he does too, because then he says, “Put on your headphones, Hades, or I’ll teach you how to fly without a parachute.”

I shake my head and can’t help but smile. “There are four of you, right?”

He nods.

“What’s it like to have brothers?”

“A pain in the ass, most of the time.”

“And are your parents still alive?”

For the first time since we’ve met, he looks away. “Both dead.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You went through the same thing and survived, Serenity. Human beings are adaptable.”

“Yeah, I know.”

I get up, excusing myself. I don’t want to talk about this.

I walk to the back of the plane, trying to find the bathroom, but I end up opening a bedroom door. I try to turn around to leave, but before I can do so, he grabs my arm.

“Did I say the wrong thing?” Instead of going back to the main cabin, he makes me enter the suite, closes the door, and leans against it.

“I’m tired of adapting. I’ve done it my whole life. I learned to pretend at five, the day they dropped me off at that school.”

“Serenity . . .”

“How old were you when your parents died?”

“I was already an adult.”

I wrap my arms around my body to stop the tremors. I don’t want to break down in front of him, but between being admitted to the hospital for the attempt on my life and saying goodbye to JeAnne, I’m feeling fragile.

“What do you think is better?” I ask. “Not remembering your parents, as if they never existed, or suffering from a conscious loss?”

“Come here, Serenity.”

I shake my head and take a step back. “I don’t want your pity. I just asked you a question.”

He comes closer. “I don’t feel sorry for people. I wasn’t kidding when I said that. But it’s certainly not pity that I’m feeling right now.”

My legs soften. “Is it anger?” I keep walking backwards, not because I want to run away but because instinct tells me he’s a predator, and I like the idea of being hunted.

In just two steps, he is on me. His huge arm wraps around my waist, and I can feel every muscle in his body. “Don’t play with me. You won’t like the consequences.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He slaps me on the butt, and to my shame, instead of screaming, I moan with my eyes closed.

“Damn, Serenity!” Ares lets go of me and takes a step back.

This time, I’m the one moving forward. “What did I do wrong?”

“You can’t be that na?ve.”

“I’m a little girl, remember? Or will you swallow your pride and admit that—" I stop talking when his hand cups my chin.

“What will I admit?”

“Will you have the courage to admit that I am a woman and that you want to kiss me? I would let you if you tried.”

Ares

Jesus!

I’ve never needed to work on self-control as hard as I do now. I feel the sweat wetting the back of my neck, I’m trying so hard not to pick her up and lay her on that bed.

How we went from a wistful conversation about the past to my dick being hard as steel I will never be able to understand, and this is the reassurance I need that I was right to stay away from her for the last two years. The attraction I feel has not diminished. Everything about Serenity provokes me, even her innocence.

I didn’t bring her to the plane suite to seduce her. I’m not a scoundrel.

“You don’t know what you’re saying. You feel sad and that’s why you think...”

I see her face turn red instantly. “Yes, that’s right,” she snaps, looking angry. “That’s why I moaned when you hit my butt again today. Because I’m confused and sad, not because my entire body was shaking and wanting more.”

After that rush of courage, she runs to the bathroom and locks herself inside, leaving me to process her words.

I didn’t use force any of the times I spanked her ass. I didn’t want to hurt her, only to show that she’s still a girl, and now she tells me she wants more?

Fuck!

I rub my hands over my face, trying to clear my mind, but it doesn’t work. So I send common sense to hell and walk to the bathroom, hunter instinct activated, but before I can reach her, I hear Hades calling me.

“I’m coming,” I yell. “Wait for me in the main cabin.”

“No. I need to talk to you now .”

I open the door, my mood gone to hell. “What do you want?”

“What do you think you are doing?” he asks.

“Serenity is none of your business.”

“No, but you are. Don’t get involved with her, Ares. She is young and very vulnerable. She’s your ward, damn it!

I want to grab him by the collar and force him to sit in his seat, but I know he’s right, so I walk out and close the door behind me.

“It’s not a good idea to have her in your building. Maybe we can rearrange things. Increase the number of bodyguards but send her to another property.”

“No. She’s not going anywhere. Serenity will stay where I can keep an eye on her.”

“I hope, for your sake, that it’s just an eye.