Page 135 of Soul Mates: Hercules Valentine and I

He bends over and initiates a tender kiss. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I’m blinking slowly and thinking even more slowly as he strolls out of my bedroom and then out of sight. Then I hear my front door open and close. He’s gone.

What the hell was that?

The next morning,when I make it to the lobby, I see Hercules, and my heart dances. But he’s standing with Lilith and two other people, engrossed in conversation. Disappointed, I look away from them and walk to the wild, wild elevators.

“Lark,” Hercules calls before I make it to where everyone is forming flanks and getting ready to fight their way into the next elevator that opens.

I look in his direction. He’s waving me over. I gladly take off in his direction.

On the way upin his executive elevator, he’s still talking to Lilith about this quarter’s expenses. I doubt he realizes he’s staring at me through the metal panels in front of us while speaking to her. His gaze is probing, though. I wonder what he’s looking for.

“I just don’t understand his role,” Lilith says. I don’t think she notices Hercules staring at me.

They’re talking about Achilles. Apparently, Hercules’s older brother has been micromanaging her, and they haven’t agreed on much.

“He’s CEO,” Hercules says.

“But I thought you were CEO,” she snaps back.

“Of the family.”

“But is this the family, or is this the business? Do I have to deal with this man? He’s impossible, Hercules. I’m doing everything right, and he thinks it’s wrong. You hired me because of my forensics skills.”

Finally, Hercules snatches his stare off of me. “Lilith, you’re levelheaded and tough. Kick his ass.”

She looks dumbfounded. “Kick his ass?” She takes a quick glance at me. I think it just occurred to her that I’m with them. The two other people that they were talking to didn’t ride up with us.

“You know what I mean, Lilith,” Hercules says.

“No. I do not. And I do not want to kick his ass. I want…”

Not only is Hercules waiting for her to finish whatever she was going to say, but I’m in suspense too. Usually, Lilith is genial and wears a pasted-on smile. This is the first time I’ve seen her rattled, and she’s pretty angry.

Finally, Hercules sighs when it’s clear she doesn’t know what she wants. “I’ll talk to him, okay?” The elevator opens, and he holds out an arm to keep the doors from closing.

I exit first, then Hercules steps out and after that, Lilith. The two of them walk in the opposite direction.

I almost feel like crying when I walk to my pod alone.What sort of game is Hercules Valentine playing?

Chapter Forty-Five

The Rest of the Week

Paisley Grove

Iwork all day, and later that night, Hercules shows up at my door again. We make love. At around three in the morning, he gets dressed and leaves. The next day, when I arrive at the lobby, Garvey sends me to Hercules’s elevator even though he isn’t around to ride up with me. Our relationship has certainly changed, though he’s still treating me like I’m special to him.

Then on Wednesday night, he knocks on my door again. We don’t make it to the bedroom. He bends me over on the kitchen table and enters my wetness from the back. The legs of the table bang against the floor, and it slides across the tile until the edge slams into the back of the sofa. But still, he doesn’t stop as I cling to the tabletop, refusing to let go. There’s meaning to this angry sex we’re having. I’m taking my punishment for my deception. There’s something else going on with him, though, and I don’t want to figure it out.

After he ejaculates into a paper towel and throws it in the trash, Hercules lies on the floor, asks me to part my thighs, and lowers me over his mouth, and he makes me orgasm until I’m as limp as a ragdoll. When his man of steel is hard again, he carries me into the bedroom and makes love to me tenderly and deeply.

“Can I come inside you?” he whispers.

“Yes.” I sigh as his thrusts blossom a new orgasm deep in under my hood.

“Oh,” Hercules cries as he holds me so close I can barely breathe. “I love you too,” he whispers in my ear.