Page 28 of Unleash Hades (Ungoverned Spaces #5)

Hugo

S he had forgotten me. She was talking, and talking, feeling the rush of memories and had drifted far, far away. I had to bring her back.

“I understand,” I repeated, placing my hand in my pocket.

I willed the hatred to fall from me.

Emotions had little purpose, unless they could be used for action.

I stepped toward her, cautiously, like she was an injured animal.

“Do you?” she whispered, her eyes wide as if those words were more than she could have expected.

Why would she not expect them?

I had loved her for years. I still did. I always would. She was ma petite granate . My woman. And I was not an inconsistent man.

“I will fix it,” I told her.

“Don’t! He’ll always know. He’ll get his revenge. He’ll make it worse… he’ll hurt my boys…”

“He won’t.”

“You don’t know him.”

“You don’t know me!”

Her eyes widened, surprised by my words. I was surprised too, at my own conviction.

But it was true. That sparse time we spent in Afghanistan, she knew my cock better than she knew me. In the years that followed, I was a phantom, an unknown thing that swooped in when she needed me most, and nothing more.

She did not know me. She did not know what I was capable of when I was unleashed.

Neither did Dick Davenport.

I stepped to her again, and she didn’t recoil even as her arms lay protectively around her torso. Like a wounded animal, she was defending her vital parts from attack. I would not touch her until I was not a thing that could hurt her, in her mind. I would wait.

I was good at waiting.

“Thank you for giving me a clearer picture.” I kept my voice low. Calm. Just as she needed me to be.

Things churned in my mind. Bit by bit, the pieces of the puzzle clicked together. It did not change what I had to do, but it did make the image more clear. The reasons for why Dick had to die were so clean and so just.

Rarely was killing such an easy, and clearly good thing to do.

“Do what you’ve been doing all along.” I lifted my hand, and without touching her skin, or her clothes, I twirled my finger into the loose curls of her hair. “Give me permission to handle it, and you will wake up on the morning of your children’s birthday with your freedom.”

Her mouth opened and closed. Her eyes waxed between fear and desire.

“I… I…”

I waited. It was agony.

“I can’t.”

My heart sank, and I felt the shackles back on my wrists, stopping me from doing what needed to be done. I was a collared dog, held back on a leash.

I took in a deep breath through my nose, feeling my nostrils flare at my self-control.

“I’m sorry.”

What did she have to be sorry about?

I lowered my hand from her hair, down to the soft curve of her breast, grazing it lightly with the back of my index finger. She inhaled, her chest heaving forward towards me, as if craving more of my touch.

“You will call for me, when you need me,” I whispered. I leaned in just a little more, and her arms loosened from their protective grasp. “I’ll be ready.”

“How can you be so steadfast?” She leaned forward, inching towards me.

I was ready to crumble with every little hint of desire. The way her lips parted, and her breath grew ragged. The way her pink tongue darted out to lick her bottom lip, moistening it until it shined.

I wanted to taste that lip.

But I had to wait.

I had to wait for her.

“Hugo,” she whispered, as her hands unclasped and she slowly, carefully, placed her palms on my chest. “I don’t understand you.”

“Why?”

“You’re always there for me, and I give you nothing in return.”

“Why would you need to?”

“Because… because… no one gives without expecting something back.”

I carefully lay my hand over hers, pressing her palms deeper into my chest. Could she feel my heartbeat? Could she feel me?

“You asked for nothing when you had your sister rescued,” I mentioned, lifting my brow.

“That’s different. She’s my sister.”

“You asked for nothing when you took in your friend’s twins.” I could play this game for hours. All of her selfless deeds.

“They lost their mother because of me.”

I disagreed with that, but I would not argue with her on it. Not yet.

“You give food to that man outside your building everyday…”

She gasped, her eyes widening. “How did you–?”

“I’ve installed cameras in your home, and I can see through any lens that’s online, at any time.” She did not know me. She did not know I could do this.

I didn’t know how much to tell, but I had already shown her enough. Why not tell her the rest?

“Rafe works for me,” I finally answered. “You don’t need to feed him anymore. He eats just fine.”

“What?” she almost screamed. “How… why?”

“It’s good that you feed him,” I chuckled. “It allows him to get eyes on you when you’re in New York. But don’t worry about feeding him when you’re not there. If you’re not at home, neither is he.”

She blinked, astonished, her brows up to her hairline.

“And you do it to watch me?” she asked.

“To keep you safe.”

“And… why else?”

“I like to watch you.”

Her fingers dug deeper into my skin, and she shook her head, as if my answers confused her. But it was as simple as that.

I liked to watch her, so I did. I liked her company, so I sought it.

“ L’amour est simple. ” Love is simple. “I like to watch you, so I watch. I like you safe, so I keep you safe. I want to kill those who wrong you, so I wait for you to command me to do so.”

“And what do you get from it?” she insisted, her lips grimacing as if my lack of answer pained her.

I pinched her chin between my thumb and forefinger, lifting her eyes to mine.

“I get pleasure,” I said, leaning down. “And I will get more, as soon as you let me.”

“You could hurt me,” she said, cautiously. “You could take everything without my permission.”

“That doesn’t sound fun to me.”

“Fun?” she laughed, as if the concept baffled her.

I tilted my head. “There is pleasure in being chosen.”

Because I couldn't resist, I kissed the tip of her nose. She tilted her head to lean into my lips. Just a small taste. A small catch of her scent. The slight feel of her course curls, grazing against my face.

“I am not Richard,” I finally said. “I do not find pleasure in forcing my will on another.”

She stiffened, her eyes shuddering closed.

I knew her, a little, from my observations. She kept her feelings in, even when she was alone. Her eyes could tell an entire story in a single glance, and I had observed in rapt fascination.

She had blocked that incident out of her mind. She needed to, so she could survive. Maybe it was cruel of me to bring it back to mind.

“Will you… do something for me?” she whispered, taking a small step to close the gap between us. Just a small lean would have pressed our bodies together.

“Yes.”

“You haven’t even heard what I’m going to ask.”

I shrugged. “My answer stands.”

She laughed. It was a sad, relieved and hurt sound. As if she wasn’t used to hearing the word yes. As if she had lived in a world full of restraint, and only now felt the hint of freedom, and choice. Like a caged bird, frightened of the first real flap of its wings.

“Will you kiss me?”

I leaned down and took her lips, keeping it soft, and light. Closed lips, softness, and breath.

“More.”

I tilted my head back down, opening my mouth, and darting out my tongue to taste her lower lip, before sucking it in between mine.

“More.”

I took her bottom lip in my teeth, and heard her lustful groan. It threatened to undo me. But I waited.

“More,” she whined, and I couldn’t help my laugh.

“Tell me what you want,” I commanded.

She pulled away, her eyes tilting up. I was close enough that I could see the slight green flecks in her eyes, and the freckles across her nose.

I could see the wrinkles that hadn’t been there ten years ago, when she had desperately come into my barracks, taking her pleasure from my body until she could feel alive again.

I would service her if she asked. But she had to ask.

“I want to feel free.” Her hands pushed up my chest to rest on my shoulders, pulling me down towards her. “I want to feel loved. I want to feel something good for once.”

Another tear. She could have refilled the lake with her tears today. And she would cry more before we were through.

I would turn her tears of pain to those of complete pleasure.

I dropped to my knees before her, undoing the button of her jeans. I did not need words. She knew me, a little. And she knew what I liked.

I pulled her jeans down, and worshiped as I helped her slip off her shoes and socks. With her shapely legs bared to me, I pulled down her underwear, letting her brace herself on my shoulders as she stepped out of them.

I wasn’t shy when I placed my rough hands on her hips, pulling her into me until my nose rested on the trimmed hair of her mound.

I placed my forehead against her lower belly, my hairline resting against her navel.

I savored it as I never had before. The scent of her arousal, her skin, her lotion…

I prayed to God that I would remember every detail.

At the same time, I made a vow that this would be mine. It would be mine forever. That she would be near at hand when I needed her touch, her taste.

I darted out my tongue, first to just taste the air, and how she perfumed it, before I roughly placed her thigh above my shoulder.

“You are divine,” I whispered.

I dove into her wetness, my tongue parting her lips until I felt her taste coating my tongue. And I devoured, licking and sucking her clit between my teeth, groaning at the tangy, musky taste. I could eat this every day of my life and never get enough.

She braced herself, her fingers in my hair, tilting my head back in pleasure. She came to her tiptoe, moaning into me as she bucked against my lips. I cupped her arse in my hands, holding her to my mouth like the sweetest fruit.

“Are you really here, or am I dreaming again?” she whispered to the sky. “Is this a fantasy? Am I truly alone and imagining you?”

If she would open her eyes and look down, she would know.

I slipped my finger to her arse, nudging the puckered hole. She gasped, her eyes widening.

She looked down, as I smiled against her pussy.

I pushed a little more, the tip of my finger entering her back hole, so she knew it wasn’t a dream.

She whimpered, her brows knitting together, unsure and uncertain.

But she had to surrender to me. She had to let me give her what she needed.

“Hugo,” she whispered, as her face contorted in a pleasure she did not trust.

At the sound of my name, along with the taste of her… I shot to my feet, and in seconds, undid my trousers and fisted my cock. I wrapped her legs around me, and plunged into her wet, waiting heat. I should have been gentle. I should have gone in slowly but I felt no patience. No control.

I needed her. I needed her completely. She opened further, like the ripe, sweet pomegranate I knew her to be. She spread her thighs, letting me in, moaning with every rapid thrust. Each time I hit her walls, I growled. I needed more. I needed harder.

When she fell apart, her head tilting back, her neck fully exposed to me, I growled in a primal, devilish pleasure as I followed soon after.

I kissed her throat, still careful to not bite and mark her flesh…

not yet. I wanted to bare my teeth, and sink into her flesh, leaving bites and bruise marks along her creamy skin.

She came with the most beautiful scream I had ever heard. I tipped over the edge with her, growling as my body released.

There was so much left to savor. There was so much left to love.

I held her close, her head falling into my chest.

“Thank you,” she said, her chest vibrating with her pleasure sobs. “Thank you.”

“Did you get what you asked for? Do you feel loved? Do you feel free?”

“Yes.” She buried her face in my bare chest, her nose moving back and forth, nuzzling against my chest hair.

I twisted my fingers into the hair at the nape of her neck, feeling the rough texture of them. Each curl seemed to weave around my fingers, asking me to stay.

“You must trust me to do what is good for you,” I whispered, because I had to make my point. I had to make it now, before she slipped through my fingers. “Trust me to do what is best. To give you what you need.”

She pulled her head away, but for once, I did not let her go. I held my arm around her waist, gripping her against me.

“I’m not ready,” she said. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be free of Richard.”

“You could be, if you wanted.”

“It’s different!” She insisted.

My poor little Persephone. She had been conditioned to believe this. Groomed by an evil man to think that she had no choice. But she had one. And she would make it… eventually. I knew it as I knew the seasons.

“You will call, when you are ready,” I traced my thumb along her lower lip, and kissed her forehead. “And I will take care of it.”