Awful Intentions: Friends-to-Lovers Romance (The Celestial Bodies Series Book 2)

by Elena Monroe

  Craning my neck, I followed her storm out, forcing myself still until she left the room. My eyes found Dorian’s, silently arguing who was going after her.

  He stood up before I could. He was a gentleman, with a sweet tooth for my Luna. I didn’t care how “good” he seemed; I was going to hate him until Luna dumped his ass.

  I waited for the chatter to commence and the focus to pull from my bad mood to Kate explaining workplace drama. She was the only one whose smile seemed genuine when talking about blending in with the mortals.

  Caellum and I only showed up for our job out of habit and boredom at this point.

  H had it all here, and if he didn’t, he found a way to supply our demands. We were just as spoiled as the children we were in Olympus. Being here felt like being home again, and I wasn’t trading that for Kate’s kind of happiness.

  I was a terrible host, but I would rather be in my room alone, with my own thoughts, my own worries, my own everything… unsoiled.

  Mapping out how to make it to my room, even after a few weeks, I was still getting lost. This place was a dark maze, and I half expected monsters to come out of the walls.

  When I pushed my door open, I found Luna perched on my bed, with her jeans on the floor, sitting pretty in just her bra and fishnets, like a present for me.

  Quickly looking back down the hallway, I closed the door behind me, keeping her my little secret.

  “Well, now you’re just playing with fire…” I was about to add “Little Lamb,” but I stopped when I remembered hearing H say it earlier with her flush against his chest.

  She opened her legs painfully slowly, but just wide enough for me to see she wasn't wearing any panties, just fishnets.

  The thing in my chest beating just for this girl dropped to my dick, forcing him out of a self-induced hibernation. Luna was the last girl I had been with. No one was going to live up to those breathy moans, and I wasn’t going to try to find out.

  I maintained the distance, wondering if you had blue balls long enough, it would make you hallucinate your wildest fantasies.

  “Luna, what are you doing?”

  She reached behind her back and unclipped her bra before tugging it down her arms. Her legs were still spread, only now her pale pink buds were hardening under my gaze.

  “You know you want to. Be bad with me, Nyx.” Her soft voice was almost a whisper, as her hands smoothed down her own legs and pressed her knees further apart.

  Patience wasn’t my strong suit… especially with Luna on display, like a must-needed break from reality.

  I knew she wouldn’t leave Dorian, not even when we gave her a reason. I was going to be the guy she was bad with, but never good.

  One carefully slow step at a time, I bridged the gap between us, and I stood between her legs, exactly how I did last time.

  “Dorian not getting the job done, Little Lamb?”

  Her fingers dipped into the top of my pants, tugging me closer. “We haven’t… not yet…”

  Pushing my fingers through her hair and gently grabbing a fistful, I tugged, forcing her gaze up. “You know what they say… you never do forget your first.”

  Her lips fell open in a silent moan, and it made my dick jump.

  She thought she was broken, when all I saw was beauty winning the war she was starting in herself.

  “Please, Nyx… I want you.”

  She was begging, and I was in no position to deny her any part of me.

  “You told me I had to tell you, and I am…” her hands tugged at my pants, willing them to open with no real effort.

  She wanted me to be her own personal dildo until Dorian stopped gaslighting her with making me jealous and no follow through.

  I wanted her to want me.

  Her walk on the wild side was going to include some punishment.

  “Want me how, Luna? What about what I want?”

  I let her unzip my pants, pushing my hips forward, helping her yank them down enough to let myself spring out.

  She looked up at me with her doe eyes, her still stained lips, and charcoal smeared eyelids. “What do you want?” Her voice was breathy and uneven, making me resist her that much harder.

  “Touch yourself. I want to see exactly how I make you feel.”

  Luna was about to shove her hand down her fishnets, when I bent down, pushing my lips to hers and ripping the fragile material. Her mouth gasped against mine as her back arched into my touch.

  She was just as famished as I was for us to fit together like fucked up puzzle pieces.

  Our mouths didn’t stop attacking each other, tongues twisting, when her hand reached down to tease between her legs. Pushing myself further into her, she had no choice but to lean back into my sheets.

  Consumed by me, all around her.

  The only space I wasn’t going to occupy was her heart. Trust me, I was working on it, but for now, one body part at a time.

  Only giving us space to follow her arm, I saw a fresh bruise that made some bells go off in me. I wanted to ask, but I didn’t want anything to seep in the room and ruin this moment.

  I got down on my knees in front of her open legs, tugging her down to teeter on the edge of the bed. I kissed the inside of her thighs lightly.

  Dorian was toying with her in a way that only made her more hungry for me.

  Her eyes were clamped closed, like it was all too much for her to take in, when my tongue licked around her fingers, tasting her indirectly.

  I couldn't have willed myself more hard for this girl. She could be good, bad, or whatever fucked up in-between this was, and she was going to have my whole body going haywire.

  I guess that's what love is: going haywire for someone. I’d burn in my own flames, watching her be with Mr. Perfect, just as long as it made her happy.

  I'd be her toy.

  Hades

  T he circle of royal children were exactly the same as I remember—still arrogant, still privileged, and still causing more trouble than they could handle.

  Zeus, my brother, thought giving them a mission of finding his daughter would bring them together and that the human world would force them to grow up, if they understood our purpose in guiding the humans.

  We were puppet masters. We were influencers, and they needed to evolve.

  We all had our roles to play.

  I ruled the Underworld, oversaw death, and weighed out sins. I guess I am what this world calls the Devil. So, Devil I am then, without the bullshit horns.

  I played with fire.

  Making myself invisible before I had to explain every detail to each brat was the best plan. Retiring to my room on the third floor was my sanctuary. The only thing that got past the double doors was at the other end of a shouted “enter,” and that's how I liked it.

  My bedroom was the only thing on the third floor. I kept everything below me.

  Pushing the doors open, I kicked off my military boots and unbuttoned my black shirt that was only held together by two buttons.

  Juggling a small remote, I pressed a button that started The White Stripes through the hidden speakers all around the room.

  I threw my discarded shirt on the leather chair in the corner, before my attention turned to a women’s figure laying in my bed in the dark… making fucking sheet angels?

  “Okay, sweetheart, the party is downstairs…” I tugged at her ankle, lightly trying to get her gone as easily as possible.

  “Are these satin or silk? Where did you get these?” She popped up without any warning and didn't even wonder who I was.

  Little offensive.

  Looking more closely, I knew this perky blonde with a flair for dramatics. “Come to see Daddy Hades?”

  Crossing her ankles and leaning back onto her hands, her eyes actually rolled. “That was like 600 years ago. Let it go, old man.”

  Kate’s kind of foreplay was verbal tennis. She wanted to make you believe her, make you need her, make you want her, and not with her tight-as-a-drum pretty body, but with he
r sharp tongue.

  Don't worry, she wouldn’t cut you… much.

  “You’re sounding bitter for someone who got their every wish. Am I hearing some regret in that snark? Little Austin realizing you don't supply what he likes?”

  Moving closer to the bed, I tugged her ankles, bringing her body to the edge of the bed. Our bodies drew closer together, and I let my fingers trace down her body, past her pushed up breasts, and past the belly ring peeking out under her crop top.

  Leaving just one kiss on her neck, her body stilled for me. “How is the sex, sweetheart? Do your Cupid tricks help any?”

  “Austin is my perfect match,” she barked out, but made no moves to get out from under my thumb.

  “Perfect isn’t always what it's cracked up to be, darling.”

  Her hand snaked around the back of my neck pulling me into her. “Shut up. Are we having sex or—”

  Cutting off her teen angst, I slammed my lips against hers and pushed her back onto my sheets that she seemed to envy.

  Kate’s downfall was envy.

  She envied Austin so much she crawled her way down to Hell to ask me how she could steal someone’s heart without being sent my way one day.

  Her powers laid dormant until she fell in love. A Cupid without knowing love isn’t going to help anyone find their matches.

  Twisting under me she made her way on top of me, straddling my lap still fully clothed.

  “Take these off…” I playfully tugged at her clothing.

  “Not a word. To anyone.”

  “Who says you're brag worthy?”

  Kate was the daughter of Aphrodite. She was a brag, and she knew it.

  Pulling off her top, her breasts bounced out with no bra already, enticing my hands to grab a handful.

  “I’m always brag worthy. Did aging not go well for you? Memories are the first thing to go...”

  “Daddy H is never too old.”

  My hand crept up to her mouth, keeping her quiet, while I pulled her down. This wasn’t going to be another time she dominated a man. I wasn’t her boyfriend under her little spell.

  I’m Hades, the King of the Underworld, and this little girl isn’t going to be my downfall.

  Pausing to make sure my crown was still on safely, I kept my hand over her mouth, while I fiddled with her shorts.

  Luna

  I could hear the end of the blunt paper crinkle up against the flame before burning, even with my back towards him, as I shimmied back into my clothes.

  Bad decisions never seemed all that bad in the moment; it was only in retrospect you see where you went wrong, the ripple effect.

  My ripple effect was just getting bigger: Nyx, Hades, Dorian, our friends, the circle, my job…

  My mistakes were going to bleed into too many lives, but I was finding it hard to care after what I just did with Nyx.

  “Running back to Dorian?” His lazy voice didn't have to snap or bark for it to hurt.

  “He's my boyfriend, Nyx.”

  “For now... until you realize what we all already know.”

  I stopped getting dressed to twist back, looking over my shoulder, “What do you mean?”

  Panic set in—no fight, only flight.

  Did he know about Dorian? How?

  Tugging my shirt sleeve down, I tried to cover the bruise already darkening.

  “Something isn't right about that guy. No one believes me, but I'm gonna figure it out. Hide your pride and glory.”

  “Don't joke around, Nyx. He's a perfect gentleman. There's nothing wrong. I don't need you making problems.” My mouth stung; lies left an aftertaste.

  He ignored me, pinching his blunt between his lips and flicking his TV on, trying to ignore me politely. I continued to get dressed and rolled my eyes. Nyx was seriously going to ignore me, because he didn't want to hear how much Dorian was a good guy... even though he wasn't.

  I couldn't just agree with him.

  “I'm gonna go back to the party... Are you coming?”

  He was still laying there naked, bronzed, hair even more messy, and abs tightly on display. He felt my eyes rake down him, and he yanked the sheet over his hips.

  His piercing was still burned into my mind, decorating his tip and turning his taste to a tangy metal.

  Unmistakable.

  Unusual.

  Burned into your brain as Nyx.

  “Nah, I'm not getting dressed. They can do whatever.”

  My eyebrows popped up in shock before I remembered this was the guy who avoided people as long as possible, played football to hurt people, and barely spoke because that gave people the idea he enjoyed their presence.

  “Do you wanna talk about your dad being back?”

  His eyes snapped from the TV I knew he wasn't watching to mine. “Why would I wanna do that, Luna?”

  So I'd have an excuse to stay here with you… a reason to not go back to the party.

  I shrugged before leaning back to button my pants, “It's a big deal... your dad isn't dead like we thought...”

  I was grasping at paper straws with wet hands. Useless.

  “I don't need you to fix me, Luna. I'm good.”

  “Did he tell you what happened? Why is he here?”

  “We didn't hug it out and hash out the details. He's worse than me with how much he knows and isn't saying. You know that.”

  “Maybe he's not the only god alive...” My voice was hopeful, and that was always a match for Nyx.

  “This is what you wanna discuss post sex and pre boyfriend?” Sitting up, he crossed his arms and put the TV on mute. I could feel my cheeks already blush. I knew he wanted me to validate what we just did, but I couldn't.

  It wouldn't be genuine when I was still with Dorian, and that would hurt worse.

  “What do you want me to say? I have a boyfriend, and I can't stop myself when it comes to you.”

  “Why is that, Luna? Thought about that?”

  “You wanna defy the odds, great, but you can't defy fate, Nyx. We aren't meant to be. We don't work.”

  “Because we've tried so many times before?” He shouted at me, and it made me pause from pacing.

  “Because you never liked me! You just wanted to crush daisies, poison the Kool-Aid, ruin me. It's no secret, Nyx. You like to ruin good things for sport—me included.”

  I watched his scowl actually melt into disappointment quickly. Every hard, sharp, feature turned soft under my words.

  I was doing what I accused him of doing... breaking things.

  Taking them back wasn't possible. I spoke too many stinging truths into existence.

  He held the sheet around his hips, tucking it in and scooting down the bed until he was sitting on the edge in front of me. He normally liked the distance, but this was like a secret… he wasn't going to shout.

  “Everything I feel for you came in the middle of the night, uninvited, robbing me of my sanity. It wasn't a game to break something beautiful. Do you know what it's like to feel something that you didn't allow yourself to feel?”

  He shocked me into silence when I had to clamp my lips shut and stop myself from chewing on them.

  Nyx had never looked so vulnerable. His eyes were swimming in water, our element, the one you would never guess he is. Water. We were both water, affected differently, he turned invisible.

  My body was being licked by his flames as punishment, inducing an anxiety and moisture to my skin that wasn’t there before.

  The silence swelled, and then I finally said, “You don't love me. I'm not even sure who I am… anymore.”

  “I never cared who you were morally, Luna. You think you hide so much from me, but I've always been watching. You've never been just all innocent.”

  His hands ran up my legs, and I could feel the pure heat of his hands scorch through my jeans. It never mattered what stood between us; he could always touch me.

  “Maybe I’m not okay being morally ambiguous like everyone else. Dorian keeps the good on the surface…” I didn’t wiggle o
ut of his touch one inch. Staying planted between his legs, the sheet draping over every muscle like he was made of stone, and I was melting into compliance. If he asked me to do anything, I would.

  “Maybe you should be less concerned with good and bad. It’s how you feel, Luna. Did what we just do feel so bad to you?” His tongue slipped across his bottom lip, like round two was just one bad choice away.

  The sheet fell open exposing his leg completely and his toned abs on full display, not helping me from saying no to him.

  Compliant.

  Utterly compliant.

  “I should go,” I managed to mutter, while ripping my eyes from devouring every exposed inch of his perfect godly body.

  “Then go, Luna. I’m not gonna tell you what to do.”

  Caellum

  T he party fizzled out as soon as the alpha death match between Nyx and Dorian ended. Everyone was sprawled about and watching movies like nothing happened.

  Dorian was always escaping his true fate by the skin of his teeth. Little did he know, this was Nyx playing nice. Just wait until he decided Dorian wasn’t worth sparing Luna’s feelings over. It was just a matter of time.

  I dabbed Bolton’s fist when I got up. I had better things to do with my time, like head back to the library and figure out how the hell to get home, or make sense of all that happened.

  I had more questions than answers, and I wasn’t fond of anyone holding all the cards except me.

  The library door was cracked and the light on, something I never did. Not that my clues, maps, and Henry Jon’s journals were off limits to Hades or Nyx, but I liked to keep strong boundaries.

  Bolton’s hand gripped my shoulder. I didn’t know he followed me upstairs, and I glared at him behind me. “You don’t normally leave the door cracked.”

  “No shit. I don’t normally have people follow me either.” Kicking the door open, I saw Dorian thumbing through a journal that Nyx’s sticky fingers stole from him. Arianna’s Henry Jon journal, chronicling her past, was safely in their apartment under her bed like she couldn’t just get more creative with her hiding spots.