by Penelope Sky
Her hands rested together on the table as she looked at me. Her hair was a mess, like a hurricane had passed directly through it
I was that hurricane.
Her brown strands were scattered across her shoulders, and her eyes had a sleepy look. Her skin was such a beautiful color because she was well rested and satisfied. With no makeup and nothing fancy to wear, she was still the most provocative thing in the world to look at. It was obvious she didn’t grasp just how truly stunning she was.
She gave me the opportunity to respond, but when that clearly wasn’t going to happen, she broke the silence with her feminine voice. “It’s ironic. I haven’t slept so well in a long time.”
Just a few months ago, I would’ve said I hated her. There was so much rage and resentment in my heart that I didn’t think I could feel anything positive for her. But now, my heart softened when she said those romantic words.
“And the second you leave the bed…I just know.”
It was exactly the way it used to be when we were married. She knew the instant I was gone. That was why I could never sneak out in the middle of the night. That was why I woke her up every time I came home, no matter how quiet I was.
Her eyes reflected the lights from the buildings behind me, giving them a special glow. I hated the way I felt about this woman, and no matter what I did, feelings always came rushing back. It didn’t matter what she did to hurt me…I always bounced back to her.
“You’re angry.” She could read my silence like my mood was words on a page. She kept her voice steady so she wouldn’t provoke me.
My eyes narrowed on her face.
“Why?”
“Because no matter what I do, I always end up here.” I always ended up on my knees for this one woman, so infatuated that I couldn’t see straight. My heart grew to three times its size, and I felt emotions I thought were impossible to feel.
“I know you want to end up here, Hades.”
My eyelids twitched in anger. “Trust me, I don’t. Since the day we met, I worked my ass off to be with a woman like you. I was honest, loyal, the most committed guy there ever was. And you treated me like shit.”
She didn’t overtly react. She seemed to digest the harsh insult I’d just thrown at her, but she did it with grace. “When we first met, you rushed me into something I wasn’t ready for. We’d only been hooking up for a few months when you asked me to be your wife. Then when we did get married, I wasn’t ready for that either. My experience with marriage had always been negative, borderline depressing…”
“You said all that already.”
Her eyes flashed with annoyance. “But I haven’t told you that you’ve completely changed my opinion about marriage. You made me believe in it, made me want to be your wife until death took me. You made me fall in love when I didn’t think that was possible. You made me trust a man when I didn’t think that was an option either. You opened my eyes to a whole new world I could never see. Now I want that life back more than anything in the world. I loved being married to you…and I would do anything to be married again.” She paused to take a breath, to gather her emotions. “I admit that I didn’t appreciate you as much as I should’ve. I admit I wasn’t the wife you deserve. I understand that I hurt you and now you don’t trust me…” Her eyes started to cloud with tears. “But I would spend the rest of my life trying to earn that trust back. I would be the wife I should’ve been before. I would bust my ass, work every day to make you happy. Hades, give me another chance.”
That speech should’ve meant nothing to me, but it tugged on my heart and made me bleed.
“I haven’t been seeing anybody.”
My chest stopped rising mid-breath.
“It wasn’t a coincidence that we were at the same bar. And all those men buying me drinks…they never had a chance. Damien and I never had any type of flirtatious relationship. I made all that up because I thought it was the only way to get your attention. Begging you to take me back wasn’t getting me anywhere. I’ve never given up on you… I’ll never give up on you.”
She’d played me like a fool. “You lied to me.”
She took a deep breath. “Yeah…I did. And I don’t regret it.”
I was relieved she hadn’t been screwing all those random guys for the last few months. She’d only been with me.
“Please give me another chance…”
My eyes diverted to the scenery around us, the dark buildings with little spots of light. Seconds passed before I looked at her again. I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to tell her it was never going to happen, that she had no chance, but I knew I would end up in bed with her over and over again. I was in this relationship even if I didn’t want to be. “You aren’t moving back in here, and we aren’t getting remarried.”
Her face relaxed when she understood what I said. “That’s fine.”
I’d gone to the gypsy so I could be free of this woman forever, but there was no spell strong enough to erase my feelings for her. I’d wiped them away once, but they grew back overnight.
“Thank you.” Her eyes started to gloss over with moisture.
“No one else…just the two of us.” I didn’t owe her my fidelity, but I didn’t want to be with anyone else anyway. And I definitely didn’t want her to be with anyone else either. I was slightly annoyed with myself for caving, but there was also this huge weight that lifted off my chest.
She left her chair and came toward me until she lowered herself into my lap. She used to sit like this all the time, keeping me company while I suffered one of my moods. She rested her forehead against mine and laid her palm against my chest.
My hand moved into her hair, and I held her close. My heart had already softened for this woman. This was exactly where I wanted to be…because it was the only place I ever felt happy.
26
Sofia
I looked at myself in the mirror and approved of the dress I’d thrown on. It was blush pink, with little straps and a short length. I wore white heels on my feet, looking like a spring rose in the heat of summer. I curled my hair and pinned it over one shoulder. My lips were painted the same color as my dress, and I went a little crazy with the mascara.
“What do you think?”
Andrew sat in his car seat and just stared.
“Good enough for me.” I pulled out my phone and called Hades.
He took the call on the first ring, just the way he used to. It was nice to revisit old times. “Sofia.” He no longer spoke with attitude and coldness. His voice wasn’t blanketed with affection, but it was a major improvement.
“Are you free tonight?”
He paused before he answered. “Depends. What do you have in mind?”
“I thought Andrew and I could come over for dinner.” I basically invited myself over, but since I lived with my mom, it was a little awkward to invite him here. Besides, I viewed that place as my home. I wanted to move in as soon as possible.
“Alright.”
I could tell he was still on guard, letting me in but only a little bit. “We’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” I glanced at the baby bag on the bed. It was full of bottles and diapers and a change of clothes, but it also had some of my things inside…because I hoped to spend the night.
He hung up.
I grabbed Andrew, and we headed downstairs.
My mom met me by the front door and looked me up and down like a guy checking me out. “Wow, look at you. I hope you’re putting that dress to good use. And not on the street corner.”
I rolled my eyes. “We’re having dinner with Hades.”
“Ooh…” She put one hand on her hip. “Operation: Get your husband back.”
“Pretty much.”
“Well, I hope I don’t see you two until tomorrow morning.” She started to walk away. “In my experience, if you want to get a guy to stay, give him a good blow job.”
I quickly turned around and gave her an incredulous look. “Mom?”
“What?” she asked in
nocently. “I want all of us to live together again as soon as possible. I would give him a blow job…but I don’t think he’d like it.”
We sat together at the table inside and enjoyed the dinner Helena prepared for us. Andrew was too young to sit in a highchair, so I held him with one arm and breastfed him while I took a few bites of my food. One strap was pulled over my shoulder so my breast was free. It wasn’t the most elegant look for dinner, but since Hades was the father, it was no big deal.
Hades stared at me as I fed Andrew, his eyes focused on my exposed tit. He continued to eat without watching what he was doing, so transfixed on our son having dinner. He’d been giving me heated looks all night.
Must like the dress.
When my nipple really started to ache, I switched Andrew to the other breast and left both my tits exposed.
Hades picked up his fork and tried to place the food in his mouth, but he was so focused on us that he accidentally stabbed his piece of chicken into his face. He flinched at the contact and quickly placed the food where it belonged.
I smiled because it was the first time I’d seen Hades be uncoordinated. “He does this pretty much all day, and then I also have to pump.” My tits were so much larger than they used to be, and they were swollen and achy all the time.
“It’s hot…”
“Yeah?”
He nodded. “Watching you feed our son with your tits hanging out like that…it’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. Must be an evolutionary thing.”
“Yeah, must be.” I held Andrew close to my chest and continued to eat my dinner. “How was your day?”
He shrugged. “Fine.”
“That’s all you’re gonna give me?”
“My job is not that interesting.”
“You’re a drug dealer. There are movies and TV shows about it.”
He shook his head slightly. “They never get it right.”
I didn’t want to tell Hades what to do, but I hoped he would leave the business on his own. I hoped he would understand we couldn’t take any more risks now that we had a son. But our relationship was too raw right now, so I wouldn’t dare say anything. “And the bank?”
“That job really is boring.”
“I hope you and Damien are getting along better now.”
Now that his plate was clean because he’d eaten everything, Hades leaned back in his chair and stared at the two of us. “I had to buy him a new computer.”
“Why?”
“Because I broke everything in his office when I lost my shit.”
I cupped Andrew’s head with my other hand and kept him close. “That was nice of you.”
“I just wanted him to shut the fuck up.”
“Now that you know Damien was never really interested in me and Maddox is gone, maybe the two of you can bury the hatchet and move on…”
His eyes held a dead expression, like there was no possibility that could ever happen.
I didn’t want to provoke his anger when I was trying to repair the rift between us, so I let the conversation die. “My mother misses you. She wants us to get back together so she can live with us again.”
He took a drink of his wine then licked his lips. “She’s still a package deal, huh?”
“No…but it would be nice if she could watch Andrew while I’m at work.”
All he gave was a slight nod.
“On the way out, she basically called me a hooker because of this dress.”
His eyes looked me over. “I like that dress. A lot.”
“I guess she has good taste. She also told me the best way to get a man is to give him a blow job.”
His expression didn’t change, but his eyes narrowed slightly. “She’s a lot smarter than I realized…”
Hades lay beside me in bed, with Andrew sleeping on his chest. Our baby was so small in comparison to Hades’s large physique. Together, they breathed at the same rate, like Andrew was copying his father.
I was in Hades’s t-shirt beside him, my hand resting around his bicep. The three of us were cuddled close together, snuggling like a family. I almost wanted to cry because this was exactly what I wanted.
I pressed a kiss to his shoulder and rested my face in the crook of his neck. “I love you.” He told me he didn’t love me anymore, and I’d believed him at the time, but now I wondered if that had ever been true.
Could a love like ours just stop?
He didn’t say anything back. The silence stretched on for a long time, never-ending. He eventually turned his lips to my forehead and pressed a kiss there. That was the only reaction he gave me.
I tried not to be wounded by his rejection, but that was difficult. I missed being loved by this man so much. But I told myself to be patient, that it would happen eventually. I remained still and kept my breathing even so he wouldn’t sense the hurt in my quiet sigh.
After Hades put Andrew to bed in the other room, he stepped back inside and approached the bed.
I never asked if I could sleep over, but I wasn’t leaving unless he explicitly told me to. If I had it my way, I would just live there forever. I wouldn’t even go back to get my clothes. I grabbed the baby monitor off the nightstand and flicked it on.
Silence.
He stopped in front of me and grabbed the top of his sweatpants.
I stared at his perfect physique and felt my heart race as I waited for him to reveal more.
He dug his thumbs into his waistband and then pushed his bottoms off until he was naked. He was already hard, like he already had something in mind. “I want that blow job.”
This was the Hades I missed, the authoritative, bossy man who wasn’t afraid to tell me what he wanted because he wasn’t afraid to want me in the first place. He’d spent so much time acting like I meant nothing to him, probably wanting to believe his own lie. But he’d now stopped doing that and wore his desires on his sleeve.
It was already a major improvement.
I would gladly suck his dick every night if he would be my husband again.
I pulled his t-shirt over my head so I was just in my pink thong. I wasn’t as confident as I used to be because the stretch marks over my stomach and thighs were so noticeable on my body, but all those doubts disappeared when he looked at me like that. He could spend his evening with anyone else, but he was there with me.
Just me.
I slid off the bed and fell to my knees in front of him on the rug. I positioned myself before him and grabbed both of his hips. He was hard as a statue, so tall and straight, he seemed to be made out of marble instead of flesh.
I began by pressing a gentle kiss to his balls.
He took a deep breath at the initial touch, as if that was exactly the spot he wanted me to kiss first. His hand moved to my shoulder, and he squeezed me gently before his fingers moved into my hair and wrapped it around his hand to fist it. “You want to be my wife again?”
“Yes…”
His hand moved to the bottom of my chin, and he gently pushed down so my mouth would open wide. Then he grabbed the base of his dick and prepared to push it inside my throat. “Then prove it.”
27
Hades
Sofia and I fell into a routine where she would come over several nights a week and we’d spend the evening in my bedroom, having dinner and spending time with Andrew. When he fell asleep, we’d put him in his crib in the other room and then have our own fun in bed.
Now that I’d agreed to give her another chance and knew how sorry she was, I started to trust her again. I wanted to be mad at her forever, but I simply couldn’t. I could read people well, and I knew her act of contrition was true. She came to Florence to kill Maddox, and after that was done, I’d rejected her love, but she didn’t give up on me.
She knew I’d been out with other women, but she still didn’t give up on me.
She lied to me. She manipulated me.
But it was all to get me back.
That was the reason I had faith in us again. It would’ve
been easy for her to find a new husband and move on. I’d said a lot of cruel things to her that were unforgivable, but she still put up with me.
She wasn’t loyal before, but she was now.
But every day, she told me she loved me…and I couldn’t say it back.
She never asked me about it. Never showed a look of rejection every time I ignored her confession. She let me hold my silence and never asked me to break it.
Andrew cried a couple times during the night, so Sofia was in and out of the room to feed him and rock him. He wasn’t usually a fussy baby, but that night, he wanted attention. I had to work in the morning, so I let her take care of it.
When my alarm went off the next morning, I showered and got ready for work while Sofia continued to sleep. Instead of going back to work full time right away, she chose to spend most of her time with Andrew, so she usually slept in, then left while I was gone.
I had a meeting at the bank, so I put on a suit and tie then opened my drawer where my collection of watches laid. I usually grabbed a different one every day, and the one Sofia gave me was off to the side in a whole different pile. I stared at it and considered slipping it on my wrist, but something stayed my hand.
I grabbed a different one instead.
I slipped on my shoes and prepared to walk out the door.
Sofia woke up and stared at me for a few seconds before she got out of bed. “I’m glad I get to say goodbye before you go.” She looked sexy as hell in my black t-shirt with nothing underneath, not even panties. A more beautiful woman hadn’t been anywhere near me since she left. They were trolls compared to her. And when I thought about them, I was filled with disgust and guilt. I felt like I’d cheated on my wife after the fact, even though she wasn’t my wife at the time. I still felt dirty…like I’d done something wrong.