“Yes, you’re doing a stand-up job of it yourself.” He sounds so put out by the whole situation that it immediately cheers me up.
My peevish desire to irk him rises again, and I don’t bother to resist it. Instead, I lay my head on his shoulder and tug his beard. “Maybe I just want to be carried about by a big, strong man who’s determined to save me.”
Hades arches a single eyebrow, managing to convey skepticism and mocking at the same time. “Is that so?”
“Oh, yes.” I flutter my eyelashes at him. “I’m very helpless, you see. What would I do without Prince Charming in dented black armor showing up to save me from myself?”
“I’m no Prince Charming.”
“On that, we can agree.” I give his beard another gentle tug. I like the way his grip tightens on me when I do it. He’s being careful to keep his hands on my dress and off my skin, but the thought of his fingers digging in as he does…other things…is enough to make me squirm.
“Hold still.”
“There’s a very simple solution to this. Put me down and let me walk. Problem solved.”
Hades takes the stairs down to the main floor…and then keeps going. Apparently he’s going to ignore me, which is one way to win an argument. I used to employ the same tactic against Psyche when we were children and she constantly stole my toys to take them off on fantastic adventures. Fighting didn’t work to make her stop. Going to our mother was out of the question. Telling Callisto would just result in her “fixing” the problem by destroying the toys in question. No, the only thing that worked was ignoring Psyche entirely. Eventually, she always broke and returned the toys. Sometimes she even apologized.
I will not break.
Since our conversation is apparently over, I settle into Hades’s arms like this is exactly where I want to be. Because we’re touching so much, I can feel him getting tenser and tenser. I hide my smile against his shirt. Take that.
He finally stops in front of a door. A black door. It’s perfectly flat, with no panels to mar its surface, and it shines eerily in the low light. I stare at our faintly distorted reflection in it. It’s almost like looking into a pool of water under the new moon. I have the strangest suspicion that if I touch it, my hand will sink right through its surface. “Are we diving right in?”
Only now does Hades hesitate. “This is your last chance to change your mind. Once we walk through there, you’re committed.”
“Committed to depraved acts of public sex.” It’s really cute how he keeps insisting on giving me an out. I lean back enough to see his face, to let him see mine. I feel none of the conflict I see in his dark eyes. “I already said yes. I’m not changing my mind.”
He waits a beat. Two. “In that case, you need to pick a safe word.”
My eyes widen before I can temper the reaction. I read widely and know a very specific set of entertainments comes with the use of a safe word. I wonder which flavor Hades prefers. Whips or bondage or dealing out humiliation? Maybe all of the above. How deviously delicious.
He takes my surprise as confusion. “Consider it a safety brake. If things get too intense or you become overwhelmed, you say your safe word and everything stops. No questions asked, no explanations required.”
“Just like that.”
“Just like that,” he confirms. Hades glances at the door and then back at me. “When I said I didn’t bargain for sex, that wasn’t strictly true. Each encounter has an element of bargaining and negotiation in it. What I actually meant is that I value consent. Consent because you have no other options isn’t consent.”
“Hades, do you plan on putting me down before walking through that door?” Wherever it leads.
“No.”
“So this consent only applies to sex?”
He tenses as if he’s about to turn around and march me back to my room. “You’re right. This was a mistake.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” He is so stubborn, I could kiss him. I frown up at him instead. “We’ve had this conversation before, no matter how you want to paint it now. I have other options. I want this one. I was just teasing you about carrying me.”
For the first time since we met, it feels like he’s really looking at me. No holds barred. No growly masks in place. Hades looks down at me like he wants to consume me one decadent bite at a time. Like he’s already thought of a dozen ways he wants to have me, and he has them planned down to the barest detail. Like he already owns me and he fully intends to stake his claim for anyone to see.