That surprises a laugh out of me. “I didn’t realize this was an entrance interview.”
“Hardly.” He shrugs, looking like a king with the way he unapologetically takes up more than his fair share of space. It’s not even his body—he’s not particularly huge. It’s his presence. It fills this large room until I can barely breathe past it. Hades is watching me too closely, and I have the uncomfortable feeling that he’s clocking every single one of my micro expressions.
He finally motions around the room. “This arrangement might have a purpose beyond pleasure, but I’m not interested in traumatizing you. If you’re going to fuck me, you might as well have a good time, too.”
I blink. “That’s so very considerate of you, Hades.”
My sarcasm rolls right off him like water off a duck’s back. Though I am certain his lips twitch. “Answers are yes, no, maybe.”
“I—”
“Bondage.”
My body goes hot at the thought. “Yes.”
“Fucking in front of people.”
No. But that answer isn’t the truth. The truth is the very idea sets me aflame. I look at his face, but he’s not offering me a single thing. No encouragement. No judgment. Maybe that’s why I’m able to answer honestly. “We already talked about this. Yes.”
“It pays to be sure.” He goes on like that. Him naming thing after thing and me trying to answer as honestly as I can. Most of these things, I’ve never thought about too hard outside of fiction. I know what makes me hot and squirmy in the books I read, but the possibility of acting it out in reality is almost too much to contemplate.
The conversation, if one can call it that, is hardly comfortable, but it reassures me all the same. He really is doing the proper homework instead of throwing me into the deep end. I can’t remember the last time I was the recipient of focus this intense; the realization has heat working its way through me in slow surges, and my breath picks up at the thought of acting out all the things Hades names.
He finally sits back, expression contemplative. “That’s enough.”
I wait, but his gaze is a thousand miles away. I might as well not be in the room. I open my mouth but decide against interrupting wherever his thoughts have gone. Instead, I stand and turn for the nearest kinky furniture. It looks a bit like a less soulless version of the table you sit on at the doctor’s, and I want to see exactly how it works.
“Persephone.”
The snap in his tone has roots growing from my soles and freezing me in place. I glance over my shoulder. “Yes?”
“‘Yes, Sir’ is the proper response when we’re in this room.” He points at the spot I just vacated. “Sit down.”
“What happens if I don’t obey like that?” I snap my fingers.
He’s back to watching me closely, his body poised and tense as if he’ll spring at me given half the chance. Maybe that should scare me, but it’s not fear beating a pounding drum in my blood. It’s excitement. Hades leans forward very slowly, very pointedly. “Then you’ll be punished.”
“I see,” I say slowly. A choice, then. There’s no one watching right now, no one to playact for. I don’t have to be perfect or sunny or bright or any of the labels I’ve acquired over the years. The realization leaves me feeling giddy and almost drunk.
I look around the room again. “What is this place for you? Freedom from labels?”
“This place is the label.” When I frown, he sighs. “There are only so many methods of holding power. Fear, love, loyalty. The latter two are fickle at best, the first difficult to acquire unless you’re willing to get your hands dirty.”
“Like Zeus,” I murmur.
“Like Zeus,” he confirms. “Though that bastard has enough charm that he doesn’t have to get his hands dirty when he doesn’t want to.”
“Do you get your hands dirty?” I glance around the room again, beginning to understand. “But then, you wouldn’t have to if everyone is scared of you, would you?”
“Reputation is everything.”
“That’s not an answer.”
Hades studies me. “Do you need one?”
Do I? It’s not required for our bargain; I’ve already agreed and I have no intention of backing out now. But I can’t help the curiosity that sinks its fangs into me and refuses to let go. My fascination with Hades goes back years, but meeting the real man behind the myth is a thousand times more compelling. I’ve already divined the purpose of this room, this carefully curated stage. I want to know more about him. I hold his gaze. “I’d like an answer, if you’re willing to give it.”