Page 37 of Hades

I nodded. “To pack up and get the fuck outta here.”

She nodded and squeezed my hand back. “Where will we go?”

That was the question, wasn’t it. “Back to Steel City. Not only do we have Russians chasing us, but we have a traitor in the MC.”

Chapter Nineteen

Raven

Inside the car was silent but it wasn’t the peaceful, comfortable sort of silence we’d shared over the past week. This was the loud kind of silence. The kind that echoed all around you until your guts twisted up and your pulse pounded in your throat. My gaze sharpened on the details on the highway as the trees turned into fields and then into the dry, brown desert.

I saw everything without seeing any of it. Guilt weighed heavy on my shoulders, but now it was mixed in with the sadness that I’d taken a life. Or assisted in taking a life, I guess. I didn’t really care about Viktor’s men dying, they deserved it for me and for so many girls just like me. What I care about more than anything, what left me cold and shaking and so fucking terrified I couldn’t see straight was that Hades could’ve died tonight.

And it would’ve been all my fault.

I couldn’t stop that thought from looping in my brain over and over again. Every time I looked over at his strong hands gripping the steering wheel, I saw him lying dead in the woods and my heart skipped. It flipped and turned over before it sank to my belly. I closed my eyes and let out a long, heavy breath.

“Hey, are you okay?” Hades reached out and laid a hand on my thigh.

God, that big, warm hand was so comforting. So satisfying. I shouldn’t be taking that from him, not after tonight. A bitter laugh escaped. “You just killed three men and you’re asking if I’m okay?” I shook my head, before turning to face him. “Seriously?”

He grinned and it was one of those boyish grins that erased the years and the hardship that often showed around his eyes and mouth. “They would’ve killed me and taken you, Raven. I’d do it again.”

“I know,” I answered because I knew it was true. The furious way he looked when he saw that one of the Russian goons had me told me everything. He would burn down the world to keep me safe. “That’s not what I’m upset about,” I finally admitted because after what he’d done, he deserved it.

“Tell me,” he insisted, picking up my hand and bringing it to his lips. “Tell me what you’re upset about.”

His voice was soft and patient, and I didn’t deserve it. “I’m upset that all of this is happening. That you’re in danger because of me. That—” I gasped when he jerked the wheel to the right and slammed on the brakes. “Whoa!”

Hades turned to me with furrowed brows and pinched lips. “Listen to me, Raven. Listen to every fucking word I say because I need you to hear me, yeah?”

I swallowed hard and nodded quickly. “I’m listening.”

“Good.” His big hands cradled my face like I was something, someone he wanted to cherish. “I chose this, Raven. This life. This assignment. I chose you. Knowing the risks and the danger, I chose you, Raven. And I’d choose you again and again, so stop carrying around guilt that’s not yours to carry.”

His words took my breath away but not more than the kiss he laid on me. It was hot and fiery, it was so damn intense I couldn’t catch my breath for one fucking second and I loved it. And Hades was right there with his big hands roaming all over my body. His touch was firm yet gentle and I couldn’t get enough of it.

I leaned into his touch, completely intoxicated by the intensity of his kiss. “Backseat. Now.”

I nodded frantically, sucking down big gulps of breath as I squeezed my body between the front seats and launched myself into the backseat. “Hurry,” I grunted hungrily, tugging his shirt to rush him to join me.

“Somebody’s greedy.”

“For you? Hell yes!” I fitted my lips to his again, kissing him with the kind of intensity I never felt before. Kissing him with the kind of intensity that terrified and thrilled me at the same time. My breaths came out in short, sharp pants. My hands clawed at his t-shirt before I finally tore it from his beautiful body. “Fuck, Hades.”

“That’s the plan, babe.” He kissed my mouth and my neck, dragging his lips across my belly while his fingers popped the button on my jeans and lowered the zipper. “I’ll bet you’re soaked for me right now.”

I smiled, reaching for his waistband but he gripped my wrists at my side and settled between my thighs. “Find out for yourself.”

“Done,” he growled, using his shoulders to spread me wide. “Even in the darkness I can see how drenched you are for me.” His flat tongue swiped through my folds until my hips bucked off the seat.

“Oh fuck!”

“Drenched,” he growled before devouring my pussy like it was his last meal. He made an utterly masculine growling sound as his tongue lapped at my pussy before it slid into me.

“Oh fuck, Hades! Yes!” I squirmed and rolled my hips, unable to touch him because he still had my hands. “Fuck, just like that!”

He growled louder, the sound shot up my spine before my orgasm exploded out of me in one, long, fiery moment that went on forever. His tongue didn’t stop, it only slowed, prolonging my pleasure until another wave of pleasure slammed into me. “Perfect,” he whispered, kissing the insides of my thighs. My hip bones. “I need to fuck you now, Raven.” His lips danced along my belly and up my body before settling on my breasts. “God, I love your tits.” He yanked up my shirt and freed me, licking and sucking one nipple while he massaged the other.