And then I passed the actual library.
With built-in shelves, three of the walls were filled with nothing but books. There was a deep-colored leather couch in the center of the room and a small table with a reading lamp beside that. An open book flipped over sat beside that.
Maybe Hades sat here and schemed on how to destroy people’s lives and torment them for sport?
I shook my head because I was demonizing a man I truly didn’t know. I could only go off from the hatred my father had for him and the rumors I’d heard. Surely he’d been awful for everyone to dislike him. Right?
I enjoyed the solace and calm of the house at this time of night. I felt like I was the only person here.
But as I descended the stairs and started exploring the lower level, walking down hallways I’d never been before, turning corners I didn’t even know were there, I heard a deepthump thump thumpthe farther I ventured.
I stopped in front of a door at the end of the hallway, hearing muted, heavy music coming through.
I probably shouldn’t have reached out and turned the knob and pulled the door open, but I stood at the top of a flight of stairs that descended into the basement.
Before I was even down the stairs, I saw another closed door. By now, the music was growing louder as I moved down the steps and stood at the bottom landing. Curiosity was an accelerant as I opened the second door.
I involuntarily took a step back at the sight before me. Music blasted out of the large gymnasium, and the scent of sweat and something deeper, dark and spicy, filled my nose.
Maybe it should’ve been unpleasant.
But it wasn’t the sight of the gym or the aroma of masculine sweat that had me transfixed. It was the fact Hades stood in the center of the vast room in just a pair of boxing shorts as he beat the living hell out of a dummy in the center of the room.
Not only that, but his arms, chest, and back were completely covered in dark ink. I could see the way his muscles flexed underneath all those tattoos, and when he shifted on his feet, bouncing on the balls, his back facing me, I was staring right at a vicious-looking skull face.
It covered him from shoulder blades to waist and disappeared beneath his shorts. Made up of scrollwork and flowers, knives, and even guns interwoven, the entire thing was a beautiful tapestry covering his skin.
Music blasted from the speakers that hung in the corners of the ceiling. It was angry and loud. And despite Hades’ colossal size and intimidating body, his moves were fluid as he swung, ducked, and threw his arms hard and fast into the dummy.
He did this repeatedly as if he were dancing a graceful, violent choreography.
I felt my brows furrow the longer I watched him. When the light hit him every so often as he moved, I could see strange patterns etched into his skin.
The marks were raised, long, and crisscrossing each other. It took me a moment to realize what I was looking at. Somebody had hit him. Whipped him. There was no other explanation for that type of pattern on his flesh.
I could see droplets of sweat sliding down the wide, muscular expanse of his back.
But seeing him like this? He looked brutal. Like a savage. He truly was as dangerous as he appeared.
I didn’t know how long I stood there, just watching him, but at the moment he shifted on his feet and turned around, our eyes locked. It was as if my body knew Ineededto edge away from the predator.
I took a step back, my heart instantly racing, a flood of adrenaline filling my system.
A second later, the music cut off on its own, and I swallowed, a thick lump suddenly lodged in my throat. I was afraid, yet that rush of adrenaline from the fear wasn’t abhorrent as it should’ve been. It was almost… exciting.
“It’s late,” Hades said in a deep, rough voice. He didn’t even sound out of breath, although sweat covered his body and his chest pumped up and down from exertion. “What the fuck are you doing out of bed and down here?” He took a step forward, and I took one back, but the wall stopped my retreat. I glanced to the left to see the stairs. I could run up them fast and quickly go to my room and shut and lock the door.
He gave a deep chuckle that had me slowly looking back at him.
“Go on,” he taunted as he came closer. “Run up the stairs. Let me chase you.”
I felt my eyes widen. I didn’t know what was happening between us. The shift in the relationship was completely inappropriate, yet I didn’t want it to stop.
“You think you’re fast. But I promise I’m faster.”
The danger that poured off of him, the unrestrained violence that I knew he was capable of,shouldn’thave had me nearly moaning.
I hated myself for wanting him, for wanting to know what it would feel like to have those big, rough, tattooed hands holding me down, giving me bruises. I was disgusted with myself.