I was still sore, and every time I shifted on my chair, there was that slight twinge of discomfort. I swore I could still feel him deep in me.
He ran his thumb back and forth over his bottom lip, his eyes growing hooded the longer he watched me.
“What?” I breathed out. I placed my hands in my lap, pulling at the sleeves of my cardigan, feeling my body heat. God, I felt like a nympho around him.
“I’m just thinking about how sweet your pussy tastes.” He leaned back in the chair, the wood creaking slightly. “I keep picturing spreading you out on the table and eating out your cunt.”
I heated, grew wet. The sound of the staff just in the other room should have made me dryer than the desert, but knowing anyone could walk in and hear the obscene things Hades said turned me on.
“What happened last night?” My voice cracked.
“I fucked you, baby. Real good, didn’t I?”
My face grew unbearably hot. “You know what I mean.”
“Hmm.” He sounded so self-satisfied as he made that sound.
Dropping his arm to the table, he started smoothing his fingers back and forth over his linen napkin almost seductively.
“Do you really wanna know, or are you just stalling?” The corner of his mouth quirked up, and I licked my lips. “You really want me to tell you?”
I felt like I was on autopilot right now, but I had to know. Did he kill the judge? Just maim him like he had Trevor? I knew I would feel at fault even though I hadn’t committed the act. But Hades would’ve done it because of me, to protect me.
“Did you kill him?” He stayed silent, and with each passing second, my heart beat harder and faster.
“I hurt the one who hurt you.” He grabbed his cup of coffee, taking a long sip, his focus never wavering from me. “But I didn’t kill him. Not this time. I made my point clear. Broken jaw. Shattered kneecaps. And his hands…” He ran the tip of his tongue over the rim of his mug. “I took a hammer to each digit until his bones became powder. If he so much as breathes in your direction, if his bastard offspring looks at you the wrong way, I will rip both of their throats out.”
I felt shock and horror claim me. The visual of what Hades had just described was abhorrent. But then I thought about what the judge had done to me, said to me. And any shock seemed to take a back seat to my… satisfaction.
He set the mug back on the table and called out to the staff. A second later, an older gentleman came in. And the entire time, Hades watched me.
He reached down, grabbed his briefcase off the floor, and set it on the table. A quick pop-pop and the locks were undone, and he was opening the lid. I couldn’t see the contents inside from my position, but it was only a second later that he was closing it and holding up a knife.
I felt my eyes grow large. The knife was sheathed in black leather, and I could tell the blade wasn’t enormous, maybe the length of my palm. Hades set the briefcase back on the ground and unsheathed it, the silver catching the morning sunlight.
“What’s that for?” My mind immediately went to images of him dragging that blade along my skin. Not hurting me. Not cutting me, but the threat would be there. As if he heard or read my thoughts, he slowly grinned.
“Another time to play like that, baby. This is for you to protect yourself when I’m not around.” He held the blade out, handle toward me, and for a second I didn’t take it.
But then I reached out and curled my fingers around the hilt.
“That’s a fixed blade from William Henry.”
I didn’t know what that meant, but nodded regardless.
“The Damascus blade has an HRC rating of sixty for optimal sharpness and consists of sixty-seven layers of three alloys.”
I lifted my gaze to his. “Impressive.” Again, I didn’t know what the hell that meant.
“The Kingman turquoise is compressed with a zinc matrix that looks wonderful with the G-10 composite handle and black leather lanyard with sterling silver accents.”
There was a gorgeous turquoise inlay in the handle, and I ran my fingers along it.
“A motherfucker comes at you, I want you to use that, Persephone.”
“W-what? I can’t stab someone.”
“You can and you will. You stab that fucker repeatedly until they stop.”