The waiter ran off, fetched the drink, and then set it on the table.
Hades slid it toward me then gave a slight nod.
Just to prove a point, I took a drink without making a sour face, and then slid it back to him. “Piss.”
This time, both corners of his mouth rose in a smile.
I drank from my glass a little more often than usual, feeling the nerves getting to me. I assumed he would say a couple of words then return to his date, but he continued to linger like his agenda hadn’t been fulfilled.
“My assumption was incorrect.” He swirled his glass and took another drink. “You are far more beautiful than I ever could have predicted.” This man was confident enough to speak his mind without fear of the consequences, to tell a woman she was beautiful without being afraid of her response. The sting of rejection had never pierced his skin, so he didn’t carry scars like the rest of us.
I shouldn’t be flattered by that comment, but in all honesty, I was. “Am I still too young for you?” I could still smell the nighttime air on my nose, feel the bumps on my arms, the taste of smoke in my mouth. It was a lifetime ago, when I was a completely different person, but it all came rushing back to me. At the time, our age difference didn’t matter. He was a gorgeous man that I’d wanted to sink my claws into. I’d assumed I was an adult that could handle anything. But now that I was older, I knew he’d made the right call when he walked away. He gave in to a moment of weakness and kissed me, but he didn’t let it grow into something else. He really was too old for me… We both knew it.
He set his glass down and let his deep-brown eyes look into mine, piercing my gaze as if he could see everything underneath my skin. He could see my heartbeat, my damaged soul. He could see the curves of my body through my tight dress, notice the sharpness of my tits. He slowly brought his hand to his mouth and dragged his fingers across his lips, as if he were catching a drop of scotch that somehow had missed his tongue. He was clearly uncomfortable in the tense silence between words. It was as if he fed off the heat. “Definitely not.” His eyes lowered slightly, giving me a quick glance-over before he lifted his eyes to meet my gaze again. One hand grasped his glass while the other stayed on his thigh.
The lock between our gazes started to make me sweat. He was better at this game than I was, so I took a drink to wash away the tension in the cords of my neck. All my muscles tightened painfully, making me rigid. I vowed I would never let a man affect my confidence, but Hades was an opponent I could never beat.
“Following in your father’s footsteps?”
“Trying to.”
“Still ambitious, I see.” He glanced around the bar, his eyes gently scanning his surroundings for nothing in particular. “That’s sexy in a woman.”
“Sexy in a man, too.”
He turned back to me. “Then you won’t be able to keep your hands off me.”
“I’m doing it right now.”
He grinned slightly. “Give it time.”
I wanted to destroy his confidence, but I couldn’t because he was right. Just like with every other woman in the world, this man had me. He’d already watched me yank him into my arms and kiss him while my family could catch us at any moment. My cards were already on the table.
“Take my advice?” He rubbed his thumb against his glass, wiping away the condensation.
“About getting fucked?” I asked bluntly.
He gave a slight nod.
“That’s a personal question, and it’s none of your business.”
“It is my business.” He turned to me, freezing me in place with that serious look. His brown eyes were beautiful in that masculine face, his dark hair around his jaw, the beautiful structure of his countenance… Everything made him perfect. “Because I’m going to fuck you.”
The second he said the last word, my heart spiked and started to pulse like I was about to sprint a marathon. Sweat formed at the back of my neck when I imagined his perfect body on top of mine, making good on his word. I would resist at first, pretending that every thrust he gave wasn’t the best sex I’d ever had, but when he made me come, it would be impossible to lie. He would push me until I admitted the truth…that I wanted him inside me again and again. I’d never felt that way with another man, as if I couldn’t get enough of him and wanted him in my bed every night. I suspected Hades would be the first, and that told me I should stay away from him. “That’s presumptuous.”