Chapter 46

Serena's POV

“What are you up to?” I breathed, though my heart already knew the answer.

He leaned in closer, his heat wrapping around me, and every coherent thought dissolved in the tension between us.

“What do you think I’m up to?” His voice was rough, like sandpaper scraping over stone, low and filled with something dangerous.

I looked up at him, my breath catching. His leg moved forward, slipping between my thighs with a smooth, deliberate motion. He leaned in closer. Every inch of me went taut as I realized what he was about to do.

He wanted to kiss me.

I told myself to push him away, to create space between us, but my limbs wouldn’t move. My body felt like it was betraying me, frozen in place and tingling everywhere he was near.

Then he ruined the moment with a ridiculous joke. “I was simply thinking about the honor of being the first to see your private space… this room.”

I blinked at him, stunned, before smacking his chest and shoving him back. “You’re crazy!”

He chuckled, the sound deep and infuriating.

Rolling my eyes, I reached up to smooth my hair. Somehow, it felt like he’d messed with more than just my thoughts.

That’s when he started sniffing.

“What’s wrong with you?” I demanded.

He paused, tilting his head as if concentrating. “This room… I perceive some lingering…” He trailed off, giving me a pointed, knowing look.

“What?” I asked sharply.

“Arousal.”

My stomach plummeted. “W-what?”

“Did you get aroused this morning?” His question was blunt, cutting through any pretense.

Heat flooded my face. I looked at him, flushed and silent, unable to form a coherent response.

“N-no!” I yelled, running a shaky hand through my hair and looking away. Damn it. He could smell that? My mind raced. Damn that wet dream I had this morning. If I’d known, I would’ve drowned the room in body spray or refused to let him in at all.

Suddenly, he was in front of me again, his gaze dark and piercing. “Were you craving us this morning?”

“Us?” I echoed, barely able to breathe.

He nodded slowly. “Or was it just… a particular person?”

“You’re talking nonsense, Hades,” I said, voice strained.

“Why?” He stepped closer, crowding me. “You seem embarrassed. Did you dream about us doing… some,” his hand found my hair and tucked it behind my ear, “crazy shits to you?”

A shiver ran down my spine at his touch.

I couldn’t deny the electric spasm spreading over my skin, but I forced myself to snap out of it, stepping back quickly. “Enough.”

But then his next words hit me like a thunderbolt. “I think you liked the thought of us.”

The air felt charged, and before I could process what I was doing, I tried to push him away. Instead, I tripped and landed right on top of him on the bed, gasping.

He looked up at me with a teasing smirk. “Careful, Serena. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you wanted this.”

Furious, I raised my hand to hit him again, but he grabbed it effortlessly, flipping me beneath him with a swift, practiced motion.

Now, I was pinned, my heart pounding in my ears.

“Hades—”

He cut me off with a slow, dangerous smile. “What are you so afraid of, Serena?”

The room seemed to shrink around us, the tension thick enough to drown in.

“Afraid of?” I chuckled, forcing a bravado I didn’t fully feel. “I have nothing to be afraid of. And don’t assume I’d be afraid of you. You’re nothing to be afraid of.”

Hades studied me, his eyes narrowing. There was something dark and dangerous in his gaze, but it wasn’t the kind of danger that made me want to run.

“But I’m afraid of…” He leaned closer, his breath brushing my cheek. “What I might do to you any minute now. Just being like this with you makes me want to rip your clothes off and—”

He paused, swallowing hard. He looked as though he was wrestling with his words, but his eyes betrayed him. They burned with raw honesty.

Before anything more could happen, the door swung open. Both our heads snapped toward it.

“Mother?” I blurted out, my voice barely above a whisper. My mother stood there, blinking in surprise.

Hades leaned back to the bed, releasing me, and I scrambled to my feet.

“Well…” My mother’s lips twitched into a smile.

“It’s not what you think it is, Mother!” I said quickly.

“Oh. I wasn’t thinking about anything, dear.” She chuckled, but the glance she shot at Hades told me otherwise. “I just wanted to tell you that the food is getting cold.”

With that, she turned and left, closing the door behind her.

Hades smirked at me. “You think she believed you?”

I ignored him, brushing past him and heading downstairs.

At the dining table, my father gave us a once-over. “Well, I’m sure Alpha Hades was just admiring our lovely Serena’s room and didn’t mind the time passing.”

My mother’s eyes twinkled. “Exactly.”

Hades smiled politely and nodded.

We started eating, but I couldn’t miss how my mother kept stealing glances at him. Finally, she spoke up. “Alpha Hades, do you have a girlfriend?”

Hades opened his mouth, glanced at me, and then shook his head. “No.”

“Oh, too bad. I would’ve wanted to be yours, but I’m stuck with him.” She pointed at my father.

“Mother!” I groaned.

My father waved dismissively. “Don’t mind her, Serena. She’s just kidding.” He turned to Hades. “She’s been talking about you nonstop. Those flowers you gave her—I don’t know if you enchanted them or what, but she kept sniffing them all night.”

My mother rolled her eyes. “At least he brought me flowers. You haven’t done that in years.”

My father chuckled. “Fine. I’ll learn from Alpha Hades and do better. I’ll get you some flowers soon.”

“That’s better.” My mother grinned, and Hades smiled along with her. “So, Hades, do you have a love interest?”

Hades hesitated. “Uh… yes.”

“Great! Who is she?”

He looked at me. My mother’s gaze shifted between us, her smile widening. I panicked and, without thinking, stomped on Hades’ foot under the table.

“Ahh!” He yelped, jerking in his seat.

“What? Are you okay?” my mother asked.

“I’m fine.” He forced a smile. “Just a cramp.” He gave me a sidelong glance, and I looked away.

“So, your love interest…?”

“Yes.” Hades cleared his throat. “I’m just giving her time.”

My mother nodded approvingly. “That’s very gentle of you. It shows you’re a man of patience and care.”

She's thinking so highly of him. Gosh. If only she knew how irritating he could be.

After dinner, I walked Hades out of the house. We made it to the gate before he suddenly turned to me, his expression serious.

“Why did you step on me back there?”

“Nothing. Maybe I just got fed up with you talking to my mother.”

“Well, she was talking to me. I couldn’t exactly stay silent.”

“If you didn’t act all charming, she wouldn’t have kept going!”

He smirked. “Are you pissed?”

“Yes! So keep away.”

“But it’s the truth.”

“What truth?”

“You’re my love interest.”

I froze, staring at him, momentarily speechless.

I countered. “You didn’t like me one bit from the very first day we met.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.”

He stepped closer, his movements measured and deliberate. “I wouldn’t have wanted to spend even a minute, let alone four hours, with you in that hotel room if you didn’t stir something in me.”

Our faces were just inches apart. He looked at me with an intensity I couldn’t decipher, something raw and soulful in his gaze. The air between us felt charged, and for a moment, I forgot how to breathe.