Part of me wanted to talk her through it, to tell her exactly what to do, but she had other plans. Merri had me seeing stars and losing the fight against my orgasm within minutes. It was unfair, really. She was born for seduction, and I’d been denying myself for centuries. I’d lost the battle before we even started.
And I’d never been so happy to lose.
“Merri,” I gasped as I fell over the edge, coming down her throat.
My pulse pounded in my ears, and it was several shuddering breaths later before I managed to open my eyes.
All I wanted was to pull her into my arms and keep her with me, but as the room came back into focus, I realized two things simultaneously. I was awake, and Merri was gone.
A wave of conflicting emotions hit me all at once: disappointment, confusion, despair, euphoria... love. It was entirely too much to make sense of.
But one thing was abundantly clear. One of us was in denial.
I just wasn’t sure if it was Merri... or if it was me.
Chapter
Fourteen
HADES
It’d been too damn long since I’d visited my realm. What with the apocalypse taking every moment of our time and collective efforts, and all. But by the looks of things, my crew was keeping things running like a well-oiled machine. The lines had never been longer, but that was to be expected with all the death and destruction Earth had seen the last few months.
“Now serving soul number 7,568,989,001 at counter ten,” an automated voice said over the din of people waiting their turn.
“What the fuck is that garbage?” Asshole asked, pawing at my leg.
“I have no fucking clue,” I muttered, his question mirroring my own. “Shouldn’t you know? You’re the one who's been holding down the fort.”
Asshole scoffed. “How very dare you imply I’ve been slacking when you know I’ve been on a super important mission with my girl Keeks.”
“Who gave permission to change the way we do things? Who are all these people at the counters?” I scanned the ten kiosks that had replaced Janine’s desk. Each soul behind the impersonal glass barriers looked less than thrilled to bethere. Complexions ashen, eyes sunken, expressions grim. They appeared more like prisoners than willing volunteers.
“Not exactly Miss Argentina, are they?” Asshole asked.
“From Beetlejuice?”
“Fuck yeah. She was my favorite shade of blue, and those stems... Mmm, I bet she gives a real good walk.”
I groaned before storming past the people waiting to be processed and headed toward the kiosks.
“You haven’t met your quota yet, Al. I told you, if you want to avoid the infernal fires of floor seven, you have to process at least fifty percent faster than you have been. Time is money, pal. Stop wasting mine.”
Janine. I turned in the direction of her voice and made a beeline for my number two.
“What the fuck is this?” I asked when I came up behind her.
Janine jumped and spun toward me, one hand pressed against her chest, the other clutching a clipboard. After sucking in a breath, she righted her cat-eye glasses and gave me a stern glare. “Boss. You really gotta stop sneaking up on a girl. You gave me a fright. If I wasn’t already dead, I might’ve had a coronary.”
“Who the fuck are these souls you have doing your job?”
“Now serving soul number 7,568,989,002 at counter seven.”
“And what in Zeus’s name isthat?” I gestured wildly at the space because the computerized voice seemed to come from everywhere all at once.
Janine smacked her gum as she looked upward with a grin. “Oh, that? Isn’t it nifty? It really saves my voice.”
“What happened to the personal touch? To welcoming the downtrodden?”
