Chapter 3

Camille Laurent

To my horror, I'm disappointed to hear his usual cold tone. Nothing like that husky, deep way he used to order his lover not to move.

"Masochistic".

"I earned it," I reply, shrugging and feigning composure. But I'm not as good at it as he is.

His mouth curves slightly, a gesture so subtle I almost miss it. He takes a step closer. Another. Until I feel trapped even with at least two meters of distance between us.

Even though I'm still half-lying in bed, he looks down at me with the same superiority as always.

He glances down at my hand, which is in my lap. I can practically imagine him scenting my arousal like a bloodhound. I pray that my cheeks and neck don't turn red with embarrassment.

"Were you busy? Am I interrupting something?"

"Oh, Christ."

He didn't notice, did he? And even if he did have an idea, he doesn't know what was going through my head while I touched myself. He can't read minds. He may be a demon, but mind reading isn't one of his powers.

He takes a step toward me. Then another. The distance closes until I feel his shadow upon me. He leans in, forcing me to look up.

"Tell me, Camille…," she whispers, so close I can smell her perfume mixed with the wine. "did you like what you saw?"

My heart leaps. I don't answer, but my cheeks burn.

"He noticed. Of course he noticed. Damn Hades."

"I don't know what you're talking about." I try to act indifferent, but my voice betrays me even though I deny it.

His laugh is brief and dark.

"It excited you." He doesn't ask, he states it. He looks again at my hand, glistening with my own arousal, and smiles arrogantly. "What happened, Camille? Wasn't watching in silence enough for you?"

I don't answer. My body betrays me, and he knows it.

His smile lingers, slow, confident, sharp.

"Admit it," he murmurs. "You were turned on watching it. And you hate it as much as you want to."

His nearness sets my skin ablaze. He doesn't touch me, but I feel his warmth, his breath too close.

"Do you want me to say it for you?" he whispers with that unbearable calm. "You saw yourself there, instead of her. Under my hands. In my bed."

A shiver runs through me. I press my lips together to stifle my response, but the damned sound that escapes me betrays me; it's a muffled groan, born of pure frustration.

He smiles arrogantly, enjoying my reaction.

"That's what I thought," he says in a low, almost mocking tone. "It turns you on to imagine obeying, doesn't it? Calling me... what do you call me when you won't even look me in the face? Hades?"

Adrian tilts his head, savoring every second of my discomfort. He knows I won't say anything.

"Do you want me to shut up?" He shakes his head, answering himself. "No, right? You want me to continue. You want me to tell you how I would bring you to your knees, how I would hold your neck, how I would make you moan only when I allow it."

My legs tense, my breathing quickens. I shouldn't listen to him, but I can't stop him.

"Just for peeping, I'd make your ass red, a small punishment for the affront. Can you imagine me at your mercy, Camille?"

My name on his tongue is dangerous. He draws it out slowly, sensually. It's too stimulating.

"Can you imagine being like the woman I just sent home because she wanted to come here with you to finish what you started?"

I swallow hard.

"You're into the dominant vibe, aren't you?""I don't know how I manage to find any stability in my voice. I feel too vulnerable right now."

Her smile turns dangerous. She shrugs.

"Only when I want to."

I roll my eyes.

"Is that what you want? Is that why you brought me here? To tie me to the headboard of your bed, make me stick my ass out, and fuck me like an animal?"

My words hit their mark. I can see it.

"No, it wasn't for that," he whispers, bringing his thumb to his full lower lip," but the image you're showing me interests me. Stand up."

The order comes cold and direct. And before I know it, my feet are moving out of bed.

I can't react in time, before his hand is already around my neck and his body is pushing me against the wall behind us.

"Is this what you want?"

The move steals my breath. He doesn't squeeze, he barely holds me, but the weight of his control is enough to make my whole body react. His gaze is fixed on mine. It's dark and intense.

She raises an eyebrow, waiting for my response.

My lips part, but no sound comes out. I'm panting, trembling, the wetness between my legs increasing with each passing second.

"I hate it. I hate that he can provoke this in me without even touching me anywhere else."

I squeeze my thighs together, my hands trying to find support against the wall, but he immobilizes me with nothing more than that firm pressure on my neck. And although I know I could push him away, that a simple shove would be enough to free me, I don't. I don't want to.

A groan escapes me, low, humiliating.

Hades is smiling. That son of a bitch is smiling, enjoying the reaction he just dragged out of me.

"I knew it," he murmurs, with unbearable arrogance.

I swallow, trying to regain some semblance of control.

"This isn't right, Camille. You can't give him the power. You can't surrender to him."

But a part of me wants him. A part that's been burning inside me since I saw him with that woman, a part that needs to know what it would be like to be under his control.

However, now that I think about it another way, if I accept what he's offering, if I become what he wants me to be, I can be closer. Much closer than I ever imagined.

"Close to his private world. Close to his secrets. Close to what I need."

Arousal mingles with cold, calculating certainty. I raise my chin, as if I could truly feign confidence amidst this inferno.

"Yes," I whisper, barely audible. "This is what I want."

He raises an eyebrow, his thumb brushes against the skin of my throat.

"Are you sure?" Now he sounds hoarse. If I didn't think he was more moderate in his emotions, I'd say he was even surprised.

I take a deep breath, my body betrays me with another tremor.

"Yes. Try me. I want you to see that I can be what you're looking for."

A spark of satisfaction flares in his eyes. And I realize that I've just opened the door to a game from which there's no turning back.