Scarlett's Letter (Touched by a God #1) (14 page)

Captured (13)

ΨΨΨΨΨΨ

Some rat infested hole: scarlett

She was a dumb ass! Scarlett Rose Grace was definitely a dumb ass.  There was no other explanation for it.  Always follow your first mind, but no, she had to go and attempt to do things differently.  She was supposed to meet Brock/Aides at the park tonight, but she’d gotten a surprising phone call from his “assistant” stating that the plans had changed.  She’d been leery of the car that drove up because Brock/Aides told her that he’d hated drivers.  If he drove, then he always drove himself.  It was a way of being in control of the outcome of his life.    Why would he have a driver with the machines that he handled?

She’d called him to find out why there was a sudden change in plans while she finished getting dressed.  At least, that had been her intention.  Scarlett had been so nervous about what she had to tell him and how she was going to tell him.  In the end, she just blurted it.  She didn’t even give him the opportunity to respond.  She just kept talking until static started in the line.  Idiot that she was, she didn’t think anything of it.  She kept walking to the awaiting car and disregarding the warning alarms that went off in her head.  Her body was trying to warn her.  Thinking back now, it was probably her baby letting her know that she was surrounded by evil.  So, strike two…no, it had to be like five, which wasn’t possible, against her on the dumb ass scale. 

She’d heard her phone ring while walking to the car, but chose to ignore it because she was heading out on a date with the man she thought was Brock.  It turned out that call was from the one she was heading to meet.  He’d been calling to warn her about the asshole that had sent the demon to pick her up.  He was there to actually kidnap her. Scarlett had recognized her error as soon as she slid into the back seat of the car.  The instant she was seated and the door closed behind her three creatures appeared on all sides of her.  She’d tried to scream, but a clawed hand struck out. It connected with her temple.  The last thing she saw was what looked like a muddy grin and an eye tried on her breast.

When she came to, she was being dragged down a long hallway.  The smells around her told her that she was underground.  It smelled of sewage and decay.  The area was damp.  Her feet were being drag across cement.  Every so often her heel got caught on something.  The things that had been dragging her just tugged and kept walking.  Her peep toe shoe boots were going to be trash after this. 
Yep, Scar, that’s what you need to be focusing on right now.
Her thoughts had meandered from subject to subject while they dragged her along.  Finally, they stopped.  The stairs they’d practically slammed her down were enough to have her cry out.  She just prayed.  She hoped that her baby wouldn’t suffer while she dealt with whatever this was. 

Scarlett didn’t know how long she’d been down there in the hole that she was in.  She did know that some serious time had passed and she was beginning to give up hope that someone was going to rescue her. When she’d first arrived, she just knew that she was going to be there a short time.  Something in her heart said that her time would be limited there.  She didn’t speak much and only ate the bare minimum needed to maintain her strength. 

The first time they’d served her a meal she’d tossed it back at them.  She hadn’t recognized what was on the plate.  Her mind had told her that she couldn’t trust them, whoever they were. After the fourth or maybe the fifth offering, the baby let her know that there was a reason she needed to eat.  Each time that they brought her something she waited after the initial bite.  She figured it was the best approach.  If she didn’t immediately die from it, then she was good and so was the food.  That was the theory.  In truth, the food was horrible.  What they had cooked didn’t have any taste to it.  She was violently ill the first few meals.  Afterwards, she developed a stomach for it or the baby stopped rebelling against it.   

In the time that she’d been there, she’d discovered quite a bit.  The first thing was having her suspicions confirmed that Brock was Aides.  He’d slipped up and called her Rouge in a whispered tone after having spoken to her about a couple things that she’d previously discussed only with Aides.  She learned about the woman that Hades thought that he’d cared for that took her life rather in order to prevent herself from having his child, only with pretty much every woman that had come before her.  The callous way her captor relayed that little piece of information made her want to tear him limb from limb.  He’d bellowed as she’d thought it.  At the time, she thought it was a coincidence.  As time went on, she believed it had something to do with the child she carried.  So, she ate and listened.  Luckily for her, her captor was quite a talker.

The major piece of information that she learned was that Bartong had been the man behind the curtain orchestrating all of Aides’ pain.  As the days grew and so did her belly, her heart broke for Brock/Aides/Hades more and more every day.  The saying, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” meant so much to her now.  As time passed, all she wanted was time to make things right with Aides.  She didn’t care that he’d gone to the lengths that he’d gone to in order to get her.  She felt love for him for that. Her fear was that she wouldn’t get the opportunity to be with the man she wanted to be with because of the asshole that was holding her and her baby.  Keeping them captive, had to be torturing the man that she’d come to realize she loved.  By keeping her here in this dungeon with rats and other things, Scarlett was able to come to terms with her feelings.  She no longer felt lost or betrayed.  What she felt was…
angry?
 

There was an overwhelming heat that overtook her.  In that heat she felt anger, then frustration.  As she tried to make sense of what she was feeling, a wave of confusion washed over her.  She heard Bartong’s voice.  It was all she ever heard.  Scarlett had heard no one else’s voice just his.  It was the only thing that had kept her sane while she was locked in the dungeon.  She never saw him.  She wouldn’t be able to pick him out of a line up if someone paid her to. 

Listening as intently as she could, she tried to make out what was going on around her.  Bartong’s voice was faint and distorted.  It sounded as if he was straining to speak.  That was strange.  Maybe someone was finally there for her.  She was hit with a surge of hope, then she felt the one thing that she didn’t have to really question.  Her mind didn’t want to accept it so she voiced the question that would give her the reassurance she needed. 

“Aides?” her voice sounded gravelly even to her.  She tried to clear her throat, but that was ineffective.  “Where are you?  Aides?”

“I’m here, Rouge baby.  I’m here.  What the fuck did he do to you?”

“It doesn’t matter now.  You’re here and the baby and I are safe.  Please…take us…home.  Aides…I want…to go home. “

The tears that she had previously refused to allow to escape her tear ducts ran freely as he moved forward and scooped her up in his arms.  Scarlett blacked out then.  She awoke again to a flurry of activity.  She was being carried by Aides.  He was moving quickly and some part of her innately understood why.  There was a frame of a building where the castle had formerly stood.  It was on fire and quickly burning to the ground.  She watched for a moment or two before exhaustion took over.  She was out again before she could think of any form of reaction.

When she awakened again, it was to her bedroom and she’d begun to cry because it wasn’t where she wanted to be.  She wanted to be home.  Scarlett knew where it was she wanted to be and whom she wanted to be with.  She knew where her heart laid his head and that’s where she wanted to go.

“Rouge, you are home, baby.” He sounded so confused.  He sounded unsure and she wanted to reassure him. 

“Aides, why won’t you take me home? I want to go home,” she practically begged.  Her face was flushed and tears fell in torrents down her cheeks.  Her eyelids fluttered as she tried to see him through her emotional breakdown.   

“Rouge, where’s home, baby?” Aides asked.

“With you?” she said before she hiccoughed, then apologized and continued.  “Home is where you are.”

She couldn’t be sure, but she thought she heard a very masculine, but cute shout of joy. With the hope that the next time she awakened from a fit of slumber she would be at home with Aides, Scarlett drifted off to sleep again.

The smell of musk and cedar invaded her senses.  She knew without opening her eyes that he was there with her.  She could feel him in every fiber of her being.  Scarlett could sense his previous turmoil and anguish, but now she also sensed his overwhelming joy.  The peace that washed over her lulled her back to sleep.  Even though she felt like she’d slept more than enough, she gave in to this.  It was what he wanted for her.  It was what she and the baby needed.  The baby needed to be checked out.  She made a note to have Aides, her baby daddy, call for the doctor to check on the baby and make sure everything was okay.  After all that she had gone through with Bartong, the asshat from hell, and the emotional roller coaster ride no person should ever have to go on, she didn’t think she had the ability to deal with losing their baby. 

As she settled, she thought she heard Aides tell her to rest easy and know that their child was safe and sound. 

Willing Compromise, Finally (14)

ΨΨΨΨΨΨ

His realm: Hades

SHE WAS HIS! Scarlett Rose Grace was forever bound to be
his
Rouge and the mother (bearer) of his child and future children.  A god couldn’t dream greater than that.  No god could know what it was to be this certifiably filled with joy.  Yes, he was the Lord of the Underworld.  Yes, he was ruler of the souls of the damned.  Yes, he had performed some of the most heinous acts of violence that Mother Theresa would be praying for eons to redeem his spirit.  Ah, but therein lay the rub.  He was a god.  A god that had just had to weather a storm no man or god should ever have to. 

His very reason for existing had seemingly ceased to live.  He’d felt what seemed as if her spirit had left her and he wanted someone to make it so that he could join her wherever she was. In those few moments, when he thought that she was dead, he’d wanted to command his general to lop off his head.  There was no living without her.  He could have tried to resist the truth it for a greater period of time, but that would have helped no one and just prolonged the inevitable.  Feeling the fear that she felt when she was alone with Bartong had proven too much. 

He’d lost it!  He didn’t recall much of what he’d done to the demon Lord and his former associate.  Hades remembered calling for his blades and the motion as they moved forward.  He felt his ability stop the blades as they slowly tore into the being’s flesh.  There was a tearing and he knew that he’d ripped something from the demon’s body.  It was fed to a nearby flesh eating demon.  He was told by Hermes.  

Later, as they rested in each other’s arms, he allowed his mind to go back to the moment he’d found her. He hadn’t known that he could know fear until the moment he thought he’d lost her.  Hades found himself waking in the middle of the night just to make sure that she was still there. After the first night, he decided that sleep was overrated.  He hadn’t slept since then. 

His days were filled with watching her sleep.  It was all that he did because all she’d done since he’d rescued her was rest.  Her body was exhausted.  The power that he’d gifted her with had worked overtime to keep her alive.  Apparently, Bartong had attempted to poison her so that she would lose their child.  All he had wanted to do was sit and watch her do the little things, the mundane things.  Sleeping was the most perfect thing that she’d done.  In sleeping, she was allowing her body to rejuvenate. 

He was glad that Kaleo had insisted on making sure her body was protected from any natural born attack.  Hades’ ability would protect her from a deadly attach.  He couldn’t focus on anything but her.  Hermes was keeping watch over the prisoners and the gates of his home so he could be there with her.  Hades couldn’t contain the joy of knowing that she was there with him.  She’d been rescued and the truth revealed.  His Rouge had chosen him. 

He broke all the rules by being with her in her home after the rescue.  Kaleo had argued then pleaded with him to return to his realm.  He wasn’t having it.  The only thing that could be done was Hermes went to Zeus on his behalf and a pardon was granted so that he could be at his bearer’s side.  Hades now hated that word.  His Rouge was so much more than that. When Hermes told him what he’d learned about the poisoning, he’d wanted to reincarnate Bartong and kill him all over again.  Bartong was born of a god and a demon.  He hadn’t wanted any god to know that about him.  If they knew, then his weakness was known.  Fortunate for Hades, Hermes was a fucking beast at learning the secrets others wanted to hold fast to.  As he’d set off on the journey to overtake that fucking castle and get his woman, he’d been met by Hermes who whispered the information to him.  Hermes was even less trusting than Hades was when it came to his family.  He was downright ignorant when it came to anything to do with Hades and now Scarlett.  He’d bled the entire front line of the army before Hades could even arrive. 

He’d just smiled and said, “Getting things warmed up for you, Unc.”

Hades recalled details as the haze of fury washed away.  It wasn’t completely gone until she’d told him that she wanted to go home, his home; their home.  He’d beamed like a fucking ray of sunshine that entire night.  It transformed to a slight case of worry when she didn’t awaken until the next morning.  Kaleo was practically living with them.  He’d told Hades he tired of being repeatedly called back to check on every slight change in Scarlett over the week that she’d been in and out.  Kaleo pulled her out of her slumber so that she could eat and take care of personal things, like going to the bathroom and brushing her teeth.  She would drift right back off to sleep as soon as she finished eating. 

He’d waited patiently for her to have rested enough to be able to awaken and talk to him.  He needed her to tell him that she was okay.  He needed to hear her words.  What he really needed was for her to tell him again that she’d chosen him.  Part of him worried that she only said what she said because she’d been scared and worried for their child.  Her tears and declaration had seemed genuine, but he…he just…

“I didn’t say what I said out of fear, Aides.  Or should I say Brock? Hmm,” she stretched and her perfectly rounded little belly made an appearance.

When she was here with him alone, she was naked.  He hated the cloth that covered her body.  He needed to see every nuance of the changes that came with her being full with his seed.  She was beauty personified.  His Rouge was lovelier than Aphrodite.  The goddess would have his balls on a platter if she ever heard him speak those words.

“Rouge…” he began. 

“Mmm, say it again, Aides.”

The way she moaned and stretched had his shaft stirring in his pants.  The cotton pants felt like sandpaper against his straining erection. Rough sat up as if she didn’t have a care in the world.  Her naked form was on display for him to view at his leisure. 

“Aides, my heart, I did make a request of you.”

His gaze roamed her fully healthy body.  She didn’t know that she was in her last trimester.

“I do now.  How is that possible? Wait, how long was I…gone and how long have been…
back
?” she questioned as she stood.

He could feel her confusion and the frustration of not know what was going on or how much time has passed.  His eyes were trained on her movements.  If there was even one slight tremble or step of unsure footing, then he was going to be at her side immediately. 

“Aides, stop worrying and talk to me,” she pleaded.

“I’m so sorry, Rouge,” he smiled as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  She responded as if just his saying her name was the most beautiful sound in the world for her.  “I’ve got to know if you are okay.  I know that there is only so much that I can do to make it up to you.  I’m sorry that I’m the one that has…”

“Don’t you dare finish that statement,” she said as she touched his lips. 

They both recognized what had just happened at the same moment.  He looked up at her from the lounger that had become his second home since she returned.  Her blue eyes flared and he saw the manifestation of his ability there. 
     “Did you…”

“Did I…”

“You did just move across the room to me.  That can’t be possible.  Did you feel it?  Can you feel…didn’t you answer a question that I hadn’t voiced earlier?”

“I felt your anxiety and I assumed it had to do with you feeling like I really didn’t want to be here which is the most inaccurate statement that could ever be made.  When I told you to take me home, I knew exactly what I meant.  I may have fought against the unknown, but I welcome it now.  I welcome you and this, our child.  This is my life now.  I’ll miss parts of my old life, but I have one that is worth fighting for right here with you.”

“I can’t tell you how much that pleases me.  I didn’t think I would ever see the end of that hateful prophecy.  I felt something I’d never felt before when you crossed my path.  As much as I hated every moment of not having you here with me, I’m glad that none of the others that came before you were the one.  You make all of the heartache and frustration seem trivial.  I wouldn’t know where to begin in attempting to convey what I feel for you, Rouge.  I know there are pieces of my life that…”

“Shh, Aides.  I am well aware of what it is that I’m getting myself into.  I say bring that shit on.  I am the one that has Hades heart.  Deal with it.”

He could do nothing, but chuckle.  They spent the rest of that day and the next catching her up on everything that he could recall.  He explained how things went with the birth of demigods and how the pregnancy progressed a great deal faster than an ordinary human pregnancy.  He let her know that the birth could be a bit difficult and that she would probably be giving birth in a few days.  Hades assured her that Kaleo would not be far away.  She shocked him by asking if he would be willing to play a game or two of role play.  His body stiffened when he thought about the fact that they hadn’t really discussed how she found out about his deception.  He had an inkling, but he wanted to see if he’d been accurate.  His Rouge rushed to quickly sooth his mind and told him that she liked the “rough and tumble” version of him.  She went on to say that she also enjoyed the man that he was when he was his alter ego.  They had been talking as she’d gone through the motions of getting prepared for bed.  She told him that she had a feeling that they were one in the same, but Bartong had confirmed it.

“Did you really think that after seven years of spending months with you I wouldn’t recognize the little quirks that make up who you are?” she’d asked.

“What gave me away?” he inquired, happy that she didn’t seem to be too upset about his deceit.

“Oh no, Mr. Jenson, I’m not telling and I assure you that I am no longer upset. I’ve had plenty of time to deal with just how pissed off I was. When I figured out the man that I was starting to have feelings for was Aides playing a role, I was out for blood. I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t figured it out sooner.  I mean Brock bore a striking resemblance to Aides, you know the original man that I had already fallen for. Since then, certain things have happened: being kidnapped for one and almost dying for two, that gave me perspective.  I gained perspective, fairly quickly.  I realized that I loved you and it didn’t matter which face you presented to me.  I wanted whichever one that you were happiest with.  I told myself that I wouldn’t hide or run from you if I was able to get back to you.  I have to admit though that I’m kind of partial to Hades/Aides,” she said as she lay across his chest.

“Ask me no questions, I’ll tell you no lies.  I expect the same from you, my lovely Rouge.  I have it on good authority that you preferred Brock to Hades or even Aides. I don’t need my ego stroked.  I’m a big god. I’ve live…where do you think you’re going?”

For a woman in her last trimester that had recently had a traumatizing event happen to her, she moved rather quickly on her own two legs.  Her lithe dancer’s body moved far too quickly to be eight months pregnant.  That had to be a result of the power that he had transferred to her.

“If you are going to lay there and tell me that I’m lying to you or trying to stroke your already godlike fucking ego, then I am going to finish doing what I was doing in the first place.”

She went into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.  He shook his head.  Did she really think that she was going to be able to lock him out of his own bathroom?  He attempted to move into the bathroom, but quickly found that he was blocked.

“What the fuck?”

He sat up and tried again.  Nothing.  Hades felt a rumble in his chest and realized that he was actually growling.  Her snicker pulled him back from the dark side that he could feel himself about to slide to.  He’d never known a time since he mastered his ability that he couldn’t call on his power and have it take him where he wanted to go.  The growling was a natural response to his frustration.  She full out laughed when he began to mumble to himself about his lady being given a different manifestation of his ability. 

Her thoughts entered his mind after his own grumbling thought completed.

Poseidon’s gift to me, Mr. Jenson.  I can only use it once every full moon and there is a limit on the time that I can have it available to me. 

How long before…shit!

“Hello there, Mr. Jenson,” she greeted him as she leaned against the counter with her toothbrush in hand. 

“Why didn’t you tell me my brother gifted you with an ability?  What else can I expect?  Did anyone else gift you with anything?  I feel like I should be worried.”

He’d said it to her back as she brushed her teeth and rinsed her mouth.  She began brushing again.  When she finished and rinsed again, he began to ask if she was being a little obsessive about her dental hygiene.  He was all for fresh breath, but damn.  Hades was opening his mouth to speak when he felt the feeling of being completely naked.  Rouge was no longer standing next to the counter either.  She was kneeling before him palming his manhood just before guiding it into her awaiting, beautiful mouth.  He didn’t know what she’d done, but the sensation that coursed over him as she moved him in and out of her lips fucking fantastic.  Her tongue swirled around him and could’ve sworn…yep, he felt as if were numb from the waist to his thighs but only around the area of his package. 

“Rouge…baby, what the…”

Do you want me to concentrate on talking to you or pleasuring you?