And here Hades was, trying togivehim money.
“Thanks,” Aaren said, his throat tight.
Hades squeezed his leg and kept on driving.
Instead of heading straight for the Wine Shack, Hades took a detour through a neighborhood of small, tidy homes. He pulled into the driveway of one such home, with a clover lawn and a neat little path leading up to the front door. A few googly-eyed frogs sat next to the door; a baby frog perched on top of a large frog, holding up a sign:Home Ribbit Home.
“It’s not much,” Hades said. “I wasn’t expecting anyone to come live with me when I bought this house. But at some point in the future, I thought... I might move into a place with more room.”
He sneaked a peek at Aaren, looking hopeful and almost shy.
Ex-convict Hades, who had probably done violent things in his past.
Shy.
Because of Aaren.
12
GETTING TO KNOW YOU
Aaren gaped.Then he blushed. “I’m sure this house is big enough.”
“Well, at least I wasn’t counting on the house to make you moan,” Hades said dryly. Aaren choked. “C’mon, let me show you around before I drive you to work.”
Aaren scrambled to follow Hades to the front door. “You like frogs? These look familiar.”
“Funny you should say that. I saw an ad for them at the Wine Shack and asked Olson about it. Turns out, his best friend’s coworker, Perry Larkin...Hisalpha was selling some frog-themed decorations. Something about a Youtube channel. Anyway, I thought these looked hilarious and bought them.”
“They’re adorable,” Aaren said fervently. Then the front door opened, and Hades waved Aaren in.
The first thing that struck Aaren, was that Hades’ house smelled entirely of cherrywood.
He stopped next to the door and justbreathed.
Hades raised an eyebrow.
“Smells so good,” Aaren blurted. “I love the way you smell.”
Before he could claw back the words, Hades grinned. “I figured as much. You keep trying to sniff me.”
Aaren blushed hotly. Hades rumbled, and cradled Aaren’s face with one hand, skimming his thumb across Aaren’s cheekbone.
“You’re beautiful when you blush,” Hades murmured.
“Well, so are you. Beautiful, I mean. Even when you don’t blush. But if you ever blush, I want to see it.” Aaren froze, horrified that these words were falling out of his mouth. What was he doing? Surely no one told ex-cons that they were beautiful! Especially ex-con alphas. “Um.”
Hades stared at him. Aaren stared back, wracking his mind for a distraction.
In a sudden fit of inspiration, he stepped forward, palming Hades’ bulge. “Mmm!”
Hades laughed. “As distraction techniques go, this is pretty effective.” His voice dropped to a rumble; he covered Aaren’s hand with his own, rolling his hips. His bulge slid seductively against Aaren’s palm, half-hard and tempting. “Now, we should do the tour before I end up fucking you against the front door.”
“I wouldn’t say no to that,” Aaren’s mouth said. “I would ride you like a merry-go-round.”
Another laugh. Hades’ eyes crinkled. “Damn, you’re bad for my self-control. That said, don’t you want to see the inside of my house?”
“Oh!” Aaren turned to look.
