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Now that he’d left, she had trouble standing upright.
Eloise reached a hand behind her and encountered the sturdy edge of the vanity table. She leaned against it and took a deep breath. That man had literally stolen her breath away.
Eloise couldn’t quite explain her reaction to him. It was uncanny. She was mesmerized by his opaque eyes. Gooseflesh crept up her arms from his silky, gravelly voice. And when he was standing oh-so-close to her, she had an undeniable urge to lean into him.
She had to fist her hands by her sides not to reach for him.
He was so huge, solid, and enticing. Heat radiated from him, making Eloise break out in a sweat. But as she looked into his eyes, his gaze was frosty. She was almost certain that if she did touch him, he would be as cold as a block of ice.
Eloise didn’t know how long she stood like that, leaning against the table, running the recent encounter in her mind over and over again. Her mind was in chaos. The thoughts of what she should have said and what she should have done differently kept bothering her and playing out in her head. The vision of the huge man who had stood a few inches away from her awakening unknown feelings from inside her refused to let go of her mind.
Eloise jumped as the door to her room opened with a loud squeak. Was he back?
Her heart seemed to pause beating, and her breath caught as she waited for Hades to enter her room again.
Verity came inside instead. She entered without knocking, as usual, and successfully pulled Eloise out of her thoughts.
Verity encompassed the room with a thorough gaze and whistled low. “Master said you went deranged. Did you go deranged?”
Eloise let out a burst of nervous laughter. “No, Verity.”
“Then why did you go breaking the dishes? Throwing the pillows around?”
“I just wanted to speak to your… master.”
“Why would you want to do that? Everybody is trying to avoid him here.”
Eloise pushed off the table and went on to collect the broken pieces of the dishes she’d scattered around the room. “I wanted something only he could give me.”
“O-oh!” Verity nodded knowingly. “He doesn’t do that. Believe me, I know.”
Eloise looked at her, startled. “What do you mean by that?”
“Oh, you know.The business!He doesn’t do that.” Verity grimaced and started collecting the things strewn about the room.
The business?What did Verity mean by that?. “Verity, you do not have to clean with me. I wrecked this place. I can clean it up.”
Verity shrugged. “Master said to help you clean. Besides, I’d rather be here with you. Or, you know, one of them men will find something else for me to do.”
Eloise blinked at Verity.
“You know,the business,” Verity said with a grimace again.
“Ooh.” Eloise nodded her understanding. How naïve of her not to understand that living with dozens of bandits probably meant Verity did not have a lot of time off. She grimaced, uncomfortable with the way conversation had progressed.
But it definitely piqued her interest, what Verity said about the master. He didn’t do that, she’d said. Or perhaps not with harlots. Eloise felt as though a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Why would she even care? She decided not to analyze this strange feeling.
They were cleaning the last vestiges of the shambles she’d created in silence when there was a rap on the door. Eloise raised her brow at Verity.
“Well, I am not knocking. I am right here.”
Eloise smiled. “Right. Enter, please,” she said and watched as the door opened and a small boy ran inside with a heap of books in his arms.
“Where am I to put them, Miss?” he asked.
Eloise blinked.
The boy had brought her books. For all the growling and intimidation, Hades had listened to her request.
