Hades Titans {BOOK 2}

XXVI. Holy Hell

Phoenix P.O.V.

I awoke feeling the weight of the world on top of my head. Why do I do this to myself? I definitely took it to a whole new level last night. Thankfully, I had the occasion to blame for it – if they haven't come accustomed to my drinking habit or my inability to handle emotions. When I was younger, they had tried to fix me, but they gave up hope very quickly. I could hardly recollect what happened the night before, but I could feel the weight of somebody lying on the other side of the bed. It would have been a shame to have slept with somebody and have no recollection of it. My head felt like it was splitting into two as I tried to roll over and check who was lying beside me. Besides the white shirt and black trousers, I couldn't see the person enough to recognize them. Inhaling a deep breath, I searched my brain for who it could be, but there wasn't even a piece that I could recollect after finding out that Evelyn was engaged.

Evelyn's engaged. The words were thundering inside my head, only making it ache further. How did this happen? How have they continued with their lives, and I've just been stuck here. It seemed like so little time had passed since Evelyn and I were together. When I was holding her in my arms when I was kissing her when she was mine. Now she was forever bound to my brother. Misery truly does love company, and it seemed we had become best friends. Misery and me. The trilogy.

"Morning." I flinched, hitting my head against the headboard, and groaning in pain. I closed my eyes pressing my fingers against my forehead to stop the aching. What the fuck?! Inhaling a deep breath of patience and some control, I turned to my noisy neighbour, who didn't hesitate to get out of bed and draw open the curtains. What in the name of –

"Holy hell." I covered my eyes with the palm of my hand, feeling like a vampire in sunlight. Like this hangover isn't punishment enough. I pulled my hand away, checking if it was blistering because it certainly felt like I was pealing out of my skin. My skin was crawling with irritation and my mouth was as dry as sand. My whole body felt foreign like it wasn't mine. A shower, some coffee, and Hayden's healing would take care of everything. Even his heavy footsteps were thundering inside my head and making me want to be sick. What kind of hangover is this?

"How are you feeling?" His voice was way too cheerful, making my whole body itch in irritation. Too perky. Too early. Too loud. I finally lifted my head to look at the boy. Too handsome.

"Like death," I sat myself up against the headboard as the blonde boy made his way into the bathroom. My eyes followed his every step. Was he always this handsome? He looked better in the bright, irritating, pain-filled morning light. He looked better than a pain pill or a cup of coffee. A little bit of him and I would be healed.

"Yeah, I figured." He chuckled coming out of the bathroom, bringing along a cup of water with two white tablets in his hands. Despite already planning on asking Hayden to heal me later, I still took them. I downed them both without breaking our eye contact. I could feel the water running through my extremely dehydrated body. He pinched his lips together to stop himself from smiling. He couldn't hold eye contact without his cheeks turning a scarlet red. How am I supposed to resist him?

"What are you doing here?" I handed him back the cup of water. I figured I'd never see him again after being rude to him and trying to use him as my own personal therapy sex toy.

"You're lucky I am here. I could have just left you at the bar, where you were starting to look like you belong." He scoffed.

"That's not how I meant it. I just mean – don't you... hate me or something?"

"Yeah," he said sternly, "a little but I'm too nice to just stew in hatred and ruin my own day." He smiled softly, setting the glass down on the bedside table.

"Why?" His body language was indicating that he found our eye contact intimidating. Fidgeting with his hands, licking his lips, deep inhales. I rose from the bed, slowly making my way to the other side of the room where he was hovering. He wasn't really doing anything or waiting for anything, just there. Neither of us could resist each other. He was too shy to initiate anything, but I wasn't shy about anything. Even with my body hardly in the mood to move, I knew I couldn't resist Axl.

"I don't know." His breath was heavy as I approached closer and closer. "I've seen my fair share of men damaged by women." His tongue ran over his lips, leaving a shine that was inviting me closer. Evidently, he was right. I was damaged by my love for Evelyn. I don't remember who I was before her.

"People might take that for granted." He looked alarmed by the cold wall that he'd hit behind him, leaving him nowhere to go. His eyes shot up to mine, only for a split second. My stare was too intimidating for him. He could recognise the thirst in my eyes. He'd seen it before.

"I know." He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple jumping up and down. His cheeks blushed and he made sure to lean as close to the wall as he could for at least a little bit of space between us. "I better go." His breathing had increased, and I could feel his heartbeat without even touching him. His eyes jumped from mine to my lips, to my hair, looking everywhere and anywhere. After another minute of examining his beautiful face, he slowly began to slide across the wall to get away from me. He smiled uncomfortably avoiding any eye contact that lasted longer than five seconds, before heading for the door.

"Axl." I could hear his heart stop at the sound of my voice. He stopped suddenly, inhaling a breath, before turning around to look at me.

"Yeah?" He'd managed to look me in the eye.

"Thank you." I smiled.

"You – you're welcome." He stuttered, hurrying to get out the door, before slamming it shut. The relief I was looking for was suddenly gone and my migraine was more evident.

Even with an unbelievable migraine, I couldn't stop my thirst for the cute boy. I bit down on my bottom lip, just imagining what it would be like to kiss him again. I had forgotten the sweet taste. The scent of his skin. The taste of his tongue. I craved it more than anything. There was something intoxicating about him. Similarly, I felt myself being drawn to him as I did Evelyn. I couldn't figure out if it was a rebound, a true connection, or just pure relief of frustration I was looking for. Perhaps it wasn't any of those things, just pure convenience. Why not use him while he's here?

Unbuttoning my shirt, I slowly paced towards the door, before a soft knock landed on the door. Just as I expected. I knew he wasn't going to leave. Containing my amusement for his lack of self-control, I opened the door, leaning against the frame with my shirt unbuttoned.

"I hate you."

"I know." He inhaled a sharp breath as I placed my hand against his jaw, pulling him into a kiss that we both were so desperate for, before shutting the door and guiding him back to the bed.

My migraine felt instantly better as I began to unbutton his shirt. His smooth skin was a cure for all of my ailments. It felt like I had been waiting months for it to happen. Feeling him squirm as I pressed my knee to his crotch while leaning on top of him with my tongue grazing the edge of his jaw was amusing. There was no avail to his moaning, and I'd hardly started. It reminded me of the way Evelyn would squirm when I would kiss the inside of her thigh.

The memories of my nights with Evelyn wereflooding in and there was nothing I could do to stop them. With Evelyn in mymind and Axl in front of me, it felt like I was having a very deranged three-way. Her moaning against his, his squirming against hers, I was more aroused thanever. I wasn't sure that I even had time for foreplay.