Mates with Three Giant Beasts | Book II | 18+ (complete - editing)

Chapter 8 | Isabella

I had ended up deciding on scrambled eggs, toast and herbal tea since I wasn't hungry after having been asleep for so long.  I sat at the counter while I watched Hades get the ingredients out of the fridge before heading to the cupboards to grab the rest of the necessary equipment. 

"How do you like your eggs," he asked as he began to whisk them in a ceramic bowl.

"Do you have spinach, feta cheese, tomatoes, black pepper, oregano and basil," I listed hopefully as I ticked off the ingredients on my fingers.

"Let me go check."  He opened and closed a few cabinets to search.  "Yup," came his slightly muffled answer.  He went to the refrigerator to grab the rest of the ingredients along with a knife and cutting board.

"Where did you learn to cook," I asked as I eyed him quickly chopping the cherry tomatoes with a mildly impressed look.  He cut up half of the carton before tossing them in with the eggs along with the feta, spinach, herbs and spices.

He poured a cap full of fat milk into the mix before whisking it once more.  Once done, he poured the food into a copper frying pan coated with olive oil, spatula in hand.

"I used to help my mom cook when I was younger.  She would always say if I had that much energy and free time I should make some use of it," he said with a faint smile.  "What about you," he called over his shoulder as the delicious aroma began to teasingly waft its way to my nose, filling the kitchen.

"What do you mean?  If I know how to cook?"

He nodded at that as he began to scramble the eggs.

"I have a few specialties I guess.  You know, eggs, salad, soup.  The complicated types."

"At least you don't burn water," he said with a grin.

I just looked at him.

"You don't - right..?"

"Um...no?"

"Why did you say that like it's a question," he asked with a raised brow.  He slid the eggs onto a ceramic platter before covering it and moving onto the toast.

"I mean, it only happened the one time," I muttered.

He bit his lip as he continued to prepare the toast.  Was he holding back laughter?  "Just let it out," I sighed.

"I'm good," he managed to choke out.  I narrowed my eyes at him.  He took one look at me and started to chuckle.  "Your face," he managed between laughter.

"It's not that funny," I pouted.

"He just looked at me as he placed the toast on the platter before replacing the cover.  He went over to the teakettle, poured some water in and turned on the stove.

"Maybe it's a little funny," I admitted with a small smile.

He wisely chose to leave it at that and cleared his throat.  "What kind of tea did you want again?"  The kettle whistled and he grabbed to mugs.

"I don't know...what do you have?"  He rummaged around in a tin for a few moments before handing me a  few dozen packages.  I looked between the peppermint and spearmint tea, ginger and peach herbal tea and the lemongrass and spearmint tea before settling on the ginger and peach one.

"Thanks Hades!"

"No problem.  Did you want honey, lemon, sugar or milk in there?"

"I'm good, thanks though."  He took the plate of food and placed it on the table along with my mug.

Before I knew it, there were two plates, napkins and utensils neatly placed at two spots.  "Dig in," he said as he went to serve me, then himself.

"What about your brothers?"

"They'll be fine," he snorted.  "Trust me, despite how much we all enjoy eating we can last a few hours without food."

"Oh.  Okay I guess..."

I practically inhaled the food, wincing once in a while when I would pull at my neck when moving the wrong way.

"Better," Hades asked as he unsuccessfully attempted to cover his smirk as he watched me scarf down my food with mild amusement.

"Yush."  I'm not quite sure how I even managed to get that much out to be honest; my cheeks were bulging as much as a chipmunk's when I answered.

He couldn't seem to help himself at this point and burst out into laughter, clutching his stomach as he did so.

Finally swallowing several mouthfuls worth of food, I playfully glared at him.  "I wouldn't be laughing if I were you.  It isn't as if my uncle won't be furious with you and Poseidon as well.  I do know him pretty well."

He immediately stopped laughing at this, visibly gulping.  He opened his mouth to respond, but I would never know what he was going to say as the front door slammed shut just at that moment.

"Hades, you there," bellowed a voice strikingly similar to Hades'.  I could feel myself pale as it reminded me of Zeus'.  What if it was him?

"In here!" Hades must have seen my face since sent a reassuring smile my way as he wrapped his arm around me.  "It's just Poseidon," he whispered in my ear.

I heard stomping from the distance that seemed to close in on me in no time at all.  I felt myself shrinking into Hades  for comfort since he was the only one of my mates I had met here who I could trust.

"Oh, there you are," came a voice from behind me.  A huge hand reached in front of me to reach for one of my slices of toast, causing me to cower into Hades; I was practically in his lap now.

"What's wrong with her," he said between bites, spewing the marble counter with crumbs.

"Classy Poseidon, classy," Hades muttered, shaking his head.

"Wha," he managed through his mouthful spraying everything with crumbs.  That can't be hygienic.

Sighing, Hades attempted to pry me off him, gave up, and turned to his brother with a vicious snarl painted across his face with his arms gently wrapped around my waist.

"What do you think is wrong? She just went through a traumatic experience, how stupid can you be?" he hissed.  "Nice touch this morning with the water by the way.  I would smack some sense into you, but I wouldn't want to risk an infection," he added, tone dripping with disdain.

Poseidon had finished his toast - my toast - at this point.  He had previously been eyeing the rest of the food Hades had cooked.  Now he had the grace to look ashamed.

He slowly approached me.

"I'm sorry, Belle," he whispered.  "I wasn't thinking."

"You never think," Hades barked as Poseidon lowered his head.  I cautiously peeked around Hades at Poseidon.  He didn't look like a monster.  Then again, neither did Zeus.

"I-it's OK," I stammered.

His face lit up at this while Hades face darkened.

"Is there any way I can make it up to you Belle?"

"There is one thing..."

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A/N: Thoughts? Comments?  What do you think of Hades and Bella so far?  Do you have a favorite character?  Do you dislike a certain character?

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