Azagoth turned to Hades, and was it her imagination or had his horns receded a little? “And what have you got to say?”
“She’s telling the truth. But...”
“But what?”
“But I could have resisted more. I chose not to.” He took her hand. “I want her.”
“I see.” Azagoth scrubbed his palm over his face, leaving behind smears of blood like evil war paint. “Lilliana has made me soft,” he muttered. He dropped his hand and studied each of them in turn before focusing his laser gaze on Hades. “Will you fight for her?”
Hades growled. “I would fight Revenant himself for her.”
Azagoth’s upper lip peeled back to reveal a set of huge fangs. “Would you fight me?”
“I’d rather not, but if forced to, yes.”
The expression on Azagoth’s face became stony, sending a chill down her spine. “Will you beg?”
Beg? What a strange question. But it seemed to get a rise out of Hades, because he stiffened. “I...have never...begged.”
“I know.”
Hades dropped to the floor so fast and hard his kneecaps cracked on the stone tile. “Please, Azagoth,” he began, his gaze downcast, his hand clasped against his thighs. “I’ve served you well, but if you want me to do better, I will. If you want to torture me every day for the rest of my life, I’ll gladly submit. All I ask is that you allow me to see Cat between sessions.” He lifted his head, and she had to stifle a cry at the liquid filling his eyes. “I am sorry about your son. His death must sit on your heart like a bruise, and if I could heal it, I would. I can only keep trying to make it up to you, but without Cat, I don’t know how long I can survive to do that. Please, my lord, let me find the same happiness that you’ve found with Lilliana.” His voice cracked with emotion. “Please.”
Cat lost it. Truly, hopelessly, lost it. Sobbing, she sank down next to Hades and wrapped herself around him, needing to comfort him as much as she needed comfort. Her heart ached and her throat closed, and her skin tingled with the sense of goodness that radiated from Hades. Right now, he wasn’t a fallen angel who ruled a demon purgatory. Right now he was a male, in pain and vulnerable, whose intentions were truly pure.
“Yeah, yeah,” Azagoth muttered. “Fine. Get up. You have my blessing. That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
Cat nearly burst with happiness as Hades blinked up at Azagoth. “Holy shit, so that’s all I had to do was beg for your forgiveness?”
“Yep.”
“So I could have done that centuries ago?”
“Yep.” Azagoth’s voice took on a haunted quality that struck Cat right in the heart. “All I ever wanted from you…after enough pain, of course…was an apology for taking my son’s life.”
Cat’s eyes watered anew as Hades swallowed hard. “I am truly sorry, Azagoth.”
And that fast, Azagoth’s appearance returned to normal, the blood gone, his eyes glinting like gems. “I know.”
Then, in a move that left Cat speechless, he offered a hand to Hades. Clasping Cat’s hand first, Hades reached out with the other and allowed Azagoth to bring them to their feet. The two males locked gazes for just an instant, but in that brief, intense moment, something passed between them. Something she could only describe as mutual respect, and by the time Azagoth stepped back, she knew that this was the beginning of a brand new relationship between the two.
Hades tugged Cat close. “You know, I’m glad I didn’t beg sooner, because if I had, I wouldn’t have Cat.”
“Yeah, well,” Azagoth said wryly, “you did have Cat, and let me tell you, everyone in Sheoul-gra knows it.”
A hot blush spread over Cat’s face. Now she knew how Azagoth had learned about them. As the blush worked its way down her body, Hades planted a kiss on the top of her head, and the blush turned instantly to fierce, uncontrollable desire.
“I think,” she said, “that everyone is going to know it again.”
Azagoth cringed. “I’m out of here.” He paused. “Before I go, do either of you know why my Seth statue is fucking itself?”
Cat nearly choked on her own saliva, and Hades held his hands up in denial. “No idea what you’re talking about.”
“Really.” Azagoth’s dubious expression said he wasn’t buying it. “So you have absolutely no idea who glued Seth’s penis to his ass?”
“Nope.” Hades slid his hand to Cat’s butt and gave her a playful pinch. “Didn’t you say you were leaving?”
Muttering obscenities, Azagoth hotfooted it out of the apartment, and Cat turned to Hades with a sly smile. “You are very naughty.”
Hades’s eyes glittered as he trailed a finger along her cleavage. “You think?”
“I know.” She went up on her toes and brushed her lips over his. “What do you say? Should we show everyone why they need to invest in earplugs?”
Hades tore open her robe and tugged her to him. “Earplugs? Baby, we’re gonna need to soundproof this room after what I’m going to do to you.”
“And what,” she said, as she cupped his swelling erection, “would that be?”
“Everything.”