Her admission made his chest hurt and his throat feel tight.
“It pains me to know I hurt you. What can I do?”
“I…don’t know. I suppose what I have done must make up for it. I told you I wouldn’t write about Apollo—I promised you—and then broke that promise.”
All Hades could do was shake his head. “We do not make up for hurt with hurt, Persephone. That is a god’s game. We are lovers.”
“Then how do we make up for hurt?” she asked.
“With time,” he said. “If we can be comfortable being angry with each other for a little while.”
Tears slid down her face, and she whispered, “I don’t want to be angry with you.”
“Nor I with you.” He brushed her tears away. “But it doesn’t change feelings, and it doesn’t mean we can’t care for each other while we heal.”
She swallowed and shook her head. “How is it that I was meant for you?”
Hades frowned. “We’ve discussed this.”
“I just feel so…inexperienced. I am young and rash. How could you want me?” She could not know how those words hurt him.
“Persephone.” He took her hands in his and spoke softly. “First, I will always want you. Always. I failed you here too. I was angry. I didn’t take care of you. I didn’t include you. Don’t put me on a pedestal because you feel guilty for your decisions. Just…forgive yourself so you can forgive me.
Please.”
Her breath shuddered out of her, and his eyes lowered to her lips. He wanted to kiss her, to take her body into his and find the comfort they both needed.
She must have guessed his thoughts, because she moved forward on her knees until she straddled him, her arms twining around his neck.
“I’m sorry. I love you. You can trust me, my word. I—”
“Shh, my darling,” he soothed, his hands moving from her waist to her thighs. “I will forever regret my anger. How could I ever question your love? Your trust? Your word? When you have my heart.”
As his hands moved beneath the hem of her dress, she kissed him and he welcomed her, thrusting his tongue into her mouth. He had tasted her this way before, but it felt different, far more desperate, far more euphoric. His fingers pressed into her ass as he ground her against his erection, and while he was hungry for release, he was eager to please her more.
His mouth left hers, his tongue trailing along her jaw and neck. “Where are you burning?” he asked.
“Everywhere,” she answered, her breath catching in her throat.
Her hands slipped eagerly beneath his jacket, guiding it off. Impatient, Hades helped, unbuttoning his shirt and shoving it off. With his chest bare, her hands smoothed over his skin. He moved to reach for her, hoping to bring her close once more, but she caught his wrists. Hades’s eyes met hers, brow raised in question.
“Let me pleasure you.” Her words were almost a plea, and he had no energy to deny her. He let her guide him to his back as she hovered over him and kissed him, her body shifting along his hard cock as she made her way there, freeing his sex just to wrap her soft hands around him.
He took a deep breath, and the air that escaped his mouth sounded like a growl.
“Keep looking at me that way, darling. I won’t let you have control for long.”
She smirked and bent to taste his flesh, and he lost all sense of his surroundings. He’d hoped to maintain some measure of control but found himself twisting his fingers into her hair, urging her to take him deeper. She didn’t seem to mind, rising to the challenge of his need.
“Fuck,” he groaned as he hit the back of her throat, and she released him, breathing hard only to continue using her hands and mouth to pleasure him.
He did not last long after that, coming hard into her mouth. After a few moments, she climbed his body and kissed him, and he rolled so that she was beneath him.
“Such a gift,” he whispered, stroking her face. “How shall I repay you?”
“Gifts don’t require payment, Hades.”
“Another gift, then,” he said and returned his mouth to hers. She drew her legs up and her hands moved between them, guiding him into her heat.
“This is what I want,” she said, her legs tightening around his waist.
“Who am I to deny a queen?” he said and lost himself in the feel of her, in the way her body moved with his as they lay in her meadow surrounded by their magic.
Chapter XIII
At the Island of Euboea
Hades was almost asleep. His mind focused only on the continuous circles he drew on Persephone’s skin, whose weight made his body heavy. They had stopped speaking when their responses had grown languid and short, and now they rested in a content silence.
“I’ll mentor Leuce.”
Hades opened his eyes and peered at her. She stared back, almost sheepishly, probably unsure of what he would say. Hades had to admit, he didn’t really know what to think. How long had she been considering this, and what exactly had brought it on?
“I’m not sure how I feel about this,” he admitted.
“Me either,” she said but did not elaborate. Instead, she added, “And I need you to give her a place to stay and her job back. Please.”
Of course he would agree. Still, he wanted to know why she’d offered to help his former lover.
“Why do you wish to mentor her?”
It took her a moment to respond, and she averted her eyes as she searched for her answer, her chin resting on her hands.
Finally, she said, “Because I think I know how she feels.”
His mood darkened a little. “Explain.”
She shrugged and the movement caused a lock of her hair to fall over her shoulder. “She’s been a tree for thousands of years. Suddenly, she’s normal again and the whole world has changed. It’s…scary…and I know how that feels.”
He could see how she might believe they had something in common.
Persephone’s mother had kept her hidden away from the world until she was eighteen, only letting her explore beyond the borders of her glass greenhouse on a short leash. She was just now learning what she wanted to believe and who she wanted to be as a woman and a goddess.
Still, while they might have this in common, Hades could not imagine two more different people than Persephone and Leuce.
“You want to mentor my former lover?”
She groaned. “Don’t make me regret this, Hades.”
“I don’t want you to, but are you sure?”
Hades liked the way her lips pouted as she frowned. Still, she didn’t look at him as she spoke. “It’s weird, I admit, but…she’s a victim. I want to help her.”
He might have winced at her words, but he knew she was right, and even when Leuce had returned, he had failed to help her the way she deserved.
Yet Persephone was willing.
Hades drew her gaze back to his. “You amaze me.”
She smiled and shook her head. “I am not amazing. I wanted to punish her at first.”
“But you didn’t,” he said, letting his hand fall to her jaw. “There are no other gods like you.”
“I haven’t lived long enough to be jaded like the rest of you,” she said and laughed. “Perhaps I’ll end up like the others before long.”
“Or perhaps you will change the rest of us,” Hades replied.
They were still for a few seconds, then Persephone sat up, her hands planted on his chest, which made her breasts bounce. She rocked back so that her soft, wet center slid over his full, hard cock. Hades gritted his teeth, suppressing the urge to groan, to grip her hips and help her move.
“Eager for more, my lady?” he asked.
When she smiled, he smiled too.
“Actually, I’m afraid I must make a few demands,” she said, lifting herself and guiding him into her body with a pleasurable sigh.
Hades could no longer stand not touching her. His hands dug into her thighs. He’d give her anything if she just kept moving.
“Yes?” he hissed.
“I don’t want to be placed in a suite on the other side of the palace, ever.”
Never, Hades thought as she slammed down on him.
“Not to get ready for balls. Not when you are angry with me. Not ever.”
He closed his eyes for a few seconds, gathering thoughts that were so scattered, he could barely string a sentence together.