She was present now.
But the past month had taught him that it could end in an instant, and Hera’s labors did not ease his turmoil, though he managed to suppress the feelings as he drew close.
“I thought I would find you here,” he said and reached for her, seeking her mouth. He curled his fingers beneath her chin, tilted her head, and pressed his lips to hers. She arched to reach him, her hand clamping behind his neck as they fused together.
Hades liked this. It grounded him, reminded him that she was real—that they were real.
He pulled away and brushed her jaw with this thumb, studying her face, lingering longest on her lips, which he wanted to taste once more. Her eyes were brighter today—like the vibrant green of her meadow—and he liked to think it had something to do with him.
“How was your day, darling?” he murmured.
“Good,” she answered, and her breathlessness made him smile.
“I hope I’m not disturbing you. You appeared quite entranced by your book.” He glanced at it before straightening.
“N-no. I mean…it’s just something Hecate assigned.”
“May I?” he asked.
She handed it over and he noted the title, Witchcraft and Mayhem. He refrained from rolling his eyes at Hecate’s choice of assigned reading.
Though it was no surprise the Goddess of Magic would choose to teach his lover the art of chaos. It was a type of magic that could be both harmless and destructive, and Hades had no doubt that Hecate had intended to teach Persephone the whole spectrum.
He would have to speak with her later.
“When do you begin training with Hecate?” he asked.
“This week,” she said. “She gave me homework.”
“Hmm,” he acknowledged and leafed through a few more pages before closing the book. “I heard you greeted new souls today.”
He spoke casually, yet as he lifted his gaze to meet hers, she straightened, ready to defend her choice.
“I was walking with Yuri when I saw them waiting on the bank of the Styx.”
“You took a soul outside Asphodel?” That was far more concerning to him than the fact that she had greeted souls.
“It’s Yuri, Hades. Besides, I do not know why you keep them isolated.”
“So they do not cause trouble.”
He admired Persephone for her trust, and of all the souls, Yuri was probably the least likely to break protocol, but offering them free rein of the Underworld would only prove difficult. Even Persephone could not manage to stay out of trouble. The last time she’d wandered into the wild of his realm, she’d found herself face-to-face with Tantalus.
She must have forgotten that encounter because she laughed, her eyes bright with amusement—an amusement that died with his stare. His eyes fell to her lips, which were now parted as she studied him, and his thoughts took a drastic turn.
He drew in a breath and tried to swallow, but his throat was dry. Suddenly, all he wanted to do was close the distance between them. Perhaps he could still have the evening he’d imagined with Persephone before Hera had ruined it all, but then Persephone dropped her gaze.
“The souls in Asphodel never cause trouble,” she said.
“You think I am wrong.”
He wasn’t at all surprised.
“I think you do not give yourself enough credit for having changed and therefore do not give the souls enough credit for recognizing it.”
Her words surprised him and stirred something warm within him.
“Why did you greet the souls?” he asked, curious about what had motivated her to approach.
“Because they were afraid, and I didn’t like it.”
He wanted to laugh, but he managed to suppress it. “Some of them should be afraid, Persephone.”
“Those who should will be, no matter the greeting they have from me.
The Underworld is beautiful, and you care about your peoples’ existence, Hades. Why should the good fear such a place? Why should they fear you?”
Once more, he would have laughed at her assessment if she weren’t so serious. If anyone had been listening, they would never suspect she was talking about him, the God of the Underworld, and though there was perhaps a grain of truth to what she said, it was only that, and he feared the day she discovered otherwise.
“As it were, they still fear me. You were the one who greeted them.”
“You could greet them with me.”
She spoke as if she feared he might reject her suggestion as quickly as she had made it.
“As much as you find disfavor with the title of queen, you are quick to act as one,” he observed.
The smile her words initially brought to his face vanished as he noted how she hesitated, asking, “Does…that displease you?”
“Why would it displease me?”
“Because I am not queen.”
Hades did not like those words. It was as if she were distancing herself from the idea, and as she stood and took the book from his hands, he spoke.
“You will be my queen. The Fates have declared it.”
He noted how she straightened, her chin jutting in defiance. She had not liked what he said, and instead of confronting him, she turned and headed into the stacks, book in hand.
Hades followed, appearing before her as she made her way down one of the aisles.
“Does that displease you?” he asked.
“No,” she said, brushing past him, and while he followed, she continued to speak. “Although, I would rather you want me as queen because you love me, not because the Fates have decreed it,” she said as she returned the book to its place.
He frowned, waiting for her to face him before he said, “You doubt my love?”
Her eyes widened, and her lips parted. “No! But…I suppose we cannot avoid what others may perceive about our relationship.”
Hades raised a brow and drew a step closer. “And what will others say, exactly?”
Again, she averted her eyes and shrugged as she answered, “That we are only together because of the Fates. That you have only chosen me because I am a goddess.”
His brows slammed down over his eyes. Those sounded oddly like things her mother would say.
“Have I given you reason to think such things?”
He hadn’t.
He already knew the answer.
“Who has given you doubts?”
“I have only just started to consider—”
“My motives?”
“No—”
He narrowed his eyes. “It seems that way.”
She took a step away, though she had little room to put distance between them as her back hit the bookcase, which did nothing to dispel the tension between them.
“I am sorry I said anything,” she snapped, her arms crossing over her chest, as if to put a barrier between them.
“It is too late for that.”
“Will you punish me for speaking my mind?” Her eyes flashed, full of defiance, but those words interested him.
“Punish?” he asked, closing the space between them. He guided her hands away from her chest, his cock growing thick and heavy as he rested against her hips. “I am interested to hear how you think I might punish you.”
She inhaled, her chest rising, and Hades could see the want in her eyes, yet she fought it, unwilling to give in to temptation. “I am interested in having my questions answered.”
He’d forgotten everything that had come before her suggestion of punishment. “Remind me again of your question.”
She looked at him shyly and took a moment to speak. All the while, he grew harder, still pressed between her thighs.
“If there were no Fates, would you still want me?”
An unsettling shock rippled through him as he considered her words.
If there were no Fates, would you still want me? He took a moment to comprehend them, to let them cycle through his mind, but there was a part of him that could not quite grasp why she felt inclined to ask such a question. In the end, did it matter?
The Fates were.
And so they were.
That was all.
Those were not the words she wanted to hear, though, and in truth, they were not enough, because Hades knew that what was between them had gone beyond fate.
And even if their future were to unravel, he would fight for it.