“I’ve always tempted you,” I said. “But you’ve never believed what I was doing was real.”
I carefully sat on his thighs. His face twitched with a partial snarl.
“Can I touch you?” he asked, letting the desperation he felt leak into his words.
“I was hoping you’d let me touch you for a bit without distracting me. If you’d rather distract me, though—”
“No. Touch me.” The demand was mixed with threads of need.
He closed his eyes when my fingers trailed over his cheek and didn’t move as I traced his brow and the bridge of his nose. He let me explore freely, and if he was disappointed that it wasn’t a sexual touch, he didn’t voice it.
Transfixed, I memorized every beautiful feature before leaning in and kissing his eyelids, the tip of his nose, and the corners of his mouth. The column of his throat begged for the same attention. His breathing grew more rapid, and he shivered when my fingers circled the back of his neck and toyed with his hair.
“Do you want me to stop?” I asked.
“Anything you wish will be yours if you continue,” he rasped.
“No bargains. No deals. Just a simple yes or no. Do you want me to keep touching you?”
“Yes.”
The tormented word fed my need to soothe him. I stroked my fingers over his chest, showing him the tenderness and love he so craved. But I didn’t kiss him there. I knew not to push my luck.
When I was done touching him, I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him close.
“A new beginning doesn’t mean we can erase our pasts,” I said. “You’ve been lied to and tricked so many times that I know it’s going to be hard for you to believe everything I say. So instead of telling you I desire you and think of you, I’d rather show you like this that I care.”
His arms wrapped around me, and the weight of one hand settled on the back of my head.
“Thank you, Ashlyn. I’d forgotten what a gentle touch felt like.”
My heart ached for him, but I knew he didn’t want my pity.
Straightening, I looked down into his bright red, glowing eyes.
“Do you want to see the beautiful bedroom Zotera made me, or do you want to make out some more on the couch?”
He had me in his arms and in the bedroom a second later.
“Now it’s my turn to touch.”
The moment my back touched the bed, my clothes disappeared.
“Uh—”
His mouth swallowed my impending protest until the heat of his kiss erased any objection. When he had me thoroughly dazed, he lay on his side next to me, feathering his fingers over my face as he studied me.
“Trust me,” he whispered, gently trailing the tip of a finger over my brow until I closed my eyes.
I floated in sensation, lost to his gentle exploratory touch, as he mimicked everything I’d done to him. By the time he reached my chest, I was breathing just as erratically, and I was desperate for more. Thankfully, where I’d held back and not kissed him, Hades showed no restraint.
The wet heat of his mouth closing over a peak branded me, and I fisted my fingers in his hair, tethering him. Lips, tongue, and teeth coaxed gasp after moan from my lips, and when his hand drifted down my stomach, I readily welcomed his touch there too.
His mouth released me with a pop.
“So sweet,” he murmured, moving to the other side. “So perfect.”
I whimpered and arched my hips against his firm caress. Need for more—more kisses, more touching, more Hades—stole my reason. I pulled at his hair until his mouth left my chest and claimed my lips.
