“I love you, Hades,” I said. “So much that, when you’re not with me, it hurts. Please forgive me for not seeing that sooner. I don’t deserve you.”
He made a sound like a wounded animal. In the next instant, I was underneath him, and he was kissing me like a savage. Pleasure and hunger bolted through me. I arched against him, desperate for everything he offered.
“She is mine,” he said frantically when he tore his lips from my mouth. “Mine.”
“Yours,” I echoed as his hands moved over me, touching me everywhere and leaving me burning in their wake.
I grew bold enough to do more than touch his shoulders. My fingers explored every ridge and dip. He mumbled things I couldn’t catch, reminding me of his craziness from the beginning. It didn’t worry me, though. Even if he slipped for a moment, Hades would never hurt me. I knew that now.
“Love me,” I whispered before gently biting his earlobe.
“I do,” he said in a tortured voice. “Goddess help me, but I do. You are my torment and my salvation, Ashlyn. Without you, there would be no love. No reason for me to exist. I am yours. To love. To hate. To caress. To abuse. Yours and yours alone.”
I reached between us and grabbed his intimidating length.
“Mine?” I asked, slowly moving my hand.
He stilled. Completely. Not even breathing.
I tipped my head to look at him.
The golden glow had drained from his face, leaving it an unnatural pale.
“Hey,” I said. “It’s okay.” I removed my hand from him and cupped his face. “Whatever I did wrong, I’m sorry. Breathe, Hades. Breathe.”
He shuddered and buried his face in my neck as he held me tightly.
“I want. I need. Forego the flesh and bask in the affection. Affection is enough. A gentle touch is enough. A taste. Yes. Taste her.”
I ran my fingers through his hair as his mumbled thoughts fluctuated between his doubt that I loved him and that this was real and his wanting to possess me completely. It broke my heart a little that touching him intimately had returned him to the past. But then, why wouldn’t it? Persephone had only ever used sex as a way to abuse Hades.
“I do love you, Hades,” I said. “I don’t know how else to prove it. Will you kiss me again? Please?”
The words had barely left my mouth before he was back to that savagery that lit a fire in me. Tentatively, my hands returned to their exploration of his hips and backside, which only drove him wilder. Until I touched that part of him again.
He froze.
This time, I didn’t let go.
I wasn’t entirely sure but was fairly certain Hades couldn’t pass out from lack of oxygen. At least, I hoped that was the case.
He remained locked in place as I gently ran my hands over him, discovering the feel and shape of him.
“You’re safe with me, Hades,” I said softly.
A low moan rumbled through him when I reached his head, and he jerked into my hold. Hoping that was promising, I focused one hand there. He arched into my hands again.
“No. No,” he said. “Do not fall for the temptation. Blood will rain.”
I immediately stopped what I was doing, removing my hands from him completely.
“Who am I?” I asked, fighting the urge to shed frustrated tears.
He lifted his head and stared down at me with flames in his eyes.
“You are the one who can summon me from Hell. The one whose presence soothes me. A scent I cannot forget and would never want to. You are my sky. My light. My love. You are purpose and reason. You are everything. That is who you are, Ashlyn. Everything. And I will not lose that. Do you understand?”
I didn’t understand a damn thing. He sounded like he’d slipped back into the past but had said my name with the same tone he would have said “goddess” or “my love.”
