Goddess of Spring (Goddess Summoning #2)(53)

"And you already said you won't send her back to that lamentation place, so I think the only reasonable answer is to let her drink from," she hesitated, making sure she had the right name,

"the River Lethe. You said that when they drink from Lethe, souls forget their lives, but remain essential y the same type of people. So send her back for another lifetime. Maybe she real y did learn something during her lamentation, something that Aeneas' presence would overshadow, but without any memory of him - " Lina gestured abstractly with her hands. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that maybe she'l do better the second time around."

Hades' smile made his eyes dance. He wanted to throw his arms around her and shout for joy.

"Persephone, how is it that a goddess who is so young is also so wise?" Lina's heart thudded at the warmth of his expression. "You shouldn't judge me by how I look. There's a lot more to me than just a pretty young face."

Hades couldn't stop himself from reaching out and touching that lovely face. "You are correct again. Of al the gods, I should know better than to judge others on appearance and rumor." His fingers were hot and Lina wanted to turn her face into his palm and press herself against him.

"I'm far from perfect," she said, her voice hardly above a whisper. "I made a mistake in my decision about Eurydice."

"But you were wise enough to correct your mistake. You saved the little spirit. Al is as it should be now." As he spoke, his hand moved from her face to touch the moonlight-colored bloom she had tucked behind her ear. Hades glanced from her eyes to the flower. "I hoped that you would approve of Orion's decoration."

Lina sounded out of breath when she answered him. "He looked very handsome with it tucked in his bridle; it's a beautiful flower."

Speak your thoughts aloud! Hades' mind spurred him on. He drew a breath and said, "It is, indeed, a beautiful flower, but it pales in comparison to your loveliness, Persephone." Almost as if it acted on its own, his hand moved from the blossom to trail down the side of her throat, caressing her smooth skin with gentle fingers.

The Goddess's breath caught and a little surprised "oh!" sound broke from her lips. Instantly, Hades stopped, his hand hovering near the curve of her neck. His eyes met hers.

"Would you rather that I did not touch you?" His voice sounded rough and foreign. Persephone blinked twice - quickly.

Hades tightened his jaw and turned away from her. What a fool he'd been! He had read the look in her eyes. He had not seen desire or acceptance there; instead, he had clearly seen shock and confusion.

"Wait!"

Hades took another deep breath, steeling himself. He turned to face her.

"It's not that I don't want you to touch me. I'm just... it's just..." Lina forced herself to stop babbling. Then she started over in a more control ed, rational tone. "Demeter told me that you weren't interested in women, and it's a well known fact that you don't cavort with nymphs or chase after goddesses, so it's a surprise to me that you're so... so..." She sighed, frustrated at her inability to explain. "Hades, you are definitely not the boring, dour God that Demeter had described to me."

Hades' body became very stil . His eyes met hers and held and she read good-humored surprise reflected within their expressive depths.

"The rumor was correct," he said slowly and distinctly, his lips curving up. "I did not cavort with nymphs or chase after goddesses because I had met none who interested me."

"Oh," Lina said, unable to look away from his penetrating gaze. Sexy - he was just so damn dark and sexy.

"Until you entered my realm," Hades said with finality.

He stepped forward, and in one swift motion, took her in his arms. Lina felt herself melt into the simmering heat of his sweat-slickened body as he bent and pressed his mouth against hers. Her lips parted and for one delicious moment the kiss deepened. Then, too soon, he released her. She felt dizzy, like she had been underwater for too long and couldn't catch her breath.

"There is more to me than appearance and rumor." Hades echoed her earlier words.

"I believe you."

Hades bent to taste her sweetness again. Lina moaned huskily against his mouth and the sound inflamed him. The ful globes of her br**sts burned into his chest. He felt his wil power begin to dissolve as his passion for her consumed him.

The shudder that passed through his body became her own, and Lina slid her hands up his bare chest and wrapped them around his neck.

"Don't stop," she whispered. She took his bottom lip between her teeth and bit down teasingly. With a groan of unleashed desire, Hades cupped her bu**ocks and lifted her from her feet so that her softness was pressed firmly against him. In two strides he had her pinned against the wal of the forge. One hand slipped up to entrap her breast. The sweet, enticing nipple puckered against his palm and he molded and stroked it. Beneath his other searching hand he found an opening in her silky robe and his hot fingers grasped her naked skin. His pulse thundered in his ears as his world narrowed to exclude everything except his raging need for her.

Caught between the hard coolness of the stone wal and the hard heat of Hades, Lina felt that she was being consumed by him,

Eurydice burst into the forge like a Fourth of July sparkler.

"Persephone! There you are! Oh - " She broke off, her eyes widening as she took in the rumpled, flushed condition of her Goddess and the dark intensity with which Hades had her pressed against the wal .