Goddess of Spring (Goddess Summoning #2)(54)

" What is it!" Hades roared, causing the floor of the forge to shake in response.

"Forgive me!" Eurydice's pale face blanched, and she backed fearfully toward the door. Fighting to catch her breath, Lina pushed firmly against Hades' chest. The God stared down at her. His eyes stil burned with need.

"You're scaring Eurydice," she hissed, and, Lina added silently, he was scaring her, too. She had never witnessed the raw power of a God's desire. It definitely had the ability to excite, but it was also overwhelming.

Slowly, through the fog of his passion Hades recognized the fear that flashed through Persephone's eyes. By Zeus' beard! He didn't want her to fear him. Hades blinked, and with a sigh like a storm wind, he moved back, setting her gently to her feet as he suppressed the hot tide within him.

"The spirit may not yet depart," Hades snapped the command and the door to the forge closed before Eurydice could scuttle through it.

The little spirit turned slowly to face the God. Her voice trembled. "It was foolish of me to interrupt. Please forgive me, I... I... did not realize."

Lina thought that Eurydice looked like she was close to dissolving into tears. "Don't be sil y, honey, there's nothing to forgive." She smoothed her hair and tried to ignore the heat that stil tingled up from her br**sts, through her neck, and into her cheeks. "I was just thanking Hades for sending Orion after me."

Beside her, Hades snorted, "I'l have to send the stal ion after you more often." Lina's gaze met Hades', which sparkled with a mischievous sense of humor, and something else, something that she thought might be tenderness. He brushed the side of her cheek with the tips of his fingers before reluctantly turning his attention to Eurydice.

"Calm yourself, child," Hades said.

Eurydice gave the God a dubious look.

He smiled reassuringly at Eurydice, his voice full of fatherly concern. "Why is it you were searching for your Goddess?"

Eurydice looked from Hades to Persephone, who nodded encouragingly at her. The little spirit's expression began to relax and she smiled tentatively back at the dark God. "Iapis asked me to find Persephone. The Limoniades are cal ing for her."

"Are they indeed?" Although he hated the interruption, he couldn't help but be pleased that the spirits in his realm were not simply accepting the Goddess, they were actively seeking her out. Eurydice nodded enthusiastical y, "Iapis said they would not begin the gathering until the Goddess joined them."

Lina looked from Hades to Eurydice while she quickly accessed Persephone's memories. Limoniades -  nymph-like spirits of meadows and flowers. So the spirits of flowers were cal ing her for a gathering, and Hades and Eurydice looked pleased about it. Lina tried to appear as if she knew what they were talking about. Gathering? What could they be gathering? She frantical y asked her built-in memory file.

"It is only logical that they would desire the presence of the Goddess of Spring," Hades said. In Olympus, forest nymphs are responsible for the gathering of many things: herbs for potions, grapes for wine, flowers to bedeck the palaces of the immortals -

Her internal monologue was interrupted by Hades' voice.

"It is, of course, Persephone's decision," Hades said, obviously surprised at her hesitation.

"Wel , I..." "Oh, please, may I watch?" Eurydice rushed forward and grasped her hand. "I have never witnessed the gathering of nectar for ambrosia. Nor have I even seen a nymph, not in the flesh or in the spirit." Eurydice beamed at her.

Lina smiled at Eurydice's infectious exuberance. "Of course you may watch." She felt a trickle of relief. Gathering nectar for ambrosia couldn't be that difficult. She'd just fol ow the lead of the Lemonade-whatever-their-names-were nymphs.

"Thank you, Persephone!" Eurydice danced to the door.

"May I watch, too?"

Lina looked up at Hades, surprised by his question. He was, after al , God of the Underworld. He had the power to command anyone within his realm; he certainly didn't have to ask her permission. Yet there he stood, doing just that. A little half smile played around his full lips. Sweat stil beaded his bare skin, making the bronze muscles of his chest look erotic and exquisitely touchable. Lina felt a tug deep within her, an elemental response to the virile beauty of the dark God.

"No, I don't mind," she said breathlessly.

"Good. It pleases me to watch you," Hades said. Then he repeated his earlier gesture by gently touching the blossom tucked behind her ear. When he withdrew his hand, he al owed his fingers to brush the side of her face in the whisper of a caress. The Goddess stil shivered under his touch, but this time Hades saw only the reflection of his own desire within her eyes.

"Hurry, Persephone!" Eurydice cal ed from the doorway without looking back at her Goddess. "I can't wait to see the Limoniades."

Hades sighed again, quel ing the frustration he felt at having to share Persephone. But would he real y have it any other way? No, he wanted the Goddess to be accepted within his realm, and with that acceptance went the responsibility of sharing her attention. Reluctantly, he moved from her side to reach for a length of dark material that hung from the wal behind him, which he wrapped, toga-like, across his body.

"I'm coming," Lina said, hurrying to catch Eurydice as she scampered through the door and along the pathway. Hades strode beside her, and Lina felt his presence like he was a live wire, humming in time to her own electricity. She was energized by his closeness and by the lingering thril of his touch. How long had it been since a man had made her feel breathless and excited? Too long, she told herself, ignoring the little voice of reason that counseled her to think about what she was rushing into, that reminded her that she was only there to complete a job and that she didn't know anything about immortals, or the Limoniades, or nectar, or...