Goddess of Spring (Goddess Summoning #2)(59)

The laughter came again. Listening carefully, Hades halted. Then he drew a relieved breath. The sound wasn't coming from his imagination. It was being carried from the palace by the warm evening breeze. Now he could discern different voices along with Persephone's. Some were laughing, some were singing. Al were delightfully female. When Hades began walking again, his stride was no longer slow and thoughtful.

Entering the second tier, Hades scanned the rearview of his palace. Daylight had darkened to evening and the flickering torchlight that periodical y il uminated the gardens did little to aid his vision. As usual, the palace windows were gaily lit, and Hades thought he could see graceful, curving shapes outlined against the wal of windows that belonged to Persephone's chamber. He thought it odd that they appeared to be on her balcony. Hades increased his stride. When he reached the stairs that would take him up to the first tier, he was sure that he could hear the splashing of water. Taking the stairs three at a time, he climbed quickly up to the level of his palace. Here the greenery and flowers wound around in labyrinthine twists and turns, and Hades did not have a clear view of Persephone's balcony until he was very close to the edge of the gardens. The God stepped around an ornamental hedge and stopped like he had slammed against an invisible wal .

Persephone was naked. She stood in the center of a large marble basin, looking like an exquisite statue that had come to life. The stray thought passed through Hades' numbed mind that he suddenly understood Pygmalion's obsession with Galatea. Then his mind seemed to cease functioning completely and he became nothing more than a receptacle for the desire that scorched through his blood.

Eurydice was pouring trails of steaming water over Persephone while semitransparent maidservants lathered her skin and hair. The Goddess laughed and teasingly splashed water at the spirits, who were humming a slow, seductive tune between breathless, girlish giggles. The evening light was muted, but Persephone's body was silhouetted against the wal of glowing windows. Hades could see the flush that swept her ivory skin. His eyes ravished her body. His fingers tingled as he remembered how the delicate curve of her neck had felt under his too-brief caress. Hades'

gaze lowered to her br**sts. The soft globes were ful and heavy. Their blush-colored ni**les were taut, begging for the touch of his lips and tongue. His loins tightened and throbbed achingly with the heat of his lust. He ground his teeth together to keep from giving voice to the moan of frustrated desire that was building within him. But he did not turn away, he did not stop gazing at her. He could not.

Persephone's waist curved in, and then swel ed to flare into well -rounded hips. Her legs were long and shapely. Hades' eyes were drawn to the inviting V of dark hair that formed at their junction. The curling triangle glistened with water, which dripped down her inner thighs. As if sensing him, Persephone's chin went up and her gaze shifted from the laughing servants to rove over the distant gardens. Hades was sure he would be discovered, but his dark cloak blended like night with the shadow of the hedge and the Goddess's eyes passed unseeing over him. Eurydice poured a final stream of water over Persephone and then the little spirit cal ed for a maidservant to bring her towels. They helped the smiling Goddess step from the basin and began drying her body.

Now was the time for him to turn away. Persephone's laughter floated to him and his eyes refused to leave her as they sought glimpses of her nakedness. His conscience told him he should go, but the voice of newly awakened desire and longing and loneliness drowned it out. The servants finished drying Persephone's body. Her hair drifted around her in long, damp tendrils, which Eurydice gathered and piled loosely atop her head. Then the spirit poured a thick liquid from a tal glass bottle into her hand and began gently massaging the oil into her skin. Two other maidservants joined her. Hades watched Persephone's eyes close. A sensuous smile curved her lips as the slick hands of the maidens anointed her body. Hades' breathing quickened. The glistening oil caught the flickering lights that shined through the windows of her bedchamber, and soon the Goddess's body glowed with a wet, luminous invitation.

The throbbing ache in his loins was unbearable and Hades' hand sought his engorged flesh. His breathing turned ragged as he stroked himself, quick and hard, never taking his eyes from Persephone's body. His focus narrowed until she was al that existed in his world. He imagined that it was his hands that were slick with oil caressing her br**sts, cupping her luscious bu**ocks, traveling up her ivory thighs to find her moist core. There he wanted to bury himself, to pump his need into her and to be surrounded by her velvet heat. His orgasm ripped from his body, exploding with such hot intensity that it drove him to his knees. There he remained, knelt within shadow, alone, struggling to regain his breath. And, stil , his longing eyes locked on the Goddess.

"Persephone..." Her name was a harsh whisper on his lips.

Chapter 18

Lina felt like a well -fed kitten. Her body was in that wonderful place between relax and replete. Every bit of stress had been massaged from her muscles. Her skin was so incredibly smooth that as she lounged across the chaise and nibbled pomegranate seeds she absently stroked her fingers across her body, which seemed to hum with pleasure.

"Youth, beauty, and the power of a goddess - Persephone has it al ," she said, and then looked guiltily around. No, she was total y alone. Just as she'd asked. After her shower and fabulous oil massage, Eurydice had dressed her in the shimmering narcissus nightdress and Lina had curled up on the chaise. When the little spirit asked if there was anything else she required, Lina had drowsily told her that the only thing she wanted was to lie on the chaise, drink ambrosia and eat pomegranates. Then she was going to go to sleep.