A Touch of Malice (Hades & Persephone #3)(115)

“You feel so good,” Hades said through his teeth, his face glistening, his long hair coming loose from its binds as he moved. “So tight, so wet. Eleftherose ton!” he commanded, and her restraints were suddenly gone. He released her legs and let them fall around him. Their mouths collided in a hot kiss, and Persephone’s hands combed through his hair until it fell down around his shoulders.

“Fuck!”

His curse shivered through her, and then he left her body completely and she made an animalistic sound. She reached for him as he sat back and pulled her into his lap, wrapping her legs around his waist. Then he was inside her again and she moved against him. Every sensation was delicious—the way her muscles gripped him, the way her nipples grazed his chest, the light scrape of his hair on her clit. Their lips collided awkwardly as Hades began to help her along his length, moving faster the closer he came to release until he emptied himself inside her.

After, their breaths were heavy, their bodies slick. Hades fell back against the bed with Persephone in his arms. She felt dazed and boneless and so happy, she began to laugh.

“I will refrain from thinking you are laughing at my performance, wife,” Hades said.

That made her laugh harder.

“No,” she said, lifting herself so she could look at him.

His face was free of tension and his smile seemed so easy, a lazy curve of his lips that was only for her. She reached to brush her fingers along his brow and cheek. Then she rested her head against his chest and said, “You were everything.”

Hades rolled so that they were on their sides, facing each other, their legs tangled.

“You are my everything,” he said. “My first love, my wife, the first and last Queen of the Underworld.”

The words struck her, each one a part of her identity—an identity she had created from the ashes of her past. It was beautiful and breathtaking.

Her heavy eyes closed with those words on repeat: Goddess. Wife. Queen.





CHAPTER XXXIII – ABDUCTED AND

UNMASKED

When Persephone woke, Hades’ body was pressed tight against hers.

She smiled, blissful, and stretched, her ass pressing into Hades’ cock. The god’s arm tightened around her waist.

“Are you asking?” he murmured, his voice sleepy.

She twisted in his arms, and threw her leg over his hip, hand going to his cock. She didn’t wait for foreplay—she dove in, feeling reckless, warm, ready. Hades groaned; the position kept him from thrusting. Instead, they ground into one another, kissing languidly and breathing heavily. The longer they were joined, the more desperate their movements became and Persephone’s eyes fluttered closed.

“I want to watch you come,” Hades said, and she opened her eyes. Their gazes held until she found release and he followed.

After, they rose and went about getting ready for their day, as if nothing had changed, as if she weren’t Hades’ wife, the Queen of the Underworld. It was strange to feel much the same, and yet different.

“You’re quiet,” Hades said. He stood, fully dressed, near the fireplace, a glass of whiskey in his hand, watching her roll her thick stockings up her thigh. She lifted her gaze to his.

“I am just thinking of how surreal this is,” she said. “I am your wife.”

Hades took a sip from his drink and then sat it aside, approaching her to cup her face.

“It is surreal,” he said.

“What are you thinking?” she countered.

For a beat, Hades was quiet, and then he spoke.

“That I will do anything to keep you,” he answered.

With his words, a cold reality settled on her.

“You are thinking Zeus will try to separate us?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation, and then he tipped her head back so she would look into his eyes.

“But you are mine and I intend to keep you forever.”

She had no doubt that is what Hades intended, but his words left something dark upon her heart.

She thought of the oracle’s words—short, simple— a powerful union— a marriage that will produce a god more powerful than that of Zeus himself. Persephone knew how Zeus handled prophecies that predicted his downfall—he eliminated the threat.

“Why do you think he let us leave?” Persephone asked.

“Because of who I am,” Hades said. “Challenging me is not like challenging another god. I am one of the three—our power is equal. He will have to take time deciding how to punish me.”

Again, Persephone felt dread.

Hades pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Do not worry, my darling. All will be well.”

“Eventually,” she said, smiling wryly.

Her mother’s storm still raged, and now she wondered how much worse it would get once word got out that she and Hades had wed.

“Shall I take you to work?” Hades asked.

“No,” she said. “I am going to breakfast with Sybil.”

Hades raised his brows. “Will you tell her that we are married?”

“Can I?”

Persephone wasn’t sure how or if they would tell anyone outside of those who had been in attendance. Still, it seemed wrong not to tell Sybil who had known of their connection from the beginning.

“Sybil is trustworthy,” Hades said. “It is her greatest attribute.”