A Touch of Malice (Hades & Persephone #3)(71)

“I don’t know that there is anything to say,” he answered.

She studied him for a long moment. “Are you angry with me?”

“I am angry with myself for letting you go, for trusting another to take care of you.”

“I ordered Hermes—”

“He swore an oath,” he snarled, cutting her off. Persephone froze for a moment, taken off guard by Hades’ anger. She hadn’t been awake long enough to think through this. She’d just seen him and wanted him. She should have known he would take his personally. He blamed himself for Pirithous, he would blame himself for this, too.

Still, she tried to explain.

“Hades,” she placed her hands on his chest. “I…hurt myself. I failed. I couldn’t heal.”

Hades’ jaw tightening.

“I’m okay,” she said. “I’m here.”

“Barely,” he said through clenched teeth.

It was the first time she noticed Hades hands weren’t on her. Instead, they gripped the arms of his chair. When she saw this, she slipped off his lap, and took a step away, her back hitting the rail of the balcony.

“I don’t know what to do,” she said helplessly.

“You can stop,” he said, his gaze full of rage. “You can decide not to get involved. You can stop trying to change people’s minds and save a world. Let people make their decisions and face the consequences. It is how the world worked before you and it is how the world will continue.”

She pushed off the balcony, straightening beneath his angry words.

“This is different, Hades, and you know it. This is a group of people who have managed to capture and subdue gods.”

“I know exactly what it is,” he snarled. “I have lived through it before, and I can protect you from it.”

“I didn’t ask you to protect me from it,” Persephone said, her voice rising.

“I can’t lose you,” he stood, caging her, his teeth bared. “I almost did, do you know that? Because I couldn’t fucking get my mind right to heal you. I have held men and women and children to me as they bled like you bled. I have had my face sprayed with their blood. I have had them beg for their life—a life I could not extend or heal or gift because I cannot fight their fate. But you—you did not beg for life; you were not even desperate for it. You were at peace.”

“Because I was thinking about you,” she spat back at him. It was like he’d taken a knife to her chest. Her heart felt open and exposed, beating with all her pain and his. Hades froze. “I wasn’t thinking about life or death or anything but how much I loved you and I wanted to say it, but I couldn’t…”

She stopped. She didn’t need to explain further—Hades already knew why she hadn’t been able to talk, and she didn’t want to remind him of the horror he’d experienced while she lay unconscious and bleeding. His stare lingered on her face before his head fell into the crook of her neck and his body shook against hers. She said nothing as she felt hot tears soak though her skin. It was a long time before he composed himself, and when he pulled away, his eyes were dark and rimmed with red. She had never seen him like this before. This was his pain, real and raw.

She pressed her hand to his cheek. “Will you take me to bed?”

“I will take you here,” he said, and bent to kiss her. He tasted like salt and whiskey and he spoke against her mouth. “And then I will take you on the bed and then in the shower, and on the beach. I will take you on every surface of this house and every inch of this island.”

His hands moved to her hips, and he drew her against him as he returned to the chair. She let the sheet drop from her body before straddling him. Hades hands cupped her breasts and then he took her nipples into his mouth. Persephone threaded her fingers through his hair as he worked, her breath growing shallow, her body moving against his erection, which was still covered by the robes he wore. She grew frustrated, wanting to feel skin against skin and parted them, exposing his chest and his engorged fleshed. She moved against his warmth, the friction making her wetter.

Hades hands moved to her ass, squeezing as she rocked against him, then his fingers slipped inside her and she shuddered. She spent a few minutes basking in the feel of him but soon desired more. She pulled him free and reached for his cock, guiding him inside her. She ground herself against him, feeling frenzied and desperate. The hair trailing from his stomach to his groin teased her clit. While she took control, Hades leaned back, his arms stretched over his head, gripping the top of the chair.

He watched her face, eyes glittering, still full of shadow.

Soon his hands returned to her waist, and he helped her move, grinding himself into her. The feel of him was a tonic she would take for the rest of her life. It brought life to her limbs, and flame to her soul. His mouth moved over her shoulder, teeth grazing her skin. Their breaths mingled; their moans started to release in quick succession. Persephone felt the bottom of her stomach tighten, her muscles clenched around Hades’ cock, and his hot release poured into her.

She collapsed against him, breathing hard. After a long moment, she shifted, pressing a kiss to his chest before straightening with Hades still inside her. She grinned.

“Are you tired?”

“I have never felt more alive,” he said, and it seemed that some of the darkness had dimmed from his eyes. She kissed him—long and slow, her tongue lapping at his until he was hard once more. She pulled away and rested her head against her chest, content to stay like this forever.