Neon Gods (Dark Olympus #1)(51)

Nothing lasts forever.

The cresting waves slowly recede, Hades’s gentle touch bringing me back to earth. He slides out of me and shifts me enough to tuck his cock away, but I’m incapable of doing more than allowing him to move me to his will. When he finally gathers me into his lap, I rest my head against his chest and exhale slowly. “Um.”

His laugh rumbles my cheek. “Yes?”

I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say. Thank him? Ask him if he dosed me with some magical aphrodisiac because I’ve never orgasmed like that before? Accuse him of playing dirty? I cuddle closer. “You didn’t come.”

“No, I didn’t.”

Something like insecurity winds through me, dampening the deliciously weightless feeling in my bones. “Why not?”

He strokes a hand down my spine. “Because I’m nowhere near done with you yet.”





Chapter 15


Hades

There’s nothing I want more than to carry Persephone up to my room and finish what we’ve started. Even though I should know better by now, she surprised me again. I want to keep learning her, to find every single fantasy she has so I can make her come over and over again.

Unfortunately, the night is far from over. We’ve had our fun. Now it’s time for politics.

I can’t help pressing a kiss to her temple. “The show’s almost over.”

“At least one of them already is.” She nuzzles my chest like a cat seeking pets. It makes my heart give an uncomfortable thud. She’s closed her eyes and cuddled into me like I’m her favorite blanket. It’s…cute.

“Persephone.” I put just enough bite into my tone to get her to look at me. “We have to play court, at least for a little while. That’s what tonight is all about.” Except it was all too easy to forget that once I got inside her. The room faded away until all I could see was her.

Her brows draw together and she sighs. “I knew it was too much to ask to just keep fucking until dawn.”

I have to fight down a smile. “I think we can spare the time this will take.”

“Uh-huh.” She fiddles with one of the buttons of my shirt and gives me a sly look. “I don’t suppose you’ll make it up to me later?”

“You’re impossible.”

“You’re the only one who seems to bring out that side of me.”

I like that, in a perverse sort of way. Persephone might get under my skin like no one I’ve ever met but I enjoy our bantering more than I have a right to. I enjoy a lot of things about Persephone. I’m saved from having to come up with a response by the lights coming up a bit and a white man approaching. He’s breathtakingly beautiful, his features so perfect it almost hurts to look at him. Square jaw, sensual lips, a wild riot of curly blond hair on his head. He looks too pretty to take seriously, but he’s Aphrodite’s son. I know for a fact that he handles unsavory tasks for her so she can keep her hands pristine. He’s dangerous in the extreme.

I tap a finger against Persephone’s hip and lean back. “Eros.”

He grins, teeth white and straight. “Thank you for the show.” His gaze slides to Persephone. “You’ve pissed off a lot of people in the upper city.”

She shifts in my lap. I wait for her to blush, to stammer, to do something to signal her regret for letting things go so far in front of others. She’s never done anything like we just did; having sex in front of an audience is a big fucking deal to a sheltered princess like Persephone. I start to verbally step in to save her.

She surprises me yet again. Her voice goes sickly sweet and coated in poison. “Funny, but a lot of people in the upper city have pissed me off.”

His grin doesn’t falter, though his blue eyes are cold. “Zeus is furious, and it’s in everyone’s best interest to keep him happy.”

“I have no interest in keeping Zeus happy.” She gives her sunshine smile. “Do be a dear and give Aphrodite my regards. She’s been managing Zeus this long. I’m sure she’s more than capable of managing him a bit longer.”

That kills Eros’s smile. He looks down at her like he’s never seen her before. I can understand the sentiment. He whistles softly. “Looks like someone underestimated Demeter’s perfect daughter.”

Persephone’s voice gains a hard edge. “Be sure and tell them that, too, when you deliver your report for tonight.”

Eros holds up his hands, his easy grin returning. It’s a mask, but nowhere near as good as Persephone’s. “Tonight, I’m just here to enjoy myself.”

Tonight. It’s the barest of reassurances. I hold his gaze. “Then enjoy yourself…tonight. But remember whose hospitality you’re currently benefiting from.”

He tips an imaginary hat to me and moves away. A couple on a couch on the other side of the dais wave at him, and he joins them. Within a few seconds, they’re stripping him to participate in the fun. I look down to find Persephone watching with a frown. She nibbles her bottom lip. “You know he’s here as a spy.”

“Better than him being here to act out Aphrodite’s vengeance.” Something he’s rumored to do on the regular.

She looks around the room, and I can practically see her mind whirling as she’s finally able to make out the faces of the crowd. “There are a lot more people from the upper city here than I expected. People who attend the same parties I used to.”