Page 119 of A Touch of Chaos

It was the only mercy they ever granted.

He did not approach the bed with Persephone, choosing to stand apart from the others, watching as Sybil, Leuce, and Aphrodite shooed Opal off the bed and pulled the blankets back, allowing Persephone to lay the Golden Fleece over Harmonia. They all silently waited for its power to take effect.

Hades had been able to feel it, a warmth that seeped deep into his skin. In truth, he felt better than he everhad, even before his imprisonment in the labyrinth. He hoped the same would be true for Harmonia.

“She’s taking deeper breaths,” Sybil said, voice rising with hope. She leaned over her, smoothing her hair. “Harmonia, we love you. So much.”

The color returned to Harmonia’s face and lips, and then she stirred, and suddenly, everyone burst into tears.

When Harmonia opened her eyes, she frowned. “Why is everyone crying?”

Her question was followed by a round of harder tears and laughter and Opal yipping and chasing her tail.

Hades’s gaze shifted to Hecate as the goddess approached.

“The fleece was not easy to obtain, was it?” she asked.

“I did not expect it to be easy,” said Hades. “But I have to admit, I thought Ares would be more moved by Aphrodite’s plight.”

“Few among the gods have any love for Ares and his violence,” said Hecate. “He likely saw an opportunity to gain his father’s favor.”

And in the process, he’d sacrificed the friendship of the only goddess who had ever offered him kindness.

“I do not know how he will retaliate,” said Hades. “It was Persephone who ended his bloodlust.”

“He will likely wait for the battlefield,” said Hecate. “He will want her distracted, given that he has lost to her one-on-one.”

Though he had already targeted her during battle before.

“Aphrodite will be devastated,” Hades said in a low voice.

“She will,” said Hecate. “But it will give way to herrage, and that is the level of power we need right now.” They exchanged a look. “It will not be long now,” she said. “Once the first blow is struck before mankind, the war for dominion over Earth begins.”

That was what Zeus and his loyalists failed to understand. This was not just another attempt to overthrow the King of the Gods. It had become more than a fight for a single throne. It was a fight for every throne on Olympus, a fight for worship from a population that had been shown the neglect of the gods, and Hades feared that by the time they realized it, it would be too late.

“Enjoy tonight,” said Hecate. “It may be the last you have alone for quite some time.”

She left his side, and Persephone approached, her eyes swallowed by darkness. Her face was flushed, and he could feel that same warmth in the pit of his stomach.

They left, teleporting to their chamber.

Their gazes held, and so did the distance between them.

Hades could feel the tension building. It tightened every muscle in his body and thickened his cock.

“I have no intention to rest, no desire to sleep,” he said. “I want to spend every second making up for each day I was absent from you.”

His words were met with a pleasing shiver. It made her nipples hard beneath her shirt.

“Then why are you wasting precious time talking?”

His lips twitched.

Spoken like a true queen.

And then there was suddenly no space between them as they came together, their mouths colliding. Hades drove her back into the post of the bed, gripping herhard as he ground into her, the friction sending a dizzying thrill straight to his head.

He smoothed his hands over her ass and then dragged her up his body, and as she twined her legs around his waist, he carried her to bed where he kissed her harder and deeper, until his lungs burned from drowning in her.

---