Page 155 of A Touch of Chaos

“What are you doing?”

She whirled to find him standing close. Warmth radiated off his skin. She wanted it, leaned into it, as her eyes found his.

“Trying to chase away the darkness,” she said.

“You will only feed it,” he said, taking the glass.

She expected him to down it, but he didn’t. He set it aside, never shifting his attention from her.

“Is that why you drink?” she asked.

He studied her for a few quiet seconds and then said, “I do not wish for you to be like me.”

“Would you love me less?”

“Never,” he said and then frowned. “That question was unkind.”

Persephone dropped her gaze, and Hades inched closer, tipping her head back with his finger.

“Tell me,” he said, his voice a deep rumble she could feel in her chest.

“There is nothing to tell,” she said, looking at him. “It was only a nightmare.”

Hades studied her, his eyes glittering like obsidian—a reflection of the desire burning with her.

“Do you wish to sleep?”

“No,” she said. “No…I do not wish to sleep.”

Hades’s gaze fell to her lips.

“Then what is it you desire?”

His voice promised worship and made her blood simmer.

She slid out from between him and the bar, swiping a deck of cards from the mantle. “I desire a game,” she said.

“A game?”

“A game with stakes.”

Hades tilted his head to the side. “Tell me your terms, Goddess.”

“Whatever you desire, so long as it brings me pleasure.”

Hades’s eyes darkened. “May I request the same from you?”

She tried not to smile. “You may,” she said.

“And the game you wish to play?”

“Poker,” she said.

Hades raised a brow.

It was the game he’d chosen the night they’d first slept together, and she chose it now because she wanted a distraction.

“Fine, Goddess,” he said. “Do you wish to deal?”

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