Page 193 of A Touch of Chaos

He shook his head. “It isn’t that I do not want your help or need it,” he said. “But I do not wish for you to see what I have seen.”

She understood, trusting the horror in his eyes.

“I love you,” she said, closing her eyes against the feel of his lips on her forehead.

“I love you,” he replied. “Rest, darling. There will be none after tonight.”

When he released her, she felt like she might collapse, but she managed to remain on her feet as she watched him cross the room to Ilias, Hermes, and Artemis. When they left, she made her way upstairs to Hades’s office, slumped against the doors, and broke.

Persephone was roused by a gentle shake. When she opened her eyes, she found Hades sitting beside her. She had fallen asleep on the couch in his office.

“Hades,” she said, her voice thick with sleep.

“Come,” he said. “Let us spend the rest of the night in our own bed.”

It took Persephone a few moments to rise, but when she did, she felt more awake.

“Did you find any more survivors?” she asked.

“Only two,” he said. “Though I do not have much hope for their survival.”

Persephone’s eyes instantly watered, and Hades’s fingers danced along the height of her cheekbone. Her face felt tender.

“You have been crying.”

“I tried not to,” she said. “But I could not contain it.”

“You do not have to,” he said. Rising and gathering her into his arms, he teleported to the Underworld.

The familiar smell and warmth of their room eased the tension in her chest.

Hades placed her on her feet and slid his hand into her hair.

“I know I have not been able to make you forget,” he said. “But I would still make love to you tonight.”

Her eyes watered even as he kissed her, his hands dipping beneath the collar of her dress. As it slipped from her shoulders to her feet, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and he drew her legs around his waist, carrying her to bed.

When he laid her down, he kissed her long and slow, and as his fingers danced over her skin, she grew warm, and a different ache overtook the one that had burdened her all day, one so deep and desperate she had no desire to wait for him any longer. She reached for him and guided him to her heat, and when she was full of him, all the air left her lungs. It was blissful—a death like no other.

Hades kissed her, one hand cradling her head, theother hooked beneath her knee, and for some reason—maybe it was the way he looked at her or the heat—she was reminded of when she had dreamed of him. For a moment, she feared this wasn’t real and that soon she would wake to find all this had been a dream.

Her fingers bit into his skin, desperate to keep him.

“Where are you?” he asked, brushing damp strands of her hair from her face. She held his gaze, and he bent to kiss her, whispering against her lips. “Live in this moment with me.”

“Don’t say that,” she said. Her chestached. “It is what you said when you weren’t real.”

“I am real now,” he said. “I am here now.”

She wept. “I’m not worried about now,” she whispered. “I am worried about after.”

Hades cupped her face, brushing away her tears. “I will be here,” he promised. “So do not leave me now.”

He pressed his mouth to hers, and it unlocked something frenzied in each of them. Hades took her by the wrists and held them over her head, pressing them into the bed. His thrusts went harder and deeper. Persephone wrapped her legs around him, her heels digging into his ass. She wanted to move with him, but all she could do was hold on as he thrust. His pace set a dizzying rhythm that had her body twisting and tightening. A moan welled in her throat.

“Yes,” she whispered over and over, and all the while, Hades’s eyes never left her face.

When she came, he kissed her with his tongue and teeth, his hips grinding hard into hers as he followed her over the edge.

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