Page 38 of A Touch of Chaos

“If you wish it,” she whispered.

“I wish it,” he said, his tone low, almost feverish.

She let her magic go, and it fell away like a shiver down her spine.

Hades held her tighter, lifting her body higher. She knew without words what he was asking, and she answered, guiding the head of his cock to her entrance. She braced her hands against his shoulders as she seated herself on him, breathing through the pleasure as it coursed through her body, rattling her mind.

She wrapped her arms around him tighter, and as they moved together, all she could focus on was the feelings he conjured. This was a magic of its own, separate from any divine gift, and it let her live in a single moment of pure ecstasy, far from the grief and sorrow of her life.

Except for the part where it wasn’t real, and suddenly her arousal was cut through with pain.

Persephone twined her fingers in Hades’s hair and drew his head back, her lips colliding with his as tears streamed down her face.

“Lie down,” she said as she pulled away.

Hades held her gaze but did as she asked, shifting onto his back. She adjusted her position, her palms flat on his chest.

“Tell me,” he said, though his body tightened beneath hers as she began to move.

“There is nothing to say,” she replied. Reaching for his hands, she brought them to her breasts.

“You always have something to say,” he said, teasing her flesh with his fingers.

“A god once told me that words mean nothing,” she said, growing breathless.

“Your god was a fool,” he replied, his hands falling to her hips where he gripped her harder, moving faster.

“Oh?” she asked on a moan.

“Some words are not meaningless,” he said.

She could no longer say anything, and he did not speak as her body seized with pleasure. It wasn’t until she collapsed atop Hades that he finished, whispering the words against her temple.

“I love you, Persephone.”

“Persephone.”

She squeezed her eyes tighter, clinging to her dream a little longer, but already she could feel the weight of Hades’s arms slipping away.

“Persephone.”

She opened her eyes and found Hecate standing over her. It took her a moment to get her bearings, and then she realized she was in her bed. Thanatos must have taken her from the Asphodel Fields.

“Hecate,” she whispered as she sat up, an ache forming between her brows. “Is everything all right?”

“I believe I have found Hades,” Hecate said.

Persephone had been so desperate to hear those words for so long, she could hardly believe they were true.

“Where is he?” she asked, rising to her feet.

Hecate did not respond immediately, and Persephone’s soaring hope quickly turned to dread.

“Hecate?”

“He’s at Knossos,” she said.

“Knossos?” Persephone asked, confused. Knossos was a city on the island of Crete. “But there is nothing there but ruins.”

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