Page 89 of Queen of the Underworld

Was the realm responding to her?

Or perhaps it was him.

He felt bad about the things he had done to her and that feeling was growing stronger each day. Now, she had enough power to manifest the bloom, and some foolish part of him didn’t want to seal it and steal it from her again.

Hades shut that line of thought down, killing it.

He needed to be more careful.

He gazed at Persephone, taking in that glint in her eyes as she looked at the world outside her tower, one that said she was already thinking about how she could use her returning powers, and cold stole through him.

If he wasn’t, then he might lose her.

Chapter 25

Persephone broke away from Hades, ducking under his left arm to distance herself from him as her heart pounded and her lips tingled from their kiss. Her kiss. She had kissed him. She wanted to palm her face and groan, but wanted to smile at the same time. She hadn’t planned to do it. It had just happened.

Much like the flower she had made for him.

She moved towards the bed, needing the air as Hades’s power and the weight of his gaze curled around her. He wanted another kiss. No, not just another kiss. He wanted more from her, and for a heartbeat, she had been tempted to give it to him. Her palms hummed with the feel of his hard chest and how frantically his heart had drummed against them, relaying his desire to her.

Persephone reached the end of the bed, turned and kept walking, unable to keep still as she flexed her fingers. His hair had been soft beneath them, silky against her skin, and his lips had been hard and unyielding as he had caught up with her and begun to kiss her back.

She blew out her breath, seeking calm and control and finding none.

At least he was keeping his distance rather than pressing her, lingering near the balcony as he tracked her with his gaze.

“How is your leg?” His deep voice rolled over her, doing wicked things to her body.

So wicked in fact that it took her a moment and a glance at him to take in what he had said. He levelled a pointed look at her right leg, and she looked down at it. Her eyebrows rose and lips parted.

“Oh. It is fine. Healing, I think.” She toyed with her skirts, fidgeting with them as his gaze drilled into her thigh, making her far too aware of her body and the heat he always roused in her. She tugged at the green layers of material. “I washed my dress again, but I do not think it made much difference. The soot from the forest is difficult to wash out.”

She mentally grimaced at her rambling and cursed her nerves. They were his fault. His asking about her leg had her mind filling with the way his hands had passed between her thighs and his skin had brushed hers, and how that fierce heat had gathered low in her belly. The flood of arousal he had caused had been shocking, and try as she might to keep still, she hadn’t been able to in the end. She had squirmed and fought a losing battle against the desire to seize his hand and force it higher, so it brushed the apex of her thighs and gave her some relief.

Fire consumed her, the thought of him touching her setting her aflame, and she had to fight to stop herself from blushing and giving away her wicked thoughts.

He slid a look at the gown that was still draped over a chair one of the servants had brought for her—a black gown that would have concealed the dirt from the charred branches she had used as weapons. That look worked wonders to dampen her desire. As effective as a bucket of icy water tipped over her head might have been.

She gave him a look in return, one that said she wouldn’t be wearing it. She had asked for a green dress. If he provided one for her, she might change into it, but she wasn’t wearing black. Her skin was too pale for that colour. Black clothing made her look as if she was dead.

She glanced at Hades. His skin was paler than hers, but for some reason, the colour suited him. It accentuated his fine figure, and added to his dark air. She couldn’t imagine him in any colour other than black, and perhaps a splash of crimson that would match his eyes when they changed.

His expression darkened as it shifted to her, that corona of scarlet emerging in his blue irises, and a thrill bolted through her as he growled, “I would resurrect that beast to slay it ten times over every day for the rest of eternity if I could.”

She swallowed and stared at him, sure she shouldn’t find such threats of dark violence arousing, but she did. Her heart fluttered. Heat climbed her cheeks. She quickly looked away before he noticed it.

The silence felt stifling, so she said the first thing that came to her.

“The wyvern or the other beast?”

Hades growled, “Otherbeast?”

Persephone looked over her shoulder at him, her eyebrows rising as confusion swept through her, but then she remembered he had only seen the dragon. “There was a smaller black beast. It possessed a thick hide, seven horns and was around this high at the shoulders.”

She tiptoed and reached her right arm up.

“It attacked me, and—”

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