Page 119 of Queen of the Underworld

But by the gods, he felt it as he drew back and gazed down at Persephone, their bodies fused into one and his soul feeling as if it had melded with hers too.

He kept his eyes locked on hers as he rocked into her, his pace unhurried, each long press and withdraw filling him with warmth and light. Her eyes glittered at him, the love that shone in them telling him she was right there with him, feeling everything he was. Nothing had ever felt like this.

He felt soul-deep connected to her.

And she was all that existed in the world.

There was only her. Only him. Only their love.

She slid her hands over his shoulders and gently lured him down to her, and he moaned as she captured his lips, her kiss pure tenderness that spoke to him on a primal level, lightening his heart to chase the shadows from it with her love. He lengthened his strokes, curling his hips to hit the spot that had her moans growing louder, her body arching to meet his, and lifted his head, wanting to see the moment she found release. His own built inside him, a gathering storm that felt as if it might leave him forever changed, just as she had.

She cried out, his name a broken whisper on her lips as she spasmed, as release swept her up and took him over the edge with her, the feel of her body milking him propelling him towards his own climax.

Persephone angled her head to her left, revealing the smooth column of her throat, and his gaze snagged on it, the hunger to bite her that he had battled countless times over the last ten days seizing hold of him.

He swallowed hard.

Held himself back, even when every fibre of his being roared at him to mark her, so everyone in this world would know that she was his.

Her hand cupping his nape startled him and his gaze leaped to meet hers, the heated look in it beckoning him and wrenching control from him. He didn’t resist her as she tugged him down to her. He hovered with his mouth above the curve of her neck, his fangs aching to pierce her tender skin.

“Hades,” she murmured, his name a desperate plea, telling him that she wanted this.

She wanted his fangs in her throat.

He groaned and struck hard, sinking them deep. The taste of her flooded his mouth as she cried out and arched against him, as her body spasmed around his again, the feel of her climaxing from his bite pushing him over the edge with her.

He grunted and pressed deeper into her and spilled, clutching her to him with both his hands and his fangs, holding her in place beneath him.

When his heart stopped racing, and his body stopped trembling, he slowly released her throat and licked the marks he had made. He gazed at the twin puncture wounds, the sight of his mark on her warming the cold reaches of his heart. For at least the next few days, all in Olympus would know she was his.

His gaze shifted to meet hers and he drowned in the love that shone in her eyes.

She wrapped her arms around him and gathered her to him, holding him on top of her, with their bodies still joined. He banded his arms around her and rolled them over, so her light weight rested on top of him, and held her.

Just held her.

Minutes trickled past, becoming an hour before long, and a need built within him, an urgency that made him want to make the most of every second they had left. He framed her face and lifted her head from his chest, and kissed her again, stoking her passion until she was writhing on him, rubbing her body along the length of his to madden him.

He made love to her again, and again, until the stillness of night gave way to the dawn, and their time had run out.

No tears touched her eyes as she silently dressed, choosing the green gown he had given her, and his heart ached heavily as he paused halfway through fastening his trousers to watch her gliding around their chambers. Her green gaze was sombre as she took it all in, as if she was putting it to memory.

As if she feared she would never see it again.

She turned and looked over her shoulder at him, past her fall of scarlet waves, and that sensation grew as she stared at him.

Hades went to her and gathered her into his arms, banding one around her shoulders and clutching the back of her head with his other hand. He growled, “She cannot keep you from me, my love. No one in this world can. We shall be together again, and I will await that moment every day we are apart.”

Persephone tipped her head back and seized his lips, her kiss desperate.

He kissed her back, slanting his mouth over hers to steal control of it, and swept her into a teleport that took them to the gate to Olympus. She pushed back and stared at it, tears glistening on her lashes, and then at him. The colourful light of the rings and glyphs that formed the circular portal washed over her fair skin, painting her in soft rainbow hues.

Hades palmed her face and kissed her again, needing one more moment with her to carry him through the dark days ahead.

And then he abruptly broke away from her as it became too much, and seized her hand and pulled her to the gate.

He had meant to make her walk through it, but he lingered before it, afraid to let her go and sure he would never see her again.

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