Page 55 of Queen of the Underworld

Hades would never allow it.

The orchard was far beyond his temple, between it and a steep cliff that dropped off to the rear of the tower. She thought there might be a river of lava down there, because a constant glow emanated from within the canyon, casting amber light into the air and illuminating the cragged faces of the mountain range on the other side.

“What has your attention?” Hades’s deep voice rolled over her, an edge of agitation in it.

He was displeased she wasn’t paying attention to him and was content to stand here looking out at the view rather than admiring him. She wasn’t going to apologise for being bad company. If he wanted a female to fawn over him and attend to his needs, he should have looked elsewhere. She was sure many of his servants would service their god-king’s every desire.

A hot wave of anger surged through her, unwanted and sudden, as powerful as it had been when he had mentioned females before. It struck her out of nowhere, hitting her hard and fast and making her feel as if she was spinning and liable to topple as she realised something.

She didn’t like the thought of Hades with another woman.

Persephone glared at him as his gaze scalded her back, keeping up appearances so he didn’t see how shaken she was by her fierce reaction to that revelation. She had never been jealous before and she wasn’t jealous now. This whole situation had her in a spin and she was out of her depth.

She glanced back at him again.

She had been feeling out of her depth from the moment she had set eyes on him.

And it was only getting worse.

He wasn’t helping matters either. He was so different tonight, and while she wanted to blame the ambrosia, she was feeling honest with herself enough to admit that he had been different this morning too. He was changing.

Because he wanted her to accept him as her husband and this shift in his behaviour was just a way to ensure that happened, and that she succumbed to him?

Or was it because of her influence?

She almost laughed at her ridiculous thought that she had any influence on someone, especially him.

This change in him wasn’t because of her. It was because he wanted her and rather than taking her by force, he had settled on breaking through her defences instead, an obvious attempt to make her more compliant so she would accept his advances and the new life he had laid out for her. He was trying to make his own life easier for himself. If she was compliant, then she wouldn’t fight him. She would be a good and meek queen who would do his bidding rather than refuse him.

Hades stalked to the table, plucked a bunch of dark grapes and laid them on a silver platter, and took them with him to her bed, where he lounged on it again in a far too sexy and alluring manner, as if he belonged in it.

He set the platter on the covers beside him and crossed his feet at his ankles, his long legs stretched out before him. His fingers brushed through the wild strands of his onyx hair, something he had done more than once and had drawn her attention to it. Mostly because her fingers had itched to do that and know the feel of his hair beneath them, but partly because he wasn’t wearing his crown tonight. Another attempt to soften her towards him and make himself appear more like any other man?

Another trick?

He sipped ambrosia from the violet bottle and then fed himself a grape, and then another. His searing blue gaze landed on her and then back on the grapes, and then her again.

“If you even think about suggesting I feed those to you, you will find the flat of my palm against your face again.” She tipped her chin up and stared him down.

But moving to strike him would place her dangerously within his reach.

His profane lips curled into a hint of a breathtaking smile that had her pulse fluttering in her throat and heated her blood to an unbearable level.

By the gods, Hades shouldn’t be allowed to smile.

It was devastating, tearing down her defences as quickly as she could shore them up to stop him from seeing the effect he had on her with only a ghost of a smile. If a real one graced his lips, she would be done for. It would be game over.

The fact that the god-king of the Underworld, a male her family and all of Olympus portrayed as soulless and pure evil, could smile felt wrong, but at the same time, as it wobbled with his frown and the comprehension dawning in his eyes, it felt right.

Hades could smile.

He had just forgotten how.

And remembering looked as if it had spooked him.

His throat worked on a hard swallow and his expression darkened, the air around him seeming to grow dim as he glared at his legs.

Persephone had shifted a step towards him before she had realised what she was doing. She caught herself before he noticed, holding herself back even when she wanted to go to him. She wanted to comfort him. She ached to tell him that it was all right and that it wasn’t a crime if he smiled. Smiling was a good thing. It lightened the heart. It chased sombreness away. She had often smiled when she was feeling down, forcing herself to do it until it had stuck and she had started to feel better.

---