Page 65 of Queen of the Underworld

The woman advanced a step towards her.

And then Hades was there.

He looked down at Persephone where she sat on the floor and then at the goddess, no trace of emotion on his handsome face, and the foolish part of her that felt safe now he was near faded away, leaving her as cold as his gaze. Her brow furrowed as she lifted her right hand and gingerly touched her lip, and she hissed in a breath when it stung.

Hades’s eyes narrowed on her mouth.

Crimson fire erupted in them, devouring the cool azure, and then they went black.

Scarlet lightning ravaged the realm outside the tower.

Shadows tore from the floor.

They slammed into the goddess and hurled her across the room with such force that the tower shook as she smashed into the curved stone wall. Blood burst from the goddess’s lips and a grunt left her as the shadows seized hold of her and threw her to the floor, and then dragged her towards Hades. He bared fangs in her face, shadows streaming from his shoulders, and then threw her away from him again. This time when the goddess hit the wall, the shadows didn’t grab her. She hit the floor with another pained grunt.

It all happened so fast Persephone could barely make sense of it, and then his shadows were wrapping around her and sweeping her up into his arms, twisting her so her back was to his front. His left arm banded across her chest, draped over her shoulder as his hand clutched her ribs near her breast and he pulled her back against him. His other hand closed over the front of her throat, forcing her to tip her head back into his shoulder, and shadows embraced her.

But it wasn’t done to harm or cage her.

He was protecting her.

The metal plates of the vambrace that protected his forearm shielded her heart and the plates on his gauntlet shielded her throat. He had chosen this position so he could protect those vital areas from this goddess’s wrath, and had no doubt kept her in front of him so he could keep an eye on her.

She shivered as his talons grazed the skin of her throat.

He lowered his mouth to Persephone’s ear and whispered, “That was not very nice.”

She wasn’t sure whether he was talking to her, or to the goddess who had picked herself up off the floor and now faced them.

The shock of it all dissipated in an instant as Persephone caught up and found her balance again. She stoked her anger, refusing to let him or this goddess scare her, and denying the softer feelings that continued to shake her. She wasn’t comforted by his embrace. She didn’t feel safe.

She definitely didn’t feel aroused as he held her and his front pressed against her back, leaving not even a molecule of air between them.

The goddess before her narrowed calculating starlit eyes on her and Persephone felt as if she was peeling back her layers and would see her true feelings for Hades, and would tell him.

So she panicked, because she wasn’t ready for him to know. She was bone-deep afraid that a powerful male like him wouldn’t feel the same way about her and that he only wanted her as his queen because he was taking something from Olympus, and that any goddess from her realm would have satisfied him.

She feared he would only break her heart.

“Get off me.” She shirked his grip and turned to push him away from her, but he captured her wrists and held her firmly, keeping her pressed close to him.

His gaze seared her, so intense that the foolish part of her whispered she was wrong and that he wanted her, not any other goddess. It was her that he desired. Only her. That feeling was there and gone in a flash as his gaze lifted to land on the goddess behind her. Persephone wrestled with him, fighting to break free of him, and he tightened his grip on her, refusing to let her go.

The goddess chuckled, clearly amused that Persephone wasn’t strong enough to break his hold, and the fire ignited inside her again, an inferno that had her trying to turn towards the goddess.

But Hades still held her fast, making that impossible.

The fire became fury, a rage so deep it burned away all reason and all softness, and hardened her heart to stone as she kicked at Hades’s shins, unwilling to be mocked by him too.

“Let me go! You clearly have a female. You do not need me!” The words came out far more bitter than she had anticipated, laced with hurt that she couldn’t quite hide beneath her anger.

Hades instantly stopped fighting her, his now-crimson eyes widening and a trace of blue encircling his irises.

Persephone slammed her mouth shut. She had said too much.

The goddess murmured, “The little Olympian desires you.”

“I do not,” Persephone snapped, panic pushing the words from her lips. “I would never want a monster like him!”

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