Page 64 of Hades and Persephone: Threads of Fate

“So am I.”

Rolling my eyes, I give up, moving on to my next question. “Do you ever see your parents?”

Hades stiffens, but only for a moment before he treads water again. Clearly, I’ve taken him by surprise.He swallows, considering, “I see my mother, although it is rare.”

“Your father?”

“No. My father is gone.”

I flinch at the complete coldness in his eyes as he speaks of his father—the man who gave him life. How terrible a father he must have been to have filled his son with so much hate for him.

“I’m sorry.”

“It was a long time ago.”

“Was he—was he bad?”

Hades’ eyes scan my face and his arms pulse around my body. “He was not a good father. He was constantly fearful that his children would become greater than him, and he tried, many times, to ensure that would never come to pass.”

He doesn’t miss my frown. “What do you mean?”

“He was not a good father, Persephone.”

Understanding that he doesn’t wish to talk about it, I ask instead, “What about your siblings? You once told me you had more than you liked having.” I smirk. “Do you see them often?”

His reply is cheeky. “More than I like.”

I groan, “Hades. I’m doing that thing you keep saying you want me to do.”

“What is that?”

“I’m trying to know you.”

He chuckles. “Does that mean you’ve decided to abandon your idea of leaving me come September?”

“No.” His jaw hardens and I explain, “I’m not the one you’re meant to end up with, Hades. I’m no one’s forever, okay?”

God, it hurts me to say it.

Anger, bright and irrefutable, ignites his expression. “Why would you say that?”

“Because,” I say with a simple smile I hope doesn’t flash the pain I feel. “I’m meant for today. Right now.”

I’d found this peace on the drive to the yacht, and then during the sail into the sea. The fact that I’m steadily losing fragments of my sanity doesn’t mean that I can’t keep living in the present. So, maybe I don’t have a long future ahead of me. Maybe I’ll lose the rest of my mind in a month, or a year, or five years. It doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is that I live today, now, to the most of my ability. That I feel with all that I am. That I experience every moment I can.

Because, eventually, sooner than I’d like, it’ll all be gone.

When Hades opens his mouth to argue—the man likes to argue—I surprise him by dropping my mouth to his.

The kiss is instantly hot. And although I initiated it, Hades quickly takes control. He kisses me deep, invading my mouth with his tongue, tasting me. Heat swells in my core and he groans low. His rough hands move up and down the smooth skin of my back, exploring me even as he kicks his powerful legs to tread the seemingly bottomless water.

Our kiss heats and deepens. Hades’ hands work at the tie of my bikini in the seconds before he pulls it off me, tossing it to the boat where it lands with a wet splat. Cool water rushes over my breasts in an entirely new sensation now that I’m stripped of my top. Heat spills between my legs even as I lock my ankles around him, clinging to him tightly.

And then Hades is moving. He splits the water as he swims to the boat, severing our kiss as he lifts me onto the swim platform. With his powerful arms planted, he hoists his body up between my legs, his hot mouth latching onto my breast in a near violent kiss. My head falls back as my hands wind in his hair, twisting and tugging as he moves to my other breast, grazing the sensitive flesh with his teeth.

The hollow spot between my legs grows, expanding painfully with a need to be filled. My core throbs, pulsing with a need only he can sate. A desperate whimper crawls up my throat as I rock my hips into nothing, because Hades is still mostly submerged in the sea.

“Please,” I gasp as he begins to kiss the hollow between my breasts, down the line of my belly. He nips at the band of my bottoms and I spread my legs wider. “Hades, please.”

---