Page 27 of The Queen & the King

My breaths are shallow. I can’t seem to take in any air at all, and my head spins. “We should…” I begin.

“We should…” Hades’ voice is lower, and I think I can hear something in it… desire, maybe. His shadow hands slide slightly higher up my thigh, and though everything feels duller in the dream as if there is an invisible barrier, it does not stop the electricity that seems to pass between us.

“Stop. We should stop.” I manage to force out the words, my voice shaking only slightly.

“Oh?” Hades says. He tilts his head, his dark eyes glinting with amusement. “Then what are you doing with those wicked vines, Persephone?”

I blink, glancing down to see his legs wrapped in vines again. I try to remember at what point I started to feel the hard muscles of his calves and thighs against my fingers again. At what point did the soft brush of denim start to feel like I was pressing my fingers into him, needing to feel more?

I try to yank them away, trying to control them, but they don’t budge. They continue to caress Hades like they need to be touching him. My head swims from the feel of his touch slowly drifting up my thighs, and controlling my powers becomes even more difficult. The whisper of his calloused hands tracks farther up, closer to where I need them to be.

“They are just giving you what you desire, Persephone,” Hades says, his voice as alluring as the feeling of his shadow hands.

I need to stop this. I tunnel into my power, which only seems to add to my pleasure, but I mentally yank my vines hard. They retreat suddenly, so suddenly that I fall forward into Hades.Hades catches me, wrapping his arms around me, the shadows disappearing suddenly.

“Why did you stop?” Hades asks, looking down at me, his eyes still nearly completely black.

I pant as I look up at him. There is not one part of my body that isn’t aching. “I…”

Hades leans in closer. “You didn’t have to.”

I find my gaze slowly wandering over his face to his lips, his full, perfect lips.

“Kiss me,” Hades whispers, his warm breath tickling my lips.

My gaze snaps back to his, “I?—”

Before I can continue, Hades silences me by brushing his lips over mine. The kiss is gentle. In a way that is showing me I am in control of this. I can either pull away or kiss him back.

The feel of his lips against mine, even though it is only a phantom feeling, is enough to stoke the fire sitting low in my tummy. My skin feels as though it is on fire, and I deepen the kiss, softly sliding my tongue along the seam of his lips.

Hades’ groan sends a jolt of awareness through my body, and in a flash, his hand is digging into my hair. He pulls me close, opening for me, his tongue playing with mine. I slowly glide my fingers up his arms, moaning when I get to his biceps. He is so strong.

Hades’ hands wander down my body and over my back to cup my ass, squeezing it. I’m too lost in him to feel anything but desperation, and I moan as he digs his fingers deeper into my flesh.

“Fuck, Persephone,” he groans into my mouth.

Hades bends slightly and cups my thighs, yanking me up. Eagerly, I wrap my legs around his waist and my arms over his shoulder, running my fingers through his hair.

“Missed you so much,” he growls into my mouth before sliding his lips to my jaw, the soft kisses and sharp bites making me tremble in his arms.

I smile, tilting my head as he continues his exploration down my neck, leaving a trail of pleasure in his wake. “You hardly know me.”

Hades pulls back, a flicker of something that resembles sadness in his eyes before he masks it with a flirtatious smirk. “Doesn’t mean I can’t miss you.”

He leans in to kiss me again, but I pull back a little. “I can barely feel you.”

Hades nods solemnly. “It’s the dream realm.”

“I want to feel you,” I whisper, looking away.

Hades pinches my chin, tilting it so I look back at him. This time, his eyes look… hopeful.

“There is a way.” He searches my eyes with his penetrating gaze. “For us to meet in person.”

I tilt my head, intrigued.

“The announcement,” Hades clears his throat, clearly bothered by my mother’s quest to marry me off, “said you are accepting suitors.”

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