Page 1 of Hades

HADES

Grabbing a few pebblesfrom the ground, none big enough to break glass but large enough to wake my sleeping beauty, I toss up one then the next, hitting Aradia’s window each time. It only takes a few moments for her to fling open the shutters and peer down at me. She has a scowl on her face, one I can tell isn’t real as she looks me over.

“What are you doing here?” she whispers as she leans out the window too far for my liking and her safety. She looks left and right, presumably searching for her parents’ guards, none of whom will be awake anytime soon.

“What do you think I’m doing here? I had to see you,” I confess.

“Shush, you’ll wake everyone,” she chastises.

“Then come down, so I don’t have to yell!” I shout louder, knowing no one will hear me, but the action will bring her down into the courtyard. “I could yell all night!” I shout again as I spin around, my voice carrying in every direction.

This woman makes me the fool, and I love her even more for it.

“Shhhh,” she says, putting her finger to her lips. “Fine. Just stop yelling!” she hollers down, and I watch as she quickly covers her mouth with her hand and looks behind her.

Aradia’s side of the palace is empty aside from a few maids and possibly a rogue cook or two. But I was careful to pay off every guard, and those who would not take the bribe will wake sometime tomorrow with the mother of all headaches.

I would have preferred to kill them, but the penalty for killing a palace guard is death and banishment to the Underworld, which is not where I want to be. Although, I’m reasonably sure that the penalty for having deflowered Themis’ daughter would be the same, if not worse.

When she’s gone from her window, I approach the door and lean against the stone wall to wait for her to emerge. It only takes a few minutes before the door swings open, and she steps through.

Without a second thought, I grab her by the waist, spin her around and pull her to me. I’m leaning against the wall, making my height much more manageable for her petite frame. She squeals as I tighten my grip and hold her against my chest.

“You’re half naked, practically indecent,” I scold as I run my hands along her nearly nude backside, the short night dress she has on leaving almost nothing to the imagination but awakening my memory.

“This is my sleeping attire, and you shouldn’t be here, Hades,” she admonishes yet does not attempt to pull away. Instead, she caresses her hands up my chest until she can wrap her arms around my neck. Even with my lowered height, she has to stand on her tippy toes to place a feather-light kiss on my lips.

“I couldn’t stay away. It’s been three days,” I remind her as I run my fingers through her long, chestnut hair.

“Yes, and I said I would come to you when I could. I have been unable to escape, and my mother suspects something is happening between us,” she adds as she presses her body against mine. I let out a low growl at the feel of her curves.

Her mother has every right to suspect something between the two of us. Until a few weeks ago, we never thought there was a reason to hide our relationship. However, we didn’t flaunt it. My status in the heavens isn’t what most would consider pure. And not what the daughter of Themis would be expected to entertain.

My mother, Rhea, though noble in her own right, has never disclosed publicly who my father is. Though most suspect since I am not an Arc, that my paternal parent isn’t of angelic origins. That, alone, should have been enough to have had me killed as an infant. If it weren’t for my mother’s older and therefore more powerful lineage, I would have been.

Yet even that lineage isn’t enough for Themis’ only daughter.

“Come away with me. We’ll go anywhere you wish, or maybe we’ll go back upstairs,” I tease, pressing her body against mine so she can feel how hard she’s making me just standing here. “No one will know. I’ll be gone by sunrise, I promise.”

It only takes her a moment of contemplation before I see her intoxicating smile and the sparkle in her emerald eyes. “You have to promise you’ll be gone before anyone wakes.”

“Cross my heart and hope to die.” The childhood rhyme is out of my mouth before I can think better. I watch as Aradia’s face pales, the statement reminding her of the risk we’re taking. “I’m sorry, nothing will happen.”

She gives me a coy smile before pulling back and grabbing my hand. I love the feel of her tiny, delicate fingers wrapped around mine as she pulls me toward the door and through the palace. She is overly cautious, peeking around each corner. I don’t have the heart to tell her no one is here. I made sure of it, and I love watching her skulk through the halls with me in tow.

I pull her toward me the moment we enter her chamber, capturing her lips with mine, the need to kiss her consuming me. “Why am I so drawn to you? I would go to the ends of time just for a kiss.”

“Only a kiss?” Aradia teases as she toys with the toggle on my leather pants.

Wrapping my hands around her tiny waist, I lift her until she can wrap her legs around my midsection. I can feel the heat of her bare flesh and her wetness through my shirt. There is no need to question that she needs my touch as much as I need hers.

In three long strides, I’m across the room and kneeling on her oversized bed, laying her down as gently as possible. The moment her back hits the plush mattress, her legs fall from my waist, revealing her sodden silk panties pressed against her damp flesh. The outline of her pussy beneath has my cock straining against my leathers.

“Aren’t you a naughty girl,” I say as I run my fingers over her wet panties, making Aradia squirm beneath me as I add the slightest pressure over her clit. Her slight moans of pleasure have me ripping her wisp of a sleeping gown from her body and kissing my way down her flesh.

“I’ve missed you,” she breathes.

Her words warm my heart, and I stop at her navel and glance up at her. “How much? How much have you missed me?” I tease before I nip her side, and she squeals. I’m thankful that no one is on her side of the palace. I intend to make her scream my name in pleasure all night before I convince her to come away with me.

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