“Maybe it’s because you sneaked up behind me. Maybe it was because you keep telling me you love me. Or maybe because the demon inside me just doesn’t want to feel what you arouse in me.”
“I do?”
“A few.”
Zerina gave a broken laugh. “I’ll take that. I’ll take anything you give me.”
“Anything?”
“Anything.” Her lips turned seductive. “My dark king, my body and heart is at your disposal.”
Hades groaned, burying his face in her midnight-black hair. “Are you trying to tempt me to show my dark side?”
She lowered her lashes, staring at him as she licked her bottom lip. “Is there ever a dark side when you make love to a woman?”
“Oh yes …” He slid the sleeves of her gown down her shoulders. He could have waved his hand to make it disappear, but he wanted to undress her slowly, suggestively.
Removing it, he positioned her in a suggestive pose that had her arms curling above her head and her thighs parted with one leg bent upward. No part of her body was hidden from his ravishing gaze.
“Show me, my dark king.”
Hades’ face sharpened into a taut mask as his body became hard and demanding. Impatiently, he removed his own clothes as he lifted her and turned her until she was on her knees before him. His chest pressed against her back as he brought his mouth to her neck.
Zerina trembled with desire when he opened his mouth to suck on her flesh. She bit back her whimper, her body already on the verge of climax before he even started to make love to her.
Hades ran a commanding hand over her buttocks, cupping it. He released her neck, trailing kisses to her shoulder then down her back, grazing his teeth along her buttocks before she felt him sliding down between her thighs.
With his tongue, he parted the flesh of her pussy, as she gripped the grass she knelt on.
“Open your legs wider.”
Zerina immediately did as he wanted, feeling the warm wetness slip out of her as his tongue found the mark he was searching for.
He circled her hips with his hands to move to the front of her body so he could part the lips of her pussy even farther, giving him more access to her. He clamped down on his hold of her, keeping her steady when she wanted to push back on him.
Gasping, she reminded herself to take deep breaths. Each stroke of his tongue had fire blazing a path inside the sheath she wanted filled.
“What do you want?”
The bastard had read her mind.
“You.”
“What part of me.”
“You know what part I want.” She quivered when he blew a puff of air on her clit.
“Say it.” He twirled his tongue around her clit, nearly making her see stars in the bright blue sky.
“Your cock. I want your cock.”
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
She could feel his laughter against her flesh. That he could find it amusing while they were making love started a spark inside of her that had nothing to do with desire.
Before he could react, she raised up, knocking him back, then spun around on her knees as she pushed him to the ground.
“Who’s laughing now?” she snarled, pasting a mock smile on her lips. She planted her hands on his chest, keeping him from rising.
“You know you only wanted to be on top.” Hades raised his hands over his head, mimicking her earlier pose.
His cock was already hard, his length gouging into her belly. Being given access to his body was as heady as his strongest wine.
Delicately tracing the length of his cock, she marveled how warm it was to her touch.
Bending her head, she parted her lips to take the tip into her mouth. Hades groaned as she then slipped farther down on him, enclosing his head within her sucking mouth.
Feeling exploratory, she lowered her hand down his length to the heavy sac that was growing tighter as she lowered her head even more.
Hades tugged her down by her hair until she was afraid she would gag. Calming her fears, though, she relaxed, following his mute instructions without experience. Lifting and lowering her head at the pull of her hair, she was soon rhythmically moving her mouth on him.
His plunges took over the rhythm as he arched to reach the back of her throat. Hades was a dominant lover who couldn’t allow her control for long.
Lifting her mouth, she ignored the tugging on her hair, placing kisses on one of his hips.
“Which are your favorite concubines, Hades? The ones who are completely docile?” She kissed the sensitive underside of his cock. “Or assertive?” She didn’t give him time to answer, swallowing his cock to the back of her throat while squeezing the heavy sac in her caressing fingers.
He bunched his fists in her hair, not letting her pull away again as he used his hips to fuck her.
The first time he had plunged his cock in her mouth, he had taken her inexperience into account. Now he made no such concessions, wanting to use her until she lost consciousness.
Jerking her head back as soon as the thought formed in his mind, Hades bit back a grunt as he levered himself up to position her once again on her knees.
He parted her as he poised his cock over her entrance. “I don’t haven’t a preference. I just enjoying fucking.”
Zerina silently screamed in her head, climaxing at his first plunge inside of her. She didn’t want him to have that power over her. She had already been too easy of a conquest. He had already branded his name on her heart and soul; what else could he take?
“I … want … it … all.” He punctuated each word with a hard thrust.
In her mind, she saw the vision he was giving her of him pounding his cock into her wet slit. The erotic sight of watching him fuck her had her moans escalating to shrieks of pleasure.
He brought his hands to her thighs, pulling her farther back on his cock. “I will tell you one thing. None of them feel as good as you.” His raspy voice had her twitching in another climax.
She wanted to sink down onto the grass, but Hades held her upright as he moved harder within her. He used his strength to pound inside of her.
The now familiar sensation of an approaching climax had her pleading, “I can’t come again!”
She heard teeth clenching as he sped up his strokes. He was merciless, driving the sensations into spiraling knots that twisted tighter and tighter.
“You haven’t given in to me yet,” he grated out.
“What do you want!”
“I want what you want. What you keep denying me. Tell me!”
“I’m yours!” she sobbed. “I’m yours!”
“Forever?”
“Forever.”
She knew she was damned by her admission.
Hades strokes didn’t stop, but they did ease, growing slower as he angled his cock to hit another spot in her spasming pussy.
Her orgasm wasn’t as intense as her other ones, but it was more fulfilling, finally giving her the satisfaction he had been denying her as he stroked his climax alongside hers.
When he pulled out, Zerina collapsed onto the grass, and Hades sat down next to her, running a calming hand over her body, every touch claiming every part of her.
He thumbed a pink nipple. “This is mine.”
“Yes.” She didn’t have the strength to argue.
His placed his hand over her pussy. “This is mine.”
“Yes.”
Satisfied, he started to lie down next to her.
Reaching out, she took his hand before he could pull it away, placing it over her heart. “This is yours, too. This is a part of me, too.”
He pulled away to stand up. “You just won’t stop, will you?” He waved his hand, dressing himself, then reached for her.
“You wanted me to admit I was yours. Does that mean I’m only yours when you’re fucking me?”
“Don’t press me, Zerina.”
She bravely reached out, shoving him. “Does it mean I’m only yours when you’re f
ucking me?” she yelled.
“No! Your mine all the time!”
“That’s what I thought.” Zerina bent down to grab her gown, pulling it over her head. Giving him a triumphant look, she ran a hand through her hair to untangle the tumbled mess. “I’m ready to go now.”
“Do you know how close you are to receiving a spanking?”
Interest sparkled in her eyes. “Maybe later. I’m a little sore right now.”
At the sight of Hades’ desire rekindling, Zerina warily took a step back.
“Don’t you come near me.”
He held out his hand. “You don’t want to explore? I don’t know when we’ll be able to come back.”
At his cajoling expression, she reached out and took his hand. They didn’t talk as they walked through the sacred valley.
When they grew tired, they rested underneath large trees on a carpet of grass. Hades leaned back on a tree and pulled her head to lie on his lap as they sat and contemplated the exquisite beauty surrounding them.
“I don’t want to go back,” Zerina whispered, not wanting to break the peacefulness of the moment.
“I think that every time I visit here.”
She wondered how many women he had shared this same expression with, then broke off the thought, not wanting the beauty of their time together spoiled.
“I’ve never brought anyone here but you. It’s my retreat.”
She stared up at him, trying to gauge if he was telling the truth and seeing he was. “Thank you.”
“We have to go.” His melancholy showed he didn’t want to leave any more than she did. “I’ll bring you back another time. Close your eyes.”
Trusting him, she closed her eyes after she imprinted the beauty around her to memory. She believed that he would bring her back, but nothing would compare to seeing it for the first time.
“Zerina.”
She started to lift her eyelids at the achingly tender way he had said her name. Before she could, though, she felt the dizzying rush of Hades transporting them.
Once she was on firm ground again, she opened her eyes, expecting to see her bedroom or Hades’. What she didn’t expect was to see a room full of people staring at her in shock.
“Zerina?”
Chapter 29
Spinning around, she frantically searched for Hades’ face among the sea of people. A woman had parted the men when she had appeared.
The two women stared at each other in stunned silence.
“Broni?”
When her sister tearfully gave a sob, they started running across the room toward each other. Zerina felt her own sobs as they met in the middle, hugging each other for several minutes before they could find the words to talk.
“How did you get here?”
“Where am I?”
They laughed, starting over.
“How did you get here?” Broni rushed out before she could ask her question again.
“Hades.” Pain bloomed in her chest as if she had been struck by a bullet. Zerina had been present several times when humans had met their end that way. She was sure her expression was a mix of the same emotions.
She looked around the room for him again, wanting to burst into tears that he wasn’t there. However, she was overjoyed to see Broni again.
When her aunt Destiny shoved her way through the crowd, she couldn’t hold back her gut-wrenching sobs any longer.
Destiny pushed her own tears away, putting a comforting arm across Zerina’s shoulders to lead her to a table.
Taking a seat, she buried her face in the hands.
“What did that bastard do to you?” Destiny demanded. “I’ll find his entrance and kill him if he hurt you.”
Gathering herself, Zerina shook her head. “He didn’t do anything. I’m fine. I’m just happy to see you both.”
“I’ll send Balder to tell Fate and Valentine you’re here.”
Zerina took Broni’s hand as she sat down next to her. “Where are we?”
“In a clubhouse in Ohio.”
Zerina saw a massive man come to stand by Broni’s side, giving her a concerned look.
“I take it this is your husband who Jinx told me about?”
Broni nodded happily. “Rhys, this is my sister Zerina.”
The man was so large Hades would only come to his shoulder. Thinking about Hades had the dull pain in her soul resuming.
Why had he sent her back without telling her what he was going to do?
She distracted herself from the inner turmoil by concentrating on the man by Broni’s side. He looked familiar to her, yet she was certain she had never met him before.
Broni’s lips twitched. “He’s not as easy to recognize as he was in his other lives.” Broni gave her husband a look of adoration. It was then that it clicked with her.
“I didn’t recognize him. The last time I saw him was when I carried his soul here. He has filled out since I’ve seen him.”
Broni explained how she and Rhys had met in the clubhouse they were now sitting in. She explained how she had used the opportunity to try to save his former wife and children from being murdered when they had become separated by death. When she hadn’t succeeded, she followed him for years to keep him from succumbing to the dangerous situations he had placed himself in to end the torture of living without his wife and children.
Zerina knew her sister had had a fixation on him from past lives, but that she had shadowed him for years until a club member had dragged her out of the shadows, she hadn’t known.
Thank Mother he had. Broni had been safe in the club when Dionysus had turned the humans in the town into Drearien.
“How did you manage to survive?” Zerina tightened her hold on Broni’s hand.
“If Thor hadn’t shown up, I’m not sure we would.”
Zerina listened speechlessly as Broni told of her return home, becoming sad when she said she deserved Mother’s displeasure and was sent back to earth without her powers. She couldn’t berate her. She would have done the same thing. She had known the souls that she had given to Rhys and his wife weren’t meant to belong.
It had always been her saddest duty when she had to deliver a soul who, by no fault of their own, weren’t meant to live a full life. She was always met by Mother when their earthly life was over, enfolded in her loving arms so they wouldn’t know the loss of a mother’s love.
She sized up Rhys. His appearance had undergone a tremendous change. His body was more muscular and his golden soul showed that he had become one of Mother’s favorites.
“I’m glad you’re safe with Rhys and Destiny. I wish our mother and Cara were here.”
“If we knew he was going to send you here, she would have never left.” Destiny returned after sending Balder to Fate.
“He didn’t tell me, either. He must have become bored with me.” Her pain had her revealing more than she intended. “He had just taken me to visit Shambhala—”
“Hades took you to see Shambhala?” Destiny asked in disbelief.
“Yes …” Zerina missed the astonishment on her aunt’s face as she recounted what happened. “When we left, I thought he was transporting me to his domain. Then, when I opened my eyes, I was here.” A sudden thought had her lurching to her feet. “Destiny, do you think it’s a mistake I’m here? Could Zeus have intercepted us when he was transporting us, and he was the one who sent me here? I assumed Hades had, but what if I was wrong and Zeus has captured him?” She frantically looked at Destiny, terrified for Hades. He might need her. “You have to return me.”
Destiny stared at her, remaining mute, her eyes showing the answer to Zerina’s fears.
“He sent me, and he’s not in danger …” Anguish had her voice wobbling.
“No, I’m sorry, Zerina.”
She could tell her aunt was trying to be delicate of her feelings.
“At least he didn’t treat you like Athena. He returned her in her sleep. She was so furious she ranted for a century that he hadn’t told her t
o her face before sending her back. She said he hates when women beg to stay. It saves him from having to listen to their arguments.”
“He’s a coward.” Broni got up, placing an arm around her sister’s waist. “The next time I see him, I’m going to give him a piece of my mind.”
“That’s better than what you would have given him the last time he was here.”
Zerina looked at Broni curiously at Rhys’s comment.
Broni blushed. “I may have been a little enamored when I saw him face-to-face for the first time.”
“I can’t blame you. He is handsome.”
Destiny snorted. “Thank Mother I’ve always been able to keep my senses around him.”
“My mother said you chased after him when he was at court. That you’ve hated him ever since he turned you down,” Broni reminder her.
“Because he wanted our mother,” Zerina told her.
Broni and Destiny looked at her at that piece of information.
“It’s true. Hades told me himself.”
“Damn, you learn something new every day. My dear sister never told me that. I just thought he wasn’t attracted to me.”
“I don’t know if she knew.”
“Hades never mentioned his lovers. They were the ones who couldn’t keep their mouths shut.”
Broni took Zerina by the arm, moving her away from the men who were unashamedly listening to their conservation. She and Destiny found a corner where they could talk to Zerina privately.
“If Hades was interested in our mother at court, does that mean you and he never …” Broni tried to delicately probe into Zerina’s stay with Hades. “That you and he never …”
“No, it doesn’t mean that. I don’t think he was suffering from unrequited passion, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Yes, but that isn’t what I want to know.”
It was a good thing Hades hadn’t escorted her back. Destiny’s protective instincts were coming on. If her aunt was this furious, her mother and father would be doubly so.
“Did you and Hades become … involved?”
“I’m no different than the goddesses at court. I fell in love with him.”
“I don’t think what they experienced was love. I’d call it something else.”