Hot as Hades Read online

  Stupid promise.

  Every night, as she lay alone in her gaudy bed, she considered the pros and cons of getting into a physical relationship with Hades. He was the first god, possibly ever, who made her want to toss her dress aside and spread her legs.

  Granted, he was still Hades, the Dark One, the Lord of the Underworld. But he wasn’t nearly as bad as she’d been led to believe. And even if this was just a supremely awesome act he was putting on, what could a little bit of lustful release really hurt? The other deities coupled with barely a thought. Why couldn’t the two of them do the same? She’d be leaving, as soon as Zeus gave the all clear, and she’d never see Hades again. He didn’t leave his world, and she would learn how to control her own power so no one would be able to force her into any place she didn’t wish to go to again.

  Damn it all, yes. She would do this. She was strong, and independent, and she would take what she wanted and everyone else could go to hell.

  “Hades,” she blurted out. He glanced at her, and her nerve took a prompt nosedive. “I… Can you show me how to get to the baths? I always lose my way in here.”

  Great. Not only was she not strong and independent, she also sounded like a directionally challenged idiot.

  Thankfully, Hades only nodded. “Come.”

  She followed him out of the gym and through the crisscrossing hallways to the baths. She used the walking time to try to pump herself up again. Her confidence was only about forty-seven percent inflated when they reached their destination and Hades opened the door.

  Filled with hot waterfalls and streams, the baths were her favorite place in this entire castle. The humidity stretched out to embrace her as she stepped inside and turned to face Hades. She didn’t understand his amused smile until he tugged a flower from her hair.

  She sighed. “Sorry. My mind wandered.”

  “That’s fine. My servants are delighting in all of the fresh flowers they can arrange around the place.”

  She grinned, since she’d noticed the familiar blooms stuffed in vases on hall tables.

  His smile disappeared, his gaze intent upon her mouth, and she felt warmer than the steam accounted for. Her tongue crept out to lick her lips, and his eyes turned slumberous before he took a deep breath. “I should—”

  “Don’t go.”

  “—go. What?”

  Persephone inhaled. “Stay.”

  He scrutinized her. “You are aware of what would go down if I stayed, right?”

  “I’m no innocent, Hades.”

  He crossed his arms over his bare chest. The muscles in his forearms flexed. “Why now?”

  She was abruptly sick of all the constant questions and suspicions. Damn it, couldn’t they, for once, forget they were two immortal deities and fuck? “Look, either stay or go. I don’t care.” Liar. “I’m not going to beg.”

  “I’m not asking for begging, but I made a formal binding vow not to touch you unless you asked for it, remember? You need to spell it out or I’m stuck, it pains me to say.”

  Pains, hell. The unholy light in his eyes told her that he was enjoying making her squirm. “I want to have sex with you, for no other reason than the needs of my flesh. I freely offer you my body. Good enough?”

  It was like an invisible chain was cut, and he stepped forward, crowding her back into the room. The door swung shut behind him. “Perfect.”

  She swallowed. “Unless you have something more pressing to do, of course.”

  His hand smoothed down his bare chest with no self-consciousness and palmed the heavy length of his erection, now visible under his black trousers. “Trust me, this has been pressing for days.”

  Since he’d called her attention to it, she couldn’t tear her gaze away from that bulge rapidly lengthening under the stroke of his hand. He groaned as she watched him. “Do you want to see me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then undress me.”

  She moved to unbutton his pants, but he stayed her hand. “No. Use your power.”

  Materializing and dematerializing objects was hard for her, and even harder when steam from the baths was curling around her from outside while the heat of her arousal made her internal temperature rise. Closing her eyes, she concentrated. In a second, she heard him make a rough noise, and the steam was touching her bare skin. She glanced down at her naked body. “I didn’t mean to strip myself.”

  “No. But I did.”

  She looked at him and caught her breath. He was naked except for his gold armbands wrapped around his bulging biceps. She could finally see where his tattoo ended, the serpent’s tail flicking against and calling attention to his groin. His penis rose thick and long and curved from a tangle of dark hair, his balls hanging large and heavy beneath. When she combined his physical appearance with the intent expression he wore, he looked like a primitive conqueror. And she was lucky enough to be his conquest.

  He stroked his cock as if he were teasing her, offering it to her, rubbing it up and down, smoothing his palm over the wet tip and using the lubrication to ease the rest of his way. Unable to keep herself from participating, she drew closer and grasped the length of the shaft, taking over the job from him. His hand wrapped around hers for the first few strokes, showing her how he liked it, what pleased him. She picked up his rhythm quickly, and he released her to exact his own delicious torture.

  Her fist tightened involuntarily on him when he rubbed his thumb over her nipple, and he groaned, hastily removing her hand from him. “Did I hurt you?”

  “No. Need to concentrate,” he muttered. He stepped closer, leaned down and replaced his hand with his mouth. The pleasure was a sharp, shooting, almost pain straight to her pussy.

  “How do you taste so good?” he asked, slurring the words against her breast, as if he were drunk on her.

  Her hands passed over his shoulders and back, unable to find a grip on the slick play of flesh and muscle. “Hades…”

  The next few seconds happened in a blur. He growled, the world spun, and she was pressed up against the wall. The stone was cold and hard against her back, while he was hot and hard against her front. Persephone tried to catch her breath as he stepped between her legs, his muscled hips stretching her thighs wide.

  No chance. He gave her no time to adjust, simply bent his knees and pushed up inside of her. He fed her a few inches and stopped when she squirmed on the end of his cock. “How does that feel?”

  “So good.” Better than good. The best she’d had and he hadn’t even started thrusting. Some sense of self-preservation kept her from admitting that aloud.

  Heat poured off him in waves, rivaling the steam of the baths, and he shoved inside of her harder, until she’d taken every inch of him. He barely gave her a chance to adjust before he was groaning, his hips thrusting, his flesh slapping against hers. He grasped her thighs and spread her legs wide so she was utterly open for his fucking, giving her no place to run or hide. His rhythm became wilder, less controlled, transforming into pure rutting.

  He gave one last thrust and a rough groan, arching his back, until he was buried deep. Her pussy clenched down on him as he released inside of her.

  Her thighs were still spread by his hands when his breathing slowed, evened out, and he withdrew. He took one look at her face and gave a slight groan. “Shit. I screwed that up, didn’t I?”

  She winced as she straightened her legs. The muscles felt wobbly and her knees weren’t quite steady, so she braced one hand against his hard forearm and tried to control the trembling. “Not at all.”

  “You’re lying again. You didn’t even come.”

  Okay, maybe she was being a trifle disingenuous. It had been kind of fun to see Hades lose control and take her—her—like an animal in heat, but she could admit to some disappointment at her lack of orgasm. She would have liked to come. She would have really liked to come. In fact, she’d even had sex with him in order to come. “So maybe it wasn’t exactly the best sex I’ve ever had.”

  His brows slammed down over his eyes. “Is that a challenge?”

  “What? No—”

  “Because that was just the tip of my iceberg, baby.”

  How did his arrogance both turn her on and make her want to roll her eyes? “You were the one who said you screwed it up.”

  “And you agreed!”

  All males were crazy. “Listen…”

  “No, you listen.” With a flex of his muscles, he had her picked up in his arms. It felt good to lay against his chest naked. The last time it had happened, when she’d dropped into his lap, she’d been too confused and nervous to appreciate it. His arms were strong around her, and when she laid her head against his chest, she could hear the steady thump of his heart. “Not the best you’ve had…” he muttered. “We’ll see about that.”

  Arguing any further seemed counterintuitive to the needs of her still-aching pussy. If he wanted to be her best lover, who was she to deny him?

  Since they were in the baths and she hadn’t yet taken one, she expected him to step with her into the heated water, but instead he lay her down on a soft, furry rug he must have materialized—it hadn’t been in here before, that was for sure.

  Curious and unappeased, she waited while he knelt between her legs and stared down at her body. His shaft was still hard, and the gas lamps in the room cast a smooth, burnished glow over his skin. He was utterly beautiful, pagan with that big body and armbands and tattoo. She wanted to start at the top and lick her way down.

  She reached for him, but he took her wrists and pinned them down at her sides. “No. This time I drive you crazy.”

  “I want to touch you.”

  “If you do, I’ll be fucking you hard and fast again.”

  She grew wetter at the imagery. Really, she’d had no complaint with his technique, it had just been too short. She struggled against his hold, but no matter how much he’d trained her, in brute strength he was always going to be her superior.

  That should have scared her, but it excited her in a primitive way. She could use her powers, she supposed…but she didn’t want to. This wasn’t a match between deities, but a confrontation between male and female.

  “Hmmm,” he said, glancing down at her pinned wrists. “I need to use my hands to drive you mad. Will you keep your hands here like a good girl?”

  She nodded rapidly. “Yes.”

  “Don’t move them.”

  “Okay.”

  He released her hands and spread her thighs farther so he could see up her entire body. And then…it might as well have been his hands that were captured because all he did was look. She didn’t mind his long perusal of her breasts…she quite liked them, and by the glassy look in his eyes, she knew he did too. It was when he pushed her legs even farther apart and stared at her exposed pussy that she became uncomfortable. “Don’t.”

  “Don’t what?”

  Forgetting her vow to keep her hands at her sides, she used one to cover up her mound. “Stop looking at me there.”

  He dragged his gaze up to hers, red fire flaring. “What did I say about your hands?” He pulled them away and stretched them above her head, leaving them there. When she gave an experimental tug, she realized he’d contained them with some sort of invisible tether.

  Persephone inhaled and looked up at him. Wariness briefly eclipsed the lust in his eyes. “If you want to stop, just tell me.”

  “I’m not scared of you.” Well, she was, a little bit, but that uncertainty only made her more excited.

  The fire flared darker, the wariness vanishing as he slipped back into the game. “You should be, little Sephie.” He looked down idly at the place between her spread legs. “Why don’t you like me looking at you here? You’re beautiful, all wet and moist. I like a plump mons, and yours is nice and cushiony.”

  “It’s private.”

  “Not for long. I’m going to know this pretty pink pussy better than you do by the time you…”

  Leave. The word was unsaid, but it hung between them.

  She spoke, hoping to get them past the awkward moment. “Maybe we should bathe first?”

  He continued to stroke her mound. “Why?”

  “I’m a little messy.”

  “Mmm.” Without warning, he slipped his finger inside of her. She gasped, watching the flex of his forearm as he thrust a second, and then a third finger inside of her, pumping rapidly. “Is that good?”

  She shivered as he strummed those nerve endings back to life. “Yes.”

  “Better than my cock?”

  “No.” She arched her hips, trying to get closer, but perverse bastard that he was, Hades slowed his hand the more she struggled for it. “Hades.”

  As if he hadn’t heard her, he withdrew his hand slowly from her pussy, his eyes fixed on his fingers. “You are messy, Sephie. You’re so wet, and I shot all of that semen inside of you.” He lifted his hand so she could see the glistening mix of his and her fluids on him. “I like to see you full of my come. Don’t you?”

  She nodded rapidly, ready to agree to anything to have some part of his body back inside of her. But he reached up and touched his hand to her lips, painting them with their fluids. “I like it so much, I may keep you filled with my come. Would you like that?”

  “Yes,” she sighed, her lips opening in an involuntary O when he carefully outlined them. He slipped his fingers inside of her mouth, and she closed around them, tasting both of them on his flesh.

  His nostrils flared as he thrust the two fingers deeper, testing how far he could go with each push of his hand. With her hands tied, her options for seducing him into fucking her were limited, so she used her lips and teeth and tongue as best she could, sucking, licking, nibbling. He withdrew his fingers and dragged the wet digits over her mouth and chin to rest against the pulse beating in her throat. “Yeah. You’ll drink my come, won’t you, Sephie?”

  “Oh yes.”

  He cupped his hands over her breasts and massaged them almost roughly. “And you’ll wear it. I want to rub it into your skin, so I’m always on you, over you.”

  Anything. She would agree to anything. Had she thought she lusted for him before? It was nothing compared to the arousal strumming through her now.

  “And here…” He smoothed both hands down her body until they were resting right above her pussy. “Here, I’ll keep you filled all the time. Stuffed full of my cock.”

  “Yes, oh please, Hades.”

  “I love it when you say my name,” he muttered as he grasped his penis and led it to her opening. “Gets me hard every time, Sephie.”

  He pushed inside of her, and they both gave a weighty sigh of relief. “How does that feel?”

  “Thick.” He hit a particularly nice spot and she moaned. “Hard.”

  “This hard, thick cock is yours, babe.”

  For as long as she was here. No, she wouldn’t think of that, would appreciate what she had while she had it.

  She realized he’d freed her hands, and she wrapped her arms around him, doing the same with her legs, using her heels to goad his pistoning hips on. She orgasmed quickly, and he fucked her through it, triggering smaller though no less satisfying orgasms.

  She came back to herself when he reached his satisfaction, his body arching over hers, a rough groan escaping his lips. The hot jets of his come bathed her pussy, and she flushed, remembering his words. As his body slumped over hers, she was aware that she hadn’t lied to him. Being covered by Hades every day for eternity would be no hardship. Too bad she didn’t have that long.

  Chapter Five

  “Persephone?”

  “Yes?” She glanced up from where she was scratching Bob’s head in front of the fire in the library. His hound was practically comatose in blissful happiness, its tongue hanging out in a doggy grin.

  “I know we’re supposed to train this morning, but I need to take care of some matters around my kingdom.”

  She frowned, her hand moving to Middle’s ears. That head remained rigid for barely a second before it bowed slightly and slitted its eyes in pleasure as her nails dug in.

  Persephone appeared particularly fetching today. Her hair was pulled back in a simple updo, the curls tumbling down her back while small wisps clung to her cheeks. She’d learned to materialize her own clothes, which was both a blessing and a curse. Today she wore a simple cotton frock of pink and white, and the innocence of the dress was more arousing than the velvet and silk and lace gowns he’d given her. Something barbaric in his brain liked the sham innocence covering that supple and inventive body.

  Down, boy.

  Every now and again he idly considered that maybe she was part of some larger illicit plot against him. Though more than one ruler might have been toppled through sex, he was too tired of constantly suspecting everyone and everything. For now, he was going to enjoy this simple lust between them. Everything else could be sorted later.

  “Where are you going?” she asked.

  “I need to check in around the realm. I usually go out often, but…” He trailed off, unwilling to offer her so much power. But you’ve utterly distracted me.

  “Can I come?”

  He laughed before he realized she was serious. “You want to tour the Underworld?”

  “Absolutely. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance.”

  No. For the most part, the Underworld was a dangerous place. And hell, though he was keen on abandoning all suspicions, he found he couldn’t quite turn off his reluctance to keep his world all to himself. “I don’t know…”

  “Please?”

  She should patent that pleading look. “Persephone…”

  Her hand moved to Right’s head, and Hades tensed, ready to run to her rescue when the massive white beast mauled her. But as she petted it, the creature merely twisted around to lick her wrist. Then it turned to eye him. Take her, fool, it seemed to say. Still he hedged. “Well, I guess there are certain areas you could see. If you’re sure—”

  With a squeal, she jumped to her feet. “Yes, yes, let’s go.”

  “Okay then.”

  She gave each of Cerberus’s heads a final pat and ran to grab his hand and tug him to his feet. Though he barely felt the pulls on his arm, he stood and allowed her to guide him from the room, aware that she received pleasure from any display of physical superiority to him.

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