by Carly Spade
“Eímai dikós sou,” he whispered into my hair.
The words flowed from his tongue like a rolling tide. I had no clue what he said, but the way he said it sounded like a carnal declaration. His hand dragged down my ribs and curled under my backside. While supporting himself on his other arm, his thrusts quickened. The smoke traveled over my hips and caressed my inner thighs. Between his practiced motions within me and the feel of warm silk against my skin, it was enough to send me straight over the edge.
My back arched, head pressing into the pillows. I gripped the sheets as every muscle within me tightened, and I quaked and quivered. When my eyes managed to flutter open, Hades gazed down at me. A smirk creased the corner of his lips. He sat up straight, resting on his haunches. His fingers curled around the back of my knees, and he gave one quick tug. My back slid forward until our hips met.
The smoke spiraled around him. His wings stretched wide, and he paused, peering into my very being. The fireplace crackled and popped. Seeing him surrounded by animated smoke was like being transfixed by a painting.
“Would you be offended if I said you were beautiful?” I asked.
He cocked his head to the side. “No. You’d be the first to say it.”
He really was a thing of beauty. Not in the sense a woman or a flower is, but in an ethereal way. His body. That chiseled face. And the wings, as menacing as they were, still managed to take my breath away. The wings flapped, the glowing parts striking orange sparks, and he curled them behind him. He grabbed each of my hips and began that slow rhythm again. I gazed up at the perfect view of him in all his King of the Underworld glory.
I sat up, grabbing onto one of his shoulders. Matching his movements, I rolled my hips against him. He pressed his cheek against the side of my head. I traced my fingers over the bits of black feathers in his wings that weren’t on fire or singed. He moaned. With our chests pressed together, the sound vibrated against me. He peeled back, blue flickers of flame igniting in his eyes. He pushed into me, and my head flew back from the furthered intrusion.
I gripped onto his arms as his hips bucked, picking up momentum. When the glorious ache pooled between my hips, I grabbed the back of his neck. My insides erupted, and this time I couldn’t hold back my cry of pleasure. He soon followed, his muscles tensing, and he groaned against my neck. The fireplace roared, the flames lashing out like an explosion before pulling back in. His wings wrapped around us like a cocoon. I caught one of the burnt feathers on my fingertip, but it turned into ash as soon as it touched my skin.
His finger curled under my chin, lifting my gaze to his. “Are you alright?”
“More than alright.” The heat from the fire on his wings warmed my face.
The dimple in his cheek deepened with a smirk, and his wings folded back until they disappeared completely. “I’ve never had anyone ask me to be me during the act.”
Our bodies pressed together, and I let locks of his white hair fall through my fingers. “No one? Not even Per—”
“She was frightened by it,” he interrupted. “Or so she said.”
I pinched my eyes shut. “I didn’t mean to bring it up.”
He cupped my face with his palm. “A very persistent brunette in glasses helped me flow that water right under the bridge.”
“Persistent, huh?” I smiled.
He traced his thumb over my cheek before laying down on his side. He rested his head on his hand, his eyes roaming over my naked satiated body. I too laid on my side, resting my head on my forearm.
“Penny for your thoughts?” I sucked on my lower lip.
He traced one of his black nails down the side of my breast, my ribs, and made lazy circles when he reached my hips. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still expecting to wake up tomorrow only to realize this was all a dream.”
I rolled onto my stomach, making our faces inches apart. Pressing my elbows into the silken sheets of the bed, I tilted my chin up and kissed him. “Did you feel that?”
His eyelashes fluttered against mine. “Yes.”
“Not a dream.” I smiled against his lips.
“I’m never going to forget you. Realize that. Thousands of years can pass, and I will never forget the mortal who brightened my heart.” He pressed his hand to my cheek.
The taste of salt coated my lips from several tears rolling down my cheeks. I pressed my hand over his. “I could never forget you.”
He glanced over his shoulder and kissed my forehead before slipping from the bed. His naked form moved across the room with grace, and I cocked my head from side to side, admiring his perfect backside. He grinned at me. The wings shot out. I traced my finger between my breasts, aching for him all over again.
“That has to be one of the sexiest things I’ve ever seen,” I stammered.
He chuckled. Deep and gravelly. He removed a black box from one of the bookshelves and walked back over, the wings disappearing again. He sat on the edge of the bed and opened the box. Removing a necklace from it, he held it up to the light blazing from the fireplace.
“I want you to have this,” he said, resting the charm in my hand.
It was a shiny black charm with a serpent wrapped around a cypress tree.
“It’s beautiful,” I said, running my thumb over the branches’ detailed grooves.
“May I?” He motioned at the chain.
I nodded, turned my back to him, and lifted my hair from my neck. His fingertips grazed my shoulders as he positioned the necklace and secured its clasp.
“I may not be able to be on the surface, but it doesn’t mean we can’t at least talk from time to time.”
I let my hair fall and looked down at the charm before whipping around to face him. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“You can call on me through the charm. But please don’t use it as a paging service.” He smirked.
“Paging?” I laughed. “I haven’t heard anyone use that word in—no, scratch that. I’ve only heard it in movies.” I felt dizzy, and my eyes fell shut for a moment before I forced them back open.
He frowned. “I need to take you back.”
“I know.” A deep sigh escaped my lungs.
He touched a fingertip on the charm. “I can’t make promises of when, but I will be on the surface again.”
“I’m unsure which is worse…never seeing you again, or living with the hope I will, but never knowing when.”
“I hate putting that burden on you.” He stood up with a sigh and waved his hands over his body, his gothic, kingly robes, draping over his form.
“It’s not a burden. I’m glad I came here, Hades.”
He offered a weak grin and splayed his hand over my body. My clothes materialized, and I frowned before sliding off the bed.
“I have to admit, dressing and undressing was not a power I thought the god of the Underworld would possess.”
“I’m glad to hear you, too, can still be surprised.” He slipped his hand into mine and raised his other hand to the ceiling.
I grabbed his forearm, stopping him. “Before I go, can I ask you something?”
“Anything.” He lowered his arm.
“Where in the world did you come up with the name Cerberus?” Random. Even for me. But I’d been dying to know.
He rubbed his chin. “Truth be told, it wasn’t his original name. Initially, I named him Spot.”
I did a slow blink. “Spot?”
“Yes. He has this white spot on the back of his left leg. Sticks out profusely, considering the rest of him is black.” He smirked.
“How in the world did it end up as Cerberus in all the stories?”
“Translations throughout the ages. One being Kerberos, which means spotted.”
“Huh. You learn something every day.”
“You’re stalling, Stephanie.” His face softened, and his lip twitched.
“I know,” I said with a sigh.
He waved his hand. A portal opened, revealing the green grass and maple
trees in a park near my apartment building. I winced and tightened my grip on his hand.
“This isn’t goodbye,” he said, his tone solemn.
“It could be a decade before I see you again.”
He pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. “I wish I could answer you, but know I appreciate all the time you’ve given me.”
My sinuses stung. I kissed him on the cheek before taking a step back. “I’m ready.”
Only I wasn’t ready. I wanted to be with him. Cure his loneliness. Who would have the power to make mortals into gods? Instinct told me my answer, but I didn’t want to believe it.
His brow furrowed, and he nodded before swirling his arm. I appeared in the park, and the Underworld was but a fleeting memory.
“Stephanie,” Sara said with a clipped tone.
I jolted in my chair, smacking my hand into my glasses and making them crooked on my nose. “What?”
“You’ve been staring out the window. Did you hear anything I said?” She tapped her fingers against her paper coffee cup.
We were on our weekly Sunday morning caffeine date. A month had passed since I was with Hades. I’d tried calling him through the charm, but it didn’t work. Ironically, I was somewhat glad for it. Part of me felt like if I heard his voice, it’d make everything that much more difficult. It was bad enough I couldn’t talk to anyone about it.
“I didn’t.” I frowned. “I’m sorry. Repeat it.” After jostling on my seat, I leaned forward and clasped my hands around my cup. “I’m all ears.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Talk to me, Costas. You haven’t been the same since Greece, and you’ve been walking around like a lost puppy for weeks.”
I leaned back and played with the charm on my necklace. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Try me.” She crossed her arms.
“What if I told you—” I shifted my eyes. “Hades really was Hades.”
“You mean as a metaphor?”
“No. The Hades.”
She half-smiled. “The god of the Underworld?”
“Yes.”
“He tells souls where they’re to spend their eternal afterlife? Sits on a throne?”
I shrugged. “Yes. All of it.”
“Next, you’re going to tell me he has wings or something.” She snickered and sipped from her cup.
“He does.” I adjusted in my seat and moved my hands around with such enthusiasm I almost knocked over my coffee. “But they’re not wing wings. They’re fiery and morph into smoke and embers and—” I shut my trap once I saw one of her eyebrows raise so high, she looked like The Rock.
“Steph, do I need to make you an appointment with our department shrink? I’m sure they’d see a civilian too.”
I rolled my eyes. “This is why I couldn’t talk to you about it.”
“You believe he’s Hades.” She hunched forward.
I bit down on my lip, memories of peering up at him scorched into my brain like a brand. “It’s not about believing. I know he is.”
“Do you have proof?”
“How could—” The necklace. I wrapped my hand around it. “All I have is this necklace. He gave it to me the last time I saw him.”
She slapped her hands on the table. “You saw him? When?”
“A month ago.”
“Wow. You don’t tell me everything anymore, do you?”
“It sounds pretty crazy, Sara.” I clenched the charm tighter.
She clucked her tongue against the inside of her cheek. “Okay, so it’s a necklace. Big deal. That doesn’t prove anything.”
“I can talk to him with it.”
“Do it then.”
I looked around at the filled coffee house. “Here? Now? I don’t even know if it works. I tried it a couple of weeks ago, and nothing happened.”
“Let’s go back to your apartment then.” She stood and swung her purse onto her shoulder.
I froze in my seat and shook my head like I’d forgotten how to speak.
She picked up my coffee cup and nudged me in the arm. “Come on. You want me to believe you, right?”
I blinked. “Yes.”
I felt numb the entire walk back to my apartment building. Sara leaned on the back of my sofa with such nonchalance, there was no indication we were about to summon a Greek god. Would he appear out of thin air? Would it be just his voice like Mufasa in The Lion King? Would it still refuse to work?
“Ready?” I asked.
Sara shook her head. “That’s the fifth time you’ve asked. Still ready.”
I closed my eyes, rubbed my fingers over the charm, and thought of him. There wasn’t anything of note to indicate the necklace worked, no gust of wind or burst of light. Disappointment washed over me. Not again.
“I wasn’t expecting an audience,” Hades said.
My eyes flew open. He stood in front of me, but as a smokey mirage versus his physical form. I could make out his facial features, white hair, and pointed ears.
Was I the only one who could see him?
Sara’s eyes bulged out of her skull, and she gripped onto the couch with both hands.
Clearly not.
“Sorry, she didn’t believe me, so I wanted to—by the way, I tried to contact you weeks ago. It didn’t work.”
“Ah, yes. Sorry. I was in Tartarus at the time. Figured you’d rather save the conversation for…later.”
My jaw dropped. “You’re absolutely right. Forgiven.”
“I’ll be sure to keep the conversation…PG,” he said, his mirage floating closer.
My cheeks warmed as my brain dipped into thoughts of our time together.
“How have you been?” He asked.
“Fine. Fine. And you?”
It was awkward personified.
“Lonely,” he answered.
Sara appeared beside us and held up two fingers. “Can we pause a moment here? There is a—” She flailed her hand around, speechless.
“Floating smoke monster?” I sidelong grinned at Hades.
“Yes. A floating smoke monster in your apartment.”
“It’s Hades, Sara,” I replied.
He turned to face her, and she stumbled backward, knocking into the end table. “We’ve met before.”
She shook her head. “Not like this, we haven’t. How is this possible?”
“He is a Greek god,” I said.
“Don’t Fear the Reaper,” Hades said with a smirk, eyeing me.
I smiled wide. “That song’s from the seventies, but I’ll take it.”
She bit down on her lip. “Uh, huh. Uh, huh. I’ll uh—let you two have a moment alone while I go and process—” She made circling motions with her hands. “—this.” She scampered off, holding her head.
“How are you really doing?” He asked.
I picked at the hem of my dress. “This is harder than I thought it’d be.”
“I have a family member who can remove memories if that’d make it easier for you. You shouldn’t need to suffer like this, Stephanie.” He held his head low.
“No. Absolutely not. I didn’t risk my life getting to the Underworld only to have the memory of it ripped away.”
He nodded, the smoke of the mirage shifting around his head.
“I’ll be fine, Hades. It’s hard not to miss you.” I gave a weak smile, a single tear rolling down my cheek.
He reached out, his palm cupping my cheek. “I don’t deserve your tears.”
“Yes, you do.” I sniffled and wiped the tear away. “Let someone miss you, Hades. Truly miss you.”
“You’re an amazing woman. I count the days until I can return to the surface. To see you again, if you wish to see me.”
“I might be an old, silver-haired, wrinkly woman by then, but if you don’t stop by when you’re in town, I’ll never forgive you.” I smiled.
“You can count on it.” He floated backward. “I’m afraid I must return.” He pointed at the charm around my neck. “Please don’t h
esitate to call on me again.”
I bit my cheek to keep from crying and gave a vigorous nod. “I’ll be seeing you,” I managed to choke out.
His shoulders hunched forward, and then he was gone.
“Okay, okay. I think I can handle this,” Sara said, power walking into the room.
I slipped my glasses off and rubbed my eyes.
“I—” She frowned, doing several circles, searching. “Where’d he go?”
“Back to the Underworld,” I mumbled.
She flopped into a nearby chair. “Thank God because I honestly didn’t know how to handle it.”
“You get used to it.” I fished in my pocket for Tums, but only found an empty wrapper.
She crossed the room and hugged me. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.”
“It’s okay, Sara.” She’d pinned my arms at my sides, so I patted her shoulder with my forehead.
She pulled away but kept her grip on my shoulders. “It’s not okay. What kind of friend am I?”
“Sara, if it would’ve been reversed, I wouldn’t have believed you either. It’s a crazier concept to me than leprechauns guarding pots of gold at the end of a rainbow.” I snickered, but then my stomach gurgled. Were leprechauns real too?
She playfully punched my shoulder. “So, the god of the Underworld, huh?”
“I’m an idiot.”
She led me over to the couch. I sat on the edge and slipped my glasses back on, staring at the paisley patterns of the area rug.
“You’re not an idiot. Okay, except for that one guy during your biker phase. What was his name?” She asked.
“Snake?”
“Yes, him.” She scrunched her nose. “You binge-watched Sons of Anarchy, and instead of finding Jax Teller you found—that guy. I’m still in shock.”
I smirked and shook my head. “It lasted a week. The moment that fight broke out in the bar, and he smashed a beer bottle over someone’s head, I was done.”
She sighed and stroked her fingers through the waves in my hair. “How can I help you?”
“You can’t. But I appreciate it. I’ll be fine. Wounds heal all time, right?” I laid my head on her shoulder.
