by Bella Klaus
“Stop putting words in my mouth.” My syllables came out clipped. “How do I know this isn’t a ploy to trick me into servicing you?”
The flames in his eyes danced with an amusement that I wanted to slap off his smug features. “I can assure you that I don’t need tricks to garner female attention. If you wish to observe, Minthe can demonstrate—”
“No.” I stepped out of the elevator, kicking myself for the outburst and for falling for his reverse psychology. What was the alternative? To stand there and watch Minthe paw at his beautiful body?
Hell no.
I folded my arms across my chest. “Show me what I need to learn, and I’ll learn it for the purposes of our bargain.”
“Are you alright?” Hades placed the back of his hand on my cheek, the way Mother always did when checking me for a fever. “You seem to have come down with a touch of possessiveness.”
“Stop that.” I shrugged him off and stalked toward the table. “Let’s get started.”
He shouldered off his jacket and handed it to Minthe, who took the garment with a low bow and a whispered word of thanks. My eyes narrowed. Why was she thanking him for undressing? Did she want to see him naked?
“Thank you, Minthe.” I gave the door a pointed look. “I can handle the rest.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.” She dipped into another bow before walking backward toward the door.
I waited for her leave and for the door to click shut. As soon as she left, I turned to Hades and murmured, “How well do you know her?”
“Minthe?” He unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his glorious golden chest. “She’s been serving us since the beginning. Why do you ask?”
“Don’t you think it’s a coincidence that the attackers arrived the same time as her?”
He gave me a blank stare. “You suspect her of working for Samael?”
I shrugged. “Unless Captain Caria—”
“Not her,” Hades said with a certainty that made me startle. He pulled off his shirt and tossed it aside before working on his belt buckle.
I spun around to avoid getting tempted by his tantalizing strip tease. “What’s so special about the captain?”
“She’s our daughter,” Hades said, his voice low.
“Oh.” My heart clenched. So, Persephone was her mother.
Considering the Fire Queen had suggested he was such a womanizer, I thought Captain Caria might be some kind of lover. Or at least his second-in-command. At least that explained why he trusted her so much and how she could snap at him without getting punished.
This was one reason why I wasn’t Persephone. I couldn’t see myself ever having a daughter and not being able to recognize her.
“Ready,” he said in a deep voice that went straight to my clit.
I pulled up my sleeves and turned around—
Only to find him lying naked on the massage table. Heat surged between my legs as I took him in from bottom to top. Long, muscular legs with strong thighs, and the longest, thickest, hottest-looking erection.
Every muscle in my body stiffened, except for the ones operating my lips, which parted to let out rapid breaths.
“What are you doing?” I choked out.
“Doing?” he asked.
I couldn’t stop taking him in—the tight six pack, the bulging pectoral muscles, the broad shoulders and thick neck. My gaze reached his face, where he smirked with a brow raised, looking like he was thoroughly enjoying my lack of composure.
“This is the art of sensual massage,” he said, his brow crinkling with faux confusion. “I would have thought that at least one word in the lesson title would clue you in to what it entailed.”
My gaze wandered down to his thick shaft, and I choked on my own saliva. “I didn’t realize it would be naked massage.”
He raised a brow. “Any complaints about the goods?”
My mouth opened and closed. He looked... I huffed an annoyed breath. The arrogant bastard already knew he looked perfect. “How is this skill helpful for the Devil’s Ball?”
“We’re supposed to be a married couple, not a virile stud and a skittish stranger he’s employed to impersonate Persephone.”
I swallowed hard, trying not to be transfixed by that hot masculine body, but the effort was futile. “Can’t we start off by holding hands?”
“Are you sure it’s my hand you wish to hold?” He stretched out an arm, offering me an open palm, but I didn’t trust it. “Problems, Persephone?”
“I need a towel.” A tiny voice in the back of my head reminded me to protest at being called by that name, but I had much bigger issues. His wretched shaft twitched, seeming to be trying to hypnotize me.
Hades flicked his fingers, and produced a tiny face cloth. “Dab yourself off with this. You’re getting hot and flustered.”
“No,” I rasped. “To cover your lower half.”
His features stretched out into a broad grin. “Have I caused offense? This is nothing you haven’t already seen or tasted before.”
I tore my gaze away from his delectable body and toward the other side of the room, where a pile of towels lay stacked on a side table. After discarding a few for being too small, I found a thick bath sheet that I folded in half and brought to the massage table.
Hades rested his laced fingers behind his head, chuckling at my discomfort. “You seemed so different from the eager young woman at the ball who couldn’t get enough of my cock.”
I tried to muster up a bolt of lightning to zap some decorum into him, but my newfound magic couldn’t produce so much as a spark. Six weeks ago, the only naked men I got to see were the glimpses I caught on Netflix.
“That was different.”
“How so?” He raised himself up onto his elbows, deepening the groove of his six pack.
“I thought you were a light mage I’d never see again.” After arranging the folded-over towel around his crotch, I doubled it again to hide the extent of his bulge, and I shoved his upper body back on the table.
“You still haven’t told me about the other lessons.” I placed my trembling hands on his shoulders, gliding them over his smooth skin.
Hades let out a long sigh, his muscles relaxing under my hands. “Do you know how long I’ve waited to feel your touch?” His voice thickened, all traces of amusement replaced with reverence. “Two thousand years.”
My hands stilled, and I stared down at him with my mouth agape. For once, he wasn’t teasing. I didn’t have the heart to remind him that I wasn’t his wife. Even if he said Mother used the power of Zeus to bind my memories, everything I had experienced so far pointed toward me being someone else.
“It must have been difficult,” I murmured.
His laugh was harsh and bitter. “I knew you hadn’t perished. Demeter would never allow it.”
“Is that why you turned up on our doorstep?” I asked.
He nodded. “No matter where she hides you, how many times she moves location, or how many wards she uses to mask your presence, I will always find you.”
I gulped hard, my heart hammering a rapid beat. “What will you do when I prove I’m not your wife?”
“You won’t because you are her.” He closed his eyes.
For the next several minutes, I ran my hands over his body, getting used to his every contour. This conversation had ended up being heavier than I had imagined when he said he’d teach me the art of sensual massage.
“Use the oil.” He floated a bottle to the table.
I cleared my throat. “How is this going to help us at the Devil’s Ball again?”
“Physical touch is the second-most effective method of strengthening a soul bond.” The bottle tilted from side to side, indicating for me to pick it up.
“What’s the best way?” I asked.
He cracked open an eye. “Sex. We could skip the lessons and spend the next seven days fucking the deepest, hardest, thickest bond into place.”
Heat rushed to my cheeks. I snatched the massage oil bottle out
of the air and drizzled the oil into my palms. “This method is fine.”
Hades’ chuckle made my nipples tingle. I ignored the sensation and got to work on his pecs. This was no massage—this was me giving his chest a thorough groping and enjoying every moment of it.
The bulge beneath the folded-up towel twitched. At the thought that he was so responsive to my touches, my core clenched. I imagined his erection thicker, with even more prominent veins, a redder tip, and oozing precum.
My hands rubbed tight circles over his taut nipples, making him hiss through his teeth. A rapid pulse pounded between my legs. Any more of this, and I might take him up on his offer of sex.
I shook off that thought. “How could you be searching for me for so long when I’ve only lived two decades?”
“If you ever encounter Demeter again, you can ask her how she did it,” he said.
I bit down on my bottom lip. “Surely a King of Hell has a few ideas.”
“Speculating on each of them will only cause you pain.” He placed a warm hand over mine. “I know you more than you know yourself. No matter what your mother does, you always forgive her transgressions.”
My brows drew together. I couldn’t imagine what Mother could do to me that was so bad he couldn’t tell me. “It can’t be as terrible as her making me believe I was going to die.”
“Corporality sickness was just a play on words,” he muttered. “Whatever she did to you would have been far worse.”
I let the speculations drift away, since the bargain I’d made with him to attend the Demon’s Ball seemed to be my best chance of escaping Hell, Hades, and Mother. After I walked around the table and massaged his legs up to where they met the towel, Hades turned around and lay on his front.
The bath sheet slipped to the floor, revealing an ass and back more glorious and muscular than any I’d ever seen. I squeezed my eyes shut and inhaled a deep breath, forcing myself not to pounce. When I opened them again, it was to find him gazing up at me with a satisfied smile.
I dipped down to pick up the towel, but Hades grabbed my wrist.
“Leave it,” he said.
My throat dried. The massage seemed to be working because I no longer felt the urge to zap him with my newfound magic. When he released his hold on me, the loss of his touch was like stepping out into a wintry day without a jacket.
“Too much for you?” he drawled.
I spluttered. “I’ll have you know that I get to touch athletic male bodies all the time.”
His brows rose. “Indeed? Here I was thinking you’d been kept cloistered by a powerful and possessive goddess. Do tell me more about your exploits.”
“None of your business,” I muttered.
He roared with laughter, making my face flush. As far as lies went, that one was pretty bad. Maybe it was time to tell him the truth—he always seemed to know when I was being dishonest.
After slathering copious amounts of oil onto my hands, I glided my palms over his muscled back. Hades closed his eyes and exhaled another happy sigh.
“Did she massage you?” I kneaded his tight glutes by the handful.
“It was our way of unwinding after a hard day in the Underworld,” he said with a chuckle. “Although she didn’t commit to ass-play nearly as thoroughly as you.”
Yelping, I snatched my hands off his glutes.
“No judgment from me. You’re free to let your fingers wander anywhere they please.”
“Finished,” I snapped. “Turn around.”
Before I realized the implications of what I’d just ordered him to do, he rolled onto his back, revealing his thick length.
A palpitation thudded in my chest followed by the rapid beat of my throbbing clit.
“You seem fascinated by my cock.” It twitched under my gaze, beckoning me to come closer. “Do you have any requests for it? My manhood is completely at your disposal.”
I swallowed hard, trying not to shudder. Upstairs at the masquerade ball, he had promised me at least two orgasms, but he’d only gotten to deliver one before we were interrupted.
As though driven by the power of persuasion, my hand drifted toward the thick shaft. If touching his body could strengthen our bond and make me more likely to qualify for Persephone’s power, then what would happen if I touched him somewhere more intimate?
My tongue darted out to lick my lips. At best, Hades might return the favor. At worst, I’d get to see him flounder as bolts of lightning danced up and down that thick length.
Hades flinched, and his features twisted into a scowl. “Damnit.”
“What’s wrong?”
“An emissary from Samael is at the gate, wanting an audience.”
“What does he want?” I asked.
Fire burned in his eyes. “He wishes to see you.”
Chapter Eleven
My stomach twisted into a tangle of knots, and I stepped away from the massage table, clutching at my chest. Hades sat up, all traces of playful humor on his features replaced by wrath.
“How did Samael know I was here?” I whispered. “Did Lucifer tell him?”
“Yesterday’s trial was public knowledge,” Hades growled.
I swallowed hard. “But you didn’t tell the court I was Persephone.”
“He probably worked that out for himself.” Hades splayed out his arms, and strips of black leather wrapped around his body to create a suit of armor. It wasn’t quite the heavy duty plating he’d worn while fighting the Vampire King, but it looked like he was readying himself for battle.
When he extracted a longsword from thin air, my heartbeat rose several notches, and the hands at my chest curled into tight fists. “If Samael bribed the demonic twins to attack me, why would he send an emissary?”
“Doesn’t matter.” Hades placed a hand on the armor’s sword belt, materializing a dagger. “Nobody gets to see you until you’re ready.”
A long breath whooshed out of my lungs. “So I’ll stay here?”
He turned to me, his eyes burning with determination. “After what happened this morning, I’m not letting you out of my sight. Nobody comes close to you except those I trust.”
I offered him a shaky nod.
Hades held out a hand. “Come with me.”
“Where are we going?”
“My inner sanctum is the most secure place in the palace.” He curled his fingers, beckoning me to take his hand. “You can observe this emissary from a place of safety, and see what you can learn.”
“Alright.” I edged toward him, anxiety squeezing my heart into a tight ball.
As soon as our fingers touched, the world flipped upside down, and we stood in a circular room of pale marble, surrounded by tall pillars. In the center of the space burned a fire within a stone pit recessed into the floor. It looked like the interior of an ancient temple.
“Are we still in your palace?” I asked.
“Yes and no.” He walked us over to the fire pit, where its flames melted into a pool that reflected our images as clearly as a mirror.
With a wave of his hand, the liquid’s surface now depicted a throne room the size of the mansion. Its walls looked like they’d been carved from jagged gray rock by thousands of claws.
Hundreds of demons stood in straight lines along a red carpet. It led to a high podium, where two golden thrones perched within a giant carving of a hellhound with flaming eyes. Red-skinned imps stood among winged beings with angelic features and monstrous creatures that resembled trolls.
I bit down on my bottom lip. “These are the people you rule?”
“The souls of the dead can hardly punish themselves,” Hades replied.
“And you sat up there alone for two thousand years?” I turned to him and frowned.
His eyes softened, dimming from the color of flames to a serene blue. He wrapped an arm around my waist and leaned into me so closely that our lips nearly touched. “Are you concerned for my welfare?”
My pulse fluttered in my throat like the wings of a caffeinated b
utterfly, and I swallowed. “I was curious to know if the other throne remained empty.”
“Not for much longer.” He closed his eyes and breathed me in, his fingers tightening around my waist.
Sweat broke out across my brow, and my throat dried to the consistency of dust. “But I don’t want to rule—”
Hades disappeared before I could even complete my sentence, leaving me gasping for more of his touch. I turned back to the water’s surface, where Hades now sat on one of the thrones. All the demons crowding around the red carpet bowed low, their heads touching the floor.
Despite their monstrous appearances, each were dressed in finery, looking like a completely different set of people from the ones I’d seen in the war chamber.
I ran a hand through my hair and exhaled a ragged breath. Hell seemed to be a busy place. Was he neglecting his duties to spend time with me?
“Rise,” Hades said, sounding bored.
A man dressed in red livery ran up the red carpet and lowered himself into a deep bow. While he updated Hades on the latest happenings, I snuck around the room, looking for an exit.
There were no doors, no windows, no ventilation grates—not even a hole for a bat. I placed both hands on the wall and pushed out my magic, using the same method Mother taught me for improving the soil. Electricity crackled across my fingertips, lighting up the place, but the stone beneath my fingers remained solid.
“Your Majesty,” said the voice. “Shall I clear the room for the emissary from the Third Faction?”
My breath caught, and I rushed back toward the pool for a look.
Hades rested his palms on the throne’s golden armrests and drummed his fingers on a set of jewels fashioned into claws. “Allow him in.”
I held my breath, hoping Samael wouldn’t send an assassin or something equally as dangerous.
Moments later, a cloaked man strode into the throne room, leaving cloven scorch marks on the red carpet. I leaned forward, trying to see if he would look like a man or a monster but his hood obscured all his features.
Hades narrowed his eyes and curled his lip. “If they had told me King Samael himself would grace me with his presence, I would have broken out a bottle of vintage cyanide.”
