I brush my nose along his jaw. “Do you have”—I pause, the need in my voice making the words stick in my throat—“lube?”
He nods, breathless. “Top drawer,” he says, tipping his head toward the sleek nightstand beside the bed.
I reach for it, fingers fumbling, and flip the cap open with a soft click. The liquid coats my hand, heat and adrenaline coiling low in my stomach.
Hayden’s eyes follow every movement, pupils blown wide, lips parted, chest rising and falling in shallow pulls of breath. His shadows mirror him. Arching, swirling, draping across the sheets, as desperate as he is.
When I finally wrap my hand around his thick cock, his hips jolt, and a low groan escapes him. The shadows react instantly, pressing along my spine, grazing the inside of my thigh. They guide me lower, wrapping around my calves like they’re tethering me to him. When I position myself over him, the sensation of his head pressing against my hole causes my eyes to roll backward.
We don’t rush. Every touch feels like a question; every answer, my body giving in.
When I finally sink down onto him, inch by greedy inch, it steals the air from my lungs. He stretches me open, wide and aching and perfect, until I’m blinking through stars behind my eyes. His hands tighten on my hips as I pause at the base, giving me a second to get used to the sensation of him filling me. My breath catches in my throat as he thrusts upward for the first time, his cock stretching me in all the ways I like, and I see it in his face. The way he falls apart from the feel of me. From this.
He’s underneath me, undone, but his shadows trace the slope of my neck, gentle and possessive. I lace our fingers, and cool smoke wraps around them, too.
It’s like Hayden is everywhere…beneath me, inside me.
We move together, slow and desperate, the room gone quiet as I ride his cock with intention. His hands are on my hips, guiding me, grounding me, and every time I move, he exhales like I’m teaching him something he never knew he needed. I lean forward, palms braced on his chest, sweat slick between us, so he can get a better angle with each thrust.
“Fuck,” Hayden mutters, his voice rough and reverent. “You feel…unreal.”
I grin, breathless. “You’re one to talk.”
He opens his eyes, barely, and looks up at me like I’m the one who’s divine. “You’re going to be the death of me.”
I shift my hips, squeezing slightly just to watch his face contort as my ass grips his throbbing cock, to hear the groan that rips from his throat. “Little late for that, isn’t it?”
He laughs, wrecked and unguarded, before pulling my lips to his. The room goes quiet again, all skin and shadow, and it makes me feel drunk. Drunk on him. On this.
Mid-thrust, mid-moan, it hits: I’m riding the god of the fuckingunderworld. His cock buried inside me while his shadows stroke me as if I’m their newest obsession.
Hades.
Bringer of death. Myth says he’s the end of stories. Tonight, he’s my favorite beginning. He’s gasping under me. Gripping my waist. Pumping in and out of my ass. Letting me touch him like I’m the one in power.
Holy shit.
His eyes flutter open, lips parted. “Did I…miss something?”
I blink, stunned. “Sorry. Just…minor epiphany.”
Hayden grabs my ass with a vise grip, thrusting upward as he holds me firmly in place.Fuck. He arches a brow, amusement shimmering behind his hooded eyes. “Should I be concerned?”
I lean down, kissing the corner of his mouth as I rock back onto the length of this beautiful man. “Not unless you’re easily offended. I just remembered you’re literally Hades.”
Hayden groans, head falling back against the pillow. “Are you seriously thinking about that…right now?”
“Kind of hard not to,” I breathe, rolling my hips again just to prove a point. “This feels…mythic.”
His shadows surge in response, snaking up my spine in agreement.
“Focus, Levi,” he growls playfully, dragging my mouth back to his as the tempo of his thrusts increases. “You can worship me later.”
I laugh into the kiss. “Already am.” I say it like a vow. My body means it.
“Mmm, you’re right to do so,” he hums, bringing my lip between his teeth, and the thought of being good for him sends me into uncharted arousal territory. We find our rhythm again, breathless and desperate for the space between us to shrink to nothing.
Shadows sweep up the sheets, holding me in place as he worksover my ass. My hands can’t decide what they want to touch more, his chest or his hair or my dripping cock. Every time I roll my hips, taking him deeper, he gasps, low and ragged.
