I swallow, fumbling around the confession like admitting it is dirty, sinful – shameful. ‘I want to,’ I breathe and actually it feels freeing to admit to desire, natural even.
‘Then tell me.’ He kisses my neck between words. ‘I want to hear you scream it.’ His teeth graze my skin. ‘If you want me to keep going, ask me to.’ He trails his lips along my collarbone. ‘I want to hear how it feels.’ He brings his lips back to mine and whispers against them: ‘And, if you want me to keep going, then let the walls shake with how loudly you urge me not to stop.’
I’m shivering, his words humming in my bones. I pull him closer, capture his lips with my own and lose myself in the feel of him.
I thought we could contain it, lock this new-found lust and affection up the way we have everything else, keep it behind private doors. But it bleeds out, this need, and even when we’re in public it takes every ounce of self-control not to pounce on one another.
Hades comes with me to the next court meeting and we can barely keep our hands off each other. It’s all the worse for the memories those touches hold, the shivers of pleasure those roaming hands have caused. Which isn’t to say that I’m crawling on to his lap in the middle of a meeting but he can’t walk past me without brushing my arm and I can’t sit next to him without reaching for his hand, its imprint lingering on my skin. I have a sixth sense for him; I know where he is, listen a little harder when he speaks. It’s like a cord is strung between us, slowly winding and drawing us back together.
I’m glad for it because court is difficult. Everyone is stressed and tired and scared.
‘It’s a famine on the mortal plane,’ Hades tells them.
‘You went up?’ Thanatos asks.
Hades nods.
‘That’s where you were?’ Styx exclaims. ‘Fates, Hades – did you even think about what you were risking? What if you had been captured? A king trespassing into another court? If Zeus had found out …’
‘We share jurisdiction over Earth,’ he says, squeezing my hand as though to reassure me of this fact.
‘Officially.’ Styx glares. ‘But you know as well as I do that Zeus wouldn’t be happy with it. He’s barely happy with Hermes being split between the courts.’
‘True.’ Hermes nods. ‘A famine, you said? Is it a sun god or fertility goddess?’
‘It’s my mother,’ I say grimly.
‘Your mother?’ Nemesis asks. ‘Why?’
‘She’s not exactly a fan of this.’ I nod to my hand holding Hades’. ‘She wants me to return to her.’ I wonder if they’ll scream for me to go back. I wouldn’t be surprised. But I can’t lie to them, and they deserve a say. If they think I should go I’ll at least have to consider it.
‘Well, that’s stupid,’ Nemesis says. As goddess of revenge, it seems she’s not particularly impressed with Mother’s methods.
‘Is it? My respect to both of you,’ Charon says, inclining his head towards us, ‘but I’d be pretty upset if my daughter was kidnapped and married.’
‘You know our official line on that – and the truth, in fact – is that I ran to Hell of my own volition.’
‘And Demeter does not believe the official line. I don’t particularly see why we should either.’
‘You doubt your king, Charon?’ Hades asks, the smoke he shrouds himself in pulsing. He has an amused grin on his face, as though his power is a hilarious joke. ‘You doubt your queen?’
‘No, of course not,’ he answers too quickly to be believable and even he seems to know it because he throws his hands up. ‘Look, is it the type of thing you’d do, my lord? Of course not. But, my queen, why would you run here of all places?’
‘Maybe because certain powers drew her to this place?’ Styx interjects before I can answer. ‘We’ve all seen what she can do. She belongs here, with or without marrying Hades – um, Lord Hades – and she’s a member of our court. And no god of the Underworld will be blackmailed into anything by an Olympian.’
There are roars of agreement from the gathered gods. If they doubted us still, their rivalry with the other courts might be enough to convince them.
‘So, I’m sorry,’ I say. ‘It’s going to be a lot of work from everyone but we can weather this. She can’t keep starving all the humans – the gods of every court will riot.’
‘I spoke to some of Poseidon’s court at your wedding.’ Styx nods. ‘They’re all obsessed with humans.’
‘Hmm, the Olympians too,’ Charon agrees.
‘Exactly. They won’t let her get away with this for long.’
Although if it’s a question of who will win, every god on the planet or my mother, I’m not sure I’m confident in the answer.
Hades appears at the doorway of my study, impish smile on his face, basket clutched in his hands.
