Page 136 of Hades

Her hands came up to my face, cupping my jaw and pulling me down for a kiss.

I poured everything into it. Every promise. Every vow. Every dark, possessive, protective instinct I had.

She was mine.

And I was hers.

When she came, it was with my name on her lips. Soft. Broken and beautiful.

I followed her over, burying my face in her neck, and held her like she might disappear.

Afterward, we lay tangled together. Her head on my chest. My hand in her hair.

“What happens now?” she asked quietly.

“Now?” I kissed the top of her head. “Now we figure out how to keep you safe.”

“From whom?”

“From everyone.”

She was quiet for a moment. “The club’s looking for the vigilante.”

“Yeah.”

“What are you going to do?”

I tightened my arm around her. “Whatever I have to.”

“Even if it means going against Zeus?”

I didn’t hesitate. “Even then.”

She lifted her head and looked at me with those careful, calculating eyes. “You’d really do that? Risk everything?”

“For you?” I cupped her face. “In a fucking heartbeat.”

She searched my expression. Looking for the lie. The angle. The moment I’d take it back.

She wouldn’t find it.

Eros had defended Alex. Said she’d earned the right to run after saving his life. The club accepted it because Eros made it clear she was off-limits.

I’d do the same for Lettie.

And if Zeus or anyone else had a problem with it, they could take it up with me.

“I love you,” she whispered.

The words hit me like a freight train, knocking the air straight from my lungs.

I’d never said those words to anyone. Never felt them. Never believed in them.

Until now.

“I love you too, baby.” I kissed her. Slow. Deep. “And I’m not letting anyone take you from me.”

She smiled. Small. Fragile. Real.