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Eurydice had fol owed Iapis from the room, leaving Lina alone with the God. She smiled nervously at him and tried not to fidget. Hades had changed his clothes. His robes were as expansive, and just as black as the toga-like attire, but these were trimmed in an intricate silver-edged design. His hair was stil tied back in the same thick queue, but he was minus the cape. Any other man would have looked ridiculous and probably even effeminate in such an Errol Flynn-meets-Zorro-meetsGladiator outfit. Hades did not.
"I hope your chamber is to your liking."
Good, Lina thought. She'd just make conversation with him. Like he was a normal man.
"It's lovely - just like the rest of your palace," Lina said, "Iapis tel s me that I have you to thank for the warm welcome of fresh flowers and a newly drawn bath. Thank you, everything was just perfect. It's like I was an invited guest instead of one who barged in al on her own." She gave him a chagrined smile.
Hades thought he had never seen anything as beautiful as the embarrassed flush that warmed her cheeks, and he suddenly felt himself doing something he hadn't done in centuries. He smiled, leaned forward, captured Persephone's hand and raised it to his lips.
"You are most welcome here, Goddess of Spring."
Lina thought she might fal off her chair. In forty-three years she had never had a man kiss her hand. She wasn't sure of the correct protocol. Did she leave her hand in his? Did she pull it out?
Hel ! What she real y wanted to do was to kiss him back. Instead, she felt her mouth form what was probably a goofy smile.
"Th-thank you," she stuttered.
Hades dropped her hand and looked away from her. Impulsive! He was acting like an impulsive fool. She was a Goddess; he could never al ow himself to forget that. Lina watched his expression change and a hardness settle on his features. What was wrong? It wasn't logical, but Lina had a sudden thought that this aspect of Hades - this stern, expressionless God - was a facade he drew over himself as a cover. But why?
Merda, just listening to her thoughts made her want to slap her own face and tel herself to snap out of it! When had her disciplined, wel -ordered mind begun having such delusions of romance?
She knew the answer already. It had been that damn narcissus...
Uncomfortable silence crouched between them.
Think of something to say, she ordered herself. She took a deep breath and tried again.
"It's interesting what you said about chrysocol a. I don't know very much about the properties of stones." She glanced up at the bril iantly lighted chandeliers. "For instance, I think diamonds are beautiful, but I have no idea about their properties."
"Diamonds are complex gems." Hades' gaze turned upward, too, and as he warmed to the subject of precious stones his voice began to lose its hard edge. "They promote courage and healing and strength. When worn by warriors they can actual y increase physical strength, which is why some mortal cultures go to war wearing them set within armbands of platinum or silver."
"And al this time I've only thought of them as a girl's best friend," Lina quipped.
"Are they the gem you prefer?" Hades asked.
Lina opened her mouth to give him an automatic yes!, but his penetrating gaze stopped her. Something in his eyes said she should think about her answer more careful y. She closed her mouth and reconsidered.
She didn't have many diamonds. Actual y, the only diamonds she'd ever worn had been gifts from her ex-husband. She frowned, remembering how her beautiful, expensive wedding ring, with its large center diamond surrounded by a wealth of glittering baguettes, had become a symbol of bondage rather than of fidelity. Her diamond earrings had been a guilt-induced gift given to her after one of his drunken tirades because he found the growing success of her bakery intimidating. The diamond necklace and gaudy cocktail ring had belonged to his mother - a shal ow, manipulative woman who had never liked Lina. Every time she'd worn either of the pieces she had felt shackled to her husband's cold, aloof family. Consequently, she'd stopped wearing them long before she'd stopped being his wife.
When she bought jewelry for herself she never even considered diamonds. She smiled as she thought about the lovely, dangling earrings she'd gifted herself on her last birthday. Yes, they would definitely qualify as her favorite stone.
"Amethyst," she said firmly. "My favorite gemstone is amethyst. What are its properties?" Hades looked surprised, but not displeased. "Amethyst is a spiritual stone, with absolutely no negative side effects or associations with violence or anger. It is the stone of peace. It calms fears and raises hopes. Amethyst soothes emotional storms. Even in situations of potential danger it can come to your aid. It is a wise choice as your talisman."
"I'm so glad to know that." She grinned at him. "No wonder I've always loved it." The Goddess's beauty stunned Hades. When she smiled she shined brighter than the diamonds over their heads. His stomach tightened. He had forgotten the power of a goddess's beauty and its overwhelming al ure. His response to her was basic, his need raw. He felt his buried passion stir, and desires he thought he had entombed eons ago began to stretch, and breathe. Hades felt powerless in the wake of the surge of foreign emotions.
"Amethyst matches your eyes perfectly."
His voice was rough and dangerously sexy. Lina's borrowed body responded to it as quickly as her soul and she looked deeply into the God's eyes.
"Thank you, Hades." This time experience took over and she didn't stutter or blush, she purred. Hades was overwhelmed by the rush of heat that coursed through his blood. Persephone couldn't possibly know what a temptation she was to him. She was a goddess. She was accustomed to commanding the attention of males, mortals and immortals alike, but she was not accustomed to the Lord of the Underworld. She could not know how painful it was for him to see her there before him, so young and beautiful and desirable. With the return of passion, the old emptiness reared alive within him as the ancient difference between Hades and the other immortals reawakened. He forced his gaze from the velvet trap of her eyes.
"Would you like wine?" he blurted.
"Yes, please," Lina said, confused as he suddenly lurched from the table, shouting for wine like he was in the middle of a fish market. What had just happened? He had complimented her eyes, and she had thanked him. Electricity had passed between them. Even a young woman would not have had trouble recognizing that spark, and Lina was no young woman. She had even thought he was leaning toward her, then pain had flashed over his face and the attraction had been shattered. Lina felt like someone had thrown cold water on them.
Two servants rushed into the room, each carrying a pitcher of wine. Hades glowered, pointing to Persephone.
"Do you desire red or white, Goddess?" one of the servants asked.
"Red, please," Lina answered automatical y, not caring whether Hades was serving fish, fowl, beef or pasta for dinner. She just hoped that the red was dark and rich and strong. She took a long drink. Thankfully, it was al of the three.
"Leave this wine and bring more," Hades ordered the servant after he had fil ed the God's goblet. The two immortals drank without speaking.
Hades studied his empty plate, wishing that he were different... wishing that her very presence didn't remind him of why he must remain withdrawn from the rest of the immortals.
"The wine is excel ent," Lina broke into the silence.
Hades made a sound somewhere in his throat that might have been a grunt of agreement.
"I like red wine best," Lina said. Now that she had started speaking she didn't seem to be able to stop. She held up the crystal goblet and let the diamond light sparkle through it. "This wine reminds me of rabies."
Hades cleared his throat and al owed his eyes meet hers again.
"Rubies," he repeated her last word, pouncing on a harmless subject. "Did you know that jewelry set with rubies can be worn to banish sadness and negative thoughts?"
"No, I didn't," Lina said, studying the blood-colored wine. "What else can it do?"
"Ruby-set jewelry can also produce joy, strengthen wil power and confidence as wel as dispel fear." Hades noted the irony of his words. Perhaps while Persephone visited his realm he should take to wearing rubies.
"I had no idea jewels could be so fascinating," Lina muttered, looking from the diamond chandeliers to the gleaming chrysocol a candelabrum and then back to her ruby-colored wine.
"Actual y, I haven't given jewels much thought at al , especial y lately." Hades quirked one dark eyebrow up at her. "A goddess who hasn't given jewels much thought. That would make you a unique goddess indeed."
Lina felt a prickle of warning. Had she said too much? She had been so involved in what Hades was saying she had forgotten to remember that she wasn't herself - as confusing as that seemed. A stream of semitransparent servants carrying trays laden with food, fol owed by Iapis and Eurydice, entered the room. Lina breathed a sigh of relief at the distraction. "Oh, Persephone, wait until you see what has been prepared for you!" Eurydice gushed. "I've never seen such delicacies." Lina was already staring at the trays, and she couldn't agree more with the little spirit.
"It smel s fantastic," Lina said, and watched in hungry anticipation as trays fil ed with color and scent and texture were laid reverently before her. There were clusters of white delicacies that Lina realized were several different kinds of flower petals, al of which had been sugared, crystal ized, and frozen in perfect bloom. Olives, ranging in color from light green to black crowded against blocks of cheese that were thick and almost as fragrant as the slabs of warm bread that rested beside them. But it was the fruit that kept drawing Lina's eye. It commanded one tray by itself. Its dark pink skin had been broken open, and fat, red beads spil ed forth, begging to be consumed.
"Pomegranates." Her lips felt numb.
