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Hades shrugged his shoulders and looked uncomfortable.
Lina studied him, and almost didn't press him further. Then she remembered his words from the night before. He wanted more than simple sex from her. She knew that, and in order for there to be more between them, they would have to be able to talk. About everything and anything. And, quite frankly, she was too old to play col ege dating games with al the silences and misunderstandings that went with them. She was a grown woman, and she needed to be able to say what was on her mind.
"If you didn't want visitors, why did you build such a huge palace with al those empty rooms just waiting to be fil ed?"
He considered the question. How much should he admit to her? He certainly didn't want to tel her that he had never before been involved with a goddess, sexual or otherwise, that he had spent an eternity longing for something more than the frivolity that satisfied the rest of the immortals. He remembered the last time he had visited Mount Olympus. Aphrodite had teased him with an open sexual invitation, and he had not responded to her offer. Later he had heard her smirking with Athena as the two Goddesses discussed what part of his body must be dead - along with his realm. Thinking about their cutting words he felt a rush of anger. His body was not dead. It was simply attached to his soul, and his soul required more than the insincere attentions of a self-serving goddess.
What could he say that wouldn't make her bolt away from him? He glanced at her. She appeared to be waiting attentively for his answer. He had to be as honest with her as possible. He couldn't lie or dissemble. A lasting relationship could not be based on falsehoods. He released a long sigh.
"Sometimes I have wondered myself why I built it. Perhaps I was hoping that some day I would learn to overcome my" - he struggled, trying to find the right word - "my difference."
"Difference? What do you mean?"
"I have always found it difficult to interact with other immortals," Hades said slowly. "You must know that I am shunned because I am Lord of the Dead."
Lina began to deny it. Then she remembered the look on Demeter's face when she spoke of Hades, and the offhanded way she discarded him as unimportant... uninteresting. The memory made her suddenly very angry.
"They just don't know what you're real y like."
"And what is it that I'm real y like, Persephone?"
Lina smiled at him and said exactly what was on her mind. "You're interesting and funny, sexy and powerful."
Hades shook his head, staring at her. "You are a constant surprise."
"Is that a good or a bad thing?"
"It is a miraculously good thing."
She was a goner. She couldn't resist him, and she didn't want to. "I'm glad."
"You are not like any of the other immortals. You know how they are... so fil ed with their own importance, constantly striving to outdo one another, never satisfied with what they have." He shook his head and leaned forward so that he could brash her cheek with his fingertips. "You are honest and real - what a goddess truly should be."
Honest and real? A true goddess? Lina wanted to crawl under a rock. She wasn't even who she was.
"I... you... I..." Lina babbled, not sure what she should say.
Hades didn't give her a chance to col ect her thoughts. He slid forward and pul ed her into his arms. Her mouth was stil cold from the spring water. He wanted to drown in her. He plunged into the softness of her lips. If only he had known about her earlier. How could he have spent so much time without her? The Goddess wrapped her arms around him and pressed her breasts against his chest. Hades moaned. His desire for her was a molten, throbbing need. Lina jerked and screamed. Hailing water everywhere she scrambled to pull her long, bare legs from the little pool. Leaping up Lina rushed around behind the God so that he was between her and the water's edge.
"Something rubbed against me." Her voice shook as Oklahoma experience flashed visions of water moccasins and snapping turtles through her mind.
Hades patted one of her hands that clutched his shoulder, trying to pull his thoughts together. He could stil feel the imprint of her breasts against the supple leather that covered his chest and his body stil surged with hard longing.
"Persephone, nothing in Elysia would harm you."
"There!" Lina was ashamed that the word came out as a squeal. She pointed to a dark shape that flitted under the water. "There's something in the pool."
With a sigh Hades stood and walked the few feet to the bank. He crouched down and peered into the clear water.
Al of Lina's senses were on high alert. "Be careful," she said. "It might be a snake." Hades shot her a bemused look over his shoulder. "Why would you fear a snake?" Lina twisted a thick strand of hair around her finger. Snakes are closely al ied with Demeter. They are nothing to fear. Her internal voice chastised her.
"I know it's sil y, but I've never liked them," she said miserably. The God's wide brow wrinkled in confusion, but a splash from the pool cal ed his attention. Lina cringed back, not wanting to see the slithering reptilian body.
When Hades looked at her again a smal smile played around his lips. "You cannot possibly fear this creature."
"I don't real y like turtles, either," Lina said quickly, keeping her eyes averted from the dark shape that had just surfaced in the pool. "Especial y snapping turtles." Hades chuckled and motioned for her to join him. "Come. You like animals." Lina didn't bulge. "I do. I like mammals. I like birds. I don't even mind fish. I do not like reptiles. I know it sounds narrow-minded, but - "
An odd barking noise came from the water. Lina peered past Hades to see a little creature floating on its back.
She gasped. "You're not a snake!"
The otter barked at her again, kicking the water with his adorably webbed paws. Lina hurried to join Hades. She crouched next to him, leaning in against his side. "I think it's the cutest thing I've ever seen."
"Don't tel Orion," Hades said. "He believes that he is your favorite." Lina pushed her shoulder against his before she reached across the water to tickle the otter's bel y.
"Orion is my favorite horse. This little guy can be my favorite otter." At her touch, the otter went into a frenzy of puppyish yips and snuffling sounds, wriggling so much that he sprayed water al over before swimming to the ledge and disappearing down the little waterfal .
"I didn't mean to scare him."
Hades smiled at the Goddess's disappointed expression and wiped beads of water from her cheek.
"You did not scare him, sweet one. The otters of Elysia are notoriously shy. Even I have never before seen one this dose. I certainly have never touched one."
Lina looked wistfully after the cute creature. "Can't you get him to come back? You are a God." Hades laughed. "As a wise God I know when it is best not to tamper with the natural order of things. And you would have more luck than I at charming the little beast. You are the animal sorceress, not I."
"I'm not real y a sorceress," Lina said. "I just like animals, and they like me, too."
"Mammals," Hades corrected her, brushing a long strand of hair back from her face. Lina tilted her head so that her cheek nuzzled his hand.
"Perhaps it is only me you have bespel ed, sorceress." Hades rubbed his thumb across her full bottom lip.
"There's no one I'd rather work magic on," Lina heard herself say as she leaned forward to meet his kiss.
When something butted her in the back she didn't jerk around in surprise or scream. She simply reached up and patted Orion's muzzle.
"You know, the uninformed would believe that the Underworld would be the perfect place to find peace and quiet."
Hades scowled at the stal ion. "They would be incorrect."
Orion snorted and tossed his head at the God, then he nuzzled Lina again, breathing warm, horsy breath on her neck and making her giggle. Lina grabbed a handful of silky mane, and Orion raised his head, pulling her to her feet.
Lina looked down at the God, who was stil glaring at the horse. She bent down and took his hand and tugged at him until he rose reluctantly to his feet.
"Would you like to see more of Elysia?" Hades asked.
Lina raised up on her tiptoes and brushed his cheek with a kiss. "I would love to see more of your realm."
Her words brought Hades a surge of happiness and he bent to kiss her swiftly and possessively before he lifted her to Orion's back.
