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He held her harder as she began to move against him, chasing her release. She was on the edge—he could feel it in the way her body strained, the way her muscles tightened. It made his blood rush to the head of his cock, which lay heavy and rigid against his own stomach.

“Hades!”

It was the way she said his name this time that alerted him that something was wrong. He drew back as her heels dug into the bed and she yanked against the bindings. Her eyes were open and wide, but it was like she wasn’t seeing anything—not in this present moment anyway.

Fuck. He wished he’d never had this idea.

He banished the bindings quickly, wishing he’d done so sooner.

Fuck.

“Persephone.” He tried to reach for her, but she lashed out, and her hand came down on his cheek, full of thorns. The pain was biting, and blood dripped between them onto her skin. She seemed to be awake now, her face pale and her horror evident. She started to reach for him but realized her hands were still full of thorns.

She burst into tears, holding her hands away from her body.

For a few brief seconds, he was too stunned to move, too confused by what had happened. He was trying to remember exactly when things had gone wrong. How had they gone so wrong? He’d thought she was enjoying this. Was it possible she never had?

Finally, he moved and pulled her to him, though he wasn’t sure he was what she needed or wanted. He’d been too self-concerned to even realize that she was suffering.

“I did not know,” Hades said. “I did not know. I’m sorry. I love you.”

But there came a point when even he couldn’t speak.

CHAPTER XXXVII

HADES

“I don’t see why I need to be here,” said Apollo.

Hades had summoned him to the island of Lemnos.

He had come to discuss weapons with Hephaestus, and he needed to know what Apollo had found during his examination of Tyche. This was necessary given their eventual movement against Theseus, but he also did not think he could face Persephone so soon. He was still reeling from how quickly everything had escalated from something so erotic and right to an utter nightmare.

He felt embarrassed but mostly completely horrified that he’d managed to trigger her so badly, and at a time when they’d been most intimate.

Perhaps worst of all, he didn’t know how to handle what had happened. An apology did not seem like enough, and the thought of pushing her too far again was agonizing. In some ways, he’d prided himself on knowing how her body responded to his, and yet last night, he’d been wrong.

“You are quiet,” said Aphrodite as she walked them to Hephaestus’s workshop.

He wasn’t sure why she felt the need to play escort, but he thought it might be so she could catch a glimpse of Hephaestus.

“He’s always quiet,” said Apollo. “Unless he’s reprimanding you for taking his lover away to fulfill a bargain.”

“Shut up, Apollo,” Hades said. “I…didn’t sleep.”

“Are you worried Zeus will deny you your marriage?” she asked.

“I was,” he said. “But now I am more worried Persephone won’t make it to the altar.”

He didn’t look at Aphrodite or Apollo as he spoke. They’d both borne witness to her attacks. Aphrodite had been there that night at the club, so lost in her own need for vengeance, she hadn’t helped Persephone either.

“Are you…angry with me?” Aphrodite asked after a long pause.

“Hermes swore an oath to protect her,” Hades replied.

“That is not what I asked,” she said.

He didn’t answer. There was no need. Would he have been indebted to Aphrodite had she saved Persephone? Yes, but perhaps it was better that he wasn’t.