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“Hades,” I cry.

He finds my entrance and spears me with his tongue. Stars of the universe wink behind my eyes as I thrust my fingers into his hair. I think I’m trying to hold him in place against me, inside me. But he’s too strong. He thrusts his tongue inside me again and again, swooping up to stroke that maddening bundle of nerves inside me before thrusting again. I’m lost to sensation as he fucks me with his tongue, holding tight to the tie that knots his hair at his nape.

“Oh, God,” I gasp. “Oh, God!”

His thrusts quicken inside me until that pressure he built finally detonates.

I fall back limply against the counter, eyeing him through the haze of a red-hot orgasm as he stands proudly. His full mouth is wet with the shine of my pleasure, his jaw hard and square. He has never looked more like the God of the Underworld than he does in this moment. And I have never felt so much the sacrifice than I do spilled out in orgasmic bliss on the stone of his counter.

His hands, thick and veined make quick work of the buckle of his belt. He sinks one hand into the black of his boxers before pulling out his length. It’s impossibly hard and thick, long and dripping need from an angry red tip.

The knot in my core tightens painfully as Hades lines his tip with my entrance, and sinks in to the hilt in one hard thrust.

I watch, breathlessly entranced as he throws his head back in pleasure. Veins rise in the column of his neck and a sound of vicious pleasure tears from between his lips.

He’s so beautiful, lost to this need. Lost inside me.

My body responds to the thought, clenching around him. And that’s when his control snaps. His hands find my hips, gripping me tight as he pulls me to the edge of the counter, and he fucks me like a God lost to his Goddess.

Chapter

Sixteen

Hades

Her green eyesare filled with light as I hook the leg of her chair with my foot, dragging her closer. Not looking away from her eyes that dance with those shimmering veins of malachite, I bend, hook her feet, and lift them into my lap.

I delight in the little sound of surprise that falls from between her lips. Settling back in my own chair, with my woman closer to where I want her, I run the pad of my thumb over the arch of her foot with just enough pressure to pull a full body response.

During one of the many times Persephone had devoted herself to gaining Aethon’s forgiveness for abandoning him on the white mountain, I’d visited Asphodel city.

Pregnancy is not something I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing up close. Being the God of the Underworld, it can’t be surprising that I’m not experienced in the welcoming of new life. Such an event is for the living realm.

Still, most of the souls I care for in the Underworld remember their living lives. I’d sat for hours listening to thewomen speak of their pregnancies. Their ailments and their joys. The pleasures in which dulled the discomforts. In resounding agreement, foot rubs were mentioned again and again.

Rolling the pad of my thumb over the ball of her foot, Persephone lets her head fall back as a tiny little sigh of pleasure slips free.

I make a mental note to visit again soon. Clearly, the advice I’ve received is invaluable.

“Who would have thought I’d be getting a foot rub by the God of the Underworld?” She moans, sinking her teeth into her lip to fight a sigh she loses the battle to contain just seconds later. Her eyes flutter open to half mast, her gaze sliding over the mess of the table. I deepen the pressure just slightly on her foot and she moans again. “God, that’s so good.”

I am helpless to fight my smile. Bringing this woman pleasure brings me pleasure. “You enjoy this, then?”

“Sooo much.” She groans. “I think I’d agree to sell my soul to you in exchange for these on a daily.”

The God inside rises to attention, ready as always, to make a deal. I swallow hard, but my words still sound guttural when I speak. “That could be arranged.”

Persephone laughs, not realizing just how serious I am. How ready I am to take her soul and ensure that she will forever be mine. Here. In the Underworld.Safe.

She reaches for a cookie, sliding it off the plate and taking a nibble. I bite back an amused smile. It’s clear the little ladies in her womb have a liking for sweets. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Persephone indulge in so much dessert as I’ve seen her indulge this last week.

There is also a small swell in her lower belly. It’s hardly noticeable, but I would notice any change in her. She doesn’t know it yet, but Gods and Goddesses arrive at mature term sooner than human gestation, developing quicker. Matingsbetween God and human that result in a child can go either way, depending on if the child is more God or human. It appears our daughters are more God, as they are clearly developing faster than the average human baby. If I had to guess, I would say they will arrive full term in about seven or eight months.

They will be spring babies. May or June birthdays. If I had to bet, I’d bet on them being Gemini’s.

The realization brings with it a sharp nip of awareness. Pain.

It comes too soon.