Page 22 of A Goddess Unraveled (Olympus Rising)

The floodlight followed them into the garage, disappearing as the door closed. A dim glow still shone through the door’s frosted window, turning all the objects into silhouettes, but Lexi didn’t need the light. She knew her way around because Ham was meticulous about his garage. With a sure grip on Hades’s hand, she strode to the limo and opened the door, triggering the dome light. Then she slid across the back seat and Hades followed her in.

Under the limo’s spotlight, Lexi peeled off her coat and shimmied out of her dress while Hades watched with an amused smile. Was he surprised by her lack of modesty? Or was he just appreciating the view? The light blinked off, and he hadn’t moved.

“Are you just going to sit there admiring me in the dark?” she said. “At least let me share in the experience.”

“I’d love to admire you much longer, but I know we don’t have the luxury of time.”

Lexi thought she heard uncertainly in his tone as he relieved himself of clothes. Or was it disappointment? It pissed her off that they didn’t have the luxury of time. They were just getting started, and she wanted to see how far their connection took them. She suspected that wouldn’t matter to an immortal goddess, but it was mattering to her more and more.

Hades stripped, and it was like watching a present being unwrapped: a gorgeous, golden-skinned, amber-eyed present. When his task was done, Lexi kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck and draping her legs over his hips to bring their bodies as close as the back seat would allow.

It had never been like this for her, flesh against flesh in such an unrestricted, vulnerable way, and she enjoyed the delicate shiver that traveled from her scalp to her groin. When she felt his erection against her inner thigh, more shivers erupted. Then she rallied her courage and snaked her arm between their bodies to take him in hand. His tongue responded to her touch, lashing the inside of her mouth as her fingers explored him, both plush and firm. She circled the tip with her thumb, enjoying the control she had of his pleasure.

With his hand at her back, Hades lowered Lexi to the seat, and she tugged him down with her legs until his hardness rested against her belly. Their mouths drew apart, and she kept her eyes trained on his face as he trailed his fingers across her cheek. He was watching her, too, his needy respirations telling her he was all in.

“Hades, I’m handing the reins to you.”

She felt his pulse race behind his chest as he reached to the floor of the limo to grope for his pants. “Will you excuse me a moment? I have to fetch something from my pocket.”

“I have no other plans.”

Hades had come prepared with a condom, and her body idled beneath him as he made the necessary modification. Then he bent over her mouth again and brushed a kiss across it.

“You are miraculous. And I’m the most fortunate god on earth.”

He lowered to her entrance, circling and coating himself with her eagerness. It felt like a tsunami to her, which she was grateful for as he pressed the thick tip inside. The sensation brought on feelings that Lexi wasn’t prepared for, like surrender and the awareness that there was no turning back. But Hades approached the task with incredible tenderness, as if he was using the practice of zen despite their time constraints. He filled her slowly, almost too slowly, until she felt something give way.

“How does that feel?” he asked, a gentleman even when he was acting like a rogue.

“Like freedom. Please, don’t stop.”

She lifted her body so her breasts grazed his chest, and he surged forward with a controlled drive, then gradually retreated. Her body hummed in response, like a musician being given center stage after years of playing backup. And he kept at this for a while, speeding up the tempo then slowing it down again, as if he wanted her to enjoy the whole performance.

All the while her climax lingered in the background, elusive and frustratingly out of reach. Not that she wasn’t enjoying everything about the experience, but she didn’t feel in control of it. Then Hades slipped his hand between her legs, and her body reacted with a powerful jerk. There it was.

With her head tilted back, Hades pressed his lips to her throat, his breathing erratic at her ear, his fingers bringing her closer to release. She found herself counting as she tried to extend the moment, and she’d only reached five before she exploded around him in a strangled cry. Hades reacted seconds later with a fierce tremble that echoed through her body in exquisite waves. The world melted away, and Lexi let herself get carried off by the tide.

When Hades lowered his body to gently rest on hers, she remembered her own body, and draped her arms over his shoulders, staring at his handsome silhouette. His eyes had warmed to a golden glow, reminding her that he was a god and that she was a goddess. It felt like a dream.

“How did I do, my lady?”

She brought her mouth to his lips, speaking against them. “When do we leave for Asia?”

He chuckled. “Let’s take one risk at a time, shall we?”

Lexi smiled, but the longer she lay there beneath him, with his strength inside her, the more she felt like she had lost herself. At least a part of herself. But she didn’t need that part anymore. In fact, she’d never felt more whole. While Hades cradled her head in his hands and offered her his lips, she focused on the rhythmic cadence of their breathing and the slowly retreating throb in her groin.

Could he tell the fabric of her world had been torn? Her perception of life changed forever? Was that the seduction of sex? Unrestrained carnal release and to hell with everything else?

“Are you okay?” he whispered into the darkness.

“Never better.” She trailed her fingers along the grooves of his arms, admiring the musculature.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Should we? Is that normal?”

“It’s your first time, if I’m not mistaken. I want you to know it’s an option.”

Lexi bit her lip, feeling braver than she probably should have. “Can we skip the sex talk and just do it again?”

Hades swooped down to claim her mouth, slipping his hand underneath her and forcing their bodies closer. She gasped at the fullness.

“I’d like nothing more than to make love to you until the sun rises,” he said. “But we have a manic god stomping around the estate. I think we should take what we’ve been granted and leave with our skins intact.”

She wanted to argue with him. To complain about that manic god treating them both like children. But being caught with their pants down wouldn’t be ideal, so they gathered their clothes and climbed out of the limo to dress. Even as she quivered in the aftermath of their encounter and her muscles ached from her eventful weekend, she wanted to feel him inside her again.

Once dressed, Hades opened the garage door a crack and peered outside. “Everything looks clear from here.” As he reached his hand out to Lexi, his eyes twinkled like the northern lights. “You are amazing. I can’t remember the last time I felt this way.”

They walked hand in hand to the balcony. And although Lexi’s legs were a bit wobbly and her head dazed, she truly had never felt better. When the boat ladder came into view, hanging from her balcony like an escape hatch, she thought about hauling Hades down the beach path with no plans of returning.

But it was not to be, because they were not alone. A figure stood in the courtyard beneath her balcony, looking like a manic god with an enormous scowl.

“Oh shit.” The exclamation was out of her mouth before she could stop it, and Zeus rolled out of the shadows like a dark cloud.

“If you mean Oh shit, I have some explaining to do , then your sentiment fits the situation perfectly.” His moustache bristled, but Lexi was ready for the challenge. She would not let him bully her.

“I don’t have to explain anything to you. I already made myself perfectly clear.”

“So did I.” His lips curved into a smile, like he, too, was ready for the challenge.

“Why are you being such a prick? Let me live my life, then I might consider sticking around to make yours less of a hassle.”

The grip Hades had on her hand tightened, and she read it as a signal to tread carefully. Was that for him or for her?

“Let me take this moment to remind you who I am,” Zeus said. “I’m the ruler of all gods. In matters of import, I have the final say.”

“Okay. I’ll let you know when something of import comes up.”

Zeus stared pointedly at Lexi and Hades, their fingers entwined in solidarity. “Hades, you have flouted my position since the day my fate was handed to me. Why do you continue this folly? Is it so difficult for you to enjoy the company of a simple mortal and not be tempted by someone who is out of your reach?”

“Do you mean not be tempted to build a relationship with someone who isn’t dead before I can schedule a second date? You always seem to forget that I’m forbidden from entering my birthplace and fostering relationships there. You forget because you never visit the underworld. None of the gods do. Out of sight, out of mind. Isn’t that the saying?”

Zeus growled under his beard but didn’t seem to have an immediate rebuttal. Which was fine, because it was Lexi’s turn.

“I think that’s all bullshit. And, for the record, I’m interested in building a relationship with Hades.” She turned to Hades and repeated the words he’d said to her just hours before. “Now, and any time in the future that he’ll have me.”

“Even if that future is a century from now?” Zeus said.

Lexi glared at him. “Is that threat aimed at me or Hades?”

“At both of you. If you want to live the life of a demigod among mortals, Lexi, you will answer to me. You can travel and work and cavort with anyone you wish. But your status as a god requires that your activities continue to be monitored by nymphs. That’s just how it’s done.”

She blinked, hoping she had misunderstood him. “What nymphs?”

“The estate staff and your friends at school.”

She blinked again as the weight of his words sunk in. “You mean Mara?”

“Yes, Mara. And the other one you don’t speak to anymore.”

Heat spread through Lexi’s chest as her anger spiked. “You are an egomaniac, you know that?!” She let go of Hades and raised both hands at Zeus, her skin prickling as she forced as much intention at him as she could manage. A wall of air came back and hit her so hard it sent her tumbling into the grass. She lost her breath but was already scrambling to her feet when Hades offered his hand.

“Lexi, let it go,” he said softly.

“I’ll let it go when he lets it go.”

Zeus wore the face of a judge when Lexi rounded on him again. This time she didn’t try to use her godly power, just the power of her words.

“I will never submit to you or your spies. You’ll be cleaning up after my messes for eternity!”

“Unless I decide to keep you confined to the estate! And if you continue to threaten me, that can be easily arranged.”

Zeus waved an arm at the wall of the estate and the white stone and marble rippled away like mist, revealing an immense structure of gold underneath. It reached all the way to the third floor, and she gaped at the rows of thick columns shimmering magically beneath the manor’s facade.

She hadn’t been imagining things when she’d questioned her parents about the house paint, when she tried to convince herself it was the sunlight. She was seeing through the gods’ glamour. It had been placed there to hide what it truly was—a prison of gold.

“If you think you have no freedom now,” Zeus said evenly, “keep testing me and you’ll spend your first century as a goddess here.”

“I think we all need a break from this topic,” Hades said. “Threats rarely lead to compromise. Lexi, please.”

He looked at her through pale eyes, their usual glow subdued by emotion, and maybe fear. It would be stupid to think of Zeus as her uncle Z anymore. She needed to admit defeat on this one.

“Fine. I’m going up to my room. We can talk about this tomorrow.” She took Hades’s hand in hers, despite the trembling. She didn’t care if Hades thought she was afraid; she just didn’t want Zeus to know. “Good night, Hades. I had an unforgettable evening. Will I see you tomorrow?”

He smiled, although she had no trouble reading the sadness behind it. “I’ll make it so, assuming I’m not struck by lightning before then.”