Page 115 of Bride of Death

“I meant what I said when I called you Aphrodite,” Maliki adds, his mouth at my ear again. “She was a temptress. The most beautiful Goddess alive. A myth, of course. But you are so very fucking real, Sera.”

A tremble works through me as he kisses my temple.

“I’ve struggled to keep my hands off of you, choosing survival over giving in to this forbidden need,” he whispers. “I’m starting to think dying is a small price to pay if it means tasting you before I depart.”

My stomach twists, his words doing strange things to me. He keeps talking about death being worth the risk. “I don’t want you to die,” I tell him.

“Then perhaps you should consider asking your husband for mercy,” a deep voice rumbles behind me.

I stop breathing, his tone rippling through me like a wave of dominant energy.

Yet Maliki doesn’t stop stroking my back. “I’m not apologizing,” he says. “You left me here with her in a dress you knew would bring me to my knees. So consider me begging,my lord.”

Hades hums, the sound one that seems to vibrate throughout the room as he grabs my hip from behind.

My eyes widen, his heat bleeding into my back as he sandwiches me between his large, masculine form and Maliki’s lethal one.

“Do you hear that, little mate?” Hades asks silkily, his opposite hand going to my chin to tilt me back to look at him. “Maliki is begging me to kill him.”

I gape at Hades. “Please don’t,” I whisper. “He hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“Oh?” Hades arched a brow. “But he’s touched someone who doesn’t belong to him.”

Because I belong to Hades.

Rather,my soulbelongs to him.

But does my body?

“I should have a say in who can touch me,” I tell him, my voice lacking the necessary conviction to properly deliver the comment. But I’m thinking out loud. “You can’t kill Maliki for hugging me.”

“Can’t I?” Hades asks, his tone suggesting I may need to reconsider my stance.

However, I don’t want to reconsider anything.

“It’s my body. I choose who touches it.” There, that came out stronger.

“I see.” Hades searches my gaze, his expression giving nothing away. “And do you want Maliki to continue touching you,wife?”

We’re not married yet, I nearly reply, the boldness coming from somewhere within. Maybe from the part of me that feels frustrated with my fate.

Every decision in my life has been made by someone else.

The Day of the Choosing.

Demeter’s Gardens.

Coming to the Netherworld.

My engagement to Hades.

Maliki being assigned to guard me.

But the way I feel about Maliki ismychoice. He gives me warmth. Happiness.Humor.

And now he’s giving me comfort with his touch.

So I answer Hades with a stern “Yes.”