Page 116 of Bride of Death

His eyes glitter as he stares down at me. “Good. Then consider him a wedding gift.”

My lips part.A wedding gift?I repeat in my head.What does he mean by that?

“Please my wife, Maliki,” Hades demands. “Your life depends on how much she enjoys yourtouch.”

Black flames dance in his irises as he utters those words, his focus entirely on me despite his words being for his enforcer.

I swallow, and Hades tracks the movement with his gaze, his fingers still clasping my chin. “This stops the moment you request it,” he tells me, his voice softer than a second ago. “Just say my name and this all ends. Understand?”

Not really, I think. Primarily as I don’t understand whatthismeans. Yet I nod anyway. Because it feels like the right response.

“He won’t hurt you,” Hades adds. “And neither will I.”

His statement feels like a vow. However, I don’t know if I can trust it.

Hades may not hurt me physically, but I have no doubt he’ll annihilate me mentally. The hatred and anger still simmer in his gaze, along with another emotion I can’t define.

Possession, maybe?

Whatever it is, it’s hot and stoking the inferno flickering in his stare as he looks at my mouth. His thumb traces my lower lip, and he might as well have lit me on fire.

Because my skinburnsfrom that short caress. Like he’s marked me as his without ever having kissed me.

“Maliki,” he murmurs. “Begin.”

“I’m not your puppet,” Maliki returns, his palm flattening against my lower back. I’m certain Hades feels it since he’s still holding me tightly from behind. And I see the knowledge of it flash in his features.

“Definitely not a puppet,” Hades says softly. “But if you want to play with my wife, you’ll adhere to my commands.”

Maliki hums, his hold loosening as he pulls back from my hair. “Release her to me,” he tells Hades, issuing his own form of a demand. “If I’m going to pleasure your wife, I need to be able to see her eyes.”

Flames erupt across my skin.

Pleasure your wife.

He meanskiss your wife, right?

That’s a form of pleasure.

That’s what he intends to do.

Right?

“As you wish,” Hades says, guiding my chin forward until I meet Maliki’s gaze. Then Hades’s fingers slowly trace my jaw, all the way back to my ear, where he tucks away my hair and exposes my neck.

Hot lips meet my tender skin, right above my throbbing pulse point.

“Enjoy your wedding gift, pet,” he says, then lets go of my hip and takes a step back.

But he doesn’t leave.

I detect his presence behind me like a wall of intensity, his gaze a palpable sensation I feel roaming over my exposed back.

“Ignore him and focus on me, Sera.” Maliki’s tone is laced with a gentle command, one that has me nearly swaying in his arms.

Because this is too much.

Yet not nearly enough.