Page 32 of Bride of Death (Netherworld Fae #1)

Maliki

I shadow into my room, aware that Hades is already there waiting for me.

Because he sent me a fucking summons.

It was like a bloody doorbell going off in my head, right as I was considering giving up my life in exchange for a kiss.

“Have you taken to spying on me now?” I ask Hades as I appear. Because there is no way this summons wasn’t timed on purpose. “You’re the one who told me to seduce her. Remember?”

He stares at me from the favorite recliner chair, his hand on Fleur as she purrs in his lap. She looks up at me with big blue eyes, not caring at all that we haven’t seen each other in almost a month.

No.

She’s too busy enjoying Hades’s hand on her nape.

Traitor , I think at my familiar.

Granted, she’s probably pissed that I’ve been gone. But the reason I’ve been gone is currently petting her.

Ironically, he’s also the one who has been feeding her in my absence. So she probably doesn’t view the situation the same way I do, despite our mental connection.

We have a strange bond, one formed throughout the last two hundred years since I saved her from a psychotic Midnight Fae.

So she’s not technically my familiar. She’s a conjured animal with immortal life. And I imprisoned her former master.

It’s complicated.

And irrelevant to the current situation. “What do you want, Hades?”

He hasn’t said a word, his contemplative gaze giving nothing away. “Well, now I want to know what you meant by reminding me that I told you to seduce her . What did my summons interrupt?”

I stare at him. “Really? You’re going to sit there and pretend like you have no idea how close I just came to kissing Sera?”

His eyebrow arches. “I trust you implicitly, Maliki. So no, I was not spying on you. And no, I was not aware of how close you just came to kissing my mate . But please, elaborate.”

Those last few words are underlined with power and possession.

My jaw ticks.

He merely stares at me, his patience steadfast.

Shaking my head, I leave him with my cat and head into my bedroom. I’m not in the mood to verbally spar right now.

I need a shower.

Preferably a cold one.

Stripping out of my sweater, I kick off my boots and socks, then rip off my jeans and leave them on the floor.

Hades can see everything, including the fact that I’m aroused. And I just do not fucking care. He’s seen me naked more times than I can count. Styx, he’s witnessed me do a lot without clothes.

Fucking voyeur.

Normally, I don’t mind. I enjoy exhibitionism.

But what Sera and I have shared lately is… it’s ours.

It’s confusing.

It’s wrong .

Growling, I walk into my bathroom and directly to the shower—which starts automatically when it senses my presence. The temperature also magically adjusts to match my mood.

Which means the water is scorching hot.

I slam my palm against the rocky wall, my opposite one going to my throbbing shaft. “ Fuck .” I’m furious and I’m burning. It’s a dangerous combination.

My shadows ripple across my skin, seeming to hum in response to my lethal desires.

Movement behind me has the hair along my nape standing on end.

Hades’s steps are silent, but his power is loud. It’s suffocating. It’s a presence in and of itself.

“Does she want you to kiss her?” he asks softly, his question carrying over the sound of the rainfall because his words are laced with dark energy.

I ignore him and bend my arm, leaning into the wall as I slowly stroke myself to thoughts of Sera. Her mouth is so fucking perfect. So plump and pink. The kind of lips that men dream about having wrapped around their cocks.

Styx, just thinking about that has me picturing her on her knees.

My grip tightens, my chest burning with the need for release.

But I don’t want to give Hades the satisfaction of watching me explode. Even though he should see it. Witness what his mate does to me. How he’s torturing me by dangling a piece of forbidden fruit just within my reach, all while holding me above the fiery pits of the afterlife.

One wrong touch and he’ll drop me.

And I’m almost beyond the point of concern.

I don’t know how it’s come to this.

Except that’s not true.

I’ve been watching this woman for months, memorizing her facial cues and speech patterns, observing her strength, noting the way she masks hurt feelings and worries.

She’s strong. Fierce. Yet soft and innocent. So fucking innocent.

“She’s not playing a game,” I grind out.

“I’m starting to wonder if that’s true,” Hades responds, reminding me that he’s intruding on my personal space.

Though, I suppose it isn’t my space , is it?

He owns this palace.

And I’m fairly certain he thinks he owns me, too.

I finally look toward him and find him leaning against my counter, his long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles, his hands in his pockets.

He arches a brow. “Surprised?”

I’m not sure what he’s referring to. Surprised that he’s here? No. Surprised that he’s wondering if what I said is true? “Yes.”

He smirks. “Me, too.”

My palm drops from the wall as I turn to face him fully, my opposite hand still on my dick.

He notices but doesn’t comment. “What do you want, Hades?” I ask him.

“Right now or in general?” he inquires.

“Both,” I say, knowing my answer doesn’t actually matter. He’ll tell me whatever he feels like sharing.

His gaze captures and holds mine. “I want you to respond to my previous questions about my mate because I’m thinking about asking you to kiss her.”

My back stiffens. “Are you going to tell me to fuck her?” I demand, far too aware of his kinky preferences.

He frowns. “I said kiss, not fuck .”

I glare at him. “So you’ll let me kiss her but not fuck her?”

His jaw clenches. “Are you deliberately trying to provoke me, Maliki?”

I huff and return to my shower, done with this conversation. He says something I purposely tune out while I dampen my hair, then I pointedly give him my back as I work on lathering my hair up with shampoo.

His gaze practically burns against my skin when I pick up a soap bar and use it to cleanse myself—all while not looking at him.

Yet I can feel him very much admiring me.

It’s always been this way, his eyes on me with a mild curiosity that is borderline erotic. But really, it’s an evaluation. Like he wants to make sure I’m sexually competent for his uses.

I’ve waited eons for him to do something other than watch .

Not because I want him to touch me or fuck me. That’s not my interest.

No, my desire has always been to share .

I want to feel him inside a woman while I fuck her, to experience his power as we take a female to new heights.

That is my kink.

I like pleasure.

Giving it. Receiving it. Sharing it .

And I know he would be masterful in bed.

So I’ve spent millennia proving to him that I can keep up. That I, too, know how to command a bedroom.

Yet all he’s done is watch . And now he wants to watch some more?

“No,” I tell him after I’m done rinsing off. “No, I will not fuck her for you.” I grab a towel and use it to dry myself off. “If you want me to touch her, then you’ll have to touch her, too.”

“I said kiss ,” he reiterates through his teeth. “I also don’t think she wants me to touch her.”

“And whose fault is that?” I ask him, tired of this circular discussion.

Leaving him, I head for my closet, not caring at all that my hair is still dripping with water.

Naturally, Hades follows. “How are you going to feel when you find out this is all a lie? That Persephone is playing a game and manipulating you?”

I grab a pair of sweats and turn around to face him. “She’s not Persephone. And you can’t punish Sera for the sins of your soulmate.”

His jaw ticks. “Then answer me hypothetically, Maliki. How would you feel if you found out she’s just a deceptive Omega with a penchant for betraying her lover?”

“I imagine I would be pretty furious,” I admit.

“Which is why I’ve supported you in this quest for well over a thousand years.

I may not fully understand your fury, but I respect it, Hades.

And that’s why I’m asking you to hear me when I say that Sera is an innocent being who has been paired with a not-so-innocent soul.

That’s not her fault. So please stop trying to punish her for it. ”

He frowns. “I’m not punishing her.”

I give him a look. “I was just in her room. You covered it in fake greenery. She loves it right now. But I know your intention—you want her to miss life and realize that everything is dead here. Just like your heart.”

Okay, that last sentence was a low blow.

But I’m in a bad fucking mood. My dick is still hard. I have no sexual outlet. And something tells me if I shadow somewhere right now, Hades will just fucking follow me.

“The accommodations are a moot point in this discussion,” he says.

I fold my arms, my skin still somewhat damp. The sweats I’m holding are probably going to get wet.

That’s fine. I’ll just put on another pair.

“Be straight with me, Hades. What are we actually discussing? Because for a God who claims to hate games, it certainly feels like we’re playing one right now.” He’s practically daring me to touch his mate. That’s not only dangerous—it’s asinine.

He’s an Alpha.

I’m a fae. Albeit, a unique one. But I don’t stand a chance against his wrath. He knows this. So why tempt me to fight him?

“Morpheus thinks I should kiss… Serapina.”

My eyebrows lift, not just at what he’s saying, but at his use of the name Serapina . I don’t think I’ve heard him refer to her as anyone other than Persephone.

He runs his fingers through his hair and starts to pace. “His reasoning is unfortunately sound,” he goes on.

“Yes, it’s always unfortunate to have a reason to kiss one’s mate,” I deadpan.

Dark eyes glance at me, irritation evident in their depths.

But he ignores my commentary and continues by saying, “He says if I want proof that the human isn’t in possession of my mate’s memories, then a simple kiss should do. If she reacts like Persephone, then I’ll have proof she’s lying. And if she doesn’t…”

“You’ll finally realize she’s not Persephone,” I finish for him, impressed by Morpheus’s suggestion.

I’ve been trying to get through to Hades for months.

Maybe I should have requested some feedback from Morpheus, since he clearly believes Sera is telling the truth about not remembering anything.

To me, it’s just logical. Sera hasn’t even embraced her inner Omega yet. So how could she remember said Omega’s memories?

Hades’s opinion is that she’s done something to mask her instincts. Or, more likely, her mother did something to hide her inner Omega.

I still think the latter could be true.

But I think it was without Sera’s knowledge.

“Omegas can’t resist an Alpha’s call or his charms,” Hades says, still pacing.

“If I kiss her, I’ll be able to coax out her reactions quite quickly.

And, more importantly, she’ll have a difficult time taming her response.

Which means, in theory, she’ll be too mindless with lust to put on a performance. ”

I nod. “From what you’ve told me about Omegas, that makes sense.” They have a hard time controlling their needs when turned on. Especially when in heat.

Hence the reason Hades was waiting for her to go into estrus—he wanted her mindless so she would be forced to answer questions truthfully.

Of course, he could also try holding her over a death pit—a concept I would have approved a year ago.

But not today.

I would push him in if he tried to do that to Sera.

Him kissing her, though? Yeah, that’s fine with me. Styx, I would even enjoy watching him knot her.

Being cruel to her is where we have a problem.

“The problem is, I don’t think she wants me to kiss her,” Hades says, his steps pausing right in front of me. “So I’m going to ask you again—does my mate want to kiss you?”