Page 9 of Raising Hell
As soon as I said it, though, I was filled with doubt. I never went anywhere to hang out with friends. So there weren’t any pictures like that. At most, there’d be pictures of me as prey, with my head down.
“There are pictures of me at home,” I said quickly.
“No,” Hades said firmly again.
I didn’t press the issue; I simply turned my mind toward thinking of a different way to prove the things I’d explained actually existed.
If I was lucky, at the very least, I would win myself some modern underwear. Who would have ever thought I’d miss a bra? Missing the toilet and the shower was a given. But more than all of that, I missed food. Not that the honey cakes had been bad. Just not very filling.
My stomach gave an audible rumble.
“You hunger. Let me provide for you,” Hades said, straightening away from the bedpost.
“Could we eat with Zotera instead of here?” I asked before a table materialized.
“As you desire,” he said.
In two steps, he closed the distance between us and caught my hand in his. He gave me an almost challenging look that made me want to roll my eyes. Instead, I one-upped him and threaded my fingers through his.
The smugness faded, replaced by a raw need that made my heart skip a beat.
“Try not to make it weird,” I said, looking away from him.
His thumb skimmed over mine, increasing my pulse and heating my cheeks.
“You know how desperately I yearn for your gentle caress,” he said, his husky voice conveying every ounce of need he felt. “I have no wish to feign disregard when I receive it.”
While he desperately yearned, I desperately tried to act as if his touch and words weren’t affecting me.
“I’m not asking you to pretend that you don’t like it,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “But maybe you could tone down howmuchyou like it. The way you look at me makes me nervous. Which makes me want to let go of your hand. So if you want to hold my hand longer, make it a little less like you’re two seconds from pouncing on me.”
When he said nothing, I shifted my gaze just enough to see his face from the corner of my eyes. He was grinning like a fool.
“What about any of this is funny?” I asked, my frustration piercing through the web of desire he’d been carefully weaving around me.
“You say odd things to convince me that a human stands before me rather than the goddess you are; then reveal your true self in your knowledge of me.”
I frowned. “I didn’t say anything about you.”
“I am most assuredly two heartbeats from claiming my due. Consent to our union, and allow me to climb between your clad limbs and—”
I jerked my hand from his and clapped it over his mouth without thinking. I only knew I needed him to stop. Each word from his mouth had rekindled the tingle of desire pulsing through me.
“Stop,” I said. “Just stop. Please. You’re making my brain hurt.”
His tongue brushed over the palm of my hand, and I jerked it away, heart pounding.
“Allow me to soothe you,” Hades said. “I have far better uses for my tongue.”
Images filled my mind, not from personal experience but from things an obnoxious incubus had whispered in my ear while I’d done my best to ignore him. While the acts he’d described had held no appeal to me then, the idea of Hades doing any of that created a short circuit in my thinking.
My breathing grew harsh, and the air around me heated. The need to grab his shoulders and jump up onto him so I could wrap my legs around his waist almost overwhelmed me.
Almost.
“That’s it! I want an amendment to our deal before I throw myself out another window in an attempt to save myself.”
His sultry stare turned to one of rage. The feel of his fingers circling the base of my neck made my eyes go wide. I retreated, and he followed, steering me until my back settled against the post. His hand pressed against my collarbones, pinning me in place as he leaned in, his face inches from mine.
