Page 91 of Hell On Earth
“Then feast.”
He made a tormented noise, and his shape surged again as he carried me toward the bed. His shirt ripped down his back and over his shoulders. My feet couldn’t stay hooked around his waist, but I didn’t care. I loved Hades in either form.
Looping my arms around his thick neck, I used my teeth and tongue on his red skin.
“She tempts me,” he said on an exhale.
“She does,” I agreed. “Get rid of these clothes, and I’ll tempt you some more.”
He started to shake. Then so did the walls.
I pulled back and looked at his closed eyes and tormented expression.
“Hey,” I said softly. “It’s okay. We’re okay.”
“Not like this,” he said raggedly. “Never like this.”
I stroked his cheek as he wrestled with whatever demon from his past that currently tormented him.
“I’m here with you,” I said softly. “And I’m not going anywhere. Talk to me. We’ll get through whatever this is together, okay?”
He groaned again and set his forehead to mine. Slowly, he began to shrink.
“It’s too dangerous when you show your need for me,” he said. “I have no control.”
“You seemed pretty controlled to me, just now. Well, minus that little tremor.”
He made another pained sound.
“Forgive me.”
“There’s nothing to forgive.”
“You don’t understand,” he said, lifting his head.
I studied his expression, trying to decipher what he meant.
“Then tell me.”
“When you show your need for me, I can think of little else but sheathing myself in your glory and finding my pleasure.”
I shrugged a little. “I’m pretty sure it’s not unusual for men to start thinking like that when making out.”
“Men,” he said. “Not a god. If I forget and lose control while I’m inside of you, you will bleed. You won’t be Ashlyn. You will beher.”
Understanding hit me hard. Hades was big as he was now. I couldn’t imagine when he shifted into his devil form. If he did that while inside of me…
I slowly untangled my legs from his waist, and he let me down, watching me warily.
“You’re right. I could get hurt. I’m glad you were with it enough to think of that and let things cool down. But that shows control, Hades, not a lack of it. Have some faith in yourself. I know you’re not going to hurt me.”
He gave an angry laugh, and I caught his face in my hands.
“Hey, the past is in the past, and it can’t change. All you can do is learn from it and move forward. You learned from what happened with Persephone, and you won’t make that mistake again. I know it.”
He let me pull him down for another kiss. It was sweet and gentle and coaxing. He didn’t stand a chance.
“Clothes off,” I said.
