from the first moment I saw you, this was different.”
“You thought I was a nymph,” she corrected. But at least she looked up into his eyes this time.
“I never thought you were a nymph.” Hades paused at her knowing stare, then relented. “All right, maybe I did. But I knew that you weren’t like the others. You have a power in you that no one could deny. A blinding light that I once thought was equal to the sun, but now I know it is all the stars in the sky.”
Her cheeks burned bright red. So at least he knew he was getting somewhere with the compliments. Hades leaned a little closer, hesitant to frighten her but also desiring nothing more than to press his lips to hers and be reassured that she wasn’t going anywhere.
“How did you know?” she whispered, her breath fanning across his lips.
“Know what?”
“That I was different?”
Hades clenched his fingers in the fabric of her himation, drawing her tight against him once again. “Because the thought of you consumes me.”
He refused to wait any longer. Hades kissed her as if he were a drowning man and she the only haven he could find. He devoured her, almost in punishment for the way she had taken over all his thoughts.
He wanted to bruise her lips. To leave a mark so no one would ever think she belonged to anyone but him.
He wanted to brand her with the taste and feel of his tongue so she would never leave his side.
Perhaps that made him a selfish bastard. But he couldn’t bring himself to care.
Finally, he withdrew to let them both breathe. Hades pressed his forehead against hers and breathed out a sigh of relief. “I’ve been wanting to do that since you got home.”
She chuckled. “I was wondering why you weren’t doing that and was certain I had failed you in some aspect.”
“No,” he replied vehemently. “You’ve been perfect and lovely. I didn’t want to rush you.”
“You weren’t waiting because I’m...” She stumbled on the words, pausing for long heartbeats before she finished in one giant rush of breath. “Because I’m just a child and you weren’t sure if you wanted a wife like me?”
“Oh my wife, I have failed you in so many ways.” He shook his head. “It has never been that, nor has that thought ever crossed my mind. You are the only one I want. The only one.”
She snuggled into his embrace, but he worried this was far from over.
Chapter 26
Things were a little better after their conversation, or at least, Kore thought they were. She knew where his head was at now, and that was a good first start. It put her mind at ease to know that the King of the Underworld wasn’t in this relationship just because he wanted a little entertainment. He actually enjoyed being around her.
But Hades had work to do. After all, he was still a king.
Their excursions out into the Underworld and the mortal afterlife grew less and less. Two weeks passed with minimal visits and quiet interludes that included kissing but very little of anything else.
Kore told herself it was enough. She could enjoy his company and the calming effect he had on her soul. And when he was gone, she would snuggle up to Cerberus at night and replay every moment over and over again in her head.
It didn’t help.
She blew out a breath and checked herself over in the mirror. They were supposed to go to their very first official dinner tonight, as husband and wife. The other gods would be there. At least the ones who lived in the Underworld. She assumed a few of the servants would join them.
She could only hope no one would be there who thought she was just a child. The thought of hearing yet another inhabitant of the Underworld speaking ill of their queen set her teeth on edge.
Hades had sent her the perfect outfit. The himation was the finest mesh she’d ever seen, black but completely see through. Tiny diamonds had been sewn throughout, so it looked like a swath of the night sky. Underneath, her dark peplos was the deepest red any dye maker could create. Darker than blood, and perhaps even darker than wine.
She’d coiled her hair atop her head, ringlets falling down around her face in bouncing tendrils. Kohl ringed her eyes, and she’d painted her lips a dark red to match the peplos. She didn’t look like a child anymore; she knew