I wanted to look away. I didn’t want to see her face when she saw the failings of my form. She was perfect, and I was . . . a monster. A proud monster, one who had earned his marks.
But for one as delicate as she . . .
“Oh, Hades.” Reverence echoed in her voice, and I felt the faint touch of her fingertips blaze across my chest.
I looked down. Her hands, so small and delicate compared to the slabs and ridges of muscle, traced the dark tattoos twisted over my skin.
“They don’t bother you?”
Her gaze flicked up to mine, cheeks flushed. “Bother me? You’re shaped like the god you are. I’ve never seen anyone like you.”
She pressed her lips to one, trailing her tongue along the swirls of ink. Hot and wet, I’d never felt anything like it.
I shuddered, a beast desperate to take, devour, conquer. She woke that beast with every touch and kiss, and I found myself loath to put it back in its cage.
Instead, I welcomed it, gripping her hips and pulling her closer, pressing my aching hardness to the soft, warm center of her. Pleasure shot up from my cock, tightening around my throat as star bursts exploded behind my eyes.
“Hades,” Seraphia gasped. She arched against me, pressing closer as her hands ran over my chest and back, testing the muscles there.
Chest heaving, I gripped her hip with one hand and cupped the back of her head with the other. She was still tracing kisses across my chest, but I eased her back, wanting to taste her again.
She raised her mouth to mine, and I took her lips with a groan, unable to stop myself.
17
Seraphia
Hades’ kissed like the world was ending. Like he’d never had something so divine and wasn’t going to waste a bit of it.
Pleasure like I’d never known sang through me as I kissed him back, wanting more of the smoky magic of his touch.
As I licked his lower lip, he stiffened, pulling back. I blinked up at him. Confusion clouded his gaze before his eyes slid shut and he staggered backward, dragging me off the windowsill. He collapsed on the ground, and I followed, landing in a pile on top of him.
“Hades!” I jerked upright.
He lay unconscious on the floor.
Holy fates.
The sleeping potion had finally kicked in.
A hysterical, panicked laugh bubbled up in my chest. Panting, I scrambled upright.
What the hell had I just done?
I’d just had the best kiss of my life with Hades, Lord of the Underworld.
Bad idea. Bad, bad, bad.
I stared at him sprawled at my feet, long limbs splayed wide and his skin gleaming behind the dark tattoos. He was so beautiful that it hurt to look at him. So unexpected.
If I’d thought he’d be some hapless virgin who would let me take control, I’d been sorely mistaken.
I had totally lost the ball there. He’d made me lose my mind. He was a god, even in that.
Then he’d succumbed to the sleeping potion I’d given him. It had hit him as hard as the apothecary had said it would.
Guilt shot through me.
He’d probably hit his head when he’d fallen. And I’d just done that with him and was about to run away from here forever.
Something tugged in my heart, distinctly uncomfortable. I rubbed my chest, trying to get it together. Only part of me wanted to leave. Another part wanted to stay and try—
Try what, exactly?
Bring him to the light?
No. He’d made his choice. As long as Mac needed this cure, I needed to put her first.
There was no telling how long the sleeping potion would work, and this was my one shot.
With trembling hands, I reached for the dagger he kept attached to his belt. The heavy weapon slipped free from its sheath easily and I raised it. Seeing the sharp blade in front of his prone form sent a jolt of horrible power through me.
I could slit his throat right now.
Take out my enemy.
My stomach lurched at the very idea of it.
Where the hell had that thought come from?
The darkness that he said he felt in me?
No. I shoved it back. I wasn’t that person. And it wouldn’t eliminate the threat anyway. He would just regenerate.
The blade shook as I made the tiniest nick in his chest. A bead of blood welled, and I fumbled for the vial in my pocket, pulling out the healing potion that the apothecary had given me. I uncorked it and pressed it to the small wound, letting the drop