Chapter 18

Hades

It’d been a month since I’d seen or held Thalassa last. I’d hoped in vain that she would come to me at some point. Every night I visited the Lethe, speaking my truth to it. Imagining that somehow she was listening, that she heard me.

But not once had she replied.

Tonight was the final time I’d return to these shores. I stared at the sparkling waters under the midnight moon, remembering the moments we’d spent together, the two weeks that’d felt like both an eternity and no time at all, and shook my head.

“I miss you, Thalassa, each day, each night. My realm feels empty without you in it. I cannot fault you for remaining where you are. How could I, when I am forced to do the same?”

I closed my eyes as a gentle breeze rolled through, bringing with it the scent of roses, a flower I would now and forevermore associate with my goddess. I’d eaten the seeds and so had she. We’d pledged our souls—one to the other. I was bound to her eternally, but I ached, ached for what we couldn’t have again.

“You idiot.”

My eyes snapped open, and I gazed on in open-mouthed wonder as Thalassa walked across the water toward me. She wore a gown of sheer amethyst that sparkled like its namesake. Her soft green hair was piled high on her head, and twined through it was a riot of sea rose buds.

“So quick to give up on me? I see how it is.” She flicked at my shoulder when she finally stepped foot on land.

Grunting incoherently, I snatched her up, wrapping her in my arms, pretty sure I would never release her again.

“Oomph,” she hissed, banging on my chest, “Death Boy, can’t breathe.”

I eased my hold a little. A very little.

Just enough so she could worm her arms up and frame my face. Her touch moved through my body like liquid, burning me up from the inside with a crazed sort of fever.

“Thalassa, how, I thought—”

Rubbing noses with me, she laughed, and I swear the Elysian night sang with the sound of it. From the corner of my eye, I caught sight of ghostly faces peeking out from behind the thick trunks of trees, staring at me in wonder.

I’d always been known as the broody god. To hear my laughter now must have terrified them.

“Did you think I put out those seeds for nothing, dill bag? I meant what I said when I ate them. You’re mine, and I’m yours, and yada yada yada. Six months out of the year, we swap back and forth, every night. I had time to think about this, Bubble Butt, and we can still run our kingdoms and keep our nights to ourselves. I mean, honestly, what could possibly go wrong at bedtime?”

I lifted a brow. In our world, everything could go wrong.

“Okay, okay.” She wagged her hand. “Forget that. So the world could come crashing down around our feet. Big deal. We’ll rebuild, start over. We’ll do whatever we need to do, but I can’t do this separation thing anymore. I’m not built for this. Do you know how many times I’ve had to pleasure myself—”

I growled. “No one may pleasure you but me. Not even your own hands are allowed down there unless I am present.”

She giggled, wiggling her lower body on my painful hardness. “Yes, Master.”

Groaning, I ran my hands over her bare back, ready to tear this flimsy fabric off her gorgeous body and have my way with her.

“Hades, guess what,” she squealed, eyes shining with what looked suspiciously like tears.

I paused in my exploration of her. “What?”

“We’re grandparents! Oh, you have to meet my little darlings, Uriah and Fable, they’re so precious and adorable and have my eyes and my hair and my little nose and—”

“Are you sure you did not birth them yourself, my love?”

She snorted. “Don’t be silly. But tomorrow, you shall come to meet them.”

“And tonight?” I asked with heat filling my words.

Her smile was pure wickedness as she said, “Tonight I brought carrots.”