“Zerina!” His commanding voice didn’t have her turning around.

“I need to go!” she choked out as she ran out of the library. She almost fled to her bedroom, but she knew Jinx would be waiting for her.

Turning in the other direction, she fled down the hallway, ignoring Tartarus inquiring gaze. She kept going to the doorway that led underground, staying to the path that took her to the pool.

Zerina didn’t stop until she came to the boulder beside the water. Gasping for breath, she tried to calm the emotions that were still pounding from the climax Hades had given her.

Her body was wound so tightly she felt like she would break into a million parts. Feeling hot and restless, she needed to cool off. More importantly, she needed to wash off Hades’ touch, feeling as if he had never let her go.

She stood up from the boulder, looking around and seeing she was alone. She then took off her gown, laying it on the boulder before wading into the water.

Keeping to the shallow side of the pool, she made her way to the waterfall. Using her foot to find the narrow step she had discovered when swimming with Jinx, she found the smooth ledge where she could sit and feel the spray of the waterfall without it hitting her directly.

She sat until the fire from Hades’ touch eased. Then she walked along the ledge until she was directly behind the waterfall. There, she could stand without the full force of the water hitting her, and she could see she was still alone in the cavern.

Water fell, hitting her head and wetting her hair, turning it into a silky mass that reached the curve of her bottom. Raising her hands, she lifted her hair until she could feel the water hitting her naked back.

She was lost in thought as she let the water run down the front of her body, caressing her breasts and running from her flat waistline, to the mound of her pussy, down her legs to puddle at her feet. Then she looked up to see Hades directly across from her, staring.

Meeting her eyes, Hades waved his hand.

Zerina could only stare as he walked naked into the water.

To say his body was magnificent didn’t give it justice. Broad shoulders led down to a powerful chest that tapered down to the defined muscles of his abs. Her inventory of Hades’ body stopped at his rock-hard cock that rose to his waist. Licking her lips, she tasted the water that was coming from above.

He came to a stop when the water came up to his thighs. “You look like a siren standing there.” His voice was so low she could barely hear it, yet there was no mistaking the desire in his eyes. “Gods and humans think I’m dangerous. Zerina, you’re the dangerous one. I can’t get your taste out of my mind. That’s twice you’ve lured me in and left me wanting more.”

“I didn’t lure you in—”

“Yes, you did, with every glance or word you have. It may not have been deliberate, but you have. I can prove it to you. Call for me, Zerina. I’m not going to touch you again until I know it’s what you want. Call to me.”

“No.” Zerina stood behind the waterfall as if it was made of steel instead of insubstantial water.

He brought his hand to his cock, stroking it unashamedly as he watched her reaction. She felt her nipples tauten as her breath escalated.

“Call me, Zerina.” The low timbre of his voice tugged at the muscles in her pussy, sending them strumming in need. “When you call me, do you want to know what I’m going to do to you?”

Fascinated, she watched Hades stroke his cock, the tip growing an angry purple color, his eyes fixated between her thighs. She felt an invisible hand glide up her thigh, cupping her firmly.

“That isn’t fair.”

“You’ve played chess with me; you know I don’t play fair.”

“I am of the light …” she began.

“And I am of the dark. That doesn’t mean we can’t fuck,” he mocked.

“It means I will get my heart broken.” Her eyes pleaded with him. “Your relationship with Persephone—”

“Our relationship ended not because she craved the light. It ended because she was a slut.”

Zerina turned her eyes away from his angry ones. He still loved his ex-wife. She knew she was right when his next words doused the fire in her loins.

“I’m not offering you a relationship, Zerina. I won’t be at the mercy of another woman who is from the light or dark. I’m too old to play those type of games anymore. You offered me your hand in friendship; who would make a better lover than a friend?”

His words were tempting, her virginity wasn’t the prize she clung to. What she did cling to was her untouched heart.

When she finally found the immortal she wanted to spend eternity with, she wanted to offer a heart that wasn’t affected by past lovers. She wanted to discover that joy that would be her happily ever after.

When she licked her lips again, she tasted the salty tears that were being washed by the waterfall.

Resignedly, she stared at him. It was too late. Whoever she found when Hades was finished wouldn’t be her first love. He had already stolen her heart. The only thing left to decide was if he was going to have her body, too.

“Hades,” she whispered.

Hades answered her call by swimming out to her, raising his arms out to her.

She remained unmoving, indecision tearing her apart.

“Zerina, come to me.” Hades’ desire-filled expression was a lure she didn’t want to resist any longer.

She jumped into his arms, feeling him surround her tightly, as if she would try to slip away. His cock against her belly had her gasping.

She stared at him timidly, raising her lips to his, ready to give him her body and soul. Finally yielding, Zerina then wound her arms around Hades’ thick neck.

His eyes glittered down with triumph. He bent his head to take the lips she was offering.

“Is it me, or is the water hotter than it usual?” Jinx shouted as she jumped off the boulder, splashing her and Hades.

Zerina jerked out of Hades’ arms when she saw the fairy who started swimming as if they hadn’t been about to kiss before her interruption.

Embarrassed, she gave a small laugh. “I thought so, too.”

“Evidently, it’s not hot enough.” Hades stared down at her with a questioning brow.

Zerina knew what he was silently asking.

Swimming back to him, she put her hands on his shoulders, trying to push him under the water.

“What are you doing?”

“I was trying to dunk you.” She laughed, shaking her head.

“Like this?” Before she could react, Hades had pushed her under the clear depths of the underground pool.

Zerina kicked out, rising to the surface and gasping for air.

“It would have been funnier if I had done it, but yes, that was what I wanted to do.”

Amusement lightened his features, replacing the thwarted desire that had appeared on his face when Jinx had interrupted them.

“You want to try again?”

“No, you’re ready for it. I have a sneak attack planned when you least expect it.”

“If you’re warning me, it’s not a sneak attack.”

“It doesn’t have to be today, does it?” Her eyes met his meaningfully.

Hades sighed. “No, it doesn’t have to be today. You can dunk me another time.”

Zerina giggled, wrapping her arm around his waist to give him a tight hug.

He went to wrap his arms around her, but before he could, she slipped to his side, then behind his back, winding her arms around his shoulders to lift herself up.

“Got you!” she whispered flirtatiously in his ear.

Hades laughed, but she only had a second to enjoy the sight before Hades went limp, dunking them both.

She came up, determined to dunk the slippery god. When they dunked Jinx instead, they laughed uproariously when her hair got wet. Her powers wouldn’t come back until it dried.

“He did it!” Zerina pointed at Hades when Jinx turned her wrath-filled gaze on her.

Hades’ eyes widened. “You’re blaming me?”

“You’re bigger, and Jinx won’t pay you back. Too bad,” she corrected herself, seeing Jinx swimming around them, circling like a shark.

When fairies got mad, they were unpredictable. That Jinx was half-magical and half-fairy made her a dangerous combination.

Zerina swam up behind Hades, half-laughing and half-serious. “Protect me!” she screeched when Jinx made her move, disappearing under the water. The next second, Hades disappeared also.

She turned around, looking for them and giving a sigh when they reappeared. Jinx had done what she had wanted to and had dunked Hades.

Zerina’s laughter filled the cavern as Jinx swam to the boulder to climb out.

“I’m king of the mountain!” she yelled out, the shout echoing around the cavern.

Hades swam back to Zerina as Jinx danced a jig on the boulder. “That fairy’s a pain in my ass.”

“It could be worse.”

“How?”

“She could have brought her cat.”