"Persephone, wait!" I hear Hades yell to my turned back. I pause. "Persephone, please come here." I can hear the pleading in his voice. He also sounds anxious. Does he have reason to be anxious? I turn around and look at him. His eyes are pleading with me not to walk away. I look from him to Minthe, and then give him a pointed look. I want her gone. Luckily, he gets the hint. "Minthe, could you please give us some privacy," he asks politely. Personally, I wouldn't have been polite. I would've used my boot to kick her right out of here. The smug look she adopted after her sneer turns shocked, her she whips her head from me to Hades. I hate her looking at him. I hate that she was ever with him. "But - " she starts, but Hades cuts her off. "Out, now," he roars, clearly on the brink of losing his temper. He points to the door, dismissing her. Part of me feels smug that she's being dismissed so quickly, but I'm also very angry and confused about what I just witnessed. She gives him her best pleading eyes, but he doesn't even look at her. Squaring her shoulders, she tries to leave with as much dignity as she can. As she passes me at the door, she sneers at me again and whispers lowly enough the only I can hear, "He always comes back to me." Her words are meant to hurt me, I know that. But I can't help the stab of jealousy that pierces through me. Instead of playing into this game like she wants, I pretend as though I didn't hear her and continue looking at Hades. His eyes are smoldering as he holds my gaze. The door clicks behind me, and we're alone. We continue staring at each other, neither of us willing to break the silence. He steps around his desk and walks towards me. I don't move a muscle. "You chose to come spend time with me," he says hopefully. "I came to ask you a question," I correct him. "I didn't expect to walk into your ex-girlfriend assistant seducing you." I don't try to hide the bitterness on my tongue as I lash out at him. "Trying to seduce me. She thinks she still has a chance with me, but my heart has already been stolen. By you, Persephone. You don't need to worry about her, I assure you. I want nothing to do with her outside of work." His tone rings sincere, and I know he's telling the truth. "Have you told her that?" The big question. Sure, he doesn't want her, but if he hasn't told her that, then he's encouraging her advances. "I have, many times. In fact, that's exactly what I was saying to her right before you walked in. I even told her that you told me you love me, and that I feel the same. That's when she walked around my desk and sat down, and that's when you walked in." Again, his words ring true. He reaches for me, and I don't pull away from him. "Persephone, I promise you, you have nothing to be afraid of. You're the only one I want." I breathe a sigh of relief and allow my head to rest on his chest. I trust him. The man I've come to know would never hurt me like that. He's too honorable, and much too sweet to ever be able to cheat. "I believe you," I assure him. I feel him let out the breath he was holding. "I'm sorry I got jealous. I shouldn't have questioned you." "Actually, I quite like you jealous," he teases me. "It lets me know you want me, all to yourself." He pulls away slightly to look at me. I look up to meet his gaze, and he surprises me with a gentle kiss on my forehead. "Now that that's settled, you said you came here to ask me something." Just like that, I remember my earlier irritation and I remove myself from his embrace. A look of hurt crosses his face at my departure. "What am I dressed in, Hades?" He looks at me quizzically before responding. "Clothes?" He answers as though it's a trick question. "Yes, clothes. My clothes. How am I wearing my clothes, Hades? I came here with nothing." My irritation is leaking into my voice. He raises his eyebrows in amusement once more, and chuckles. "I'm a god, Pers. Did you forget that? I have lots of powers. One of then being that I can snap things into existence. Things like your whole wardrobe into the closet. Or your whole wardrobe back into your cottage if you would like to go back." His amused look fades at the end of his sentence, and suddenly he looks sad. "You're right, I didn't know you could do that," I acquiesced. "Thank you for thinking of me in that way. Hades, what's wrong?" "It's just," he pauses, trying to collect his thoughts. He drops his shoulders and looks away from me. "I realize I told you last night that you didn't have to stay here if you didn't want to. And while I want to give you that decision, I also want to do everything in my power to keep you here. And I could, very easily. But I won't, because that wouldn't be fair to you." He's looks bothered by this, as though he's never had to take another person's feelings into consideration and he doesn't know what to do about this new development. I pretend as if I'm thinking this over. "I suppose I should go back, and face my mother. Things will be more difficult for us, she'll keep a very close eye on me. She'll make sure I never leave the house unless I with someone who won't allow me to see you. And she'll probably intercept our correspondence, too. But, it would be the right thing to do, right?" His face turns white, as if he's seen a ghost. Though, I suppose mine doesn't look much better. I meant it only as a joke to scare him, but I realize mother would most likely do all of those things. To his credit, Hades doesn't argue with me. "If that's truly what you want, we'll make it work. She can't keep us apart forever, especially since I'm more powerful." There's pride in his tone at this declaration. His words fill my heart with joy, knowing nothing, not even my own mother, could ever succeed in separating us. I make him meet my eye. "Hades, I want to stay here. I want to stay with you," I tell him assuredly. He looks shocked, as if this is the last thing he expected me to say. "I don't know about the Underworld," I tell him truthfully, "but I don't want to go home to my mother, who will try to control everything about me. And I do know that last night was the best night of my life, and I want nothing more than to spend every night curled in your arms."
“Well, then, in that case, I must try to sell you on the Underworld. We’ll start with my office,” he says as he sweeps his arm to encase the room. His office is almost as large as his bedroom. There’s a large, oak desk in the middle and a very comfortable black chair behind it. There’s a lamp off to the left side, presumably for when he’s here late, and a lot of papers and files scattered along the top. I itch to sit and organize all of it, and quickly look away so I don’t give in. Off to my right, the whole wall is occupied by books. Since we didn’t go into the library last night, it’s the biggest collection of books I’ve ever seen, and I know I’ll spend a lot of time in here with him, reading while he is working. There is a large black leather sofa to my left, big enough to fit at least five people. I might end up taking some naps on that. I’ll have to request that it be decorated with some throw blankets and pillows. That will add some splashes of color to it, too. Scattered around the room are many plain, silver filing cabinets.
In my perusal of the room, I also take a moment to appraise Hades. His hair is more relaxed than I’m used to seeing it, with a few dark strands falling along his forehead. My fingers itch to push them back. He’s wearing a black button down shirt with a few buttons undone, enough to see some of his chest hair poking out. He’s also wearing black slacks and black shoes. I wish I could snap my fingers and have things appear, because I would love to change him into a white shirt, just to see how he would look in it. As he is now, he looks mouth wateringly gorgeous. “Well, what do you think?” he asks shyly. I know he spends most of his time in here, and wants me to like it.
“I think that couch is going to need some colorful pillows and blankets. Maybe some blues and greens to pop against the black? A side table would also be wonderful, so I could set a drink on it while I’m reading. Maybe a foot stool while we’re at it. Oh, and I think you would look charming in a white shirt.” I smirk at this last comment, mentally patting myself on the back for throwing that in there so smoothly.
“Is that so?” he smirks back at me. “Well, the changes around the couch can certainly be arranged. I would do whatever it takes to ensure your comfort while you are in here. As for the white shirt, your wish is my command, but I do think black suits me best.”
“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?” I ask boldly as I step closer to him and run my finger through the little bit of visible chest hair poking out of his shirt. He grabs my hand and captures it against his chest, holding it steady so I can feel the rise and fall as he breathes.
In the blink of an eye, the black in his shirt fades to white. It’s such a sudden contrast, and something I’m so unused to after only ever seeing him in black, my mouth gapes open. He chuckles in amusement at my reaction. I assess him in this new color, and though it’s still a boring color, he goes from looking like a bad boy that will no doubt break every girl’s heart, to looking like he’s an important, but still sexy, CEO of some ridiculously large company. It’s a change I very much approve of. But instead of saying that, what comes out of my mouth is, “Can you try pink next?”
He barks out a nervous laugh, thinking I’m serious. “Absolutely not,” he says, and immediately he changes his shirt back to black. I smile up at him to let him know I was only kidding.
“Personally, I think white is a very good color for you. Makes you look like you just spent the day making an honest living and are ready to go home to your wife and share a dinner table with her.” I smile at the picture in my head of Hades entering a house, putting his briefcase next to his shoes, and yelling, “Honey, I’m home!”
“Oh?” he questions. “And what does black make me look like?”
“Like you’re going to steal the virtue of any woman that walks by you,” I whisper shyly. The truth is, that’s exactly what I want from him right now. Having him confirm that I’m his, his anxiety over whether I’ll like his office, and his quick outfit changes that made him into two completely different people all send a shock straight to the center of my being, which immediately makes me think of being in bed with him this morning.
“Oh, darling,” he says alluringly, “there would be no stealing. It would be given to be, willingly, no doubt with some begging for me to take it.” He reels me in a places his hand on the small of his back. “And despite what my clothes may say to you, it most certainly would not be with any woman that walks by me. There’s only one woman I want begging me for that.”
Suddenly, his lips are on mine in a sloppy, passionate kiss we’ve both been anticipating. His movements are desperate at first, trying to assure himself that this moment is real, and I answer him with equal desperation. His hand skims down my lower back and lands on my backside with a slight squeeze. I gasp in shock, and he takes full advantage of my opened mouth by sliding his tongue in. He tastes of coffee and bacon, two of my guilty pleasures. I take control, pushing my tongue into his mouth, wanting to taste more of him. As his taste registers on my tongue, I moan into his open mouth.
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