“You look lovely,” he said.
“Thank you,” she said, a flush creeping over her cheeks. “So do you. I mean…you look handsome.”
He chuckled at her nervousness, though he couldn’t deny he felt the same, and it gave him some comfort that even after everything they had been through, they could still feel this sort of flustered excitement.
“Shall we?” He offered his hand and she accepted, allowing him to pull her close and teleport to the surface, where Antoni waited for them outside Nevernight.
The cyclops smiled when he saw them and opened the door to the limo.
“My lord, my lady,” he said. “Looking divine this evening.”
“Thank you, Antoni,” Persephone said and laughed as she climbed into the back seat.
Hades followed close, inhaling her sweet scent. “And what is so amusing?”
“You know we could just teleport to the Olympian.”
“I thought you wanted to live a mortal existence when in the Upperworld,” Hades said, though to be fair, it had been a while since she’d said anything like that, which made him think she had grown more and more content with the balance of her life.
“Perhaps I am only eager to begin our night together,” she said, and there was a sensual edge to her voice that sent Hades’s blood rushing to his head—both of them.
He raised a brow. “Why wait?”
She shifted, bunching her ridiculous skirt into her hands so she could straddle him, but even as she sank against him, he could barely feel her for all the layers.
“Who chose this dress?” Hades growled as his hands sought her skin.
“You don’t like it?”
Like wasn’t the word he would use.
“I’d really rather have access to your body,” he answered as his palms finally skimmed her bare thighs.
“Are you asking me to dress for sex?”
He smiled and leaned close as he whispered, “It will be our secret.”
He kissed her, and his hands shifted upward toward the apex of her thighs, while hers skimmed down his chest to the button of his trousers.
“Persephone,” he breathed as she freed his sex and took him into her hand. Her palm was warm, and she kept her thumb at his crown, rubbing circles over the come that beaded there.
“I need you,” he growled. “Now.”
He thought she might resist, drag this out until he was feverish and desperate, but she seemed to feel the same because she mounted him, sliding on with a groan that rocked each of their bodies.
“You have ruined me,” Hades said, holding on to her hips, fingers digging into her skin and the gods-damned fabric of her billowing dress. “This is all I ever think about.”
“Sex?” she asked, breathless. She alternated between sliding up and down his shaft and grinding against him. It made his head spin, and he wanted to fuck her harder.
“You,” he said between his teeth. “Being inside you, the feel of you gripping my cock, the way you tighten around me just before you come.”
“You just described sex, Hades.”
He laughed, though he panted too. “I described sex with you. There is a difference.”
They lost themselves at some point, and they came together viciously, kissing and thrusting, and there was nothing to hold on to but each other.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Hades said, and he sought her clit, touching her there until she came apart, and though she had come, she still moved for him, whispering erotic things until his release exploded inside her. In the aftermath, Persephone collapsed against him, and his body sagged with exhaustion and pleasure.
He tangled his hand into her hair and kissed her face, groaning. “Fuck me. I’m like a fucking teenager.”
“Do you even know what it’s like to be a teenager?”
“No,” he said truthfully. He had been swallowed as a baby and born an adult. “But I imagine they are always horny and never quite sated.”
He could take her again if she’d let him.
“Perhaps I can help.” She shimmied off his lap to the floor and wrapped her hand around his cock before he stopped her, hands on her face.
“No, darling.”
“But—” she protested.
“Trust that there is nothing I would love more than for you to go down on me, but for now, we must attend this gods-forsaken dinner.”
“Must we?” she asked, a pretty pout to her mouth that made him want this even more, but they were nearing the hotel where the gala would take place, and this event…it was important.
“Yes. Trust me, you will not want to miss it.”
She held his gaze for a moment, and her hand slipped up and down his cock in defiance, though eventually she rose to sit beside him, and they restored their appearances, which was easier said than done, especially because Persephone kept her eyes on his cock.
“Goddess,” he warned.
She offered a sheepish smile before her attention turned to the window, and he noted how she stiffened at the sight of the crowd that had gathered outside. Though they were still a few miles from the hotel, the sidewalks were packed with people hoping to catch a glimpse of divinity. He reached for her hand, offering a reassuring squeeze. He did not blame her for being nervous at the sight of so many people—so many strangers—and when the limo stopped and the door opened to a blinding wall of flashing lights, he felt her anxiety spike even more.
He exited the car and turned to her, reaching for her hand. He would not let her go through this alone.
“Darling?”
She latched onto his fingers and allowed him to help her from the car, and together they walked down a red carpet that led to the front of the Olympian Grand Hotel. As they walked, people shouted their names and demanded pictures, even reached across the barriers erected on either side of the walkway in hopes that they might brush their skin.
Hades kept Persephone close, and when the carpet widened and gave them more distance from the crowd, they both felt at ease.
“Zofie!” Persephone cried, and Hades turned his attention to the Amazon who approached, looking very uncomfortable in her blue gown and with the hug Persephone pulled her in to. Hades had requested Zofie join them tonight, both as Persephone’s aegis and her friend.
“Persephone, are you well?” she asked, frowning a little, perhaps confused by Persephone’s excitement. The Amazon was not used to being valued beyond her skills as a warrior, so it was likely she did not understand what friendship really meant.