Page 21 of Taming Winter

The world stopped on its axis. Hades’s fingers trembled at her sides, and her fire stuttered and sparked. Her burning emerald eyes welled at the corners. "What did you just say?"

"I said I'm sorry, my goddess. Whatever excuses I have don't matter, because I hurt you, and for that I am sorry. Can you please, after all we have endured, forgive me and give me the chance to do right by you?"

She let out a shuddering breath. Her eyes were still wide, her expression slack and unsure. It was an eternity before she stepped toward me. The click of her heels against the cold floor vibrated through my core. When she was close enough that the neat stretch of fabric around her waist filled my vision, she dropped to her knees as well. "No one has ever apologized to me."

"I am honored to be the first," I said with a gentle smile. "And I will be honored to tear repentance from your enemies' throats for you."

Her eyes glistened in the flickering purple cast of her flames, her expression somewhere between shock and reverence. She leaned in as though she intended to touch her lips to mine, but she stopped short. Her hand came to caress my cheek. "I am sorry, too." She paused and gulped. "Why would you want to stay beside me?"

I thought about it for a moment. My eyes caressed her face and body as my mind worked, though I hardly saw her beautiful form. It wasn’t a loaded question—for once, she wasn't playing a game of chess with her tongue. It was a challenge to respond to that vulnerability.

She had given me honesty, and I strove to give it in return. So, I allowed my deepest truth to leave my body. "Because I’m curious about you and what we can become. The Hydras raised me to be a mindless soldier, yet I have found my mind twisting into knots to figure you out, and why I’m so fucking drawn to you despite how you torment me."

Hades nodded. Though resolve etched her features, her fingers trembled on my cheek. She leaned back to create an icy space between us that pulled tight against my chest. A familiar, worn piece of paper appeared in her outstretched palm.

I winced at the parchment that held the deed to my soul. The paper weighed down the air around me and caused my breath to shorten. Its presence felt like claws raking over my heart and spiders crawling over my skin. I was ready to ask her why the hell she would show it to me when ultraviolet flames viciously devoured it.

As the last scrap of parchment left her palm as a glowing ember, I gasped a ragged breath. A parasite had been torn from my body, freeing but shockingly painful. I clawed at my hollow chest as though I could clutch my now-adrift soul, but it didn't save me from the feeling of free fall.

She leaned in until I felt the heat of her fire as though it were my own. "You're free now, Thane. Don't make me regret this."

CHAPTER 20

HADES

I was a fool, and I knew it the moment that paper went up in smoke. My life was a series of barreling into mistakes over and over, ruining my life for men with silver tongues. I wanted to hate him for swaying me to such idiocy. Instead, I drew closer like a moth to a light. Though my heart pounded in my chest and my mind twisted with panic, I couldn't help but wonder with morbid curiosity if he would hurt me too.

All my fears became irrelevant when his eyes widened, and a smile spread across his face. The expression was as refreshing as a crisp winter’s morning. My mouth parted, though I wasn't sure what to say in the light of his joy. Though he rescued me from having to respond when his lips crashed into mine.

It began as a tender searching, as though he wanted to share his excitement with me through physical contact. His hands traced the lines of my thigh until he found the slit in my gown and trailed over my hip. My body heated despite his icy touch that sent rapidly melting frost dancing over my skin. It may have been my doing, but I loved that he basked in my heat.

Just as the thought crossed my mind, he picked up the pace like my tongue was his salvation. We crashed together in a bruising dance of bursting tension and lust. My fingers dug into his arms until I was certain I drew blood. He moaned against my mouth and ground into me, revealing just how happy he was.

Our lips broke apart, and the span of air between us filled with our heady panting. His lips trailed my jawline in a line of frostbitten jolts that left goosebumps along my flesh until he reached the shell of my ear. "Let me show you how grateful I am," he purred.

He didn't wait for a response, to which I nearly reminded him I was still in charge. That was until I realized how he planned to show me his gratitude. He trailed a line of kisses down my front, pausing between my breasts. The pull of his smile tickled my puckered flesh and made me writhe beneath him. Then he continued, torturing me the entire way, until he found himself between my thighs.

In one smooth motion, he hiked my gown over my hips, leaving me utterly exposed to him. The chill of his breath tickled my exposed center and made me moan. He was teasing me—trying to drag out my anticipation until I begged for him. I couldn't be sure if it was a power play or if he simply longed for the sound of my moans, but I wasn't one to beg.

I grabbed his hair in a vise grip and pushed him exactly where I wanted him. "Be a good boy and devour me," I groaned.

A moan tore from his lips at the command. He didn't resist this time; instead, he dove between my thighs and licked me up like a man starved. His chilled tongue across my clit ripped a ragged moan from me. I rode his face without regard for his comfort, and based on his moans, he was loving every second.

His tongue swirled around my entrance, then he dove in. His tongue lit every one of my nerve endings on fire until those flames became real and coated my flesh. He didn't so much as flinch at the purple torrent. In fact, he worked two fingers into me. His mouth moved to my clit, and my body shuddered with each twitch of his tongue.

It was everything, making the chaos and stress of the world dissipate with every pump of his fingers. I wanted to give in to that pleasure entirely, despite knowing better. This man had convinced me to give up my only bartering chip, now he was making a mess of me on the floor of my armory as though I was a fiddle to be played.

The blue glow of his gaze found me over the fabric of my gown and practically froze me solid. He furrowed his brows, and his shoulders tightened. "Where has your mind gone, my fiery goddess?" His tongue slithered up my center between his words, sending pleasure through me like a bolt of lightning.

"I shouldn't trust you," I ground out.

He chuckled and let out a thoughtful hum, the sound vibrating over my clit. I resented the loss of his mouth and the pause of his fingers. My body writhed in a desperate dance for his attention, though I needed anything but. A smirk spread across his lips at my efforts. "You absolutely shouldn't. You are far too smart for that, but isn't it fun to see where this goes?"

I wanted to argue. Rationale told me I was making a mistake exposing myself to him. Except when his mouth found my clit, and he steadily pumped into me once more, I lost any sense of reason that remained. My head dropped against the obsidian, and my body writhed in rhythm with his movements.

He groaned at my tightening pussy, and the sound unraveled me. My grip shuddered in his curls, and I loosed a pathetic moan more animal than human. I bounced against his face as I rode the waves of my orgasm, and he gave in to my violent movements until I was spent.

My pleasure glistened across his mouth in the purple light as he crawled over me. He licked his lips and let out a satisfied groan. His eyes rolled at the taste. "You are delicious."