Goddess of Spring (23 page)

Fantasies . . . charmed like a cobra, Lina stared at the god. Fantasies . . . she felt an ache deep within her body. It had been so long. Her thoughts flew free. If only Hades would stroke her with the same intensity with which he was working metal against metal. He looked so incredibly powerful. Lina shivered and imagined hot, sweaty flesh against hot, sweaty flesh. If only . . .

When she was younger Lina had dreamed about being passionate and unrestrained in bed; she had longed for it. Instead of finding a partner who matched her desires, she had married a man who thought quantity in bed equated to quality. So they “did it” a lot, quickly, and with boring regularity. Her husband didn't have the imagination or the inclination to experiment with passion. At some point in her marriage Lina's fantasies had died in a bed of boredom, and by that time she had hardly noticed their passing. Of course she had had lovers before and after her husband, not many—but enough. Long ago she had resigned herself to the fact that she seemed only to attract men who were more cerebral than sensuous. Her love life had been a bust.

So it was with unexpected intensity that Hades' body resurrected her youthful fantasies.

Not realizing he was being watched, Hades wiped his dripping face with the back of one hand and straightened, stretching his back to first flex and then release his massive shoulders.

A little aching sound slipped from Lina's throat.

His head snapped around, and he saw her. She was standing near the doorway with a peculiar look on her beautiful face. Pleasure flushed his already heated body; she was wearing his narcissus in her hair.

Lina licked her lips and cleared her throat. “Um, I didn't mean to disturb you.”

“You haven't.” He set aside the tongs and wiped his hands on a piece of cloth. Her voice sounded odd, like she was having trouble breathing. Perhaps the return ride from the World of the Living had taxed her strength. Concerned and wishing to put her at ease, he made a welcoming gesture with his hand. “Please, come in.”

Lina walked toward him, trying to keep from staring at his chest. His bronzed skin was slick and inviting. Muscles . . . she wanted to moan with pleasure and run her hands up and down his sweaty torso.
Act your age!
she mentally scolded herself.

“I wanted to thank you for sending Orion after me.”

She seemed breathless and maybe even a little jittery, which he found strange. What was bothering the goddess? “He was happy to be of service to you.”

Lina's hormones shouted that they wished Hades would
service
her, but her voice was better behaved. “If you wouldn't mind, I would love to ride Orion again.”

“I would not mind.” Hades hesitated.
Keep talking, don't stand there like a mute fool,
his mind commanded. “I am quite sure that Orion would be pleased. Of course, there are three other steeds who will be clamoring jealously for your attention, too,” he said, wiping the back of his hand across his brow again.

His movement caused a single bead of sweat to slide from his neck. Lina watched as it traveled with agonizing slowness down his chest and over the well-defined ridges of his abdomen to disappear enticingly under his loincloth.

Her mind refused to formulate a response. All she could do was stand there, speechless, and stare at the damp path the drop left on his glistening skin, wishing with X-rated intensity that she could follow it with her tongue.

“Persephone? I only meant to jest with you. Of course you may ride Orion,” Hades assured her. Why was she not speaking? It was certainly not like her to be silent.

“Th-thank you.” Lina's eyes snapped up to his face. “I'm sorry. I guess my thoughts are elsewhere.”

Hades nodded with sudden understanding. “Of course, it has been a difficult day.” He looked down at her sheepishly. “I asked Iapis to report to me if Aeneas had entered Elysia.”

“Really?” Hades' words pulled her interest from his body. “And what did he say?”

“I appear to owe you a crystal chandelier. The warrior's soul is, indeed, resting in the Elysian Fields. And, just as you predicted, he has only recently entered the Underworld.”

Concern wrinkled her smooth brow. “What are you going to do about Dido?”

The god sighed and wiped another trail of sweat from his cheek. “I will not rescind my decision. I suppose I must have Iapis keep watch on her and . . .” he broke off. The goddess's instincts about Dido had been correct. Why not get her input? He gave her an appraising look. “What would you suggest I do, Persephone?”

Lina felt a little flutter of pleasure; Hades valued her opinion. “Well, I don't think it's wise to leave them in Elysia together. Dido will never get over him like that.” Absently, she tugged at one long lock of hair as she considered what to do with the spirit. “I'm assuming that you don't want to send Aeneas out of Elysia?”

“No. The warrior has earned his paradise.”

“And you already said you won't send her back to that lamentation place, so I think the only reasonable answer is to let her drink from,” she hesitated, making sure she had the right name, “the River Lethe. You said that when they drink from Lethe, souls forget their lives, but remain essentially the same type of people. So send her back for another lifetime. Maybe she really did learn something during her lamentation, something that Aeneas' presence would overshadow, but without any memory of him—” Lina gestured abstractly with her hands. “I guess what I'm trying to say is that maybe she'll do better the second time around.”

Hades' smile made his eyes dance. He wanted to throw his arms around her and shout for joy. “Persephone, how is it that a goddess who is so young is also so wise?”

Lina's heart thudded at the warmth of his expression. “You shouldn't judge me by how I look. There's a lot more to me than just a pretty young face.”

Hades couldn't stop himself from reaching out and touching that lovely face. “You are correct again. Of all the gods, I should know better than to judge others on appearance and rumor.”

His fingers were hot and Lina wanted to turn her face into his palm and press herself against him.

“I'm far from perfect,” she said, her voice hardly above a whisper. “I made a mistake in my decision about Eurydice.”

“But you were wise enough to correct your mistake. You saved the little spirit. All is as it should be now.” As he spoke, his hand moved from her face to touch the moonlight-colored bloom she had tucked behind her ear. Hades glanced from her eyes to the flower. “I hoped that you would approve of Orion's decoration.”

Lina sounded out of breath when she answered him. “He looked very handsome with it tucked in his bridle; it's a beautiful flower.”

Speak your thoughts aloud!
Hades' mind spurred him on. He drew a breath and said, “It is, indeed, a beautiful flower, but it pales in comparison to your loveliness, Persephone.” Almost as if it acted on its own, his hand moved from the blossom to trail down the side of her throat, caressing her smooth skin with gentle fingers.

The goddess's breath caught and a little surprised “oh!” sound broke from her lips. Instantly, Hades stopped, his hand hovering near the curve of her neck. His eyes met hers.

“Would you rather that I did not touch you?” His voice sounded rough and foreign.

Persephone blinked twice—quickly.

Hades tightened his jaw and turned away from her. What a fool he'd been! He had read the look in her eyes. He had not seen desire or acceptance there; instead, he had clearly seen shock and confusion.

“Wait!”

Hades took another deep breath, steeling himself. He turned to face her.

“It's not that I don't want you to touch me. I'm just . . . it's just . . .” Lina forced herself to stop babbling. Then she started over in a more controlled, rational tone. “Demeter told me that you weren't interested in women, and it's a well known fact that you don't cavort with nymphs or chase after goddesses, so it's a surprise to me that you're so . . . so . . .” She sighed, frustrated at her inability to explain. “Hades, you are definitely
not
the boring, dour god that Demeter had described to me.”

Hades' body became very still. His eyes met hers and held and she read good-humored surprise reflected within their expressive depths.

“The rumor
was
correct,” he said slowly and distinctly, his lips curving up. “I did not cavort with nymphs or chase after goddesses because I had met none who interested me.”

“Oh,” Lina said, unable to look away from his penetrating gaze. Sexy—he was just so damn dark and sexy.

“Until you entered my realm,” Hades said with finality.

He stepped forward, and in one swift motion, took her in his arms. Lina felt herself melt into the simmering heat of his sweat-slickened body as he bent and pressed his mouth against hers. Her lips parted and for one delicious moment the kiss deepened. Then, too soon, he released her. She felt dizzy, like she had been underwater for too long and couldn't catch her breath.

“There is more to me than appearance and rumor.” Hades echoed her earlier words.

“I believe you.”

Hades bent to taste her sweetness again. Lina moaned huskily against his mouth and the sound inflamed him. The full globes of her breasts burned into his chest. He felt his willpower begin to dissolve as his passion for her consumed him.

The shudder that passed through his body became her own, and Lina slid her hands up his bare chest and wrapped them around his neck.

“Don't stop,” she whispered. She took his bottom lip between her teeth and bit down teasingly.

With a groan of unleashed desire, Hades cupped her buttocks and lifted her from her feet so that her softness was pressed firmly against him. In two strides he had her pinned against the wall of the forge. One hand slipped up to entrap her breast. The sweet, enticing nipple puckered against his palm and he molded and stroked it. Beneath his other searching hand he found an opening in her silky robe and his hot fingers grasped her naked skin. His pulse thundered in his ears as his world narrowed to exclude everything except his raging need for her.

Caught between the hard coolness of the stone wall and the hard heat of Hades, Lina felt that she was being consumed by him.

Eurydice burst into the forge like a Fourth of July sparkler.

“Persephone! There you are! Oh—” She broke off, her eyes widening as she took in the rumpled, flushed condition of her Goddess and the dark intensity with which Hades had her pressed against the wall.

“
What is it!
” Hades roared, causing the floor of the forge to shake in response.

“Forgive me!” Eurydice's pale face blanched, and she backed fearfully toward the door.

Fighting to catch her breath, Lina pushed firmly against Hades' chest. The god stared down at her. His eyes still burned with need.

“You're scaring Eurydice,” she hissed, and, Lina added silently, he was scaring her, too. She had never witnessed the raw power of a god's desire. It definitely had the ability to excite, but it was also overwhelming.

Slowly, through the fog of his passion Hades recognized the fear that flashed through Persephone's eyes. By Zeus' beard! He didn't want her to fear him. Hades blinked, and with a sigh like a storm wind, he moved back, setting her gently to her feet as he suppressed the hot tide within him.

“The spirit may not yet depart,” Hades snapped the command and the door to the forge closed before Eurydice could scuttle through it.

The little spirit turned slowly to face the god. Her voice trembled. “It was foolish of me to interrupt. Please forgive me, I . . . I . . . did not realize.”

Lina thought that Eurydice looked like she was close to dissolving into tears. “Don't be silly, honey, there's nothing to forgive.” She smoothed her hair and tried to ignore the heat that still tingled up from her breasts, through her neck, and into her cheeks. “I was just thanking Hades for sending Orion after me.”

Beside her, Hades snorted, “I'll have to send the stallion after you more often.”

Lina's gaze met Hades', which sparkled with a mischievous sense of humor, and something else, something that she thought might be tenderness. He brushed the side of her cheek with the tips of his fingers before reluctantly turning his attention to Eurydice.

“Calm yourself, child,” Hades said.

Eurydice gave the god a dubious look.

He smiled reassuringly at Eurydice, his voice full of fatherly concern. “Why is it you were searching for your goddess?”

Eurydice looked from Hades to Persephone, who nodded encouragingly at her. The little spirit's expression began to relax and she smiled tentatively back at the dark god. “Iapis asked me to find Persephone. The Limoniades are calling for her.”

“Are they indeed?” Although he hated the interruption, he couldn't help but be pleased that the spirits in his realm were not simply accepting the goddess, they were actively seeking her out.

Eurydice nodded enthusiastically, “Iapis said they would not begin the gathering until the goddess joined them.”

Lina looked from Hades to Eurydice while she quickly accessed Persephone's memories.
Limoniades—nymph-like spirits of meadows and flowers.
So the spirits of flowers were calling her for a gathering, and Hades and Eurydice looked pleased about it. Lina tried to appear as if she knew what they were talking about. Gathering? What could they be gathering? She frantically asked her built-in memory file.

“It is only logical that they would desire the presence of the Goddess of Spring,” Hades said.