He chose that moment to make himself known.
“Curiosity is a dangerous quality, my lady.”
Dangerous. Infuriating. Exciting. It was multifaceted and had its place, but he’d rather she was curious about other things, like him.
She whirled to face him, her pretty, green eyes growing wide. Her hand went to her heart, and Hades’ eyes dropped to her perfect breasts. For a moment, all he could focus on was the hardening of her nipples, straining against her white top.
“Don’t call me my lady,” she snapped, and then glanced back at the basin. “I… This map of your world is not complete.”
Hades advanced. He liked the way she had to tip her head back just to keep his gaze. He paused inches from her, wishing to close the distance even more, wishing to lift her into his arms and make love to her against this basin. Perhaps they would fall in and find themselves among the flora of the Underworld. Gods, how he ached to take her beneath his sky.
Her sharp breath drew him from his carnal thoughts, and his gaze moved to the water. She turned to face it, her back to him now. This position was no better. From here, he could draw his arm around her waist and seal her back to his chest, press kisses to her neck while his other hand explored, roving her breasts, down her stomach, and between her thighs.
He shook those thoughts from his head.
“What do you see?”
“Your palace, Asphodel, the River Styx and the Lethe… That’s it. Where is Elysium? Tartarus?”
He smiled at her eagerness to understand the Underworld, even if a part of him felt uneasy. If he had it his way, she would never explore the mountains and caverns of Tartarus. That part of his realm was a manifestation of his soul—dark and harrowing.
“The map will reveal them when you’ve earned the right to know.”
“What do you mean earned?”
“Only those I trust most may view this map in its entirety.” The map was a true weapon, and Hades let few have access to it, among them, Thanatos and Hecate.
“Who can see the whole map?” Then her voice tightened, and her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Can Minthe see it?”
Her jealousy interested him, and he could not help goading her. “Would that bother you, Lady Persephone?”
“No,” she said quickly, and let her eyes fall to where her hands rested on the basin.
She was lying. He could hear it in the inflection of her voice, see it in the language of her body, taste it in the air between them. He should challenge her, much as he’d done the day she’d come to Nevernight to demand answers for his bargains. Will you speak of how you flush from your pretty head to your toes in my presence and how I make you lose your breath? He could point out that she had not put space between them since he approached, that she had been leaning closer to him the longer they spoke, arching her back in a way that drew attention to her curves.
It made him want her even more, and he knew if he kissed her now, she would let him take her. Their coupling would be hard and fast and desperate, and it would be full of regret.
He could not love her and have her lie, so he turned, needing distance, and retreated into the stacks, but she followed him, suffocating him with her heat and her smell.
She struggled to match his stride, panting out, “Why did you revoke my favor?”
“To teach you a lesson,” he replied, not looking at her.
“To not bring mortals into your realm?” He thought it was odd that her thoughts went to Adonis and not Orpheus. He was not sure what to make of that.
“To not leave when you are angry with me,” he said.
“Excuse me?”
She halted, setting aside the books she carried, and Hades turned to face her. His heart raced, and he questioned whether he could have this conversation.
“You strike me as someone who has a lot of emotions and has never quite been taught how to deal with it all, but I can assure you, running away is not the solution.”
I’m really one to talk, he thought. He was giving this speech for his own sake as much as hers.
“I had nothing more to say to you.”
“It’s not about words,” he said, frustrated, and then paused to take a few breaths before explaining, “I’d rather help you understand my motivations than have you spy on me.”
“It was not my intention to spy,” she said. “Hermes—”
“I know it was Hermes who pulled you into that mirror,” he said gently. This was not about the mirror at all. It was about changing her opinion of him. “I do not wish for you leave and be angry with me.”