It would be a lie to say that my heart hadn't picked up its pace. I could hear it in my ears as I leaned unbearably closer to him watching as his eyes fluttered closed and his lips puckered out just the tiniest bit.
But I didn't enjoy his tit for tat.
So instead, I placed a gentle kiss that lingered for a few more seconds than it should have to his cheek. Regret had filled me and washed over my face in a blush I couldn't contain while a fire consumed my insides.
An anger in my mind that was driven by a need for intimacy, with a man I didn't even know, that I couldn't keep running from for much longer.
"I suppose that's fair." Hades happily hummed before I could even fully lean away from him. He scooped me into his arms without a moment for me to even protest.
He cradled and held me as if a baby, taking his strides towards a hill that sat at the top of town. Overlooking the condo-like buildings that stretched as far as the eye could see.
"I can walk, Hades." I said, even if I had found a spot on his chest that deemed itself worthy of my cheek. He simply ignored me and sat on a bench with me on his lap.
The Underworld didn't seem so big from up here. It was like a mind game, playing a trick with perception.
And no matter how peaceful it all seemed, it still didn't feel like I was welcomed.
Everyone carried on with their afterlives, all knowing I didn't belong.
"This is your kingdom." I thought out loud. Holding onto Hades as if I'd roll down the hill and into hell if I let go. "You told me there once were trees."
"There were. Right where we're sitting there once was a beautiful willow tree."
"What happened?"
"War." He sighed, gripping my body as tight as I was to him. "My brother lost his patience and decided to play dirty. Destroyed a lot of my land. Killed a lot of my people.
"Is there still a war?"
He glanced down, "there hasn't been in centuries. What you're seeing now is the rebuilding of homes and spirits. After the loss of so many, I put my pride aside and accepted defeat."
"That was brave of you."
"I didn't wave a white flag, my little shade." He admitted with a small twitch to his lip. "I lost all that I loved and for that, I murdered everyone that got in my way of peace. And now, all that remains in my kingdom left in shambles and my people who think I gave up on them. They see as an unfit leader with a bloodlust. In a way.. I think they're right."
"They're stupid for believing what they see and not what they know is true." I whispered even though I hadn't even meant for it to escape the prison of my mind. "Sorry, I-"
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From Ash to Fire
RomanceHades Erotic Dark Romance To make a fate, one must be cut. I've lost her so many times. She has come and gone. Loved me and turned to ash in my hands each time. No one could compare to the first. So I've wrecked them all until the last. Part Two of...