Goddess of Spring (Goddess Summoning 2)

Hades couldn't stop himself from reaching out and touching that lovely face. "You are correct again. Of al 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. Al 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 control ed, rational tone. "Demeter told me that you weren't interested in women, and it's a wel 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 stil . 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 ful globes of her breasts burned into his chest. He felt his wil power 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 wal 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 wal 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 wal .

" 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 stil 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 sil y, honey, there's nothing to forgive." She smoothed her hair and tried to ignore the heat that stil 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'l have to send the stal ion 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 cal ing 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 enthusiastical y, "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 cal ing 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 frantical y asked her built-in memory file.

"It is only logical that they would desire the presence of the Goddess of Spring," Hades said. In Olympus, forest nymphs are responsible for the gathering of many things: herbs for potions, grapes for wine, flowers to bedeck the palaces of the immortals -

Her internal monologue was interrupted by Hades' voice.

"It is, of course, Persephone's decision," Hades said, obviously surprised at her hesitation.

"Wel , I..." "Oh, please, may I watch?" Eurydice rushed forward and grasped her hand. "I have never witnessed the gathering of nectar for ambrosia. Nor have I even seen a nymph, not in the flesh or in the spirit." Eurydice beamed at her.

Lina smiled at Eurydice's infectious exuberance. "Of course you may watch." She felt a trickle of relief. Gathering nectar for ambrosia couldn't be that difficult. She'd just fol ow the lead of the Lemonade-whatever-their-names-were nymphs.

"Thank you, Persephone!" Eurydice danced to the door.

"May I watch, too?"

Lina looked up at Hades, surprised by his question. He was, after al , God of the Underworld. He had the power to command anyone within his realm; he certainly didn't have to ask her permission. Yet there he stood, doing just that. A little half smile played around his full lips. Sweat stil beaded his bare skin, making the bronze muscles of his chest look erotic and exquisitely touchable. Lina felt a tug deep within her, an elemental response to the virile beauty of the dark God.

"No, I don't mind," she said breathlessly.

"Good. It pleases me to watch you," Hades said. Then he repeated his earlier gesture by gently touching the blossom tucked behind her ear. When he withdrew his hand, he al owed his fingers to brush the side of her face in the whisper of a caress. The Goddess stil shivered under his touch, but this time Hades saw only the reflection of his own desire within her eyes.

"Hurry, Persephone!" Eurydice cal ed from the doorway without looking back at her Goddess. "I can't wait to see the Limoniades."