Page 55 of Hateful Prince
“Are you trying to offend me?” I asked, cupping her cheek and staring down at her until she returned my gaze.
“Nope. Just trying to keep you honest. You do have a bit of a reputation, you know.”
I did, and I loved that she wasn’t afraid to call me out. My temper was almost as notorious as my love for her. But she hadn’t been afraid. Not back then, and not now.
“I’ve never claimed to be a hero.”
“Can I tell you a secret?” she whispered conspiratorially.
“I want all your secrets, goddess.”
Her soft intake of breath sent a rush through me. “I’ve always been a sucker for the hot villain.”
“Given the stable of men the Fates have selected for you, that’s hardly a secret.”
Rolling her eyes, she let out a laugh and reached up to run her fingers through the hair at my temple. “So spill the tea, my lord Hades. Are you really as bad as all the stories say? Mythology paints you as the biggest baddie in Greek legend.”
I was too hung up on the way my cock jerked to attention at her referring to me as ‘my lord’ to register the rest of her question. “What was that?”
“Are you stalling, or did you actually not understand what was honestly a softball of a question?”
“I was distracted. I like the way my... name sounds on your lips.”
“Oh, do you, my lord Hades?”
She added a bit more verve to it this time, her voice pitched low and dripping with sex.
I used a bit of shadow to tug her hand down until it was resting against my straining length. “You tell me, Dahlia.”
“Stop trying to distract me with your dick, Hades. We can play with your shadows later. You said you wanted all my secrets. It’s only fair for you to give me yours in exchange.”
She didn’t know how on the nose her statement was. But I guess that led us right down the path of one of my worst deeds. “Careful, little flower. You bargain with the god of the underworld, and you will lose. I always win.”
Dahlia rolled her eyes again. “Of course you do. Death always wins in the end.”
I don’t think she realized just how poignant that sentence was. I might be the ruler of the dead, but even I had been taken down a couple of pegs by death. It’s what took her from me the first time. I, better than anyone, understood the sheer futility of attempting to stand in death’s way.
“So aside from stealing women from their beds and keeping them as your own, you make deals only you can win? You’re like a mob boss.”
“It’s not like that. I can lose, I just never do. Temptation is the root of all evil, and it’s ruined many a person.”
“Stop stalling. You’re dancing around this subject like Gene Kelly in Singin’ in the Rain. I can see it in your eyes. You want to tell me a story. What are you afraid of?”
“Maybe I don’t want the way you look at me to change.”
She shoved at my chest. “I just told you villains get me hot and bothered. Hell, I write them as the love interests in my stories. Why do you think it would make me see you differently?”
“They always have a redemption arc. I don’t.”
“You might be a god, but not even you know the future, Hades. Just because you haven’t had your redemption arc doesn’t mean one isn’t available to you.”
“Spoken like a true romantic.”
“Isn’t love the greatest motivator of all?”
This was it. I had to rip off the Band-Aid and show her how wrong she was. “Exactly. And it’s the greatest weakness. Do you know the story of Orpheus and Eurydice?”
“She died. He begged you to let him have her back... .”