STORY EXCERPT

“You didn’t tell me it was a nude beach!” No way was Hades, god and ruler of the Underworld, going to parade his naked ass around for everyone to see. His mate had obviously lost his mind.

“It’s clothing optional. See?” Miles pointed across the pristine, white sand to a group of beachgoers beneath an umbrella. “They are fully clothed.”

“Fully clothed” was open to interpretation. The women wore what he assumed were supposed to be bikinis, but in actuality were nothing more than strings and almost-absent strips of cloth. The men were a bit more modestly dressed, but Hades still wasn’t going to wear those tiny little spandex shorts.

“Relax,” Miles encouraged with a bright smile. “This is going to be great.”

He still wasn’t convinced, but he’d committed himself to giving this a chance. He wasn’t blind to the fact that he and Miles were drifting apart, and he desperately wanted to find his way back. Miles Gavari was the best thing that had ever happened to him, and he couldn’t bear the thought of letting him slip away.

“If you’ll find a place on the beach, I’ll get us some drinks. Yes?”

“Sounds good.” Miles caught him around the waist and pulled him in for a tender yet toe-curling kiss. “Love you, yeah?” 

He still melted when he heard those words. “And I love you.” Then he popped his partner on the ass affectionately and backed away. “I’ll be right back.”

The bar looked like nothing more than a little hut, blanketed under a canopy of palm leaves, but there was a crowd gathered, so Hades supposed it must be fully functional. Positioning himself toward the end of the scarred and battered bar, he waited patiently for the bartender to notice him, eyeing the colorful concoctions that passed between hands.

“What can I do ya for, cutie?”

Hades gaped, taken aback by the way the bartender greeted him. He knew he was smaller in stature than most and looked very young, but no one had addressed him so informally before. His name alone induced fear into the hearts of most. It was all propaganda, of course. While he could smite the wicked with the best of them, he usually chose a less violent course of action and tried to be courteous and polite in most situations.

“Can I get a Corona and a frozen sangria?”

“Comin’ right up.” The bartender winked at him before hustling away to make his drinks.

“Well, hello, gorgeous.” A large, beefy man slid up beside him, standing much too close for Hades’s comfort.

“Hello,” he answered cautiously, stepping sideways to put more space between them.

“Oh, don’t be that way, sugar. Let me buy you a drink.” The stranger grinned widely, showing off blindingly white teeth.

“I’m here with someone.”

The hulk of a man leaned closer, his warm breath fanning over Hades’s ear as he rested a meaty paw on his shoulder. “It can be our little secret.”

Anger roiled through him, and he fisted his hands at his sides while the warm, humid air crackled around him. “Please remove your hand,” he requested as calmly as possible, but it was hard to be polite when speaking through gritted teeth.

“Is there a problem here?”

Sighing in relief, Hades leaned back into the strong arms that surrounded him and tossed an icy glare to his new admirer. “No problem, sweetheart. This gentleman was just leaving.”

Miles’s eyes traveled over the stranger, sizing him up as a quiet growl rumbled through his chest. “Mine,” he snarled, gripping Hades closer to him.

The guy held his hands up in surrender and sauntered off toward the water as though nothing unusual had happened. “Thank you, Miles.” It was only appropriate to give credit where it was due. “I am perfectly capable of defending myself, though. I’m a—”

“A god,” Miles finished with a huff. “Yeah, I know.” His plump lips landed on Hades’s forehead as he cradled the back of his head. “I know how powerful you are, baby. It’s my instinct to want to be the alpha and chase away all the bad guys. Maybe you can just indulge me every once in a while.”

Miles sounded sad, frustrated, and a bit annoyed with him, all rolled into one. Hades had been on his own for a long, long time before Miles had come into his life, and he wasn’t used to letting someone else fight his battles for him. Perhaps he didn’t always have to throw it in his lover’s face, though. Honestly, he hadn’t even realized he’d been doing it until that moment. Did he sound as much like an arrogant prick as he thought he did? No wonder Miles was becoming so agitated with him.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. You are absolutely right. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to take care of the person you love.” Hades knew this firsthand, because every cell in his body went on high alert each time there was a possible threat to his mate. He’d do anything—even give up his immortality—to make sure no harm came to Miles. “I’ll work on it.”

“Here you are, cutie.” The bartender was back, setting their drinks on the bar with a confident smile. “This one is on me. Let me know what you think of the sangria. I’m betting it’s almost as delicious as you are.”

Before Hades could react to the innuendo, Miles dove at the bartender, driving his fist into the man’s face as he snarled and snorted like an untamed beast. “Mine,” he said gutturally, the word barely intelligible as actual speech.

It was so damn hard for him to keep his mouth shut and not scold his lover for the barbaric act. Taking a deep breath, Hades picked up their drinks and turned his back on the little hut, trying to put himself in Miles’s place. How would he have handled the situations if their positions had been reversed?

ADULT EXCERPT

Flipping open the cap and coating his fingers quickly, he had to pry Hades’s legs from around his waist to insinuate his hand between them. “Are you going to let me in, baby?”

His lover’s legs relaxed around him, and he tilted his hips up, giving Miles unrestricted access to his fluttering, pink hole. Slicking the guarding muscles with the gel, he skimmed his fingers along Hades’s crease, willing him to relax. Starting with two fingers, he pushed against his lover’s entrance, watching him for signs of discomfort as he sank in to the second knuckles.

Hades moaned, tossing his head from side to side on the pillow while his hungry ass sucked Miles’s digits in deeper, massaging them as his inner walls convulsed in rhythmic waves. The hot, velvet-lined channel felt like heaven, spiking Miles’s lust and making him tremble in eager anticipation.

Pumping his fingers in slow, controlled movements, twisting and scissoring, he took his time as he stretched and loosened the tight hole. Their tongues continued to duel, and he used his free hand to pet and stroke down Hades’s side and over his twitching abs, stoking the embers that burned between them.

“Please, Miles.” Hades begged so sweetly, his cries coming through panting breaths while his fingernails bit into Miles’s shoulders, urging him into action. “Please!”

“Shh, easy, baby. Don’t I always take care of you?”

“Well, can you do it a little faster?”

Chuckling under his breath, though his hands were shaking as he extracted his fingers from Hades’s hole, Miles smacked his lover on the thigh and reached for the lube again. “Bossy.”

“Fuck me now or I’ll do it without you.”

“That’s my baby.” This was the man he loved, always in control and shouting orders, no matter the situation.

The only thing he adored more was when the god finally let go and surrendered all of himself, giving Miles total power over him. It didn’t happen often, so when he was blessed with the gift, it was all the sweeter. Hades wasn’t quite there yet, but Miles knew his mate, knew just which buttons to push.

Coating his hard cock with the slippery gel, Miles held the pulsing length by the base, guiding the tip to Hades’s waiting entrance. Once sheathed within the indescribable heat, Miles didn’t even have time to suck in his next breath before Hades wrapped around him, flipping him to his back and pinning his shoulders to the mattress.

Hades nipped at his chin as he rocked his hips hard and fast, riding Miles’s cock in a demanding tempo. Rising and falling, impaling himself on the turgid shaft, his rhythm never faltered, even as the most delicious sounds spilled from his mouth.

It wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind. However, a beautiful god was worshiping his body, concentrating fully on Miles as though he was the only person on earth. He wasn’t stupid enough to complain over something most people could only fantasize about.

Hades’s soft, brown hair clung to his face and forehead with sweat, and the muscles in his chest bunched, flexed, and rolled. The way the moonlight played off his skin, making him practically glow, was beyond dazzling, and he looked more like an angel than a god.

His knees clamped around Miles’s hips while his thighs flexed, rising and falling in graceful movements that set Miles’s head spinning. He’d allowed his love to have control for long enough, though. “My turn, baby.”

Grabbing Hades by the hips, he lifted the man off of him and flipped him around on the mattress, pressing his chest down to the bed and jerking his hips into the air. With a hard smack to Hades’s backside, he pulled his cheeks apart and drove back into his slick hole.

Pushing up on his hands and knees, Hades began to rock, slamming back onto Miles’s cock as he moaned and whimpered. While it felt amazing, it wasn’t the submission Miles wanted. Leaning forward to cover his mate’s back, he swept his arm beneath Hades, knocking his hands out from under him. Gathering both slim wrists into his much-larger hand, Miles stretched his lover’s arms out straight above Hades’s head, pressing them into the mattress.

Hades’s cries grew in volume, drifting away on the night breeze that blew through their cabana. The whole beach would most likely hear them, but Miles didn’t care. He wanted everyone to know exactly who gave Hades that pleasure, for them to understand just who he belonged to.

Snapping his hips in lightning-fast movements, he surged into Hades’s yielding body at a demanding pace as he reached beneath that supple body and palmed his mate’s bouncing cock. “Are you gonna come for me, baby? Gonna scream my name for everyone to hear?”

Squeezing the pulsing flesh in his hand, he stroked Hades from root to tip, twisting his wrist to add extra friction to the bundle of nerves just beneath the crown. Fast-paced and unrelenting, he rode the god hard while he kept up the pressure against his wrists.

“Fuck!” Hades growled as he melted into the mattress, finally giving up that last bit of control. “Please, love. I’m so close.”

Music to his ears. “That’s it, Hades. Let go. Let go, baby.”

After the initial claiming bite to mark his mate and cement their bond, there wasn’t any reason to repeat the process. Every instinct Miles harbored was demanding he reestablish that bond, though. Sharp, pointed canines elongated from his gumline, and his beast howled in triumph.