It took forever for Z to leave the palace, and when Hades navigated the staircase to his chamber, feeling the aches of a long, disturbing day, he was reminded of all the years he'd made the journey. Or maybe he could blame the scotch Z suggested after Lexi took herself to bed.

Upon arriving, Hades stood at the end of his four poster and watched Lexi sleep under the sedation of exhaustion and expensive French wine, but he was not so eager to join her. He still had worries that needed to be dealt with, like his suspicion that Lexi and Josef shared a liaison during the rogue's tenure at the palace, and after Hades removed his clothes, he began to pace the hearth, letting the fire's warmth soften the alcohol that tainted his veins.

Six turns in, he became dissatisfied with pacing, and he walked to Lexi's bedside again, kneeling beside her sleeping form. Her head faced him, offering an unhindered view of her soft, curvy mouth and the dusting of color that tinted her cheeks. His heart stuttered as he gazed openly at her sublime beauty. She had enchanted him and rescued him all at once, and he was desperately in love with her. He would do anything she asked of him. Give anything to keep her. What would his heart do if she took another?

"You smell like scotch," Lexi whispered into her pillow as she blinked her eyes open.

"I'm sorry if I woke you."

"You know I don't sleep well without you. Why aren't you in bed? You look like you could sleep standing up."

"I'll be there soon. I'm afraid my brain wouldn't let me sleep now if I tried."

Lexi lifted onto her elbow, and when the sheet fell away, Hades noticed she had dressed in her white nightgown with Chantilly lace. Her swollen breasts stretched the sheer bodice until nothing was left to the imagination, but Hades didn't have to imagine. He knew.

"You know you can share your troubles with me," she said. "Tell me what's keeping you awake?"

"Just processing the events of the day," he said, his words sounding cryptic even to his own ears. Hades stood and walked back to the hearth, resuming his pacing and waiting for Lexi to climb out of bed. She met him just as he made the first turn, and her arms came around him.

"Thank you for talking to Zeus about his self-centered, narrow-minded ways," she said. "Your speech about acknowledging his offspring may serve more than Melinoe."

Hades nodded, happy she had made the connection. "I'd like to think so."

"Zeus and I talked about Melinoe's fall in the Lethe, tonight," she said. "Do you think she'll suffer memory loss? You never told us what happened after you took her home."

"I think she has suffered some loss. She can't remember the Bonsai tree, or the spirits, or endangering the elm in the grove. She even seems to have forgotten her trip downriver with Josef."

"Really? Only her short-term memories were lost? That's mighty convenient."

"It seems so. And only time will tell how extensive the loss is."

Lexi bit her lip, and Hades knew she was feeling that pull of compassion. Like him, she had probably been judging Melinoe without pity, but it was in Lexi's nature to sympathize, even with her enemies. "Earlier tonight, when Hecate was bandaging my burns, she said that Melinoe had a crush on you...after you helped her recover from her first fall in the Lethe. I don't think you ever mentioned that to me. I'm sure I would have remembered."

Hades couldn't keep the regret from showing on his face. He would never live long enough to remember every event or face all the consequences of an eternity of foolishness. "I didn't withhold that detail to keep you in the dark, and I'm happy to talk about it whenever you wish, but it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. Knowing when Melinoe started her obsession with me won't help her get over it now. She and Zeus need to work their problems out first, then we'll see where it goes from there."

"Do you expect her to keep torturing us until Zeus takes responsibility for her?"

"I haven't thought that far ahead, but I think Zeus's acknowledgement of her won't go unnoticed, even if it takes her jaded mind years to accept. Maybe then she will have better memories to carry her forward. To be honest, I wish I could forget a few things myself."

Lexi touched her fingers to his cheek, sweeping errant strands of hair off his face. The gesture had his manhood stirring. "This has been an ordeal for all of us," she said.

Hades held Lexi's loving gaze, feeling her sincerity like a comforting embrace, wanting and not wanting to get his question answered. Of course, he knew he must. "How were you able to capture Josef with the sash?" he asked in a rush. "How did you retrieve it from the fire and lasso him? He must have been close."

Glancing down, Lexi nodded to the tiles before lifting her eyes again. "Yes, he was standing near the hearth, and I was on my knees in front of him. I had easy access to the fireplace. I was able to snatch it fast before my arm received too much damage."

"You were on your knees in front of Josef? Why?"

Lexi swallowed, and the action looked painful. At least, it was painful for him. "I thought if I could lure him to the fireplace with the promise of...a tryst, I would have a much better chance of catching him."

Hades felt his skin drain of warmth as his worst speculations came to pass. "Did you engage in...?"

"Just long enough to distract him," she said quickly. "He didn't even know what hit him."

"I'm sure he did! Dammit, Lexi!" Hades ground out his curse as he turned to pace away from her. He wanted her to think he was angry, not how much her confession had hurt him.

"Hades, please don't be angry," Lexi beseeched him. "I have not desired another man or god since I met you, and Josef was no exception. His weapon was his weakness. I just used it against him. You have to know that it meant nothing. I was trying to protect our family."

Hades paused, collecting his wits before turning to face Lexi again. Her body glowed in the firelight, reflecting amber off her tousled hair which flowed in waves over the delicate lace on her shoulders. She looked both feral and refined. A temptress of the most humbling kind. Hades gripped the mantle as he suppressed the image of Lexi taking Josef into her mouth. He didn't care that Josef was a spirit. He didn't care that he was dust.

"You make it impossible to be angry with you," he said to the flames. "How can I fault you when you were able to do what I failed to."

"You have never failed me, Hades, and you never could." She spoke as she reached for him with her bandaged arm, and Hades took her hand gently, frowning at her injury as he lifted it to his lips.

"My love for you runs deeper than any river and surer than the truest compass," he said, not caring that he sounded like a desperate god. "Please, forgive my jealous nature. Eternity is not long enough to prove what you mean to me."

Lexi pulled him close and pressed her cheek to his. "You will always have me."

Hades heard a hitch in her breath as she lingered there, and when she stepped back, a tear was sliding down her cheek. That he could not abide. "Let's put all this behind us where it belongs," he said as he wiped the tear away with his thumb. "May I take you to bed, my lady? Your wound will heal quicker with proper rest."

"It's nearly healed already. Don't fuss over me, Hades."

"But I enjoy fussing over you." He guided her to the bed and pulled back the covers, letting her slide between the sheets. "I will bring Juniper to you when she wakes. In fact, you don't even have to wake. I'll make sure she latches on properly."

Hades wore a crafty grin as he crawled over Lexi and rested his head on her belly. Then he smiled at her through the valley between her cleavage, tracing a finger over the lace of her nightgown. He managed to draw a shiver from her as her nipples hardened beneath her sheath. He wanted to subdue her. To erase the guilt of her dalliance with Josef. To make her forget every man by proving his worth in bed.

Lexi took his hand and kissed the palm as she whispered against it. "I need you."

"I am at your service, my queen."

With his heart beating fiercely and his manhood at the ready, Hades maneuvered over Lexi and began his slow possession, kissing between her breasts with breathy pecks and tracing the curve of her hips with gentle fingers. She moaned as he lifted the bottom of her nightgown and slipped his head beneath it. The scent of her greeted him, floral and heady, intoxicating him further as he trailed soft kisses up her thigh. This was his Xanadu. His happily ever after. And he would never stop reminding her why she had followed him home.

THE END

Thank you for reading The Forgotten Witch,

M. Rider