Bonus Scene.
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GAME NIGHT: TRUTH OR DARE – UNDERWORLD EDITION
“How long will they be here?” Hades asked.
He and Persephone stood in the dining hall of Hades’ palace, waiting for their guests to arrive.
“Until the game is finished,” Persephone replied, giggling. She finished arranging the food—grapes, cheeses, and a selection of tea sandwiches. “That’s how game night works, Hades.”
The God of the Underworld groaned. “Why did I let you talk me into this?”
“As I recall, I didn’t have to do much talking,” she said.
She had asked to host a game night in the Underworld a week ago, just before going down on Hades in his glass office at The Cypress Foundation. She’d made a surprise visit, knowing he would be there to finalize a few details for The Halcyon Project. As soon as her mouth had touched him, he’d relented.
“Whatever you want,” she repeated his words back to him now. “You can have whatever you want.”
Hades raised a brow. He stood with his arms crossed, and at the reminder of their time in his office his eyes darkened, sending a thrill down her spine. He was everything—ridiculously tall, well-muscled, and beautiful—and the way he looked at her now made her want to cancel tonight’s plans—and the coming weeks—and stay in bed with him.
“I seem to recall also saying as long as you keep doing what you’re doing and yet here we are—fully clothed.”
“Since when have clothes stopped you?”
“Is that a challenge, Lady Persephone?”
She turned fully to Hades, a fire erupting low in her belly. “Not a challenge,” she said. “A dare.” In the next second, Hades closed the distance between them and parted her lips. His tongue invaded her mouth and it tasted sweet and smokey. She had come to think of it as his taste, and she’d never had anything like it. It was lethal to her self-control, and soon she was welded to his body. Hades’ hands dipped low, touching the skin of her thighs, lifting her skirt as they skimmed upward toward her heat.
“Faster, Hades,” she growled against his lips, her hands hooked into the waist of his slacks, her stance widened, preparing for the invasion of his cock.
He chuckled. “Always eager.”
“Oh no, she definitely means you should hurry because you have guests.” Hermes’ voice elicited a groan from Hades, and the two looked to find the god waiting, a bottle of wine in one hand. He was dressed in a white shirt and a pair of grey sweatpants, his blond hair swept to the side in a nest of golden curls. It was the most casual Persephone had ever seen him.
“Is that a cornucopia of apples?” Persephone asked.
Hermes looked at it as if he’d forgotten what he was holding in his other hand.
“Yes. Yes, it is a cornucopia of apples,” he said. “Happy fall!”
“It’s July, Hermes,” Persephone said.
“Only two more months!”
Hermes sat the cornucopia on the table. “So, what were we doing?”
He waggled his brows and Persephone and Hades exchanged a look.
“Oh, we were just playing a game of truth or dare,” Persephone answered.
“I love truth or dare!” he gushed.
“Truth or dare?” Hecate asked. The Goddess of Witchcraft and Magic appeared in rich purple robes and her long, dark hair was braided. “Sounds devious. How does it work?”
“Oh, it can be devious,” Hermes chuckled. “The last time I played, I ended up running naked down the aisles of the Olympian Theater.”
The three gods stared.
“What?”
Persephone looked at Hecate and explained the rules of the game.
“When it’s your turn, you choose to tell a truth or to perform a dare. The questioner gets to decide what truth you tell or what dare you perform.”
“And you can’t back out! Whatever you choose, you do,” Hermes paused, and raised his brows again. “Or should I say whoever you choose you do.”
Hades stiffened beside Persephone, and she groaned. “Hermes!”
“What?” he complained.
She was ready to shove one of those apples he’d brought into his mouth. She was hoping to start the game without much detail, knowing that Hades would not be comfortable choosing truths or dares that required complete commitment. She had to admit, she wanted to play this game because she wanted to hear his answers.
“Let’s just…get started,” Persephone said.
“Yes,” Hades agreed, mumbling. “The sooner we begin, the sooner it will end.
Persephone gave him a hard look as they sat, Hades stared back, taking a drink for a glass of whiskey he had summoned.
“Hermes, since you have experience with the game, why don’t you go first,” Persephone said. “Truth or dare?”
“Dare!” he grinned.
“I dare you to not play this game,” Hades said.
The God of Trickery glared. “First, it’s not your dare, Hades, it’s Sephy’s. Second, that’s against the rules.”
“What rules?” Hades asked. “You have only one—whatever you choose, you must do–isn’t that what you said?”
Persephone reached over and squeezed Hades’ thigh hard. He god inhaled between his teeth, eyes burning into hers.
“Hermes, I dare you to…prank call Zeus.”
She giggled but noted that Hecate’s eyes slipped to Hades.
“What?” she asked, recognizing their exchange for what it was—unease.
Hecate shrugged. “Hermes has about a fifty-fifty chance of being electrocuted, that’s all.”
Hades laughed.
Hermes glared and fished his phone out of his pocket.
“Put it on speaker,” Persephone said.
The ringing droned on as they waited for Zeus to answer. Finally, he picked up.
“Hello?”
“Hi, this is Paul from Paul’s Appliances. I was calling regarding your refrigerator. Is it running?”
There was a long pause on the other side.
“Hermes.” The god’s name slipped out of Zeus’s mouth, gritty and frustrated.
Hermes’ eyes widened, and he looked at Persephone.
“Well then you better go fix it!” he yelled before hanging up.
Persephone laughed. “It’s catch, Hermes, not fix!”
The god turned a little pink. “I got nervous. My ass was sweating! You try prank calling Zeus!”
“I’ll pass,” Persephone said, still laughing.
“My turn!” Hermes sung. “Hades—truth or dare?”
Persephone watched him as he weighed his options, sipping his whiskey. After a moment, he said,
“Truth.”
“List your top three turn-ons.”
Hades pursed his lips, an amused glint in his eyes. Persephone frowned. She’d wanted something a little
more personal, not something she could answer herself.
“Persephone,” he said.
“I said three,” Hermes countered.
“And I answered,” he replied. “Persephone, Persephone, and Persephone.”
The Goddess of Spring hung her head in her hands. Gods, she was glad they were among friends.
“Well that’s not fun,” Hermes pouted.
“Speak for yourself,” Hades replied.
“It’s your turn, Hades,” Persephone said, hoping to move on from this conversation. He looked at her and asked, “Truth or dare?”
She had to be strategic against him. If she chose dare, he was likely to ask her to leave with him, or perform a sexual act—Hades was not fazed by crowds.
“Truth,” she said.
“Who is the better friend? Hecate or Hermes?”
She narrowed her eyes. “That’s not fair, Hades.”
He shrugged as he sipped his drink.
“Well?” Hermes asked.
Hecate sat back, looking passive, but confident.
Persephone’s stomach knotted. She would make sure Hades paid for this.
“Hecate,” she answered, dismally.
Hermes inhaled dramatically and looked to Hades for confirmation.
The god of the dead appeared smug as he answered, “She isn’t lying.”
“I feel so betrayed!” He crossed his arms over his chest and twisted, turning his back to Persephone.
She glared at Hades before turning to Hecate. “Truth or dare?”
“Dare,” she answered.
“I dare you to erase the last two minutes from Hermes memory.”
“That’s not—”
Hermes was cut off in the middle of his protest. He paused, brows furrowing then said, “What was I saying?”
There was a beat of silence and Persephone quickly stepped in.
“You were about to ask me truth or dare.”
She did not feel guilty about take Hermes memories—there were some truths better left unsaid and if they had to be said, not remembered.
“Oh, yes!” he said. “Truth or dare, Sephy?”
“Truth,” she said.
“What was your best sexual experience?”
She felt flushed just thinking about the answer to that question—and the fact that she had to speak out loud Hades watched her expectantly and she held his gaze. It was easier to say when she was looking at him.
“It was that time in the shower,” she said. “When you appeared out of nowhere pushed me against the wall, and…”
She trailed off, Hades eyes had darkened, and Persephone squeezed her thighs together, suddenly desperate to feel full of him. He had pressed her into the tile, spread her legs apart and entered her. As he slammed home, he’d pulled her hair and bit her neck and they didn’t speak, just…fucked beneath the hot spray of the shower. It had been raw and desperate and sensual and in the aftermath, Hades scooped her up and took her to bed where he made love to her, savored her, worshipped her.
She shivered, thinking about all the places his lips had touched and she knew Hades was thinking the same by the way he sat, one hand curled around the arm of his chair, the other lifted to his mouth and all she could think is how much she wanted him–and not fast like she had demanded earlier. She wanted slow, sweet, and luscious sex — she wanted connection.
She inhaled just as Hermes spoke.
“And?” he demanded. “Come on, Sephy. Details!”
She swallowed hard and her gaze slid to Hermes.
“And…”
She felt Hades’ hand on the back of her neck, and he turned her toward him, his mouth descending upon hers, his tongue parting her lips as he bent over her, and she found herself rising to her feet with him, kissing him back just as eagerly. She would normally feel embarrassed by his public display of desire—but she wanted this, too, and so she indulged—hands gliding up Hades chest and around his neck. His arm snaked around her waist, sealing them together, pressing his hard-as-steel arousal into her softness, and she wondered how long he’d been feeding it, allowing it to become inflamed with his hunger.
“Um, excuse me,” Hermes said, cupping his mouth to elevate his voice. “Still here.”
“No, we are not!” Hecate said.
“But…the game—”
“Hermes!” The Goddess of Witchcraft snapped.
“Fine!” He grumbled.
Persephone waved goodbye, still kissing Hades.
Just as they left, Persephone teleported to the shower where Hades made good on his dare.