Her Forever

Gwen’s POV

Oh. My. Gosh.

Hades is giving me that smile, but I see the fire in his eyes. He was not happy at our interruption, and I feared for the other entity on the other side of the door. I’ve been lucky they haven’t been towards me, but others need to watch out. I’ve seen a little bit of what Hades can do, and he does have some anger issues.

I pulled my shirt down over my exposed chest, and he slid down my body and gave a quick nip at my h*p. A shot of sparks ran straight between my thighs. I squeezed them shut while the pink tint of my cheeks covered me all the way down to my chest. Hades g*****d and adjusted himself as he finally slid off the bed. Before he left, he covered me with a blanket, wrapped me up, and kissed the temple of my head.

“Don’t move; I don’t need anyone seeing or smelling your arousal,” his raspy voice invaded my ears as my heart leaped out of my chest.

“Smell?!” I squealed.

“Your mate is a god, so of course we have heightened senses, and let me tell you, Angel, you smell divine.” He bit the side of his mouth and strode over to the door. Hades’ gate was powerful as his back muscles tensed as he approached the door.

I couldn’t believe we went as far as we did. The ember of l**t I had for him had exploded into a blaze only meant for two really in love. Could it be love? I’m beginning to think so. I don’t want him just for his looks, but the way he treats me, makes me feel, protects me, and cares for me. It is like no other feeling I’ve ever had or remember. Love is what I am describing, isn’t it? To care for someone unconditionally?

Hades was so worried I would leave him that it made my stomach hurt when he gave me a look of defeat. With the mistakes he had made, I felt the desire to comfort him. He continues to put himself down and hold onto the sins he had created for himself, yet he still continues to rectify his wrongs.

Being in the underworld and watching those with horrible crimes themselves be punished and never forgiven has made Hades sit in his own sins of guilt. He has to learn to forgive himself on his own time, just like anyone else.

A small smile came across my face as I realized he was mine and I was his. It made the overwhelming feelings a little less scary. We both have to get to know each other, he’s lived for so long, and he has wants and desires, and I would love to know what makes him tick. He claims Persephone made his life spiral down, but there is something else. He’s holding back, and even when I continue to tell him, I won’t leave as long as he is honest. I fear he is holding something back. If I had secrets to tell, I would say tell him. I just don’t have anything to give.

I must be patient and continue to reassure him that I’m not leaving. With a new set of determining goals, I cringed as the sound of the door knocked again.

Hades growled that only made me shiver. Every sound this manmade was so sexy. I rolled myself into a burrito as he looked back at me and raised his brow. “Don’t smell me, don’t smell me,” I chanted.

Hades opened the door to be greeted by Niko.

Uh, oh.

Hades gripped his neck as he stepped into the hallway while he shut the door behind him. This wasn’t good; I owed Niko for saving me. He was a great friend the past year while I worked at the strip club. He was the only one who made me smile and made my shift a little shorter.

My body was wrapped up like a burrito as I tried to wiggle free. Rolling back and forth on the bed, I landed on the floor with a large thump and landed on my bad leg.

“Owie!” I slowly rolled out of the blanket only to find Hades and Niko looking at me, confused. “I fell, I’m fine! But please don’t fight!” I pouted my l*p, knowing Hades would do anything for me when I did that.

“Don’t do that, angel,” he growled. I fluttered my eyes at him, begging him not to hurt Niko.

“Please don’t hurt him; he didn’t know. When the door is shut, don’t knock on it, OK Niko?” Niko looked between Hades and me and gave a slight nod. He looked hurt, and I couldn’t understand why. Did he like me? I’m supposed to be Hades’ mate; he will get his own mate, too, right?

With the tension in the room thickening as Hades continues to stare down Niko for looking at me. I wrapped the blanket back around and stood next to Hades. “I’m pretty tired,” I yawned. Hades immediately scooped me up in his arms and deposited me in the bathroom.

“Get ready for bed; I’ll be back in a moment,” the quick peck on my lips left too soon as he turned his back to me to talk to Niko. Grabbing his hand, I pulled him to me, flushed against my body. My hand immediately caressed his face.

“Please don’t hurt him. I’m sure he has something important to say since he came to your room,” Hades let out a sigh and a slight nod before walking out of the bedroom and shutting the door.

Now that the tension was gone, I opted for a bath since I was all hot and bothered. Filling the large bath with oils and bath salts, I waited for the water to warm. My clothes were peeled off me in an instant as I squealed internally at the bath before me. Unwrapping the bandage, expecting to still see a few s***h marks, I was pleasantly surprised that there was hardly any. Only a few light scratches remained that looked it could be nothing more than a cat’s claws. Whatever they were putting in those IV mineral nutrient bags was working. I’ve never healed so fast in my life.

Wanting nothing more than to ease my aching muscles, I slid into the tub until my entire body was submerged. The aroma from the lavender helped me calm myself, and I shut my eyes. The bubbles kept my body hidden like a blanket as I heard slight popping from the tiny globes.

As I grew comfortable, I fell in and out of consciousness. The water became cold, and I was no longer comfortable and thought about getting out until I heard a chitter. It sounded like a squirrel but in a bathroom? My eyes fluttered open to see a bright red and orange fox with little wings on its back. It was small, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. Its tail was aflame while the tips of its wings were black and charred. The tips of his ears and paws were also black, which made me wonder if it got too excited; it just burst into flames. I started giggling at the thought of the entire fox on fire which only made him c**k his head in confusion.

It chittered again at me, its head looking down as it stared at me in the water. It would glance at the water, then at me. Chattering again, almost scolding the water and myself so I went ahead and stood up and reached for a towel. The poor thing was in distress as it hopped off the tub and flew up on the counter. I wrapped the towel around my body, and the cute little thing looked me up and down, somewhat satisfied. It chittered again, using its paw to show me what it wanted next.

Hairdryer

Did it want me to dry off? Bossy little thing. I reached for it as he chittered again for me to start it up, and I dried my hair while it patiently waited and watched. Its eyes never left me once as I brushed and dried it, which did take a bit. Once my hair was dry, it looked me up and down with a satisfied look and used its paw again, pointing to the door.

Opening the door, it flew out faster than I was expecting and flew right into the closet that Hades had my clothes put in. On the left were suits, shirts and pants and all of them were in black of course. On the right side of the closet, there were dresses, shirts, skirts, jeans, and anything I could think of. Every day the closet continued to grow, and I wondered where all these clothes were even coming from.

I went to a large chest of drawers and shuffled through each one until I found something to wear to bed. All of it was lacy, barely-there or silk. I curled my nose up, not wanting to even think about putting that on after the steamy session we had earlier. I shut the drawers quickly until the little fox animal started chittering again. It was scolding me! It hopped up and down and pawed at the drawer until I finally stomped my foot.

“Excuse me, would you cut it out?!” It sat back on its hindquarters and let out a little huff. I turned to the opposite side of the closet and found Hades’ plain black knit shirts and boxers. Being a creep, I smelled in his scent. Mmm, smores. I wonder if I have a smell too?

I put on the shirt that reached me mid-thigh and decided to forgo the boxers. The little fox scurried outright as the bedroom door opened. Hades had a scowl on his face only to have it lightened when he saw me.

Did I really bring that much happiness to him? “Hades!” I jumped across the room and gave him a hug. He pulled me in and rubbed my back. “There is this cute little creature thing that has been bossing me around. Is he your pet too?” Hades pulled back from me.

“Pet?” he questioned. The chittering started again, and it flew up and landed on my shoulder. The fire on its tail extinguished, and only bits of smoke rose from its rear.

“This thing,..” I pointed at the little critter. Its nose was pointed and full of sharp little teeth that hung over its maw. If the thing was bigger, he could really do some damage. Hades looked at the fire hamster and back at me.

“It’s a phantomtail,” Hades took his finger to pet its head but only snapped at him. It growled and started chittering again like Hades could understand every word it was saying. It continued chittering while Hades began smiling. The little phantomtail stuck out its tongue and few into the closet.

“What is a phantom tail exactly, and why did he try to bite you?” I stared into the closet, waiting for the creature to come out, only to hear light snores coming from the dirty laundry. “What the?”

“Phantomtails roam around the underworld. Their primary job is to help lost animal spirits back to their humans. Shifter spirits sometimes get separated from their human counterparts and need to be lead back to the Asphodel Fields to be with their humans. Phantomtails can be very protective over the animals they protect. I have known a few phantomtails to find a human they like and treat them like their own little kit.” I giggled.

“So it thinks I’m its kit?” Hades nodded.

“What were you doing when he found you?”

“I was in the tub, but I kept falling asleep until it started to chatter at me to get out,” I scratched my head while Hades folded his arms.

“That’s why you can’t take care of yourself,” he chided while I scoffed. “I leave for just a little over an hour, and you are falling asleep in the tub. Maybe he should follow you around. Better pick a name for him.” I gasped.

“I can keep him!? Yay!!!” Cerberus walked into the room and put his nose in the air. He started growling and headed over to the closet. The chattering soon began tiny screams as I ran inside the closet to save the phantom tail. “No, Cerberus! Don’t hurt him!” I picked the phantomtail up and pulled him to my chest while I petted his head. It purred contentedly while glaring at Cerebrus.

Cerebrus looked to Hades, who only shrugged his shoulders at him and started to whine. “Oh, Cerebus, you are still the bestest boy!” I scratched his belly while he g*****d, but my new bestie didn’t like that he started chatting with me again. “Oh, this is going to be hard!” Hades laughed while my heart felt so warm about all of us being in the same room.

It felt like a real family, a real home to be in. I never wanted it to end, and I couldn’t imagine life getting much better.