Drown in her moans

The last thing Claudine remembered was the cool, slicknesd of the bathtub against her naked skin. The overwhelming rush of pleasure, the tears, the exhaustion.

And then, the sudden, gentle grip of Hades’s hands as he pulled her limp, spent body from the tub. She vaguely recalled being wrapped in a soft towel, carried through the quiet mansion, and the hushed urgency in his voice.

The next memory was the bright, sterile lights of a hospital room, the quiet murmur of doctors, and the conversation about exhaustion. And then, the small, white pill: birth control, finally they came to a decision.

No one was having a baby. He had stayed by her side, his presence a solid, comforting weight, even as she drifted in and out of sleep.

The vacation had ended abruptly, but not badly. In fact, after a few days of rest, she felt strangely better. Lighter. The intense, raw intimacy had, confusingly, forged a new, unspoken bond between them. She had actually had a great time with him, despite the terr