Victoria was giggling to herself, feeling the sway of rhythm as Hades carried her back to her chambers. It wasn't long ago that he realised that she was intoxicated.

She giggled again.

"Cheer up." She grinned at him, he had been in a foul mood as soon as he realised that she was drunk. He knew what the gods and goddesses were like. Knew that they loved to encourage bad decisions and they managed to find out that Victoria liked to drink when she was embarrassed. Which happened often. She patted his chest and relaxed in his scent. His arms were so comfortable and held her securely against him.

"You have drank too much." He stated, face emotionless to hide his displeasure. "You'll feel horrid in the morning." They arrived at her room, Hades opened the door and walked in, gently placing her on the bed.

Victoria moaned in happiness, laying on her bed and scrunching the soft sheets in her hands. "The bed is soo soft." Then started singing to herself. "Soft soft soft soft soft."

Hades poured some water into a glass that was sitting on her bedside table whilst Victoria watched him. He came to a stop beside her and offered her the glass. "Drink," he told her, "the alcohol will have dehydrated you, you need some water."

She scrunched her face at him and took the glass, carefully sipping as she felt everything spinning around her. A couple sips later and she set the glass down, eyeing him standing by the doorway.

"Why are you so far away?" She frowned, clumsily setting the glass back on the table. She quickly tried to make herself comfortable. Victoria undid her dress at the back, allowing herself to no longer be restricted by the fabric from all the food she had eaten. Sighing in contentment, she kicked off her shoes and the rest of her dress, completely forgetting what she wore underneath.

When she looked at him again, she saw him staring. He looked stunned, his eyes widened momentarily before he turned away, clearing his throat.

"I take my leave now My Lady."

Victoria was offended and her feelings were hurt as she watched him hastily leave her room, as if he couldn't get out of there quick enough.

Sighing to herself, she drank some more water. This man was giving her whiplash. One second he was so tender with her it made tears want ot spring to her eyes, the next he was expressionless and indifferent. She couldn't keep up with how quickly his emotions changed, it was as if she had met different people throughout the day who all looked like Hades.

Victoria recalled how he looked sitting on his throne. The way authority and power seemed to ooze out of him. They was he glared at her in the Great Hall, how his attention set her body on fire and made her acutely aware of him.

She sighed to herself, covering herself in the blanket and closed her eyes, willing herself to sleep.

Instead, images of his face popped up into her mind. She couldn't stop thinking about how he looked at her when he pulled away from kissing her. The pure disarming hunger that was in his eyes, how it felt when his lips were against hers, how her body was set ablaze.

Stop thinking about him.

She grabbed the glass again and tried to distract herself with the coldness of the water in her throat. Victoria needed to sleep.

-

On the other side of the palace, Hades paced in his chambers. The image of his beloved stripped down to her underwear ingrained into his mind.

Why on earth was she wearing that?

He snarled to himself and ran a hand over his face for the millionth time. Victoria was going to drive him crazy.

He needed a cold shower.

Stripping off his shoes, socks and tunic. Hades waited for the shower to warm up. Victoria kept running through his head. She tasted so sweet, the smell of amber and how she whimpered against his lips...

Hades stood under the pelting water of the shower. The heat of it warmed his body as much as it soothed and relaxed.

Damn, he couldn't get the image of her out of his damn head.

But he didn't care, she was gorgeous. The black lace underwear she wore clung to her like a second skin, almost begging him to take a handful of it and tear it off. He could just imagine what he could do to her, having servants listen on the other side of the door as he would bend Victoria over her bed and-

His breathing became heavier, his entire body flushed. He was light headed.

Steam rose from the ground under his feet as he panted, leaning his full weight into his hands against the wall. He dipped his head and stared at the water pooling down the drain.

He needed to get a grip on himself.

With that though, Hades grabbed the faucet and forcibly turned it to the coldest setting.

And welcomed the cold shock.