"Hadrian."
My body convulsed around him, and Hadrian groaned, his hands tightening around the cheeks of my ass as he felt me cum. A moment later, and he was hammering into me harder and faster than ever, his cock filling me up with his hot, thick seed.
SPIRO NEARLY TRIPPED over his own feet in his hurry to reach us, having seen Hadrian and I rejoin the others at the table after our, um, moment of "privacy". The boy might have been awestruck in my presence earlier, but with Hadrian, Spiro's reaction was at a whole new level of dazzled. He looked ready to kneel and worship at Hadrian's feet as my husband spoke to him, and as I watched the two interact, the term that the ARM had used earlier immediately came to mind.
Legendary.
It was how everyone seemed to think of Hadrian, and to be married to such a man...
Hadrian caught me staring at him and raised a brow. "What is it?"
"I was just thinking about Persephone," I confessed, "and how it would feel if I were in her shoes, with everyone knowing I was once married to the most incredible man...and everyone also knowing that man is no longer mine. It's a difficult pill to swallow to say the least, so I guess...it's understandable, why she's being bitter and vengeful—-" The ARM cut me off with their groans, and I stared at them in confusion. "What?"
Aeacus gave me a pained look. "Where is the meanness you promised us, milady?"
"Oh." I tried thinking of an excuse but my mind was a complete blank. "Shit."
The ARM sighed, and I grimaced when they went even further by shaking their collective heads at me.
"I just forgot myself for a moment," I said defensively. "A moment!"
"Indeed, milady," Minos agreed. "In that one moment, you had revealed your true colors—-"
"No, I didn't! What you saw was a...a lapse. But the truth is, I'm only occasionally kind. Most of the time, however, I'm really mean and bitchy and...and..." I looked at Hadrian hopefully. "You believe me, don't you? That I can be incredibly and excessively mean if I need to?"
My husband only smiled...and then wisely changed the subject after that, saying, "A decision has been made regarding your case."
I knew when I was being purposely distracted, but since being LOTUS meant one must always focus on more important things...
"Am I still being sued?"
"Persephone is adamant about not settling for mediation or arbitration of any kind."
"It's my first time to be at the receiving end of a lawsuit," I reminded my husband. "So can we just stick to yes or no?"
"It is, unfortunately, a yes."
"Shit."
"We have also been asked to submit counter-evidence—-"
"Whoa." I was more confused than mad. "That makes me sound like I've broken some kind of law." And while I might be occasionally easy to distract, even I would've known if I had done something that could get me arrested. Persephone might not think I'm goddess material, but so what? Since when did not being "divine" enough become a crime?
"Persephone's counsel has managed to turn the whole thing on its ear," Hadrian said rather grimly, "and we are now dealing with a quo warranto."
I bit back a groan. It had taken me two whole books before I could even understand why Persephone kept harping about deus ex machina, and now we had another new Latin term to tackle?
I glanced at the ARM, hoping they'd look just as confused, but nope. One look at their similarly grim expressions told me I was the only one whose vocabulary was lacking, and so...
"Can someone do an ELI5, please?"
Rhadamanthus frowned. "ELI5?"
"Explain like I'm five," Hadrian answered with an admirably straight face, and I couldn't help laughing.
"You go, babe," I told him with a wink.
"Thank you, babe," Hadrian answered solemnly without missing a beat.
"May I excuse myself, milord?" Rhadamanthus asked right away. "I have an urgent need to throw up."
Hadrian simply smiled while I took the higher road and ignored the R of ARM. "I don't get it," I told my husband. "I thought when I passed the Fates' test, I'd have successfully proven myself as Lady of the Underworld."
"You had, milady," Minos readily acknowledged. "Passing the test meant you've earned the right to rule by Lord Hades' side."
"And normally, it should've ended there," Aeacus said flatly. "But because Persephone appears very much invested in discrediting milady..."
"She's managed to found another loophole," I guessed gloomily. "Hasn't she?" I thought about the newest bit of Latin to stand in my way, and asked rather fearfully, "Please don't tell me the quo warranto thing means I'm about to get arrested?"
"It is nothing like that," Hadrian said assuringly. “A quo warranto primarily questions a person's qualifications to serve in a particular office. Or, in this case, Persephone's counsel is asking how long we are supposed to wait before you can exhibit or manifest the most essential requirement for an individual to be recognized as a deity."