Chapter 42
HADES
Persephone slept nestled against my chest all night, her ordeal draining every ounce of energy from her body.
She felt so tiny in my arms. At times, I tended to forget just how small she truly was.
Her larger-than-life, sassy, headstrong personality, control, and attitude were big enough for a tribe of Amazonians.
Yet when she slept, I saw the petite, beautiful woman with hair like spun starlight and those plump lips that parted with a soft sigh as she burrowed further into my chest. All I could see was her perfection and the way we owned each other.
She is the light in my darkness—my everything.
I slipped out of bed, showered, and put on sweatpants and a T-shirt.
My cock was hard with need, but she’d been through enough.
If he’d… I couldn’t bear the thought of him defiling her.
The bite was enough for me to cope with.
I knew it would have been excruciatingly painful, and my teeth clenched tightly at the idea.
An unwanted bite was painful beyond measure; a willing bite was pleasurable, and a bond bite was the most arousing aphrodisiac. We’d all discovered this aeons ago. The thought of her in pain made my shadows twitch… I’d ensure Adonis went through literal hell in Tartarus for doing that to her.
I shadow-walked to the kitchen and brewed coffee, preparing scrambled eggs and toast when Thanatos strolled in and poured himself a cup.
‘How is she?’ he asked through his teeth.
‘Sleeping. She will be fine. Tell everyone not to worry. Please let Simos know; apparently, the Satyr had a meltdown when he heard,’ I said as I buttered the toast.
Hecate had stayed with Persephone for a while after we returned to the Underworld, tending to the bite and bruises. Persephone had remained unconscious, but Hecate wasn’t worried. Sleep was when our minds were almost free of stress following a traumatic event.
‘Sleeping is a normal healing and recovery process after expending so much adrenaline,’ I added as I turned to Thanatos. ‘Is our guest settled in?’
A cruel smile stretched across Thanatos’s lips. ‘Oh, yes. Tisiphone and her sisters were eager to get their hands on the piece of scum.’
I gave a curt nod. ‘I shall be indisposed today… unless there’s a dire emergency.’
‘Don’t worry, Highness.’ The Underworld usually ran like clockwork; my Underworld family ensured it.
I hesitated before continuing. ‘I’m taking Persephone to the mortal realm for a week…
perhaps longer. Our new schedule will allow everyone at least one long weekend each month for personal time.
That includes you, Thanatos.’ His eyes widened in pleasant surprise.
‘While you rest, Hermes will oversee your army of soul collectors and manage operations in your stead.’
‘Great.’ Thanatos raised his cup in a salute.
‘I’ll be in my office tomorrow. Everyone will meet at ten sharp. We’ll review the new schedule and assign duties for my absence. I leave with Persephone in the afternoon.’
‘No problem.’
I took the tray of food and coffee, and my shadows enveloped me as I returned to Persephone.
‘Morning,’ she said sleepily, rubbing her eyes with her fists.
‘I brought you toast, eggs, and coffee.’ I laid the table and smiled as she scrambled from the bed, making excited squeaks.
We ate in silence for a while. Then she sipped her coffee and seemed to force herself to take deep breaths. I could taste her emotions, a blend of mildly spicy fennel and the tartness of lemons—vexation and agitation.
‘Do you want to talk about it?’ I asked quietly. She raised her eyes to mine; they shimmered with tears, dampness clinging to her lashes. I resisted the urge to go to her.
‘He was…’ She swallowed tightly. ‘Delusional. Deranged. He wanted me to be his consort. He said I belonged to him. That I was promised to him.’ She gave a half-hearted shrug.
‘Promised to him?’ I pondered those words, questioning whether the god behind Ixion had any connection to Adonis. ‘Did he…?’
‘No. He bit me. But he talked about what he would do, and…’ Her voice faltered, but selfishly, relief washed over me at her words.
The taste of panic and fear clung to the back of my throat—sharp and sour, like spoiled coffee. She was starting to hyperventilate. I rushed to her, kneeling before and taking her hand. Flattening my palm against her chest, I felt the rapid thrum of her heart.
‘Breathe, agapi mou. Inhale through your nose for four, hold for seven, then exhale through your mouth for eight.’ She followed my rhythm, forcing the air in and out.
I counted every breath. ‘Again,’ I said softly—again and again until the trembling subsided.
‘Good girl,’ I murmured as the trembling in her body receded.
‘I’m sorry,’ she muttered, dropping her eyes.
‘Don’t apologise, Persephone. I’m here for you. You’re going to be fine.’ A faint shudder rippled through her at my words.
The bite mark on her neck had faded to a faint bruise now that her powers had fully awakened. ‘Feeling better?’ I asked. She nodded, offering a shaky smile.
‘I knew you’d find me,’ she whispered. ‘I just need to pull myself together and stop being such a damn cry-baby.’
I shook my head. ‘You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever known.
Even you get to fall apart sometimes.’ A small, reluctant smile curved her lips.
‘I’m taking you to the mortal realm tomorrow, for a week, maybe longer,’ I said, brushing my thumb over her hand.
‘We’ll travel. Do whatever you want. A change of scenery, and time together, is what we both need. ’
‘I’d love that,’ she said, her voice barely a whisper.
‘I’ll run you a bath.’ She reached out, making little grabby motions with her hands, so I scooped her up, and she wrapped her legs around my hips, her head resting against my shoulder as I carried her to the bathroom.
‘I think you can carry me everywhere from now on. Walking is so overrated,’ she breathed close to my ear, clinging to me like a koala. I raised my brows in mock horror but continued preparing the bath with her still in my arms.
‘I love the sense of safety you give me,’ she murmured, and my heart swelled in response. ‘I—I need you, Hades. I need your touch. Your bite.’ My mouth found hers before she could speak another word. A relentless kiss, thrusting my tongue into her mouth as she stroked hers over mine.
I deepened the kiss, and her legs slid down, but I kept her flush to me, her breasts and pebbled nipples hard against my chest, her nails digging into my shoulders, and my uncomfortably hard cock pressed into her stomach. She shivered deliciously.
I caught her bottom lip between my teeth, breathing hard. ‘Your wish is my command, my queen. I’ll hold you, kiss you, and suck those beautiful breasts the way you like.’
‘Yes,’ she whisper-groaned, lips swollen and trembling.
I kissed her again—hard, hungry. ‘Shall I kiss and lick your wet pussy?’ She nodded, eyes dark with need. ‘And bite you while I’m fucking your pussy… and your arse?’
‘That sounds really nice,’ she breathed, dragging her tongue over her lower lip. The sight nearly undid me, and my erection became a stone monument.
‘But first, I’m going to bathe you.’ Her eyes were like two jade moons, and a soft smile graced those plump lips.
Persephone’s gaze held mine, and her breath caught as I stripped her bare, lifting her into the water.
Slowly, deliberately, I bathed her, my hands and the warm water gliding over her skin in a rhythm that felt like worship.
I lingered on her breasts, then between her thighs, circling her clit with my thumb until her moans filled the room, sweet and broken.
When I finally lifted her from the tub, she clung to me, water dripping from her body like liquid moonlight.
‘Now, Hades,’ she whispered, voice trembling with need. ‘Please.’
‘Patience, Persephone.’ I gave her a half-smile, and her eyes narrowed. By the time I’d dried her body and wrung out as much wetness from her hair as I could, my cock was pulsing—hard and heavy, demanding her. Every inch of her gleamed like temptation incarnate.
I lifted her, and she wrapped her legs around me. Our gazes locked as I pressed her against the wall. ‘I can taste your need,’ I murmured, my voice rough. ‘Sweet and warm as syrup.’
‘Yes. Need. Hades, please…’ she groaned.
Holding her with one arm, I freed myself, my erection springing against her slick heat. Shadows coiled around us like living silk as I sucked her taut nipple into my mouth, then thrust into her with one driving stroke. ‘Fates,’ I growled.
‘Holy gods,’ she gasped, arching as my shadows teased her nipples and slid lower, exploring her ass.
I filled her entirely, lost in the tight, pulsing heat of her body.
Her moans turned ragged, wild, as I thrust deeper, harder—each movement a promise, each sound a prayer.
She spasmed, meeting each grind of my hips, my cock pulsing with fierce, unrelenting need.
‘I will never disrespect you,’ I whispered fiercely against her ear.
‘No one will ever harm you. Your every desire is my command.’ I gripped her chin, forcing her gaze to meet mine.
‘In a world filled with nightmares, you are my paradise.’ Each declaration fell in time with every deep thrust. ‘I would do anything for you… You are my power, my pleasure, my everything. I will love you until all that remains of us are memories… and our bones are returned to the stars.’
Then I set a brutal rhythm—fast, hard, relentless.
Her nails tore at my shoulders as my mouth devoured hers, wild and desperate.
She shuddered, her voice growing hoarser with every cry.
The tremor in her lower body turned into spasming contractions as she writhed and bucked, and when I bit her, she arched and screamed my name, pleasure breaking her apart.
My hips drove into her over and over as she orgasmed again and again, until the tension coiled at the base of my spine exploded, and her spasming pussy milked my cock.
‘I love you, Hades.’ Her soft breath brushed my lips. ‘You are my every desire… wrapped in the safety I never knew I needed.’ A slow smile curved my mouth as I pressed a kiss to her damp forehead.
Our breaths came in jagged gasps as I carried her into the bedroom, laying her gently on the bed. We devoured one another—hungry, reverent, insatiable—until the world beyond us ceased to exist, and love became the only thing left between our shattered breaths.
Her head rested on my chest, and our limbs intertwined. Persephone slept, her languid breaths steadying my own as sleep pulled at me like a tether; yet even in rest, I held her close. I wasn’t letting go. Not now. Not ever.
She is the sun that blazes through my darkest night, my muse, my distraction—my reason for enduring this immortal life.
She is my salvation; she is home.
She is my one and only, and she is mine again.
At last.