He keeps his hand on the small of my back as we go to his rooms, guiding me with soft pressure to keep up the pace. It appears my king is just as anxious to be alone as I am.
I find myself needing his touch. His approval. His kisses and desire. As his hand slips lower, to the small of my ass, a measured moan of pleasure leaves my lips, and his heated gaze meets mine. Guards be damned, they witness the interaction.
The second the door shuts behind us, he pushes me up against the wall, takes my face in his hands, and kisses me with as much passion as I give him. I’m needy for his love and approval. Our desires force moans into the warm air between us. Hades slides his thigh between mine and runs his hands down my body. He rocks himself against my clit, relentlessly. The pleasure is everything and all I need. He doesn’t stop; kissing, sucking, and rubbing against my clit until I cry out and come on his thigh, both of us still fully clothed.
Flushed and breathless, I stare into his dark eyes filled with nothing but lust. Before he can kiss me again, I drop to my knees and tear at his clothes until I’ve freed his thick cock, then run my tongue through the slit at his tip making him hiss. Smiling to myself with utter satisfaction, I close my lips around his shaft and take him into my mouth until I gag. The head of his cock presses against the back of my throat and I love it. The depravity and the deep need settle in the heat between my thighs.
Hades lets out a rough groan and braces himself against the door, thrusting his hips slowly into my mouth. I wrap my tongue around him and let him fuck my throat, tightening my lips whenever I can. It’s not easy to take all of him. He fists the hair at the back of my head and eases himself deeper and deeper. My eyes sting and water with his thrusts and I fucking love it. I don’t stop him. I revel at his desire to take me this way. I manage to draw a few more groans of pleasure from him before he comes, moaning my name.
His release is salty yet sweet, and all I can do is swallow.
It feels filthy and perfect. I have never felt more like a queen than on my knees throbbing with need for him to please me the same way.
Hades pulls me to my feet afterward and swipes the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip. He breathes heavily, his chiseled chest rising and falling with each labored breath.
Then he kisses me again, slower this time. Warmth flows down my shoulders with his gentleness. When he pulls back, he takes my hand and leads me to his grand bed. I direct my magic at the fire, and it jumps up in the grate. Flames lick up instantly and the power I feel is undeniable. The hearth’s heat and light pour into the room, adding to what’s already there. The sun is still in the sky, though the rays are getting longer. It will be evening soon, and then it will be night, and Hecate will leave the Underworld.
At that thought, my heart stutters. Thankfully, my love distracts me.
Hades sits on the edge of the bed, and it groans with his weight. He draws me in between his legs. He takes the crown carefully off my head, setting it aside on the table. Slowly, he bends down and gathers the hem of my gown in his hands. The teasingly slow pace only makes me want him more. He lifts it up over my head, then lets it hang over the foot of the bed.
He lifts my delicate silk undergarments away next, one by one until I stand naked before him. Then he takes me by the waist and guides me closer for a kiss. With his warm tongue, he licks my nipples, then sucks at them gently but firmly, then runs his thumbs over them until I’m shivering with desire. My head falls back and soft moans pour from me easily. My clit throbs with need. Barely able to stand the incoming threat of pleasure, I whisper his name as a plea. Only then does Hades slide his fingers between my legs and circle my clit with his thumb until I come undone once again. Every inch of my skin lit on fire with envy of whatever part of me has his attention.
Hades pins me between his legs, holding me as I come down. His hands return to my waist. He drags his gaze all over my body, finally meeting my eyes.
“I do not wish to chain you,” he states. Once again my heart skips in that way it did before. As if it’s attempting to escape the very cage it’s contained in.
Swallowing thickly, I let my weight rest in his hands. I’m still lightheaded, still weak-kneed with pleasure. I would have more of it, if Hades would give it to me. It is not night yet. Hecate has not come. I am certain that I will come many more times before she arrives.
“Perhaps I would enjoy the challenge,” I tease, testing him.
Hades’s face hardens, and his grip tightens on my waist. “Do not tempt me, Persephone. I cannot stand the pain of your absence.”
“You cannot see past your own desires,” I whisper.
“Perhaps I’m blinded by my love for you,” he says in agreement. “Is that a sin?”
“Maybe not, but it cannot be at the death of innocent souls,” I answer calmly. My heart thuds in my chest.
Cupping his chin, I look deeply into his eyes. My heart aches. I want to give in to him. I want to tell him I will stay, and I will never leave. I want to tell him I can live without half of myself, but I cannot. I cannot split myself in two.
“I need what I have in Olympus, my king.” It’s painful to say the words. It’s painful to take a breath to say more. But if I have learned anything from Hades and all of this hell we’ve been through, it’s that I must keep my own strength. I cannot give it up, or I will never have it back again. “And so does the world and so does my mother.”
Hades swallows and turns his dark eyes on mine. He does not squeeze my waist, but his fingers caress me there as if he cannot bear the thought of letting me go. As if he wishes he had the heart to chain me for eternity.
“Your mother? Your mother’s rage resulted in that woman’s death. Her starvation! How can you return to her when she’s the cause of all of this!” His agony is felt, but it is rash and reckless.
“I’m aware of what she’s done, but that woman will live with abundance. I could have promised her I’d provide that for her children too,” I start, my voice tightening and nearly cracking, “but I cannot do such things when I’m here. I can only truly bring justice to her and her family if I’m able to be just to myself as well.” I swallow the emotions, my heart beating hard beside Hades’s as my words register. His gaze drops, and the cords in his throat tighten as his jaw ticks. He knows I speak the truth and the woman deserved more than what was given. She should have had security that her children wouldn’t follow the same fate and yet, because of Hades’s unrelenting possession of me, I could not offer her that.
“You are needed here,” he says roughly, and I know it has cost him to say this to me. I know he wishes he did not have to. “I need you.”
“I know.” I kiss his forehead, then both his cheeks, then his lips. “I know, my king. But I will leave with Hecate.”
Hades growls into my shoulder. His breath is hot against my skin. “You only have powers because of me. Your father would have seen you turn mortal.”
“You cannot take the moral high ground when you were a partner in that deal. I gave you grace that perhaps you didn’t deserve. Do you not see how I suffer too?” I ask him genuinely. “How I feel as your queen, who you grip too tightly?”
He avoids my gaze, refusing to answer.
