Except Persephone.
“I spend my life surrounded by intricacy. The politics are nauseating and the pompous contests are exhausting. All of the kind gestures are but a test of your cunning. They’re all waiting for you to turn your back so that they can sink in their hands and rip the heart from your chest.” She paused as she considered her next words, feelings that had always been there but she’d never voiced. “There are plants with hundreds of blooms on a vine, or single stalks with layers of petals filing atop each other. They look beautiful because all of their flaws are hidden beneath grandeur. The daffodil, though? Six petals with nothing to hide behind. What you see is what they are– nothing more and nothing less. There is beauty in simplicity.”
He was silent as she pondered her own words. Persephone had never spoken such slander aloud, and a creeping fear made her shiver.“Never be loose with your words, Persephone. There is always someone listening.”Demeter’s warning rang through her mind and it was hard not to dwell on it.
“Sounds to me like they’re all measuring their cocks to see whose is the largest,” he spoke, his light tone pulling her from the darkness constricting her thoughts. “They wouldn’t have an inch on me, though.” He winked.
It took a moment for her to catch his intention, but as it clicked laughter burst from her chest and rang through the meadow. He joined in the raucous and they laughed together until her chest ached. Even after they stopped, her smile refused to falter. She’d never know such joy in the company of another.
A heavy awareness fell between them. She turned to look at her mystery prince and found a pair of soulful brown eyes staring back. Hesitantly, he brought a hand up and traced the line of her jaw as he whispered, “You’re so beautiful, Persephone.”
Her cheeks flamed and she shied away, but the hand on her jaw held firm.
“Don’t hide from me, flower. I see you and all six of your petals.”
Her breath caught as tears sprang to her eyes. No one had truly seen Persephone before, only the layers Demeter laid so heavily upon her shoulders.
“Why are you so kind to me?” Her voice was shaky as the dam holding her tears shuddered under the pressure.
The man didn’t respond, only rolled to his stomach and braced his weight on his elbows. Their gazes locked together for what could have been moments or years before his flicked down to her lips. Her tongue swept out to dampen them, suddenly dry from the heat of his stare. He lowered his head tentatively, his eyes looking back to her as if saying she could stop him any time she needed to.
She did no such thing.
Her pulse quickened as his gaze dipped once more. Persephone closed her eyes as their lips met. His kiss was gentle and made bliss rocket through her senses. She melted under him, her body so warm and fuzzy that she couldn’t do anything but kiss him back.
She knew he would be a good lover because his energy always seemed to match hers. When she was hesitant or contemplative, so was he. Now, however? Persephone was ravenous and he was eager to feed her hunger.
She had never kissed anyone before but it didn’t matter. Where she faltered, he took control and corrected. Their kiss was a dance and he taught her every step until she was a master at leading.
They sat up as their kiss became more passionate and their hands desperate. She nipped at his swollen lips as his tongue teased, their ragged breaths mingling between. Soon, kissing wasn’t enough. She was desperate to explore his body, her hands clenching and releasing in his shirt as she tried to tell him what she wanted.
She broke the kiss and threw her head back. His mouth touched every inch of her exposed neck and each press of his lips sent tremors racing through her. Persephone whined a breathy, frustrated moan.
Laughter vibrated from his chest as he bit her earlobe and sucked away the sting. “Do you want to touch me, flower?”
“Please,” she cried.
“Do you know how?”
She shuddered, more than a little self-conscious of her virginity. But what was scarier than her ignorance was the complete trust she felt in him to be her first. Persephone turned to meet his stare and whispered, “Show me.”
His smile was devilish as he pulled the shirt from his back. Her eyes roamed his taught torso and heat flared in her belly. She thought there was already a fire, but it was embers compared to the flames his naked skin stoked.
“You look…” She hadn’t the words to continue. Beautiful didn’t do him justice.
“I know.” He smiled.
She reached out a hand and ran her fingers through the patch of brown curls on his chest. They were coarse against her skin, but she found pleasure in the contrast. Where she really wanted to go, however, was down the small trail of hair dipping below the cotton pants at his waist. Persephone’s hand traveled slowly, reveling in every inch of his tanned skin.
“Put your lips to my chest and kiss your way down.” His voice startled her, her mind too lost in awe over the god before her.
Confusion must have been painted across her expression judging by his answering smirk. He laid back on his elbows and flexed the muscles in his abdomen. Her mouth flooded and she wanted nothing more than to do as he asked.
“It’s okay, flower. I know how tempting I am. Bask in me as I do you.”
Her mouth watered as she lost herself in the looks of him, but as she moved forward to touch him again, she hesitated. She was supposed to save her body. It was her duty, after all. To be untouched and presentable. Demeter said that’s the only way a man could ever want her.
She scoffed, a sneer sneaking into her expression.
