“Are you telling me no?”
Truly, if she did not want him, he would release her, but she shook her head once and his resolve crumbled. He spun her around and guided her forward so her hands pressed flat against the mirrored wall, hiking up her skirt and shoving her legs apart. He brushed his palm over her round ass before giving her a light smack, which caused her to yelp. For a moment, he thought he might have hurt her, but when he met her gaze in the mirror, she offered a small nod, and he continued, bending to kiss the skin he had touched while guiding her underwear down.
Once they were off, he placed them in his pocket and turned his attention to her center. Slipping his hand between her thighs, he let his finger trail along her entrance, slick with her arousal. She groaned and arched, her stance growing wider with the hope that she would soon accommodate more of him.
And as much as he wanted to be inside her, he wanted to prolong her pleas for pleasure more.
“So fucking wet. How long have you been like this?”
“Since I got here,” she offered in a whispered moan. He liked the way she pressed into the mirror, how exaggerated her back arched and elevated her ass. “I wanted you on the dance floor. I willed you to manifest from the dark, but you weren’t there.”
“I’m here now,” he said. Rising to his feet, he kissed her shoulder and down her back before drawing his tongue over her round ass. All the while, his fingers continued their exploration, curling inside her, isolating her pleasure. Another hand worked her clit, and beneath him, she hummed and sighed and cried.
Sweat broke out across his skin, and his head felt hot. There were so many parts of her he wanted to touch and taste, and his cock grew thicker and heavier, desperate to sink into her heat, to feel her clench around him, to fill her to bursting with his come.
This was possession, and right now, he wanted to own all of her.
“Hades…please!” She gave a guttural, breathless sob, looking at him from under her arm, and he knew she was just as desperate to come. He could see it in her eyes, feel it in the heat of her skin. He withdrew, fingers sticky with her arousal, and chuckled at her cry of frustration. When she started to straighten, he held her hips in place.
“Stay,” he ordered, an edge of darkness to his voice.
She offered an angry glare, and he knew she did not like the command.
Still, he smiled.
“It wouldn’t be punishment if I gave you what you wanted when you demand it.”
Her lips slammed into a hard line. “Don’t pretend you don’t want me.”
The sound of his zipper followed his reply. “Oh, I’m not pretending.”
He guided the head of his cock to her entrance and thrust, sinking into her heat and grip. He stayed there a moment, fully sheathed, enjoying the pressure that held his cock so firmly. He could stay here forever, lost in this heady pleasure, but beneath him, Persephone writhed, her body demanding movement.
Still, he held off, brushing his hand along her back before bending close to squeeze her breasts and tease her nipples. Finally, he began to move, small thrusts, a grinding that caused them both to groan. He reached for her hair, wrapping it around his fist like a line of rope, and drew her toward him, kissing her neck and jaw. Their mouths connected, tongues twining in a desperate attempt to taste each other’s souls.
Then he released her all at once, though he kept an arm wound around her middle. She watched him in the mirror as he slowed his pace despite wanting nothing more than to slam into her.
“This is for us,” he said, pulling out, holding her attention like embers in the night. “You will share this with no one else.”
He thrust forward, and her breath caught in her throat.
“Some things are sacred to me,” he said, repeating the same teasing motion. “This is sacred to me. You are sacred to me. Do you understand?”
She nodded, resting her face against the wall.
“Say it! Say you understand.”
“Yes! Yes, gods-dammit. I understand! Make me come, Hades!”
He pulled out of her and lifted her from her bent position. She spun to face him, eyes wild, and he kissed her, gripping her jaw, pressing her into the wall. There was something sweeter about the taste of her now, on the other side of this anger and frustration. His hands fell, smoothing down her body until he reached her thighs and hoisted her up, leveraging her so she hovered just above his cock before guiding himself back to her entrance and letting her slide down on him.
This position offered little in the way of movement, but it was the closeness they needed. Persephone’s hands were tangled in his hair, as if she were ready to pull him to her once more, but Hades remained at a distance, studying her face.
“I have never loved anyone as I love you,” he murmured as if he wanted no one else to hear, though he would gladly share those words with the world. “I can’t put it into words—there are none that come close to expressing how I feel.”
“Then don’t use words,” she whispered, and when their lips collided once more, Hades turned and lowered to the floor. As soon as he hit the ground, she began to rock against him, uncaring that he had slipped from inside her during their descent, though she was quick to guide him back, slamming down on him with a force that made their bodies slap together.
He watched her use him for her pleasure, fingers twining with his own as she dragged his arms up and over his head, giving him access to her breasts.
He teased them with his tongue and teeth before he could no longer handle staying still.
“Fuck!”
He broke her hold and gripped her hips, fingers digging into her soft skin as he helped her move, meeting each downward slide with an upward thrust. Their breaths came hard and fast, and when she began to tighten around him, it was enough to send them both over the edge. He came hard, in a gush of heat that continued as her head fell back in listless pleasure.
She sank against him, her heart hammering, and though they were both slick with sweat, he liked the heaviness of her body against his and he wanted this forever.
“Marry me.”
The words slipped out, and once they were in the ether, there was no taking them back. Not that he would want to. Marriage to Persephone had been his plan all along.
Persephone sat back, and as she did, his cock moved with her.
“What?”
It was not the emphatic answer he was looking for. He knew she had heard him, though he could not blame her for hesitating—or even saying no. They had never spoken about marriage, even if he had mentioned their fate.
“Marry me, Persephone. Be my queen. Say you’ll stand by my side…
forever.”
He spoke and recalled Hecate’s words—that no one but the Fates could unravel their future—but what if Persephone never said yes?
“Hades…I…” She hesitated. “You were just angry with me.”
“And now I’m not.”
“And you want to marry me?”
“Yes.”
She rose to her feet on shaky legs, and when Hades tried to help, she pushed him away.
“I can’t marry you, Hades,” she said, her voice breaking. “I…I don’t know you.”
Hades’s lips tightened, and his brows slammed down over his eyes. “You know me.”
“No, I don’t.” She gestured to their surroundings. “You kept this place from me.”
“Persephone, I have lived forever. There will always be things you learn about me, and you should know you won’t like some of them.”
“This isn’t one of those things, Hades. This place is real, and it exists in the present. You hired Leuce to work here. I deserved to know, just as I deserved to know about Leuce!”
Hades tightened his jaw. She wasn’t wrong, but she also did not know what she was asking for. Did she think she could handle the truth of this world?
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked.
“Because I was afraid,” he snapped, frustrated by the hurt in her voice.