My Lord Hades (26 page)

She spent time with Thanatos, the Furies, and the three Judges she appointed. She met

Aphrodite who shocked and delighted her with her inappropriate comments. She trained with Eris and shockingly learned to wield a sword. She rescued Cerebrus from Coronus and laughed with Charon who was indeed funny.

She also witnessed the horrors of Tartarus and chaffed under the restrictions placed upon her by Coronus as she attempted to make right the gross injustices there. Too many did not deserve their punishments. Hades was one among many.

There were many times the other Persephone stood before the cell of her teacher’s son and her heart cried for the man trapped inside. Persephone was shocked to realize the Iron Queen loved Hades.

Persephone risked everything to face the Titan King Coronus and argue in Hades behalf. Eris and Thanatos had stood at her side.

“He will never be free as long as I am King of the Gods,” Coronus growled.

Mentally Persephone pulled away as her life unfolded. She only wanted to see the one event that stole a lifetime of memories and magic. Who had the power to take this all away?

“I’m done!” Persephone screamed at the people playing out the scene before her. “I don’t

want to see anymore!”

“Persephone?”

She closed her eyes tight, not wanting to see another memory of Hades erased from her

recollections.

A hand touched her shoulder. At first she thought it another echo as she was enfolded within a strong embrace. His breath warmed the nap of her neck and she was being lifted.

She knew the thought was wishful thinking on her part. He couldn’t really be here. He

couldn’t really be trapped in her mind with her, it was impossible. So she clung to the apparition of Hades, breathing in the scent of sandalwood and vanilla, nuzzling his neck.

She drew him closer. Her hands roamed the planes of his back, his arms, and his face. Was he really here? Could he really be here with her?

She was so confused. How did she know what was real and what was memory? How did she

know which thoughts were hers and which ones were corrupted versions of truth? If she ever escaped this place, how would she know what she wanted?

But then the answer was in these forgotten memories. She had gone after and sought out what she wanted time and time again. She’d desired Hades as she never desired another, before she lost her memories and after. He was ensconced in her heart forever. The echoes of that desire had blossomed into real love when she’d met the god years later in her forest.

Hades was considerate of her emotions and her innocence since the first moment they truly met. Her actions had been forward and could have been seen as an invitation. Her memories told her that even the most innocent actions could be construed as an invitation and many of the Titans who’d come courting her in the Underworld had attempted to take what she hadn’t

offered. But unlike them, she could envision a life with Hades.

She could be his wife and he her husband in truth. She could be his lover and the mother of their children. She could retake her place in this world of death and torment as Queen and accomplish what she set out to do. She could make Hades a King in truth.

“Persephone? Open your eyes, sweetling.”

“You’ll only disappear,” she whispered. As if just saying the words would make it true. “I don’t want you to go. I don’t want to be alone.”

“I’m not going anywhere. You called me and I cannot refuse to answer.”

“You said that before. What did you mean?”

“You are the siren’s call to my soul. Where you go, I must follow.”

She met his midnight blue eyes. He set her on her feet. She stepped out of his embrace and he let her go, his face crestfallen. He thought she was pulling away. He thought he was losing her again, maybe forever, and the pain in his heart was the worst she ever felt.

In his own way, he desired and loved her. He wasn’t a figment of her imagination, he was

really here. And he couldn’t stay.

Untying the cord twisting around her waist, she dropped it to the floor. “I want finish what we started in the garden.” She unfastened the broach on her right shoulder and dropped it to the floor. “I want to feel anything except the pain of betrayal.” The second broach followed the first.

The connection they now shared jangled with emotions. Desire, need, yearning. Fear, panic, terror. Hope, joy, sorrow.

“Persephone,” he choked. “Please…”

The protest died on his lips as the cloth slithered down her body, and pooled around her feet.

She stepped out of it. The niggling thought that she should be embarrassed by her nakedness before a man and ashamed of her wanton behavior raced through her mind, but the sentiments were not her own, and so she discarded them.

She wasn’t that Persephone anymore. And she wasn’t the Persephone from her memories

either.

Hades swallowed hard, his gaze focused on her face with all his concentration. She could feel his unease and confusion. She wasn’t the Persephone he knew and it was taking all his control not to accept her offer. He thought it a trick, a test, and if he took the bait he would lose her forever. He couldn’t take the chance.

But she could.

Here in this place, there were no secrets, no lies. She knew him more completely then she knew herself. She knew about the pain and fear and loneliness of being a Phlegethon daemon-god.

She knew how hard it was for him to see her and not desire her, not be able to fix the evils done to her, and not be able to claim her as he wanted. Like all daemons named after the

Phlegethon River in the Underworld, a river that meant ‘fiery,’ Hades power was in his passions.

His Phlegethon blood sought a mate. A woman who could meet him equally, whose passion

could match his own, who could sustain his power, and nourish and soothe his soul as he did the same for her. Driving him to find the one individual who could not only be claimed and survive his attention, but awaken his passion for life. As he would do for his chosen mate.

She should have feared what he wanted of her, but she didn’t. He wanted what every

Phlegethon daemon wanted, a merging of mind and body and soul, and she wanted it to. She

wanted her mate as all Phlegethon daemon-gods wanted what was theirs.

“Hades,” she whispered his name, her power snaking out to embrace him. She glided toward

him, confident for the first time in her life. “My heart has belonged to you far longer than I ever imagined.”

She knew the truth now. The truth lost to time and with her memories. She was no different than Hades. She was Phlegethon daemon and an Olympian goddess. Her love, her anger, her

hate, and her joy burned so brightly it could consume the life force of those around them and leave nothing but ashes behind.

“Persephone.” His voice held a hint of warning that she ignored. “If you start this, it will not end upon waking. I think you should wait.”

She pressed her body against his. “I’ve waited long enough.”

She brought his face down to hers, kissing him with all the passion in her heart. She put her whole body and soul into the kiss. And he was kissing her back.

Her power, her energy, her spirit, everything that was her twined around him, entered him, showing him the depth of the feelings in her heart, speaking the words to his soul she couldn’t convey. His spirit rose to met hers, twining around her, revealing the hardness of a warrior and the fiery passions of a Phlegethon in need, reviving his dying soul.

They could do nothing but respond to the firestorm she ignited with her kiss. Their souls merged and channeled pure, unadulterated power into the mix. His hands were roaming over her, touching every part of her, awakening sensations in her body she didn’t even know existed, adding kindling to the fire that threatened to consume them both.

He kissed her again, lifting her into his arms. Her legs locked around his waist. His cock pressed against her woman’s place, slipping into the slick folds. She tensed. The sensation of being filled and hungry for more was strange.

He paused, his body trembling with the need to enter her fully, and she could see his concern through the raging desire for more. “Do you want me to stop?”

If she said yes, he would. If she said no…

She grinned and flexed her hips. He slipped just a little deeper. He groaned, easing out and in just little more. Fire shot straight to her core, and desire for completion bloomed. She felt alive for the first time in centuries.

She needed this. He needed this. It was right.

He repeated the motion again and again, each time a little deeper, until her hips rose to meet him in a rhythm as old as time Himself. The next thrust went deeper, sending an even greater shock of pleasure through them.

HADES WARRIOR control snapped at the vibrations strumming through their link. He

couldn’t thrust deep enough or fast enough. His hands on her waist drove harder and harder down upon his cock, delving deeper and deeper into the soft heat. Her pleasure rose, her fingers clenching his shoulders.

His carefully won discipline faltered as she moaned and her pussy tightened around his hard length, drawing him deeper, striving to merge their bodies as she had their souls. He pressed deeper, all of his strength melting into the wild desperation to join their bodies with every stroke until she accepted all of him. Her heat tightened around him, sending her over the edge.

She screamed her pleasure into the darkness, her body shuddering in his arms, thrust them deeper into the firestorm of passion. Her breasts rose and fell faster and faster, their hardened tips brushing his chest as he plunged into her and her pleasure vibrated through their connection. His body went wild in response as wave after wave of her orgasm washed over him. His entire body quivered and his passion blazed through him shattering his universe, propelling him into his own peak of ecstasy. Their minds and bodies and souls merged into one as the magic of the

Phlegethon swirled around them, sealing their fates, binding them together for eternity.

They made wild love several more times, but the last time was a coupling so exquisitely slow that Persephone cried with joy. She experienced every touch, enjoyed every taste, and treasured every moment.

They drank fully, savoring every last drop of pleasure, until their souls, entwined for eternity, soared.

He was a warrior defeated, undone by the pleasure that could only be found a woman’s arms.

And in her arms was where he remained, nestled deep inside her.

“YOU HAVE to leave,” Persephone murmured against his hair.

Hades blinked, the steady beat of her heart beneath his ear changing. He rose from the cradle of her arms and looked down into her sad eyes. “Come with me, Persephone.”

She caressed his face. “There are things I must see, and it’s a journey I must travel alone.

You’ve given me strength and hope, my Lord Hades.”

She kissed him and then pushed him away. Hades lunged through the darkness surrounding

him, reaching for her. “Persephone!” He was caught in the darkness, struggling to be free of the force holding him still. “Persephone!”

“She’s beside you, Hades,” Thanatos shouted. “Calm down!”

Hades closed his eyes and stilled. The bands loosened and he opened his eyes. He was back in her rooms with Thanatos standing over them, a look of tenderness on his face as he watched Persephone sleep. A spark of jealous rage flashed through Hades, only to realize it wasn’t the look of a man desiring a woman, but a friend worried for their friend, or a parent for their child.

SHE WAS thrown back into the nightmare. She stood in a room, one that seemed vaguely

familiar and yet she couldn’t ever remember being in it. There were four small beds against the far wall, and two cribs across from them. Toys were scattered across the floor.

She could hear frantic voices outside the door and snippets of words: baby, turned my back, Persephone’s gone, Demeter, and find her.

She glanced around the room again and started. A man with spiky auburn hair and a youthful face stood in the nursery with her. Despite the change in his appearance she knew him instantly.

Thanatos. He glanced around the room, before kneeling on the floor beside one of the beds.

“I know you’re here, Persephone. I have a treat for you.”

A chubby baby with a head of soft auburn curls crawled out from under the bed and held out her hand. He gave her the treat and lifted her into his arms. He sat in a chair, cradling her to his chest.

The baby held out her hand. “More, Than,” she demanded.

He chuckled and handed her another treat. She gobbled it down, drooling all over the front of his tunic. He didn’t seem to mind. He wiped her face and pressed her head to his chest, kissing the top of her curly hair as he rocked her. Persephone could hear the faint echo of his heart beat as he rocked her gently and cooed words of love. The baby snuggled into his arms and was soon sleeping.

They might have sat that way for an eternity with him tenderly stroking her back, but then he spoke, “Persephone, I know your mother, and I know she will never tell you the truth of where you came from. She thinks to protect you, but the lie only endangers you further.” She felt his magic, gentle as the evening breeze wrap around them. “I love Demeter, but she won’t have such as me. My work, my life…” He shook his head. “Demeter is life and light and beauty, while I am death and darkness.”

He glanced down at the baby in his arms, yet continued to speak, “Kora and you are my

daughters, born of the love we shared, but Kora is like your mother. Her power in based in life, and while the Titans may seek her out she doesn’t have your strength or your curse. Because you are my daughter, Persephone, there is some of me in you, and you must be more careful than any goddess, for you are daemon-goddess of awesome power, and the power of your passions will destroy anyone less than your equal. Be strong, my daughter, and fight for what you want in this life.”

Persephone reached out to touch Thanatos. Her hand sunk inches into his cheek. Her father?