Charmed, she brought the unusual bloom to her nose to inhale its sweet fragrance. “Thank you.”
His gaze was unreadable. “Thank you. Have you seen everything you wanted to see?”
“For one day, yes.”
“I told you it wouldn’t all be sunshine and flowers like the Fields.” He opened a portal.
She stepped through, directly into the palace, and cast him a cool look. “What made you think I expected that? Granted, I’ve been sheltered for most of my life, but I know there’s bad out there. It needs to be dealt with, and it sucks that you’re the one who has to do it, but probably better that you have the power, since you won’t abuse it.” She smiled and held up the flower he’d given her. “Besides, you’re half wrong. You may have flowers in more places than you’d think now.”
He watched her, his face inscrutable, as she carefully tucked the rose into the pocket of her dress. “I have to go to my office,” he said.
“Oh.” Did he want to be alone? Had she said something wrong?
He took a few steps and looked over his shoulder, scowling when she didn’t immediately follow. “Well?”
“I thought you wanted to work.”
“Don’t put words in my mouth. I said I wanted to go to my office.” His eyes grew slumberous, red heat sparking. “I didn’t say I wanted to work.”
Chapter Six
Hades was in a strange mood. He could trace his off-kilter emotions to the moment Persephone had given him that tiny bit of her power. He didn’t know if it was the power or her actions or her words afterwards that made him feel almost…happy.
He’d understated the matter—deities were virulently opposed to sharing their powers. Hell, he didn’t know if he’d ever give anyone even a smidgen of his hoarded strength. But she did it easily, simply so he could defeat a stupid-ass demon wielding a tiny toothpick of a spear. When she’d discovered exactly what happened, she wasn’t even horrified, but accepted it calmly. And then she went and complimented him, acted like she understood where he was coming from.
It was enough to make him mad. Mad and horny.
Persephone preceded him into his office. He shut the door loudly. The click of the lock made her jump. He liked it when she was a little unsure. The hint of vulnerability appealed to him, particularly when she was doing her lady-of-the-manor act the rest of the time.
Keeping her guessing was a fun game, so instead of rushing to get her naked, he went to his desk and sat in his chair. He took his time making himself comfortable before crooking his finger at her in a way that he was certain would raise her blood pressure.
She didn’t love orders, his Persephone. Indeed, her eyes narrowed, and he waited for her to snort at his imperious, silent command.
But a small smile curved her lips, and she sashayed over to stand in front of him, her dress rippling and briefly defining her legs.
He raised a brow. “You’re in the mood to obey me?”
“I suppose so.”
“Why?”
Her smile grew wider. “Because you want me to disobey you.”
Fuck, but she could read him like a book, and he didn’t like that. He was so contrary, he wanted to reward her earlier kind words and actions by proving her wrong, proving that he was no saint. His dominant, autocratic side stretched out of slumber, not that it ever rested for long. “Take off your dress. With your hands,” he added, so she wouldn’t simply dematerialize it.
She raised her hands to the buttons that ran along the front of the dress. Pearl buttons on a pale pink dress—it was his fantasy, his secret kink, innocence on the verge of being despoiled.
The little V of skin at her throat widened as she released each button, showing him that glorious unblemished flesh. Every time he saw that skin, his selfish, territorial nature made him want to mark it, to claim it as his. He had to forcibly remind himself that Persephone and her skin’s presence in his life was strictly temporary.
A snarl sounded, and he realized by her startled expression that it came from him. She would leave him sooner or later.
But for now…now, she was his.
Focus on this moment.
And there was so much to focus on, particularly when she shrugged the dress off her shoulders, surprising him with the lacy white corset she wore underneath. The garment propped up her breasts, her nipples peeking out from the lace like confections on a cupcake. It was sensory overload, the erotic snatches of her body almost too much to take in at once. Corset. No panties. Garters. A combination of silken flesh and material.
He realized he had been staring at her without speaking when she shifted her weight. “Touch yourself,” he ordered.
A flush spread over her exposed breasts. “Where?”
Anywhere. Everywhere. “Your tits. Play with them.” He deliberately used the cruder word, wanting to shock her into refusing him, perverse bastard that he was.
She didn’t refuse him, though, simply cupped those gloriously full mounds. Her fingers worked the hard nipples, her head falling back with a small moan as she massaged them.
His cock grew harder, pressing against the weight of his trousers, but he knew if he allowed himself release, it would be over before it began. Her legs spread wider as she toyed with her breasts. One delicate hand started to trail down her body to the open lips of her pussy.
Hades allowed her to get as far as her lower belly before he spoke. “Stop.”
She didn’t listen, her fingers tangling in her pubic hair.
“Persephone. Stop.”
She jerked and stared at him, confused and primed for release.
“Come here.” Hades swore the heady scent of sun and flowers clung to her skin, wafting under his nose as she walked closer to him. “Turn around.”
She hesitated but turned when he made a twirling gesture. Her ass was full and round, bare but framed by the garter and corset. It made an enticing picture.
Paying no attention to her jump of surprise, he palmed a cheek and roughly massaged the flesh. “I love your ass,” he murmured. “I love your whole body. It’s like it was made for me. Only for me.”
It took him a second to realize the import of what he’d bleated aloud. Growling in frustration at himself, he grabbed her hips and spun her around. She teetered, steadying after she grasped his forearms for balance.
“Take me out,” he demanded. He spread his legs to give her room to work the buttons on his trousers, which were stretched tight over the bulge of his erection. The slightly bent-over position she was in made her tits hang down like ripe fruit. Unable to resist, he leaned forward and licked the top of those mounds, finding them delicious as usual. She stiffened, her hands stopping their work. He released his hold on the chair’s arms to cradle her breasts and bring them to his mouth. He knew what pleased her. She always liked it when he sucked hard, lashing at the nipple with his tongue, so he did that now, bringing a high-pitched cry from her mouth.
“Don’t stop,” he drew away to tell her. “Take me out. Play with me.”
She trembled. He loved it when he made her shake with need. It made him feel ten feet tall. “I can’t concentrate,” she said.
He released her, giving no heed to her pitiful whimper. “Then I’ll stop distracting you.”
“Jerk.”
The word lacked heat, and he grinned. He’d come to read her body well, and he knew she needed him badly. “On your knees, female. Maybe that will help you focus.”
She shot him a mock-glare. Her fingers resumed their mission as she sank to the subservient position. He had to grit his teeth as those delicate fingers touched and rubbed him through the leather. When she finally managed to get the fly open, his cock almost ran out to greet her, pushing into her hands. The blessed feel of her warm palm over him made him want to shout for joy and pump into her hand for as long as necessary to get him off.
“Persephone…” He shoved his hips up, groaning as her hand slipped up the shaft and back down, the better to feel that softness all around him.
“What order would you like to give me now, Lord Hades?”
He slit his eyes at her mocking emphasis on
Lord
. Impertinent baggage. “Make me come.”
Her hand jacked him again, and he spread his legs wider, an invitation to continue. Idly, as if she wasn’t kneeling at his feet in a scandalous corset and playing with his naked cock, she tilted her head. “With my hands? Or my mouth?”
He swallowed, the thought of Persephone’s lips wrapped around his cock filling his head. He had a particular fondness for blowjobs but had rarely been able to find anyone who was willing to bestow that favor. Because he was bigger and more powerful than most females, he always had the distasteful impression that he was forcing his partner.
However, if Persephone chose to grace him with her mouth…
He said nothing, and she smiled. “I do remember you saying something about drinking your come.”
His cock jerked at the memory, the dirty words he’d roughly muttered while lost in a haze of sexual need. Without any warning, she licked the vein running along the side of his cock. He gasped, and his hands flew to her shoulders, the little lick punching into his stomach.
“I guess you like this,” he half-heard her say. Unable to care if her tone held the proper amount of respect for him, he threaded his hands through her hair.
“More,” he said, aware that he was pleading.
Her mouth surrounded him, her tongue and the insides of her cheeks warm and silken wet. He had the fleeting thought that this was as foreign to her as it was to him, as she was delightfully awkward in figuring out how to move her lips and tongue and hands in tandem with each other. She learned quickly though, and within a few minutes she was officially driving him out of his mind.
Persephone decided blowjobs weren’t exactly a bad thing. In fact, sucking Hades’s cock could very well be her favorite thing. It filled her with an immense sense of power, to have this huge male at her mercy. And he was definitely at her mercy. His body was rigid in the seat, his hands filled with her hair. She didn’t feel trapped or forced, but entwined, the contact of his fingers in the strands bonding him to her.
Mentally, she snorted. Such poetic imagery for a blatantly physical act.
She pushed thoughts of poetry out of her head as she closed her eyes and sucked him deeper, loving the feel of his cock in her mouth. It felt even bigger to her this way, with her eyes closed and unable to see the matching proportion of the rest of his body.
“Deeper,” he rasped, and she obeyed, suddenly wanting this to be the best, most mind-blowing sexual experience of his long life, wanting him ruined for other women, wanting him to remember her forev—
Nope, not going there.
His hands became more insistent as he gripped her hair, but she welcomed the tiny tug of pain. It centered her, made her focus even more on the responses of his body.
“Sephie,” he moaned. She mentally smiled. She’d never tell him, but she liked the never-before-used diminutive of her name. It made her feel cherished. “Harder.” His hips bucked up, his shaft almost choking her. With a soft noise, he stroked her hair when she would have gagged. “Hush. You can take it.” He dragged his hips down, and then gave another more cautious thrust. The tip of his cock breached her throat. She held it there, prepared for it this time, and breathed through her nose. She was awarded with his harsh grunt as he withdrew and did it again.
As sexy as his powerful movements were, she wanted the chance to play too, and if she continued deep-throating him, he would come quickly. Though he was caught in the grip of a lustful haze, he stilled as soon as she rested her hands on his thighs and exerted pressure.
She rewarded him by bobbing her head up and down, taking more of his shaft each time, dying to absorb all of him. He made a rough noise and relaxed back into the chair, giving her implicit permission to learn his body.
He liked it when she lashed him with her tongue.
When she scraped her teeth along the side of him, he bowed in his chair.
And when she sucked his balls, he swore loudly, gripped her hair harder and directed her back to his cock.
Wild with her own arousal, she released him and dragged her hand down her body, fingering her soaking-wet pussy. He hadn’t even touched her yet, not really, and her body was practically dripping in need.
“Are you wet?”
Her mouth full of cock, she nodded, glancing up at him.
A smile curved his hard lips. “Poor girl, when you’re doing such a good job of sucking my cock. Here, let me help you. Remove your hand, and get up on your knees. Spread your legs.”
Hesitant, not quite sure what he was about, she took her hand away and did as he said. And promptly gasped at what felt like Hades’s cock entering her pussy. Hades’s cock, which was firmly captured in her mouth. Her gaze flew to his, and his nostrils flared, those black-and-red eyes burning. “Do you like that?”
There was no energy to respond.
“Nod or I’ll take it away.” The phantom cock gave a few tentative thrusts.
She nodded, fearful that this extraordinary sensation would disappear.
“I like to watch your eyes when I sink into you. They go all big and dark, like you can’t believe you’re getting fucked by me. It makes me even harder, longer.” He was harder in her mouth, heat rising from his body as the cock inside her pussy began thrusting in earnest. “I like this too. It’s even hotter when your mouth is stuffed full of my cock at the same time as your pussy. Since I wouldn’t let another male near you, this is the only way I can see you like this, but I’m okay with that. Do you want to be fucked harder?”
She nodded and then moaned as the cock inside her pussy started pounding into her. The thrusts were so vigorous it pushed her even harder against the cock in her mouth. Cupping her head, he began fucking her face in earnest, and she allowed him, overwhelmed by the power within this lustful male, and more, of the strength he kept checked to keep from hurting her.
The two cocks worked in tandem so she was never quite empty, one cock filling her as the other withdrew, until Hades’s thrusts in her mouth turned erratic and wild, and he lost the concentration necessary to keep up the illusory cock filling her pussy. She tightened her vaginal muscles around the suddenly aching emptiness, and tightened her mouth around him, needing to climax almost as badly as she wanted this huge male to come in her mouth.