Hades sighed, vanishing from the meadow and appearing on the bank of the river where five nymphs were gathered. They were half in water, their fingers digging into the muddy bank, faces obscured by tall grass.
When they saw him, they gasped and likely would have fled if he had not held them in place with his power.
“One of you will tell me what you know of your mistress,” said Hades.
They shook.
“We know nothing about our mistress, my lord,” said one who had hair like the sun shining on water.
It was not a lie.
“When was she last here?” he asked.
“It has been quite some time,” said another. This one had hair the color of the darkest parts of the river. “Since Lady Persephone left.”
“Left for the mortal world?”
“No, since the greenhouse was destroyed.”
“And you have no idea where your mistress might be?”
The five of them shook their heads.
Hades studied them. “I need you to find her.”
Their eyes widened and they paled.
“My lord, she will know!” This one who spoke had red hair like two others. All three were crowned with white lilies.
“We will already be punished for this,” said the one with dark hair. “You ask us to die for you!”
Hades tilted his head, narrowing his eyes. “You will already die for me, Hercyna,” he said. “The only uncertainty is how.”
“Do not scare her!” the blond one snapped, wrapping her arms around Hercyna’s head, crushing her to her breast.
“I cannot help it if you fear death,” said Hades. “It is the truth of any existence.”
“Lady Demeter was right about you,” she seethed. “You have no care for anyone save yourself!”
“If you knew what drove me to this meadow, you would choke on your words,” Hades said. “Imagine if I had brought Persephone here to witness your loyalty wither in the face of her abusive mother.”
“You don’t know what it’s like!” one of the three redheads—Peisinoe, Hades remembered—said. “Persephone knew! She would understand!”
“Perhaps she would,” Hades replied. “But I am not Persephone, and I need to know where Demeter is hiding.”
Their anger reminded him of Persephone’s when they’d first met, their opinion of him colored by the way Demeter had painted him.
“Let me give you an idea of what you are about to face if you do not help me,” said Hades. “Your fountains and wells, lakes and springs, rivers and wetlands will all freeze. You will be driven from your homes—you and all your sisters and friends. You will attempt to find reprieve from the cold but will discover that the whole world is frozen, and in that state of despair, you will know what it is to beg for death.” He paused and let his words linger in the air between them. “That is your fate, brought about by none other than the goddess you protect now.”
The five exchanged looks, a different kind of fear present on their faces. It was the acknowledgment he needed, that what he said was already coming to pass.
“I will do it,” said Hercyna.
“No!” the other four said in unison.
“We will all do it,” said Cyane. She looked from her companions to Hades, her eyes alight with anger. “Even if it is only to inform her that you are looking for her.”
“I imagine she already knows,” said Hades. “I’ll be waiting.”
Hades returned to the Underworld.
He found Persephone asleep, so he undressed and poured himself a glass of whiskey, hoping it would ease his anxious thoughts.
Katerina’s prophecy was still at the forefront of his mind but so was Demeter. He thought of the task he had assigned to the five nymphs, biting back the guilt. He knew it was dangerous to send them searching for Demeter. The nymphs were likely to be punished just for speaking to him, which made it even less likely they would return with any news on Persephone’s mother.
It was not as if he thought he could appeal to the goddess either. He only wished to know where to find her when Zeus became involved and either demanded an end to the snowstorm or his engagement to Persephone.
He felt the air stir. Glancing over his shoulder, he found Persephone had risen, and she gazed at him from their bed, sleepy and flushed, her beautiful body half concealed by the robe she wore. He’d have liked to rouse her from sleep with a kiss between her thighs, but he no longer felt that was possible given the last few weeks, so he had waited, wondering if she might rise before sunup.
“You’re awake,” he murmured.
He faced her fully, and her eyes fell to his cock, which was hard and tight. He needed some sort of release, because the longer he went on like this, the more uncomfortable he would be, but with the way Persephone was looking at him, he did not think he’d have to agonize much longer.
He downed what remained in his glass before approaching her, and as he sat, he cradled her face in his hand and brought her mouth to his. She let him lead, and he plied her mouth with his tongue until he could no longer taste the whiskey on his breath. The longer he kissed her, the more his cock throbbed. He might have guided her hand to his length or pushed her to the bed so he could cover her body with his, but now he feared exerting too much control.
When he pulled away, her lips were lush and her eyes bright with lust.
“How was your day?” he asked in a hushed tone. He could not bring himself to speak louder. There was something about this night that required quiet.
“Hard,” she answered, nibbling at her lip—a sign of her anxiety.
He had not expected that answer, given that she had been in the Underworld all day, but perhaps things had not gone well during her visit with Lexa. Before he could ask, she spoke.
“Yours?”
“The same,” he said and drew a piece of her hair behind her ear before planting his hand on the bed beside her hip. “Lie with me.”
Her eyes were heavy-lidded, her lips parted and swollen.
“You don’t have to ask,” she whispered.
He disagreed, but there was a part of him that recognized asking might be more about easing his fear than hers.
Now having her permission, he did not hesitate to guide her robe down until she was bare to him. He wanted so much of her at once—her soft moans and her desperate cries. He wanted to kiss her and be inside her. He wanted to take her slow and then fuck her hard, but his eyes fell to her breasts, her nipples peaked and rosy, and he decided he would begin there.
He bent and took each tip into his mouth, sucking them and her soft skin. Her breaths came slow and deep, her fingers tangling in his hair. At this point, he had no real thoughts, only observations of sensation—the way her nails raked over his scalp, the way her breaths deepened the longer he sucked her, the way she shifted her legs wider as she prepared to accommodate whatever he decided to give—except that she grew impatient and reached for his hand, guiding him to her center and pressing his fingers into her heat.
He groaned at the feel of her arousal.
“So fucking wet,” he murmured before his lips crashed against hers and he explored her mouth. He chased her pleasure with his fingers. He liked all parts of sex with Persephone, but this pleased him because he could tell how much she wanted him, and all he could think was how she would feel when he slid his cock inside her—wet, warm, right.
He groaned as Persephone’s hands closed around his length and her touch sent a wave of pleasure rippling through him. Her strokes were slow, and when her thumb teased the tip, his whole body began to throb. He could not take it any longer. He had to be inside her.
He left her body, his fingers dripping with her arousal. He planted his hand on her thigh and broke their kiss.
Persephone glared, her eyes like fire, scorching every part of him. She reached for his hand again and brought it back to her center.
He smirked, eyes falling to her lips.
“Do you not trust me to bring you pleasure?”
“Eventually,” she said, her tone frustrated, but he liked the look on her.
“Oh, darling,” he said and guided her to her back. “How you challenge me.”
He moved her to her side so that her back was to him. It was an odd angle, but he wanted her like this because he would watch her writhe as he gave her pleasure. He loomed over her, holding her gaze as his hand glided over her body until he reached the apex of her thighs. There was something about watching the anticipation build within her body that made him feel powerful.
Only he could make her feel this way. Only he would touch her this way.
She widened for him, and he entered her again. Her head fell back, pressing into his arm, her mouth opened, releasing a pleasing moan, and he captured it with his mouth. He moved inside her and kissed her hard, unrelenting as he chased after her pleasure. Beneath him, she couldn’t catch her breath. It sounded stuck in her lungs as he built on her ecstasy, and when he tore from her mouth, he whispered near her ear in a fierce and claiming growl, “Is this pleasure?”
Because it pleased him.
He pulled out of her again, and her only answer was a guttural cry, but he did not need her to speak. He knew what he had brought on her. Beneath his gaze, she glowed, ethereal and so fucking beautiful. He needed her so badly it hurt.
He shifted closer, and she drew her legs apart so he could fit himself inside her. He felt as though he were in a different part of her, angled differently, gripping differently, and he thought that maybe Persephone felt the same by the way she moved.
“Is this pleasure?” he teased, his voice quiet and low. She shivered at the sound despite the heat radiating off her body. Together they had grown hot, their bodies slick. He moved inside her, slow at first and then faster and harder, liking the rush it gave him when his balls bounced off her ass.
Fuck, he would chase that.
He dug his fingers into her skin.
“Is this pleasure?” he asked between his teeth, because he felt it acutely and he needed to know she felt the same.
Persephone’s hand snaked behind his neck, and as her body jerked beneath his, she managed to speak.
“It is ecstasy.”
Their mouths met in a messy kiss. Hades hooked Persephone’s leg around his own and used his feet for purchase, increasing his pace. His hand came to rest on her neck, fingers gripping her jaw to hold her in place. He did not want her to look away as he finished this. They ceased to speak, only managing gasps and moans and the occasional fuck whispered viciously into the space between them, which hardly had room for anything else.
He knew when Persephone was close. He could feel it in the way she gripped him, the way her body began to shudder. He grit his teeth, keeping his pace as she shattered in his arms, and he followed soon after. His release was draining and never ending, but he stayed buried inside her, coming deep.
It was a possessive thing, but he felt like it marked her as his, and when he would think about it throughout the day, it was one of few things that brought him true joy.
They lay locked together until they could catch their breath, at which point Hades pressed gentle kisses across her skin, pausing to meet her gaze.
“Are you well?”
Persephone nodded, her face glistening with sweat. She seemed distracted, but he knew she was tired. He could feel it in her body, which had become limp and heavy.
“Yes.”