A Bloom So Deadly: Hades and Persephone Retold

The Storm

Those small hums of energy that blossomed on her skin at his touch were nothing compared to the raw shock of power when his mouth landed on hers. It coursed through her, making her toes curl, making some strange half-noise bleed from her mouth to his.

King Hades was kissing her. King Hades was kissing her.

There was something wrong, had been something wrong with him, but this was right. And in her drunken state, the room feeling as if it were going to topple sideways, she did not care that something had been wrong.

King Hades was kissing her.

But he cared. He wrenched his mouth away from her with a pained grunt, ducking his head and heaving. "I need to go," he said quickly, as if the words pained him. "I cannot...Your power, I-," he stuttered, his breathing labored. "I'm sorry, I-," he paused to draw another breath, but had not drawn his arms away. She felt his fingers dig into her shoulders, as if he were in pain. His energy was chaotic, as if in war with itself, bouncing around her and making the room swim. "I don't want you to see me like this," he said, breathless. "Your power, I - I'm not going to be able to stop. I don't want to hurt you."

The moment his mouth met hers, his entire being had flared at the intense energy coursing into his body. The beast in him had nearly won and was clawing for more. He was not sure how long he could withhold it.

"You would never hurt me," came her quiet voice.

He looked up at her then, his face torn. He knew he was a frightening sight to behold. He knew this beast of darkness was pushing his way out, was showing in the terrible black lines that struck out like lightning across his skin. He knew his eyes had gone as black as hers. He knew this and he needed her to see, needed her to be frightened of the monster he was so he would be shamed and push back this terrible thing inside him before it took complete control.

But there was no fear in the blackness of her eyes that so equally rivaled his own.

"You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen," she whispered.

Mine, mine, mine -

Hades could not fight it, not when her eyes trailed down and lingered on his mouth. The beast within him tucked the crook of his finger under her chin and lifted her mouth to his.

The rush was electric, feeding his darkness, making it swell and beat against her own. And Hades did not want to fight it. Did not try to. Not when she parted her mouth for him. Not when she kissed him back. Not when her power made him feel like he could tear through all the worlds, all the kingdoms, all the cosmos just because he could.

For Hell or high water, he let go and the terrible beast in him took form.

One hand dropped to her bare waist, the other fisting in the lengths of her hair. Persephone's hands gripped at his chest and she swayed, drunk on the ambrosia. Drunk on him.

Her gown was still pushed down from the party, exposing her breasts to his warm chest while the silks hung limp from her hips. Persephone shuddered as his hand trailed up her waist to take a handful of her breast. She mewled against his mouth, head spinning, not fighting as he pressed her into the wall. The kiss deepened, as if this were not a kiss, as if this were a battle to be won, an enemy to be conquered.

Her own beast awoke. That beast that had found a chink in his armor, had sunk down into his bones and forced him into sleep. That beast that liked ruling the king.

She pressed into him, pressed away from the wall and Hades offered no resistance. They took two, three, four steps back until the side of his calf hit the mattress and he turned to sit, pulling her along while never once taking his mouth from hers. There was no awkwardness in Persephone's movements as she followed, her knees finding the bed on either side of his thighs. The room seemed to sway around them, furthered by the give of the mattress.