❛THEY WOULD TELL YOU OF A KING WHO STOLE ME HELPLESS FROM MY SUNSHINE GARDEN.❜
They won't tell you about the woman who came to him sublime, lily eyes and lily lips. A king does not ask permission from his prize, but she, oh she, she knelt, kissing m...
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ROYAL CHAMBERS, THE UNDERWORLD.
PERSEPHONE
THIS WAS IT, THEN.
He was going to take me without consent, without remorse, without delay - revelling in my screams. There was no escape, no reprieve, no difference between him and those smug bastards who coaxed me out of my cave. He thought he could enchant me, trap me with his precious crowns and pretty dresses, when in truth: he was just more of the same.
Hades's eyes were dark and demanding, deadly, like a dying thunderstorm.
Perhaps if I lay still... maybe it wouldn't hurt so much. I could close my eyes.
Silently, slowly, my fingers pulled at the rich, embroidered belt of the dressing gown, fraught with fear to the extent where I could not make a sound. He did not move, did not touch me, but stood there. Leaning against the wall with the glass of champagne in one hand, my husband drank in every inch of me. Our eyes remained locked, like a battle of gazes that refused to back down, to accept surrender.
The robe came off, pooling to the floor - leaving me shivering in an ivory slip of pure silk that came halfway to my knee, leaving my back bare.
One by one did the goosebumps appear on my skin, the ready heat rising to my cheeks. I had never stood in front of a man like this, never felt so exposed, so vulnerable - especially when his eyes lapped me up and left behind a blazing trail of heat behind. His full lips curled slightly with something that looked like reverent admiration, like a worshipper in front of a deity.
Give him what he wants. Give him this night. Do what he asks of you. There has to be proof that you consummated, child - until that your union is not legal.
Fear ate me up as I quietly took in a deep breath and finally pulled down the loose sleeve over one golden shoulder.
"Wait," Hades called out at last. "Stop."
Frozen, I looked at him, eyes wide, questioning. He put down his empty glass, his eyes returned to light gray, less formidable, more humane.
"I will not take you against your will. Taking you by force makes me no different than the rapists I saved you from, Persephone."
Relief washed over me like a shower of silver rain, letting out the breath I didn't know I was holding. Thank the heavens for him, for even that tiny flicker of humanity residing in that stone cold heart of his.
