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As he dragged his nails down her stomach she bucked her hips into him, deepening his every thrust. His hand gripped her hip as he kissed up her neck and down her body again, eagerly planting kisses along her neckline and between her breasts.
At the same time as she dragged her nails down his back, feeling more than hearing him moan along her skin, Hades’ fingers moved between them, rubbing small circles and making her cry out.
She blocked out the cries of excitement matching her own from the hall, forgetting about them again as Hades’ mouth found hers. They kissed and moved together, his hands running along her body and fingering her clitoris as hers scraped down his back and arms, grabbing his hair.
A loud knocking sounded at the door and a muffled yell, both drowned out by Persephone’s scream, barely smothered by Hades’ mouth this time. He thrust into her once, twice, before collapsing on top of her and rolling to the side; theolisbosclunking to the floor.
A muffled hurrah erupted outside the door, quickly quietening as they walked back down the hall, satisfied with what they had heard beyond the door.
Persephone turned to face Hades, pulling the blanket back over herself. Too hot and slick with sweat to be covered, she kicked it to the foot of the bed again. Smiling at Hades, she placed a hand on his chest, twirling the hairs between her thumb and finger.
Not looking at her, Hades’ fingers wrapped around her wrist and pushed her hand to the bed. He turned over without a word, leaving her to stare at his back, heat rising in her at his rejection.
17
LEAVING THE UNDERWORLD
The golden gates were open when Persephone walked out of the palace and sat on the stone steps, the cold seeping through the layers of thin linen draping over her body. There had been a gorgeous square of red silk on the dressing table when she woke in the morning, but Persephone preferred to don her usual linen dress. She saw no reason to accept such a lavish dress when she would be returning home today.
That didn’t stop her from running her fingers along it and pressing the material to her cheek, enjoying the velvety cool touch of the fabric.
Staring at the open gates, Persephone decided it would be easier to leave if she didn’t hunt Hades down for awkward farewells. He had already left the bed long before she woke up, the sheets cold where he’d fallen asleep.
As she ate a large breakfast of warm, fresh bread dipped in olive oil and diluted wine from the previous night, she waited for him to stalk through the doorway. Waited until the briny olives formed a skin on their surface, the fresh fruit growing limp and sitting in their juices, the bread cooled and crunchy. Each bite she tore from the small loaves echoing off the obsidian walls, the only sound filling the room besides the dull crackle of the hearth.
She was barely halfway down the gravel path, the gates tinging her toes a warm yellow in the shadowy light, when Hades’ booming voice broke through the silence of the Underworld. “No goodbye?” He didn’t have to raise his voice to reach her, it reached her ears as easily as if he had stood beside her.
Persephone turned stiffly and stretched her mouth into a smile. “What kind of wife would I be if I didn’t kiss my husband goodbye?”
An eyebrow raised for a split second before he cooled his face back into his familiar expression of cool indifference.
She made an attempt to mimic his lack of care, but inside she was fuming. He had left the room without waking her, hadn’t been bothered to join her for breakfast, and now had the audacity to make her feel bad for leaving without a word. Only an arrogant ass would act so childish.
“Well,” she sighed through her nose, “goodbye.” She waved halfheartedly and spun back to the gates, walking straight into him.
Her head collided with his chest, lightly bouncing off him as she staggered back a step. “Don’t do that!” She said, smacking the spot her cheek had made contact. Her hands fell to brace on her knees as she bent in the middle, catching her breath.
Hades smirked, but said nothing as he watched her compose herself.
“Gods,” she breathed out, glaring at him as she straightened and flicked her hair back behind her shoulders. When he continued to stand in her way, silently watching with his dead eyes, she said firmly, “Goodbye, Hades,” and made to push past him.
Before she could take a step she was swept up into his arms as he embraced her tightly, pressing her arms against her sides. He lowered his head to rest on her shoulder, his beard tickling her cheeks and down her neck, scratching her shoulder as he planted a long, tender kiss there.
Persephone almost pushed him away in disgust, her mouth curling around an insult and clamping down as she momentarily forgot that he was now not only the King of the Dead, but her husband, too.
Instead, she bent her arms and struggled to hug him back, barely managing to get her hands flat against his back. When she did, the tips of her fingers barely reaching around his sides, she rested her cheek against his chest.
They stood that way for half a heartbeat before he let go, Persephone almost tumbling to the ground as he stepped back from her. She hadn’t realized how much she had been leaning against him until she started to fall toward him.
Thankfully, his hands were already under her arms and hauling her back to her feet, anticipating her fall before she did.
“See you in a month,” he said gruffly as soon as she was steady on her feet, kissed her on the cheek quickly and vanished.
“See you in a month!” She said, throwing her hands up in frustration and letting them slap against her legs, though he most likely couldn’t hear her. Since at the same moment he vanished she had too, appearing in the forest near her mother’s. Not even a whisper of an ache in her head again; she could get used to this part of having Hades around.
The sky was darkening quickly as clouds rolled in from the direction of the ocean; a storm heading her way. She could hardly make out the tress swaying roughly as her hair tangled and whipped around her head, biting into her skin and eyes. She tried squinting against the rough wind, but her hair was blowing around so wildly that she was faced with a dark wall of gold instead of the trees she knew were in front of her.
For a moment, she wished she were back in the Underworld. Where the weather never changed and she could wear silk dresses without fear of the cold that could easily seep through to her skin. Down there she needn’t worry about being too warm or too cold, sweating while bunched in layers or rain drenching her to the bone. Her skin wouldn’t burn red with too much time outdoors and she could sleep at all odd hours of the day since it was dark enough to be twilight at the brightest of times.
