AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It was nothing.” He stood up, looking deeply into her eyes.
“What your name?” She blurted, uncomfortable under his intense gaze.
“Pelops.”
“Persephone.”
“Persephone.” The way he said her name made her knees wobble and her head feel heavy. It had never sounded so beautiful before. “A beautiful name for a beautiful girl. I am so glad to see you again. You’ve been in my every dream since that day.”
His words barely registered as a compliment, her mind still occupied with the way her name sounded on his tongue. It was like Aphrodite had breathed a faint wind in her direction, straight from his mouth. Like berries and honey and her mother’s flower garden hugging her all at once.
Without another word Pelops grabbed her face and kissed her. It was too wet and the sand coating their lips made it grainy and rough, but Persephone could only focus on one thing: this cute boy had not only saved her life, tried to find her again, and thought she was beautiful, but he was kissing her!
Nobody had ever had a better first kiss. She was sure of it.
Pelops pulled away and wiped his mouth with the back of a hand, spitting sand at their feet. Persephone followed suit hesitantly, not wanting to wipe the kiss off her mouth just yet, but knowing if he was going to do it again her lips would have to be free of sand.
Once their mouths were smooth and grain free, Pelops kissed her again. With enough urgency that their mouths were swollen and her lips were so chapped that they cracked in the corners, burning with their saliva.
The sky cast a purple glow off the sand by the time Persephone pulled her mouth off his and placed a firm hand on his chest when he leaned forward again.
“I have to go home,” she said reluctantly.
“Or,” he said, kissing down her neck, “we could stay here.”
“All night?”
“Just until the sky turns blue again.”
She laughed and dropped her head back, giving into the kisses he trailed along her neck.
§
Persephone met Pelops at the same spot every evening for the next year, often sitting together entwined on the sand until the stars blinked in the darkened sky. She tried to bring blankets and fruit from her mother’s garden, but more often than not Demeter would catch her and refuse to allow it, ever worried that her precious daughter would fornicate with a mortal.
Demeter never failed to sneer at the word mortal, or human, or the mere mention of Pelops’ name in passing. For a goddess so invested in and drunk on mortal praise she hated them an awful lot. Persephone had asked why many times when she was a child, but Demeter reflected the questions and expertly moved the topic onto herself rather speak of those she deemed too vile for conversation.
Walking to their solitary beach, Persephone kicked her feet through the shallow water along the edge. Splashing high enough that she was thoroughly soaked when she waved to Pelops, the pins at her shoulders straining against the heavy linen dress sagging off her body.
“Did you go for a walk without me?” He jogged over to her and winked. “Don’t you remember last time you did that?”
“Hmm,” she said, feigning thought and concentration as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I seem to forget. Remind me?”
Eyes sparkling mischievously, Pelops dipped her backward, his arms under her shoulders and knees as he lifted her and ran deeper into the water. Before she could scream, she was flying through the air and splashing hard into the salty water. She let herself sink to the sticky bottom, waiting for him to save her again.
They swam and splashed in the ocean until the sky burned orange with the suns descent to the water. Persephone did her best to avoid venturing too deep, her throat closing up whenever she remembered the traumatic swim when she’d almost drowned. Over a year ago, and she still felt her skin tighten when she lost the surface, even for a moment. Even as Pelops insisted she was safe with him in the deepest parts of the ocean, that she had nothing to worry about while he was near.
As they walked back onto dry land, sand climbing higher up her legs with every step, Persephone saw a blanket laid out with small baskets and stones holding the corners down. She looked at Pelops and he smiled wide, clearly proud to have kept this surprise hidden.
She slowed to a stop at the edge of the setup, looking down at the soaked clothing plastered to her body, the water dripping down her legs and wetting the sand around her feet. She didn’t sit down, not wanting to soak through the blanket with her dripping wet body.
Pelops had walked passed her to the upper corner where a large basket sat, pulling out a large, thin piece of linen for her to drape around herself. He held it out in front her, just above his head so she could shuck off her wet clothing without his gaze burning along her bare skin.
After tossing the sodden bunch of cloth away from the blanket, the tiny grains of sand covering it rough against her wrinkled fingers, she wrapped herself in the warm sheet. Lightly grazing Pelops’ clenched fingers as she took it from him, she wrapped it tightly around her chest, ensuring it draped around and down her body before turning back to him.
His eyes were shut tight, his fingers clasped together in front of him, patiently waiting for her to be covered and decent. Like hers had been, his clothes were pasted to his skin, showing her more than she’d seen of him before. The shape of his strong thighs was visible, but his hands hung in the space between, blocking her view. If there was any hint of desire on him, he was hiding it well.
The perfect example of control, always.
