Hades: Modern Descendants
Page 16
“Where?” he whispered, though he knew the way. “I’m afraid I’ll hurt you.” His claw-like nails just cut through lace, but I did not fear him. The tender pad of his finger parted delicate folds and I nearly came out of my skin. My hips jolted with the electrifying sensation. We groaned collectively.
“I don’t want to hurt you.” His voice was as delicate as his touch.
“Never.” The word strained as my back arched. His finger slipping in and out of me. His thumb skittered over a precious fold and I flinched.
“There,” I whimpered and he repeated the motion, rubbing over me, increasing the pressure. My eyes rolled back as my arms slipped from his neck and gripped the sheet.
“Hades,” I breathed and he sucked in my air with his mouth when he captured mine. We kissed while he touched and the fluttering built. Euphoric was the only word to describe the feeling. Love was the emotion. I loved him and he worshipped me. I broke the kiss as the scream rolled up my throat and the orgasm exploded through me. Tidal waves on the shore could not compare to the crash shattering me, reducing me to sifting sand. I was nothing but tiny pieces in the wind and I rode the breeze while Hades caressed me.
He slowed and I rested for a moment before reaching for him, and tugging him down to me. I forced him to roll, straddling over him. My sensitive, bare skin brushed the heavy denim of his jeans. It wasn’t going to be enough. I fumbled with the button and unzipped where he strained. He sat up to remove his shirt than fell back on the bed. Once he freed himself from his jeans, he grunted as I struggled to slip his pants over his hips.
My hand wrapped around his thick shaft. I recalled what I’d seen in the bar, the woman on her knees. Sinful as it seemed, my mouth sang out to taste him. I lowered over him.
“Persephone,” he choked. His voice further faltered when my hesitant tongue licked over his smooth head. I drew him into my mouth, sucking him deep, and the animalistic groan from his lips called out to my lower region. Swirling over the thick vein and lapping up the length of him, I savored him, devoured him. His hands came to my hair and he nudged me off him.
“Persephone?” My name was a question and I answered by climbing up him. Bare folds slid up the wet length of him. Posed on the tip, he halted me.
“Are you sure about this?”
“If I’m going to stay, I’m giving into it all.” It sounded like I was doing this for the wrong reasons, when he felt so right balanced under me.
“It’s different here.” His eyes met mine. “There’s no disease. I can’t get you pregnant.” Letting the thought sink in, I braced on the edge. My hips rose, forcing him upward, and then, I slipped down his hard length. We both moaned as his cool shaft entered warm heat.
“Firefly,” he strained as he lifted my hips and forced me down again. Repeating the motion several times, my head hung forward, my hair tickling his cheeks. He flipped us and I giggled. He braced on his forearms and stared down at me.
“I want to capture your laughter and hit repeat.” His mouth brushed my lips. He pulled back and thrust forward. “I’m never going to have enough of you.” He repeated the motion, filling me deeper. My legs curled over his hips; my hands delved into his hair. “Let me love you. Let me learn what that means.” His force so deep we were clearly one. Our bodies mimicked our dance at the club. Hips rolled, centers gyrated, and the glorious tension built again, surprising me.
“Hades, I’m going to…” My breath caught as he lunged forward, diving into the core of me.
“Soar, Firefly. Let me feel you fly around me.” An out-of-body experience overcame me. The flutters built, and then rapid-fire released, and I gasped with the surprise as the rush spread. My head lifted and I gently tugged at his hair.
“Hades,” I moaned as the sensation flowed over me and I shattered into a million floating pieces. He pulsed inside me, beating out the rhythm deep within me. Aftershocks occurred. My legs quivered. He captured my mouth as he strained over me, filling me with his seed. The pulsing inside thrilled me and my channel drank him in.
The kissing slowed, as did the tempo at my core. Still buried in me, he lingered on my lips and tempted me with his tongue. Each stroke loved me. Each nip a worship. He broke the kiss and his forehead came to rest on mine.
“Ah Juliet,” he sighed.
“Oh Romeo,” I breathed.
The End is Near
[Hades]
For two full days, we didn’t leave my room. We explored and discovered each curve and dip of one another. I learned where to touch. I collected sighs. We made love as we sat on the couch, pressed against the glass, and leaned over the bed. She let me take her in all manner of ways and she gave to me each responding plea, each cry for more, and each sound of sex. Without words, we loved each other.
I didn’t want to let her out of my sight, but I had duties to my father and the underworld. Each time we parted, Shakespeare’s words of sorrow filled me, but the sweet reunion was bliss. Her mouth, her hands, her hips. She radiated white heat to my cool flame, and we sparked. My Firefly lit. Time passed.
--
One night, we remained in bed. Spring was near. A storm raged outside the dark window, and our heated love making matched the crash of lightning and the groans of thunder. Spent, Persephone lay over me, her head on my chest, she slept. A strange ached filled my heart despite the intensity of her nearness. I feared the day the sand ran out of the glass. My wish was not her death, but her love.
When I woke, she had rolled away from me. Her back pressed to my side. A tender kiss to her shoulder nearly burned my lips. Her skin steamed, more so than her normal heat. My hand rested on her hip and my palm could have melted from the blaze.
“So tired,” she muttered as I leaned forward to roll her on her back. Her cheeks had brightened to a deep pink and her lips cracked.
“Persephone? Firefly?” The call of her name strangled out of me. Something was clearly not right. I leapt from the bed and covered her nakedness. Dressing quickly, Mina was my first thought. When the maid entered, I paced beside the bed.
“I think you need a doctor.”
“What?” We didn’t have a need, regularly. Although Hades Emporium had one on staff, he lived on the other side. He could not enter our realm.
“There are several who used to be one, child.” Her smoky tone soothed me and I nodded as she left to find help. I didn’t dare risk contacting my father.
It seemed like forever before Mina returned. A middle-aged looking man, bald with spectacles, stood over the bed. He touched Persephone’s cheeks and brushed back her damp hair. Her head turned into the cool palm.
“My best guess is a fever. I can no longer tell by touch. We’d need a thermometer to be certain, and some acetaminophen to break it.” Persephone moaned.
“So thirsty.” Her voice croaked.
“Has she had anything to eat or drink?”
I still hadn’t allowed her to taste of what we offered, afraid the transformation would occur. I hadn’t witnessed her eat the mysterious pomegranate that sustained her, after that one night.
“She looks dehydrated,” the doctor stated. My head swung back to her lips. Those tender morsels of puckered skin, typically rosy, were white. Mina stared at me. The doctor stood and said he’d arrange to get medicine. There was only one way; I’d raid the store myself before it opened. I’d clear the shelf of every product, if it made her feel better. Dr. Russell excused himself and Mina remained.
“Have Edwin bring me more fruit. I don’t care what my father said, I will not let her starve. The fruit is from her family farm. She should be safe.” My voice rose with frustration, stress emanating with each word. How could she be sick?
Mina nodded with understanding at my instructions. Then her wrinkled lips open and she paused before she spoke. “You know, there’s a right thing to do.”
I glared at her. “I can’t risk it. She’d die.”
“She made it through. She can make it out.” Her hollowed eyes bore into me.
“Child, you’re already dead.” Her words did not chide me. They spoke truth. It wasn’t that I’d die, it was that I could no longer live. Losing her was losing life.
“I know you’ll do what’s best.” Mina reached out for my forearm and gently patted it.
--
Persephone called to me in tortured sleep and continued to burn too hot. The pills did not help and I held her tighter to me. My cool skin seemed to please her, but it was not enough. Mina bathed her, but Persephone remained languid. Her limp body lacked control and she whimpered with the slightest movement. On day three, a decision had to be made.
“I don’t know if I can do it,” I whined to Mina, struggling with Persephone’s lifeless body.
“Here,” Mina croaked, and took over trying to dress Persephone in her original tank top and jeans. My heart ticked and the tattoo ached.
“What if she doesn’t survive?” I whispered to Mina’s back.
“You’ll have to be certain she does.”
Once dressed, I wrapped my hoodie around her and carried her down to the stable regions. I felt like a thief, sneaking down into the depths of my own home, hoping no one would notice the body I stole. Hector helped me mount and then passed Persephone up to me.
“Persephone? Firefly, I need you to place these in your ears. I’ll hold you as tight as I can.” I slipped the earbuds inside her lobes, then pressed her head to my chest. Her eyes remained closed, her breath shallow. I tucked her into my hoodie, covering her eyes and holding a hand over her head, praying she wouldn’t hear the sounds as we traveled back through the Cave of Decisions. The water trickled over tile before deepening to a shallow pool. The moans and calls of those in waiting cried out to her and she stirred.
“Please, don’t listen.” I pressed her head tighter to my chest, willing her to hear my plea. The splashing under hooves grew louder as I raced through the cave. She whimpered against me, her weak hand attempting to clutch at my side. We sped down the ancient stone tunnel, and the iron gate rose as I neared. Breaking out into darkness, the moonlight guided the way as the river grew deeper and I galloped down the center. I didn’t risk the morphing of Killer into my dirt bike. The change was too much to handle as I held Persephone. The rush of water broke the silent night and I thanked the Night Goddess for holding off another storm. We rapidly grew close to where I once watched her and I rode up on the west river bank, hovering under the trees as the water deepened. Too soon, we were at the spot where she fell in the river retrieving a boot. Boots that were now restored to her feet.
From head to toe, she appeared the same as the night I took her, but she somehow looked very different to me. That night she was beautiful, but frightened and unsure. I’d watched her grow in trust and compassion. She wore love well. Kissing her forehead, we slowed and I forced my steed to cross the river to her family’s land. Halting the horse, I slipped us off Killer. He snorted with exertion and pawed the fertile earth in frustration. This land was not his to roam.
Carrying Persephone away from the embankment, my heart strained with each step. She wasn’t heavy, but the clock on my chest weighed me down. Time would stop for me. Life as I knew it would end. I laid her on the soil, and brushed back her hair.
“Persephone, I can’t take you any farther. I won’t be able to part with you if I do.” I kissed her forehead.
“Hades.” Her voice spoke the clearest it had been in days. Croaking and dry, hearing my name stabbed at me as if the hour hand drove inward.
“My Juliet. Here is where we must part.” I knelt next to her, combing back her hair in heavier strokes.
“Don’t leave me.” The words choked out her dry throat and I blinked repeatedly. I had no tears but my eyes burned.
“Never,” I whispered, touching my lips softly to hers. “I’ll always be with you. Waiting.”
“Am I going to wake up and this won’t be real? Was this a dream?” Raspy and thin, her words struck deep.
“Yes. A dream come true,” I whispered to her ear while I embraced her. “But now it must end.”
A limp hand reached for my cheek but fell back from the weight. I stared down at her. Blonde hair glittered in the moonlight, her pale winter skin aglow. My Firefly. She burned bright and her light would stay in me as long as I could hold it. I waited until the sky lightened. Midnight blue pushed forth the black and soon the sun would shine.
I must go. The words were a thought, not a sound and I kissed her non-responding lips.
“I love you.”
SPRING
Land
[Persephone]
I woke as the heat of the sun kissed my cheeks. Sweaty and alone, I lay on hard soil and stared up at the sky. A brilliant blue peered down at me and my lips curled in pleasant recognition. Outside. I took a deep breath and the scent of damp soil and pungent manure filled my nostrils. I gagged then opened my mouth to drink it in. Rolling my head to the right, I could see a vast field spreading for miles and miles. Tiny buds broke through the earth, reaching and stretching from the root, like eager children, wanting attention from the Sun. Home.
Home, my head screamed.
My body twisted and I lay perched on my side, staring out at rich, dark dirt and a spectra of green shoots. I sat up quickly. I twisted at the waist to face the opposite direction and gazed across the river. The deep, forest greenery lined the opposing side of the river ditch. I searched from left to right as if I was missing something. What was I searching for?
I folded to my knees. My boots dug into the freshly tilled soil. My boots. Yes, looking for my boot which I left behind. No, that wasn’t it. My eyes narrowed at the dark space over the river, under the trees. Something was there. The outline of a figure.
A man.
I’d sensed it the night when my friends and I swam. Someone watched me. My hand rose to shield my eyes, and I used the makeshift visor as means to focus. I couldn’t make out the shape. Was it just the trees? I stood slowly, feeling shaky and weak, as if I’d been sick and hadn’t eaten in days, maybe weeks. My stomach pinched and my head ached. My fingers shook against my forehead. I couldn’t seem to turn away from the woods. I took a step forward and movement struck.
Someone was there.
I paused as I heard the sound of a horse whiny. A snort followed and I turned to run. The distance would be too great, but I mustered strength I didn’t feel and ran toward home. It would easily be miles. A harsh whine of a horse echoed over the flat land behind me and I froze, images rushing back to me.
A horse. A man. The smell of cedar.
My heart raced and I slowly turned around.
A touch. A kiss. The look of longing.
I retraced a step, heading toward the water.
A sigh. A sensation. The sound of a voice.
I stopped.
“I love you,” he said.
My heart raced, beating like fists on a door, to be released from my chest. My skin prickled, and I took another step in the direction of the trees. The noise of a dirt bike screeched to life and a shadow raced through the forest, just outside the water’s edge.
“Hades!” My cry shot like an arrow over the land, speeding toward the retreating rider. He couldn’t have, could he? He promised not to leave me. Watching as the rustle of branches marked his race, my thoughts were answered. He quickly disappeared.
Had it been a dream? My stomach dropped and a tear fell. Was it not real?
I lifted my left hand to cover my eyes and something flitted at my wrist. The butterfly flapped as it dangling from the silver bangle.
It couldn’t be? And I was correct. The brilliant bead, reflecting in the sun, gave the impression of moving wings. Stationary, the creature hung solid and solitary under my wrist. Turning darker, it shaded to a midnight blue. As I twisted my wrist, turquoise streamed through the glass bauble. I stared in wonder before looking up at the sky. Blue, and clear, and sunny. Takin
g a deep breath, the weight of being alone grew heavy. With one last glance at the woods, I whispered, “I love you, too,” and watched as the words floated through the subtle breeze, flying in the direction of their intended. The pressure of loneliness suddenly too great, I sprinted for home.
--
I awoke like Dorothy returned from Oz. My mother leaned over me, and Zeke, one of our oldest family friends, stood tucked in a corner. My grandfather, Titus, sat in a chair to the side of my bed, looking older and more worn than I remember. Two farm hands stood sentry at the door. The world was watching and waiting for my eyes to open. I lay in my bed, in my room, inside my home. I looked from one member of my family to another and my mother smiled down on me.
“Honey, do you recognize where you are?” she asked, perched on the edge of the bed. Her rough hands soothed tenderly as she brushed back my hair.
“I’m home.” My throat choked on the words. A mixture of relief and sadness filled me and my eyes slowly leaked.
“Home, sweetheart. That’s right.” My mother’s hand rested on my cheek and her voice squeaked. Her own tears fell. “How do you feel?” Her eyes roamed my sheet-covered body.
“Tired.” It was true, but I also felt hollow inside. The space where my heart should beat felt absent. The bed coverings scratched at me and I was suddenly too warm. Kicking at the firm tuck of the covers, my feet released. Bare toes peeked out and I stared at them. How far had they carried me? How did I get here?
“Tripper found you in the middle of the field. It was like you dropped out of the sky.” My mother’s voice faltered as she answered my unspoken question. More like rose up from the earth, I wanted to counter.