Dark Desires (Dark Romance Boxed Set)

by Cerys du Lys

  She wandered back to where she had left Aidon, imagining feeding pomegranate seeds into his waiting mouth. The trail was familiar, the trees and plants and flowers all hers, but she realized that they held less attraction for now. They were beautiful certainly—but so was Elysium. And there was a darkness in the Underworld she had discovered she craved, something…bittersweet.

  This really is goodbye.

  The thought of leaving this place for the Underworld didn’t make her sad. The sound of the stream around the bend was music to her ears and she turned the corner, opening her mouth to call him. Aidon was on his back with a dark-haired nymph straddling his chest. Persephone recognized her immediately. Nymphs were always tied to particular locations, and this stream belonged to Minthe. The beautiful seductress, who had lured many a man and god in her time, was now leaning down to kiss the God of the Underworld.

  “Get off of him!” Persephone shrieked, dropping her fruit and pulling the invisibility helmet off her head. Minthe glanced up, her dark eyes wide in surprise. Aidon pushed her off in that moment, using all of his strength, and the nymph went sprawling on the ground.

  “She bewitched me!” Aidon wiped the dazed look from his face. “I could have sworn she was you, Sephie!”

  Persephone’s eyes narrowed and she looked between them, frowning. She didn’t know how far the nymph’s powers reached, or what tricks she was capable of, but the confused look in Aidon’s eyes made things clearer.

  “Well, Minthe…” Persephone turned, glaring at the nymph, and raised both hands to her. “You won’t have the chance to do that again.” A flash of heat emitted from Persephone and Minthe’s beautiful form was transformed in an instant. Aidon stared, mouth agape, his eyes going from his bride to the sudden appearance of a small bush with spiky purple flowers where Minthe had been standing.

  “I’m sorry, Sephie,” he apologized, taking her in his arms. She let him, still shaking with rage. “At first she said she had lost her way…and then, when she climbed onto me, she took your form somehow.”

  She glanced up at him, still frowning. “Did you think her beautiful?”

  “Yes.” Aidon cleared his throat when he saw the look on her face. “But—”

  “I think she is more beautiful now.” Persephone spoke firmly as she went over to the plant, picking off one of the leaves. “And she smells better. Here.” Aidon lifted the pungent smelling leaves to his nose. “Minthe will serve much better this way, don’t you think?”

  Aidon chuckled, picking up the helmet she had discarded. “I never expected to see such a display of jealousy from you.”

  Persephone crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not jealous. That nymph was a menace. I was just doing a public service.”

  “If you say so.” Aidon hid a smile, leaning down to pick up one of the fruits she had dropped. “Pomegranates? Is this what you went wandering off for?”

  “They’re my favorites.” Persephone sighed, coming over to stand beside him. “I was bringing them back to—oh, never mind.” She glanced over at the newly sprung mint plant swaying in the breeze, taking the pomegranate from his hand and tossing it at the shrub. Its leaves shook violently at the blow. “Let’s just go home.”

  Aidon’s eyebrow went up. “Home?”

  “You heard me.” Persephone took his hand and they headed back up the path to find Noire to carry them back to the Underworld.

  Chapter Five

  The knock on the door startled them both and Aidon swore softly, getting up off the bed and padding nude toward the door. “Who is it? This better be good!”

  “It’s Tisi!” She sounded apologetic. “I wouldn’t have bothered you, but—”

  “Damn it, Tisi!” He pulled open the door and Persephone strained to see from her reclining position on the bed. Tisi grinned down at his fading erection and then peeked past his shoulder, seeing Persephone strapped to the bed. “I told you we were not to be disturbed!”

  “I know, but Thanatos—”

  “The God of Death is a big boy! I’m sure he can take care of himself!” Aidon turned her around by the wings, pushing her forward through the outer chamber. Persephone couldn’t see them anymore, but she could hear them.

  “Aidon, wait—”

  “No!” His voice echoed loudly. “The damned Underworld can live without me for a few days! Now go, and don’t disturb me again!”

  Persephone winced when the door slammed shut and Aidon stormed back in, still swearing at Tisi under his breath. He stopped short, standing to the side and looking at the goddess displayed spread-eagle on his bed. She could see the fire beginning again in his eyes. There was a definite difference between the glow of anger and the spark of passion in his deep smoldering gaze. She had time to marvel she had already learned the difference before Aidon climbed up on the bed beside her.

  “Now…where were we?”

  She was chained to the bed with padded wrist and ankle restraints, completely at his mercy. She squirmed under the intensity of his gaze, his eyes slowly tracing a path over her skin. There was no mistaking his look now, the heat of it making her skin flush. He propped himself up on his elbow and traced a finger around her navel, making easy, concentric circles out from her center. Persephone longed to reach for him, but with her hands bound, she just wiggled in her restraints, giving a small whimper.

  He didn’t pay any attention to her writhing. Instead, he lowered his mouth to her navel and kissed her, tracing his tongue in the same circles his fingers had made. She shivered at the hot, wet trail he left on her skin, arching her hips up without even thinking. The feel of his hand on her knee, petting her there before moving up over the swell of her thigh, made her moan softly, her head rolling slowly from side to side.

  The wet circles moved inward again, his fingers brushing lightly over the skin of her inner thigh. His touch was feather-soft, his tongue slipping into the crevice of her navel. She gasped at the sensation, surprised at her own response. It was as if he were licking her lower, in the more sensitive nether regions of her sex! His tongue dipped in and out, moving around and around, making her squirm. She could swear she felt it all where his fingers stroked her inner thighs.

  “Please…” The word escaped her lips in a hoarse whisper as she twisted against her restraints. It was as if he hadn’t heard her at all. His tongue continued its slow exploration of her waistline, his fingers their agonizing tease. He was clearly doing what he wanted, what suited him at that moment. He kissed down her belly, the mattress shifting under his weight as he settled himself between her thighs.

  She tensed in anticipation, pushing her hips up toward his mouth, but his tongue began those maddening circles again, moving up from her knee to inner thigh. Just when his breath whispered where she wanted to be touched, he moved again, starting at her other knee and working his way up again. She groaned in frustration at the slow torture of his mouth, twisting her wrists in her padded bonds.

  When he finally touched her sex, it wasn’t with his tongue at all. His big hands pressed her thighs open wider at the apex, his fingers easing her curls apart to expose the pink inside. She lifted her head to look down at him, his gaze focused between her legs. When he looked up and met her eyes, his face spread into a slow smile.

  “Athena and Artemis have a name for it,” she told him, pressing her hips up. “For that sweet spot at the top, right there…”

  “This one?” He pressed his finger to it briefly and she shivered.

  “Yessss…ohhh.” Swallowing hard, she went on, “They call it the feminine omphalos.”

  “The center of feminine pleasure.” He touched it again, rubbing back and forth, making her moan. “Indeed.”

  “We called it omi.”

  “Well, you have a beautiful little omi, Sephie.” He blew on it gently,

  “Please,” she whispered again, wiggling her pelvis up toward his mouth. “Oh, Aidon, please, I’m begging you…”

  “I hear that.” His smile widened. His finger and thumb
touched the pink, sheathed hood of skin and pulled it back to expose her completely. “I like the sound of it. Do it again.”

  She gasped as his finger rubbed her omi back and forth, teasing. “Aidon! Oh please!”

  “Again.” His finger unsheathed her over and over, playing with her.

  “Please!” Her voice was almost a wail. “Please, please, please!”

  “Please what?” He kissed just above where his fingers pressed. “What is it you want, Sephie?”

  She moaned when his breath moved over her mound. “Your mouth. Your tongue.”

  “Here?”

  “Yes, there!” Her hips rocked up against his flickering tongue. “Oh right there!”

  “Work for it.” He lifted his tongue, flicking it back and forth through the air over her mound. “Let’s see if you can reach for what you want.”

  She groaned, arching as high as she could in her restraints, toward his waiting mouth. Every time she eased a little closer to his tongue, he would pull back slightly, making her moan in frustration. Finally, she sighed, lowering her hips to the bed. The effort caused her breath to come in short, fast pants.

  “Your pleasure is mine.” His fingers still spread her open, exposing her. “It belongs to me. You will give it to me, if and when I want it. Do you understand?”

  Whimpering, she nodded.

  “I didn’t hear you.” He pinched her omi gently, making her squirm.

  “Yes, Aidon!” Persephone’s moan echoed in the room as he sank down into her flesh, his tongue probing through her soft, pink heat. There was no teasing or hesitation now. His mouth licked her most sensitive spots, his fingers working slowly into her, one at a time. He drank her in—she could hear him swallowing her—and he groaned for more, sliding his wet fingers in and out of her sex.

  She longed to grab his head, press him to her harder, and she tugged at her restraints. Struggling against them was no use—her pleasure was completely his. There was nothing she could do to control it, no matter how much she twisted and turned and arched. His fingers curled up inside of her, pressing some deep, aching spot as his tongue flicked back and forth at the top of her slit.

  It seemed to go on forever, his dancing tongue and crooking fingers sending her closer and closer toward her peak. Her thighs began to tremble with her impending orgasm and she felt an incredible surge between her legs, as if she were going to let everything go. Panicked, she tried to stop, but she couldn’t. His mouth urged her on, his fingers, too, taking her to new heights as she bucked under him.

  “No!” Her head rolled from side to side, her eyes closed tight against it, but there was no stopping whatever was coming. This wasn’t like anything she had ever felt before, and it both exhilarated and bewildered her. The sensation seemed to grow wings, beginning with a soft flutter and then taking off. Soon she was soaring, her whole body humming with the delicious feeling. And he never stopped, seeking more and more of her as she shuddered and gasped against him. She could hear him swallowing, moaning softly between her legs as he drank gushes of her fluid.

  When it had faded to just an aching pulse and a trickle, Aidon knelt up, his eyes dark with lust as he looked down at her. She wanted to reach for him, but couldn’t. She could only show him her hunger through her eyes, the flush of her skin, the gasp of her breath. He seemed to understand it as he grabbed his erection, stroking it gently as he straddled her hips. Her eyes moved along with his hand, up and down the shaft, and she licked her lips.

  “You are mine, Persephone.” He slid his stiff heat under the chain linked between the nipple clamps on her breasts, letting it catch the chain as it rose and pulled slightly, making her gasp. Her nipples suddenly burned with feeling, and she watched as the head of his cock leaked fluid down toward the gold chain. “You are mine, to do with as I will. Every part of you.” He thrust upward a little, pulling the chain taut. She moaned, biting her lip at the delightful pain. “Every orifice is mine.” He reached behind him to grab her mound, shoving his fingers inside of her. She groaned, but the sound was muffled as he slipped the chain off his shaft and eased the tip between her lips. His fingers pressed deeper into her sex as he rocked his hips forward, shoving himself toward the back of her throat. “Every single hole…all mine.” His finger slipped lower, down the crack of her behind, and she felt him pressing the tender, still-virgin rosebud below her sex. Her eyes widened, but she couldn’t speak as he pressed himself further into her mouth. “And I will use them all, Sephie. What do you think of that?”

  The feel of his finger probing, the thought of him touching her there, putting what was in her mouth down there…! She had thought she had seen darkness down here, since she had been taken by him, but now she was starting to realize they had just begun. The thought was both terrifying and exciting. Her response was not given in words, but by her eager suckling and swallowing of his thick shaft.

  She lost herself in the thrust and growl of him pumping in and out of her mouth, but he didn’t let it go on long. With a loud groan, he pulled his dripping shaft from her lips, smacking her lightly on the cheek with the head as she whimpered and tried to catch it again with her tongue.

  “Bad girl.” He gently slapped her other cheek with his erection before standing and moving away from the bed. Persephone strained to see what he was doing, where he was going. He opened a cupboard and pulled out all sorts of things, some she recognized, some she didn’t. She turned her head as he brought an armful of things toward her, strange leather straps and sharp metal poking at odd angles. The sight of it made her breath catch.

  Aidon yanked the table next to the bed closer with one hand, sweeping the metal bowl onto the floor, spilling the fruit it contained. It rolled everywhere. He dropped his armload of implements onto the bed and then began to line them up on the table, one by one. She watched, her whole body tingling with anticipation at the look of determination on his face. His gaze flicked over her and he frowned, picking up a black square of silk from the pile.

  “You will come to crave the darkness.” His voice was soft as he folded the cloth and slipped it over her eyes. He tied it behind her head, and she gasped when he tugged the chain still attached between her nipples. Now she couldn’t see what he was doing, she could only listen as he shuffled the implements on the table. The weight of him shifted the bed slightly and she knew he was sitting beside her. She could hear his breath, and she wondered what he was doing, what he was thinking.

  His hand slid up the curve of her arm toward her wrist, and she whimpered as he unlocked the restraint. She flexed and stretched her aching arm before letting it fall to the bed. He did the same with the other arm and both legs. Persephone twisted and arched her limbs on the mattress, sighing in relief. She hadn’t even realized how restricted she had been, bound to the bed that way.

  “Turn over.” His voice was a soft command, and she found herself rolling to her belly, complying with his directive. She was careful of the clamps on her nipples, but they bit into her flesh harder anyway as her breasts pressed against the bed. The darkness enveloped her, and with that particular sense deprived, she found her others slightly heightened. The feel of him shifting on the bed was like the earth moving. Something scraped across the table next to the bed and she turned her head sharply toward the sound. Even the smell of leather, that wild, slightly animal scent, wafting near her cheek, drew her attention.

  Something cold brushed her shoulder and she shivered. She jumped at a soft “snick” sound under her chin, and Aidon jerked gently at the soft leather collar around her neck a few times before giving a satisfied grunt. Persephone opened her mouth to ask him, but his words cut off her own.

  “It’s a leash.” Again, that gentle tug. “You’re not quite ready for your freedom yet.” The words burned her ears and cheeks and the impulse to run was very strong. He seemed to sense it, and the wrench on the leash grew tighter. “You chose to stay, Sephie. Now you’re going to find out why. Spread your legs.”

  The last statement was a
nother command, and she swallowed her pride, spreading her thighs wide on the bed. The silence seemed to go on forever as she listened to her own fast-beating heart in the darkness. She knew he was there, somewhere near, but there was no movement—just the deep, even sound of his breathing. Just when she thought she couldn’t stand it any longer, she had to move or say something to break the endless silence, the softest tickle feathered over the sole of her foot.

  Lightly, the sensation trailed up over her calf, twirling there in the sensitive area behind her knee. Back and forth, then, over her thighs, and up over her behind, in slow, sweeping figure eights that made her shiver with delight. Aidon swept her hair over her shoulder, teasing the back of neck with the silky sensation. The feather—she knew it must be a feather—tickled her forehead and cheek and chin, making her smile. He traced it over the side of her breast and down the gentle curve of her waist, making fast circles on her hip.

  Then, out of nowhere, a bright hot sensation seared her behind. She yelped, twisting on the bed, the nipple clamps shifting and making her breasts burn. The leash attached to her collar pulled snug and she stopped, wiggling slightly but not moving any further away from the sensation. Aidon’s hand moved over the burning, as if rubbing it in, or rubbing it out, she wasn’t sure which. It felt incredible and she moaned softly, arching up into his palm.

  He replaced his hand with that light, feathery touch, brushing softly over her bottom. The sensation sent shivery bumps down her legs and over her arms and she lifted her hips toward it. That’s when something hard and soft at the same time came down fast against her flesh, its flat, padded surface making her jump with the force. She squealed as another blow fell and then another. It began slowly, teasing. Holding her breath, she waited for the next one, not sure if or when it was coming. When it did, she gasped and arched off the mattress.

  There was no rhyme or reason to it, and she found herself tense with uncertainty. The next few slaps rained down hard over her behind again and again—her breath came in short gasps and she gripped the bedclothes in her fists, bracing herself—and then they stopped. She drew a long, shaky breath, turning her head, as if she could tell what he might do next, although the blindfold left her in darkness. Her whole body tingled with anticipation.