Dark Desires (Dark Romance Boxed Set)

by Cerys du Lys

  The high water rose in swells and waves with their motion, spattering the mirrored surface behind the pool. Persephone reached back with one hand, grabbing his thigh and pulling him in deeper, making him moan and shove her forward. The water sloshed right over the side with that push. She tried to adjust herself for balance as he suddenly pulled out of her, going down to his knees behind her. His hands steadied her, pulling her with him, back into him, using her hips to tug her. With both of them in the pool, the water began to spill over the sides in a steady flood, the steam rising around them.

  She rocked back into him, impaling herself again and again. Slipping her hand under the water, she rubbed herself until her fingers were wrinkled and her sex throbbed for release.

  “Aidon…Aidon…” She called his name over and over, feeling him reach around and pull her belly, using the leverage to meet her as she ground her hips into him, dancing back on his iron rod. She forgot about the water sloshing out around them. She forgot about everything but the white hot sensation.

  She begged him for release, knowing it remained up to him, but she didn’t know how. Aidon groaned, low and loud, and pushed her quickly off of him. He grabbed her and turned her around to him, slipping back up into her without any guidance or direction at all. She noticed half of the water gone, all over the black stone floor, but saw it only peripherally. She worked her sex down onto him, his hands grabbing her hips. When she bit at his shoulder, he growled, urging her to arch backward as he nuzzled her breasts. He sucked and nipped at them, making her squeal and squirm in his lap.

  He panted her name, his breath coming faster. She felt his cock beginning to swell inside of her as she looked at his face. What she saw there sent her right over a rocking, slick edge, arching and falling into the glowing darkness of his eyes as she began to climax, too. His length pulsed between her thighs, spilling endless heat in long, shuddering waves.

  They rocked together still in the wet warmth as she wrapped herself around him completely, not wanting to let go. Now half the water had flooded the floor. The air had grown cool and she snuggled closer, trying to get warmer.

  “Cold?” He kissed her ear. She nodded and he stood, taking her with him. He carried her out of the pool, across the wet floor, and opened a cupboard. He threw several bath sheets on the floor to soak up the water and then let her down, wrapping one around her and rubbing her slowly dry. They didn’t speak, but their eyes met several times, and spoke volumes. When they were both dry, he pulled her close, breathing deep as he began to take the pins out of her hair.

  “I’m hungry,” she murmured against his chest, letting him free her tresses. They fell down her back in soft waves.

  She heard his smile. “The queen makes demands!”

  It startled her to hear him speak of her that way, and she wondered about her newly acquired role as Aidon led her back into the bedroom. Everything had been cleaned up and put away, the bed made. Even the bowl he had knocked to the floor rested back in its place on the night table, full to the brim with fruit. She climbed up onto the bed and stretched her limbs, feeling very much like a queen, and smiling as he fetched a pomegranate from the bowl of fresh fruit on the bedside table. He broke it open with his thumbs, revealing the fleshy seeds inside. She smelled the ripeness of it, a sweet tang.

  “Do you really want to stay with me?” His eyes met hers only for a moment as his fingers dipped into the fleshy middle of the fruit. “Do you want to accept your place as Queen of the Underworld?”

  “Yes.” Persephone nodded, giving him a smile. “I do.”

  “You will be free here, Sephie. You can go where you will. This is your home now.” Aidon cleared his throat, his eyes downcast. “The only concession is you can never leave the Underworld.”

  “Never?”

  “You are not a twain-traveler.” He shrugged. “Perhaps, after we are married…”

  “Married?” Her eyes widened at the thought of a wedding in the Underworld.

  He dug his fingers into the red, ripe fruit in his hand. “I would not keep you as a concubine. You will be my wife.” She recognized it as a proposal and command all at once. He lifted his fingers to show her the juicy fruit. “Are you sure, Persephone? Anyone who eats anything in the Underworld must stay here. It’s the law.”

  She nodded, pulling his cupped hand, full of fruit, toward her mouth. It dripped over her belly and breasts, leaving a sticky seed trail. She spoke the words he had taught her, the ones he wanted to hear. “Yes, Aidon.” She sucked the fleshy red fruit off his fingers, crunching the bittersweet seeds.

  He watched her lick his hand, cleaning off the juices, his eyes smiling. Her tongue lapped between his fingers and over his palm as he dipped his head toward her middle, cleaning the syrupy red mess from her belly with his mouth. Persephone moaned when he found a stray seed near her nipple, her mouth sucking furiously at his finger. She forgot all about her hunger, just as she had forgotten about the deep, red sting of her bottom, and she closed her eyes and let herself be carried away on a sticky red wave of bittersweet bliss.

  Chapter Seven

  Persephone noticed the new ebony throne first, sitting empty beside Aidon’s. Her heart thrummed in her chest and she felt heat in her cheeks as she approached him. She noticed his eyes glowed as he watched her. She had massed her golden hair up high on top of her head and adorned it with the glitter of diamonds and other jewels. She wore nothing except for a long black veil fastened amidst the jewelry in her hair. The veil pulled back from her face and hung down her back in lacy layers that seemed to make her skin glow even brighter with a pale light. Her skin, adorned with another, curvy brand along the small of her back, and another just above her sex, glowed with a golden dust applied with a soft bristled brush. Aidon had been right about that. She cherished every mark of his on her body.

  The cavern walls were dark as night, but the ghostly light of the cypress tree lit the guests’ faces. The shades were too numerous to count. They had all stopped in the process of being judged, or bathing in the Pool of Lethe, to watch this event. Tisi stood to the side with her sisters, Megaera and Alecto, and in front of them, Thanatos, and his brother, Hypnos. The Moirai giggled together as she passed and Persephone glanced at them. The three Fates never separated, and their beady eyes missed nothing. Of course, there stood dear Hecate, fading in and out next to them, as she was wont to do when she became nervous.

  Aidon held his hand out to her and Persephone took a deep breath as she stepped toward him. She now knew he was her destiny, and nothing could keep her from it. His gaze swept over her form as she stood before him. On the smaller thrones to the right sat the three judges of the shades, their eyes on her as well. She had grown used to her constant state of undress, and their gaze didn’t bother her.

  “Kneel.” Aidon squeezed her hand and Persephone sank to her knees before him, bowing her golden head, the black veil brushing her pink cheeks. “Persephone, Goddess of Spring and all things bright and golden…will you consent to be my bride, to rule beside me as Queen of the Underworld, for all of eternity?”

  “Yes.” The word passed over her lips with barely enough breath to carry it, but somehow they all heard her assent. A cheer went up, filling the cavern with sound. She felt her blush as Aidon lifted her chin, his eyes searching hers. He seemed satisfied with what he found there because he smiled, his whole face brightening with the gesture.

  “Forever more, you will belong to me.” Aidon lifted a small, intricately carved wooden box. When he opened it to reveal the contents, a collective gasp went up through the room. Persephone, however, couldn’t speak. She could barely even breathe. The necklace was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Each of the silver links of the delicate chain seemed to sparkle in the light, and at the center rested a large red ruby surrounded by diamonds whose weight seemed too heavy for the chain to bear.

  “Hephaestus made this for me.” Aidon’s voice lowered, meant only for her, as he leaned in to fasten it around her neck.
“It will feel as if you are wearing nothing, but will never come off. You are bound to me forever, Persephone. You are mine.”

  Aidon unlocked the fading leather collar around her neck, the one with his name branded in the side, and set it aside. She gasped as the new chain tightened around her neck and then went slack. Sure it had dropped to the ground, she panicked, reaching for it. With a sigh of relief, she felt it, the ruby resting at the center of her throat, beating with the heat of her pulse there. The chain encircled her neck and even at the back, she felt no fastener or clasp. It had simply become a part of her.

  When she looked up at him in wonder, he smiled again, and reached out to trace the line of her jaw with his finger. It was a tender moment, an intimate sharing in the midst of the crowd, and the way he looked at her made her glad she knelt instead of stood. She knew her legs might not have held her otherwise. In that moment, she could think of nothing more than the time they had spent, days and days, locked in his room, ignoring the calls on the other side of the door.

  When Aidon produced a pomegranate, breaking the flesh open between them, Persephone’s memory triggered again, and she flushed. They had shared this very fruit together on their first night. Aidon had licked and sucked the seeds from her navel…and her…

  “Eat.” The sticky bittersweet juices dripped down over his hands as he held the fruit out to her. Everyone who resided in the Underworld knew what this ritual meant. Anyone who ate the food of the dead, food grown in the Underworld, would reside forever in the land of the dead.

  Persephone leaned in and, using her tongue as a spoon, scooped the flesh of the fruit, sucking it into her mouth. Aidon watched as she chewed the bittersweet seeds, swallowing and licking the red juice from her lips. When he set the fruit aside, she grasped his hands, using her tongue to clean them of pomegranate juice. She licked his palm, the inside of his wrist, and even wiggled her tongue between the grooves of his fingers.

  “Persephone…” His voice sounded pained, barely above a whisper as he she sucked one of his fingers deep into her mouth. She saw the gentle rise of his erection underneath the dark loincloth he wore and thrilled at it, sucking harder at his finger. “Not now…”

  “But I’m hungry now,” she murmured, tracing her tongue over the pads of his fingers and then dropping her mouth to his thigh where a splotch of red fruit had stuck. She sucked it off the skin there, licking circles, making him gasp.

  “You are so very, very bad.” Aidon lifted her chin and saw the mischievous smile playing over her lips. “Careful, you might make me believe you want to be punished.” His gaze traveled over her body. “Stand.” His voice rose loud enough for the others to hear, and she stood with his help. He towered over her as he stood as well, grasping her hand and announcing, “I give you Persephone, Queen of the Underworld!”

  The applause shook the cavern. Even the muted sounds of the shades, cheering in the strange language of the dead, seemed festive as they all clamored forward to meet their new Queen. She expected the dark throne to be cold, but looked up at Aidon in surprise at the warmth under her bottom as she sat beside him. The ebony throne seemed to conform to her body temperature, making her nude form comfortable, not too warm or too chilled.

  “Hephaestus again,” Aidon leaned in and said with a wink. “Besides, it’s fitting, isn’t it? We are in Hell, after all…”

  Persephone took Tisi’s outstretched hand, but smiled over at Aidon. “No, my love. This is Heaven.”

  “Glad to see you so happy.” Tisi leaned in and kissed Persephone on the cheek as the three Furies gave their blessings and began to depart.

  “Where are you off to?” Aidon caught Tisi’s hand. “Stay, drink, eat. There’s a delectable feast in the Great Hall!”

  Tisi shook her head, the black snakes there hissing in unison. “I’m afraid we’ve got work to do. Souls to torture and maim…you know how it is.” She waved her hand toward the other three judges sitting next to them who had resumed their duties. Shades came forward one at a time, lining up endlessly behind one another.

  “It’s true.” Thanatos moved in behind Tisi, flashing his toothy smile. “There’s no rest for the wicked.”

  “Hey.” Tisi winked over her shoulder at him. “Do you mean me…or them?”

  His grin widened and Persephone marveled at how many rows of teeth he seemed to have in there! “Wicked is as wicked does?”

  Tisi sighed and put her hand to her forehead. “Then I am so going to Hell…oh, wait…” She winked at Aidon and Persephone. “So, Thanatos, which wicked mortal’s got your panties all in a bunch?”

  For the first time, Persephone could see where the God of Death got his reputation. His eyes flashed and he bared his teeth—all of them—making her gasp and shrink against Aidon’s side.

  “Sisyphus!” Thanatos spat. “Didn’t you hear?”

  Tisi glanced over at her sisters, who nudged and tried to shush her, Persephone noticed. Tisi blinked innocently. “No…what happened, Thannie?”

  “Tisi…” Aidon’s warning tone came too late.

  Thanatos was off and running. “First Zeus sends me after him, like the God of Death is now his personal lapdog or something!” Tisi rolled her eyes at that. Persephone had learned quite quickly Zeus wasn’t a favorite among those who lived in the Underworld. “According to our self-appointed leader, I’m supposed to chain this Sisyphus down here and leave him to rot. Fair enough, nothing unusual so far, right?”

  Tisi nodded and Persephone felt Aidon sigh. He looked between Tisi and Thanatos as if they were two small children he just knew were going to end up in a fight he would have to break up.

  “Then the sneaky little mortal tricks me!” Thanatos snorted indignantly.

  Tisi grinned. “A mere mortal tricked the God of Death? Thannie, you’re losing your touch!”

  He glared at the Fury. “You didn’t hear him! He was incredibly cunning—I swear, Aidon, he could sell souls to the living!” Thanatos looked to Aidon for help, but the God of the Dead just shrugged.

  “Oh come on!” Tisi laughed. “I still can’t believe you fell for it! ‘Oh, great God of Death, I don’t understand how these chains work, can’t you show me?’ And you, ya muttonhead, snap the chains on yourself!” The Furies and the Fates all giggled now, and even Hecate went invisible to hide her own laughter.

  “Okay, okay!” Thanatos held up his hand. “I know how it looks.”

  “What happened then?” Persephone asked. She remembered Thanatos mentioning Sisyphus when he hastened on his way to chain him up and tried to hide her smile.

  “I stayed chained up in Tartarus for three days.” Thanatos glowered at Aidon. “No thanks to you, I might add.”

  “Where were you?” Persephone nudged him.

  Aidon gave her a dark look. “We were busy.”

  “Oh.” Persephone flushed.

  “So while you two were locked in your bedroom refusing to answer the door…” Tisi winked and went on. “Poor Thannie was locked in chains…until Ares came to save him.”

  “Ares?” Persephone inquired. “The God of War?”

  Aidon sighed. “He apparently got tired of fighting losing battles.”

  Persephone looked between them, confused. “What does that—?”

  “If I can’t get topside, then no one can die,” Thanatos explained. “So Ares was up there, hacking away, mortals’ heads were rolling…but it didn’t do him any good. He had headless bodies chasing bodiless heads, the wrong heads being put back on the wrong bodies, mix and match limbs...”

  “Oh, no!” Persephone hid a smile behind her hand.

  “Oh yes!” Thanatos sighed. “There were some surprised should-be widows welcoming home their should-be-dead warriors for a few days there. It was awful! A huge mess to clean up, believe me. But that damned Sisyphus finally got what was coming to him!”

  “I hope you weren’t too gentle,” Tisi teased.

  Thanatos bared his teeth at her. “Not likely. Fool me once…”

&n
bsp; “Sisyphus is a piece of work,” Aidon agreed. “Zeus has been complaining about him for years. He’s always been a petty thief. Then he took his own brother’s throne—tricked him out of it somehow.”

  “That isn’t what pushed old Zeusie over the edge, though!” Tisi laughed, leaning in toward Persephone to murmur, “He told everyone about Zeus’ escapades with Aegina. I think the whole heavens shook when Hera found out about that one!”

  “Zeus cheated on his wife?” Persephone’s eyes widened.

  Thanatos raised his eyebrows. “Are you that innocent? Zeus has been cheating on Hera since the Titans set up shop in Tartarus.”

  “She gets all upset, but then does it right back to him,” Tisi countered.

  “Which may be something my brother tolerates,” Aidon remarked. “But I will not.”

  “Nor I.” Persephone frowned at him. The thought of Aidon with another woman made her crazy. It was hard enough to tolerate his clear familiarity with the Furies, although she hadn’t had the courage to ask about his past yet.

  “Well, we’re off to play avenger!” Tisi winked at Aidon and Persephone as she gathered her sisters and they started off, arm in arm. “Only call us if you really need us!”

  Aidon waved them off, shaking his head and calling, “Just don’t leave any heads on my doorstep this time!”

  Persephone half-smiled, trying to tell if he was serious or not, when Aidon turned his attention back to Thanatos. The God of Death still, apparently, had a few bones to pick about being left in the lurch while Aidon was holed up with his new bride.

  “Persephone, may I speak with you?” Hecate appeared by her side, startling the blonde goddess and making her gasp and touch the ruby resting at her throat.

  Hecate appeared as young and beautiful, her blue-black hair falling nearly to her knees around her completely nude form. Persephone had finally gotten used to all the feminine nudity in the Underworld. The men usually wore a loincloth, but the women wore nothing at all.

  Hecate leaned in and whispered, “Can we go for a walk?”