When Darkness Calls

by C. R. Jane

  He flinched like my words had struck him, and started walking towards me in a determined manner. “Make me forget then,” he said to me before his lips were crashing against mine. In an instant we were gone from the shore and instead he was pushing me through the doorway of my bedroom.

  I should have pushed him away, unwilling to compete with a dead woman...but his kisses were magic against my skin.

  And I was obviously weak when it came to matters of the heart.

  He walked me back until my legs hit the bottom of the bed.

  “Lie back.” It was a soft command, but a command all the same. I moved to the middle of the bed, my gaze locked on him as he prowled towards me. I was needy between my thighs and the heat in his eyes only grew as he watched me squirm. One button and then the next; by the time he freed his shirt and bared his chest, my clit was throbbing and I was wet and practically panting with anticipation. The rest of his clothes disappeared in an instant then, a rather nifty trick. He stood there, proud and unashamed as I took him in.

  There was no denying Hades was a god in every way. His abdomen rippled with dips and shadows. A small smattering of hair framed his -oh my—I swallowed a lump—it was more than I thought it could possibly be.

  I wanted this. I wanted him. More than I’d ever wanted anything else in my life. A brief image of Zeus appeared in my head along with a nonsensical trickle of guilt. I quickly pushed it away and focused on the perfection standing in front of me. I fisted the silk comforter on both sides of my hips as he climbed on the bed. I watched in awestruck fascination as he began to press his lips to my ankle, kissing and licking his way up my body until he was groaning.

  I gasped when he began to suck and taste my inner thighs as he spread my legs wide.

  “Fuck, Elena.” He growled my name and then proceeded to destroy me with one lick. My cry broke free just as my head slammed into the bed. I squeezed my eyes closed as he sucked my clit through the lace of my underwear, lapping and teasing with his tongue and then teeth until I was nothing but a writhing mess of a creature.

  I bowed into his mouth and with a groan, he peeled my underwear off until I was bare under my dress. My lips parted, but I couldn’t form a single word. I could only watch and feel and breathe through the pulsing ache in my core while he kissed me everywhere like he couldn’t get enough.

  I didn’t think it would be like this. I’d heard the stories of girls’ first times. How awkward and almost lonely they’d been for the partner they’d picked and immediately regretted.

  I’d thought it would be the same for me. Instead I was being consumed, being given so much pleasure that my mind was having a difficult time absorbing it all. There were so many emotions. I was obsessed in this moment with knowing him… with finding the smallest places and where the lightest stroke elicited the rush of his breath or hunger to flare in his eyes.

  I couldn’t have comprehended what it would feel like to have the breadth of his muscles beneath my hands, the heat of his skin and the long drag of his tongue as he savored every inch of my body, ruining me over and over again with his touch.

  Who would I be after he finished with me? I’d thought I’d already changed in just the short time that I’d been here in this psychotic wonderland, but this… this right here was destroying any semblance of the small-town girl I’d once known.

  After stripping me of my dress and bra, he began to whisper soft kisses in the sensitive dip behind my ear and along my neck, the side of my breast and down to the curved indentation at my waist—he cherished every part of me until I couldn’t think...I could only feel.

  Desperate, I grabbed his erection. Silk and steel, he melted into my hand. “Elena,” he hissed, and tucked his nose beneath my chin. I held him, pushing from tip to base and pulling back, rubbing my fingers over him in a caress. I was beyond inexperienced, relying solely on the way he reacted under my touch. I ran on repeat until he was panting and thrashing into my grip as inhuman growls ripped out of him.

  A dark part of me wondered...had she made him lose control like this? Had she made him feel as good as this? Was he thinking of her right this minute? Was he wishing it was her as he kissed me like he would die without my touch? Was it her he was imagining as he came undone in my hands?

  “Enough,” he growled. He pinned both of my arms above my head, as his mouth crashed down against mine once again. Hades sucked my tongue into his mouth, and then it was me squirming and begging for him to touch me. How had I ever thought I’d been kissed before? A girl should be warned when she’s in the presence of an imposter.

  “Touch me, please,” I begged.

  And he did. Fuck, he did. While one hand held me prisoner, the other grazed my breast. I cried out and looked at him.

  “Are you burning for me like I’m burning for you?” he murmured.

  I thought I moaned a yes, but it was impossible to form words as his fingers left a burning trail as he made his way down to where I’d been begging for his touch. A low moan from the back of his throat settled in the air as his fingers dipped between my folds.

  “I want to see you,” he muttered. I let my legs fall apart, too undone to be self conscious at all. He rubbed me softly, slipping to where I was the wettest, he gathered my heat and teased me by painting me in tight tiny circles… but never where I needed him the most.

  “Please, please, please,” I keened. I begged and screamed until his perfect fucking fingers slid into me at last.

  “Ohh.” I groaned, loud and shameless, as he reached in and tipped forward, pumping and rubbing me into a full-out cry. He felt so freaking good.

  “Perfect,” he said in a pinched voice, as if he was on the precipice of finding nirvana. I bowed from the bed as he led me on a path to bliss.

  “Please.” I begged for something, anything. “Make me come, please make me come.” I tried to move. Pinned down, my only option was to flex and roll my hips, bringing him deeper, faster, and taking in his growl as he crushed his mouth to mine. I was reacting on instinct, trying to follow whatever would bring the most pleasure. He was making me lose my mind.

  He ground his palm down into the perfect place and that was what sent me over the edge. I screamed and exploded into a million sparks as I came all over his magical hand. When the haze cleared he’d raised up on his elbows staring down at me. His body was a protective and possessive frame as he nestled between my thighs and began to spread me open. His eyes resembled starlight again, like they had on the beach just moments ago. I could see my future in his gaze and it made me brave.

  I wanted to give him everything.

  “I want you, Hades” I whispered, latching on to his shoulders and hoping that he could read in my voice and in my eyes all the things I didn’t have the courage to say.

  You’re changing me. You’re undoing me. I’m falling in love with you.

  “Elena, love.” The words passed his lips a millisecond before he reared back and thrust inside of me. He froze when he realized what had just happened. I was frozen as well, a cry on my lips as I tried to adjust to the feeling of being full...the feeling of being complete.

  “Why?” he whispered as he stared down at me with a mix of trepidation and wonder. Obviously not knowing what to say. My cheeks flushed in embarrassment but before he could think any more on it, I wrapped my legs around his waist and tried to pull him even deeper inside of me. He wasn’t having any of that though. He grabbed a hold of my hips and stilled me as he laid his forehead against mine. We laid there connected, breathing in sync while my body adjusted to his size and he wrapped his mind around the fact that I’d just given him my freaking virginity.

  The stillness did nothing to calm down the fire he’d lit inside of me though.

  “Please,” I finally gasped. It wasn’t enough for him to be inside of me. I needed more. He still had a hold of my hips but I tried to roll them anyway to push him into action.

  His shoulders shook with the low rumble of his laugh. “Give me a second, baby. I- it’
s doing something to me knowing I was your first. I want to make this good for you.” Taking my sigh into him, he focused on my mouth and began to kiss me until I was breathless once again. Our connection deepened as he finally rose onto his hands. I clenched around him in response, and his nostrils flared. My fingers trailed along his shoulders and down his arms, following the definition of his muscles as they flexed beneath my touch. His body was perfect, unreal in it’s gorgeousness.

  “I don’t want this to ever end,” he whispered in a low gravelly voice. “Being inside of you like this...it will never be enough. I’ll crave this every moment of every day, for forever.”

  I try not to fall in love with his words. I know he’s saying them in the heat of the moment. Hades probably doesn’t even realize the promises he’s making to me. My heart doesn’t listen though as I watched him throw his head back and pull out of me. We both groaned, the glide exquisite and seemingly necessary to my existence. Waiting another heartbeat, he slid in again. He pulled back and found a gentle rhythm, moving in and out, and cherishing me until my head lost the same battle as my heart. His body was telling me I was everything. Please let this be real.

  He licked his lips and I draped my arms around his neck, using them as leverage to lift up and kiss him. “So good, Elena. It’s too good…,” he mumbled against my mouth.

  And it was. So intense and so good my toes curled as I wrapped my legs around his backside. I was beyond overwhelmed; the feel of him buried in me, knowing I was really here in this moment, with his voice whispering in my ear to hold on, don’t hold back, give me everything….

  I couldn’t hold on. All I could do was fall deeply into every sensation and lose myself in them. I felt connected to him in every possible way, not just physically, but emotionally as well. A warmth spread out from my chest at the realization that what had seemed like an ending as I left my mother’s house had actually become my beginning, the start of a new chapter with Hades as the hero of my story.

  Right here, in this bed, clarity reigned as his mouth claimed mine again, teasing out a moan so he could claim that too. He owned me. I would give him anything. Take it, take all of me, take everything and anything. And he did, wringing out every ounce of pleasure. He knew where to touch, how to extract the smallest whimper and the largest groan. I could never tire of being with him, with him over me and in me, pushing, pulling, driving, and devouring until the ache became a need. A need so intense and all-consuming, I began taking from him. Calling out unabashedly to move faster, go deeper, push harder. Don’t stop, never stop, never stop making me feel this good and needy and so, so full. Please, I beg. Pleading with him, pleading for I don’t know what….

  His head dipped to my nipple. Taking me into his mouth, he teased with his tongue and bit down, hard, only releasing me when I gasped and clutched his hair. But I didn’t pull him away; I held him in place. I wanted more. I wanted the edge of pain. It was the only thing that was keeping me from floating away, lost in the ecstasy I’d discovered with him. He did it again and this time I went a little wild, raking my fingers down his back and bucking my hips to meet the increased pace of his. Everything he was doing was magnified in the pulse between my thighs. It started as a slow flutter when he first entered me, but it had built into a steady cadence. I focused on the feeling of him. I was climbing high, fast, and he was coming with me. Throwing my head back, I relished in our connection, kneading my fingers into his back, his muscles flexing with control as he pushed me to a place I’ve never known, didn’t know existed.

  I could see the moment when he lost it… lost himself as I already had.

  Gone was the controlled restraint and in its place was a wild abandon. Giving in to my demands, his hips thrusted with a determined pace, driving forward, pushing harder until each strike elicited a guttural grunt from him and an exacting cry from me. Sweat pebbled on his brow, beading and rolling, dropping to my chest where it slid between my breasts. I watched, fascinated, as his eyes followed it down and the black of his pupils blurred into the dark blue with a need so powerful it would scare me if I didn’t feel the exact same way. My mouth found his, licking and sucking and tasting. I was starving. And he was the only one who could feed my hunger.

  “Hades,” I whispered, and he didn’t know it then but I made a promise in that moment. I promised him that it would be him forever.

  And I thought he made the same promise back.

  12

  Elena

  I startled awake, alone. The bed was cool next to me, as was the air as it settled over my skin. My body ached in all the right places since Hades had made sure and gone the full distance after my first mind-blowing orgasm.

  I smiled through my stretch, my hands above my head and my toes pointed. If I let myself, I could get lost in the hotter than hell memories of Hades’ hands on me, and his lips, and the way his body fit perfectly into mine, but I would’ve really liked to find my missing person and entice him into bed to recreate the perfection. Now that I’d gotten a taste of it, all I wanted was more.

  I grabbed his shirt from the floor and slipped it on while walking into the living room portion of my bedroom suite. His skin was burnished gold in the dim lighting of the lamp that sat on the coffee table beside the couch where he was sitting, writing in what looked like a journal.

  He pulled at his lower lip with his fingers. I stood in the doorway, watching the rise and fall of his bare chest, in complete awe that I just slept with this perfect creature. He looked up.

  “Did I wake you?” he asked.

  I frowned at his rigid jaw and his tone. Affectionate Hades was gone, a stranger securely in place.

  “No, I… You weren’t there when I woke. I missed you,” I told him tentatively as I shifted in place uncomfortably.

  His eyes fell back to his journal. “I don’t have to sleep like a human. Go back to bed.”

  “But I’m cold without you,” I teased, walking up behind him.

  Bending down, I grinned into his neck and slid my hands down to rub his chest. He tensed, and his quick intake of breath told me I had his attention. “Come to bed, please.”

  Pinning my fingers between his, he snapped, “I need a moment, Elena. Give me a fucking second to be alone.”

  Right. That hurt.

  My heart plummeted to my stomach. I yanked my arms away and wrapped them around myself. He didn’t move. And before he had a chance to, I darted to the bedroom and slammed the door behind me. I threw myself on the mattress, head buried in the pillow. Last night meant nothing to him when it meant so much to me.

  I’ve been dismissed. I could see it now. He’d asked me to make him forget last night. And that’s what I’d done. I’d forever be the girl who temporarily distracted him from the girl he actually missed. I was the girl he’d fuck when he had a need.

  But I’d never be the actual girl he wanted.

  I pulled a blanket around me, fury replacing the hurt. I’d known sex with Hades would be a risk, anything you put your heart into was. But his disrespect was intolerable. I wouldn’t allow him to treat me like shit because he was a broken bastard. I deserved more than that. I dragged myself to my feet, slipped to the door, and locked it, wishing he had picked somewhere else to sulk other than my beautiful suite. It was going to be forever tainted now. The memories, the feelings, the experience I wished I could take back. How soon could I get out of here?

  My room felt stale and dark, but I flung myself onto the bed and took up a new chant. I would not cry. I would not cry. I wouldn’t. Tears were for fools. They didn’t wash away pain or free you from it. A long time ago, when my dad had left, I’d begun to see them as a weakness. This Grecian funhouse was bringing out the worst in me. My lids burned as the tears threatened. What had I done?

  An hour passed before there was a soft knock on the door that separated the sitting area from my bedroom. I ignored it, hoping he would get the hint and use the other door in that room to let himself out. He knocked again, and after I didn’t answe
r, I heard the lock disengaging in the door. Of course the bastard would have a key, this was his house after all.

  The door opened.

  “Elena,” Hades softly called in a devastated voice. I ignored him.

  He startled me when he sat on the bed beside me. His footsteps had been so light that I didn’t even hear him move. He reached out and brushed a piece of hair away from my tear-stained face.

  “I’m so sorry,” he said in a choked voice. “I shouldn’t have done that. I didn’t mean it.”

  I sat up and scooted as far away from him as I could. “Get out of my room,” I hissed at him.

  He crawled across the bed towards me, his eyes burning as he reached out and enfolded me into his arms. I wanted to fight, but all I could do was cry. He’d ruined everything.

  “Let me go,” I sobbed.

  “Ask me something that’s possible,” he said to me as he buried his face in my neck.

  “I won’t be treated like that. I’m not something you can just throw away when the mood suits you. Last night meant something to me. I didn’t force you to be with me.”

  “I’m so sorry. It’s the truth, Elena. I want to be with you. But that was the first time I had slept with someone that wasn’t Persephone. To be with you, I have to work through my emotions without hurting you. Last night was a big lesson for me.”

  He dragged his forehead to mine, forcing eye contact. “Please forgive me. It won’t happen again, I promise you.”

  “I want to believe you.”

  “Give me a second chance.”

  So much sadness was in him. It was in me too, ever since my father deserted us when I was child, yet I wondered if it had to be that way. This was new territory for both of us, and we would have to work together to figure it out.