That Fatal Kiss (6 page)

“You mean to tell me you are not?”

“I don’t know why Hermes says you are a simpleton! You seem capable of grasping the basic concepts.”

An awful silence followed that remark. Hades eyed Persephone without emotion, then began making his way to her. “Have a care, Persephone.”

Persephone leapt to her feet and flew to the other side of the room, crying, “So you mean to force yourself upon me?” Seeing that her words stayed Hades’ movement, Persephone went on, “You said earlier that you wanted me for a wife. Surely a wife merits some consideration, deserves better than to be violated by her own…husband.”

A muscle twitched in Hades’ cheek. “A true wife enters her husband’s embrace willingly.”

“A true husband exerts himself to ensure her willingness,” she countered. “
Your
exertion extends to conspiring with my father to abduct me and little else. Your only concern was for
your
pleasure, not mine.”

“And yet, rather than
take
my pleasure, as is my right, I withstand your barbs,” he said softly.

“Your right? What of mine?” Persephone asked. “I have the right to determine who, from among all my acquaintance, would devote himself to our mutual joy.”

Hades gave a low laugh. “First, females’ rights are bestowed upon them by their fathers and then their husbands—or not at all. And second, being wholly unacquainted with me—”

“Being
wholly
unacquainted with you,” she interrupted, “I have no reason to believe you have any care for my happiness, nor can I trust a being so little in control of himself that he takes what is not freely offered him.”

“Freely offered or not, it is mine now,
you
are mine,” Hades said, eyes gleaming in the glare of the lamplight.

“And that’s all I am to you, is it? A possession?” Persephone shot back, the heat of righteous wrath flaming within her. “A thing to be ravished and dominated? Do you not see me, Hades? Do you not know who I am, what I am? I am no lowly creature, made for your amusement, but a daughter of Zeus—I am one of your own kind! Have you no respect for me as a fellow Immortal?”

“Enough,” Hades said, closing the distance between them. “I have taken you with your father’s consent, as custom allows. You are in my kingdom, under my rule, and if you have any care for your continued well-being, you will get into my bed.
Now
.” And with the removal of the pins that held together the long black cloth about his waist, he stood naked before her.

The anger warming Persephone clashed with another fire that roared to life within her. She choked on a breath and turned her face from him. “Be warned; I will resist you with the full force of my being, through violent means, if necessary.”

His large, unyielding hands encircled the soft flesh of her upper arms as he said, “If you must. Though your surrender to me would prove more satisfying to us both.”

Senses reeling, Persephone gasped, “You cannot…cannot keep me forever if I do not eat while I am here! Some instinct kept me from eating the meal your servant brought me, though I could not reason why, but now I remember. Hermes told me long ago that anyone who does not eat whilst in Erebus has the right to leave, is that not so?”His rich tones sounded close to her ear. “Then why did you not flee?”

Persephone now looked up to glare at him. “You know very well why not. No one can go until you allow it.”

Hades smiled coolly. “A bit of a poser, isn’t it? Until you eat, you do have the right to depart, if not the means.”

The goddess let out a frustrated huff. “My mother will seek my release.”

“Your mother will not rise up against Zeus, nor will any of the other Immortals.” Hades shifted purposefully. “Anything else?”

Persephone tried to ignore the feel of him as he pressed up against her, which, with his hard heat straining against her stomach, proved more difficult than she could have imagined. Worse, she didn’t want to ignore it. The goddess feared that this combination of rage and desire would overwhelm her, and it took every bit of self-control she could muster to carry out her initial plan.

Knowing that males never cared to share, Persephone had saved her strongest salvo for last. It could well serve to put him off her completely, if it didn’t infuriate him. For a moment, she feared that the former would be true, and knew a moment’s pang. But then, taking a deep breath, she delivered her trump. “I am not a virgin.”

The god stared down at her, then asked quietly, “What?”

“I am not a virgin. You may abduct me, imprison me, rape me, and never let me see daylight again, but the one thing you cannot take is my virginity, for it was mine to give and I gave it freely to another.”

Hades pushed Persephone up against the cold wall. “You lie.”

“I do not lie, ever. You may ask my mother, if you dare.”

“Ask your mother? No, you
must
be lying!”

“I tell you, I do not lie! She encouraged me to learn the ways of loving and even gave me a charmed bracelet made by the Witch Goddess, Hecate, so that I might render my partner and myself invisible. That way we could come together whenever we wished and escape the notice of the other gods.”

“Why would she do such a thing?” Hades breathed.

“She wanted me to sample what marriage would have to offer without the others’ interference. And so I sampled.”

“You…sampled?”

“Yes.”

His tone ominously low, the god asked, “There has been more than one?”

Alerted to the hint of danger in his words, Persephone realized she had overplayed her hand. But there was nothing for it now. “Yes. More than one.”

Hades’ eyes bore into hers for what seemed an eternity. Sweat broke out all over the goddess’ body when a deadly calm came over his face. His right hand went to her chin and he brought her face up as he said, “Well, then…what’s one more?”

Persephone could not say which stunned her more: the punishing kiss Hades laid upon her or the look in his eyes as he’d leaned in to deliver it. For though his features had been ice, his eyes had blazed with a ferocity that made the goddess feel her first twinge of fear since her capture.

As his tongue whipped hers, Persephone felt his free hand grasping her dress and tearing it. That she would soon stand naked before him if she didn’t act quickly galvanized the goddess into action.

Using every bit of divinity within her, Persephone pushed. As Hades staggered back, his face registered momentary surprise. Then it twisted into a severe mask of determination and he reached for her, but she ducked under his arms.

The god spun about and Persephone held up a placating hand. “Let it end now, Hades, before one of us gets hurt.”

Hades gave an angry laugh as he circled her. “You think yourself capable of hurting
me
?”

The goddess maintained a defensive stance as she turned in place, taking in his every move. “It appears I already have.”

At that, Hades lunged for her, but she caught his arm, twisted it behind him, and pushed him face forward into the ebony portal. “I warned you that I’d resort to violence, if necessary,” she said against his back, throwing all her weight into keeping him still. “But you underestimated my might, didn’t you?”

“And you overestimate my temperance,” Hades said, before jabbing an elbow back and successfully knocking the goddess to the floor.

The stabbing sensation in her chest meant cracked ribs, but she knew it would take her only a few seconds to heal them. Except, Hades wasn’t giving her time to recover, and Persephone struggled to breathe as he hauled her up from the floor. As his hand went for the bodice of her slipping gown, the goddess pushed past the pain to block it. Her other hand fisted and she struck a blow to his temple. When the god swayed backward, Persephone landed another punch to his face, then his throat. While he struggled to regain his senses, she ran a shaking hand over her chest and soon breathed more easily, though the throbbing ache remained.

Panting, the goddess saw Hades advance upon her and brought up her fists. “Haven’t you had enough?”

But the god didn’t reach for her again. Instead, he stared at the already fading bruises above the now ragged neckline of her gown. “What were you just doing to yourself?”

“Healing my ribs,” Persephone said, prepared to strike at the merest hint of aggression. “You cracked them.”

“I....” Hades raised his eyes to hers, his face drawn. “But you healed them? You’ll be all right?”

Feeling the worst was over but unwilling to let down her guard, the goddess said, “That depends on you.”

A loud knocking sounded at the bedchamber door. Hades willed the portal open to reveal a very tall, handsomely attired elderly man. His face showed his concern as he said, “Ione told me to come quickly, that unusual sounds were coming from your bedchamber…” The mortal’s speech slowed as he took in Persephone’s disheveled appearance and Hades’ nudity. Deliberately turning his eyes away from both, he asked, “Is aught amiss?”

“Tell Ione not to worry,” Hades said. “She won’t be hearing them again.” The god snatched up his clothes and made to exit the chamber.

“But wait, what of your…injuries, my Lord?” the man asked delicately.

Hades cast an eye over himself, took in the scrapes, the cuts, and his own forming bruises. “I will suffer with them,” he said, leaving the other two staring after him as he abruptly quit the room.

The mortal turned to Persephone and bowed. “My Lady.”

The goddess lowered her arms gave a nod by way of greeting. “I’m afraid I don’t know your name.”

“I am Rhadamanthys, I serve as one of the judges of this kingdom and aid my Lord Hades in the running of Tartarus.” He offered her a kind smile. “And I stand ready to be of service to you as well, should you ever choose to call upon me.”

Persephone managed to return the smile as she eased herself onto the foot of the bed. “Then you know who I am?”

Rhadamanthys bowed again. “You are Life-Giving Persephone, daughter of Holy Demeter and Cloud-Gathering Zeus.” He paused for a moment, thoughtful, then added, “And now you are also August Persephone, bride of Hades and Queen of the Underworld.”

The goddess raised an eyebrow. “That last bit remains to be seen.”

HADES STALKED INTO
the throne room, causing the door to slam shut after he’d passed it. He stood in the center of the dark chamber, willing the oil lamps to light, before climbing the few steps to his throne and throwing himself into it.

He’d hurt her. The female he’d taken such pains to secure, he’d harmed. Inadvertently, perhaps, but the fact remained that he’d injured the one being he wanted more than any other. He’d wanted Persephone so desperately that he’d utterly lost his mind at her taunts. Her truths. Her horrific, heart-rending truths.

The god buried his head in his hands. Castrating Cronus.

“You were supposed to be mine.”

Hades sat up and gave his face a vigorous rub. Well, at least now he understood the mystery behind the fogging of the Viewing Mirror. “I’ll always be able to see Persephone, as long as she doesn’t mind being seen,” he said. Clearly, when the Mirror clouded over, it was because she’d donned the bracelet enchanted by Hecate. So she could…sample.

He heaved a long, labored breath. With whom had she lain? Mortals? He nearly retched at the thought. By the Fates, not
mortals
, they had no right to her. “I have no right to her,” he acknowledged to the empty room.

But the thing was done. Persephone was his bride now and, even if she had given herself to a hundred mortals, he would not let her go. How could he? She was youth, she was beauty, she was joy. She was his. She could fight him, curse him, hate him, but she was his.

But what of the others? How many had there been? Had she loved one?

Hades reached for the pitcher of wine he’d willed into appearance and poured himself a healthy measure. That, he downed in an instant, and refreshed his cup with another generous serving. He set down the pitcher and cradled the goblet in one hand.

For a brief moment, when he’d returned to his bedchamber, the god had harbored a fledgling hope that Persephone might come to accept him, perhaps even love him someday. When he’d entered the room, she hadn’t looked at him with disgust or contempt, as other goddesses surely would. She’d observed him warily, yes, but something in her eyes reached out to him. That unnamable glint confirmed all he’d hoped of her. In that moment, he’d seen promise, a chance that she might eventually welcome a future with him.

But now? How could he ever hope for her love, when he took her against her will and then
cracked her ribs
? And what if she did love another?

How the other gods would laugh if they knew his thoughts. What did Zeus or Poseidon care if their wives loved them or nay? Indeed, Hera’s jealousy annoyed Zeus, as Amphitrite’s did Poseidon. What did they care for their wives’ love, when they could couple with anyone they chose? Perhaps only Apollo could sympathize with his grief, for one whom he’d loved had preferred death to his embrace. Would he understand, or would he fight for his sister’s freedom?

Hades saw Persephone in his mind’s eye, the way she’d looked when he pinned her against the wall. So feminine, so beautiful. So arousing. Deep, searing need tore through him, and he suddenly wondered if he could keep her still long enough to bed her. With her strength, it would prove difficult. But then he remembered his nephew, Hephaestus. Surely he could make chains that would bind even a goddess. Of course, that would only make Persephone hate him more, but what choice did he have? He’d be a fool to think she could ever come to love him now.