Series: Willow Winters
Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 94417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
I do not know if he is sleeping when I reach out to take the food from the plate. I eat it silently, one morsel at a time, swallowing without any sound at all. I wish more of it would appear on the plate. I wish an entire tray of delicacies would materialize in the room. I wish I could eat it all night, and all day, and then the next night as well.
When I’m finished, my stomach no longer pains, but it’s not full, either. I stare at the empty plate for a long time, wanting more, but I do not move. And I do not cave into his warmth.
HADES
If she does not respond to the offerings, I’ll be forced to make her surroundings harsher. She will leave me with no choice. It is not my desire but I cannot bend her to my will.
I pause for a moment after I unlock the door. Not long enough to make it seem as if I'm eavesdropping, but long enough to hear Persephone's footsteps quiet, flying across the room inside.
I pray she was eating. Her complexion has diminished and without nourishment, her powers are weaker than they were when she arrived. Again, not my desire. She is strong willed.
The emotion flares up in me like a flame. I have to swallow it back, my expression harder than intended.
I cannot stop thinking about her eating. I cannot stop thinking about color coming back to her cheeks.
Color that is not from crying or raging or screaming. It would be the smallest sign of her acceptance. It would be the smallest sign of her submission. And my condemned soul relishes in her submission. Every little piece of it.
And I cannot put into words how dearly I want it. I cannot say how much I need to see her submission before my eyes.
I know she ate before. The plate was empty when I woke, the delicate pastries no more. Persephone slept on the pillow, unaware that she had stayed in the bed next to me all through the night.
I did not wake her to tell her I’d discovered her betrayal. That’s how she will think of it. A betrayal to herself. She tried to keep herself away, and she could not. My failing is my inexperience. I’m not accustomed to company.
If that is betrayal, I am greedy for more of it. I need to take her to that betrayal with my hand in her hair, my grip so strong that she finally understands who has the power in my realm and who could have the power, if only—
I cannot think of this if only. It is a mistake.
So I do not make that mistake. Instead I pause for another second, giving her time to arrange herself.
The two guards outside my bedchambers keep their attention carefully away. This weakness of mine… her existence, is more than evident I’m sure. I do not keep them here to notice such things, and neither of them breathes a word.
With desire ringing in my blood, I open the heavy door and stride in.
Persephone isn’t sitting on the plush rug I’ve offered for comfort, as she has been. She stands in the center, her hands folded in front of her and her head bowed. She’s quiet and submissive, even in her stillness. That is not what I expected of such a strong goddess.
My cock hardens from the sight as I enter but keep the door open. Questions riddling my mind as I memorize her position. The thin silk fabric draped delicately over her curves.
Fucking gorgeous. But I do not trust it.
I didn’t expect her to break so quickly. From how she struggled and wept, I thought it would take longer. Years perhaps. Decades. An amount of time that would try my patience although for this, for her, I’ve done everything I can to be patient.
My pulse beats at the sight of her standing there. She could be a queen, still. Could be strong, still. Could be a goddess, still.
She will. I’ll not live in a world where she does not reign beside me righteously and with the same powers as I.
Still, this presentation is … more delicious than the wine I offered her.
She's beautiful, with a little color to her cheeks. Her long lashes are downcast, brushing against high cheekbones. Her full lips are no longer so dry and cracked as they were.
It brings me to my next offering for her. The sexual pleasure I’m aware she’s … not familiar with. I will fix it. I will tempt her. I will educate her as well.
“Persephone,” I say. Her eyes flick up to meet me. I hold up a hand and gesture to the guards at my side. “If you are ever tempted and I am not here there are men outside the door who could satisfy other needs…”