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aboveground, too? Maybe she just had to happen upon it?

Seemed a bit too simple, but she had to know for sure. Rose made it to the top of the cliff and moved to the flower, kneeling next to it. The bloom was shaped like a star, the petals velvety-looking and such a dark purple they made her think of shadows.

Of a man that kept to the shadows.

The urge to touch herself between her legs again was strong, and she held back a whimper.

Rose bit her lip, running a finger along the petals, admiring their texture. What was this strange flower? The scent touched her nose, fragrant and lush. It smelled like nothing she’d ever experienced before. Intrigued, she leaned in and inhaled. The scent filled her, enveloping her in the faint, spicy floral musk.

Heat pulsed through her body in response. An aphrodisiac of some kind?

Was this what Muffin had sent her to find? A freaking aphrodisiac? Rose reached out to touch the flower again… and it disappeared.

She gasped, searching the nearby yellow plants, but the night-dark flower was gone as if it had never been. She got to her feet and wove a little, feeling unsteady. Odd. That strange liquid heat was still pulsing through her body, though. Her nipples felt tight and her skin flushed. She ran a hand over her pussy and gasped at how good it felt.

What was going on? Where had the flower gone?

The ground shook below her feet, cracking and splitting apart. She stumbled backward a step or two and gaped in a drugged stupor as a chasm opened wide. Dirt spewed forth, raining over her, and she raised a hand to shield her face. Galloping hooves thundered, and she heard the neigh of a horse.

Horses? From the chasm?

Rose looked down at it and to her horror, she saw a dark chariot pulled by two black steeds.

A large, looming figure drove it straight for her, a purple cape swirling around broad shoulders.

A scream died in her throat as the chariot surged forward, and she fell unconscious just as one muscular arm wrapped around her waist, dragging her against a large, hulking body and sweeping her down into the earth.

~*~

She was his.

Hades gently laid his prize down on the silky sheets of the enormous bed he’d prepared for her in a special chamber in his palace. She seemed small and fragile there, a testament to her half-human heritage. That heritage was a blessing—all he needed to do was ply her with food and drink, and she would never be allowed to leave the underworld.

She’d be his for all time, and Zeus and Dionysus and even sour Demeter could do nothing about it.

Persephone moaned in her sleep, shifting as if her dreams disturbed her. His flower had worked. She’d seen the unusual bloom and had been unable to resist taking a closer look, and she’d been too drugged by the sweet, bespelled pollen to run away. She’d stood there even as he grabbed her around the waist and dragged her wet, naked flesh against him.

He’d grown instantly erect, too, his cock throbbing with need.

But she was unconscious now, and he’d simply have to wait for his bride to wake up. He would not touch her while she slept. He wanted her warm and willing in his arms. He wanted her to moan her pleasure when he kissed her and stroked her pussy. He wanted her nails digging into his back when he parted her golden thighs and sank deep inside her.

His fingers brushed over her cheek and the smudge of dirt there.

Her hips rolled in response and she moaned again.

Hades paused. Was she… turned on? Innocent Persephone? He stared down at her in mild

surprise—he’d drugged the flower, true, but only to make her slow to respond. She was acting as if it were an aphrodisiac of some kind. Was she affected because he’d tampered with something in the realm of her magic?

Intriguing. And incredibly arousing. He ran a hand over his cock, palming the length of it as she rocked her hips on his bed again. She was making sexy whimpers in her throat, and as he watched, one hand stole between her legs and stroked over her pussy, her thighs parting.

Damn. Hades tossed aside his own tunic and allowed his cock to spring free. Pre-cum beaded on the thick crown, dark with need, and he stroked his hand down his length, fascinated by her body writhing on his sheets.

Her eyes opened, her gaze heated as she glanced at him. A gasp escaped her throat, and her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of him looming over the bed, his hand on his cock, stroking it to the sight of her lovely, naked body.

“You… you’re…” Her gaze dropped to his cock.

“Hades. Lord of the underworld. And I’ve brought you here to be my bride.”

“You kidnapped me.” There was a hint of outrage in her voice. “Kidnapped me and drugged me. Why would you do that?”

“You are
mine
.”

Her eyes widened in alarm at his possessive tone and her hands moved protectively over her breasts, her thighs clamping shut. “Don’t… don’t hurt me.”

“I would
never
hurt you.” Even now, he burned to have her but the sight of her fear was making his need ebb away. “You were unconscious, but I did not touch you. You touched yourself. The flower, it affected you.”

“Oh…” Her eyes widened in memory and her fingers squeezed over her breasts. A low moan started in her throat again, and one hand stole back between her legs. As he watched, a finger dipped between the slick lips of her sex and then she jerked her hand away as if burned. “God, I’m horny…”

And her gaze fell to his cock once more, as if fascinated.

Bold, wonderful Persephone. He grew so hard that he ached. “Persephone,” he rasped,

passion making his voice raw. “Quit touching yourself and I shall do the same.”

But she only licked her lips and rocked her hips again, her hand fluttering over her pussy.

“I… I can’t. I want…” Her breath came in short, sharp pants. “I need this.”

Lust burned through him but he knew he had to proceed slowly. Persephone was an innocent.

He’d show her, then. Very, very carefully. “You want to make your body come?”

Her lips parted at his words, as if fascinated, and she stared at him with hot, hungry eyes.

She did want him. Incredible.

Hades stroked his cock slowly, deliberately, watching her gaze drag back to his hard, erect length. He repeated the motion, making a low sound of pleasure in his throat when he did so. “It feels good to touch yourself, Persephone. Have you never done so before?”

“All the time,” she told him in a purring voice that startled him with its sexuality. Her hand moved back to her pussy and then paused. “Today I couldn’t come, though.”

“Shall I touch your pussy for you?”

Her eyes widened. “No!”

“Then touch yourself.” He stroked his cock again, nearly jerking against his own hand, it felt so good. Her gaze on his cock was driving him wild with need, pre-cum dribbling down the head of his cock and slicking his fingers. “Touch yourself and show me how good it feels.”

Persephone’s fingers stole back to her breasts and she lightly brushed the curves of them once, then looked back to him for approval.

“More,” he rasped, working his cock again at the sight. “Move your hand between your

legs.”

She seemed to tremble all over. “I… I can’t. It’s just torture.”

“You can.” When she hesitated, he added, “It would please me.”

To his vast pleasure, she stole a hand to her thighs and parted them just a fraction.

“Caress yourself. Run your fingers over your flesh.” When she sucked in a breath and

obeyed, he groaned inwardly at how sexy it was. “Spread your pussy for me, Persephone.”

She bit her lip but did as he instructed, and the sight of her pink, glistening flesh made him tug fiercely at his cock, his grip tightening in an effort not to spill his seed.

“Do you want to touch your clit?” he asked her.

She nodded eagerly and then Persephone stroked one delicate finger over the small pink bud.

Immediately she moaned, thrusting her breasts into the air. Just as quickly as she’d touched herself, her hand moved away again.

“Keep touching yourself,” he told her. “Does it feel good?”

“Oh, god. So much better than before. Your voice… it’s making me feel…” Her words

trailed off in a sigh.

“Tell me how it feels, Persephone. Describe it to me.”

Entranced by his husky voice, her hand stole back to her clit, and she swiped a finger over it again, her breath sucking in. “Feels like lightning through my body whenever I touch myself.”

He was going to spill in his hand if he wasn’t careful. She was gorgeous and wanton in his bed. He wanted to be there with her, but he knew it would be too much for her all at once. “Keep touching it. Stroke it with your fingers and describe it to me.”

She continued to circle the little bud with her fingertips, her juices gleaming against her pink flesh. Her mouth worked in a silent cry at the sensation.

“Tell me,” he demanded.

“Feels,” she breathed, panting hard. Her fingers were working of their own volition now, stroking and circling her clit rapidly, as if unable to stop herself. “Feels… so good.”

“Aye, it does,” he said in a husky voice, pumping his cock with his hand. “Your fingers feel good there. Just like mine would.”

A soft little whimper escaped her throat, and her fingers began to swirl over her clit faster, as if the thought excited her. Desire surged through him. Did Persephone like the thought of him touching her? He’d give her more to think about, then.

“I’d like to put my mouth there,” he told her. “Run my tongue along your pussy and taste your sweetness for myself.” With each word, her fingers moved faster and faster against her clit, her heavy-lidded gaze watching him work his cock as he stood over her. She was turned on by his words, touching herself with greater enthusiasm the more he spoke. “Stroke my tongue deep inside you and then flick it over your clit until you came against my mouth, your hips bucking.”

As if she could almost feel it, Persephone’s hips rose off the bed and she gave a sharp cry, her eyes squeezing shut, body tensing. Quivers rocked through her body and she undulated, then slumped back into the bed. He gave a yell of his own, his seed rushing forward in his own climax. His cock spurted, splattering her breasts and belly with his come.

She stared up at him, dazed and breathing hard. Her fingers moved to touch the droplets on her breasts.

She’d come. This pleased him greatly.

“You stole me.” Persephone stared up at him from the bed, not moving. “You drugged me and stole me. Not cool.”

He picked up his tunic off the floor and used it to gently wipe her clean of his seed. “Zeus promised me a bride. I wanted you.”

“A bride? Hold on here. No one said anything about me getting married!” She sat up,

alarmed. “You can’t marry me anyhow. You’re the underworld guy and I’m the spring chick.”

He finished wiping his spend off her lovely body, noticing idly that she was tanned all over, as if she spent hours naked, soaking up the sun. “You are mine and you will stay here forever in my kingdom as my bride.”

She sat up on her elbows in his large bed. Her jaw jutted stubbornly. “Are you kidding me?

No.”

“It is not up for discussion.”

“You cannot keep me! I need…” She paused, giving him a wary look. Her mind seemed to

be thinking something through and then she shook her head. “You can’t keep me,” she repeated.

“I can, and I will.”

Her jaw set even more obstinately. “This is bullshit. Let me go.”

“After the pleasures we have just shared? My sweet goddess, this is only the beginning of what I can show you.”

“You’re an asshole if you think you can just grab me and keep me like a pet.”

“You are mine, Persephone.”

She turned her back to him. “Get out of here.”

He hesitated, furious that she was dismissing him. How dare she? This was his kingdom.

Obviously she needed more persuading. Very well, then. He’d leave her for a few hours and return with a better plan of attack. Tossing the filthy garment back to the floor, he strode out of the room.

Rose didn’t know what to make of things. She lay on the big bed, the sheets wrapped around her body, and stared at nothing, thinking hard.

She was furious she’d been kidnapped, of course. She didn’t care that Hades was the dark god of the underworld—she was a goddess in her own right, and if he wanted to court her, he shouldn’t have stolen her away. That was wrong, and it made her angry. She was tired of being less than nothing to everyone in this plane. Demeter treated her like an indentured servant half the time, and a two-year-old the rest of the time.

But… this might be a good thing. The lord of the underworld had kidnapped her, so he’d probably dragged her to the underworld itself. That fit right in with the plans Muffin had instructed her to carry out.

She needed to find that flower of the underworld.

Of course, no one had told her that being a sexy god’s plaything was part of the program.

Muffin had omitted that tiny little tidbit, and Rose wanted to give her a piece of her mind.

Still, part of her was… intrigued by this new turn of events. This Hades guy wanted her badly enough to steal her away right under Demeter’s nose? No one ever seemed to notice her and suddenly she appeared to be the most important thing in his world.

That was a heady feeling.

He’d thought she would be timid. She could tell just by the way he’d initially treated her. Of course, he’d seemed a bit shocked—and pleased—when she’d begun to touch herself in front of him. Yeah, that part was all Rose.

And, if she admitted such things to herself, she was curious to see what he was going to do to her. She wasn’t scared of him. If he sought to rape her, he could have done so while she was unconscious. Instead, he hadn’t touched her.

He’d touched… himself.

The thought made her feel all flushed and giddy. She’d enjoyed the sight of him pleasing himself, and even more than that, she’d wanted to put her hands on him and be the one doing all the touching. Even now, her fingers slipped to her own sex just thinking about it. The pleasure had been intense. Way better than any of her previous masturbation experiences.