Sweet Hell (20 page)

But then the scent of wine wafted toward her like an intoxicating warning.
No
, it seemed to say.
Go, Josie. I'll follow you, sweetheart. To the ends of the earth
.

Strengthened by the love that flowed toward her, she held her head up, looked forward. And took the first step that would lead them out of hell.

Dionysus's dry lips cracked into a smile for the first time in months. Josie was in front of him.

Specifically, Josie's sweet ass was in front of him. A mere five feet away. Practically touching distance. Wiggling as she walked, and he felt like a helpless donkey, chasing the most scrumptious carrot he'd ever seen.

When he finally got her alone...

Swallowing, he figured it was best to take baby steps. After hanging on Persephone's wall of love for weeks on end, he doubted he'd even be able to make love to Josie. He felt weak, parched, and a shadow of himself.

And yet, somehow, his hard-on was still the size of the CN Tower. Delirious, he contemplated bringing Josie to Toronto's tallest building and fucking her at the very top observation level. That would be cool. He'd had a lot of time to decide on all the locales in which he could make love to her. And was pretty sure his XXX daydreams were the only things helping him survive in Hades.

And now she was here. And he was going to marry her as soon as he got out of this insane place.

Marry Josie and love her for the rest of his mortal life. He had it all planned. A traditional wedding, with Eryx as his best man. Josie in a white gown. Strapless would be nice. Something that showed off her gorgeous boobs. They'd dance all night, and then he'd take her away on an exotic honeymoon to a place she'd never been. No beaches, though. And spend the next few weeks loving and licking every inch of her.

Making her his wife. Giving her babies. Taking care of her and their family.

Oh, yeah.

But first they had to get out. And she looked terrified. He knew why. Now that she'd already been to hell once, the pleasant mirages had disappeared. It was all fire and brimstone now, and he could see she didn't know what to make of it or where to go. He couldn't say he blamed her. If only Dante Alighieri had known how spot on he was in his
Divine Comedy
.

He watched her take a step onto the smoldering stones that comprised the floor of the inferno and pause, as if waiting to combust. If only he could do something to help her! To guide her.

And then it hit him. Hades had said nothing about talking to her.

"Josie,” he said softly, continuing when he realized he wasn't being sucked back into the abyss. “Keep walking. I can't enjoy your wiggle if you're standing still."

"Dionysus.” He watched her body tremble, as if her whole frame was wanting to smile. And then a tiny groan escaped her. “Where do I go?"

"Straight ahead,
moro mou
. Just follow your instincts."

He watched her shoulders heave with a big breath, and his own chest expanded with a hopeful breath as he saw her take another step. And another.

Doing her best to ignore the carnage on either side of them. The bodies, piled high on one another. Arms reaching toward her as if she were their savior. He saw her cover her ears against the deafening cries for pity. Blocking out the horrendous sound of lashes and screams and sizzling flesh.

"You're doing great, sweetheart,” he urged over the dreadful din.

She nodded in silent gratitude. A horned demon scuttled in front of her, complete with dripping fangs. She jumped and screamed. He waited for her to turn and run to him, saw their dreams die in that moment. Stuck to his spot, he waited.

And smiled in joy as he watched Josie give the demon the finger.

"Fuck you, you creepy bastard son of a bitch,” she shouted at it.

The thing moaned and wandered away, obviously feeling put in its place. Josie continued walking, not once looking back.

"That was amazing, baby,” he couldn't help laughing. “But I hope you won't be using the same form of discipline on our children. Might be a bit discouraging."

She stopped walking, foot in mid-air. “Children?"

Perhaps it wasn't the best place to bring the topic up, but oh, well. “That's right, Josie. As many as you want. Boys, girls. And I'm going to enjoy giving you every last one."

She resumed her pace, and he could see the corners of her huge smile, even from behind her. “Okay. As long as you promise not to name any of them after Orpheus or Hades."

"Woman,” he laughed. “You have a deal."

Their next steps led them to a low wooden boardwalk suspended across a dark moat. As Josie put her foot down on the first creaky slab of wood, the bodies appeared. The ones struggling in the murky waters, fighting with each other to reach the surface, climbing on top of one another to get a foothold. Dionysus watched her stiffen as several of the souls reached toward her, fumbling to cling onto the boardwalk, only to sink back under the depths each time. When one of the condemned managed to grab her ankle, making her pitch forward, he almost forgot himself and ran to catch her.

But even as he told himself not to do it, he saw Josie kick the hand from her leg. Saw her stamp on the fingers that sought to pull her down. Witnessed her brave recovery and watched her take another step.

Man, did he love her.

And when she made it across the moat, he breathed a sigh of relief with her. She could do this. She
would
do this.

They would be happy.

He looked up and stared into the endless darkness before them. They were two mortals who just needed to get through the next seventy-nine soul-damaging, spirit-sucking circles of hell.

No sweat. Right?

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Chapter 16

As warm daylight streamed in through her bedroom window, Josie awoke in her bed. Alone.

Her hand flew to her mouth as terror made her eyes bulge. “Oh, no,” she gasped under her hand.

It had been a dream. Just a dream.

Dionysus was nowhere to be seen. She jumped out of bed and began a frenzied search for anything that might prove she hadn't imagined it. Laurel leaves. Sandals. His discarded robe. There was nothing. Nothing under the bed. Nothing between the sheets.

Just his smell. Taunting her from the pillowcase, made manifest by the fraught emotions of her nightmares.

Oh, God. Had she lost him? Had she looked back and lost him? She couldn't even remember. Perhaps the gods had taken pity on her and erased her memory so she wouldn't remember the horror on his beautiful face as he was dragged back down into that hellish chamber.

The only evidence he had ever been in her apartment at all was a youthful Cats Domino, curled up at the end of her bed, farting contentedly in his sleep.

Josie felt the tremors take her. She curled up into a ball on the bed, and cried and cried.

That was when she heard his voice at the bedroom door. “Baby!"

Chest heaving, she dared to look up. And saw Dionysus standing there. Wearing old jeans and a worn Rugby shirt she'd never seen before. A frightened expression on his face. Holding a tray laden with coffee and a stack of pancakes.

She couldn't move. Couldn't speak.

He put the tray down and ran to her side, pulling her onto his lap and cuddling the life out of her. “I'm so sorry, Josie! You were sleeping so soundly, I thought I'd have time to make you some real food, you know, instead of conjured-up food. And I thought, after all this time, I should really make
you
a coffee."

She meant to laugh, but it sounded like one of Cats Domino's explosive farts. She looked up at him through her haze of mucus. “You're real?"

There were tears in his wonderful, tired, mortal, brown eyes. “I'm real, sweetheart.” He used his shirt sleeve to wipe her face, not caring that her snot was all over him. “And you saved me, Josie."

"I did?"

He laughed and kissed her forehead. “I suspected you might not remember. You were actually quite butch, I have to say. Didn't even need a
thyrsus
. You just plowed your way through each level of Hades and didn't look at me once. I was so proud of you. But when we got back, you collapsed on the landing so I brought you to bed and let you rest.” One eyebrow shot up. “As much as I really wanted to wake you up."

She took him in. He looked as if he'd ... well, been through hell. His dark curls were tangled and needed washing. There were cuts and bruises on his face. She was afraid to contemplate how he'd received those. She rolled up his sleeves. His forearms were streaked with blood and punctured from Persephone's cuffs. He was still as buff as ever, hard and powerfully built, but he looked exhausted. His skin was pale, almost as pale as Hades. And there were creases around his eyes he'd never had as a god.

Dionysus now had laugh lines. Imagine that.

And he was still the most gorgeous thing she'd ever seen.

"You're never going back?” she whispered. “Please say you're never going back to that place."

He smiled, weaving his hands through her hair, cradling her skull. “That wouldn't fit in with my plans to marry you."

"But Hades..."

"Whatever else Hades is,” he interrupted, “he's a man of his word. I've done my time, Josie. And now I'm yours forever."

Forever. The implication of the word hit her like a speeding truck careening around a corner into a brick wall. Her bottom lip quivered. “Not forever."

He held her tighter. “Josie, my cousin Eryx gave up his immortal life to be with the woman he loves. I never understood the sentiment behind his actions. Until I met you. You're all I want. For as long as I can have you. I love you more than life, even my old life.” He grinned, then took his time to kiss her temple, her cheek, grazing her lips softly. With promise. “Now, are you going to drink my coffee and eat my pancakes?"

She looked at the tray. Appreciated the dripping maple syrup on the flapjacks and the curly steam coming off the coffee. It looked tempting. Just not tempting enough. “No. Not just yet."

And when she saw the slow smile spread across his handsome face, she knew he was okay with that.

Josie watched as he stood, threw off the Rugby shirt and unfastened his jeans. He was blessedly bare under his jeans and already barefoot, so it took him no time at all to get naked. As he prowled back toward her, all undulating muscle, eyes glinting with awareness of her and the stiffest cock she'd ever seen, she was very happy to see him naked.

He reached her, eased her onto her back and proceeded to undress her. Not slowly, but with urgency. As if his life depended on seeing her nude form laid out before him. And glimpsing the hot need in his eyes, the taut set to his mouth, she fancied it might be true.

He ripped off her shirt. A couple of her buttons actually flew across the room. She was fine with that. In fact, she stopped thinking of buttons the moment his eager fingers touched her skin. Sliding down her stomach, reaching for the snap on her jeans. They came off as speedily as her shirt. Dionysus then went to work on her bra and panties. Although one could hardly call it “work” when he'd disposed of them within fifteen seconds.

And then, finally, his warm body pressed into hers, making her sink into the mattress. His legs entangling with hers. Pressing between her legs, soaking up her moisture. His fingers already on her breasts, rolling her nipples until they were painfully erect and begging for the feel of his tongue and teeth. Kissing her. Tonguing her. Taking her.

Claiming her forever.

"You're mine,” he whispered into her ear, tracing each whorl with his tongue.

"No one else's,” she pledged, digging her fingernails into his clenched bottom.

And then he kissed her again, his lips reiterating his promise to keep her. And as she opened her mouth to him, savoring the sweet taste of him, Josie gave herself to him. He moaned into her mouth, shuddering with pleasure, and in his cries she heard all the desperation he must have felt while enchained in hell. The same wrenching sense of privation she'd felt every time she saw his face in her dreams.

Need, plain and simple. Unending need for him. One that could only be appeased by his kisses, by his love. She needed to have him with her. And would walk through hell over and over to ensure he stayed with her.

"Josie,” he murmured, his lips raw from kissing her. “Do you have any idea how much I wanted you? How I craved the taste of you?"

"You haunted my dreams,” she admitted, as a tear ran down her cheek. “Every night. It was worse than hell."

Dionysus lowered his head and licked her tear away. “I can't ever be without you again. I don't want to let you out of my sight.” He chuckled, rubbing his stubbly cheek against hers. “Would it be too awkward if I tied myself to you every day?"

"It might make some things awkward,” she conceded, laughing. “Groceries. Bowling. Scooping the cat's litter. Making your precious coffee."

He made a face of mock horror. “Well, forget that plan!"

"But,” she whispered, feeling so ready to have him inside her. “How about you just tie me up every night instead?"

He stared at her, and his eyes darkened with desire. “Naughty girl. I like that."

Dionysus caught her wrists, the wrists that had once been so bruised from her time on Persephone's wall, and kissed them. Then he placed them over her head and pinned them there. Once he was content she wouldn't move them, he glided down over her body. Declaring the perfection of her breasts. Dipping his tongue into her belly button. Expressing his passion for the soft roundness of her stomach. Kissing the inside of her thighs.

And then, as she held her breath, he kissed her there, and it wasn't a dream anymore. Just Dionysus. Hot and slippery, sucking on her anxious skin. Sliding his tongue through every groove, reacquainting himself with the delights of her body. Telling her over and over how beautiful she was, how she'd always been beautiful in his eyes.

As his tongue brought her to a fever pitch, swirling and flicking at her swollen clit, Josie knew she couldn't take much more. The emotions accompanying each lusty kiss had her head swimming. He loved her. He was loving her.