Page 16 of His in the Dark

The thrill is nearly too strong to contain. Only my years of self-control allow me to hover nearby without touching her. She will wake when she wakes and the anticipation is delightful. A feeling I’ve never experienced.

I stalk nearer to the bed, my pulse thundering in anticipation. The sound of my heartbeat drowns out the thick silence in the room. The Underworld is waking for the morning, and I am surrounded by its workings. New souls will be arriving through the River Styx. The dead are at peace in Elysium.

And I am here, waiting for my Persephone, my queen, my wife, my own heaven in this hell. It is much more difficult now that she’s within my sight. That is a paradox I did not expect. I was impatient before, but now I am ravenous for her presence. I crave to see the fear in her eyes. I desire even more so her submission.

My patience was hard-won. I will not rush this process. It has been foretold by fate itself, and I will not intervene.

Not when it comes to her waking, at least.

Persephone sleeps for another stretch, her body relaxing against the sheets. Her poor beautiful soul has no idea. The thought is thrilling. The chains binding her to the bed become translucent in the absence of her movement. When the daylight from the windows touches them, they seem to absorb it, turning the light into indestructible shadows.

The chains will keep her here. My power will keep her here. Her submission will keep her here and yet offer her everything else. Power, the entirety of the Underworld with every pleasure. No longer asking anyone, not even myself, for permission. My cock twitches with the excitement of unleashing her. Of watching what she will do and what will become of those who dare defy her.

I swallow thickly and again a near growl vibrates up my chest. Persephone stirs at the sound and I find myself in a new form of torture. One that offers both delight and despair that I must wait for such things.

I pace around the room, my body demanding movement.

When I arrive at the side of the bed again, Persephone begins to stir in earnest. Her long eyelashes flutter on her cheeks. They are fragile, those thick dark lashes, but they are relentless, wanting to let in the light. She makes a small sound deep in her throat. It sounds like an unconscious protest against waking.

Fuck, every little detail of her is divine. Her gorgeousness lost on all the worlds. I give gratitude that she is mine.

Grateful that she will rise.

Inmykingdom.

Here, with me, where she will stay forever. Possessiveness lights my blood aflame and the embers of fire dance in the ashes of the fireplace on the far end of the room. Quickly I extinguish them with a wave of my hand. My magic and powers barely contained.

The room itself lacks warmth from the action and I watch as the chill greets her fair skin and she shivers, pulling the sheets up higher as if they can protect her.

My heart has barely settled from the satisfaction of Persephone’s arrival, but now it races faster.

Open your eyes,I order her silently.Open your eyes and let me see into the darkest parts of you…and the brightest. Let me see all of you.

I nearly raise my hand, I nearly make it a command. But I resist.I mustn’t control her.The Fates have warned and being so close to having what has plagued me in loss for centuries, the warning hisses in the back of my mind.

There is so much more to see. I am sure that beneath her smooth, creamy skin, a heart like none other beats. The thingown she wears tumbles over her thighs, pushed up in her sleep. I do not touch the fabric, though I want to.

She will never know of this torture, none can conceive what stirs within me.

With a steadying deep inhale, I attempt to control the desire. It is like nothing I’ve ever felt before. In fact, it is beyond desire—it’s lust. A deep, unquenchable lust that renews itself like the souls in my kingdom. There are always more souls, and I will always want her more and more andmoreuntil I cannot want her any more.

I have not approached that limit. I haven’t even come close. There is only my self-control left, and once I let go of that?—

There will be nothing to hold me back.

Because she’shere.

In my possession.

She’s mine.

At that thought, Persephone’s eyelids flutter open, wide and full of shock.

Thump.Her heart beats with mine, both heavy, both of us still apart from the strain of blood rushing through our veins.

And so it begins.

I’m desperate to touch her, and I do not feel desperation often. I wrap the helm of darkness around me, and it covers me in a void that swallows all the light, rendering me invisible. It is almost a living thing, an extension of myself. More an echo of my power than a tool. Within the darkness, I have control.

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