Page 139 of Where Darkness Bloomed
Persephone’s eyes met his, dark and dazed, heavy with desire. Her hand covered his hammering heart as she asked, “What is it?”
His jaw clenched, his body tightening against his will, hurtling toward the end. “I want you too greatly,” he gritted out, voice rough with strain. “I cannot—”
“Hades.”
Her voice curled against his ear, her cheek brushing his jaw as she breathed his name. Her hips rolled once more, dragging against him in one perfect, devastating stroke. It was the end of him.
A rough sound ripped from his chest as he plunged into her, hard and shaking. She rose to meet him, again and again. His name left her lips in a whisper—then again, louder, until it was the only word he knew.
The tension snapped. Release barreled through him with the force of lightning. He buried his face into her, his shout muted against her breast.
She held him, her fingers stroking through his still-damp hair, slow and soothing.
He didn’t move again. Not until the last tremors passed, not until his breathing evened out. Then he shifted, rolling to his side and gathering her against him, chest to chest.
Clarity slowly seeped back into his thoughts. And with it—awareness.
His gaze dropped to her, cradled naked against him, her skin still damp and glowing in the brazier’s light. But her breath was too shallow. A ripple moved through her, subtle but sharp. Tension not yet loosed.
A need left unmet, he realized with a slow exhale.
Rising to one elbow, he leaned over her, his mouth brushing the elegant sweep of her collarbone. “Forgive me,” he purred against her skin. “I’ve neglected you.”
She shivered as his head dipped, trailing kisses between the soft swell of her breasts. She arched into him, a silent plea, her eyes dark and half-lidded, glittering with heat.
His fingers dragged against the soft curves of her hips, his rough palms mapping soft flesh as though reacquainting himself with the worship of it. When his teeth grazed the sensitive skin just below her navel, she jerked—a soft, wrecked sound rising from her throat.
A quiet laugh left him, lips curving against her skin. He moved lower, watching the warmth bloom beneath her skin, slow and radiant.
Instinctively, her thighs pressed together. Futile.
His hands slid between them, guiding her open to him, gentle but firm. “Open for me,” he said, dark and intimate.
“I—” she started.
He hushed her with a kiss to the tender place where thigh met hip. Her breath caught, and his pulse mirrored it, pounding harshly.
“I will not leave you wanting,” he murmured roughly. “Not now. Not ever.”
Then he lowered his mouth to her.
One long, slow stroke of his tongue, and her breath shattered. Fingers tangled in his hair, her body arching against his mouth.
One arm locked around her thigh, his hand splayed firm across her stomach, holding her still as she writhed. He licked her gently—one slowpass at a time. His mouth moved over her like she was sacred ground, worshipping with each soft flick of his tongue.
He felt it when she started to break. Her muscles locked down, fingers curling hard in his hair as she hovered at the edge. Then it took her. A raw, breathless shout came from her, her thighs tightening against him as the wave crested.
His lips moved against her more softly now, coaxing, teasing the last pulses of pleasure from her until she softened beneath him. Only then did he press a final kiss to her thigh, lowering her legs from his shoulders.
When he lay beside her again, she shifted to face him, her skin dewy and glowing in the firelight, her chest still heaving.
Quiet reigned, thick and unbroken. They watched each other, and he knew with unspoken certainty that he could remain in this stillness forever, so long as she was in it.
He tugged her closer, burying his face in her hair. She rested against him, her weight folding into his arms as he held her like something precious.
Something holy.
Chapter 52
