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"Stay close to me," Persephone said, making Hades' heart leap in his chest. She rested her forehead against his. "I need you."
"I'm right here," Hades told her. He wrapped one arm around her waist, the other around her shoulders, and kissed her flushed cheeks. "I'm not going anywhere, Kore. I need you, too."
She gave a small laugh and nuzzled their noses together. "Can we stay here for a while? I know it's late, but…"
"We'll stay as long as you like." He slipped his fingers through her hair and kissed her when she turned her face towards his. "We can do whatever you want. This is your realm, after all."
Hades felt her smile against his lips. She pushed on his shoulders, guiding him to sit back against the couch again. Kore climbed into his lap, her warm thighs settling close on either side of him, and murmured into his mouth, "This is my realm."
He thrust desperately up against her, filling in a rush at her words. Hades pulled back just enough to catch her heavy-lidded gaze and said, "My queen, everything I have is yours."
"I want it all," she said. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips were swollen, her hair fell about her desperate eyes. She was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. "Hades, help me. I don't know what to do next."
He leaned up and caught her lips for a moment. "I'm going to take this off," he said, bouncing his shoulders to indicate the robe, "and I'm going to take this off." He plucked at his old shirt that she'd put on. "And then we'll touch each other until we want to try something else."
He was surprised to find how much he enjoyed being verbal for her. Hades had done dirty talk before, of course: most beings assume that the God of the Dead has an "absolutely anything goes" policy in the bedroom. Up until now, he could have taken or left it. Yet simply communicating with Persephone, telling her in straightforward terms what he wanted to do with her next, felt sexier than anything he'd tried with any being else. In bed earlier, the most basic sentences left them both shivering in each other's arms before they actually tried anything he'd said. He was desperately glad she'd suggested it, for both of their sakes.
"Yes," she said, already pushing the fabric from his shoulders. "Good, that sounds good."
Hades shrugged out of the robe in a hurry, letting it puddle around his hips and immediately forgetting it. He slipped his hands beneath her shirt, which was longer than some of her dresses, and slid his palms up her outer thighs to cup her hips. She wriggled a little, pressing herself into each hand and then down further into his lap. Hades could feel her warm wetness tantalizingly close, burning through only three layers of delicate loungewear. He groaned and pressed himself up against her—not a thrust precisely, but definitely making very intimate contact.
Kore shivered and groaned into his mouth. "Aidoneus," she said. She squirmed, rubbing herself side to side over his hard length, and he groaned in reply.
"I'm just going to keep us together like this for a while," he told her, murmuring against her lips. "And I'm going to touch your breasts again. You liked that earlier, I think?"
Earlier, in their bed, Persephone had mewled and panted and cried out as he rubbed her nipples. She'd fisted her hands in his hair and held his mouth to hers, not kissing so much as clinging; she'd said, "My gods, Hades, I didn't know it would feel this—oh, keep doing that, oh— "
All things considered, he was fairly certain she'd liked it.
But he also thought it was a good idea to make sure, especially while they were still learning each other like this.
"I did like it," she agreed. She laid her hands on his wrists and slid her palms up his arms and onto his chest. "Is that something you like, too?"
Hades cocked his head at her, wondering if he hadn't made it clear how much he loved touching her. He only realized she meant something else when she ran her fingers carefully over his own nipples. His entire body jerked in response.
Kore gave a startled laugh and he said, "It absolutely is." She rubbed a little harder, watching his face with her eyebrows raised. He nodded and added, "Pinching is good, too."
"Pinching," she repeated contemplatively. Hades watched her eyes darken as she gently took one nipple between her finger and thumb. He let his breath hiss between his teeth as she rolled it back and forth—and when she tugged, his eyes fell closed and he dropped his head against the back of the couch. He twitched against her panties and decided he'd let her discover biting on her own.
"You didn't do that to me earlier," she accused. Hades opened his eyes to find her smirking down at him, looking equal parts fascinated and playful.
"We were getting good results as it was," he reminded her. She gave a little shrug in acknowledgment and pressed her fingers harder into each nipple. "But that doesn't mean we can't try it now."
He skimmed his hands from her hips, over the curve of her waist, and up her ribcage to cup her heavy, perfect breasts in his palms once more. Kore gave a happy little sigh and sank further against him, pressing all her weight into his lap and dropping her forehead to rest on his. He tilted his face to kiss her as he ran his thumbs over her nipples, then took each one gently between his forefingers and the balls of his thumbs.
She cried out again, shifting restlessly in his lap. "It has never, not once, felt that way when I tried it myself," she told him, breathing heavily.
"That makes sense," he said. "Everything feels better to me when you're here."
She wrapped one arm around his neck, tangling her fingers in his hair. Her other hand kept worrying his nipple, but Hades thought she was mostly just holding on. He carefully squeezed his fingers together, tugging a bit as she'd done to him, and his stomach soared as he felt her entire body shake.
"You said you have things you want to try," he murmured against her lips, still rolling the taut buds of her nipples between his fingers. "Tell me some of them."
He was half-expecting her to blush and fluster and work up her nerve before answering, but she immediately blurted, "I want to feel you inside me."
Hades raised his eyebrows about as high as they could go and pulled back a bit, trying to catch her gaze. Her eyes were definitely wide and her cheeks were an even brighter pink than usual, but she was smiling at him, too.
"That's not all, of course," she said, starting to talk faster and faster as she went. "I want to put my mouth on you, on all of you, and I want you to do that to me, too, and the nymphs told me about lots of different positions, and most of them sound fascinating, and I really want to try something in your pool—"
He started laughing and after a moment when her eyes went even wider, she did too, swatting at his shoulders as he tried to dodge.
"What's so funny??"
"Kore, I may be a god, but that list is more than I can reasonably manage in one night," he said. He cupped her breasts again, marveling how she was so tiny and yet they filled his palms completely. Then he dropped his hands back to her waist to keep her snug against him.
"You said to tell you some things, not one single solitary thing," she pointed out. She traced her fingertips lightly along his shoulders, leaving tickly trails in her wake.
"Touché," he allowed. He slid one hand from waist to hip and tucked his thumb into the side of her panties. "I want to try all those things with you, too. Just, maybe, one at a time."
She swallowed hard and nodded. "I feel like…. I'm not overwhelmed, that's not it, but I don't think it's far away, either. And not in a bad way, really. It's just, it's a lot, you know?"
He leaned up and softly kissed her cheek. Hades didn't really remember the first time he had sex. It was millennia ago, for one thing, and Persephone had driven every previous partner out of his mind. But he knew this was different for her than it had been for him. She carried a strange mixture of innocence and experience. Raised as a holy virgin, brimming with innate desire, served pain and humiliation, and then left isolated for a decade: it was no wonder she was still coming to terms with all these contradictory facets of her life.
"There's a lot to try," he said. "But there's no timeline we have to follow. We have all of eternity to experiment."
She nuzzled his temple. "I'm ready to start experimenting."
Hades started rubbing circles upon the soft skin of her hip, under the silky fabric of her underthings. "Would you like me to touch you? Through your underwear?"
Persephone closed her eyes for a moment and just breathed, smiling slightly to herself. When she looked at him again, her pupils were blown wide with desire.
"Yes," she breathed.
“Okay,” he said. He kissed her, dipping his tongue between her lips, then murmured against her mouth, “Then I’m going to touch you now. Just my fingertips, through the fabric.”
He cupped her cheek with his free hand, sliding his fingers into her shaggy hair. She turned her face to kiss his wrist, then looked down between them as he pressed his long fingers between her legs.
Her panties were soaked through, a hot spring or maybe a tsunami, and her hips jerked forward as he slid his fingers along the fabric. His mouth watered as he found her swollen clit, blood-thick as one of his fingers, and further down the rippling petals of her lips, and then the inner well where he'd long dreamed of drinking, of diving deep.
Persephone's mouth had fallen open and her eyes had fallen closed. Hades changed direction, rubbing deeply as he brought his hand towards the front of her body again. She shivered and he wrapped his other arm around her shoulders, sheltering her against him.
"Talk to me, goddess," he murmured. "Is this, do you, how do you like this?"
She was shifting her hips restlessly, following his hand as he rubbed slowly back and forth between her lips. He longed to see that beautiful flesh parting around him. Raising his hips, he pressed his hard length against her body and his own hand, whatever he could reach.
"Hades," she said, in the low, husky voice he'd heard her use for the first time this night. "Aidoneus. You feel, that feels, I can't describe it. Keep touching me, please, please keep touching me—"
He surged up and kissed her neck, then her cheekbone, then her luscious lips. Below, he let her keep thrusting against his fingers, rubbing slow circles on her clit with his thumb. Once they were both breathing in great gasps, their hips striving for contact, he pulled away from her mouth.
"I'm going to put my hand inside your panties now," he said. "If you'd like me to."
"I'd like that more than anything else," she said, then took his mouth with her own again.
Time slowed as he slipped his fingers into the front of her underwear. Her soft pink curls—granted, he'd yet to see them, but he imagined they were the same vibrant shade as the hair on her head—were dripping wet. She shook against him, clenching her hands in his hair, as he gently slid one finger along her swollen lips.
Kore was as soft as the freshest blossoms of hot-house flowers, as smooth as the ivory glow of ancient bones. Yet he could feel the iron strength of her thighs as she quivered above him, the spring-loaded tendons of her hips ready to burst into action. Hades' heartbeat rang noisily, rapidly, in his ears and his free hand was trembling against the small of her back. He wasn't any steadier than she was at the moment.
"That feels so good," she mumbled thickly against his mouth. Hades smiled and curled his finger, drawing backward over the same path he'd just traveled. When Kore moaned and shifted her hips forward to chase him, he happily flattened his fingers and let her rub against his hand, setting her own rhythm.
After a while, she tilted her head away from his. Hades felt his heart skip a beat when he opened his eyes and found her staring down between them, watching his hand work with an open mouth and her eyelids hanging almost closed.
He swallowed hard and took a look himself. His wrist looked enormous, disappearing into the black silk of her intimates. Her hips gyrated in a graceful, circular motion he knew he'd be seeing in his dreams.
Kore braced her hands on his shoulders, giving herself a little more leverage as she thrust down on him. Then she looked up and caught his gaze again. He thought he caught a flash of red in her eyes as she licked her lips and told him, "Put them inside me now."
He didn't hesitate when faced with that calm tone of voice, that self-assured sparkle in her eyes. Hades straightened his middle finger enough to rub at her inner lips, feeling their swollen flesh open readily around his fingertip, and then smoothly slid into her body.
He'd dreamed of this moment for years that felt like centuries, but none of his imaginings compared to the reality: the immediate, powerful flutterings around his finger; her silky, velvety, fever-bright warmth surrounding him; the way she ground down into his hand, staring directly into his eyes as she welcomed him as deeply as they could manage. He dimly felt himself twitching beneath her and gasped her name.
"I'm right here," she said, smoothing her hands over his face and neck. Hades tipped his head forward and pressed his forehead against her collarbone. "Stay with me, Aidoneus."
"Forever," he said. He withdrew his finger and they both moaned as he slipped two back inside.
Kore shifted her hips from side to side, then started a slow but confident rolling rhythm atop him. Hades held on for dear life, gently curling his fingers and rubbing her rippled inner walls as she moved. His own desire seemed to move perfectly in sync with hers, like he was a plant she was coaxing into full bloom.
She kissed his forehead, his cheekbone, and his mouth as he lifted his face to hers once more. Her wide eyes were fully open, her lips plump and bitten.
"That feels so good, Hades," she said, "but it feels like, I don't know, I need something…else? Something more?" Her eyebrows crinkled as she frowned. "I'm sorry, I don't want you to think I don't like it!"
He leaned up to kiss her. "Please, always tell me things like that. I'm never going to be insulted if you don't like something," he said. "But I think maybe you could use something more."
He glanced between them again, throbbing harder at the sight, and frowned. He didn't think he could fit his other hand between them as well, not without stopping and rearranging them to strip off her panties. (Ideally, using his teeth.) But her hands were so small compared to his own…
"Kore," he murmured, nosing up her throat and nuzzling next to her ear, "do you ever touch yourself?"
She gasped a little at the question, tightening further around his fingers as she did so. "Do I…ever touch myself?" she repeated.
"It was a long decade apart," he reminded her, "and your body feels so wonderful, and you are a fert—"
"A fertility goddess, I know," she said. She pushed down against him, taking in as much of him as she could, then met his eyes. Blushing hugely, she nodded. "Yes, of course I've touched myself."
Hades heard himself moan as a thousand images flooded his mind. Time enough to explore those later. "Maybe that's what we're missing," he suggested. "Will you show me? Show me what you like?"
She looked him in the eyes for a long moment, when it seemed like neither of them breathed. Then she nodded. She brought one hand to her mouth, then cocked her head and instead, pressed the pads of two fingers against his lips. Hades eagerly opened for her, sucking hard. Kore moaned, brushing the hair off his forehead with her other hand. He felt her contract almost painfully around his own fingers as he released hers.
Then she slid her hand between them, brushing her knuckles against his thumb, and started to rub her overheated, swollen flesh. Simultaneously she lifted her hips, thrusting into his hand again, and her breathing started to catch almost immediately.
"This isn't how I normally would do it," she said with a hint of laughter in her voice, "so I don't know—the angle—oh— "
There was a pink glow building at the edges of his peripheral vision. Glancing away, Hades saw sprawling rose bushes sprouting up all around the room. Then he realized she was bearing down on his fingers in rhythmic, building pulses. He swung his gaze back just in time to watch Kore throw back her head, forehead crumpled and mouth drawn into a tight circle. She cried out, her hips snapping to and fro desperately, and all he could do was ride it out with her.
Finally, her hips stilled. She drew her hand from between them, wrapped her arms around his neck, and slumped shakily against his chest. Hades wrapped his free arm around her, holding her securely to him. He slowly pulled his other hand away, trying to be gentle as he withdrew. He longed to slide his fingers into his mouth but thought he would save that for another time. Instead, he curled his arm around her waist and pressed kisses against the side of her head.
"Hades," she murmured eventually, raising her head again and clumsily bumping their faces together.
"Persephone." He gave her a brief kiss and smiled at her. Her hair was now flowing in billowing curls down her back. Hades wrapped a few strands around his fingers. "What are you thinking?"
"I spent so long worried I would be nervous, but that felt natural," she said contemplatively. "Like something completely normal for us to do."
A weight Hades hadn't realized he was carrying seemed to fall away from his shoulders. He gave a huge sigh and hugged her tightly to him.
"That makes me so happy to hear," he told her. "I think that's just what I wanted for you—for us."
"Speaking of us…" She squirmed a bit in his lap, rubbing deliberately against his hardness. "What about you?"
"Oh, don't worry about me." He tried to catch her mouth again, but she leaned back. Hades was surprised to find her frowning a bit.
"I'll worry about you all I want," she said. She cupped his cheek with her small hand. "I want to make you feel as good as I do. Please, don't try to dismiss what you need."
He frowned back. "I don't—it's late, and I don't want you to have to…." He trailed off, trying to find the right words. Despite their conversation earlier, and how enthusiastic Kore had been tonight, he didn't know exactly how much she was ready to try. He settled for saying, "I don't want you to feel like you owe me anything, just because I did something for you."
"Good, because that's not how I feel." Persephone slid her hands around his neck and kissed him again. "I've been madly in love with you for more than a decade now. And I might not know what I'm doing in bed yet, but I do know that I've wanted you for all of that time." She kissed him again, then added, "For longer than that, actually. Since the first time I saw you."
"Gaia, I wish I could remember that night," he murmured against her lips. They kissed a while longer, and this time when Kore pressed her hips against his, Hades let himself thrust up to meet her.
Eventually, she pulled back, gestured between them, and said, "Maybe you can show me what you like, too."
He raised his eyebrows. "You want me to…"
"To take off your pants and let me watch you touch yourself," she said, blushing hugely but meeting his gaze. "You know, if you'd like to."
Hades stared at her for a moment, not sure how to react. Then she ran one finger along the curve of his ear and it was like a switch flipped. Yes. He surged up against her, gripping her hips and holding them together for a moment, then released her.
"I never know what you're going to do next, goddess." He lifted his hips, trying to tug his pants out of the way. She floated up from his lap and settled on the couch next to him, tucking her feet underneath herself and slipping one arm around his shoulders. She laid her other hand on his bicep. When Hades pulled his pajama pants and then his boxers down, freeing flesh flushed a deep navy and spangled with stars, he felt her fingers tremble and clench against him.
"Oh, wow," she said in a quiet voice. "Hades."
"Is this okay?" He turned his face towards hers, suddenly feeling exposed.
"Yes, love," she murmured, sliding her hand up to hold his face, and kissed him. "Beloved. My Aidoneus. It's more than okay."
"Okay." He took himself in hand. Kore kept kissing him through the first few strokes, then broke off and stared down into his lap. Hades closed his eyes and pressed his face into her warm hair. He hadn't thought he would need much time in the first place, but then he felt her small hand sneak down to join his, wrapping her fingers around his own, and it was all over.
"Oh, wow," she repeated, tightening her arm around his shoulders and cradling his head against her. Hades jerked and twitched through the aftershocks, crying out into her neck when she swiped her thumb across his sensitive head. When she brought that hand to her mouth and slipped her thumb between her lips, he groaned again.
"Kore," he said unsteadily, panting. Honestly, he was feeling a bit overwhelmed.
She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. Hades tasted himself in her mouth and shook, feeling weak throughout his body.
"Hades," she answered. "Thank you."
"Thank me?" He looked at her in disbelief. "Goddess, I feel like the luckiest being in the four realms right now. Thank you."
She laughed. "This was….not at all how I expected things to go, but it was exactly perfect. So yes," she said, and kissed him on the forehead, "thank you."
He gathered her into his arms and eased them down on the sofa, maneuvering so he wound up in the wet spot and she was curled atop him. Now that he could spare some attention for matters outside the reach of his arms, he realized the theater was thrumming with life, vines and roses and trees and butterflies covering every surface.
"I like what you've done with the place," he said, giving her a squeeze. After she giggled and thwapped him, he asked, "Do you want to stay here, or get back in bed?"
"We should probably go to bed," she said, but tucked her head more securely under his chin. "I do like your bed a lot."
"I like having you in my bed," he said, tightening his arms around her. "We'll get up in a second."
"Mmhmm," she agreed, but her breathing just kept deepening. Hades pressed his face into her hair, filling his nose with the fresh scent of flowers, and stayed with her until they were both deeply asleep.