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We were standing at the entrance of her home. Her dainty fingers were playing idly with mine, the pads of her fingertips tenderly brushing against the back of my knuckles, dwarfed by the puffy cuff of her sweatshirt. Perhaps I should say that it’s my sweatshirt, but she was cold, and who would I be to let this radiant goddess freeze? As she continued to let our arms sway slightly with her caress, I prayed she wouldn’t feel how clammy my palm had become in that quick moment. Was she as nervous as I was? Did we really have to say goodbye? I didn’t want the night to end. The touch of her hand, her fingers laced between mine; it was as if I were incomplete prior to this spot in time, and her tender grasp is the fulfillment that I’ve needed after centuries of loneliness.
She was looking down at the ground, a soft bite to her bottom lip, shuffling slightly back and forth on her heels. I smiled at her. Gods how good it feels to smile again. I think that the muscles in my cheeks ached from how much I smiled tonight; likely because she had yet to give me a reason to stop. With all the powers that I possess, all the spells and incantations and divine authority that I have endured, there was nothing comparable to the simple magic that it was just to be near her. I wasn’t sure what to expect next, but I didn’t want to inconvenience her. It was plenty enough that the Goddess of Spring agreed to a date. To dinner. The park. The museum. And did it all with no shame of holding my hand as we ventured; hooking her arm in mine like it was the most natural thing for her in the realms. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to tell her how much this night meant to me.
“Thank you,” Persephone began quietly, toying with the cuff of her shirt. My shirt that she was wearing. Her skin glowed pink against the dark grey material, and the hood rested gently along the crown of her head, with blooms of flowers peeking through.
“You don’t have to thank me, Goddess,” I responded. “I should be the one thanking you for indulging a tired old man.”
“Tired? Are you sleepy?” She then looked up at me, her eyes meeting mine. An expression of concern was strewn across her face. She gently lifted my hand to her cheek, pressing against the back of my hand. “Did we stay out too late?”
I couldn’t help but to chuckle. This kind, ever radiant, gorgeous goddess was worried that I might be tired.
“You needn’t be concerned, Goddess. Even if I were exhausted, it would absolutely be worth it.”
I turned my hand to caress her face; fates, she is just so beautiful… I feel like I’m trembling, being so close to her. I dare not to think that I am worthy of such a loving gesture. But, for some reason, she leaned into the touch, looking up at me beneath those big fluffy lashes with twinkling eyes, gnawing on her lip again. It would be too much to hope for a kiss. Thus, I am more than delighted to revel in the feel of her cheek in my hand. Sweetly, she laced her fingers between mine again, and let our hands drop slowly, resuming her gentle touch along my knuckles. If I didn’t know any better, it seemed as if this goddess was blushing.
“Such flattery, my noble King,” Persephone joked.
“It is more than deserved,” I remarked. “But… I should likely let you get rest then; I’m sure that I wore you out dragging you across my realm tonight.”
“Oh, no!” she protested. “It was so much fun! I had a great time with you.”
“You… you did?”
“I did!”
She smiled at me then, and I swear that my heart would have leapt from my chest at the sight of her beauty.
“I don’t know what I did to deserve such kindness from the Goddess of Spring.”
“Oh, sugar snaps,” she teased. “You are only thirty percent scoundrel, surely you’re not all bad.”
“Thank you again, Persephone,” I continued, laughing. “Even thirty percent scoundrel is still better than I expected.”
She shuffled again, back and forth, with her other hand toying at the edge of the sleeve.
“I should… I should give you this shirt back,” she stammered. “Thank you for letting me borrow it.”
“Please, keep it.”
“Keep it?”
“Certainly. Besides, here in the Underworld, don’t you need to keep warm?”
She looked up, as if to dwell upon what I had said. Selfishly, if I take this small gift back right now, I may not have just cause to see her again in the future. There’s no guarantee she’ll want another date. It’s something, at least.
“Is that the only reason you want me to have your sweatshirt, you scoundrel?” she asked, smiling devilishly.
“Am I that transparent?” I asked her, sheepishly rubbing the back of my neck with my free hand.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen your eyes look the way they do right now.”
“Wait,” I worried. “What do they look like?”
“Like… you’re letting me keep this very comfortable and very warm sweatshirt for more than one reason alone,” she teased, playfully squeezing the hand that she held. Every pulse of her fingers was like a grip upon my heart, and I would grant it to her, freely; all she needs is to ask.
“Perhaps,” I answered her, feeling my pulse quicken. “But-but-but a good reason none the less.”
I haven’t stuttered in years, and here I am, centuries later, unable to form a complete sentence while in her presence. She blushed even deeper, and I found myself lost in her eyes again.
“Then I suppose that I shall explore this ‘good reason’ on another occasion?”
“If-if-if… If you would allow it.”
The spring goddess paused briefly; her eyes rolling up and to the corner as she thought.
“I think I would like that,” she agreed, nodding her head.
A wave of relief washed over me. She didn’t outright say that she wanted to see me again, but I will not argue.
“It would be an honor,” my voice rasped, lifting her hand to mine. “Until then, Goddess of Spring. I bid you farewell.”
I bowed slightly and softly placed a tepid kiss against her knuckles. She gasped in response, and I was fearful that I was too forward with my gesture; I clearly must have offended her. But the smile that crossed her face just then reassured me that I’m not as dastardly as I seem to be in my mind. A crown of flowers appeared; blue, pushing the hood of the sweatshirt off her head. I hope that this is also a good thing; with her being the goddess of spring, I’m not sure what her powers entail, but it doesn’t seem harmful.
I lowered my hand and moved to release hers, but she continued to hold my fingers. I didn’t want her to let go, either. There was a lump in my throat. I was anxious, as I wasn’t sure what to expect next. It seemed there was… a magnetism about her that was drawing me closer. Like a moth to a flame, I couldn’t help but to be near her. Slowly, the arm’s length of distance that was between us then became a breath of space. She still held my hand, and I felt myself being pulled lower to meet her eye to eye.
“Persephone,” I breathed. She was nose to nose with me, her eyes low and heavy with what couldn’t possibly be any facet of desire. I refuse to believe it. I was afraid to say anything more than her name, terrified to utter anything else but her given title, as if it were the answer to my most ancient prayers.
“Hades,” she whispered. It felt sacred to hear her say it. It made my heart do flips. Hearing her voice in that sultry rasp; it made me yearn to hear her say it again.
The distance between us was closed when her lips pressed against mine. Persephone released my hand only to pull me closer to her, and for a split second, I couldn’t function. There were fireworks going off inside of my mind; explosions of electricity that ripped through my body, a current circulating at light speed back and forth and up and down to the power source that was the tenderness of her kiss. The feel of her lips against my own. She was honey, jasmine and roses. She was completion. She was life as I would know it forever more. Persephone was death as I wasn’t worthy to live, unless I lived for her. She was my revival.
I smiled against her perfect mouth; beginning to pull back, much to my inner chagrin. I questioned whether or not this was real. Surely this has to be a dream. I move back, nearly drunk with bliss—this is too good to be true; too perfect to be happening to someone like me. And yet she chases; her affection relentless as she charges forward, refusing to break this embrace like those who refuse to break a vow; this silent plea of ‘more’ that screams at me with fervent want; the nibble of her teeth, the sharp inhale of her breath, the scratch of her nails against my scalp, the flush of her body against mine. She is beauty, savage and untamed, unleashing her fury upon me with this embrace, this kiss that made me, the fearsome king of the underworld, weak in the knees. This is too good to be true, but if I am indeed no longer living, then every heartbreak that I suffered through, every century of anguish; every damning night that I spent alone with my misery was more than worth it, for just this single moment with her in my arms. She’s taken me; mind, body, and soul, with just a kiss.
The tip of her tongue dances with mine; her fingers tugging at the nape of my neck, her sweet deliciousness consuming me as we continued our embrace, standing outside of her home. I couldn’t tell you when my hand found its way into her hair, the luscious pink curls wrapped around my fingers like silk. It was difficult to breathe, for she’s rendered me breathless. I can’t hear, save for the thundering roar of my heartbeat pounding in my eardrums. Her lips were like the most glorious ambrosia as they coated mine; I could drink her forever. I can’t function, I can’t think… All I can do is to give myself to her and pray that I am worthy of doing so.
She wrapped a leg around my waist, as if she were about to pull me even closer to her than I already was. Her hands were roaming up and down my back; my hair, my shoulders and arms, while pressing her torso to mine. I pulled away to taste her neck, leaving a trail of kisses up and down the tender column, on to the lobe of her ear, and back down to her collar, where I let my tongue lave along the sensitive flesh. Our bodies were flush against one another; the bulky material of my sweatshirt was a pitiful barrier between us. It took all I had not to hoist her up against the doorway, with her legs on either of my shoulders, kneel and worship her as she deserved. As if she read my mind, the whimper that escaped her throat just then sent a shiver down my spine, and I would level Tartarus single-handedly to make her sound like that again.
Persephone wrapped both legs around me, her ankles crossing against my back, and the feel of her core so close to my own nearly made me fall to my knees in ecstasy. I don’t think I could hide how I trembled just then. She pulled my face back up to hers and kissed me, moaning into my mouth. I growled in response, ecstatic to hear the happy sounds that she was making. She broke our embrace briefly, but still held her my bottom lip between her teeth, her fingers carding my hair.
“Goddess,” I rasped, chasing another tender kiss. “You truly are everything.”
She met my embrace with a smile, and those lips of honey ghosting against mine.
“Thirty-one percent scoundrel,” she whispered.
“My scoundrel percentage has gone up?” I felt a soft sensation along my brow; flowers bloomed atop my own head now, and she reached up to brush a strand of hair out of my eyes.
“It very much has.”
I smiled.
“I don’t know if I can have that,” I teased. “A scoundrel rating that continually increases doesn’t sound very becoming.”
Persephone paused and tucked another strand of my hair behind my ear.
“You could… come inside,” she offered, her ankles still crossed at my back. “And we can discuss exactly how to manage that scoundrel rating of yours.”
I trembled again, my knees buckling in response to the mere premise of this continuing. She chuckled in response, and I reached behind her to unhook one of her ankles. As she unwrapped her legs around me, she maintained the same eye level—
“Persephone,” I stated. “You’re… you’re flying.”
“You most certainly make me feel like I am.”
I reached out to grab her hand and stepped aside to show that she was truly levitating.
“No, goddess, you… you really are flying.”
“Oh, wow!” she squeaked, lifting even higher. “This will come in handy for sure.”
I looked up at her, admiring the goddess as she was. Exuberant. Radiant. Perfect in every way. Petals fell softly from the crown of flowers atop her head as she twirled around me, floating in the air with grace.
“Having fun up there?” I called, watching her fluid movements.
“Maybe. But we could… still have some fun together.”
My heart cinched in my chest. I thought she had to have been teasing when she invited me inside her home earlier.
“Goddess… there is nothing more that I would love than to feel your lips against mine again, or to explore whatever more would await the two of us… but I would be a bad date if I pressed further.”
She pouted as she descended to the ground.
“At least,” I offered. “At least for now?”
“Hmm. Well, you mentioned there was a good reason you were letting me keep this sweatshirt, so I suppose I will have to discover that on another date and time.”
The emphasis she had on the word date surprised me.
“Another date?”
“I would love to.”
I was shocked.
“Are you… are you serious?” I clarified. I must be hearing things.
“I am very serious, mister king of the underworld.”
“Oh… well… I… I just wanted to make sure. I rarely get this far.”
“Hush, you’re losing your scoundrel percentage.”
“Fine by me,” I teased, throwing up both hands in mock defeat. She laughed again; that melodic sound that made my heart swell. This goddess is going to be the end of me. But she is more than worth it.
“One more, for the road?” Persephone asked, floating up to my eye level again.
And who am I to deny her? Sweetly, I cupped her face and placed a gentle peck upon her lips. I don’t know how I knew life as it was before embracing her. It was absolute torture to pull myself away, worse than any punishment that I’ve rendered in all my years of placing judgement. She must have known the brief agony I experienced, with the way that her lips lingered against mine, with how we were breathing one another’s air. She was life. Death. Revival. She was everything. I laced my fingers between hers again and brought her hand to close for one last kiss.
“Goodnight, goddess,” I whispered against her skin.
“Goodnight, my king,” she answered, with flowers spilling down her hair and shoulders.