Sundown

VIII

In almost every way, Hades was not the person everyone painted him to be. He was imagined to be a cruel, sadistic man who relished in the death of others. The Underworld was supposed to be a dark, damp cave under the ground, the river Styx overflowing with the rotting corpses of the dead.

Persephone had found none of those things to be true in her short time there. Hades was dutiful and thoughtful in his role hosting mortal souls. He was firm but fair, and had more regality about him than both his self indulgent, lecherous brothers combined.

Now, however, he looked every part the fearsome God the Dead. His cool, collected manner was gone as he grabbed at her body, his teeth scratching across her lips and neck as he roughly kissed her. He took her face in his hands, his eyes clouded with lust.

She thrilled at the desire clear on his face, his want sparking her own. Persephone perched up on her tiptoes, sliding her hands around his neck. He leaned down to meet her, his hands venturing down her backside and the backs of her thighs. He long fingers brushed against her skin as he abruptly grabbed the hem of her dress, pulling it up her waist then over her head. He tossed to the side, the dress fluttering to the ground.

Persephone stood still before him, nothing but moonlight on her skin. He looked down at her; dark, driven, dangerous. His pupils were wide, eyeing her as if he planned to devour her. She stared back at her husband, her lover, her king, unflinching and unashamed. She tingled with anticipation in this silent, erotic exchange.

Her hands on his body as she fumbled at his clothes broke him out of his stupor and back into the frenzy. In no time he helped her rid himself of all his clothes, a haphazard heap on the ground. Before she could take in his full form, he scooped her up in his arms, causing her to yelp in surprise. He kneeled and lay her body in the dirt.

Hades briefly stopped to admire his wife before him. He had never imagined he would have her outside of their quarters in the Underworld, tangled in bedsheets and darkness. Now she was in her own realm, outdoors, completely naked before him, looking up at him with wide, expectant eyes. She trusted him with her body, and it endeared and aroused him even more to her.

Simply looking at her was fast becoming too much to take after months without her. He wanted all of her at the same time: his tongue in her mouth, her breasts in his hands, his hardness within her over and over again. He found himself overwhelmed at the sensory overload of her waiting body.

Persephone ran her fingers into his hair as he put his body on top of hers. She eagerly explored him, her hands flat across his shoulders, his back, down the sides of his narrow torso, and to his waist. He hissed as her fingers trailed down the inside his hips towards his groin.

He fit his body over hers, the tip of his arousal pressing lightly between her parted legs. She gasped, the cool night air on her most sensitive area causing her to tremble. Every nerve in her body was on alert, her back arched towards him, dying to have him close the gap. He grabbed her hands, pinning them above her head and lacing his fingers in hers.

In that moment, as Persephone lay stretched out on the Earth, the universe and its order reversed. The world above was beneath her, dirt pressed under her arms, her shoulders, her back, her feet, and between her toes. The Underworld was above her: his fingers tightly entwined with hers, his narrow torso and bony hips pressed hard against her soft skin and full, thick curves, her legs parted at each side of his waist.

She shuddered as him warm body flushed her skin, prickling from the cool night air. Hades looked his queen in the eyes as he finally, slowly pushed his hardness within her, her body stretching open to receive him.

Persephone sang out a ragged, relieved groan as his length filled her, clinging more tightly to his fingers. She parted her legs wider to receive him more deeply, causing him to grit his teeth in concentration. Between her warm wetness clenching at him and her soft cries of pleasure urging him on, this would be over too soon if he didn't focus.

She whined as his pulled himself slowly out of her, then pushed in again, pressing his lips against her neck, kissing a trail up to her ears. Her skin felt sensitive, electrified everywhere he touched her. He loved tasting her and relished her responses to him.

Mating out in the open like this, in the wide open field with the night sky above them, Persephone felt vulnerable and exposed; the cool air blowing across their naked bodies, her arms pinned above her, her legs spread wide for him. But she also primal and powerful, fulfilling this most basic of physical desires directly on the Earth, no barriers between them.

Hades began to speed up the rhythm, in and out, giving in to his own increasing need for release. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, feeling dizzy and giving into it, as if the world were spinning her upside down.

When she opened her eyes, her heady gaze landed on his face as he grunted with each push, taking his pleasure upon her. But instead of darkness behind him, she was shocked to see something strangely familiar. Ten feet above - no, below - them was their bed in the underworld. She stretched her limbs to feel the surface beneath her. Instead of the soft give of the dirt, it was flat and hard.

Dizziness overcame her again as she gasped, the realization hitting her: they were making love on the ceiling of their bedroom in the underworld.

Hades thrust hard into her, breaking her focus. Her eyes squeezed shut as she cried out, her toes curling in the dirt. When she opened her eyes, the night sky was above him again. It was as he had said: the line between the Underworld and the Earth blurred in her absence, and she was that blur, the balance between the two.

As Hades' continued to push in and out of her wet warmth, Persephone's cries become shorter, higher, closer together. Knowing this was a sign she was close to orgasm, he thrust long, hard strokes into her, trying to push her over the edge. His forehead beaded with sweat as his determined to last until she finished. He buried his face in her neck, the sight of pleasure on her face too much for him.

Persephone squirmed, his disheveled hair tickling her skin. He held her steady, arms still held above her head, his ragged panting warm against her ears. So close to the end, she felt truly connected to the Earth and the Underworld, with just one thing one missing.

"Hades," she said, wanting to see his face. "My ... my king..." He pulled up to look her in the eyes.

"My queen," he whispered. "Persephone ... come to me my love, come to me..."

All at once her back arched, her legs tensed, and she clenched around him, finishing with a loud, sharp cry. Her pulsing around him and her shout of pleasure put him over the edge, tumbling after her with a groan.

They lay there together, panting to catch their breaths. He released her hands and let his weight fall on her, resting his forehead on hers. She reached around him with shaky arms, embracing him. Finally he pulled apart and lay next to her on his back, staring up at the stars.

"That was..." Persephone started, but finding herself at a loss to articulate it. "It was...just..."

"There are no words," he finished for her, taking her hand. He didn't know how he'd lived without her these past months, or how he'd survive without her every six months she'd be forced to leave him.

She felt sleep coming heavy towards her, her body exhausted. She reluctantly stood, finding her dress and pulling it over her head. He watched her sadly, not wanting the night to be over.

"Come," she said, tossing his clothes over to him. "I have a better place we can sleep." He stood and began dressing.

"You aren't worried about being seen?"

"Well I can be seen. As long as they don't see you." When he finished straightening his clothes, she held her hand out to him. He placed the helmet over his head and took her hand, her invisible companion through the field.

When they approached her room, he released her, instead placing his hand on her back to avoid suspicion. She led them past the guarding nymph, deep in sleep, into her room. She crawled into bed and he followed suit, still unseen, fitting himself into her arms next to him. Persephone leaned up to kiss where she thought his face was, but was instead met with the cold metal of his helmet, squeaking in surprise. Hades pulled off the helmet, appearing next to her with a smile.

"You owe me a kiss," she insisted with a yawn. He kissed her forehead, then her nose, then her lips.

"Consider me forever in your debt, my queen." Minutes later they were both gone, lost to deep, sated sleep.