That Fatal Kiss by Mina Lobo Read Free Book Online

said, closing the distance between them. “I have taken you with your father’s consent, as custom allows. You are in my kingdom, under my rule, and if you have any care for your continued well-being, you will get into my bed. Now .” And with the removal of the pins that held together the long black cloth about his waist, he stood naked before her.
    The anger warming Persephone clashed with another fire that roared to life within her. She choked on a breath and turned her face from him. “Be warned; I will resist you with the full force of my being, through violent means, if necessary.”
    His large, unyielding hands encircled the soft flesh of her upper arms as he said, “If you must. Though your surrender to me would prove more satisfying to us both.”
    Senses reeling, Persephone gasped, “You cannot…cannot keep me forever if I do not eat while I am here! Some instinct kept me from eating the meal your servant brought me, though I could not reason why, but now I remember. Hermes told me long ago that anyone who does not eat whilst in Erebus has the right to leave, is that not so?”His rich tones sounded close to her ear. “Then why did you not flee?”
    Persephone now looked up to glare at him. “You know very well why not. No one can go until you allow it.”
    Hades smiled coolly. “A bit of a poser, isn’t it? Until you eat, you do have the right to depart, if not the means.”
    The goddess let out a frustrated huff. “My mother will seek my release.”
    “Your mother will not rise up against Zeus, nor will any of the other Immortals.” Hades shifted purposefully. “Anything else?”
    Persephone tried to ignore the feel of him as he pressed up against her, which, with his hard heat straining against her stomach, proved more difficult than she could have imagined. Worse, she didn’t want to ignore it. The goddess feared that this combination of rage and desire would overwhelm her, and it took every bit of self-control she could muster to carry out her initial plan.
    Knowing that males never cared to share, Persephone had saved her strongest salvo for last. It could well serve to put him off her completely, if it didn’t infuriate him. For a moment, she feared that the former would be true, and knew a moment’s pang. But then, taking a deep breath, she delivered her trump. “I am not a virgin.”
    The god stared down at her, then asked quietly, “What?”
    “I am not a virgin. You may abduct me, imprison me, rape me, and never let me see daylight again, but the one thing you cannot take is my virginity, for it was mine to give and I gave it freely to another.”
    Hades pushed Persephone up against the cold wall. “You lie.”
    “I do not lie, ever. You may ask my mother, if you dare.”
    “Ask your mother? No, you must be lying!”
    “I tell you, I do not lie! She encouraged me to learn the ways of loving and even gave me a charmed bracelet made by the Witch Goddess, Hecate, so that I might render my partner and myself invisible. That way we could come together whenever we wished and escape the notice of the other gods.”
    “Why would she do such a thing?” Hades breathed.
    “She wanted me to sample what marriage would have to offer without the others’ interference. And so I sampled.”
    “You…sampled?”
    “Yes.”
    His tone ominously low, the god asked, “There has been more than one?”
    Alerted to the hint of danger in his words, Persephone realized she had overplayed her hand. But there was nothing for it now. “Yes. More than one.”
    Hades’ eyes bore into hers for what seemed an eternity. Sweat broke out all over the goddess’ body when a deadly calm came over his face. His right hand went to her chin and he brought her face up as he said, “Well, then…what’s one more?”
    Persephone could not say which stunned her more: the punishing kiss Hades laid upon her or the look in his eyes as he’d leaned in to deliver it. For though his features had been ice, his eyes had