Page 376 of The First Taste

My hands grip the blankets of the bed, forming fists. Hades keeps kissing my clit, circling his tongue around it. I close my eyes as he works, torturing me, bringing me so much pleasure that I almost weep. I can feel strings tightening and growing taut deep inside my body. My whole pelvis feels full and hot, as flushed as my reddened cheeks.

Hades plays me like a fiddle, knowing exactly how to move his tongue and where to press his fingers. I can feel myself growing closer and closer to the edge.

When I’m almost there, he places his thumb squarely on the balloon knot of my ass. My eyes open and I clench the blankets, unable to do much else. It feels… naughty. I’m so caught up in having Hades sink his thumb into my ass that I come, suddenly and unexpectedly, inner muscles jerking. I make a strangled gurgle and tumble over the edge, not seeing or hearing anything for a moment.

But I can feel every last thing, every flick of his tongue against my clit, every excited hum, every wiggle of his thumb as it slides into my ass.

I am stupefied, sucking in ragged breaths, forgetting who and where I am for several moments. I slowly come back to myself, realizing that Hades is still touching my pussy. But he has taken back his other hand and currently jerks his cock in long, hard pumps. I crane my neck to see him. He’s staring at my pussy, at the stickiness as he moves his fingers over my clit.

His expression is so intent that I don’t dare to interrupt. I watch with fascination as he closes his eyes for a second, his hand pumping lightning fast. Then he leans closer and presses the fat tip of his cock against the top of my ass.

Hades growls and his eyes snap open. He comes with a snarl, his eyes slitted and containing a violent fury. It’s enough to knock the air from my lungs as he spurts five lashes of hot semen onto my lower back and ass.

He rests for several seconds, closing his eyes and breathing hard. But when he looks at me again, his expression and tone are businesslike.

“Here,” he says. His voice is robotic, almost as if he hadn’t just come all over my ass. He moves to untie my hands and my ankles. I sit up, rubbing my wrists. Before I can say anything, he turns his back on me, seeming like he is uninterested in anything I might have to say.

Acting like a man, then. The sheer disappointment I feel is a heavy burden.

He just wanted sex. In the end, that’s what I gave him.

And now he’s throwing me away like a used tissue. I watch him get dressed and pull up the blankets to cover myself, my hurt echoing louder and louder in my own head.

“We should talk,” I suggest, my voice raspy.

Hades grits his teeth. “I think ye’ve done plenty, lass.”

I don’t have a snarky comeback for his words. So I just tug the blankets up against my chest and glare at him.

Then he tucks himself back in his pants, turns toward the warehouse door, and makes a beeline for the exit.

I stare after him, feeling dirty and trying to figure out what the hell I’m supposed to do now.

Hades

Itake a very, very long walk down the beautiful French coastline. It’s far too hot even though when I leave, the sun is already beginning to slip behind the distant horizon. I look out at the coast and instinctively turn away from the city, trudging along. It’s hard to keep pace with my thoughts, which whirl around my head, spiked and spiny and violent, their rhythm stochastic.

What the fuck did I just do?

I keep picturing Persephone's look of perfect surprise when I untied her and then hurried to the warehouse door. She looked truly crestfallen, or at least hurt somehow.

Knowing that I am the source of that pain doesn’t sit well with me in the least.

I put my head down and walk faster. Going for a run would be nice right now, but I don’t have tennis shoes or nylon shorts with me. So, I have to content myself with angrily walking down the shore, startling the occasional sea bird that gets too near me. I kick rocks with my heavy boots, and they spin and bounce against the sandy ground, often sinking into the ocean as I move past.

If only I hadn’t let a woman get so close to me… but it’s too late for that. Pretty little Persephone is in my head and under my fucking skin. My expression twists into a grimace.

A quarter of a mile down the rocky shoreline, I stop and stare out at the sea. It’s been windy since we arrived here, the sea restless. I understand that feeling all too well.

Perhaps the sea has made the same mistakes as I have. It’s possible that the mysterious body of water before me has many secrets, some of them less divine than others.

I fish my new phone out of my pocket and screw my face up. Dialing Eros’s number, I suck in a breath.

He answers right away.

“Hades! I was wondering where ye had gotten lost.”

“Eros,” I say, my voice gruff. “How are things going?”