Page 26 of On a Pale Horse
She stepped out of the pool of her dress and let him take his time looking at her. She was small, thin, and enjoyed the way he wet his lips unconsciously.
“Now, go get the black rope off the wall.”
That command snapped him to the present, and he walked over and selected it without further prodding.
“Thank you, turn around.”
Another command, another quick conduction.
He spun and she clasped his wrists together and wound the rope tight around them. He stood eerily still, so still she feared for a moment she’d been wrong in her assessment of his ability to handle the situation. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, Mistress.”
The phrase hit her hard. Starting a heat wave from her core to wash up her body. Still, she wasn’t sure if she was reacting to his magic or him as a man. She guessed it didn’t matter if he couldn’t even tell the difference. She pushed his shoulder gently and he collapsed to his knees on the hardwood floor. She didn’t give him time to adjust as she stepped toward him and put her core at the level of his face. He stared up the long line of her body.
“Take my panties off with your teeth.”
He arched a brow, and she shoved the curls that spilled over his forehead backward with her fingers. She kept her hand there and pressed his head forward.
He didn’t say anything but the scrape of his teeth against her hip bone was like another match thrown onto a gas laden pile of brush. He pulled the scrap of lace carefully down and bent with it to drag it down her legs and she stepped out of them. Just as his face met the top of her foot the door burst open and Cloris stepped in.
Seeing her former lover after at least a decade threw a few butterflies in her belly. Cloris didn’t take long to figure out the scene. Her eyes lingered on Hades and then she did a slow track up Persephone’s half naked body to her face. “Am I interrupting?”
Persephone knew she had her. The arctic chill in her tone was evidence of that. “You’re not interrupting at all, Beautiful. Join us.”
She swallowed, careful not to show her roiling insides to a woman who could see into her soul.
Hades sat up, his face a mask of guilt, but his cheeks were pink and his lips red. He looked like a man more than happy with his lot in life.
Cloris stepped inside and shut the door behind her. “What’s going on here?”
Persephone started to answer but Cloris held up her hand. “No, Phe I want to hear him tell me.”
He glanced up at Persephone and she gave him a nod knowing all he wanted was to tell her the truth.
“I needed to do something drastic to show you I am more than ready to take our relationship to the next level.”
Her eyes darkened and an electric energy lit up the room making the hairs on Persephone’s arms stand on end. Her girl was a sexy when she got pissed.
“And what if I have no intention of taking anything to the next level? What if I don’t want you? Have you ever thought of that?”
Hades' shoulders slumped, but Persephone knew Cloris so much better than Hades, or maybe it was easier for him to accept the bad excuse instead of the reality present before him.
Persephone grabbed Hades' chin hard in her hand and dragged his eyes up. “That’s okay, Baby. We can finish what we started, because I want you.”
The room went dark and then lit back up again, but there was a distinct chill in the air that danced goosebumps across Persephone’s shoulders. God, she missed her. She always knew she’d finally reached through that veil Cloris erected in front of herself. She looked up and Cloris was not the same woman she was when she entered. Her hair fanned down her back in a sheet of light blonde, her eyes were dark, her lips painted red. Hades stumbled back at the sight of her, but Cloris did exactly what Persephone knew she would. She approached Hades, sunk to her knees, clutched his face, and dragged him into her.
Persephone felt a moment of pride mingled with a tinge of sadness she didn’t get to witness Hades spread out before her. She could see through them their hearts beating hard. She’d done a good thing with these two. She turned to grab her dress, but the room went dark again.
Persephone froze.
Twelve
Cloris
“You will not leave.”
The lights flickered back on and Persephone glanced at Hades before meeting Cloris’s questioning stare. “I’ll stay if you both want me to.”
