Descent into Desire Read Online Free Page A

married a mortal woman. Layla had adjusted to being a goddess since Zeus had granted her immortality, but she still acted very human. He’d thought his brother would understand, but he hadn’t. Poseidon loved Layla for who she was, but he didn’t see her former mortality as part of that. Hades felt no one would ever understand mortals the way he did or get why he found them so fascinating.
    Except, maybe, for the woman glaring at him furiously.
    She tapped her foot in impatience. “Are you going to say anything else, or do I just have to stand here and wait for a decree?”
    “I’m sorry. I was just thinking.”
    “Then tell me what you’re thinking.”
    “Persephone, I want you to stay with me forever. That’s a very long time.”
    She rolled her eyes. “I think I know that.”
    He shook his head. “You don’t understand. If you marry me, you can never leave. You could go above or to the mortal world, but when the sun sets in our world, you have to be here. I’m different from other gods, as are Thanatos and Hypnos. Marrying me means eternity with me.”
    She turned away and paced a few steps, looked back at him, then went a few more steps to the right.
    “You see why it’s more significant than you thought,” he said.
    She turned to face him. “How did we get to marriage? We haven’t even had sex, and you’re talking about marriage.”
    Her logic gave him the overwhelming urge to throw something. He held back and calmly said, “Persephone, I’m going to be very honest right now, all right? I’m in love with you, but I know you don’t feel the same way. That’s why we haven’t made love. You like me. You’re having a good time. This started out as rebellious fun, but now you aren’t getting your way. You will, however, play by my rules.”
    “What if I want to go home?”
    “I granted you very special privileges. You may come and go as freely as Zeus himself.”
    She considered this for a few moments. He wondered if she was angry enough to leave. They’d argued before, and the result had been her online silence for a few days. But he knew that, if she left, she might not come back.
    “Will you have a drink with me as you consider?”
    She eventually nodded.
    He went to the small bar behind his desk. Zeus was going to be very angry when he found out, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t going to let her leave. “You like martinis, right?”
    “Yeah. Fruity ones anyway.”
    “Gin or vodka?”
    “What’s the difference?”
    He smiled. “Depends who you ask. Gin it is then.” He poured gin into two martini glasses, and then touched their rims.
    Persephone looked over his shoulder as the glasses filled with a dark red liquid. “Magic to impress me?”
    He handed her glass to her. “A pomegranate martini. I think you’ll like it, even if it doesn’t make much of an impression.”
    She looked down at it for a moment, and then moved to the couch. “Let’s talk about this then.”
    After she sat down, she took a sip. He moved to sit beside her, putting his own drink down on the table. “I hope my honesty means something. I’ve made my intentions known to Zeus.”
    “He approved of your choice? Someone like me as queen of the Underworld?”
    “Yes. Zeus and Hera love you and think highly of you, even if others do not. Others don’t know you as they do. As I do.”
    She took another sip and licked her lips. “This isn’t what I imagined. I want a boyfriend, not a husband.”
    He shifted in his seat and dared to ask, “Will you ever want one?”
    She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
    He felt his heart sinking. He knew her love could match his. He knew it. How could she be so indifferent to him when moments earlier she’d been melting in his arms and longing for his touch?
    “I see.”
    She groaned. “You know, I didn’t know who you were. You can’t blame me for not taking this as seriously as you want me to. We’ve been together one day, and you were gone most of the time. You want