Descent into Desire Read Online Free Page B

to trap me just the way my mother did, lock me up and keep me for yourself.”
    His hands balled into fists. “Do you really believe that?”
    She set her own drink down. “A little, yes.”
    The hurt of her words grew worse as he looked at her drink. “Then you’ve very quickly made a fool of me.”
    “What? Because I’m not in love with you? Look, I’m crazy about you, but I can’t marry you. Not now.”
    “No, because I proved you right.” He couldn’t look at her. He couldn’t bear to think of what her reaction was going to be.
    She touched his arm and shook him. “What are you talking about?”
    He looked up at her. “I said that you could leave. Now you can’t.”
    “What? That’s not fair! What did I say? Let’s talk this through.”
    “It won’t matter.”
    “Why not?”
    He stroked her hand. “The drink. You drank something made with my magic. You can’t leave.”
    “No, you can do anything you want. You can take me home.”
    “No, I can’t. You cannot leave the Underworld for a hundred days.”
    She pulled her hand away, her eyes fixed on the fire.
    “I was afraid you would leave. I made a mistake.” He expected her to scream at him, hit him or run from the room. She sat perfectly still.
    “Persephone?”
    She stood up and unbuttoned her dress. It fell to the floor. She wore nothing underneath it.
    “What are you doing?”
    Her eyes were cold as she knelt before him. “Submitting to my master.”
    He turned away. “Stop it.”
    She took his hands and rubbed them over her body. “This is what you want. You know it is. A prize to keep all to yourself.”
    He hadn’t expected this from her. She knew just how to touch his heart and make him love her. He hadn’t realized she’d also know exactly how to hurt him. He realized he had far more reason to fear her than she did to fear him.
    “Please get up,” he said as he pulled his hands away.
    “Oh no,” she said as she stood up and moved in front of him. “I need to be punished for wanting to leave.”
    “Persephone, please!” He stood up and headed for the door.
    She ran ahead of him and blocked it. “You wanted this.”
    “Not like this.”
    “You should have thought about that earlier.”
    “I know.”
    She sighed and moved away from the door. A new dress appeared on her. It was black velvet and tight, nothing like the pink lacey one she’d been wearing. “I’m not going to forgive you any time soon.”
    “I don’t expect you to. If I let you read my mind, will you believe I’m sorry?”
    She backed away. “No, I don’t want to read your mind.”
    He was puzzled. Why did the idea frighten her? “Persephone, I made a mistake, several of them, because of how much I love you.”
    “Stop saying that!” she yelled. The entire room shook, and Cerberus whined. She went to kneel by the hound and petted his back.
    “So that’s why you’re angry, why I need to apologize?”
    She stood and patted her leg so Cerberus would follow her. “I want to go to my room now.”
    “Of course.”
    She still didn’t look at him. “Please leave me alone.”
    “I promise.”
    “You promise? I think I’ll lock my door.” She left the room quickly. Cerberus looked back for a moment, but still followed her.
    Hades sighed and covered his face with his hands. A sharp blow from behind sent him sprawling onto the floor. He turned and looked up at his brother Zeus.
    The king of the gods glared at him furiously. “You tell me why you don’t deserve a good thrashing.”
    “Because you’ve made worse mistakes, done worse things, over nothing more than sex. I’m in love with her.”
    “And this is how you’ll win her? She’s stubborn, Hades, and stronger than you think. A hundred days is nothing to her. She’s endured longer captivity, as you well know. You’re going to cause nothing but heartache.”
    “When she calms down, she’ll talk to me. She’ll understand. She opens up to me. She does.”
    “You’ve lost every ounce of