16 comments/ 89102 views/ 176 favorites The Eighth House By: DeathAndTaxes Author's Note: After lurking for years I finally got around to my first submission. :) A hearty thanks to my editor for all of the insights and suggestions. This story is complete, to be released in three chapters. It's in BDSM since submission and an unbalanced power dynamic is the connecting theme among the sex scenes, but be warned that this first chapter is pretty light on sex. It's meant to create a tense buildup between the main two characters. There is some appetizer action in the opening scene between some nameless "extras," so I hope that holds you over until chapter two, where I promise you, we will get down to the dirty stuff. ;) For fans of Greek mythology, there's a good deal of accuracy here, but artistic liberties have been taken that do veer a bit from the established myths. Hope you enjoy! The Eighth House Ch. 02 Author's Note: Thanks for everyone's lovely and helpful comments on chapter one of this story. That anyone took the time to tell me what they thought really made my day. Thank you again to my editor for helping me polish this piece. For my mythology nerd friends: the Elaionapothos is a thing I completely invented for this story, so if you don't remember hearing about it outside of this story, that's why. As promised, the bulk of the sex scenes are in this chapter, but if you're at all concerned with plot, and you haven't read chapter one, you might want to get it out of the way first. Squick/Trigger Warnings: This chapter contains scenes with moderate pain/impact play, restraint, and ass play. If those things are not your cup of tea, then don't say you weren't warned. Enjoy. :) The Eighth House Ch. 02 He was driving her to distraction. They came to a stop at the end of a wide, high ceilinged corridor, in what felt to her must be one of the older parts of the palace. A set of tall doors, made of a dark burnished metal that she could not identify, guarded whatever rooms lay beyond. A symbol she knew from before her descent into the earth, one that she'd seen carved into tombs, was inlaid in milky quartz across the double doors. Hades' sigil. She smiled to herself as, shaking her head, she noted the obvious parallel of him making his mark on an entrance of hers as well. After all his displays of bending the earth to his will, it seemed rather pedestrian when Hades took hold of one of the sturdy handles and opened the door for her like a normal person. At his gesture for her to go first, she stepped through the archway. The chamber she found herself in was one befitting the ruler of the Underworld. Like her other room, a sourceless light chased away the shadows in every direction. She was standing in what had once been an active, natural limestone cave. There was no sign of moisture or sounds of dripping now, but above her a forest of stalactites bristled from the curved ceiling. Around the perimeter of the space there were still a number of impressive stalagmites rising from the ground, but the rest of the spacious floor had been cleared of formations and polished to a low sheen. The center of what had to be Hades' bedroom was dominated by a circular platform that defied comprehension. It rose almost hip-high from the floor and was, she judged, wider than either of them were tall. Its size and shape suggested a bed, but its surface... She did not understand what she was seeing. A glossy black lake of what looked like oil made up the entirety of the platform. There was no vessel containing it: it appeared to simply hold its shape of its own accord. There were other pieces of furniture in the room: a low table, a pair of heavy walnut chairs, a basin and pitcher much like the one she'd left in the first room she'd occupied. A wide, unlit fireplace carved into the wall dominated one side of the chamber. None of these held her attention, though, like the curiosity at the center of the room. "What am I looking at?" she asked as he closed the door behind them, its latch clicking in place. "That," he said, "is possibly the initial cause of your being here, my dear." "But what is it?" "It is the Elaionapothos." She sorted the word out in her head. "The oil...oil of desire?" she puzzled out as he came to stand beside her, drawing an arm around her waist. So confusing this infamous god was: one moment forcing her to submit to his attentions, the next offering warm gestures of companionship. "What does it do?" "When it is touched by a deathless god, it forms itself into whatever that immortal most deeply desires." His voice held a note of revelation, but she still did not understand the import of what he'd told her. "What does that have to do with my being here?" "Mmm," he leaned down to bury his face in her hair for a moment, inhaling deeply. He cleared his throat and continued, "The Elaionapothos will work for any god that has the practice of it, regardless of what realm he occupies. If I were to take it above the earth, or to Olympus, where my powers are normally weakened, well...the Oil will still make itself into anything I wish. How do you imagine Zeus would react if he knew I possessed such an advantage? Do you think he would allow me to keep it for myself?" He looked down at her to see if she followed his logic. "And what of Poseidon? Or Fates forbid, that hot head Ares? If one of them were to discover it, they all would find out. They all would make plans to infiltrate my kingdom and carry it off, or barring that, try to recreate it for themselves. Until now there have only been two who were aware of its existence. Now three, with you." "Who is the other?" "Aphrodite. You see, she helped me create the Elaionapothos. I was able to draw the oil from deep below the earth, and she was able to imbue it with the properties of desire. We combined our powers into the Oil to give it the ability to read the deepest of wants. She asked in return for her part that I agree to pay her a favor at some point in the future. And that is how you have come to be here." She was surprised to find that she slumped a bit in disappointment. So. Hades had not originally intended to take a wife at all. She was here as a result of a blackmail demand: Aphrodite would reveal his secret to the other gods if he did not do as she asked. This realization still did not cool the feelings that his hand possessively at her waist was stirring in her. "Would you like to try it?" he offered, nodding to the Elaionapothos. "How do I...make it work?" she stepped with caution toward the edge of the platform, stopping short of bumping into it with her knees to keep her new chiton clear of the black oil. Persephone had been secretly pleased at the way his eyes drank her in when he'd come to retrieve her earlier. The deep red of the fine linen clung to her curves in contrast with her fair skin, and the appreciative glances he stole as they'd walked down the halls had restored some of her pride. "You just touch it." She wrinkled her nose at him and he laughed, seeing the source of her hesitation. "It's not like that, Persephone," he explained with a smile, "the Elaionapothos isn't really an oil, not anymore, after what Aphrodite and I did to it. It won't stain you." He came to stand part way behind her and, leaning down, demonstrated by touching the glossy surface. To her surprise, his fingers met with a flexible resistance. It looked like a slick, dark skin being pressed down under his hand. "You see? It doesn't even feel oily," he rubbed his fingers together to show her. "Try it." At his assurance she moved forward so that her shins came against the side of the platform. She reached down to test the surface of it with her fingertips, and found it to be firm yet pliant, as he had shown her. It was dry as well, and unexpectedly warm. A thought occurred to her. "Why do you have this in your bedroom?" "I sleep on it," he drew his knee up beside her, resting it on the edge of the sleek platform, "I'm sure you can imagine how a substance that conforms to your desires might make an excellent bed. But more important, the location of this room is only known to me. And now you, of course. It would be very difficult for someone to stumble upon my secret by accident." Hades was very close behind her now, the left half of his body overlapping hers, her right leg pressed between him and the edge of his improbable bed. He leaned forward now, bending at the waist and supporting himself with his right hand on the dark surface before them. Caught in front of him this way, she had no option but to lean forward herself, her hand beside his, bracing her weight on the bed. Without warning, he snatched her supporting wrist from under her and she collapsed face first onto the platform, its surface molding to accommodate her form. Hades fell partially on top of her, pinning her felled arm beneath the both of them. He seized her other wrist and plunged her free hand into the Elaionapothos. Persephone did not feel any change in the texture of it, but her hand was now fully embedded, arm out at a right angle to her body with her elbow slightly bent. She panicked and tried to yank herself free, but Hades slid his palm down her arm in a soothing caress. "Shhh, Persephone," his voice was velvet and close to her ear. "Play this game with me, little flower." His hand stroked along her arm and down the side of her body, stopping to press her to him at the hip. His promises came soft and wicked, stilling her struggles. "There won't be anything worse than last night, which I rather think you enjoyed." Her heart hammered in her chest as his roving hand slid over her rump and down the back of her thigh to catch her up behind the knee. Pinned this way, Persephone didn't have the leverage to stop him, and he hoisted her leg up onto the bed, sinking her bent knee beneath the Elaionapothos like her trapped hand. She tried again to pull herself out, but the Oil of Desire did not release her. Hades chuckled at her failure, "Oh, no, love. I have far more experience with the Elaionapothos -- it will respond to my desires before yours. I don't think you'll find my wishes so terrible." His mouth moved to her shoulder blade and he kissed his way toward her neck. With her left knee crooked up onto the platform she became aware of how exposed she was, despite the covering fabric of her dress. A slow wave of heat had begun lapping at her, as her secrets were made available to him. There was a tugging of cloth at her neck and she realized he was pulling the closure away from her chiton. Gods, he will not stop at just petting my shoulder today. The tension in the fabric went slack and she froze, as though that would prolong the inevitable. "Let me see you," he peeled her garment away from her back and, because the chiton opened to that side, gathered the material completely away from her. Her back and bottom were bare to him now as well as, she realized, her throbbing sex. The cool air of the room only served as a contrast to the heat emanating from her. He slid his palm over her naked flesh now, stopping to squeeze first the side of her breast, and then a handful of ripe buttock. After her first look at the scaled appearance of his charcoal dipped hands, she had been pleasantly surprised to find that, aside from the libidinous feelings their touch inspired, they felt utterly normal and not like a serpent at all, as she'd feared. At the moment they were burning a path across her body. She tried to calm herself. Hades' body parted from hers for a moment and the rustle of fabric came again from behind her. She barely had a moment to register what she heard before the weight of him pressed her once more to the bed. This time there was no barrier between them: his nude body was molded hotly against hers. She took in all at once the feeling of his muscular chest on her back, his heavy thigh draped over her hip, the intense heat of his erection wedged in the cleft of her bottom. "Please," Persephone rasped, not certain now whether she was begging for him to stop or to end his hesitation. He growled at her plea and began to grind himself against her. "Where did we leave off last night, hmm?" Hades snaked a hand now over the curve of her backside until his fingertips brushed against the treasure he sought. A sound of desire broke from her lips at his touch and he accepted this invitation to pleasure her. His fingers were everywhere, kneading, pinching, sliding. She angled her hips to give him more access and heard in response a low rumble of lust in his throat. He curved two of his slick fingers and slid them inside and her panting became shallow. After a sweet moment of pressure, though, he pulled back out and switched his focus to the little button he knew would make her lose control. He was right. Persephone gasped now at his strokes and arched upwards for him. But he was not ready to settle his fingers to one activity. He dipped them back into her and worked at her pleasure from inside for a brief moment, then withdrew again to tease another moan from her lips. Back and forth he went, plunging in quickly and then pulling out to massage her into a frenzy, alternating his means of building her climax. Dip, dip, flick, pinch, dip, probe, tease, flick. On and on he went, laughing with enjoyment at the sounds he was drawing out of her. The intervals between the throbs at her core decreased, the pulsing coming more and more rapid until time stopped and she realized there was no space between them at all. Persephone felt that blinding white light overtake her as she surged her completion around Hades' fingers. He held them there until her convulsing subsided. Out of breath, her body relaxed on his bed. "So beautiful when you come," he smoothed her hair away from her face and kissed her damp neck. His words sounded almost proud. "Let's see what we can make together then, shall we?" She had no time to recover. The hand he'd used to please her was now coating his manhood in her wetness. Persephone let out a cry of realization as he pressed the tip against the opening his fingers had just abandoned. "Hades!" "Yes, my pretty wife?" he pushed the words past clenched teeth and slid all the way into her with a groan. The Lord of the Dead, the god who would be her husband filled her completely, grinding his pelvis into her bottom. She stretched around him in acceptance, reservations scattered to the wind. "Please! I -- oh!" Her thoughts disintegrated as he began a slow rolling against her, pumping deep and insistent into her receptive body. Everywhere they touched was fire; his hips fitted into the curves of her upturned rump, his belly against the small of her back, chest on her shoulders, lips to her cheekbone. The restraint of the clinging Elaionapothos at her hand and knee twisted her arousal up into a tight knot of intensity she'd never known. They moved and worked together now, Persephone arching her back trying to take in as much of him as she could fit, his thrusts growing rougher and more erratic. He reached around her hip and searched between her legs until he found what he was looking for, just above where they were wetly coupled together. His fingers went to work as before and she felt her pleasure building again. "Hades, please! Please let me come!" He responded to her cries with a growl and pushed himself deep, impaling her on his cock. Something burst inside her. Her eyes flew open and she came around him with a wail. "Persephone!" she felt him flex and pulse within her and, with her name on his lips, she knew he'd reached the threshold with her. He held himself tightly inside her, straining against the last of his orgasm. She didn't know when it had come to her, but she knew for certain now that no mortal lover had ever made her feel like this. All at once she felt helpless and powerful. And like a true goddess. Hades, the Unseen One, God beneath the earth, had done this to her. He and he only. After catching his breath he rolled off of her, his withdrawal leaving her suddenly vacant. He pulled her hand free of the Elaionapothos, the substance releasing her now at his will. He did the same for her bent knee and she rolled to face him where he lay back on his bed. His eyes were heavily lidded and he looked up at her through a haze of euphoria. Surprising herself, she snuggled in next to him, propping her upper body up on one elbow. She looked down at him, stroking her fingertips over his damp chest, as though they had long been familiar lovers. The fabric of their clothing lay tangled beneath them. He raised himself on his elbow to lean forward and meet her lips in a leisurely kiss, which she returned, their tongues moving against each other sated and lazy. He fell back again, tired from his exertions, and she laid her cheek against the side of his chest and listened to his heartbeat slow down. Hades' hand absently stroked her hair and they lay together like this for a time. Persephone had expected much worse when she'd agreed to submit to Hades, but so far, even if some of his approaches were...startling, she found herself enjoying his attentions very much. Mortal men had such short lifetimes in which to become skilled at pleasuring a woman. This dark god she found herself entwined with now had had ages, as his novel approach to seduction showed. Demeter would be horrified to see her like this, she laughed to herself. Hades stirred beneath her and she moved to let him rise. He dragged his rumpled chiton out from under them and, after feeling around to find its fibulae, began to dress himself again. She remained naked, laying propped up on her elbow, watching him smooth his hair and clothing back into place. "Had your fill of me already?" she teased. He met her eyes with a mischievous expression, standing now at the edge of the platform. "The Underworld is a demanding realm, little flower," she was beginning to like his pet names for her. "I am needed elsewhere for a time." He leaned down, supporting himself on his arms above her to steal another kiss. "You should take your rest, Persephone," he advised with a smile, "I'll be back soon enough, and we can play again. I have some lovely ideas for us." She knew now that 'lovely' from him might mean any lecherous thing at all. She couldn't wait to find out. The Eighth House Ch. 02 Demeter had passed through its gilded entrance after a long, strenuous trek that had pushed her to the edge of her abilities, and was now making her way inward toward the throne room. She was exhausted, but still her pace quickened as she drew closer to her goal. The halls of the palace were a blazing excess of immortal ostentation: nearly every surface was wrought from gold and teeming with precious stones. Columns, friezes, pediments; all boasted adornments of every conceivable metal and mineral chosen from the finest riches of the earth. Demeter suspected that most of the opulence had been donated by the reclusive Hades, a bribe to keep Helios out of the Underworld. Why anyone would need extra incentive to avoid the foreboding Lord of the Dead, she did not know. She did not have to search for long; an intense beam of light shone from a pair of immense gilded doors, removing any doubt as to where she would find Helios. Only the presence of the Titan she sought could produce such illumination. Demeter passed through the open doors and squinted into the nearly blinding light, her forearm to her eyes in an attempt to make out anything at all. She thought she saw a seated form some distance in front of her, but she couldn't be sure if her impaired vision played tricks on her. "Turn around Demeter, this audience will be much easier that way," a deep, clear voice boomed at her good-naturedly from where she thought she'd seen the sitting figure. The goddess turned as the voice suggested and she found herself facing an immense, bare wall of polished black stone some dozen paces off. She also discovered that she could see now. The wall of the chamber that surrounded the door she'd just come through must have been the only dark thing in the entire palace. Its surface was polished to a mirror finish, and behind her she could now see Helios lounging regally on his throne. "It's just about the only way I can greet a guest, Demeter," the Titan's easy laugh echoed around the room. It was still difficult for her to look directly at Helios himself, but at least now, using the dimmed reflection in the black stone, she was able to keep her eyes open without being blinded. "Forgive this intrusion during your hours of rest, All Seeing One -- I have journeyed far seeking answers that only you may able to give to me." "Peace, Goddess, there is nothing to forgive," he brushed away her apology. Despite his lavish home, Helios paid no mind to formalities. "I saw your travels today -- I knew you would be at my home this night." "Of course," she tilted her head respectfully at his reflection. She sought his knowledge precisely because he saw all things; of course he had seen her approach that day. Helios leaned back in his throne, crossing one luminous ankle over the other knee. The gilded seat he relaxed on was surely the gaudiest thing Demeter had ever laid eyes on, an amalgamation of gold and gems so layered and ornate one could hardly recognize it as a chair anymore. The real treasures of the earth, she thought to herself, were sheaves of grain and fat cattle, not jewels and other shiny bits of rock. But she did not say as much to the Titan behind her, not when she came asking favors. "What knowledge do you seek, Demeter? Ask and we shall see what I know," he offered, ever as warm and generous as the light he cast each day on Earth. "Thank you, Helios. My daughter Persephone has gone missing. Do you know where she is?" Demeter tried not to make her question sound too much like a demand. Her worries set her on edge. "How long ago was this?" "I believe you have crossed the skies six times now since she disappeared. I sent her to Nysa for a day of leisure and she never returned. Artemis and Athena were with her and claim ignorance of her whereabouts, but I do not trust their words." "Six days...Nysa..." Helios tapped his thumb against his lips as he searched his memory. "Ah yes! Nysa!" he shook his pointed finger at the ceiling in a gesture of success. "Please don't think I took a moment to remember because your daughter is unimportant, Demeter. I see such a great many things each day; it becomes hard to sift through them all." "So you know where she is?" the goddess clasped her hands together in hopeful impatience. Why would he not come to the point? "Yes, my apologies. You say Artemis and Athena claim to have seen nothing?" he asked in curious tones. "They tell me they saw a chasm in the earth open up and then close itself again only moments later, and it was after this they noticed Persephone missing. Please, Helios, tell me what you know." "The Hunter and the Warrior did not lead you false, Demeter. The tearing of the Earth they described is precisely what happened. What they did not see, but I did, is that your Persephone stood at the edge of the rift and tumbled into the gap during the tremor." Demeter nearly choked on her shock, her mouth coming open and, for a moment, issuing no sound at all. When she found her voice it broke at a wail. "So she's gone? My daughter is gone?" Her hands came to her face as if to block out the awful idea. "No, Demeter! She's not gone at all," Helios rose from his throne now and took a step toward the panicked goddess, a hand raised toward her in reassurance. "From my chariot above I saw her to the end of her fall. Lord Hades was there to catch her as she dropped through the earth into his kingdom. She appeared perfectly unharmed the last I saw of her." Demeter had thought that her horror had reached its peak, but what Helios had just revealed caused it to soar much higher. "Hades?" she burst out in angry incredulity, "Hades has her? For what purpose could that stone of a god possibly want my --" her own gasp cut her off, and her fingers flew to her mouth in realization. "I think you may wish to have a conversation with Zeus about this," the sun god said, taking his seat again now that he saw that his assurance had been much less well received than he'd initially hoped. "What does Zeus have to do with this?" her exasperation bordered on fury. Helios sighed knowing now that he would only upset her more when he continued. "Just over a week before Persephone's fall, Lord Zeus spoke with Aphrodite about Hades taking a wife," he spread his luminous hands in a shrug of apology. "A wife? And Aphrodite is involved as well? Am I the only one who didn't know of this? Why did no one speak to me?" Demeter's voice climbed octaves with incredulity. "And if they had spoken to you, would you have allowed such a marriage?" "No!" the goddess was indignant. "Demeter," he reasoned, trying to find a way to placate her, "What could be so bad about a marriage between Persephone and Hades? He is a just god, and one of the original three to receive a portion of the Earth after the war, second only to Zeus in power. As a husband he has much to offer your daughter: dominion in two realms instead of one, all of the riches under the Earth," he gestured wide with his hand at the gold and precious stones covering nearly every surface in the room, "Surely you can see that this isn't so terrible." Demeter's fists were balled at her sides now, in no way mollified by the titan's words. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes and her voice came heated with grief, "I tried to protect her from Hermes and Apollo, and what they would have done to my only daughter. And now you tell me that Hades has taken her instead? The mortals won't even speak his name, Helios! He is a monster!" "Then here we are," Helios sighed and ran his fingers through his golden locks in tired resignation when saw that there would be no convincing her. "As I said, you should speak to Zeus. I have told you what I know." Demeter stared for an intense moment longer at Helios's reflection in the black stone wall. His eyes were a pure blaze of light and hers a mess of scalding tears. Without another word, the goddess marched from the blinding throne room and passed out of the Sun God's palace into the night. Those presumptuous immortals would pay for this, she promised herself. Every last one of them. The Eighth House Ch. 02 The Eighth House Ch. 02 Demeter came at last to the lofty chamber and there found Zeus seated at his throne, gripped in an intense conversation with Hermes who stood by his side. The three of them were the only immortals present in the room, and the two gods broke off their exchange mid-sentence when Demeter entered. Zeus was larger than life, as usual, a bold orange chiton draped around his knees and a gilded crown of oak leaves rested atop the curls of his hair. His broad shoulders and muscled calves were a superfluous reminder of his might as he lounged against the grandeur of his throne. Seven steps, each in a different type of stone, rose to the platform where he had placed his seat above all those of the other gods. The golden likeness of an eagle, one of his favored animals and a gift from Hephaestus, sprouted from the right arm of the throne, an array of lightning bolts crafted from tin clutched in its talons; a symbol of the power wielded by the king of the gods. "Lord of Thunder," she twisted his name into an insult as she approached the throne at an unhurried, steady pace. It was important for her to maintain the appearance of calm control if her plan was to work. "Goddess of the Fruitful Earth," he retorted, alluding to her vindictive actions against the mortals. "You know why I've called you here. What is it you imagine you're doing, Demeter?" "Well," she strolled now to one side of the hall as she spoke, "things have been taken from me of late. It is only right that I should take back. Did you think I would not find out about Persephone?" Demeter leaned her shoulder against one of the columns. "Our daughter is not a 'thing' to be taken from you. She's a goddess in her own right; you cannot keep her from a marriage," Zeus sat back, his hands resting on the cool marble arms of his throne. "And you can sell her into one?" she pushed away from the stone supporting her and advanced on him, coming to the foot of the steps that rose to where he sat. Hermes shifted his weight from one leg to another, unusually quiet and uncomfortable with the growing heat of their exchange. "I sold no one, Demeter," the god of the skies continued, "I merely approved the suggestion of a marriage. All I might receive in turn is the possibility of a happy brother." "Ugh! Your brother! I can't imagine. You need to have her plucked from that pit of his and brought back to me, Zeus, and without delay!" she pointed a demanding finger at him now, rapidly losing her veneer of calm. "Demeter," he said her name in quiet, patient tones, "She's been with him for a week now. Do you truly believe they haven't consummated their union yet? The fact that he hasn't put her out of his realm entirely by now should tell you that they've --" "Filth!" she burst out, "I won't hear it! I refuse to even imagine what horrors that...that beast of a brother of yours has forced her to submit to down there." Her arms were across her chest now in firm denial. "He's your brother, too, Demeter," he reminded her in a flat voice. They faced off in silence for long moments, anger flashing back and forth between their locked eyes. Hermes attempted to look everywhere but at the two of them, suddenly very interested in a bit of dirt under his fingernail. Zeus was tired now. He ran a knuckle over one of his silvery brows, closing his blue eyes in fatigue "Do you know how long it will take between my rain and Helios's light before we can return the land to its bounty? Months, Demeter. It will be months at least." "It will be far longer than that, Gatherer of Clouds. Do you think I will allow the earth to be restored while my daughter is prisoner beneath it?" the heat blazed in her words. "Nothing will grow! The land will not yield a single kernel of nourishment while Persephone is denied to me, I promise you now! You think I will stop at a day's worth of famine? The losses of today will seem like the buzzing of a gnat compared to the swarm of deprivation I will bring! The children of men will crumble to the Earth until there is not one beating heart left to worship at your altars." "Demeter, be reasonable," he tried to assuage her fury, "What's done is done. I cannot take Hades' bride from him, it --" "You WILL!" she shouted, her voice echoing throughout the hall, "You will return her, Zeus, or I will undo us all, myself included!" The Lord of the Skies sighed and leaned to press his fingers against his lips, his elbow resting on the arm of the throne. He shook his head in resignation and tilted his eyes toward the waiting god at his side. "Hermes." "Yes, Lord?" the Messenger snapped to attention, eager to see an end to the contentious meeting. "You know your way into my brother's kingdom. Go and explain to him," he directed his gaze back to Demeter, his words pointed, "that although he has been promised an immortal wife, and has no doubt already grown fond of her, that now he must give her up again to her worrying mother." Zeus wound up his instructions with a note of disgust. "I'll leave tonight," Hermes bobbed a quick nod and, turning on his winged heel, all but fled from the room. He was never one to stay long for any manner of serious or unpleasant conversation. "Are you happy now?" Zeus asked once the two of them were alone. "I will be," she warned, "Once Persephone is returned." The Eighth House Ch. 03 Author's Note: Welcome to the final installment of The Eighth House. This chapter is not as sex-laden as chapter two, but there are still a couple scenes in there for your reading pleasure. :) Squick Warning: not much really, some light restraint play, and this is the BDSM section so... Thank you to everyone who read this story: your wonderful comments have made this, my first story on Lit, a very positive experience. A huge Thank You to my editor, LaRascasse on guiding a n00b like me through the process, and for taking a leap of faith on working with a new author. If you like my style there's more where it came from – I've got a couple new stories brewing as we speak, though not centered around mythology. Hope to see you back in a month or two when the new material starts going up! The Eighth House Ch. 03 "Persephone I'm not doing this." "What?" "It's the Oil. It's responding to you, not me," he reasoned out. A thought came to him then that started a tension coiling low in his belly. "Little flower...you want this, don't you?" Something like lightning arced from her eyes to his and back again. Her pupils dilated as the import of his words rolled across her like a distant thunder. Slowly, deliberately, the daughter of Olympus he had pinned beneath him fanned her arms out to the sides and over her head on the responsive surface beneath her. Her fingertips met above the pool of her hair. His lovely Persephone's throat moved as she swallowed, never taking her eyes off of him, and he watched the Elaionapothos close over her delicate fingers, pinning them above her. He had given her free will and she had chosen to make herself his captive. "You're right," she said, appearing to understand something about herself for the first time. "I do want this. Take what you want, Hades. I belong to you now." For a time after that, all of creation spun away from the two of them and they were all that moved and breathed in the cosmos. The god of endings and the goddess of beginnings made themselves one. Hades taking, Persephone giving, they claimed each other in a maelstrom of passion, their union set by the Fates. The Eighth House Ch. 03 The youthful god of swiftness did not wait for her to respond, but launched again into his speculations, "Persephone!" his eyes were wide, "you were down there for over a week and Hades means to take you as a bride? Did he... I mean, did the two of you...?" "I don't see how that concerns you, Messenger," she bit off, still looking directly ahead. Hermes gasped in scandalized delight, "You did! Oh how awful for you! Is his touch as cold as he looks? Did he have to truss you up so you wouldn't run away?" Her face burned as she answered his rude questions in her head. He did truss me up a bit, didn't he? But she had not wanted to run away... Seeing the immediate coloring of her cheeks at his insinuations, Hermes all but cavorted under the late morning sun. "Persephone, you liked it, didn't you? Fates, wait until your mother sees the state you're in!" He untangled his pipes from his belt and brought them to his lips, playing out a mischievous series of notes. Fists clenched at her sides now while she trudged on, she shot him a warning glare, "Enough, Hermes! Leave off and take me to Olympus as my father bade you. Wag your tongue for someone who cares to hear it – it isn't me." She couldn't imagine what she'd ever found attractive about this frivolous, shallow immortal. Of a sudden, he moved to stand in her path, stopping her dead in her steps. She looked at him in exasperation and an impish grin curled his lips. He brought a hand to grip her shoulder and traced a licentious thumb over her collar bone, his eyes traveling her flesh anew. "You are maiden no longer, daughter of Zeus," he sneered, "Perhaps you'd care to sample a lover a bit less...grave?" Hermes smirked at his own word play. "Did you hear nothing in that throne room, Trickster?" she jerked away from him, stepping back a pace. "I am bound to Lord Hades as surely as Hera is bound to my father. I've no room for your foolishness!" Hermes advanced upon her again, "And yet Zeus has tasted many sweets outside of his marriage bed, your own mother being one of them. You're not in his kingdom anymore, Persephone. Hades wouldn't have to know..." Yes. She was not in the Underworld now. She was back in her realm, where leaves fluttered and trees took deep root. Her power flooded through her in a twisting rush and the soil burst at Hermes' feet. Dark, moist roots as thick as an arm coiled around the winged feet of the god before her. The ropes of the earth surged up over his calves and thighs, finally halting their ravenous growth at his waist. He was trapped where he stood now and the mocking expression had left his face. It was clear that the flighty god gave no thought to the consequences of the deeds he suggested. Did he think Demeter wouldn't find out? Or that she would change her mind about his pursuit of her after ages of prohibition? Persephone crossed her arms over her chest and assessed her work. With a sharp nod she addressed him, "I am going to Olympus now, God of Thieves. You can go with me if you decide to remain silent and not irritate me for the rest of the journey. Or you can explain to my mother why it is that you're still rooted here in this field once someone has come to find you. Which will it be?" Hermes spread his hands wide, claiming innocence, "I was only looking for a bit of fun, Goddess. I see how the wind blows now. Let me free and we'll be on our way." His insolent smile made her want to slap him. She cast her will over the imprisoning roots and they retreated back into the earth. Eyeing her escort with a final look of disgust, she marched past him and on in the direction of Olympus where her mother was waiting. The nimble god skipped after her, trilling away on his infernal pipes. The Eighth House Ch. 03 A warm huff of air brought Hades out of his spiral of despair as Kerberos padded up next to him on the darkening beach. The Guardian snorted a greeting, bumping at Hades' shoulder with his nearest head. Will you be able to maintain yourself, Lord? If your mate does not rejoin you today? It was the first time he could remember the sulky beast ever having used any sort of honorific with him. His anxiety must be very plain for Kerberos to take any pains to be polite. "I sincerely hope so, old friend," Hades decided that he could return the respect. Our kingdom needs your leadership, Polydegmon. You have been all but lost to us these last weeks. It will not do for you to go mad with grief. "I know, Guardian, I know," he did not need the reminders, neither about the sorrow that awaited him should she reject him, nor the disruption it would cause to his realm should be become unfit to rule. There are those who would look to an opening for power, Hades, it - "Kerberos," he stilled the great hound with a hand to the dog's massive shoulder. A dark shape was forming out where the river disappeared into the mist. It coalesced and grew larger at an excruciatingly slow pace. Hades thought he could make out the light of a lantern. He shifted his weight in impatience. The nebulous shape became a boat as it approached, and he could make out figures moving on its deck. It was still too far out to put name to any of them. Charon poled his ferry at a tortuous crawl toward the dock. Aside from the boatman, Hades could pick out three individuals when the ancient craft finally bumped against the moorings. None of them was Persephone. Snatching his bident out of the sandy soil, Hades strode toward the dock. As he covered the ground between himself and the ferry, he watched three immortals disembark whom he'd expected even less than the one he'd hoped for. Aphrodite, Demeter, and Zeus. Hades stopped in mid-stride, thrown out of his haste by the shock of their presence. The Goddess of Love, who'd started him down this mad path. The Lady of the Earth who complicated his affairs beyond reason. And his brother. He could not remember when Zeus had last been seen on this side of the Styx. The appearance of the other Olympians did not stun him for long, however, and he advanced again on the boat. "Have you come to mock me, brother?" he called out, moving toward them. "If this is your idea of a final insult, I think -" His ire was cut short when the three deathless gods parted. Hades nearly stumbled and fell. Persephone stepped up out of the ferry and Charon gave her his gnarled hand to help her to the dock. Hades had seen her garbed only three ways: in her torn grey chiton the day she fell, in the red one he'd given her, and in her bare skin. Today she came back to him in an intricately draped peplos of bridal white and purple. Her dark hair was piled atop her head in an ornate mass of braids and golden chains. A whisper of a veil in the traditional yellow brushed over the lower half of her face. This was a goddess who had made her decision very clear to all who were present. She took a step toward him and he flung his bident carelessly to the ground in his rush to go to her. Vaulting up onto the dock, Hades seized his Persephone in a fierce embrace. He crushed her to him with a mad fear that if he ever let go she would be taken again. "Hades..." she whispered into his ear in a sigh of relief. To hear her say his name again... He held her and held her with his face buried in her neck until a throat was cleared behind him and he partially regained his senses. The Lord of the Dead did not entirely release his goddess, but managed to turn and face the other three. Zeus and Aphrodite beamed with wide smiles at the happy reunion. Demeter's face was grim. "Did I not tell you?" Aphrodite teased him good-naturedly. Unlike their last meeting, Hades felt himself smiling back. His hands tightened at Persephone's waist. His brother said nothing, but nodded at him with a knowing twinkle in his eye. He would need to thank the Lord of Lightnings for his part in this. Hades turned back to Persephone who was trying now to untangle herself from him. Her mother looked on, still and silent, arms crossed over her chest, displaying her disapproval. He reluctantly withdrew his arms and watched her take a formal step backward, her shoulders drawing up in prelude to something more serious. Apprehension clawed at him. Persephone drew her hand from where it had been crushed among the many pleats of her gown and stunned him once again with what she held for everyone to see. A pomegranate. "Persephone," he began in shock, raising his hand to the fruit. "Where did you get that? It can't be the same one I..." "It is the same. My abilities are not so useless above the earth, my lord. I stole it away when Hermes came for me. I've been preserving it." A shy smile of pride tilted her lovely lips. "Daughter, you lied to me? You didn't eat it?" Demeter's voice broke out shrill and furious behind them. "Shh, Demeter," Zeus placed a silencing hand on the angry goddess's shoulder. Persephone's mother sputtered in rage, but held her tongue. The little flower he'd waited for these endless weeks yanked her veil away with her free hand, letting it flutter to the ground. With a vicious stabbing of her thumbs she split the pomegranate open, revealing the scarlet pulpy mass of seeds inside. She dipped her fingers into the heart of the fruit and scooped up a handful of dripping seeds. Now she spoke, loud and certain. "I, Persephone, daughter of Zeus, Lord of the Skies, and Demeter, Lady of the Earth, do bind myself as wife to you, Hades, Lord of the Underworld, in the holy rite of marriage, in the presence of these immortals who bear witness. May our love endure as long as creation." She brought her fingers up in one swift motion and took the tart handful of seeds into her mouth, swallowing them in a single clean move. His goddess had chosen him a second time of her own accord. Hades could not speak the responding words of the vow fast enough. He caught her up in a bruising kiss the moment the last syllable of his promise left his mouth. The immortals behind him faded to obscurity in the light of his joy. When they parted, however, Persephone's face was set with heavy determination. "There is something you must know, husband," he thrilled to hear her call him that, even as she gravely labored at her point, "I have not made my choice lightly. I have decided that to be able to share my love with you and not abandon my duties on the Earth, I will be dividing my time equally between our two realms. I will remain with you here until the next Day of Balance, and then I will return to the world above." Hades swallowed, gripping her arms in fear of what this might mean for them. "Every equinox I will travel, half the year to be spent above and half below. Please understand, Hades, this was the compromise I had to make with myself, to allow me to come to you today." Her green eyes searched his face for acceptance of her bargain. Hades was still kissing his bride when the other three gods silently boarded the ferry to journey back across the Styx. The Eighth House "I see quite clearly," he bit off the words to his capitulation. "Splendid. You have a week to prepare. Always a pleasure, I'm sure, my Lord Hades," she smirked, turning from him to glide across the room. As she reached the open doorway, she looked back over her shoulder and reminded him again of their agreement. "Seven days. You know where you must wait. I will make good on my part of the plan; see that you do as well." With that she swished out of the room, her entourage flowing after without a backward glance for the Lord of the Dead. Risks were not Hades' way, and now he planned to take one of the greatest of his life. What had he gotten himself into? The Eighth House Her last memory came rushing back to her: the fields of Nysa, the earth splitting, her terrible fall, and then... And then she woke here. An immortal hand had to be at work in this. There was no other explanation. Who was behind this? Why had they brought her to this...this place? Her indignant fury began to rise with her need for answers when in an instant the mysterious light in the room was extinguished, plunging her into utter darkness. The Eighth House "Hermes tried to court you," he continued, "and your mother wouldn't allow it so she hid you away. But since you've been denied to him, our fleet-footed friend has been pining for you ever since. You'll have to give him credit for that, the boy normally has the attention span of a gnat. Well you can imagine Aphrodite was none too pleased with her lover's wandering eyes. This is where she asked me to...remove you from the equation. The thing of it is, if Demeter hadn't bothered to make an unobtainable prize out of you, Hermes' favor would have wandered back to Aphrodite by now. Your mother thought to save you from the gods of Olympus, but delivered you to the most hated of us instead. Poetic, don't you think?" "If the idea wasn't yours, how did Aphrodite convince you to do this, then?" She didn't take him for a person who could be led about by the nose. "Yes. Well. I owed her a favor," he admitted, smoothing a hand over the top of his head. She noticed that like his oddly colored arms, the long curtain of his hair grew silver from the roots, but was inky black by the time it reached its end. She wanted to put her fingers through it. Stop it! Gods! The rational part of her forced the thought down. The dangerous, unpredictable part of her, however, the part that sent her in heat down to the cities of men, that part had begun walking a curious circle. Like a lion when it has just noticed a wounded antelope. What would he be like? her secret self wanted to know. No! Enough! "And how did you come to be in her debt?" she ground out, trying to stay the course of her questions. Hades gave a low chuckle, his eyes on something distant. "I think that will be a story for another day, my dear." He focused again and stepped toward her. "Why would my father allow this?" she swallowed as he drew near. "My mother will be a tempest when she finds out." "There was no reason for him not to allow it," Hades replied, now standing directly in front of her. He separated a sable lock from the bulk of her hair and examined its texture between his thumb and forefinger. "Zeus knows me better than most of the immortals do. He sees that I would not be an unfitting husband, despite the exaggerations that are spread about me. It isn't really Demeter's choice. You've long been of age. She cannot keep you sequestered against your will indefinitely." She stood very stiff and still as his steps took him slowly around her. "What is it you expect me to do?" she forced out the question that had been looming since he arrived. Hades completed his circuit and locked his gaze with hers once more. His eyes were black as the night of a new moon. Infinity spun away into their depths, and she saw possibilities there both sublime and terrible. "I expect you to obey, Persephone." Her breath caught in her chest. The silence stretched out. His unblinking eyes held hers and she read volumes in them. Realities to which she did not want to give name. "And why would I do that?" "Because you wish to leave one day," his words made her very aware of her heart furiously laboring away. "You don't see me visiting Olympus much, do you?" he continued in conversational tones, closing the short distance between them. "That's because I am not a god with many things to say, at least not to the sky dwellers. I am a listener. I observe. I plan." He drew the knuckle of his first finger over her collar bone. She felt something akin to panic rising in her, but she did not want to run. "Because I observe," he went on, "I can see that once Demeter discovers your whereabouts, and the way that you've come here, she will petition your father to have the matter 'remedied.' Zeus will deny her at first, but your mother holds more power than he would like to believe. My brother is a mighty god, but he will relent, I know him." She looked down at the hand which had now reached her shoulder. His nails extended just past the tips of his fingers, dark like the skin of his hands. They reminded her of the claws of a serpent. He ran one down the side of her arm, and she felt that she was hurtling toward some sort of precipice. "You'll be sent for, Persephone. Probably that imp, Hermes, will come for you - he knows his way in and out of my realm better than any of the others. Whether I will release you to him is another matter entirely." Her eyes jumped back to meet his, wide with understanding. "That is why you will obey." His face was very close to hers now; she could feel his breath. Hades snaked his arms around her shoulders then, running his palms down her back to catch her at her waist, crushing her to his chest. Her face was angled back now to look up at him. She saw the edge of the cliff in her mind, in his eyes. Her thoughts were a rush. Gods, this is it! It's happening now, isn't it? Hades brought his mouth against hers and it was not cold, as she'd expected from the Lord of the Dead. It was fire. He spoke the words against her lips that would undo her, "Will you obey?" Without waiting for her to respond he seized her in a kiss. Liquid heat coursed through her flesh, lighting her every nerve aflame. He slid his tongue along the bottom of her upper lip and without thought, she opened to him. He growled at this and pressed his advantage, exploring, savoring. She tasted him now, his mouth warm and faintly metallic. ...a darker, more wicked partner... The thought she'd dismissed at Nysa came bubbling up to confront her. She made a small noise of recognition in her throat and, pressed close as she was, felt Hades' body respond. He sealed off the kiss with a nip of his teeth to her lower lip and pulled back to look at her, taking in the flush of her cheeks. Persephone stood reeling from the way he'd already begun to take from her without permission, his lips on hers, his hands still firmly at the small of her back. Why he wanted to hear her assent at this point was beyond her. Yet she knew if she spoke the words aloud there would be no turning back. She saw the flames of lust licking upward through the shadows of dominance that hardened his features. When he'd caught her against him her hands had come up in a gesture of defense and she noticed now that her palms were against his chest. It looked to her at once like both a posture of resistance and of submission, and she raced blindly in her mind toward the leap from one impossible height or the other. Either of the two possibilities terrified her, but where one of them stood defiant, an exercise in futility, the other beckoned with a crooked finger, whispering dark promises, if only she were to surrender. His eyes bored into her core and he demanded again, "Will you obey?" No no no no no NO NO! You can't! "Yes," she breathed, turning the key in a fateful lock, "I will."