Series: Willow Winters
Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 74198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
My queen has arrived.
Persephone. My heart falters for a few seconds at the sight of her silhouette, but it is more than enough. Her curves are undeniable. Her long hair blows in the breeze. Her shadow moves gracefully, and at first I’m struck by her beauty and grace. My memory did not do her justice.
My queen is home. She has returned to me. She is here.
The breeze carries the murmurings of a conversation and before I can even move, she picks up the hem of her gown and runs. Toward me. Persephone’s steps kick up ash as she goes, throwing a cloud of it into the air.
Again I’m struck by the thought that it’s a dream. My love. She runs to me. Her steps are light as she rushes down the garden path toward me. With my arms out, I erase the distance between us, craving her more and more with each beat of my heart.
Is she real? She must be.
Then the starlight catches her face, and it is my queen. She is here. The curve of her cheek begs me to brush my thumb over her soft skin.
There are a few final seconds where there is still space between us, and then Persephone is in my arms. Where she is meant to be. Her embrace is everything my shattered heart needed.
There is no hesitation in the way we come together. I throw my arms around her, and she throws her arms around me, scrambling up onto her tiptoes to loop her arms around my neck. My love. My heart races and my blood heats. My love has returned to me. I’ve never felt such relief, such a feeling of completion.
Persephone drops kisses all over my chin and neck until I put my hand on the back of her head and pull her in for a deep, fierce kiss. I’m hungry for her. Needing her love more than I need air. Her legs lift with the kiss, wrapping around my waist, and I groan into her open mouth.
My queen. She clings to me.
All I can do is taste her. I’ve been starving for her. I’ve died a thousand deaths without her. I’ve been condemned to an eternity in the dark without her, and I did not know how close I was to insanity until I could kiss her again. With every thought of losing her again plaguing me, I hold her close to me, my heart beating against hers. My grip is ever moving with my hands on her back, under her ass, around her waist. It would not matter if I let go, because Persephone has her legs wound so tight around my waist that she would not fall.
She kisses me back with equal ferocity, her body arching into mine, the heat between her legs pressing into my waist. Persephone threads her fingers into my hair and grabs it in her fists. Forcing a hint of pain that intensifies the pleasure. Fuck me. I’ve never been this hard for her. She slides her hands around my neck and tugs me closer. Her nails gently scratch as she goes. It’s heaven. She’s my heaven. She grips my shoulders, then my face, panting into my mouth.
“Is it you?” I ask, my voice hoarse with all these days apart. Nothing has ever felt worse. Nothing has ever been more torturous than having Persephone on Olympus. “Tell me it’s you, my queen. Promise me it’s you. Not some trick or spell.”
“I’m not a trick.” She breathes with a twinkle in her beautiful eyes, and then kisses me so deeply she can’t speak. She tastes like honey, and her skin carries the scent of flowers and sunlight, and this is everything she is. My queen is life and warmth and a beating heart. She pulls away for a moment, breathing deeply, her chest rising. “I’m here. I came with Hecate. She brought me back.”
“Hecate,” I repeat, my mind slow to understand anything beyond my embrace with Persephone. Slowly, I register what’s happened. Hecate did not betray me, then. “She stayed with you?”
Persephone makes a needy sound and kisses me again, seeming as if she has forgotten my question. I’ve almost forgotten it, too, by the time she tilts her chin and looks me in the eye. She settles her weight more firmly into my arms and gazes into my eyes, stroking my hair back from my face and tucking it behind my ear. “I…what did you say?”
“Hecate. Did she stay with you?” More thoughts race in my mind as I swallow thickly, imagining my queen on Olympus. I’ve only known stories of her laughter and beauty she brought to the heavens. Images of her from the dark pool of water.
“She was not my chaperone in Olympus. Surely you know the Titan was not needed there where—” She drifts and then clears her throat before looking me in the eyes once again. Persephone shakes her head. “She was there when it counted. She was there when I needed her. She brought me back, and they don’t know. We hid in the garden.”