Copyright © 2010, Susan M. Sailors

Published by Whiskey Creek Press LLC

Reviews For Olympians: Descent into Desire by Susan M. Sailors

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Persephone ran the brush through her long, blonde hair a few more times before setting it back on the dresser. She listened again, but she still couldn’t hear anything. Why was he keeping her waiting?

She sighed and walked over to the bed and sat down. She’d been a little nervous when she’d discovered her secret online admirer was actually Hades, the god of the Underworld, but that nervousness had dissipated after four hours of waiting for him to come to her bedroom. She couldn’t believe he would have whisked her away to his underground palace just to leave her sitting in her room all alone.

Ever since they started their online romance, his messages had grown steamier by the day. Then she’d told him she wanted to run away with him, still not knowing who he was, and he’d agreed. She’d expected him to tell her a time and a place, but instead his text had read: Look behind you. When he rode up on his chariot and she realized who he actually was, she’d half expected him to make love to her right there in the field. Instead he’d pulled her into the chariot and started off again without even kissing her.

She knew she had no experience with men, but she also knew he wanted her. She refused to believe he had been toying with her. He had a notorious reputation, but did it extend to cruelly breaking hearts? She didn’t think so. She also couldn’t bring herself to believe a man who had expressed so much desire and passion could stay away from the woman he loved.

Her phone vibrated. She looked down and saw a text from Hades: Are you comfortable?

Instead of replying, she dialed his number. He’d never answered before, probably knowing she would recognize his voice, but she hoped this time he would.

“ Yes, my love?” he answered.

His deep voice sent a shiver of pleasure down her body. She wanted to be angry with him, but when she heard his voice she couldn’t be.

“ Where are you?”

“ In my bedroom.”

She hesitated, but then asked, “Why aren’t you here with me?”

After a long silence, he said, “I’ll come to you if you want me to.”

“ Yes. I do.”

“ Are you sure?”

“ Yes.”

“ I’ll be there soon.”

She hit the end call button. Her nervousness returned, but it was accompanied by excitement. She was about to lose her virginity with a very experienced god. She didn’t know what to do, but she had the feeling she wouldn’t have to. She felt a throbbing between her legs, and she knew she was becoming aroused. Hades was more handsome than she’d remembered. She’d only seen him a few times before tonight, when she’d been in her godfather Zeus’ palace. Then Hades’ black hair had been very long and his skin very tanned. Now his hair was shoulder length and his skin a little lighter, as if he spent much less time outside of the Underworld. His dark eyes hadn’t changed though. When he’d pulled her into his chariot, she’d gazed up into them as she waited for him to kiss her or say he loved her. Instead he’d spurred the horses onward and whispered, “You’re mine now.”

She looked at herself in the mirror again. She’d put on one of the nightgowns she’d found in the dresser drawer. It was red silk, simple and elegant. She assumed he’d like it since he must have picked all of them out for her.

Everything in the bedroom looked brand new. Flowery red silk wallpaper covered the walls, and the curtains on the enormous oak bed matched it perfectly. The black carpet was plush and felt wonderful under her feet. The oak dresser, chairs, and settee were very similar to the ones she had in her own bedroom. She wondered if he had been spying on her, or if he had done it by magic without ever going to her bedroom. She knew Hades used magic far more than any other god. It was one of the few things she did know about him. The thought that he might have spied on her in her bedroom excited her a little. Shouldn’t it have felt creepy or embarrassing? She shook her head. He could have seen her reading his texts and emails over and over again like a silly child. He could have already seen her naked dozens of times. Why did it thrill her instead of bothering her? Could he change the way she felt or thought by magic too?

Ten minutes passed, but he still didn’t come. She began to worry he had been disappointed when they met. She hadn’t said or done anything, but maybe that was what she’d done wrong. Should she have kissed him? Told him she loved him? She wasn’t sure she did, but he’d said it so many times perhaps he’d been expecting her to finally say it when they met face to face. Was he angry she hadn’t said it yet?

She heard a soft knock on her door. “Come in,” she called.

Her door opened, and Hades stepped into the room. She smiled and walked toward him. He reached his arms out, but rather than embracing her he took her hands in his.

“ Do you like your room?” he asked casually.

What? I’m your girlfriend! Not a guest! She made herself keep smiling and nodded. “Yes. It’s like my own room, just in darker colors.” She looked down at the floor, but then had an idea. She smiled in a way she thought was coy. “The bed’s bigger though.”

He nodded. “Glad you like it.”

“ I’m sure I’ll love it.”

“ I’m sorry it took me so long to come and say goodnight. I was discussing something with Hermes.”

“ Oh, that’s fine. Message from Zeus?” Her mind raced. Did her mother know already? Had she gone to Zeus?

“ Yes. I need to go see him, but I wanted to make sure you were comfortable first.”

She couldn’t hide her disappointment. “When will you be back?”

“ An hour maybe. I’ll check on you in the morning.”

“ In the morning?” she said with a whine. She hadn’t meant it to come out like that, but she found it hard to keep hiding her confusion.

He raised his eyebrows. “Yes? What’s wrong with that?”

He’s testing me. I know he is. I’ll show him. “No. That’s fine. I’d like some time to myself.”

“ Goodnight.” He left the room and closed the door.

The room felt very cold suddenly.

“ Stupid!” she muttered. “He wanted you to tell him you wanted him to come back! Why didn’t you? Why did you have to act like a child? He doesn’t want a child. He wants a woman!”

She looked down at her clothes, running her hands down her body. She knew she looked beautiful in the gown. It clung to her slim frame in a way that showed off her breasts and hips very nicely. She knew her hair was still perfect, as was her make-up.

“ Why doesn’t he want me?” she whispered. She tried to push back the tears, but she couldn’t. She felt even more childish for crying, but she told herself that he’d never know she’d been crying at all since he’d abandoned her for the night.

She curled up in the middle of the bed and hugged her pillow. As the hurt ebbed away, she felt it being replaced by anger. He was going to regret humiliating her like this.

* * * *

“ What do you think you’re doing?” Zeus asked as soon as Hades appeared in his office.

Hades looked at his brother. “I haven’t touched her.”

“ If you say so. I’d have fucked her long ago if she weren’t my goddaughter.” He laughed. “And if I weren’t afraid of Demeter freezing my cock off.”

“ I doubt that first ‘objection’ would have stopped you if she were anyone else’s daughter or even if she had a father to fight for her honor. That shows the difference between you and me. I’m not afraid of Demeter. She’ll soon see my intentions are honorable.”

Zeus looked at his office door. “Honorable? Yes, that’s admittedly more like you than me. She may take more convincing though.”

Hades guessed Demeter was outside the door, probably restrained by Hera. “Let her in. I’m not afraid.”

The door burst open. “Where is she? Where is she?” Demeter yelled as she rushed toward him.

“ She is asleep, most likely, in a bed of her own in my palace. I haven’t even kissed her, so rest assured her sweet maidenhead is intact.”

Demeter slapped him. Hera cringed as she moved to stand beside Zeus.

Hades took a deep breath and met the goddess’ harsh gaze. “Demeter, I want to marry your daughter.”

“ You want to ravish her and cast her aside like every other woman you’ve ever had.”

“ Name one woman I’ve treated that way.”

Demeter’s face grew even redder and more menacing. “You will pay for this.”

“ She will be the queen of the Underworld. Isn’t that good enough for her?”

“ No!”

“ Then what is?”

“ Give my daughter back to me!”

Hades had underestimated how irrational Demeter would be. She wasn’t going to listen to him tonight. “I love her. If she will have me, I will marry her.”

“ You’re forcing her! You’re keeping her prisoner!”

“ She is very comfortable. Her door is not locked. No one is guarding her.”

“ But I can’t go get her! I can’t go there! Only Hermes or Zeus could enter the Underworld.” She turned on Zeus. “You should have ordered Hermes to bring her back!”

Zeus shook his head when they all looked at him. “No. Persephone wanted to run away with him. It was her own idea.”

“ That’s a lie!”

“ Would you like to see the message she sent Hades?”

Demeter hesitated. “No. I don’t need to. He’s been influencing her for months. I do not want to see anything that’s passed between them.”

Hades laughed. “Then how are you going to know what’s really going on?”

“ I know exactly what is going on! And I know you aren’t going to give her back. She is special. She belongs only to me. There is no one else like her.”

Hades knew Demeter was referring to the fact that Persephone had no father. Demeter took pride in her male-free conception. All gods were born for a purpose. The cosmos had not needed another fertility goddess, but Demeter’s very special influence over the creation of life had overcome that cosmic limitation. Or so she told herself. Persephone’s uniqueness was her favorite topic, next to man-hating. All other gods or goddesses born to only one parent had, in Demeter’s opinion, been summoned into being by the primal gods who came before them. Persephone, she claimed, had been born because Demeter wanted a daughter to be like her. Anyone who dared to point out that Aphrodite’s son Eros was exactly like Persephone, a perfect reflection and echo of his mother in powers and deeds, felt her wrath quickly, and then got a lecture about the “male taint” with several points regarding how a male born to the god of war and the “easiest girl in Olympus” could not compare to her perfect daughter. Demeter had slept with many of the same men as Aphrodite in her younger days, but that was another topic that resulted in a fiery lecture.

“ I know just how special she is, Demeter. That’s why I love her.”

She ignored his declaration and pointed her finger at Zeus. “This place will not see the sun again until you help me!” She stormed out of the room, and they all felt a cold breeze in her wake.

“ I better get my snow boots out,” Hera said with a wry smile.

Hades shook his head. “She’ll calm down. I am telling the truth.”

“ We can handle her, uh, ‘cold shoulder’ for now. Though if she starts messing with weather or the harvest in the human world, I will have to take action,” Zeus said.

Hades met his brother’s gaze. “I know. I remember all the times before. I think she’ll restrict her vengeance to us though. I’m sure she doesn’t want to cause any more human deaths.”

Hera looked down at her hands. Demeter’s last temper tantrum had resulted in a year without summer in the early nineteenth century. Her anger had been aimed at Hera, and he knew both goddesses felt responsible for the effects their feud had had on humans.

“ I won’t let anything like that happen ever again, but you have to promise me you will let Persephone make her own decision. If you use magic on her, we’ll know.”

“ I understand.”

“ Does she love you, do you think?” Hera asked.

He shook his head. “No. She doesn’t. She’s very infatuated, which is why I haven’t touched her. She’s confused now. She expected me to ravish her the moment we arrived in my palace.” He smiled a little. “She’s probably very angry with me, but I don’t want her mistaking an orgasm for love.”

“ You couldn’t resist it though when she said she wanted to run away with you?” Hera asked.

“ No. I couldn’t. It’s for the best. We couldn’t go on the way we were.”

Zeus groaned. “I wish you’d found someone more convenient, but if she falls in love with you, I’ll deal with Demeter.”

“ Once she sees I love Persephone, she’ll be happy. With you and Poseidon both married already, I’m the best catch in Olympus.”

Hera smiled. “You do have a point. She won’t be able to resist. I managed to snag one of the three great Olympians, so since a mortal got Poseidon, I can think of no better match for you than my beautiful goddaughter and favorite niece.”

Zeus snickered. “She’s your only niece since Hestia’s always hated men as much as Demeter does now.”

“ She doesn’t hate them. She simply doesn’t care for them.”

As Zeus and Hera laughed, Hades thought briefly of the ancient times. He and his brothers Zeus and Poseidon had watched over the world. Then the three women had come, Hera and her sisters Demeter and Hestia. Primitive man hadn’t needed much. Poseidon ruled the sea, Demeter the harvest, the two of them feeding the world. Hestia had ruled the order of life and the home above, Hades the one below. Zeus and Hera ruled them all once Zeus took power from the Titans, who had never revealed all their secrets to the Olympians. Other gods and goddesses had followed as the mortal world demanded more of them and their powers. Zeus and Hera were the first to taste Aphrodite’s power when she was born to bring the joy of love to a world that no longer had to fight every moment to survive. Ares followed soon from their union, his addition again changing the world. On and on it had gone, but now it had all stopped. The world had no more needs to fulfill it seemed, since no goddess had born a child for centuries.

“ Would you please quit brooding?” Zeus asked, jarring him from his thoughts.

Hera came to him and kissed his cheek. “Go home to her. Talk to her. See what happens. I’m sure you’ll be pleased.”

Hades wanted to share Hera’s confidence, but he knew his submissive sweetheart was soon going to show her feisty side. He only hoped she would resist just enough to make their consummation sweeter and not so much that she would break his heart. He’d never feared such a thing before, so he knew he’d have to tread carefully as he pushed her limits in hopes of awakening her deepest passions.

* * * *

Hades stood on the balcony of Zeus’ palace, looking up at the clouds as they moved across the moon. He turned when Ares walked up behind him. “You here for raunchy remarks or dumb blonde jokes?”

Ares chuckled. “Neither. Just being nosy. My girl’s a little upset with you.”

Hades winced. “I’m sorry. If it makes Alala feel better, I didn’t kidnap her best friend.”

“ She might not believe that. She scolds me for dumb blonde jokes, but she’s always thought of Persephone as someone who needs to be looked after.”

“ She can call Persephone’s cell phone. Or she could summon her in a pool of water. That still works if there’s water or a mirror around.”

Ares shook his head slowly. “Ah, the old days. Blood and war and magic spells and very odd seductions.”

“ Usually involving someone being an animal.”

Both gods laughed.

“ Well,” Ares began, “she just might do that. She’s very worried. It’s nothing personal though. I think she’s actually a little worried about you.”

Hades had wanted to ask that question, but hadn’t dared to. “Persephone is very infatuated. No other man has ever been able to get near her. No real man at least. Just awkward, gauche, mortal boys.”

“ Alala thinks Persephone is out to prove something. Or just rebel against her mother. I think you should consider that. And don’t be insulted for her when I say you’re probably too mature and complex for her.”

Hades wanted to argue in her favor, but he knew how she appeared to most people. She could be immature and whiney and spiteful. He knew her better than any of them though. He’d talked to her about literature and movies and all kinds of ordinary things. She was smarter than she seemed and more thoughtful than any of them imagined. She was silly and sometimes flighty, but he loved it. She made him smile and laugh. She made him happy.

He finally spoke. “We are very different, but so are you and Alala. What such a sweet girl sees in you I can’t imagine.”

Ares smiled. “I have no idea either. Okay, I see your point. I’m just passing along Alala’s concern because I think it’s justified.”

“ I agree. Tell her thank you and that she can contact Persephone whenever she wants to. She’s not a prisoner, and I’m sure she could use a friend.”

“ She mad at you? I hear you haven’t lived up to your sexy text messages.”

“ Word travels fast. I’m not sleeping with her until she takes me seriously.”

Ares crossed his arms and gave him a skeptical look. “I think she takes you seriously. She just doesn’t know what she’s getting into or what to expect. Maybe I’m wrong though.”

“ No, you’re right. She’s upset because she didn’t get what she thought she wanted. I hope someday she’ll truly want it.”

Ares leaned against the railing and looked down into the garden. He spotted a couple ducking behind some bushes. “What is going on lately? If this were a cheesy romantic comedy, or a Shakespeare play, I’d say Aphrodite had a cold or something. Making people fall in love every time she sneezes.”

Hades shook his head. “Yeah. There does seem to be something in the air. It’s working out for most people though.” He reached out to Persephone in his mind. She was asleep, but she stirred slightly and clutched her pillow. He withdrew his mind so he wouldn’t wake her. “I’m heading back. It’s getting pretty cold up here.”

Ares looked up at the gathering clouds. “Demeter trying to make a point?”

“ The only way she knows how to.” He shook his head. “We’ll see. She’ll have to see reason soon.” He started to walk away.

“ Good luck with that,” Ares called after him.

“ Thanks.” He kept walking and mumbled to himself, “For all the good it may do me.” He walked down into the garden and pressed a stone on the wall. The wall opened a little, and he slipped inside. He followed the tunnel and arrived on the shore of the Acheron, at the point where it connected with the river Styx and the Underworld. Charon, the ferryman of the dead, sat on the shore with Cerberus, who was actually quite friendly for an enormous, three-headed, dragon-tailed black hound.

“ Excited to meet your new mistress, Cerb?” He patted the hound’s middle head, and the hound’s tail wagged as he stood up to follow him.

The Underworld was the one place only few beings could enter without terrible consequences. Or being dead. Everyone except him and Zeus had to enter the old-fashioned way, walk to the river and be ferried across. Or be brought there by Thanatos, the god of death. Hades had granted Persephone special status by allowing her to enter his realm while still alive. She could also leave whenever she wanted. Only Zeus and the Olympian messengers Hermes and Iris could do this. Anyone else would be trapped until Hades brought them back across himself.

“ Getting a bit chilly out there,” Charon said.

Hades got into the boat with Cerberus. “It is. It may get very cold.”

Charon nodded. “Could be interesting.”

Hades looked at Charon, who hadn’t talked this much in the past two hundred years. “Oh it’s going to be interesting. Very interesting indeed.”

* * * *

In the morning, Persephone opened her door and looked down the hall. She thought the dining room was to the right. She’d considered staying in her room, but he might think she was pouting or being stubborn. She’d picked out a very modest pink, lacy dress with lots of tiny buttons up the front. She looked pretty instead of sexy. She thought that might be what he wanted. She didn’t want to be punished further. She wasn’t sure why she felt she was being punished, but she couldn’t deny the feeling that all his actions were carefully planned to produce a certain effect.

Cerberus was in the dining room. She’d never seen the giant hellhound so close before. He stood and walked over to her slowly, then sat and waited to be petted. She rubbed his middle head tentatively. He weighed more than she did, but he was gentler than her mother’s yappy little rat terrier. Cerberus followed her to the dining table and sat on the floor beside her.

“ Where’s your master, Cerberus? Isn’t he here?”

“ Good afternoon, Persephone.”

She turned, but it wasn’t Hades. Another man had walked into the room, and when she looked at him he bowed to her. He was pale with short white hair and completely black eyes.

“ Afternoon?”

“ Yes, though time matters little down here.”

Hades had said he would check on her in the morning. Why hadn’t he? “You’re Hypnos, the god of sleep?”

“ Yes.”

“ You look just like your brother Thanatos, except his hair is black.” She felt like she was babbling. Of the two, she’d definitely prefer having a conversation with Hypnos.

He smiled. “You’ve met the god of death? That’s interesting.”

She wasn’t completely sure what he meant. Why was it interesting? He seemed so serious, but he was smiling. She cleared her throat. “I’ve seen him. He came to see my godfather once when we were together.”

Hypnos nodded. “I believe that was how you first drew my master’s attention. Thanatos mentioned your presence, as well as your beauty, and I believe Lord Hades became jealous.”

She tried to remember. That had been over a year ago. How could he have known anything about her? Had he really been jealous? “You’re both gods. Why is Hades your master?”

Hypnos stared at her for a long moment.

“ Is that question offensive? I’m sorry if it was.”

He shook his head. “Just odd. My brother and I are part of the Underworld. Sleep and death are very similar, more so than any mortal could understand. I’m also the god of dreams. The land of dreams is here as well, like the Elysian Fields or Tartarus. Without sleeping or dying, what good would the Underworld be? It would be nothing.”

“ Tartarus is real? I thought Hell was a mortal notion. Hades punishes people?” She didn’t like the sound of that. She couldn’t imagine him torturing anyone.

Hypnos seemed puzzled. “Has Demeter really kept you so sheltered? Come and walk with me. Nothing can harm you while I am here.”

“ Hades won’t mind?” She stood up and looked at Cerberus.

“ He will not. Cerberus will follow us. Will that make you feel safer?”

She moved toward him. “I’m not afraid of you. I just don’t understand this place.”

He offered his arm and she took it. “Or the man you followed down here?”

She nodded. “I wanted to come though. I wanted the freedom only he could offer.”

“ Others could have given you freedom.”

She looked at the paintings in the hallway. All of them were beautiful, in their way, but most of the scenes were very dark and grim. “No one ever noticed me before he did.”

“ Every god has noticed you.”

She turned back to him, her free hand absently stroking one of Cerberus’ heads. “That’s not true. They all think I’m a silly little girl.”

“ You’re a beautiful woman, Persephone.”

“ You think I am beautiful?”

He nodded. “Very beautiful.”

“ Kiss me.”

He laughed. “You would not like that.”

“ Why not?” she asked, annoyed by his laughter.

“ You would be unconscious for a long time. Kissing is one thing I cannot do.”

“ But you can…”

“ Yes, I can have sex, but there’s an intimacy about kissing I’ve always longed to experience.”

She felt her skin warm as she imagined what kissing him might be like if it were safe to do so. “Oh.” Damn it, I can’t get anything right down here! “But if you could, would you like to kiss me?”

He stopped when they reached a large black door. “I would love to give you my kiss and live forever in a dream with you, but you are not meant for me.”

“ Hades could kiss me.” She looked up into his eyes. “But he hasn’t.”

Hypnos leaned closer, putting his arms around her waist. He brought his lips to her ear. “Perhaps he is afraid of you.”

She felt her heart pounding as Hypnos leaned close to her. His lips touched her ear, and she sighed. He groaned deep in his throat and kissed her neck. Electricity shot through her. His touch was amazing. His lips and tongue found spots she’d never known were so sensitive. She felt the ache between her thighs again. Hypnos’ lips felt amazing.

Cerberus growled at Hypnos.

The spell was broken, and she pulled away from him, incredibly embarrassed. “I’m sorry.”

Hypnos gazed into her eyes. “Not as sorry as I am.”

Sorry they had touched? Or sorry they had stopped? She couldn’t tell. “I didn’t plan that. You’re handsome and you said I was beautiful, but that’s a feeble excuse for almost cheating on Hades.” She sighed. “If I’m even in a position to do such a thing.”

He stroked her cheek. “I know you are innocent. In every way. I will carry the memory of touching you in my heart forever. But may I ask you something?”

“ Yes.”

“ Was that brief pleasure worth the guilt you feel now?”

She shook her head. “No. That was my first kiss, and I used someone to get it.”

He smiled. “Don’t feel that way. I don’t. What else did you learn?”

She looked down at Cerberus, who seemed equally anxious for her answer. “I didn’t come here just to find a lover. I came here to meet the man I’ve been sending messages to every night.”

He nodded. “Good. Perhaps that’s why I could not resist you. You needed to see what you wanted more clearly. We’ll leave the tour until later, shall we?”

“ Yes.” She blushed. “You’re very kind. You could have gotten angry, or gone to tell Hades.”

“ Or ravished you.”

Her eyes widened. “But you wouldn’t have done that.”

He started to say something, but then he stopped. After a moment, he said, “Take Cerberus with you. Hades left him here to protect you. He did just that, waking you from my spell before you were the one to ask me for something you didn’t truly want.”

She touched Cerberus’ back, and he looked up at her loyally. “He did. I’m glad for both of us he did. I won’t tell Hades. It wasn’t your fault.”

“ But he will know. He knows everything in this realm.”

Persephone froze. “What?” she managed to say.

“ He knows I touched you. As frustrated as you are, he can’t blame you for letting me. He also knows you pulled away. He knows what you said. Don’t be afraid.”

“ He won’t punish you?”

“ His anger will be tempered because of what this incident made you realize.”

In a whisper, she asked, “How can he love me? I can’t even talk to a man without making ten mistakes.”

“ Perhaps he wants to be the one to teach you…everything.”

Her mind filled with images of Hades, the sound of his voice, his scent. “I hope I’m worthy.”

He bowed. “You are. Go find him now. He is here, waiting.”

“ Where is he?” she called as he walked away.

“ Follow Cerberus. He will take you.”

After he was gone, she looked down at the hound. His dragonlike tail was wagging.

“ Take me to him.”

Cerberus led the way, and she followed as she wondered what Hades would say to her.

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