A Tale Before Two Alphas Series Book 2

I gazed at the masterpiece I’d crafted, and the barren wasteland that surrounded it. The stunning fountains and marble pathways were breathtaking, but they were bordered by nothing more than patches of white Faerie grass and dry, desolate soil that I hadn’t yet brought back to life.

This garden had never seen growth or life before I arrived, except for one thing.

A massive tree that defied logic and refused to grow, despite my belief that it was connected to the magic flowing in the earth beneath it or even after I added blood to the soil around its roots.

It stood tall, its hollow form resembling a ghost or a scarecrow. At first glance, one might think it was just another dead thing in the Dark Court, as I had been told; but upon closer inspection, I discovered it was alive, though not flourishing.

This tree had given me hope that anything in this garden could grow. While I still desired Faerie plants, or perhaps even to work on the tree itself, there simply wasn’t enough time.

So, I made other enhancements. I started lining the paths with white and black stones, creating patterns in certain areas as I gathered more. I added more roses, lilacs, rosemary, thyme—doing my best to incorporate the most aromatic scents.

I continued to plant other earthly starts that Hades had provided, which I was just beginning to learn the names and properties of from a book he had gifted me last week.

When I wasn’t tending to plant starts, I was covering the barren patches of soil with enriched soil or with rocks I collected from the beach. Gradually adding the black and white stones to highlight the colors in the plants and the marble.

In truth, I could fill Hades’s entire garden with plants from the human realm before my death.

But I craved Faerie plants.

Faerie plants that wouldn’t require care after I was gone, once they were established. Some of the most beautiful ones I desired could be lethal if handled by a human. Either to the plant—or the human themselves, if not both.

Faerie plants.

That’s all I could dream about, and it seemed to be driving me to the brink of insanity. Faerie plants would make this a Faerie garden, as it was intended to be. I also hoped it might help the tree in some way, since it seemed most Faerie plants thrived being around their own.

If the garden wasn’t my obsession, Hades and Minthe would be. Something I was desperately trying to avoid. Yus had only confirmed what I hadn’t initially believed from Cerberus.

I feared it would transform my already vile dreams tonight into even darker nightmares. While things with Hades had been heating up, my dreams had turned into icy nightmares since Fate decided to pay a visit. I also wondered if it was the first sign that I might be a step closer to death, since my sleep was so disturbed.

Somehow, I never felt rested anymore.

I hadn’t thought I had grown attached to Hades—I knew I had been reluctant to find Persephone. However, his happiness meant more to me.

Being jealous of a woman who had tasted Hades though? Had grown close enough to be intimate and have conversations with him that were likely just as such? Someone not good for him, sucking what little love he might be able to spare, feeding off his despair for her own whims?

Any woman like that was no better than a weed in a garden, and it infuriated me, even if it was a simple image I had created in my mind.

I extended a hand, yanking a tiny weed from its roots, raising my eyes in surprise at its existence. The irony of the thought and discovery was not appreciated as I inspected the foul plant. It looked like a dandelion start or something within the family, and had been comfortably nestled between stems.

Angry to the point of growling in frustration, I slid it into my pocket. Slowly, I tried to calm myself, trying to process what the weed actually meant. Trying to refocus my thoughts with a few deep breaths, closing my eyes.

I didn’t have time to consider what a weed meant for the soil, thoughts fleeing as I felt cool lips slide over my neck. Trailing soft butterfly kisses up to my earlobe. Instinctively, I froze, unsure, before I slowly melted into his warm arms as they slid around my torso.

Hades

“You didn’t eat much lunch and only just now are coming to the garden? That’s very unlike you, Kore,” Hades murmured before his teeth barely grazed my ear.

I hadn’t expected him back by now. Court had been brief this morning, so brief that I didn’t need to attend. Usually, that meant that Hades had meetings or had to travel to the Underworld. I hadn’t expected him until closer to dinner time, let alone him greeting me so affectionately.

We certainly kissed, and I had tried pressing for more. Usually though—I was denied as politely as Hades ever could politely deny anyone before things got too out of hand.

“There are weeds in my garden,” I grumbled, letting him be somewhat aware of my foul mood even though I didn’t pull away from him. Instead, I felt closer to a sullen child. I liked him touching me, so it was hard to stay upset.

“Ugly things are a part of life, Kore. It’s what makes the rest of it so beautiful,” he murmured, pulling away to inspect my soil-covered fingers. “You need gloves.”

“I can’t feel what I’m digging for if I have a layer between the soil and my skin.” My response was defensive and automatic, making me wince.

I expected him to glare, to pull away and possibly be angry with the tone I had taken; instead, his eyes seemed to gleam in delight as he considered my words, letting go of my fingers but joining me by sitting on the ground. “Smart human.”

“You didn’t say I was wrong,” I said with a tiny smirk.

This time his eyes did harden like cooling lava, but the spark in his eyes didn’t die.

His movements were quick. His knee suddenly pressed between my thighs and I felt myself fall backward; softened by the blow with his arm guiding me in a movement I saw but couldn’t react to.

The intimate contact sent a jolt up my spine and a tingle in my toes that seemed to settle over my whole body. Slowly registering what was happening, thoughts of any weed quickly fleeing from my mind. A painful ache formed where his warm knee pushed and pulled back in an erotic smooth slow movement making me gasp up at him, my eyes wide.

This was very unlike him.

I had rarely seen Hades smile—but this wasn’t so much a smile as a lusty smirk that made my head spin. “You really think you’re right? Let’s find out.”

My stomach dropped at his words as his lips descended on mine. Warm. Hungry. Powerful in its demands.

All I could do was feel his mouth on mine before a jolt shot up my spine. His knee was moving in an erotic abrupt motion that began building me with a pressure I had never known before. Panic and an overwhelming sense of excitement caused my heart to beat rapidly in my ears.

Even at my age, I knew what an orgasm was and what it felt like—but this?

He knew how to kiss me as if he were savoring each moment. The way his tongue caressed mine as if he were sipping on a fine wine. Fucking my mouth, mimicking the same motions with his knee.

I wanted him so badly it was painful.

I felt out of control.

Trying not to sob or whimper into his mouth, failing miserably as he continued his movements. Slowly he trailed down his mouth, stopping for a moment only to continue the motion repeatedly. Enough to drive me mad—unsure if I wanted him to stop or beg him for more.

More of what exactly wasn’t something I could answer, and knowing Hades.

If I asked, he would stop to make me answer. In full.

His lips were a path of sensation, each kiss sparking a whimper from me. His touch was like a direct current to my core, leaving me yearning for more.

My hips began to move instinctively, craving his touch until he sent another wave of pleasure through me, freezing me in place. His mouth was on my breast, his warm tongue teasing my nipple through the thin fabric. My hands moved from his shoulders to his hair, gasping with relief as something shattered within me.

His hair, always shifting like smoke, felt even silkier than it looked as I ran my fingers through it. Hades was letting me recover from my climax, a luxury I’d never dared to indulge in before. The sensation only amplified the feeling of his mouth on my breast, and the firm heat of his thigh pressing against my sensitive folds again.

My head was spinning, my body electrified by his touch. Despite what I’d just experienced, I found myself wanting more. His mouth returned to mine, taking me higher and higher.

Everything about him was electric and magical.

It was building into something bigger than anything I’d ever experienced before. It was terrifying.

A deep chuckle rumbled from him as he pulled back from my lips. The pressure was gone, but the need was sharper than ever. A throbbing ache between my legs as he gently caressed my cheek, causing my eyes to fly open in desperation. I stared into his eyes, my body left wanting.

His gaze was playful and patient, a side of Hades I hadn’t seen before. It was as if he was toying with me, savoring every moment.

My breath came in short gasps as I stared up at him, flushed and whimpering. My knees shook as I clung to him.

I wasn’t sure what to do next as he looked down at me with assessing eyes. The ache between my legs, the ache in my breasts, the desperate need coursing through me was intensified by his denial.

Was he punishing me? Was he enjoying watching me like this? Why?

The need and confusion short-circuited any thought process other than staring at the beautiful Faerie looking back at me.

“Nothing to say now, human? Did my Faerie charms finally cast their own glamour?” His smile was dazzling, and all I wanted was his mouth on mine. His thigh or…something more. Something that I was even more afraid of right now and didn’t dare ask for.

Maybe I was a little intimidated, I admit.

“You stopped.” The words came out as a half-whispered sob. My body was screaming now and I didn’t know what to do.

How could I find relief without embarrassing myself?

His expression softened, more than I ever thought possible.

But Hades’s words were far from gentle. A wicked smile spread across his face as he slid his body back onto mine, his knee pressing back into the place I craved it to be.

“So needy. Is this why you want to get along with me? To know how Faeries are in bed?” His touch was feather-light. His lips brushed over mine, his body poised and ready but unmoving. Hard and unyielding as stone.

“No.” The words were torn from my throat—a protest. Maybe part of me had been curious before I even came to this strange land. It was hard not to fantasize when my life had been so lonely.

So yes, it was a lie. One Hades didn’t miss as his eyes gleamed in delight. He relieved the pressure once more, making me do my best to hold in a whimper. The denial was almost painful.

“No? Then perhaps you don’t wish for me to do my marital duties. Are Faeries so boring?” His tone was teasing, his mouth trailing down to my other nipple, his fingers pressing directly against my clitoris through the wet thin material. Only thin silky Faerie clothing stood between me and Hades, though the sensation felt like the equivalent of being bare.

“Hades, please!” I begged. He had never touched my pussy before. Never given me such pleasure. Why now?

“You know you should never ask a Faerie please, Kore. You might get what you desire.” His tongue invaded mine once more, but however or wherever the fabric was once stitched was no longer; my bottom half bared to his touch. His eyes stared straight into mine as his finger slipped in, a moan of appreciation from his throat vibrating on my lips as his fingers were enveloped in my warmth.

Within seconds, as I drowned in the pleasure of sensation, another finger slipped inside with ease. Whatever noises I began to make, a pleased growl emanated from Hades’ throat as he began to move them both in the same motion as his thigh had been using. He released my mouth to kiss behind the hollow of my ear, allowing me to breathe.

I gripped the soil of the garden now beneath us, trying to somehow cling to earth as I felt it shatter around me—only vaguely remembering I had been pressed against a stone wall a moment ago with my legs upright. There wasn’t enough time to wonder how I had ended up on the ground in his arms. A dam rapidly bursting from within from his attention screaming within my mind.

I called out his name as I felt electricity shoot up my spine, lifting up my body as everything seemed to burst at once. Feeling the soil cling to my back at the movement before I fell back to the earth.

“Yes.” He growled softly holding my body close to his as he continued to press into me—his teeth pulling and sucking on my ear and a hollow spot behind it. His fingers relentless as he continued fucking me with his fingers. Pressing into me with an intense steady rhythm. My body clutching onto his.

As if he were continuing to fuck me with his cock—the thought sending me higher and higher as I continued to climax around his fingers. Relentless in his touch. Crying out, unable to do anything but feel.

All I could do was hold onto Hades—hoping he might relent as I whimpered and panted and pleaded to the heavens unsure of what I was even saying. The King of the Dark Court was master of all, and until he was through with me I was at his mercy. Something I was all too keenly aware of as I screamed—another orgasm tearing through me to the point of squeezing down onto his fingers that had to be painful. My nails relinquished my pleasure on their trail down his flesh this time.

It was like the feeling of falling into water, while also feeling the cosmos realign around you as I felt myself spiral. Cumming and falling to earth once more. Stars surrounded my vision that was far from focused. Until slowly, oh so slowly, every bit of my body began to relax and turn into a puddle. Shivering and shaking from the efforts I had just gone through.

Hades made a satisfied noise kissing me softly laying next to me in the dirt to pull me into his body. Holding me close to him. The sensation of his unsullied hand running over my arms and face were magical.

“Brave for a virginal human.”

“I’ve faced worse.” I mumbled in his arms, nuzzling into his chest making him chuckle.