Persephone laced his fingers with his wife's and stood closer to her as they descended to the world below. He mused on how different his return was compared to his first visit. Then, Hades had frightened him with her manic actions and unnerving silence. Now, he felt a welcome calm settle over him in the quiet darkness of Erebus, seeing nothing and feeling nothing but her hand in his.

Hades did not have to see her husband to know how his time in the world above had changed him. She could feel the sun's warmth radiating off him, as if his skin has absorbed more than it could hold. He smelled of grass, wildflowers, and the river. She wished she could have seen him more on Earth: in his element, where his power was strongest and well practiced. But she was so delighted that he was willing to share her power, to be here, to love her, she found herself unusually emotional.

Returning to their palace, she was amused to see him take in the splendor of it as if for the first time. Considering she had nearly dragged him through it initially, she regretted that he to discover most of it on his own later. Their kingdom was a beautiful place, and she was glad he could see it.

Once she shut their bedroom door behind her, Hades turned to face him, the energy between them palpable. He gave her a shy, expectant half grin, and that was enough to undo her. She threw her arms around him, pulling him by the neck towards her and kissed him like they might take him back at any moment. When he did pull away, his dazzling smile and the tender look in his eyes made her insides feel soft. He hugged her tightly to his body, nuzzling his face into her neck.

"I missed you so much Hades," he admitted with a shaky voice, the joyful relief of the reunion suddenly overwhelming him, as if all the months of longing were crashing down on him at once. "It was really hard to be away from you for so long."

"I know my love," she replied, rubbing her hands up and down his back. "It was the same for me." He pulled away a little to face her.

"Will you come to visit me, next time? So it isn't so long?"

Hades felt guilty he even had to ask. She had tried disconnecting herself from her feelings and memories entirely in an attempt to survive the past six months, when she should have been trying to find a way to see him without breaking her agreement with Demeter.

"I want to. I just worry that your mother might say I'm in violation of-"

"I asked Zeus if that would be okay," he offered helpfully. "And she said it was." A slow smile came across Hades' face.

"You did?"

"Yes," he admitted sheepishly. "As long as my mother could see me here too."

"She can visit you here," Hades easily conceded. The idea of getting to visit him made the next half of her eternal life much less bleak. "And so can you, anytime you want." He beamed. One of the many things Hades loved about Persephone was how easily he could be made happy.

"I would hate to think of you here all alone…" he began, running his finger along the neckline of her dress. "Having to take all your clothes off yourself…"

"Well as king, it is certainly one of your responsibilities," she informed him, smirking at his attempt to play coy. "If you're up it, of course."

"I think I could manage it," he answered, starting to circle her.

Her dark eyes followed him until he stood behind her, his long fingers tracing down her back to where the dress tied together, carefully pulling apart the ties until the cloth slid off of her. She turned around to face him, her look saying all the suggestive things her words didn't.

His gaze didn't stay on her eyes for long. His eyes swept across her bare body, and whatever clever or complimentary thing he meant to say evaporated in his throat. She was more stunning than he remembered and her confidence aroused him. She stood tall, her eyes daring him to do something about it. Most gods he knew above seemed to want mortal women or nymphs that would make them feel powerful by being passive, meek, and innocent. Hades was none of those things and he was never more glad for it. She was strong and made him feel strong, and the way she looked at him now made him feel like he could do anything.

By the time his eyes had made their way up to her face, she had already lunged at him, her willpower to abstain finally used up. She nearly ripped his clothes off his body, pushing him towards their bed. He was more than happy to follow, laying flat on his back while she crawled over him, his rough hands sliding down her smooth, fair skin.

She gasped when his erection brushed against her entrance, already slick with anticipation. Having gone months without him, she felt wildly sensitive to even the slightest touch, much less his length pressing against her. He squirmed when she grasped at him and lined him up against her. He had a hard time sleeping in the world above, missing her body next to his and having to be discreet even with his own hand to avoid being discovered. Hades has stopped trying to please herself that way months ago, trying to distance herself from anything that reminded her of him.

In this moment, with the tip of his length starting to enter her, she realized his body was something she could hardly forget. She slowly, glacially, lowered herself onto him, his width filling and opening her as a low, satisfied groan broke from the back of her throat. Persephone panted as she took his hard length into her warm, tight channel, letting his eyes squeeze shut and his head fall back when he was all the way within her.

Hades felt lightheaded already, the tingling blooming from between her legs down all the way to her feet, toes curled tight. She put her hands on his chest to steady herself, trying not to move an inch. Just having him inside her was incredible by itself, and having been so long denied and take him so slowly now felt better than it ever had. She might have been embarrassed that this alone could finish her, but the gaze of awed admiration he had looking up at her erased the thought.

She parted her legs further apart at either side of his wide torso and leaned forward, opening up and taking him further in. He groaned, his eyes falling shut again, holding firmer to her waist at either side. She rocked her hips forward the smallest amount and held there before falling back and pushing the smallest increment forward once more. It was all it took, teetering ever so slightly, balancing with his impressive length her fulcrum. Her legs started to shake, her quiet grunts crescendoing as she fast approached completion.

A flurry of things Persephone wanted to say raced around his mind: that she was beautiful, that she was sexy, that he loved her, that he was happy she was his wife. None of the words came out. His expressive side had been rendered silent, lying beneath one of the most powerful goddesses in the cosmos as she took pleasure from him without hardly moving. He might have felt a sort a sort of masculine pride, knowing all it took was being there to satisfy her needs. But more than anything, he felt like he belonged to her. When she looked him in the eyes, lips parted, finally reaching the crest, being hers was all he wanted to be, and everything else would have to come second.

Hades laid herself across his body as she came down, leaning over his face to softly peck his lips, feeling too stimulated to try much else. He was still thick within her, so she kept as still as she could as the waves of pleasure finally passed. She brushed some of his messy auburn hair from his face, and he captured her hand and kissed it. He gave her a mischievous smile, and before she could react, he wrapped his arms around her back, and swinging his body weight to the side, rolled on top of her.

She gasped in surprise, but smiled back as he looked down at her with a wicked glint in his eye. She liked this bold streak in him, mostly because it meant he was being comfortable enough with her to be himself. He hissed as he carefully withdrew most of the way, then pressed back forward into her. She shivered, the cool air and her wetness on his length reentering her. He began slow, admiring her reactions as he pulled in and out of her, but soon found his arousal so acute it was nearly painful. Losing control of any premeditated actions, he thrust harder and faster into her with determination grunts as his face began to dampen with sweat.

He bent down to kiss her shoulder, and she wrapped her arms around his broad back, hooking her legs around the backs of his thighs and arching her back into him.

"Persephone," she sighed, clinging to him. "Persephone…" she continued, his name rolling over her lips again and again like a desperate prayer a mortal would make to the gods when they were in dire need. Hades was pleading with him, though for what she didn't know. She wanted him, needed him, and surrendered control to her husband and king as he roughly took her, finally finishing with a shout.

His full weight collapsed onto her, his sweaty, matted hair tickling her neck as his heavy breathing warmed her ear. Reluctantly he lifted himself on his elbows, already missing the feel of her soft breasts against his chest. He wearily kissed her cheek, then her nose, then her lips. She smiled a dreamy smile up at him, a smile he knew was only for him.

"Welcome home, my king."

When Zeus invited Hades and Persephone to Mt. Olympus, she expected either no answer or a swift no from Hades. She only got to be with her beloved young husband half the year, and Zeus hardly imagined her sister would voluntarily give up time alone with him to suffer the type of party she barely tolerated before. She knew Hades' only soft spot was for Persephone, so at best, Zeus expected Hades might let him attend alone.

No one was more shocked than Zeus when they both appeared together at the occasion. They arrived hand in hand and quickly became both the most stared at and most talked about people Mt. Olympus had had in eons.

Neither of them looked like their old selves. Hades wore a dark dress with a matching cape, as she was known to wear, but her hair was braided with asphodel placed carefully in it and sported an uncharacteristically easy smile. Persephone, standing even in height next to her, wore a black tunic that matched his wife's with a diamond asphodel pin. Though he came barefoot, as he was known to do, he carried Hades' flaming scepter in his hand. His face shone with his usual dazzling smile, but he stood taller, more confidently, with more purpose. They both wore the onyx crowns of the king and queen of the Underworld and had fingers heavy with emeralds. They were simultaneously matched and mismatched, opposites who had found common ground together.

Both Zeus and Poseidon enthusiastically greeted their sister and the new king of the Underworld. They were rarely seen on Mt. Olympus, and it seemed immediately everyone wanted a piece of them. People congratulated Hades on her new relationship while others pulled Persephone away to hear more about being king of the Underworld. Hades' sisters murmured amongst themselves at this strange new behavior, shocked that she would let Persephone out of her sight, much less let him socialize separately from her.

At some point the queen sisters managed to corner Persephone on his own. To their further surprise he handled himself brilliantly to their teasing scrutiny, and Hades watched on from a distance with pride as he managed to entertain her prying sisters - who happened to be two of the most powerful goddesses in the cosmos - without problem.

Occasionally they would make nonverbal contact throughout the party, catching the other's eye from across the room. When Aphrodite approached Hades with something smug to say or when Apollo touched Persephone's arm one too many times, they would look across the room to each other with a wry smile. Being unavailable seemed to make Persephone even more attractive than he might have been as a newcomer, but Hades was undaunted by the flirtatious ways of Olympian women. They could certainly try their damnedest, but she knew without hesitation he would spurn them all.

When at last they did find each other each other again, Persephone took Hades' hand instinctively, nudging her cheek with his nose and earning him a tender smile from his queen. Deities not-so-subtly stared at the strange affection between then, no doubt wondering how much less innocent touches between them must be. For once, Hades didn't care.

"How are you Sunflower?" she asked him. "I see you withheld the barage of persistent sisterly nosiness." He laughed, putting an arm around her.

"Nothing I couldn't handle," he said, and she wasn't surprised. He thrived in social situations like this, and she felt all the more comfortable being there just knowing he was nearby. People seemed to expect her to speak on his behalf, but he was more than capable of holding his own, and she would much rather let him speak for the both of them.

"Would you like to go soon?" he offered. "Poseidon said this is the longest you've ever stayed." This time Hades laughed.

"Don't feel we have to go on my behalf. I'm happy to stay longer with you," which was yet another statement that would have shocked her sisters.

"But what if I'd be happier if I had the queen to myself?" he suggested lowly into her ear. She squeezed his hand, looking ahead.

"Wherever you go I'll follow, my king." He took her chin and turned her face to his, kissing her slowly, ardently, like no one was watching.

"Then let's go home," he said finally, leading her forward.

Without another word to anyone, they left - the baffling, enigmatic couple that no one was any closer to understanding. It didn't matter, because they had each other, and everything else was background noise.

Thank you so much kind readers for reading and your reviews! It meant so much to have your readership and support for something a little unusual so thank you for joining along for the ride! In addition to the inspiration being from beautiful art, some of your reviews really got me thinking about how I wanted the story to go, and I think changed it for the better. Thank you so much again!