Persephone didn’t know how to answer that, so she said nothing. It seemed to be answer enough. Hades reached over the side of the bed to pick up a loop of fabric, probably a discarded strophion. She rolled Persephone onto her side and bound her lower arms together behind her back, from elbows to wrists. The wide fabric was at least more comfortable than the strings of her perizoma had been, but it pulled her shoulders back in a way that made her feel more exposed despite the darkness.

Hades returned Persephone to her original position, though now her bound arms were digging into her spine. She shifted, trying to draw away from the pressure of Hades’ knee, until the top of her head bumped against the bed frame.

Hades lowered herself over Persephone. She bent her head, and her lips closed around one of Persephone’s nipples. The novel sensation sent a jolt through her, and she heard herself gasp. Hades’ mouth was warm and soft and unexpectedly gentle. She lathed her tongue around the hard peak, then released it and blew cool air over it. She repeated her attentions on its twin, providing such distraction that Persephone did not realize that Hades’ hand had crept down to her sex until it was too late.

“No,” she said as Hades thrust her fingers inside, taking her maidenhead. Persephone screamed and then froze, tears in her eyes, too terrified to move for fear of doing herself more damage. The stretch of Hades inside her was a new and entirely unwelcome sensation, one that she could not simply wish away.

Hades moved her fingers, drawing out and then back in. Persephone had never known such distress, not even when she had tripped and tumbled to the bottom of a ravine around the cliffs of Mykenos. She whimpered, biting her lip so hard she tasted ichor.

“Shh, dear one.” Hades’ thumb rubbed distracting little circles at the apex of Persephone’s sex, though they were not quite distracting enough to cancel out the pain.

Persephone lay with her cheek resting on the pillow, which was quite damp with her tears. But goddesses healed quickly, and she was no exception. With the next thrust, the pain was already easing as her tortured flesh healed itself, though it did not restore her maidenhead.

Hades seemed aware of this, as she increased her pace, settling into a comfortable rhythm. In the dark, Persephone could just make out the vague outline of her face and the reflective gleam of her eyes.

Persephone did not think she could peak again so soon, not like this, but Hades showed no signs of stopping. The constant friction turned the vague ache into an unpleasant burn. Persephone whimpered, trying to angle her hips in a way that would ease the ache.