Persephone in Winter
                    


                                Chapter 6


It arrived a month later, delivered by a tuxedoed messenger who smiled
briefly, then returned to the limo waiting at the curb.  The package
was large and black, its length and width secured tightly by a gleaming
silver cable of ribbon.  A single red rose was tied at the center with
a shining knot nestled between clusters of menacing thorns.  Steven
stood behind the closed door for a full minute, not able to take a
step, staring at his own reflection in the glossy surface.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

Elyse had come up behind him in her bare feet, and her voice startled
him. He turned, holding the package carefully out in front of him as
though it might be radioactive.

"Oh. That."

He lifted his eyes from the box. Elyse stood there in her robe, her
expression at first calm, then apologetic. She seemed to be waiting
for him to speak.

"Please don't go."

His voice sounded so small, as though he barely had the air to make the
words come.  He wanted her to move closer, to take the box and hurl it
into the trash and assure him she could never go to him again.  Instead
she looked down at the box as though sizing its dimensions. Steven
shivered as he imagined she was guessing its contents.

"You don't have to go. He can't force you."

She began to go to him, then stopped after several steps, lowering her
head as she spoke.  Her robe was undone, and parted a few extra inches
in the front as she walked.  His eyes wandered down over the trail of
exposed flesh, the inner curves of her breasts, her flat belly, to the
naked slit between her legs, now freshly shaved and parted slightly to
reveal a deep red, pulsing core.

"You don't understand. He only sees me when I ask. I thought you knew
that. It's me. I have to go."

"You don't have to go, damn it! I love you, but even I have limits!
Just how much more do you expect me to take?"

Her expression changed to one of disappointment. Her eyes were filled
with more sadness than he had ever seen.

"I know you have limits. I suppose I knew you would reach them
eventually, that in the end you would leave. I need this, and I need
you. I knew that I couldn't have both for long - or at least I feared
it."

"I never said I was leaving - I don't know if I could," Steven said.

"Then please stay with me, please indulge me, for at least a while
longer. You won't be sorry. I promise."

Her last words were delivered with sultry assurance. She smiled, and
her eyes brightened. Unable to think, he extended the box, offering it
to her. She moved to his side and slid the robe off her shoulders,
holding it open, offering her body to him.

"Put it on the bed, then shower with me. I want to be close to you
before we go, both of us naked and warm and wet..."

She offered herself to him under the pulsing jets of water, eyes
closed, mouth open and panting as Steven ran the soap over her body.
When his hand trailed between her legs, she reached up and kissed him,
their bodies pressed together, skin made slick and sensitive by the
thin film of soapy water between them.  When she felt his erection grow
against her, she went to her knees and played with him, running soapy
fingers of one hand along the hardening shaft, cupping and pulling
gently at his balls with the other. Elyse knew the signs of her
husband's orgasm, and just as he began to thrust his hips, she stopped,
rising to whisper in his ear.

"I love your hard cock in my hands, but I can't make you cum tonight.
He won't allow it. But I can stay here with you, help you enjoy it, if
you do it yourself. Please - I'd love to see you make yourself cum.
Please my love, for me?"

Her tongue was in his ear, then licking his neck, traveling down to
suck at his nipples - and she was moaning, groaning, like an animal in
heat. Steven's head was swimming with lust and confusion.  He'd said he
would do whatever she wanted - to hell with the man in the mansion - he
needed her here and now.

He came after just a few strokes, thrusting and moaning as Elyse
nibbled at his belly.  She looked down just as his semen erupted from
the end of his cock, his hand stroking furiously as his hips pumped
back and forth.  She fought her own impending orgasm, gained control,
then suddenly lost it again as the warmth rushed over her. She
stiffened, still on her knees, thighs pressed tightly together, trying
to shake the involuntary spasms that traveled in waves from belly to
neck. It was the first time she had disobeyed Simon - he forbade her to
cum the day of their meeting. She hadn't touched herself - another
first for her. Why had this happened? Why had she asked her husband to
masturbate just hours before giving her to another man? And why had
she cum when he gave in so easily to her suggestion? She went cold as
Simon's words echoed in her head.

     "There is a certain exhilaration in exercising one's
      power over another, even if it's someone close to
      your heart...as horrifying as you might find it on
      the surface, the pain you deliver with a newfound
      weapon can be both empowering and arousing."

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