8. Resolve Renewed
He found her in his bed, clad in one of his robes. She was hugging a pillow to her chest, sniffling. She was alone. He'd left her to cry alone. She probably felt so lost, confused, and lonely. At least he'd found comfort in a friend, but she had no one to turn to in this dark, cold realm. His chest constricted at the despicable deed, and he almost turned away from her because he wasn't sure how long he could keep himself together in the face of all the wrong he'd done to her.
However much he wanted to avoid the looming conversation, Hades silently crossed the room. He sat on the edge of the bed, his back to her. They sat there for a long, long time, neither of them daring to speak. Finally, when he felt he could avoid it no longer, Hades opened his mouth.
"I didn't bring you here because of your father." His voice was quiet, but the lack of all other noise in the room made it seem so much louder. "I only became interested in you after we met. And it wasn't just your body I was after, because all goddesses are beautiful. But you were different. You aren't like the rest of them."
He chuckled morbidly, shaking his head. "I would not have gone to you if you had not picked my flower, Persephone. I swear, no matter how many times your father came to me, I would not have gone to you if you had not picked me first."
He sighed then, turning to face her. She was looking down, arms still wrapped around the pillow. She looked so fragile. She probably regretted giving herself to him, probably regretted the soft way she'd touched him, the way she'd let him kiss her, and all those pretty words. She'd probably scorn him as a liar for the rest of their long lives.
"I'm not sorry for bringing you here." He added then, because he wasn't. "I did nothing wrong. You made the choice to come with me, you made the choice to sleep with me. But I am sorry for keeping things from you. I am sorry for leaving you here alone. But I'm not sorry for bringing you here and being with you."
He was extending a hand to her before he could stop himself, and after a moment he lowered it back down onto the bed. "Come on, sunshine. I'm taking you home."
His words froze her. After he'd left, there had been nothing she'd wanted more than to go home to her garden and cry. She wanted someone to hold her, to pet her hair and tell her that everything was going to be alright. But after that, after all her crying was done, she wanted to be able to return to him and be held by him to. She wanted to be able to say she was sorry for what she'd said, wanted to tell him she should have believed her.
But now he was offering to take her home, and she knew, she knew he thought it meant he would never see her again. He was going to do it for her, too.
It was that thought, along with the addition of his pet-name for her, that made her tears start all over again.
She didn't want to leave him. She didn't want to never see him again. This was a man who made her feel like a woman, and not because he'd taken her to bed. What he'd said was true. He hadn't gone through her mother, and though her father had gone through him, he'd turned down that offer and had instead gone to her himself. That was something no man had done before. Hell, even the nymphs who surrounded her were gifted to her by her mother. They always made friends, but…
The bed shifted, and she looked up to find Hades standing. "I'm sorry, really. I'll come back when you're ready. I understand you don't want to see me right—"
She reached out, grabbing his sleeve as she pushed the pillow away, unfolding her legs as she stood. She wasn't sure whose arms went around who first. All she knew was that he was holding her again, his hand in her hair as he cradled her head against him. His breath of relief was shuddering and uneven as it rushed past her ear. She'd scared him. She'd scared the Lord of the Underworld, and all she'd had to do was make him think she was about to leave him. Oh yes, this was a man she could come to love, and one who would come to love her in return.
Suddenly, Persephone found herself being plucked off the ground. Again, she was on the dark expanse of his bed, its lush crimson sheets cool against her skin. But Hades was warm, so warm as he held her, stroking her hair and pressing kisses to her cheeks, and her hair, and her neck…
"It's alright." He murmured shakily in her ear. "Everything's going to be okay, sweetheart. Don't cry any more. I'll make everything better. Tell me what you want, Persephone. Anything."
"Don't make me go." She sobbed against his chest. His heart was beating so fast, and she couldn't stop her tears. "I'm sorry… what I said was… Don't make me leave you."
He paused, but after a moment that comforting stroking continued, his hand rubbing soothing circles over her back. "Why would I chase my lover away?" He finally replied, and her sobs renewed again, this time because her relief was so overwhelming she couldn't help but succumb to it.
She was sleeping again. She'd cried, and cried, and cried until he wasn't sure how much more his heart could take. And he had a heart. He may have been the Lord of the Underworld, but he had a heart, damn it, and never before had it ached so much. Never again, he'd silently vowed, would she cry like this. Not over him, at least.
He needed to keep her close, that was obvious. And tell her everything. He needed to tell her everything. Ah, and no more assuming. He would fight for her, try to work things out. This fight, their first fight, had worked itself out, but he'd been prepared to let her go. It would have killed him to do so, but he would have let her go.
He doubted she would sleep for long. She'd exhausted herself, but she'd slept quite a bit since she'd come to him. And even if she did sleep for a long time, for decades or centuries, he would stay there holding her. He owed it to her. It was his fault she'd cried herself to sleep in the first place.
She did wake not long after falling asleep, though. He knew the moment she was awake because the hand resting on his chest tightened, fisting in his robe as her head turned in toward him, and she inhaled deeply. Then her knees bent, her feet sliding across the sheets as her back arched ever so slightly and her body lifted itself closer to him. He'd never realized the act of his lover waking in his arms could be so incredibly erotic, didn't think anything could top it. But then, she opened her eyes, and smiled.
His heart stopped beating.
"Hades." She murmured sleepily, rubbing her eyes. He knew that if she'd been human, her eyes would be puffy from crying, but he saw none of that. She was as perfect as ever.
"You're awake, sunshine." He found himself smiling back at her as he stroked her cheek. "How was your nap?"
"You held me the entire time." She seemed to realize then, and she pushed his chest gently. "Silly man."
He kissed her softly. "I'm glad to know you enjoyed it." He kissed the corner of her eye as he had done so many times before as he'd held her, soothing her. Now there were no tears, however, and that raw ache in his chest from having caused those tears was muted. "I left you with no one to hold you while you cried. This is making up for it."
She sighed at that, but it was the kind of sigh that expressed complete and utter contentment. His smile softened. "You didn't want to go home after your father told you about the deal he tried to strike with me, did you?"
"I did." She replied without hesitation, and for a moment his heart sank. But then she reached up, placing her palm on his cheek. "I wanted to go home to be angry, and upset, and be alone for a little while. I would have come back to you. I didn't want to leave you forever."
Her words soothed him, and again he told himself that this was what he wanted. Or at least, this was something that was rapidly becoming what he wanted. "I didn't want you to leave me forever, either." He replied, touching her cheek.
"I suppose we're on the same page, then." She smiled, resting her head on his chest. "I've never had a lover before, so it goes without saying that I've never had a lovers' quarrel. However, I've heard we are supposed to settle large arguments where we fight, and cry, and fear for the future of our relationships with sex. Shall we go to the tub and finish what you started with me before my father… interfered?"
Hades chuckled at her. From her expression, she wasn't really into the idea of having more sex. She was merely trying to please him. She probably also wanted to prove herself to him after what she'd said. However, her words were no longer insulting to him. It didn't matter that no other women would have him; he didn't want them anyway. He just wanted her, and if she was the only one who would have him, then that just made it easier for the two of them.
"You've heard interesting things about the so-called ways of lovers, sunshine. But I have a different idea." Shifting, he gathered her into his arms and got out of bed, setting her onto her feet as he stood himself. After a moment of hesitation, he straightened his robe so no other men would get a glimpse of those luscious curves and her delectable, sun-kissed skin. She truly was a nature goddess.
"You're fussing over me." She tsked as he went over to find his comb. He returned to her to brush out those wonderfully silky-smooth tresses, pressing a kiss to the back of her head. Despite her complaint, she stood still, and he had a sneaking suspicion that she enjoyed the act of being fussed over as much as he enjoyed doing the fussing. After all, didn't women like being possessed by their lovers? He know he enjoyed whatever attention she deigned to give his body.
When he was done, Hades tossed the comb onto his bed, wrapping his arms around her from behind. When she leaned back against him, her head tilting to the side, he obligingly dipped his head to sample the skin on her neck. The love bite he'd left her was fading (oh, the complications of being a quick-healing goddess), so he closed his mouth over her skin and remedied that problem. He even chuckled against her skin as her hand reached up to tangle her fingers in his curls.
"Are we ready to go, then?" Hades asked before mischievously swabbing the mark he'd left with his tongue, then blowing a cool breath over her skin. She shuddered in his arms as she looked up at him with dark amusement.
"Where are we going?" She asked, turning in his arms to kiss his neck. Then, as she always seemed to do, she reciprocated his gesture, closing her mouth around a patch of skin at his neck and sucking.
He couldn't help the nearly inaudible moan that escaped him, and he promptly forgot her question. "What?" He asked, his fingers tangling in her hair.
She licked him the same way he'd licked her, and he was shuddering in her arms even before she blew a cool breath across the mark she'd left him. "Where are we going?" She repeated patiently.
"Oh." He tilted her head back for a kiss, unable to keep himself but lingering longer than he'd intended when she accepted his tongue into her mouth. He was breathing a little too hard when he pulled away from her to rest his forehead against hers. "How do you feel about dogs?"
Author's Note:
Chapter eight! Thank you so much for reading. Another quick update, and again, it's a little on the short side. Now that they've reconciled after their first fight, they're off to have a little couple time out of the bed (and the tub), but how long can that last with an angry Demeter looming over them? We'll just have to see next time. Thank you to those who are still reading. Your comments really keep me going.
xxDusty