Chapter Thirty-Seven #2
She walked through the back door to the house and moved slowly up the corridor.
The house sat oddly quiet. Artemis was far too recovered from her bout with chicken pox to be as quiet as she was being.
Daphne was perpetually quiet, illness or no.
Had the girls gone out? It was too late in the day for a picnic.
Persephone made her way closer to the front of the house. The door to the sitting room stood ajar. She stepped closer. She could hear footsteps inside but nothing else, heavy footsteps, like boots instead of slippers.
A gentleman caller? Athena was of age, Persephone reminded herself. Was Papa making the prospective suitor wait? More likely he had completely forgotten about the unfortunate young man’s existence.
Determined to see this beau herself, Persephone stepped inside. She had every intention of making her own assessment, knowing Papa’s could not always be counted on.
Persephone stopped just past the threshold, her breath suddenly impossible to catch.
“Adam,” she whispered.
He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again without saying a word. There was an awkwardness to him that was entirely foreign. Vulnerability touched every inch of his face.
“Have you come to take me home?” Persephone hoped he had and yet also hoped he hadn’t. She’d missed him terribly but was enjoying visiting her family as well.
“When you’re ready,” he answered after a moment. “But I . . .” He let out a breath. “I wanted to see Shropshire,” he said. “To see where you grew up.”
“You did?” His explanation proved somewhat disappointing.
“And get to know your family.”
That was a little better.
“And, I . . .” He shook his head, letting the thought dangle. Adam moved closer to her, a sudden intensity in his look. “Hades always went after Persephone.”
“Yes, he did.” She stepped closer to him.
“He waited as long as he had to,” Adam said, “then he left his kingdom and didn’t come back until he found her.” He stood close enough she could have reached out and touched him.
Persephone’s lungs tightened inside her. “I think Hades must have missed his wife,” she said, her heart suddenly pounding.
Adam didn’t look away, didn’t step back. “I think he knew to the very minute how long she had been gone. But was Persephone as anxious to return as he was to have her with him again?”
“I think she was.”
Adam reached out his hand and softly touched her cheek. Persephone closed her eyes, determined not to be distracted from the sensation of his touch. She could hear him, feel him close the distance between them.
Her heart soared with newfound hope, and she clung to it desperately.
Adam pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Why did Hades go after her?” he asked in a low voice, his lips still brushing her face.
She barely managed to keep breathing. “He must have loved her,” she whispered.
Adam’s response emerged breathless. “He must have.”
His other hand joined the first, and he cupped her face in his hands. Persephone opened her eyes to look at him.
Adam met her gaze. “But did his Persephone love him in spite of his flaws, in spite of all he’d done to her?”
“Oh, Adam.” Tears fought for release, her voice quivering with emotion.
Adam pulled her to him, his arms wrapped firmly and protectively around her. “Am I too late?” he whispered against her hair. “Is there nothing I can . . . nothing to . . .”
Persephone cut across his stumbling attempts at expression.
Any speech even slightly tinged with emotion would be difficult for Adam.
Persephone understood that. And she didn’t need flowery speeches.
The fact that he had come for her, that he was holding her so tenderly and trying so desperately to express himself, was enough.
“I have been falling in love with you for weeks, Adam. I was certain you would never return those feelings.”
“What can I do, Persephone?” He tightened his hold on her. “How can I prove . . . show . . .”
She gazed up at him. “You are here.”
It was, apparently, all he needed to hear. “I have missed you,” Adam whispered in the moment before he kissed her.
Their only other kiss, discounting the one he’d not returned, had been breathtaking, leaving Persephone in awe for some time afterward. This kiss proved quite different. Where the last had been intense, this was endearing and tender. Adam held her to him as if he meant to never let her go.
Persephone touched his face softly with her fingertips, hardly daring to believe this turn.
The ruts of his scars were there beneath her fingers.
Adam did not pull away, did not flinch under her touch.
She slipped her arms around his neck and returned his attentions kiss for kiss, embrace for embrace.
“You do that very well,” Adam breathed when they finally broke apart.
Persephone smiled.
“Mother has invited us to Town for Christmas,” Adam said.
Persephone recognized the sacrifice that suggestion entailed. She shook her head. “I want to spend Christmas at home.”
A look of disappointment flashed through Adam’s eyes, and Persephone knew on the instant he had misunderstood.
“At Falstone,” she said. “With you.”
“The ton would not believe that even if they heard you say it.” Adam took one of her hands in his and raised it to his lips.
“Then we shall have to convince them.”
He kissed her fingers. “I may enjoy London yet.”
“Your mother would be pleased to hear that.” She nearly sighed out loud at the comfort of leaning her head once more against his shoulder.
“I need to spend some time with my mother.” A hint of emotion touched his voice.
“So do you still think marrying me was a mistake?”
“It was never a mistake. I simply didn’t see it for the miracle that it was.”
“A miracle,” Persephone repeated with quiet awe.
“Does this mean I can come to your castle?” a voice asked from the doorway.
“Artemis,” Persephone quietly warned, stepping away.
Adam pulled her immediately back to him and addressed Artemis himself. “Our castle is in need of a good exploration,” he said. “I believe we should schedule one. Perhaps if you have no other plans for Christmas, you might do so then.”
Artemis grinned and ran to where they stood, throwing her arms around Adam’s legs. “You’re the best duke that ever lived!” she declared.
“Yes, he is.” Persephone smiled up at Adam.
“Yes, I am.” Adam didn’t force down his grin. “The luckiest, at least.”
Artemis continued circling them, even spinning as she did so. Again and again she thanked him.
“You realize she will bring the rest of the family, and Falstone will be overrun with people.”
Adam nodded. “Which means I will probably be in a foul mood from time to time.” His expression turned more serious. “You will, once again, have to save me from myself. You have done that, you know.”
“Saved you?”
“My Persephone,” he whispered in her ear. “Do you know I would have come for you no matter how far you’d gone?”
“Hades always came for Persephone,” she echoed his earlier explanation.
He lightly kissed her again. “And she always returned home.”
“Always,” Persephone repeated. “Always.”