Chapter 24 Persephone #2
I stared up at him, trying to concentrate on his words instead of the pleasure still rocking through my tremoring body, my desire to touch him, to feel him inside me, for him to take me completely.
“But you said I couldn't stay.”
“I know. But, I can't do it. I can't let you go again.”
Something inside me sparked, and it wasn't connected to my desire. It was deeper than that. I was happy. I was happy that he didn't want me to go.
But that wasn't the plan. I needed to get back to New York, away from murderous gods and amoral assholes.
And leave your powers, underwater worlds, flying ships and a fucking god who wants to spend an eternity worshiping you?
“I- I don't know if I belong here,” I said hesitantly. Hades said nothing, but emotion flickered through his eyes. “But I do know that I feel something for you. Something I have never felt before.”
“We are bound,” he said quietly. “But you have not fully accepted it. If you do, you will feel it.”
“I already feel something.”
He shook his head.
“It is not something. It is everything.”
I didn't know what to say. Guilt washed over me.
“I'm sorry,” I said, meaning it. I wanted, more than anything, to make him happy. Not just because of how much I wanted him physically, but because it was unbelievably important to me that he was happy. That must be the bond he was talking about, I supposed.
He stood up slowly.
“I'll make you a deal,” he said. “If the bond awakens, and you feel it, I'll do everything in my power to keep you here. But if it is truly gone, then I swear you'll go back to New York, with no memory of me or Olympus.”
I sat up straight, pushing my legs together. This conversation was no longer about sex. And I didn't know what I wanted anymore.
As much of me that wanted to return home to my brother and my gardens, also wanted to stay here, to find my powers, be with Hades and grow trees for eternity.
But the thought of the Empusa's lair, the people in the hourglasses at the ball, Hades' own indifferent reaction to what the gods did for entertainment, all made me pause.
That wasn't me. And even if it was, there was no way in the world I could live in this place, with no outside, no windows, and death and demons beneath our feet.
“I need to think about this,” I said. “It's a lot to take in, and I only just got my powers back. I don't know my place here at all.”
“Your place is by my side,” he said tightly, after a long pause. Part of me agreed with him, instinctively. The part that wished he'd kept his gorgeous mouth shut and not started this conversation. But not a large enough part of me to be sure.
“How about we talk about this if I survive all the Trials?” I said as casually as I could manage.
“You need to win the Trials.”
“What?”
“If you do not, I must marry Minthe.”
A bolt of jealousy ripped through me at the thought of him wed to someone else, and I screwed my face up.
“It's not that easy,” I said. “I don't know if you've noticed, but your brothers really don't seem keen to make my time in Olympus pleasant.”
“You need to win,” he repeated. Frustration welled in me.
“I haven't even decided if I want to stay!” Hurt flashed across his face, and suddenly his shirt shimmered back over his chest.
“You've been through a lot today. You need to get some rest,” he said, his voice awkward and formal.
“But—” I started, then flinched and looked down as I felt my fighting clothes reappear around my body. They were dry now. “Hades, please,” I tried again.
“I lost you once,” he said quietly. “I don't know if I can do it again.”
“Just give me a little time to think,” I said and stood, reaching up to touch his face. His silver eyes flashed with desperation as he bowed his head and kissed me softly.
“Just try to win,” he said. I stared into his face, my mind whirring.
If I really could win, and I did, then I would have the upper hand. I would at least have the option of choosing to stay with him, as unlikely as I thought that would be.
The thought of him kissing someone else, lifting someone else into this chair, touching them as he had me, caused an undercurrent of fury to blaze through me.
But that didn't mean anything, I told myself.
He'd just made me feel freaking incredible.
Of course I would feel possessive of him right now.
Even without Hades in the equation though, I was discovering that I had magic powers that felt amazing, and had glimpsed a limitless world beyond anything I could have imagined.
There was no way I was in the right frame of mind to be making decisions this huge right now.
But if I won the Trials, I would have time, and surely more freedom to make a real decision. A calm, well-informed decision that didn't hinge on fear or lust.
“OK. I'll try,” I said, and something fierce glittered in his eyes as he pulled me into him, kissing me again. I couldn't help the wave of happiness as I kissed him back.
If this bond he talked about did awaken, then I would have to deal with it then.