The Goddess Test Boxed Set: Goddess Interrupted\The Goddess Inheritance\The Goddess Legacy (49 page)

Henry.

Chapter
Eighteen
Rocked

My mouth went dry, and
I picked up the boots and tossed them on the bed. I'd been so convinced that
he wouldn't want anything else to do with me that I hadn't bothered to think
about what to say. I had no real reason to apologize, except for maybe
calling him out in front of everyone, but that was the only part I
regretted.

“I'm sorry about the mess, I was
just—”

“Packing. Yes, I see that.” He
waved a hand, and my already overstuffed suitcase seemed to empty. When I
opened my mouth to protest, I saw that he hadn't made anything vanish; the
suitcase had only gotten deeper. “Is this a bad time?”

The last thing I wanted was to
fight with him, but I couldn't very well leave the Underworld before
finishing this one way or the other. “I have a few minutes,” I said, folding
a pair of jeans. “What was all of the arguing about?”

The corner of Henry's mouth
twitched with annoyance. “What you might expect. Diana was not pleased with
me, and neither was Walter. I suspect that despite our earlier discussion,
you are not, either.”

I considered lying, but it
wouldn't do any good. “No, I'm not,” I said. “We never—figured it out. But I
don't want to be the person who tries to force you to feel something you
don't. I meant what I said. I won't leave you unless you don't want me here
anymore.”

“I wish for you to stay, yet
here you are, packing three months early,” he said quietly, and I
stopped.

“You know why,” I mumbled. “I'll
be back as soon as I find Rhea.”

“For how long?”

I gently extracted the boot I'd
dropped from Pogo's mouth. “As long as you'll have me.”

“That will be for a very long
time.”

I exhaled and smiled, feeling as
if a weight were lifted off my chest. “Good.”

He stepped toward me and touched
my cheek. “I enjoy seeing you smile. It means I have done something right. I
am afraid that sometimes I cannot tell.”

“It's okay.” I tilted my head
into his hand. He cupped my face and brushed his thumb against my jaw.
“Persephone told me that you said it wasn't as good as you expected. When
she kissed you, I mean.”

Something flickered behind his
eyes, but it was gone so fast that I couldn't tell what it was. “No, it was
not. I find little joy in showing affection to someone who does not return
it.”

“Yeah, me, too.” I covered his
hand with mine and pressed my lips against his palm. “It hurts being the one
who loves more.”

Henry stepped closer so our
bodies were only inches apart. Despite the warmth that radiated from him, I
shivered. “If I had been unchained, I would have ripped Calliope to pieces
in the cavern. Had Walter allowed me, I would have done it the moment I had
her alone in the palace.”

I snorted softly. “Is that
supposed to be romantic?”

“It is supposed to be the
truth.” He stared at me, and my breath caught in my throat. “If I were a
better man, I would be able to show you the love and affection you deserve.
As I am not, I can only offer you what I am capable of giving. But I assure
you, just because I do not show it doesn't mean I do not feel
it.”

It was exactly what everyone had
been trying to tell me since September, but hearing the words come from
Henry finally made me believe them. “I think I'm getting that,” I said
thickly. “I don't want you to be anyone you aren't.”

“Then trust me when I say there
is no one else I would rather be with.” He ran his fingers through my hair
and tickled my neck with the ends. “Not even Persephone. She was my past,
and I was never her future. There was a time when I fought for her, but
fighting for someone is meaningless if they are not happy with
you.”

“Am I doing the right thing,
then?” I said. “Fighting for you.”

He circled his arms around my
waist, and he was so close that I could feel his breath against my cheek.
“No,” he said, and the word made my stomach contract. But before I could
panic, he continued, his voice smooth and meant only for me. “You never had
to fight for me to begin with. I am yours and have been from the moment I
saw you.”

Everything I'd worried myself
sick about, every awful thought I had, every doubt, deserved or not—Henry
could have prevented them all if he'd simply said that in September. Even
the way Persephone had kissed him, I could have understood if only I hadn't
been left alone with my fears for so long. Or maybe if we'd talked about it
earlier, she would've never had to kiss him in the first place. I wheezed a
sigh of relief. “It would've been nice to know that three months
ago.”

A ghost of a smile graced his
features. “Yes, I suppose it would have been, and I am sorry for how I have
acted. I will do better in the future.” He pressed his lips to my forehead.
“Please do not go.”

In that moment, the last thing I
wanted to do was leave him, and I looped my arms around him. “You know I
have to. I can't stand by and do nothing, and without Rhea, you could all
die. It's worth the risk. You know it is.”

Henry sighed. “You are too
stubborn for your own good.”

“I hear it runs in the family.”
A moment passed, and I said softly, “When I come back…would it be all right
with you if I stayed?”

He furrowed his brow. “Why would
it not? I would do anything to make you not go, but that does not mean I
will not welcome you back when you return.”

“No, I mean—” I hesitated. “Our
deal. Do I have to leave every spring, or can I stay down here with
you?”

He stilled, at last
understanding. I held my breath as I waited for his answer, and he pulled
away enough to look at me, his eyes searching mine. He wouldn't find the lie
he was looking for though. “You want to stay here all year? With
me?”

“With you. As your
wife.”

“As my wife,” he echoed, his
gaze growing distant. I bit my lip.

“Is that all right? Staying here
all year wouldn't be breaking any rules or anything, would it?”

“I am the one who makes the
rules. If you wish to stay, then you may.” He cupped my neck, his palm warm
against my bare skin. “I would be very grateful if you did, but I do not
want you to unless you are certain it is what you want. You would have the
opportunity to visit the surface whenever you wished, but it is dreary down
here.” He hesitated, as if he didn't know if he should bring it up or not.
“Persephone used to say that once you have seen the sun, it is impossible to
truly be happy without it.”

“I'll probably go up for a few
days every once in a while,” I said, brushing off the twinge of jealousy
inside of me at his mention of Persephone. He simply didn't want to put me
in the same situation. I could understand that, and if we were going to have
any chance at making this work, I had to. Persephone had been a huge part of
his life, and in some ways, she still was. I could either fight it or accept
it, and right then, I would've done anything to stop feeling so damn
miserable all the time. Including swallow my pride and forgive my sister for
what she'd done to Henry, and forgive Henry for still loving her. “But while
the surface has the sun, I would much rather be down here with
you.”

He rested his forehead against
mine. “I would be honored.”

We stood like that for a long
moment. I noticed the silver scar from Cronus's first attack peeking out
from underneath Henry's collar, and I traced it. He would be safe in the
Underworld, and I wouldn't have to worry about his safety anymore. Everyone
else's, yes, but not Henry's.

“In the council meeting…” He
paused and brushed his thumb against my bottom lip. “You said I have not
given you a kiss good-night since you arrived. I know it is not yet noon,
but would now be an acceptable time to remedy that?”

I grinned so hard that the
muscles in my cheeks strained. It had been a long time since I'd smiled like
that. I'd missed it. “Now would be perfect.”

When his lips touched mine,
desire flooded through me, intertwining with delicious triumph. Calliope
hadn't won. No matter what she did to me or how many Titans she sent to kill
me, she would never take Henry away from me.

I wrapped my arms around his
neck and let my body mold to the contours of his. There was no substitute
for the warmth that filled me, no amount of holding me at night to make up
for the lack of this between us. It was perfect. Henry, with all of his
imperfections, and me with mine—together, we were just right.

He eased me onto the mattress
and brushed my piles of clothing aside to make room for both of us. At the
foot of the bed, Pogo let out an annoyed squeak and jumped onto the floor. I
would give him a nice, long belly rub later, because right now, short of
Cronus appearing in the bedroom, nothing was going to pull me away from
Henry.

When he toyed with the hem of my
sweater, I tugged it off and tossed it amidst the other clothing. He splayed
his hand over my bare stomach and broke away from me, watching me with a
baffled look in his eyes.

“What is it?” I said, catching
my breath. “Is everything all right?”

It took him a moment to respond.
“Are you sure you wish to do this?”

Every doubt I'd had came rushing
back, but after a moment of dizzying panic, I remembered what Persephone had
told me about her and Henry's wedding night. This would be the first time
we'd done this without the influence of an aphrodisiac, and if he thought
there was a chance I could react like Persephone had, then his hesitation
made perfect sense. I forced myself to breathe steadily. “I'm
positive.”

Henry seemed to accept this, but
when he leaned in to kiss me again, another awful possibility popped into my
mind, and I turned my head at the last moment so he caught my cheek instead.
“Why? Do you not want to? We don't have to if you'd rather not, it's all
right. I can wait. I want to wait if you do.”

“I promise you that I want to do
this more than anything else in the world,” he said, pressing his lips to
the corner of my mouth. “I have wanted to since you first returned, but I
thought giving you time would be prudent.”

“And here I was, thinking you
would've rather slept in a pool of lava than with me,” I joked, but it
wasn't entirely false. I gave him a quick kiss in return. “We need to work
on this whole talking to each other thing. We'd get a lot more done if we
did.”

“Yes, we would,” he said before
capturing my lips once more. I deftly unbuttoned his shirt, and when it fell
open, I pulled away again.

“You're not going to get angry
again and throw things when it's over, will you?” I said, and Henry gave me
a look that sent a jolt of electricity down my spine. The look Persephone
had mentioned. The look I knew I could never forget now that I'd seen
it.

“Would you please hush and let
me kiss you?”

Laughing, I pulled him back
toward me. “I'm all yours.”

He shrugged his shirt off and
ran his hands down my sides, and everything else seemed to melt away. He was
the only thing I could see, the only thing I could feel, and I wouldn't have
had it any other way. For the first time since I'd arrived in the
Underworld, I was home.

* * *

Henry and I spent the
rest of the day and night in bed together, talking and laughing and knocking
boots, as Ava had so delicately called it. In between we slept curled
together, with my head on his chest and his arm around me, the same position
we'd slept in during my time in Eden Manor. It was familiar and comforting,
and with so much uncertainty lying ahead of us, I needed that
badly.

In the middle of the night, I
woke up to feel him hovering over me, watching me. Caught between sleeping
and consciousness, I ran my hand down his chest, dipping my finger into his
navel. “Is everything all right?”

“Perfect.” A glowing ball of
light appeared near the top of the canopy bed. “I was simply thinking about
the future.”

“What about it?” I said. “If
you're going to try to talk me into not going after Rhea, you can forget
it—”

“Always jumping to conclusions.”
He chuckled and kissed me, and I obediently shut up. “I meant what it would
be like to have you here all year. I have never had anyone spend that much
time in the Underworld with me before.”

“I want to,” I whispered.
“You're my family now.”

I expected him to kiss me again,
but instead he pulled away. In the low light, I thought I saw him studying
me, but my vision was bleary from sleep, and I couldn't be sure. “Do you
still want to be my queen?”

“Of course,” I said, confused.
“I thought that was implied with the whole being your wife
thing.”