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“Why did you accept?”
“Accept?” Rose wrinkled her nose, not quite following.
“You would leave for six months at a time?” His words were harsh, cold.
“Not of my own choosing,” she said. “But I knew that Demeter would not give in. She will never give in. She’s too stubborn. At least with this compromise, I get to spend some time with you. I can be the queen of the underworld and the goddess of spring and please all parties.”
“And do you wish to spend time with me?” His dark eyes were unreadable.
“I want to spend all my time with you,” she said quietly.
He put his hands on the sides of her face and whispered “Good” before leaning in and kissing her fiercely.
Rose was so startled that she didn’t respond, and he broke the kiss a moment later. “You…
you… you’re not mad?”
“I’m furious,” he said and leaned in to kiss her again, nibbling at her lower lip in a way that made her knees weak.
“But… I stole from you,” she gasped between kisses. “I didn’t mean to, but I had to.”
“I understand,” he said, and a hint of a smile curved his mouth. “I love you, Rose.”
She blinked, astonished. “How… how did you know?”
“I guessed when you told me to call you by a different name,” Hades said. “Something about your personality was so different from how I remembered Persephone that it didn’t make sense to me. She was a timid, frightened creature who couldn’t stand to look at me. You, though. You looked at me with lust in your eyes and touched yourself at the thought of me touching you. You were completely different from her. When you told me to call you Rose, everything made sense.”
“Then you’re not mad that I had to steal your power? You acted mad on Olympus.”
“Only to make Zeus think he won the negotiations. As for my power, you stole only a very small piece. And when I saw that you’d used your magic to augment mine…” He smiled and touched her cheek gently. “I knew you cared for me. You would not have done it otherwise. My power is greater now than it ever was, thanks to your magic.”
“I’m sorry about your helmet, too—I brought it back but I can’t bring the flower back. I had to give it to someone. It was the only way I could stay here on this plane.”
He held her close, his gaze skimming over her. “And are you going to stay?”
“Forever.”
“Good,” he said again and kissed her once more. When she was breathless, he added, “I will not be pleased if my wife is gone from my side for six months at a time.”
She laughed. “You would not visit me?” Rose trailed a hand along his chest idly. “Such an uncreative thought from a man with a helmet that makes him invisible to all.”
“I thought you slept in your mother’s rooms.”
“Not since I’ve returned to Olympus. I insisted upon my independence. The goddess of
spring now has a small temple adjoining the larger one.”
“I see. Are you asking me to steal into your rooms at night and make love to you while you are at your mother’s side?”
She bit her lip and gave him a coy look. “It would be quite naughty, would it not?”
Hades grinned. “You are truly the perfect queen for me.”
“Then kiss me,” she commanded. “And show me.”
The
Once Upon a Time-Travel Series
features sexy alpha males and women that get a second chance at life through the stories of myth and legend, and feature a dotty little fairy godmother who doesn’t quite have her shit together.
Want to read more? Check out the other stories in the series:
MIRRORLIGHT
SHIMMERLIGHT
SUNLIGHT
THE MERMAID’S KNIGHT