Page 36 of Unleash Hades
I would burn the world down before I separated from her for that long again.
“Hugo,” she whispered. “I love you.”
I kissed her throat, licking the light sweat that had formed there.
She was devoted in her love. To me, to her sister, to her sons. She loved fully and unconditionally. It was so easy to love her back. To love her from a distance. To love her the way I did.
To know, even after ten years, that she belonged in my arms.
For now, the world was perfect.
If I died at this moment, the only thing I would care about was making sure I didn’t drop Calissandra - I would hate it if she hurt herself on a broom, or whatever sharp objects might be in this darkness.
I did, regretfully, lower her legs down.
Soon she would be mine. All mine.
Even if it killed me.
I held her face against my naked chest. Her warm cheek against my skin. I stroked her curled hair in my palm, memorizing every twist of them as I had done years ago.
She still smelled the same. Like ink, and leather books, with the floral undercurrent of those sweet berries - one of the few things I could still eat.
The warm moisture of her tears made me draw her into me. I did not need to ask why she cried. She did not need to tell me.
I just held her.
“Je t’aime, mon amour,” I whispered into her hair.I love you, my love.
She rubbed her face against my chest and wiped the tears away on my skin.
“I hate this,” she said, her nose a little stuffed. “I get a moment of happiness, but I know it has to end. I’ll be plunged back into the misery that I live in.”
I wound my fingers through her curls, bunching them at the base of her neck, tilting her head up to me, as if she could see me in the darkness.
My eyes had drunk her plenty over the years. But my hands? They were taking their fair share now. I was hungry to feel her,and blindness made the sense of touch so much stronger. I felt the goosebumps on her heated skin, the slight tremble of her shoulders. I felt it all, and I wanted to feel more.
I wanted to feel her joy, her sorrows, her fears… I wanted to cradle her face in my hands, and let my thumbs roam her features as each expression passed those beautiful features.
“It’s easier to be miserable if you don’t know what joy feels like.” I swiped her tears away.
My poor summer sweetheart needed sunlight and nurturing. She needed to be cherished and adored, or she would wilt. That was what I was. The adoration every flower needs to grow. I just had to work harder at it with her, because…. Because of that bastard.
“Ask me for help,” I choked out. “Ask me, and I will come. I will fix it all.”
“How?”
“I have a plan.”
“What plan?” Her voice was full of disbelief, but she did not know me. Not like that.
She had known me as a soldier, and as an adoring lover. Back when they called me Hades, and I was some dark, silent figure that lurked to impassively kill an enemy. It had been for her protection. She had liked that. I had given her warmth.
I had sheltered her.
But now I had to break open the windows and set her free. I had to let the sun shine on her.
Even an autumn berry cannot survive in darkness.
