Free The Goddess by Robyn Grady

Darius walked back into the bedroom. His smile
     was gone. Actually, his complexion looked almost chalky. He sat on the edge of the
     mattress and took her hand in his while she pulled herself up.
    “Something’s wrong,” she said.
    “Probably nothing.” He gave a thin smile. “We’d have to be pretty unlucky.”
    His gaze lowered before his shoulders straightened and jaw tipped up. “The condom
     broke.”
    Helene’s mouth dropped wide open. “ How ?” Holding her brow, she shook her head. Oh God . “It doesn’t matter how.”
    She collapsed onto the pillows. The condom broke ? And she wasn’t using any form of contraception. She said the only thing that seemed
     to fit. “It’s my fault.”
    “Of course this isn’t your fault.”
    “I flirted with you today. I wore all that silk last night…”
    “I make my own decisions. I’d feel this way about you no matter what you wear.” Visibly
     reining himself in, he lowered his voice. “What’s done is done.”
    She swallowed against the sick feeling backing up her throat. “Have you ever had this
     kind of thing happen before?”
    He pressed a kiss on her furrowed brow. “We’ll be fine. Some couples try for years
     to…well, to…”
    “Get pregnant?”
    A lead weight sailed through her middle. She wished she hadn’t said that word aloud.
     But as Darius had pointed out, creating a baby wasn’t always as easy as some might
     think. Plenty spent a bucket load on IVF. Other people never became parents no matter
     how long they tried. But Helene would bet her life not too many of them had a genuine
     fertility figurine sitting in the corner of their bedroom.
    She tugged the sheet out from the foot of the bed. She needed space. She thought Darius
     might feel the same way.
    “I might go pick some fruit for lunch,” she said.
    He looked as preoccupied as she felt. It took a moment for him to smile and nod. “I’ll
     be out soon.”
    With the sheet wrapped around her, she walked out the door. Passing through the main
     room, she scooped up her scattering of clothes. In her quarters, she crossed to an
     arched window that overlooked the sea.
    She felt numb. Stupefied. She and Darius Vasily had made love. Protection had malfunctioned.
     And so…
    What if the unthinkable had happened? What if she were pregnant? Were cells already splitting and multiplying inside of her?
    Gazing out over the ocean, she followed that thought to a not so surprising conclusion.
     If she had conceived, she had a choice to make—and that choice would be to let nature
     take its course. She’d never had to think about those options on a personal level
     before. Or about giving a baby up for adoption either.
    Her chin lifted even as she swallowed the ball of nerves stuck in her throat.
    If this time with Darius ended with her bearing a child, she could never give it up.
    Never, never.
    Of course, it wouldn’t come to that. For now, there was nothing to do but wait and
     see.
    On her way to the bathroom, the shorts slipped from her hand. The shell in the back
     pocket bounced to the floor and rolled under the ornately carved wardrobe. She crossed
     over, knelt down, and swept an arm underneath. No luck.
    Setting her cheek to the floor, she peered between four wooden claws. The shell sat
     well back against the wall. Lying flat, she stuck her arm under again and reached.
    Her fingers grazed the cool smooth surface but the wardrobe was so deep, even with
     edging her shoulder completely under she couldn’t grab it. Grunting, she strained
     and then snatched. Her knuckles hit the wardrobe’s timber bottom. A second later,
     it fell on her arm—or at least part of the bottom did.
    As she slid her arm out, a sheet of paper came with it. One side was covered in writing—sentences
     penned in English. Rolling onto her back, Helene held the paper above her head and
     read the first line.
    The world had gone mad.
    Her gaze swept the yellowed page. It smelled old, too. She swept