Chapter 33
I was standing in the kitchen, trying to get myself to think about anything other than what was going to come. I grabbed a bowl off the shelf, inspected it and started giving it a wash in the sink. There wasn't anything particularly wrong with the bowl, I just needed something to keep myself occupied with, so my brain wasn't going to go on a rampage, taking my sanity down with it in the process.
I had temporarily moved in with my dad since my house had been destroyed and had people there, constructing a new one. This one had a room for Zoe because she couldn't keep occupying my room while I was sleeping on the couch. My poor back would get destroyed and I would have to drag my mighty god's ass around by crawling. I even planned on adding a second room later on in her teenager years to meet up with friends because I read in a parent magazine that this was something you should be doing to give your spawn privay and room to develop their personality.
I used this opportunity to upgrade my labs and to stock up some equipment that I had fancied for a while but didn't have room to accomodate them. My plant children had mostly survived the reconstruction of my sphere and I was still going to use them as guards around my house. First day the craftsman showed up, one almost got eaten and that just proved their efficiency and handiness. Why pay for guard dogs when you can have guard plants? No one expects them to do anything.
Everyone had tried to convince me that Chaos dad was dangerous and that I needed to figure out a way to detain him but I knew he wasn't being a threat to anyone except for my mother. I was willing to give him a chance. I managed to fabricate a decent vessel for him by stealing DNA samples from my dad's tooth brush and basically cloning him with some minor changes to fit his kind of magic. He left me with some of his magic and now there were two twin sets in the near related family. Then he just needed a name people could call him with.
"Collin?" I had asked, raising an eyebrow.
"New body, new me?" He had suggested, smirking at me.
"You don't really look like someone who would be called Collin." I huffed, unsure if he was messing with me.
He looked exactly like my dad except his sclera turned black everytime he fused with his vessel and it was driving me nuts. I had tried to adjust the pigment in the eye, tried to up the concentration of enzymes that bleached the white part of the eye. Nothing helped. I mean, silver iris on black background looked pretty cool and all but I wanted to know why it did that. The science part of me wasn't satisfied with coolness.
"What do I look like then?" He grinned, wandering around the hospital lab.
"I don't know? Dark lord of all? Destroyer of worlds?" I huffed, watching him.
"That would be the best name, unfortunately it's too long and just unfunctional in everyday use." He snickered as he got used to his new meat suit.
I had let him wander off after that. My dad had been really upset that I hadn't even tried to get him to stay with me and to report him to the proper authorities. They knew anyway. I had gotten a letter to appear in the Olympian court at 8 am for my formal hearing on the subject of Aether's death, the disappearance of my mother and sudden appearance of Collin. They wanted to properly investigate the circumstances. I wasn't going.
The entire pantheon had been in turmoil. God hybrids and lower blood gods and goddesses were being born all the time but first generation, pimordial ones were, as the name said, the first ones. Apparently, wrapping their head around the concept of Erebus being split in two was too much for the Olympians' tiny brains. I didn't care, I had better things to do than dealing with their false sense of entitlement. Like fending off the nymph who kept offering tea to me.
Caleb still thought that tea healed everything and he just had to bug me enough that I would eventually give in, take his stupid leave water and spill my feelings onto him. I just wanted to be not okay for a while. Let me just give up, let me stop trying for a while. I didn't want his tea and his stupid reasons why it was going to be okay. He didn't know what it's like. I just wanted to be left alone.
I set down the bowl after drying it off and put it away again. I rummaged through the cupboards until I found everything I was looking for. I cut up an apple and a banana because that was everything I managed to cook, filled a glass with orange juice and added two muesli bars. At least it was edible and looked only slightly like shit. It was still early in the morning and Caleb hadn't gotten up yet to make breakfast. The only reason why I was awake was because I hadn't slept since Aether died.
"Good morning." My dad yawned as he entered the kitchen.
I just nodded and poured myself a cup of coffee. I loaded the cup with sugar and downed it in one go, making my dad look at me as if this was an odd thing to do. I guess if you only drink tea, your taste buds couldn't appreciate simple coffee. He kept watching me, making me uncomfortable. I hoped Caleb was going to get up soon so he would leave me alone and keep ogling him.
"If you are that tired because that you need to be consuming caffein en masse, you may want to try sleeping for a bit." He suggested, taking out a package of green tea.
"Caffein doesn't make you less tired, it just prevents you from falling asleep." I huffed as I poured another cup. "It also inhibits the vasopressin production in my hypothalamus which means I have to pee more often."
"You are just adding unnecessary information to make me go away because I don't understand what you are saying." He complained.
"Oh no, I have been exposed." I scoffed, hoping he would actually go away.
I just didn't want to talk, I wanted to be alone with my pain. I missed Collin and him always being there for me when he was stuck in my vessel. I couldn't go visit him because I was sure I was being monitored and I didn't want to lead them to him. He told me he was going to visit me in the future but I needed him right now.
"You need to talk about what happened." My dad tried to urge me.
"Okay." I replied curtly.
He kept watching me as he was preparing two cups of tea as if he still wanted to say something but was unsure of how to say it. I ignored him for now and looked at the bits of orange juice swirling around in the glass, dreading the thought of going back to my room. Dad opened one of the cupboards, digging through it before he pulled out a pack of chocolate bars and sliding some over the counter towards me. I took one and bit into the sweet, chocolatey goodness. I hadn't eaten in days.
"Caleb thinks I don't know of his secret stash but I'm sure he doesn't mind sharing." Dad shrugged, putting them back where they came from.
I smirked at the mental image of the nymph hiding sweets all over the house , thinking my dad didn't know his own house. Speaking of the little devil, he came strolling into the room, freshly showered and navy hair put up with a hair clip. Dad handed him one of the cups he had prepared and earned himself a thankful smile. I stuffed the remaining chocolate bars into my pocket and ate the rest of mine.
"I know hugs don't make you feel better but can I have one?" Dad asked, looking a little embaressed.
Caleb glanced a little surprised at him but sat down his cup and went over and got on his toe, giving him a hug. I could see the eyes of my dad widen before he hugged him back, making me burst out laughing. My dad glared at me for ruining his chance to get closer to the nymph and Caleb's facial expression could just be described as confused before it dawned on him and he quickly stepped back.
"Oh." He gasped embarassed, cheeks flushing bright red. "Oh, no. I am tired. I didn't meant to. I'm sorry."
"Thank you." Dad said quietly and I could make out the redness, threatening to creep up his cheeks.
"I'm leaving you two alone." I announced, grabbing the tray and walking out of the room.
"Hypnos is coming over for lunch later." Caleb yelled after me.
I shook my head as I was leaving, trying not to spill too much of the orange juice as I made my way upstairs. It was painfully awkward to watch them crushing on each other without doing something about it. I stopped at the door which felt like the Mount Everest of impediment. Not that I would know what the Mount Everest was like but Aminta used to say that. I stuck my head through the door frame to peek inside and was met with a pair of silver eyes, sparkling back at me. He had woken up and had himself propped up against the headboard.
"How are you feeling?" Alexios asked, smiling at me.
"How am I feeling?" I asked, baffled.
He quietly chuckled, patting the spot on the bed next to him. I went over to him, placing the tray there instead of sitting down. I felt awkward and misplaced as if I wasn't supposed to be here. He had died because of me and it was a damn miracle he was even alive by now, not to mention the entire string of events that followed Aether's death. I just awkwardly stood there looking at the food, so I didn't have to look at him.
"I managed not to set this on fire but it still looks like shit." I explained, cursing myself because I wasn't even able to prepare porridge. "Enjoy, I guess?"
He took the tray and placed it next to his legs before looking back at me and opening up his arms, inviting me for a hug. I wanted to give in so badly and feel him alive, breathing against me again but at the same time I didn't want him to do anything he didn't want. He died because of me, I couldn't believe he wanted anything to do with me anymore.
"I... uhm okay." I mumbled, sitting down next to him.
I tried to keep some distance between him and me but he just pulled me against him, burrowing his face in the crook of my neck. I gasped a little before I wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my head on his chest. Surely enough there was a steady heart beat, making tears threaten to spill from my face. I snivled into his pullover, trying to cling to the last pieces of composure that I had left.
"You didn't answer me." He quietly remarked after a while. "How are you feeling?"
"It hurts?" I managed to whimper because that was the only emotion I could clearly name right now. "I couldn't protect you which was one of the most painful things I had to experience. At least I got you back in the end which is some sort of a sweet pain of relieve such as being suffocated and being able to breathe at the last minute. But what hurts the most is that I won't be able to protect you in the future and someone is going to take you away again."
I started crying hysterically, holding onto him as he rubbed my back and cradling my head to his shoulder. I had forgotten how much I needed him to work through my feelings because I was incapable to do that on my own. I needed him to guide me, to initiate a break for me and to help me see the light at the end of the tunnel. I managed to calm down by focusing on his smell and breathing.
"I was wondering, what do you remember?" I asked him, hoping he hadn't forgotten me completely.
"I remember the beach." He said huskily. "I remember more of course, but the beach is my favorite."
"Huh?" I asked, not knowing what he was getting at and looking up at him.
"Our first date in the human world. There was more to the evening than just the beach but I liked that part." He explained, giving me a warm smile. "I don't think I remember much of my past except for the most recent years but pieces seem to be missing."
I felt bad that he thought that the improvised dinner and makeout session had actually been a proper date. I had just tried to scratch an itch and used him for that sole purpose but he had insisted on sticking around with me, turning the initial superficial attraction into a deeper rooted affection towards him. Now I loved him from the depth of my heart and it almost destroyed me as he hadn't come home the first night.
"That wasn't a date, it was more of a one night stand." I told him a little ashamed of my past behavior. "I'm sorry, you have trouble remembering things."
"It's alright. I can make new memories. With you." He winked at me while saying that last part, making me roll my eyes at him.
I didn't know if this was too early and if I should wait until he had recovered more of his health but this piece of information burned inside my soul and I couldn't wait to let him know. I freed myself from his embrace, readjusting my body to straddle him and to be able to look him in the eyes. I missed their original color and the silver still freaked me out but I wasn't going to complain.
"I wanted to tell you something the night you didn't come back." I started but I was getting doubts again.
What if he didn't want me anymore? I didn't want to say it, to make it a reality and have him reject me. That would just hurt even more, yet how could I force him to be with me, knowing he hated my guts. My own mother had snapped his neck because she couldn't stand the thought of Aether being rejected. I'd understand if he told me to leave him alone.
"I love you." I choked. "You are very important to me."
Alexios cocked his head to the side, smiling at me. He grabbed my face, pulling it towards him to be able to kiss me on the forehead. I sighed happily, holding onto his shoulders. He seemed to have noticed the storm of emotions underneath my surface and knew just what to do to make me feel better by distributing kisses over my face. It ended with him kissing me smack on the lips.
"I love you, too." He murmured against my lips, making me smile.
I rested my head against his, feeling emotionally drained. He started rubbing my back and swaying us back and forth. The fear of losing him, the realization that I had in fact lost him and the renewed fear of losing him again just as I had gotten him back. I just wanted to sleep with him wrapped around me for a few days and spent a few years with him alone before someone was allowed to bother me again.
Speaking of him, I could feel his hands slowly move lower until he started playing with the rim of my pants, trailing the edge and gently brushing against the skin. I took a shakey breath while I tried to keep calm but he went ahead, dipping his hand down my pants, resting his hand on top of my tail bone. I couldn't believe that this was something he was interested in doing right now.
"What are you doing?" I asked, knowing exactly what he was doing.
"Putting my dirty paws on you." He purred as he started sniffing my neck. "I missed you."
"You were asleep, dumbass." I gasped as he licked the sensitive skin on the surface.
"Before that, dumbass." He mocked me.
He glanced at me to see if I was giving him permission to continue and I just nodded. He just pulled the pants and my underwear off in one go and cupped my butt cheeks, giving them a little squeeze before pulling me closer to him. I could feel him through the thin fabric of the pyjama and my entire body weighing down on him, pressing me against him didn't help either. I grunted as he moved his hips a little, making him rub against me.
"Do you not want to talk about your eyes and that you overtook Aether's position in the pantheon, making you a fullblooded, primordial god?" I asked as he held me in place.
"I want to make you scream until you beg me to stop teasing you." He growled, sending sparks through my body.
"Okay." I replied weakly.
He grabbed my face, jerking me towards him and making me gasp as our lips met again. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me and letting him delve his tongue between my lips. I slipped my hands underneath the pyjama I had borrowed from my dad and dressed him in while he was unconcious, caressing the soft skin underneath that stretched over the muscles underneath the surface.
He took it as an invitation to do the same, trailing his fingers down my body, over my hips until he found my thighs. A moan slipped past my lips as he ran his hands up and down my inner thigh at a painfully slow pace. Goosebumps spread across my skin where he touched me, making me want to beg him for more and him smirk knowingly as I sighed frustrated.
I let him flip us over, lying me on the bed. He started kissing my neck again, leading me to tilt my head to the side to give him more access and starting to open the buttons on his pyjama. I pushed back the top, caressing the exposed skin until I slipped my hand into his dark curls, tugging at them. He growled, making the sound resonate through my body as I arched my back against him, trying to create some friction between us.
He held down my hips, making me whine in protest. He pushed up my wool sweater I had borrowed from my dad because my shit had just desintegrated that he had called wool space dyed v-neck sweater in the color charcoal or how I called it warm clothing item in black. I wiggled myself out of the way too big thing that was hanging lose around my figure, throwing it onto the floor and purring satisfied as Alexios started to pay attention to my exposed skin.
The sensation of him nipping and licking his way down to my navel took most of my self control not to push him over and just do everything myself. I sighed relieved as he finally moved lower, brushing over the inside of my thighs and arched my back against him. He wasn't giving me the satisfaction of taking me into his mouth yet and just continued to play with my body, making me squirm and grunt underneath him.
"Lexi." I whimpered.
Thankfully, he didn't play the game of not knowing what I wanted him to do and asking me to clearly ask for it because I might be forced to bash him over the head with the lamp on the night stand. That wasn't something erotic to do, it was just stupid and if you could clearly manage to articulate a statement of how you wanted it, you weren't turned on and they had other things to worry about.
I moaned, tilting my head against the covers as he took me into his mouth but of course the asshole wouldn't hurry and just took his sweet time. He didn't even let me move and pinned my hips down as I writhed underneath him, getting closer and closer to the edge until he pulled away. I snarled frustrated that he wouldn't let me finish after bringing me this close. He covered my mouth with his lips and I could feel his fangs scrape against my lower lip, longer than before. I guess that was part of the god package.
"How are you doing?" He asked huskily.
"Dandy." I huffed, making him laugh.
He moved up my body again until he could look me in the eyes again. It was a shame that the silver overtook his original eye color, I had loved to look at. Other than that they were still as bright and lively as they had been, sparkling at me with a silent promise. I grabbed his shoulders and guided him towards me, wrapping my legs around him to be able to pull him closer. Which I did, hard, making him grunt surprised.
He let his head hang, tickling my nose with his black curl. I slipped one hand into his hair, pulling him closer to me, licking his lower lip. He didn't waste any time and just pressed his lips against mine, dominating the kiss. I moved my hands down to the waistband of his pants, trying to take them off but somehow the fabric had decided to be a little shit and get stuck in the button, making it impossible for me to take them off.
I groaned frustrated, making him chuckle and try for himself. He gave up after a few minutes of fiddling with the button and just started laughing. I didn't find being cockblocked by a clothing item that funny and just pulled the same move I had on our first romp. I snapped my fingers, making the pants disappear. To where? How am I supposed to know? All that mattered was they were gone. They probably showed up in an empty sphere just filled with items that I had made disappear over the years.
Alexios smirked as I reached down, wrapping my hands around him and slowly moving up and down. He met my lips, nibbling on my lower lip, asking for access. I let him in, opening my lips for him while I continued to work him. He started panting roughly and the kiss grew more and more desperate, biting my lips. I pulled away, grinning at him, paying him back for stopping earlier. He moved in between my legs, waiting for my consent which I happily gave him.
"Mine." He growled as he entered me.
I moaned throatily as he kept still, letting me adjust to his size. He shifted his weight, making me squirm as he kissed me on the forehead. I wanted more than this and pulled his head down towards me, letting him claim my lips. He started moving while our lips were still connected, sending sparks of pleasure through my body. I grabbed the sheets, tugging at them while he kept thrusting into me, making moans spill out of me. I managed to kick the tray off the bed as he kept growling against my lips.
He went back to licking my neck, making me shiver as he scraped the surface of my skin with the tip of his fangs, teasing me. I wanted him to mark me. I wanted him to know that I was ready to spend the rest of my life with him. I didn't have to hide him from my family anymore and I wanted to give him everything I could. I wanted to show him how important he was to me. I had gotten a second chance and I wasn't going to waste it just because I was fearful someone was going to take him away from me. I was also going to watch him like a hawk from now on.
"Do it." I whimpered.
He teased me, just ever so gently nicking the surface but not biting down and letting the fangs sink in. I felt the pleasure building inside of me as he continued thrust his hips against mine and to nibble on my neck, using one hand to guide my face towards his neck. I started purring as I slipped my hands around his neck, pressing myself against him. I let my lips caress the surface of his neck before I bared my fangs and bit down right as he pierced my skin.
My body twisted and contorted with equal parts pain and pleasure as I desperately met every single one of Alexios' movements. It was as if the biting had managed to amplify every senstation connected to him, burning me. He licked over the area, fangs still burried in my neck and I could hear someone scurry over to our door and tried to surpress the moans that kept spilling out of me, only muffeld by the skin against my lips but failed miserably.
"Breakfast will be ready in half an hour." Caleb yelled through the door, taking off after he finished his message.
Alexios chuckled against me, knowing full well that the poor nymph had heard everything we were doing. Speaking of which, it didn't seem like it wanted to end any time soon. Everytime I thought that maybe, just maybe I could reach that high I craved, it decided to dull down again. Not enough to make me want to stop but just enough to keep you hooked. I arched my back and let out a faint whimper as it built all over again.
After what felt like hours we finally came to an end, sinking down on the matress. He unhooked his fangs from my neck, kissing the spot that painfully throbbed from being ripped open. I sighed and just let go of him curling in on myself. My body was protesting against movement and I just wanted to go to sleep now. It felt rubbery and weak and I felt like I was turning into a puddle of sleepiness and satisfaction with Alexios wrapped around me.
"Food?" He asked, sounding as tired as I was.
"Mhmn." I agreed, too lazy to say anything.
I just magically put clothes onto both of us because no way in hell was I going to move more than I needed to. He gave me a quick peck on the lips before pulling me up to stand beside him. I could see the mark I left behind, all red and swollen, little droplets of blood glinting in the light before it started to heal, leaving nothing behind. I could feel mine healing a well, wondering what this was supposed to be doing but I didn't bother asking.
I took his hand and let him lead me downstairs and into the kitchen. The smell of pancakes made my stomach growl audibly and Alexios smile at me. Caleb was nowhere to be seen as we entered the kitchen but Hypnos and my dad were already sitting at the kitchen table. The former shoveled pancakes into his face while the latter stirred his cup of tea. They looked up as we entered, smiling at us.
"Good morning." Dad greeted us with a friendly smile.
"We already started eating without you." Hypnos smirked, mouth full of pancake. "We didn't know when you'd be done."
I just ignored his remarks and sat down, loading my plate with pancakes and drowned them in syrup. My dad just shook his head but didn't say anything while my brother smirked at me. Alexios followed my example and just plopped down next to me, taking his own plate but he only took two pancakes and filled the rest of the plate with fruits, Caleb had cut up.
"The good thing is, I didn't damage your pants." I told my dad after eating three pancakes. "The bad thing is I don't know where there are."
"I know." Caleb announced clearly disgusted as he came into the room, carrying them. "They were in my room."
"Oh great, you found them." I replied dryly.
Hypnos started laughing while my dad just rolled his eyes. Caleb dropped them next to me, looking absolutely disgusted and went back to the stove, looking into a pot. The smell wavering over from the food was mouth watering and I'd rather have some of that than pancakes. I mean, the pancakes were tasty and all but stew sounded more appealing. Caleb dropped the cooking top back on the pot, cutting off the smell.
"What this? It smells really good." Hypnos asked, sniffing the air.
"Lunch." The nymph replied curtly. "You can't have any."
"Why?" Hypnos comlained whiningly.
"Because I didn't make enough for five people." Caleb huffed, waving a cooking spoon in his direction. "I made food for two. I'm not your servant. Make your own food."
Hypnos pouted, making my dad smirk at him. Caleb just continued to saunter through the kitchen, cooking and cleaning up after himself while I kept stuffing myself with pancakes. I liked this. Not only was I getting food which was always a bonus, I got to spend time with my family and they didn't try to hurt my and were enjoying themselves around me as well.
I hadn't figured out who had spread dragon pox in the human world but I had a strong suspicion that it might have been my mother to get back to me for just existing. Now that Alexios was back to normal health I was going to test the vaccine and would finally be able to vaccinate people. Once I was being back to my full power everyone was going to get off my back and I could continue to live my live in peace. I had gotten back some of my family and I had gotten back Alexios.
Now I wanted to live in this world a little bit longer.
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Thank you for making it to the end! The next book in this series is Salvation and I'd be very happy if you were to check it out. This journey is far from over and some of the characters have more to them than this leads on.
Kind regards, Artropos