He stood near the fire pit completely naked.
The rest of the dogs trailed in after him. Some of them climbed onto bed with Lauren, others settled about the room, creating a comfortable-looking pile of warm animal fur. The temperature soon rose by many degrees. It must’ve been due to the warmth from all those bodies. And nothing to do with the effect the presence of the stranger had on Lauren.
Not only was he naked, but gorgeous, too.
In this light, she saw he had honey blond hair and several days of dark golden growth covered his chin. She remembered it's pleasant texture against her hand, how silky soft it was to touch.
Her gaze roamed over his body as she recalled the way she felt when they kissed. He had writing tattooed across his chest, more ink on his stomach, and yet more lower down.
She turned her head when she realized she was staring at his dick.
Lauren pulled a blanket over her lap and focused on running her fingers over the pattern of the threads to distract herself from the man’s presence.
“I. Um. I…”
Trying not to fixate on the stranger’s exposed flesh, she attempted to think of something to say.
But her mind refused to forget about his nudity.
Had the man been naked back in the woods? Lauren racked her memory, trying to recall, but she’d been so overcome by fear and nostalgia, the details were hazy.
If he hadn’t been nude before, he paid no mind to it now, as if it were perfectly natural. He strode across the room and lowered himself on to the bed on the other side of the wolf.
“You’re awake.” He curled one of his hands beneath Lauren’s chin and lifted her head until they were eye to eye. The affectionate glint in his eyes as he looked at her made Lauren feel more than wanted—she felt cherished. It was the strangest thing.
“Yeah,” Lauren mumbled, too distracted by the man’s eyes—and things—to string together anything more complex than a simple affirmation. The green, mossy color of the irises reminded Lauren of the color encircling her one heterochromatic eye. “I am.”
Becoming hot and flustered, Lauren blushed from head to foot. She was in the company of an attractive naked man. Her pulse raced, and she thought her heartbeat might be audible. Of course, she blushed through both embarrassment and nerves too.
She turned her face away, and he dropped his hand.
She lacked the confidence to hold his close gaze, particularly as she didn’t know this stranger's intentions.
Lauren may have survived a near-death ordeal and had no idea where she was right then, and yet…for some inexplicable reason, she felt safe.
“Are you well?”
“I am.” Lauren wasn’t sure. She stuck with the short answer.
Being in an unknown location, in a makeshift bed, with a naked stranger, surrounded by wolves, were all things that didn't generally equate with a sense of well-being.
A little too aware of herself, Lauren slid a hand closer to the man’s bare thigh. She never imagined herself so daring that she’d initiate intimate contact with this stranger. And yet, it was difficult not to.
About a million things could go wrong at the drop of a pin, but she stayed optimistic. It still qualified as a vast improvement on her situation before being surrounded by the wolf-dogs.
And so far, nothing had gone wrong.
So far.
“What were you doing in the forest?” She wasn't sure why she asked. She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer.
“Tracking Gegenees. A band of them came through.”
When she was about to say more, two men entered the room. They, at least, were wearing pants. They both wore jeans, as they did earlier. They were barefoot, which might explain why Lauren hadn’t heard them approach outside the door before she saw them enter.
Peering at her, they walked in and sat down alongside each other on the bench. The memory flooded back in full. They moved in silence then as they did now. In the forest they wore jackets and big boots. With those jackets gone she could see acres of skin over fit, muscular, toned bodies. These guys must live at the gym.
Lauren couldn't help noticing the large shining silver rings against the background of bronze skin, one through each nipple. Only one of the three men had his nipples pierced.
The strangers didn't comment, but they both kept their gaze on Lauren except to momentarily glance at the man next to her.
“Where am I?” she asked no one in particular.
“Home.” The naked man beside her replied.
The simple statement tugged at the thread bound around Lauren’s chest. It sounded entirely reasonable. The dog lying between them huffed and stretched, then backed out from where it lay and curled up instead with the creature at the end of the bed.
“I meant where is this?”
“This is Jasper's room. He brought you home, and I see he's making you very much at home here in his room. You are equally welcome to sleep in my room, or Zander's.”
Lauren sat up a little straighter and looked at the strangers now that she had a reason to without appearing to stare rudely at them. While the sides of his head were shaved the rest of his black hair was pull up into a top knot above his head from where it cascaded in short dreadlocks in all directions. His eyes were so dark they could have been all pupils.
From what he'd said, she deduced it was Zander was beside him, and Jasper was the blonde man beside her.
So far, Jasper had done no harm, but she had no idea what any of them intended to do with her. She should be concerned but wasn’t.
“This place? Where are we?” she asked still looking at the man who’d spoken.
“The Sparta,” he replied simply.
Well, he didn’t seem to be a conversationalist, none of them did. If she wasn’t there to talk, what did they want from Lauren?
Bizarre though it seemed, she felt safer than she wished.
Despite her better judgment and all the common sense alarm bells at the very back of her mind, Lauren hoped for something she shouldn’t. If they’d just leave her alone with Jasper and if he didn’t attempt to take advantage of Lauren in her vulnerable situation, she’d take matters into her own hands. She’d take the initiative, she wouldn’t be able to stop herself.
Such was the strong desire for the stranger.
Jasper moved his hand to cup her cheek, and Lauren nuzzled into it before she could stop herself. Even the slightest touches sent sparks racing across her skin and stirred her arousal in troubling ways.
“I, um, I appreciate you rescued me, but I need to go home before my family gets worried.” Lauren managed to speak without betraying what she wanted: the inexplicable way she craved this stranger's touch. “How do I get home from here?”
“I will take you tomorrow. It's dark. You won't find your way.” Delivered in delicious dark caramel voice, his speech was slow and deliberate, each word measured and considered.
Jasper caressed Lauren’s cheek, then took his hand away to set the bag down on the bed and open it. There were several things inside, the most obvious being a bottle of wine, its long dark neck poking out from the opened top. “Stay a while and dine with us.”
Lauren looked at the wine. As a twenty-year-old young woman alone in the woods, god knows exactly where, with three mature men, who looked like gang members, she should have her wits about her. Drinking wine was a very bad idea.
She bit the inside of her cheek, doing her best to drag herself out of the fantasy world building up around her and back into reality.
“Who are you guys?”
“You don't know?” Without missing a beat, Jasper replied with a question.
How could she know anything? She didn't understand what on earth was going on here.
Zander stood up and addressed her. “In the old days, I used to be called Alex. Changed my name since then. Gotta move with the times. That's why Casper's now Jasper. I have to admit I like Jasper. The name has a certain ring to it. As for Jasper, the man, he’s okay
too.”
“Ha!” Jasper leaned back on the bed. “I love you too, Zander,” he said in a dismissive tone.
Zander’s attention switched to Jasper. “Just as well because we're stuck together for all eternity.” He then looked at the man sitting silently on the bench. “Greg is still Greg. He's not upgraded. I've told him he should try Harry or William, they're good names, they’d suit him. But he's set in his ways.”
“Excuse me, Alex Zander, I’ve changed with the times. Greg is a modern name, it’s timeless. You haven’t called me Grēgorios since the last Olympic games. And I’ve lost count of how long ago that was.”
“They’re every four years,” Lauren said.
The three guys all looked at her with puzzled expressions on their faces.
“I know some disagree with me on this,” Greg said softly. “But the troubles started back then, in my opinion, since those last games so many people forgot about the gods. Well, it all fell into decline after that.” Greg fell silent again, lost in thought he stared into the fire.
It occurred to Lauren that they just might have been talking about the original Olympic games. She didn’t have much clue when they were last held, but it must have been more than a thousand years ago, perhaps two. No way were these dudes that old. They couldn’t have been thirty.
In a more upbeat tone, Zander picked up where he’d left off. “So we've tried new names and new clothes.” He patted the leather pants. “But not much has changed up here since before the fall of Constantinople. We Spartans are still defending Olympus. You've not missed much at all.” He paused and tilted his head to one side. “Except perhaps us. Apollo is still the same, Artemis, and Athena, they don’t change.”
The men chatted, telling stories about Greek gods as if she should’ve understood it all. Apparently, Athena had quarreled with Apollo. But there was no time scale attached to the attribute of “recent” and she kept in mind they’d talked about the ancient Olympics as if it were in living memory. It must have been an elaborate joke. It crossed her mind that the men might have been playing in a battle reconstruction event for the weekend. And keeping in character, even though they had found and helped her.
She recognized the names of the gods but knew nothing more about them. Lauren had little comprehension of what the men were discussing. It made little sense. Her comprehension wasn’t helped by the distracting actions of Zander while they talked. He bent over and pulled off his leather pants as if that was a perfectly normal thing to do in front of her. He wasn't wearing any underwear and, of course, she couldn't help looking.
And then staring.
He walked right up close and passed before her, his long dick swinging freely at her eye level inches from her face.
He sat down beside her on the bed, but not before, with fascination, she’d noticed his dick was adorned with silver jewelry. She’d have liked to have investigated further, that glimpse of penis piercings was all too brief before he sat down.
If this was his seduction technique, it was both bazaar and effective. Bazaar because didn’t seem self conscious or deliberate, and it hadn't been an overtly sexual display. Effective, however, because it had fired up Lauren’s curiosity. She wanted to find out much more about him.
The fact that two of the guys were naked and sitting in proximity either side of her should have been a matter of concern. And yet, her instincts reassured her of her safety.
Knowing it was a terrible idea, Lauren moved her hand closer to Zander, wanting to touch the stranger’s thigh. An intimate gesture like that would be inappropriate. She badly wanted to, though, and didn’t know how long she could resist both men.
“Zander, let her eat and drink,” Jasper said.
“I don’t drink. Not alcohol. I'm not old enough.”
All the men looked surprised.
Greg stood up. “I'll go and get water and anything else you want?” He looked at Lauren as he walked toward the door. His black eyes seemed to see right through her into her soul. And the offer of anything else sounded sincere. It seemed as if the man wasn't only offering an alcohol-free beverage.
It sure sounded like he had the power to give Lauren literally anything.
“Water is fine.” Lauren's voice was hoarse. “I… If you just want to take me home, that’s fine, too.”
“We won't have you travel by night,” Greg declared decisively. “For now, you may stay. In any room, it doesn't matter. In the morning, when the way is clear, you may do as you wish.”
In any other situation, Lauren’s stranger danger meter would’ve been registering off the charts, but the gentle way the men spoke and the candid affection Jasper had displayed for her put any worries to rest before they formed.
The force in her soul that had promised greater things had stilled as if satisfied like never before.
Lauren was safe, she just knew it.
“Will you eat?” From the bag Jasper produced a loaf of artisan bread wrapped in a paper bag; a small dark glass bottle—Lauren couldn’t guess what it contained; a block of cheese; and some ripe red tomatoes, not wrapped, but still on the vine.
“You should eat.” Greg loitered by the doorway, watching her.
At the combination of food and bed and nudity and wolves, Lauren snorted back a laugh.
Greg frowned. “Is it not to your liking? I can get something else.”
“No. No, um, that’s not it. It’s just… I don’t know. It doesn’t seem like you.” She didn’t know these men. She said the words before thinking them through, and as soon as they reached her ears, they troubled her. What did she mean? “I, er, that was weird, sorry. I think I meant to say this place is so makeshift. Yet you all appear so noble, but fierce and then to bring out a brick of cheese, and this…” She waved her hands in the direction of the bag and its items while searching for the right phrase. She didn’t want to seem ungrateful. “This food…”
The strangers didn’t seem upset. Greg laughed loudly. “We've had burgers, they're horrible things. Pizzas. At least pizzas are recognizable as food.”
Lauren had to smile at that assessment.
“Food when they have olives and tomatoes on them. Don’t forget some have the topping from Hades.” Jasper picked up the loaf and pulled a scrap from it. He tossed it into the fire while mumbling, “For you, Hestia.”
If there were any reason for that action, Lauren had no notion of it. She gathered the men had known each other a long time and had changed their names. From the casual ease between them all, Lauren sensed an eons long friendship and great affection between them.
“Greg, I think you should bring a portion of healing ambrosia. Our guest remembers none of this,” Jasper said.
At these words, Lauren looked about from men to man and saw their expressions change. Sadness took up residence on every face.
“I'm not mad about burgers. I don't know what you think I should remember. It just struck me as funny,” Lauren concluded awkwardly. “That’s all. Thank you for your hospitality.”
She let her gaze trail across Greg's body as he moved toward the door. His shoulders were broad and strong, leading to muscular arms lean of fat. She tried not to wonder about his dick and whether it was pierced.
“I will go and fetch you some water and ambrosia. Stay. Eat. I want to know your stomach is full and you are safe, warm, and well.”
“Thank you.”
The man came to a stop in the doorway; one hand posed on the frame. The door had been left ajar since he entered, but there was no breeze or sound of movement outside.
He looked over his shoulder at Lauren, an expression so gentle and caring that Lauren’s soul urged her to invite the man into bed, with her and the other two guys.
No. She really shouldn't let her thoughts go that way.
“So comes a time that we should part,” Greg said.
“Fear not, I shall be in your heart,” Lauren replied reflexively. She slapped a hand over her mouth, startled, not knowing what she’d said or why.
The words had slipped out of her without her permission, and she had no clue what to make of them. It came out as instinctive, the natural response to the comment and one Lauren had heard many times before.
The man’s eyes sparkled, the atmosphere in the room changed as of someone had blown in great joy. All three men smiled.
If they found the comment strange, it didn’t show. Greg passed through the doorway and into the night, leaving Lauren with two naked men who both seemed to care about her but showed no indication that they were about to ravish her. And she wasn't sure she was entirely happy about that.
CHAPTER FIVE
Lauren yawned. It must have been extremely late so no wonder she felt exhausted, especially after the stress of what had happened.
“Rest a while if you don't want to eat.” Zander popped a tomato in his mouth.
Her body and mind were awash with confused thoughts, desires, and emotions. She allowed Jasper to guide her into a comfortable position and he stroked her hair.
Before Greg returned, Lauren fell asleep, lulled by the heat, the glow of the fire, and the lateness of the hour. When she awoke, she was on the forest floor instead of in a nest of warm live fur.
Where she expected to find a warm fire pit, she found nothing more than a rotted tree stump. The edge of the bed frame was the body of a fallen tree, which had mossed over with passing time.
Lauren picked herself up and looked around, wondering if she hadn’t sleepwalked, but she saw no signs of a hut.
Had it all been a hallucination? A dream?
It didn’t explain how she’d escaped from being tied to the tree, or what happened to nighttime as some hazy sunlight made its way through the forest canopy. And a dream wouldn't account for the packed cloth bag with bread and cheese that sat right beside her.
She pulled out her phone to check the time and the Maps App, and to connect with something familiar. She held down one button after another when the thing didn't light up, sure she'd had plenty of charge the last time she'd used it, when on her way to see Jade. The damn thing had either run out of juice or somehow broke, whichever, it remained dead in her hands. Lauren pocketed it again.
Defenders_Sons of Olympus_Reverse Harem Romance Page 3
