“So they are people who change into birds?” Everytime she met the men they told her things that were unbeievable. “Why would they stray into this dimension?”
“Or you could say, Ravens that change into people. We don't know why they're here, we only know they shouldn't be. So if we can catch them we'll send them back. And if they persist in trespassing we'll report them to the gods.”
“And then what will happen?”
“The gods will decide, but they will want to know why the Corax are sneaking in here without traveling along legitimate avenues.”
“Does my traveling to Sparta count as legitimate travel along an acceptable route?” The weight of her problem crushed her enthusiasm and showed up in her voice.
“What's wrong?” The forest bled away, replaced gradually by nothing until nothing became filled with substance again. The baked mud walls offered privacy, even if the eyes of the dogs were on them. “Are you unwell?”
“I’m not sick,” Lauren said. “I just… I feel anxious.”
“Ah.” Greg guided her to the bed, and they sank onto it together. It was her first time in Greg's room. She wasn't surprised to find it was much the same as Jasper's and Zander's, simple and functional, spartan.
She'd seen Zander long enough to apologize for storming off, and to enjoy makeup sex in his room.
Although so far the sex with the two men had been all hands and mouths. Despite her willingness, neither of them had attempted to go all the way. At the time she'd been too blissed-out to question it. Afterward, alone it was something she wandered about when she wasn't ruminating over the move to Riverside.
Desperate to feel loved, Lauren straddled Greg’s lap.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close. “If you feel that way, then you are unwell. Health isn't only physical.”
“That’s super modern of you,” Lauren remarked, managing a half-grin. “Are you trying to get in touch with my century?”
“No,” Greg replied. “That belief is old. It predates modernity. It has simply fallen out of favor as people are blinded by the evil.”
“Oh.” That was a little less charming. Lauren frowned. “Well. Good. I guess.”
“Something's wrong. Why don’t you tell me what?”
“Can you kiss me first?” Lauren asked. More than anything at that moment, she wanted and needed the reassurance of feeling cherished and valued.
“You never have to beg for my lips,” Greg whispered.
They sank down onto the bed, and Greg kissed her in the slow, heartfelt way that made Lauren’s toes curl. She moaned, and he devoured the sound from her lips. Their tongues met and melded.
Soon Greg had worked her out of her clothes and slipped off his own.
Lauren felt vaguely aware they were nude together for the first time, but it had become such a natural state of being with Jasper and Zander that she barely noticed.
Today, as Greg slipped a hand between their bodies, stroking Lauren’s skin, she couldn’t bring herself to let things go any further.
She wanted him. And he must have wanted her too, knowing that she'd been intimate with two out of the three.
She ended the kiss, and squeezing Greg's hand, she guided it away from her body. Panting with want, Greg stopped. A hard to read expression on his face. Disappointment? Concern?
“I can’t,” Lauren whispered. “I’m sorry.”
“What has happened?” Greg asked. “I thought this is what you wanted.”
“It…” It was exactly what she wanted if Lauren was honest. If all she did was spend her life beside her three men, moving from bed to bed, she’d be happy. But she couldn’t ignore what was happening. The Spartans were most important people from a life Lauren barely remembered, but she had a life and a family who she couldn’t cast aside and ignore. Aunt Lori and Uncle Joe were just as important to her, albeit in a different way. “It’s not so simple.”
“We have all the time in the world, in fact forever. That's the thing about immortality, it just goes on and on. I can wait.” Greg smiled.
Despite the fact that they were both naked and his cock was hard, pressed against her, and oozing precum which dribbled on to her skin, he smiled and offered to wait forever.
Lauren loved him just a little more. Her own needs couldn't wait that long. Despite what was in her mind, her insides clenched, pulsed and flooded with desire.
“All I ask is you share your pain with me so I may help you. I don't want you to suffer.”
Lauren smiled and tried to mean it, but the joy didn’t make it to her face. “It’s just…what would you do if I needed to leave for a little while?”
“Leave?” Greg asked. “The same as I always do—as we always do—wait for your return. We're never apart for long.”
“No. Not like that. I mean…” Lauren held her breath, then let it out slowly. The exhalation disturbed the furs under her head. “For a long time. Weeks. Years.”
“I don't understand.” But sadness clouded his face.
“My aunt and uncle are moving away. I live with them, so I have no choice but to move, too. They’re offering to send me to college. I wouldn’t be able to see you regularly. I… I could probably come back a few times a semester, but it’s a long way, and I’m not sure what the workload would be like with school, and I’d probably have to get a job, too.”
Greg’s expression dimmed. The light in his eyes disappeared, and as it did, his expression hardened. Lauren didn’t think it was because he was upset—she suspected Greg walled off his emotions, so he wouldn’t let his vulnerability show.
“College is four years long,” Lauren said. “After that, I could come back here, and live in Sparta if that’s what you want. It’s just… I can't tell my aunt and uncle about us. Not now. I don’t think they’d understand, and I don’t want them to worry.”
“Is going to college something you wish to do?” Greg asked. “Is it something that carries value in your heart?”
“I…” Lauren hesitated. “I don’t know. I used to think it was a good plan, but that was back when I didn’t understand what the lack in my soul meant. I thought if I went to college, I’d discover what it was I was meant to do, and that it'd fulfill me. I didn’t realize my soul ached for a reason. Everything changed when I met you three guys.”
“If going to college is something you want to do, then I encourage you to do it,” Greg said. “We've come into your life suddenly. You didn't wish for us.”
“I did,” Lauren murmured. Wisely, Greg had identified the problem. Lauren didn’t want to go to college. Previously, she’d thought of it as a means to an end. The goal was to find her vocation. Now that she knew her destiny lay with three men in the forest, college had no value or purpose whatsoever. “All my life, all I’ve wanted is to know why I felt this way and what it meant to me. Now I know. I found you.”
“But you will find us again,” Greg said softly. “Even should you decide never to return, to live out this life with another, you would find your way back to us in another life. Another hundred years. Another two hundred. We will never be apart for long.”
Lauren frowned. Two hundred years wasn't long for the immortals, but it sounded a hell of a long time to her. When Greg spoke, he did so with composure, but behind his calm exterior, Lauren heard his pain.
“I don’t want to live out my life with another.” Lauren didn’t understand how he could suggest such a thing. “It’s not forever; it wouldn’t be forever. I promise.”
“You never need to promise anything. We are sworn together. We Spartan's have a duty to fulfill but your human life is different. It was returned to you hundreds of years ago so you could live it the way you want. You're a woman. Spartan men don't keep women caged. Spartan women are independent, wives don't always live with their husbands, and we won't prevent you from doing anything or living anywhere,” Greg rolled onto his back, arms tucked behind his head. “You are free, Lauren. You may do as you wish. Except lead an invas
ion of monsters into Olympus. We'd have to stop that.”
A fine sentiment, but Lauren didn’t know what she wanted, except for one thing. “No invading Olympus. No monsters. Okay, got it." Lauren leaned forward to kiss the man and distract them both from the painful thoughts of parting. She could hardly bear the thought of months apart, and she needed Greg to know it.
With such great emotions churning and threatening to overwhelm her, Lauren lay beside him, turning her face away to hide her fears.
Despite her anxiety and sadness, she wanted to feel Greg’s love in a tangible way. To unite with him in the way she had with the other men.
“Please. Make love to me. That’s what I want, more than anything.” She rolled onto her back, spreading her legs apart as she spoke, making her desires clear, and hoping to hold back the tears.
A low grumble rolled over the bed as Greg hummed his appreciation of what Lauren offered.
It had been god knows how many years since he'd made love to a woman.
Greg took an age to prepare her with caresses and kisses all over, applying attention to every inch of Lauren’s body. The man drove her crazy with teasing touches until she quivered with needy anticipation.
Greg's tongue licked Lauren's clit while fingers slipped in through the luscious passage, one after another.
“Oh so good,” Lauren murmured over and over.
Whether the liquid came from Greg's mouth or from deep within the well of Lauren's desire or a mix of both sources, Lauren had never before felt as soaking wet between her legs. She noted the excessive dampness but said nothing.
The pleasure from long fingers penetrating deeply and curling within left little capacity for rational thought.
“Love me, now, please,” Lauren pleaded.
“I love you always,” Greg replied with a chuckle, the pain of their earlier conversation set aside for a while. Nevertheless, Greg took a firm grip on Lauren’s hips as he settled above her, their bodies together, and finally brought his mouth down to meet Lauren's. His hard cock pressed against her inner thigh and close to entering her.
A sob caught in her throat, this time from helplessness. “Take me,” Lauren begged. “Take me; Fuck me, please. I want you,” Lauren called out and bucked her hips. If she moved in the right way he would slip into her wet hotness.
He didn't.
Releasing his grip on Lauren's frame, he slipped a hand over her crotch and his fingers inside her. They curled to hit exactly the spot that made her scream out in joy.
The heels of her feet pushed against the bed seeking purchase as she tried to anchor herself to something solid and real. She clung on to Greg like he was a lifesaving float in a tumultuous sea. Strong high waves submerged her body. She didn't need his cock inside her when his hands brought a climax this hard.
Over and over.
Each of her men were such generous lovers. They seemed to take pleasure in turning her on and watching her come. That was a sacrifice she was willing to make.
When she'd come more times than she could count and in fairly swift succession Greg got up on to his knees between her thighs.
He took hold of his hard dick in his fist and proceeded to pump it. The first strokes were slow and she watched a string of precum leak, dangle and drop on her mound. She glanced at his face to see it screwed up in concentration and his eyes fixed upon her face. Her gaze dipped back to his dick. She watched in fascination as he speeded up his motions. He slowed and aimed at her pussy, just as he came. Coating her private parts with his jizz.
For a moment they both remained stationary. She was stunned by the erotic act as he marked his territory. Stunned and thrilled.
She placed her hand over the creamy issue and rubbed it over the whole of her genitals while he watched with approving wide eyes.
The experience was unreal. Not physical but emotional.
Tears broke free from Lauren's eyes and streamed down her face. Not tears of pain or sadness. But of powerful emotions. Of joy and of love. A love so strong it would endure anything.
It was like Greg welcomed her home after a long, long time apart. At last, they were one. The afternoon bled into the evening. And they made love in just the same way for hours.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Hidden between stacks of dusty books and deserted tables, Lauren found Jade standing by a book cart, returning books to their proper places on the shelf. Jade had landed a summer job at the library several years ago and they had her back working through every vacation.
Lauren had no idea how she’d pulled it off, but she figured Jade’s charm had gone a long way toward getting her one of the cushiest summer jobs Beaumont had to offer.
“Can we talk?” Lauren asked, leaning on the book cart. After taking up Jade on her good advice to go back to the woods and find the man who left the gifts, Lauren was as guilty as the next young woman in love of neglecting friends.
Jade raised an eyebrow. “I don't see you for weeks. You text me the scantiest details about your new friends. And now you want to talk when I'm at work?”
“Yeah. Can we?” Biting her bottom lip, Lauren felt guilty that she'd not met up with Jade sooner. She would've if she'd had time. She'd just sent brief, vague messages about being busy and seeing a guy. Explaining there were three seemed like too much information. With no point in looking for a second and third job because of her impending move, she'd spent as much time as possible with the Spartans, leaving little time for anything else.
“Only if you keep your voice down,” Jade replied. “This is a library, after all, Lauren. Talking isn’t exactly encouraged.”
Lauren rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’ll keep my voice down.”
Jade picked out a couple of the books and appeared to study the covers intently. All for show, Lauren suspected. “You’ll also accept that I get to shush you if you’re getting out of hand.”
“Jade, really?” By the looks of it, Jade was sorting through old bodice-ripper romances. Lauren wrinkled her nose and moved her elbows, so they were farther away from the books.
“Shh.” Jade winked, replacing the books on the cart, exactly where she’d gotten them from. “You’re in my domain now, Lauren. My place of employment, my rules.”
“You really are something else.”
“That’s what makes me, me.” Jade picked up the next book and hummed softly as she scanned the shelf, looking for its place. “So, what do you want to talk about that's so important you needed to track me down at work?”
“There’s a lot going on. I don’t even know where to start.”
“Start at the beginning and then stop once you get to the end.” Jade fitted the book into its place on the shelf. “Ramble in the middle if you need to. No one would blame you for that.”
Lauren scratched the back of her head. “About those stories your grandma told you?”
“Yes.”
“They’re real.”
Jade snorted. Lauren locked eyes with her, and the playful grin on Jade’s face faded. “Oh,” Jade said. “You’re serious.”
“Yeah. I…the men in the forest, they’re who I've been seeing.”
“Yeah?”
“They were courting me. And now we’re seeing more of each other.”
Jade slapped her hands over her mouth and laughed through her nose. “No. All of them?”
“Yes.” Lauren crossed her arms. “It isn't funny, you know. It’s serious.” Lauren sighed.
“I just get a kick out of imaging you shacked up with a gang of gods.” Jade dropped her hands, but her grin remained. “Are they good?”
“Firstly, they’re not gods..”
“Gods in the bedroom, uh?”
“Jade! No. Well, yes, but I didn’t come to tell you about that.”
“Shh.” Jade held a finger to her lips, eyes sparkling with mischief. “This is a library, remember? Inside voices.”
“Shush yourself, Jade. This is a library, remember? No questions about my sex life.” Lauren pinched the b
ridge of her nose. She should've known Jade would pull something like this—but then again, it was a relief not to be caught up in her own head so much. She was very much over thinking things.
“Okay, okay, so you don’t need to tell me how good your supernatural lovers are. But I'm curious about how it works with three dudes?”
Lauren pursed her lips.
Jade huffed. “I’ll let it slide. What’s gotten you so riled up you need to talk to me? That’s the most important issue at hand.”
“Aunt Lori and Uncle Joe are selling the house and moving to Riverside.”
“And?” Jade made a circular gesture with her hand, urging Lauren to continue.
“And the guys can't go far from here, it's a long story, but they have to stay here and guard the forest. No, don’t roll your eyes.”
Jade chuckled. “So the plot thickens.” Jade picked up the next book to be shelved. “You know, you could do a long-distance relationship. Plenty of people do them.”
“As far as I’m aware, the Spartans don’t have phones,” Lauren said dryly.
“You can get them one. Or, you know, you can come back whenever you’re able. They’re immortal, right? I’m sure it isn't like time means very much to them.”
It wasn’t so easy. The masked disappointment on Greg’s face broke her heart. It wasn’t the look of a creature to whom time meant nothing. Lauren knew their separation would hurt all three men.
“It isn't about time,” Lauren attempted to explain. “It’s… There’s this bond between us.”
“Like soulmates?” Jade grinned. She held up a book cover. A historical romance, by the look of the lovers on the cover.
“Like soulmates, yes. In another life, they put a mark on my soul, and now we’re connected. It doesn’t feel right unless we’re close. I’ve spent my whole life with this feeling—kind of like I’m incomplete—and when I’m with one of them, it goes away. It feels like I’m whole for once, as if I’ve come home.”
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