by elda lore
“I know what you mean.”
My hand cupped her jaw, and I turned her to meet my face. “Kiss me.”
“Not yet.” Her lips curled slowly and mine responded.
“There’s my Peacock.” My nose rubbed over hers. I filled the silence that followed by telling her what happened with my father.
“He’s not going to get to me.” She shivered under the water. “I don’t plan to fall for anyone again.”
The finality of her tone forced my forehead to pinch. With those words, Veva stood abruptly and turned to face me. Water cascaded down her large breasts like waterfalls and rivers teemed over her stomach to the mound at the apex of her legs. Tiny streams rippled off her hips. She rivaled the goddess of water. Holding out her hand to me, I stood as well.
“Fall, Veva, and I will follow you.” I lowered my head to emphasize the words. She stepped from the tub, not releasing my hand, and led me to the bedroom without drying us. Standing at the base of the bed, she faced me.
“Can you make love to me?” The words softened as she spoke, but I sensed her hesitation. She left off the rest of the words. One last time. It had only been this morning that we shared a first. I didn’t wish to argue with her. I only wanted to give her what she needed from me.
“Persuade me,” I teased, using her words from only last night. When her hand landed on my chest, I fell under her spell. Less than a second it took. Slowly, her hand dragged upward, over my racing heart, to cover my shoulder, eclipsing the sunshine tattoo briefly before slipping to my wrist. Circling it, she lifted my hand and placed it over her breast. The invitation was clear. I took control, massaging the heavy weight of her and tweaking the nipple to a peak. I lowered my head to suck her in, and her hands found my hair, producing a comforting stroke that brought me to my knees.
Veva was the temple of life for me, and I planned to worship at her altar. My mouth trailed kisses to her core and took her with my tongue. Her hips danced over me, undulating to a rhythm in her head. I glanced up to find a mesmerizing scene, her lids dropped low and her body rippling softly like water down a stream. Fingers kneaded through my hair and held me to her, accepting my meager offering. My sacrifice accepted, she sang out her praise before her eyes opened and pierced me with their intensity. I sat back after a final kiss to her thighs and stood before her. She sat.
Resting only briefly on the edge of the bed, she slowly crawled backward up the sheets, luring me with her eyes to follow her lead. Like a sacrificial calf, I answered her call. My body would complete the feast. She opened her legs, drawing me to her center, and I speared forward. A breath caught in my throat, and I cried out sharply at the teasing pleasure of entering her slowly. This wasn’t a race across the sky; this was a gentle rain caressing the earth. Slipping into the warmth of her, her legs wrapped around my lower back, my mouth covered hers, and my tongue took her again. Our movements were a dance of epically rhythmic proportions providing a symphony. My tongue a tingling clap of thunder; my dick the pulse of lightning, I drew heat from Veva as my earth. I took my time to enter and tease, drawing back before sliding home.
“You complete me,” I muttered against her mouth, feeling safe and accepted in a way I’d never felt before. “I love you, Vee.”
“I know.” Her lids lowered as she drew in air with the glide of my entrance.
“Don’t leave me.” The plea lingered between us.
“Shh.” Her mouth reached up for mine as her fingers found my hair again. She hadn’t answered me, and even buried deep inside her, I felt her slipping away. I didn’t know all her sounds yet, but I wanted to learn. When she stiffened and her legs slid off my hips, her mouth released me, and she whispered my name. I recognized what was happening and drove deeper, hoping to keep the connection as long as I could. The motion set me off. Drained of my seed, the remains of my sacrifice consisted of tired bones and an achy heart. I knew she’d leave me.
VEVA
In the morning, I found Persephone on the edge of the olive grove. She stared out at the newly risen sun.
“It’s not the same as home, is it?” I stated, glancing out at the thickly trunked trees. In Nebraska, our fields looked flat compared to the haphazard, bushy display.
“Nope.” Her short answer brought my attention to her.
“Where’s Hades?” I hated to ask. The way her arms wrapped around her, like she held herself together, prefaced her answer.
“He’s gone.”
I didn’t want to say I was sorry. She’d heard it enough before, the first time he left. She turned to face me and smiled weakly.
“If he keeps surprising me, there will be no place left for me to live without a memory of him haunting me.”
“Pea, I don’t know what to say.”
“I know. You’ll learn.”
I continued to stare at my friend.
“You think you’re leaving him, Vee, but you aren’t. Not completely. I know that look on your face. Slinking off, you feel you’ve left him behind, but he’ll always be in you. You won’t be able to explain it, and you won’t want to. Who can put words to such a feeling, except maybe Shakespeare?” She laughed at an internal joke, and I smiled weakly in response.
“I don’t think he was ever mine.” It was the truth, but oh, how I wanted to believe he was. I couldn’t bring myself to accept that Solis belonged to me in any other way than being my first. While he spoke of familiarity, and I felt it too, but I didn’t think that feeling would follow after we connected. He called it destiny, but I wasn’t certain destiny favored me in a positive light. I believed in love, I just didn’t see how love could follow me. How Solis would follow me.
“There’s no denying him, Veva.” We had started walking through the trees just like we strolled the fields back home. “He is yours, and you are his.”
I let the statement linger, chewing at my lips as I considered her thoughts.
“I’m afraid, Pea. He makes me feel—whole. It’s the only word I can think of to describe him. I don’t feel that creepy, crawling anger inside me when we are good together, but I worry he’ll keep ripping me apart, just to make me whole again. Letty was only the tip of the mountain. There are so many others.”
“Does he want the others? No.” Persephone exhaled. “Hera did such a job on you. She scared you into thinking it could never happen because it didn’t happen to her. She’s bitter, Vee, and it takes so much energy to be that negative.”
Ignoring her admonishment, I changed the subject. I was too tired to argue about Solis or my mother.
“Did you hear about Heph?”
“I did.”
We strolled onward, and I heard a branch snap behind us. Turning to look, I noticed the trees had brightened to a ripe green. I turned forward to find the leaves of the ones ahead of us still dusty. It struck me mostly because all the other trees had the same feathery color to them, but the strip we walked stood bright and erect, ready to drop olives. We walked a little farther, and something called at the back of my brain to turn again. The few trees we had passed had shifted to stand at attention and lightened their leaves to a glossy glow.
“Pea.” I stopped her with a hand on her arm. I spun her to look back.
“What?” Her hand swung side to side. “What do you see?”
“Notice the trees.” I whispered, afraid to disturb whatever was happening. “They’ve changed.”
Persephone stared for a moment. “I don’t see it.”
“Here, walk ahead of me. Pay attention to that tree and then walk past it.”
Persephone did as I asked, glancing back at me, questioning me until she saw the leaves visibly rise and salute her. The color radiated as she passed the tree.
“Oh my God.” Her hand covered her mouth.
“What did you do?” I shrieked with half excitement, half fear.
“I don’t know.”
“It’s the Discovery.” We both spun to face Zeke a few feet behind us on the path. His white hair slicked back and hi
s beard trim, a wide smile graced his face. “It’s happened for you.” He stepped forward slowly, reverently, reaching out to clasp both Persephone’s hands in his. “I’m so excited for you.”
Pea stared as did I.
“You have quite the green thumb, as you’ve learned in your botany courses, but there is something more to it.” He waved a hand at the trees blossoming in respect to Persephone. “Your gift has bloomed.”
“How can that be?” Persephone questioned, and I waited, holding a breath for his answer.
“It’s simple, actually. Love makes your talent blossom.” A tear trickled from Persephone’s eye as she nodded in agreement with Zeke. For me, my boiling temper simmered at his answer. If I had a gift, I’d never discover mine then, I thought. But the lie rolled back to Solis, who I left alone in his luscious bed, sleeping in his godlike glory, replete from a night of endless lovemaking. I loved him, but I didn’t believe in myself. I didn’t trust my love for him, and I didn’t trust that he loved me, exclusively. It was easier to walk away before he would leave me.
Zeke turned to face me, as if reading my thoughts.
“And you, my princess, have much to learn, as does my son. Let’s pray your lessons don’t waste more time. These storms wreak havoc on my crops.” He raised his eyes to the sky before glancing over the grove. Here and there a split tree lay open, presumably struck by lightning. My lips twisted, confused whether to smile or frown at his comment.
“Happy Discovery Day, Persephone.” Zeke leaned forward to brush her cheek with his lips. His lips lingered a moment too long, and an eerie emotion rolled up my body.
“It’s time for us to leave, Pea,” I interrupted and Persephone released Zeke’s hands. His eyes sent glaring bolts of light in my direction, but I fired back. His secrets haunted me.
VEVA
We hardly pulled out of the main entrance when Persephone spun back to gaze one last look upon the estate.
“Veva, stop the car.” Her hand came to rest on my forearm and I slowed, pulling to the side of the road.
“What did we forget?” I feared Persephone wanted to return, hopeful that Hades would remain. She’d already explained to me that with the ending of the festivities, so too was his stay. He’d returned to the underworld. It reaffirmed that I needed to get as far away from the Olympic Olive estate as possible.
“What the hell?” I’d swung my head back and realized the estate had disappeared. We hadn’t gone more than a few feet from the entrance, but the entrance no longer existed. The gate was missing and all that remained were miles and miles of olive trees.
“But…” I stared, blinking in disbelief. Two tire trails veered off the road and dead-ended into nothing but the edge of an olive plantation. It was as if a driveway should be there, but wasn’t. The ground dipped and the grass folded in two strips. No evidence of the paved drive. No entrance gate. No estate. It was all missing from the eye.
“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Persephone asked for confirmation.
“I don’t see a thing, so if that’s what you see, then we see the same thing.” I wasn’t even sure what I just said, let alone what I no longer saw.
“The estate disappeared.” Persephone’s voice faltered as it fell. “Not again.” She sighed and spun in the passenger seat. Her head fell back and she slowly beat it against the headrest. “He’s done it again.”
“Done what?” My hand reached for her arm this time.
“He’s made it impossible to return.”
My eyes shifted back to the olive grove.
“I don’t think Hades did that.” My finger pointed behind us, circling for emphasis.
“Not alone, he didn’t, but it’s clear we can’t return without an invitation.”
I stared in disbelief.
“Are you saying you think we’ve been kicked out?”
“I’m saying they aren’t ready to let us in.”
“Who is ‘us’?
“You and me.” Her head rolled on the headrest to face me. “You and me, Vee. We’re modern descendants, but we have to prove ourselves.”
Modern descendants? There was no way I was a descendant of any of this crazy. Maybe Hades could rise from the dead, and Solis could fly across the sky, but there was nothing special about me. My thoughts jumped to this morning and the shifting of the trees as Persephone walked along the lane. Maybe she was a descendant of something powerful and strange, but certainly not me.
“Pea, please, just five minutes without this stuff.” I shifted to face the windshield and put the car in drive. I wasn’t jealous of her. I loved Persephone, and she clearly had a talent developing, as Zeke mentioned, but there was nothing for me on his estate, and I wanted to get back to the real world with no more talk of gods or gifts.
+ + +
The weather shifted drastically as we left the country roads leading to the invisible estate. Hitting Highway 99 through central California, the wind changed, and rain released from the heavens like a shower head. I refused to think of what I’d left behind. Persephone sat beside me in silence, her thoughts a million miles away and apparently under the earth. I was slow to understand all that Pea told me about Hades; what I didn’t understand the most was why he couldn’t stay. Whatever his reasons, my best friend sat grieving once again. She twisted a ring on her third finger while I swung the rock at my neck back and forth on its leather strap.
The windshield wipers swished as fast as they could but still weren’t clearing the glass, and we slowed to a crawl. I couldn’t see two feet in front of me. A crack of thunder shook the car and lightning struck to the left. I screamed and swerved. Persephone screamed as well. Suddenly something hit the hood of the car with a heavy thud, and I slammed on the brakes, foolishly squeezing my eyes shut for a moment. As we came to a sudden halt and I hit the emergency hazard lights, a large object rolled off the front of the vehicle. In slow motion, I turned to look at Pea. We hadn’t hit something, or the impact would have forced the airbags. Something hit us. Without thought, I opened the door, instantly soaked to the core, and raced to the front of the car. My headlights lit the narrow visibility.
“Solis,” I screamed, as I recognized the body slumped on the pavement. Falling to my knees, my hands gripped his open jacket.
“Solis,” I shouted again over the deluge of water pelting me. I shook his limp body, realizing as an afterthought that I shouldn’t be jiggling him. My hand brushed back his waterlogged hair and rubbed over his cheeks.
“Veva.” His voice strained as he rolled to his back. His hand wiped over his stomach, rising hesitantly over his chest. He winced once but continued until his hand covered mine.
“Veva,” he croaked again.
“Are you insane? What are you doing out here?” I yelled over the roaring rain ripping at the road around us.
“I told you, I’d follow you anywhere.” His voice strained further as he formed a complete sentence. I blinked as the water blinded me.
“Where did you come from?” I shouted as he slowly sat up, gripping his ribs, and facing me. I couldn’t believe he could move, let alone sit up before me. “Did you…did you just fall out of the sky or something?”
“Yes.” His direct answer startled me, and his trembling hand reached forward to press back wayward hair stuck haphazardly over my face. “You’re so beautiful when you’re wet.”
“You’re insane,” I scolded.
“I’m in love.”
My mouth came to his, ignorant of the cold rain or the sharp pricks of heavy drops. My lips took control and he moaned into me, letting me lead as his body rested.
“What did you do?” I asked after releasing him. “Are you hurt? You must be hurt.”
The rain slowed considerably, passing toward its next victim.
“I’m…a little sore.” He rolled his neck and lifted his hands to the back of his head. The front had a welt the size of an egg. I leaned forward again and pressed my lips above his eye.
“What were you doin
g?” No longer necessary to yell as the rain passed, my voice softened.
“I told you. I was following you.”
“Solis,” I sighed. “You know you can’t.”
“Who says?”
“Persephone told me. It isn’t the same out here as it is in there. At the estate.” My thoughts drifted back to the disappearance of Zeke’s property.
“Veva, I come to the world outside the estate all the time. Most of us look human, minus some strange coloring on Triton and Hades. I can walk among you freely.”
“Solis, this seems impossible.”
“What does?”
“Us.”
“Vee, don’t say that.” But it was true. I’d been stewing over this, us, for the last hour of my drive. Solis and I were not a possibility. If he was something other than human, and I clearly was very human, there wasn’t a chance we could be together. Anything between Solis and I was as hopeless as Pea and Hades.
“Vee, you’re more like me than you think.” His voice lowered. “You’re special to me, and your day will come. You’ll figure it out. We’ll figure it out. Together.”
“I can’t do this.” I sat back on my heels. I didn’t believe him. I didn’t believe in me.
“Why not?” His forehead pinched, and he winced. His hand came to feel the size of the bump growing over his eye.
“I don’t know if I believe all this, although falling from the sky is certainly a grand gesture.” I looked up for emphasis at the lightening clouds. My eyes fell back to his. “I just don’t see how I could be special in any way. Not me, and I don’t know that I want to be. I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to hold you back from who you need to be.” My voice faltered as I swiped a hand down his cheek. Leaving him wasn’t meant to hurt him. It was meant to free him of me.
