by Lucy Roy
“Oh, ah—” I put my hands on my hips. “No, I’m good. Just going for a walk.”
He eyed me speculatively.
“You walk?”
“Yup!”
“In a—is that a bathing suit?” He frowned, then reached out and lightly snapped the purple strap that was in clear view thanks to my super cute top.
I took a small step back and cleared my throat. “Yeah, I was kind of—”
“Tessa?”
I cringed. Nate had just come up behind Eric, looking far too gorgeous in blue swim trunks and a white t shirt.
I stepped gingerly around Eric, and he turned and followed my movement, his eyes growing wide when he saw who’d addressed me.
“You’re going out with him?”
“Yes, Eric, I am. Why?”
Nate folded his arms across his chest and leaned against a column. There was an amused look on his face, but he otherwise stayed quiet.
‘You’re enjoying this far too much.’
‘Just tell him you have to go. Or stay and continue to stutter out excuses, that’s fine, too. I’m thoroughly enjoying his thought process right now, though. His imagination is quite vivid.’
Eric schooled his features and shrugged in an attempt at nonchalance.
“No reason. Have fun.”
I pursed my lips as Eric turned and walked down the covered walkway, then slid a look at Nate.
“Well, that was weird.”
“I found it entertaining,” he said with a smirk.
“Do I even want to know what he was thinking?”
He smiled, then took my hand and led me through the empty courtyard. “Probably not.”
“So where are we going, anyway?”
“The springs, just up the mountain. You’ll like it.”
“I see.” I gave him a mischievous look. “Yana and Igor were talking about going there.”
“Were they? I wasn’t aware they were a couple.”
“They’re not, but she’s totally got a thing for him.”
We’d reached the portal field, and this time, we went through a door that was a pale lavender with a white glass doorknob and brass fixtures.
“This kind of looks like my bedroom door in Renville,” I observed. “Purple’s always been my favorite color.”
“Each door reflects what’s behind it, more or less,” he explained as we stepped onto the flat granite surface on the other side. “This one is purple, well, because…” He held out his arm, and I gasped.
Aqua pools formed huge steps up and down the mountain, all surrounded by purple flowers in every shade and shape imaginable. Vines of wisteria grew up the rocky face of the mountain, sprouting directly out of cracks in the stone. The scent of lilac wafted over us from the bushes that clung to the outer edges of the pools, and bright purple Morning Glory vines crept along the ground beneath them. Steam rose from the water in lazy curves, giving the whole thing a misty appearance.
“This is one of Hestia’s gardens, isn’t it?”
Nate looked at me in surprise. “Yes, actually. How did you know that?”
I smiled, taking in the mountain view that acted as a backdrop for the garden before answering.
“When she came to me in that dream, we were in an ambrosia garden. She told me how much she loved them. This one has that same kind of beauty.”
“Well, I’m glad you like it.” He took my hand, and we climbed gingerly up the rough stone steps that led to the top.
As soon as we reached the highest pool, he kicked off his shoes and pulled his shirt over his head. Without any warning, he jumped into the pool, splashing hot water over my shoes and onto my legs.
When he resurfaced, the constant look of seriousness he always seemed to wear had washed away. Instead, he was grinning in a way that made him look like any other guy; happy, carefree, and able to have fun. His light brown hair was falling in his eyes, and I had the sudden urge to push it away.
As if reading my thoughts, he crooked a finger at me. “Come on.”
I rubbed my hands up and down my arms, more in an attempt to calm myself down than warm up.
“Don’t make me come up there,” he warned. “You’ll end up in here fully clothed.”
“Okay, okay, I’m coming!” I held up my hands in a “please don’t” gesture and started pulling off my black flats.
I wiggled out of my jeans but hesitated before taking off my shirt.
It was stupid. Growing up at the lake, I’d practically lived in bathing suits every summer, but right now, my shirt was long enough that it covered my whole torso and butt. Once I took it off, well, there’d be very little left to the imagination.
Screw it.
I pulled the shirt over my head and walked quickly to the edge of the pool. I sat down and let my legs dangle in the water, enjoying the feel of hot water as it clashed with the chilly air.
Nate was treading water in front of me, shaking his head.
“I know you’re freezing up there.”
I scowled at him and tried to ignore the goosebumps that had spread across my skin.
“Tessa…”
“Just give me a sec! It takes me a while to ease myself into hot tubs.”
He swam closer and rested his hands on either side of my thighs.
“I don’t need to read your mind to know you’re full of it.” He ran his hands slowly up my legs. “Now come on.”
Before I could react to the feel of his hands on my legs, he’d grabbed me around the waist and pulled me in.
I went in so fast that my feet scraped against the bottom, nearly ten feet down. I broke through the surface sputtering.
“Asshole!” I splashed water in his face. “That was so not necessary!”
I brushed the hair that had escaped my braid behind my ears.
“You’re in now, aren’t you?” He drifted closer and rested his hands on my hips. “Isn’t this better than sitting up there in the cold?”
“I suppose,” I grumbled. We floated toward the edge, coming to rest on a natural underwater shelf formation that jutted out of the wall. I looked around, taking it all in.
“So, this is another of your favorite places? I can see why.”
He gave me a soft smile as he floated in the warm water in front of me. “Did you have any place like this growing up?”
“Not really. There were some caves down on the beach that I liked to explore, and the lake at night was amazing. But no, nothing like this.” I met his eyes. “Thank you for sharing it with me.”
He pushed a piece of hair off my forehead. “You’re welcome. It’s been a long time since I’ve wanted to share anything with anyone.”
“Why is that?”
He shrugged and looked out over the edge of the mountain. “I think I just needed to have something to myself. Plenty of others know about this place, but it’s nice when I can come here alone.”
I arched a brow. “And yet here I am.”
“There you are.” He gave me a wicked grin, then ducked under the rippling water.
I yelped as I felt a sharp pull on my legs as he pulled me under with him. He propelled us through the water until we were in a spot where the mountain curved in slightly, creating a shady space of water that was a bit less hot than the rest.
“You could’ve warned me, you know,” I said, splashing water in his face.
The water was shallower here, so with his tall frame, he was able to stand without issue. He moved closer, then slid his hands down my sides and onto my hips, just brushing the waistband of my bikini bottoms.
“Sorry,” he said. He gave me a wolfish grin as he gently pushed me back toward the rock wall.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and lightly ran my fingers through his hair.
“You know, I kind of like this other side of you.”
He cocked his head in question. “What do you mean?”
“You’re just always so serious. I like seeing you having fun. Seeing you smile.”
“My gorgeous smile?” His tone was teasing, but I couldn’t help but blush.
“You weren’t supposed to hear that.”
“All the more reason to figure out how to get your mind in check, right?”
I held up a finger. “Uh uh, no way. We are not talking about anything work related."
“No?” He raised his eyebrows and gave me a slow smile. “What should we talk about, then?”
“I don’t know, you tell me.” I bit my lower lip and arched a brow.
Bracing one hand against the stone, he ran his lips along my jaw, then down my shoulder and back up to my ear.
“Tessa?”
“Hmm?” My eyes were closed, and I was shamelessly loving the feel of him touching my body. My fingers dug into his strong shoulders, pulling him even closer.
“I’m going to kiss you now,” he whispered, the rough tone of his voice turning my legs to jelly.
His lips traced a path down to my mouth, where he gently, almost hesitantly, touched his lips to mine. My arms tightened around his neck as his hand splayed against my back. Slowly, he pushed me back against the wall and deepened the kiss.
I sighed against his mouth, then brought my legs up to wrap around his waist, pulling him closer. His hand ran up the back of my thigh as he laid soft kisses down the sensitive skin of my throat. As he pressed against me, I felt the rough surface of the rock scrape against my back, causing me to suck in a sharp breath.
My mental walls must’ve disintegrated, because his actions started mimicking everything I was imagining.
I let out a low moan as he brushed one hand over the thin fabric of my top, laying kisses to my neck, then chest. He gripped my thigh with the other hand, pulling me flush against him. I ran my fingers through his hair and pulled his mouth back to mine, desperate for him to keep kissing me.
SPLASH! SPLASH!
“What the—” I jerked back, breathless, and craned my neck, trying to see who’d so rudely interrupted us.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Nate groaned, his breathing heavy as he dropped his head to my shoulder.
I barely had time to be shocked at his use of profanity when someone spoke.
“You didn’t think we’d let you come on a date and not harass you about it, did you?” The voice was male, almost musical, and very familiar.
“I’m so sorry about this,” Nate whispered, his eyes full of regret. He took a few seconds to collect himself, then pulled me back out into the sun. The sudden brightness had me holding a hand over my eyes.
“Honestly, yes, I was hoping you’d refrain from that,” Nate said, irritation lacing his tone.
“Why would you think—Oh, hey!”
As soon as I saw our guests, I realized where I’d heard the first voice before. It belonged to Hermes who was floating not ten feet away, with Dionysus at his side. Both wore mischievous grins.
Frowning, I drifted closer to Nate. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me toward him.
‘It’s fine, they’re friends,’ he reassured me.
‘They’re Elders, and I’m in a bikini. I don’t care if they’re your friends.’
‘It’s a very nice bikini.’
‘You’re so very funny.’
Dionysus cast Hermes, whose brown eyes were laughing, a sideward glance. “Hermes, I think we’re scaring her.”
Hermes gave me a crooked grin. “Are we scaring you, doll?”
I forced a smile onto my face and tried to remember the ease with which I’d handled Hermes on my first day in Olympia. “Nope.”
Dionysus sighed, his hazel eyes sparkling. “That’s a yes. We’re sorry.” A disarming smile spread across his youthful face. “It’s just been so long since Nathaniel’s had a girlfriend—”
“So you felt the need to interrupt?” Nate laughed, and pulled me in front of him, wrapping his other arm around my waist.
Hermes grinned, his white teeth flashing against his golden skin as he eyed me curiously.
“We just wanted to get to know her, Nathaniel, that’s all. You’ve been keeping her a secret,” he chastised.
Nate’s thumbs brushed lightly against my hip bones, sending tingles down my legs.
‘You should probably stop doing that.’
His hands stilled as he saw what was going through my mind.
‘Sorry.’ He kissed my temple and I could feel his lips curving into a smile. ‘Try to put your walls up, unless you want to get an earful from those two.’
Frowning, I tried to do as he instructed, picturing a secure wall surrounding my mind. Hopefully, it worked.
“Yeah,” Dionysus said indignantly. “Since when do we keep secrets from our best friends?”
I felt my eyes widen. I tilted my head back and glared at Nate.
‘Best friends?’
He let out an exasperated sigh. “Fine. Tessa, obviously you know Dionysus and Hermes. They’re insufferable and intrusive and they’re leaving.”
Dionysus snickered. “No way. We want to get to know this girl you’ve been mooning over.”
I couldn’t help but smile.
‘You’ve been mooning over me?’
He tightened his arms around my waist.
‘Possibly.’
“Oh, look at that smile!” Hermes crowed. “Nathaniel, I think she’s absolutely smitten!”
“So, Tessa.” Dionysus swam forward and grabbed my hand. “Come talk to us.”
He gave a gentle tug, and with a sigh, Nathaniel let me go.
Dionysus put his hands on my waist and guided me over to the shelf that jutted out from the wall and sat me down. He swam back a few feet and began to tread water in front of me. Hermes came to join him, and Nate sat beside me, tilting his head back to rest against the pool’s edge and closing his eyes. His hand found mine underwater.
Dionysus looked at me expectantly. “Tell us about yourself.”
A smile pulled up the corners of my mouth. “What would you like to know?”
A slow smile spread across Hermes’ face.
Before he could voice his question, Nate cut him off. “Careful, Hermes,” he warned, not opening his eyes.
Hermes laughed. “You spoil all my fun.”
I blinked.
‘What was he going to say?’
‘Something far too inappropriate for someone who barely knows you.’
“Alright, I’ll go,” Dionysus said. He narrowed his eyes at me, and despite his boyish looks, he managed to achieve a somewhat threatening expression. “What are your intentions with our Nathaniel?”
I cocked my head to the side. “Intentions?”
“She has no intentions, you moron,” Nate muttered.
“Is Nathaniel your first boyfriend?” Hermes asked.
“I don’t think—” I cut myself off, not wanting to voice what I thought our relationship status was. “No.”
Dionysus heaved an exaggerated sigh of relief.
“Well, that’s good to hear. What did you like to do before you came to Olympia?”
I relaxed a bit, feeling a bit more at ease with the youngest of Zeus’ sons. They didn’t seem nearly as intimidating as the other Elders.
“Well, I grew up in a lake town, so I spent a lot of time at the beach in the summer. Most of my free time outside of school was focused on training, though.”
“No hobbies?”
“Not really.”
“That doesn’t sound very fun,” Dionysus commented. “Aren’t humans supposed to be fun?”
I laughed. “I guess, but when your guardians drag you out of bed every day at five am for weapons training and push two more hours of training and lessons after school, it’s easy to be too tired to want to do much else.”
“Weapons training, huh?” Dionysus’ mouth curved into a smile as he drifted a little closer. “What’s your weapon of choice?”
“The staff,” I responded without hesitation. “I started training with it when I was ten, and it’s always been my favorite.”
“
Interesting.” He nodded as he looked out over the valley. “That’s an old weapon. What do you find so enjoyable about it? I would’ve expected some kind of projectile.”
I considered his question for a moment. “I don’t know. I mean, I’ve trained with projectiles, but—” I hesitated.
Dionysus cocked a brow. “But…?”
Nate and Hermes were watching me curiously.
“There’s just…something satisfying about taking down an opponent up close and with such a rudimentary weapon. I mean, if you’ve got the weapons to take someone out from a distance, that’s ideal, but I like the challenge of taking them on up close.”
A grin broke across Dionysus’ face. He wagged a finger toward me and looked at Nathaniel.
“I like her, Nathaniel. I like the way she thinks. I think we should keep her.”
“I’m so glad you approve,” Nate muttered dryly. He slid an arm around my waist and pulled me closer, and it was clear in that gesture that he was happy his friends seemed to like me.
‘Of course they do.’
I smiled at the reassurance.
“Oh, see that’s not fair!” Hermes pointed a long, slender finger toward us. “No internal conversations! It’s rude!”
The corner of Nate’s mouth curved up in a smile. “Sort of like intruding on someone’s date to satisfy your own curiosity?”
“We’re Elders, we’re allowed,” Hermes said, laughing.
“I’m quite certain that would be considered an abuse of power,” Nate pointed out.
Dionysus waved a hand dismissively. “So Tessa, let me ask you this.” His eyes darted to Nate, then Hermes, grinning wickedly. “Do you have any friends?”
Nate shot a glare in his direction. “Not for you! I won’t have you corrupting her friends—”
“Corrupting!” Dionysus interrupted, laughing. “I’m not trying to corrupt anyone! I just think it would be fun to…triple date.”
Hermes smacked the back of his head. “You’re horribly unconvincing, brother.” He winked at me. “He absolutely wants to corrupt your friends.”
I looked at Nate. ‘To be fair, I don’t know that Mary would be opposed—’
‘Trust me, the last thing we need is for Mary and Dionysus to get together, in any way.’
“I see that look!” Dionysus narrowed his eyes. “What are you telling him, Tessa?”
