Strange Love

Jos held the towel Arei had placed around her shoulders tightly as they neared the bedroom. Her excited chatter about the many things they had seen had slowly faded the closer to the bedroom they'd gotten. Her mind played over their earlier exchange in the room that loomed just a few feet away now. There had always been something about the gigantic man beside her that had always made it hard for her to keep her hands to herself. Admittedly, in her younger years, it had involved a great deal of physical attraction and the fact that he'd been the first person to ever treat her like a human after discovering what she was. Now... now it was something much different... so much more. The return of her memories only enhanced what had always been there. It had shed light on what she had mistaken as hurt and abandonment. She cast a glance over to him. Hearing his side of things had cast out most of her doubts. Although she knew he was still concerned over all that had happened before and now with Zeus, she wouldn't give those memories up for the world. She swallowed down the nervousness that had been building as his hand landed on the doorknob.

He pulled the door open and held it out for her, a faint smile playing at his lips. "You've gotten quiet, what's on your mind?"

She stepped into the dark room and waited as he closed the door behind them. "I was just wondering what the plan was for the rest of the night. It's fairly late, I can't imagine being able to get much done."

Arei smiled down at her as he closed the distance between them. "I thought a warm bath would be nice." He ran his hand over her wet hair as he studied her. "I was going to call downstairs and check on Shelly and see if they've found anything else helpful if you'd like to go on in." He nodded toward the attached bathroom. "Do you need help with anything?"

Jos shook her head as she sent him a skeptical look. There was something about the way his eyes were dancing that unnerved her. She forced down the lump building in her throat as she murmured a verbal response. "No, thank you. I'll be fine."

He nodded, his smoldering gaze still locked on her as she turned away from him and moved to her luggage. He walked over to the bed and retrieved his dress pants from the floor, digging the cellphone out of one pocket without taking his eyes off her. He sent her an assuring smile when she glanced back at him before entering the bathroom. "Hey, I was just calling to see if you guys were still down there going through things." He sent Jos a wink as he spoke to Chary.

Jos waited in the doorway for the response. [We are still going. You wouldn't believe some of the things this girl wrote about! There's quite a bit about Jos in here too, you may be interested in reading. I know Shelly and Russ seem to be interested in it! Anyways, I have them on hold right now. I'll call you back when we're finished.]

Jos let out a tired sigh as she turned into the bathroom and closed the door, not waiting to hear his reply. {Of course, there was a lot about me in that book, we were best friends... I was always the one she ran to first... I just wish I'd given her the attention she deserved when she was going through so much instead of tuning most of it out for my own selfish reasons.} She let out a heavy breath as she pushed down the drain stopper and turned the faucet on. She retrieved a bottle of bubble bath she'd picked up at the market in Athens and poured a generous amount into the bath before tossing her towel over a dressing bench and tugging the strings of her bikini loose. Arei had been right, a warm bath was just what she needed after the four hours they'd spent exploring the submerged portion of the palace. She let out a satisfied m.o.a.n, her eyes automatically going closed with the p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e as she settled into the deep tub and rested her head against the gentle curve of it.

"How is that masturbation going?" Arei asked from the door. When surprised eyes shot open and snapped over to where he rested against the doorframe, he forged innocence. "What? You're the one who said you would be forced to finish yourself off in the tub... I was simply checking your progress."

There was no doubt he was up to something, but she couldn't quite figure out what. She shook her head as she let it lean back against the tub and closed her eyes again, a smile curving her lips. "At least I'm honest enough to admit you drive me insane..." She said with a low sweet purr.

His lips spread wider as he drew closer to the tub. "Ah, so am I. Do you honestly think I've never thought of you while doing the exact same thing? And if memory serves me right, you used to enjoy watching that process." He pulled the dressing bench closer to the tub and began gathering supplies he would need.

Jos shook her head not bothering to open her eyes. "Is that your plan now as well?"

His grin widened as he sat a set of shampoo and conditioner down beside the tub along with a water pitcher, before taking a seat on the bench. He dipped the pitcher in the water and brought it up to pour over Jos's hair carefully avoiding her face and eyes. "It's only fair that I get to watch you, isn't it? I mean as many times as you watched me?" He said teasingly as he began working a lather into her hair with the sweet-scented shampoo.

She tilted her head allowing him better access. "I might be offended if I really thought you meant that... or turned on..." She shrugged. "I'm not sure which." She said as she lifted a hand from the water, arching her c.h.e.s.t out of the water, and ran her fingers teasingly over her own pert n.i.p.p.l.es.

"Cruel woman." He whispered against her ear as he rinsed the suds from her hair. He trailed a wet finger over her hand. When her eyes finally popped back open, he bent and captured her lips in a tender kiss. "You see, the difference here is... I don't mind it." He whispered huskily against her parted lips before dipping his tongue just slightly between them teasingly. "And believe me, kitten, I can give as good as I get." He pulled away from her and grabbed her luffa off the lip of the tub before standing. His eyes twinkled down at her as her eyes went wide with surprise when she realized he'd removed his trunks shortly after entering the room. "Slide forward." The words came out as more of a masculine purr than an order causing her to simply stare. He shrugged. "Fine I guess I can sit in front of you, but then you'll have to look at my body the entire time."

Jos swallowed audibly as she cautiously slid forward, not taking her eyes off him. She watched as he stepped over the side of the tub and lowered himself into the bubbly depth of the water, thankful the monitor was submerged under the water. Her eyes were still trained on him once he was fully submerged and now soaping up her luffa. She swallowed past the lump in her throat as she shook her head. "No matter what I do... you'll always be one wicked step ahead."

The corner of his lips curved up as he lifted his gaze from the luffa. "See, there's where you are wrong. You've always had the upper hand when it comes to our relationship. There is absolutely nothing I wouldn't do for you if I thought it would make you happy." He motioned her over with his head. "Come here."

Jos could feel her cheeks redden as she did as he asked, turning her back to him and sliding as close as she could without brushing against the hard shaft she knew waited below the bubbles and water surface. "What makes you the authority on what can and won't make me happy? Personally, I'm convinced you are the thing that can make me happy right now..."

He tugged her a little closer and began working the luffa across her neck and shoulders of one side before trailing across her upper c.h.e.s.t to get to the other side. "But will it be the same thing to make you happy in a month from now, a year... 100 years?" He didn't stop the movement of the luffa as he waited for her response.

She let out a heavy sigh as she relaxed her body and allowed it to rest against his. Blowing out another exasperated breath, she finally answered. "Arei, you don't understand... and I'm not sure if there is an easy way to make you. You don't have to be concerned that I will run back to Russ. I'll admit things... they got messy, and I shouldn't have gone back to him a second time... I shouldn't have allowed there to be a first time, in all honesty." She tugged the luffa from his hand and laced her fingers into his holding them out for her inspection. "I really wish I could give you an easy answer for all of it, but I can't. Yes, he did pressure me into having a relationship with him... but before that, he was a sweet person who I loved... I don't know if it was because of a deep feeling of obligation, I felt or my own loneliness finally becoming too much..." She shrugged against his c.h.e.s.t. "I knew from the second he confessed his feelings for me that anything we had was doomed to end and most likely messily. I'd told him as much from the beginning, but between Raven's pushing and his... I gave in..." She shrugged. "It wasn't until after we'd began having s.e.x that my emotions and feelings for him became so jumbled. I thought I'd be able to compartmentalize those feelings and keep everything casual until he was ready to move on and fulfill his duties to his people... but it wasn't as simple... and I wasn't as strong..."

Arei nodded in understanding as he brought their connected hands up to his lips to kiss them. "That is all understandable. S.e.x complicates things even if you are trying to keep emotions separate. I only have one question though, why go back to him after Florida?"

Jos frowned; she could feel her cheeks color with embarrassment at her next words. "Again, it was a combination of things... I felt guilty for the way things ended between him and me, and for some reason had convinced myself that the only way to make up for it was to give him another chance... especially after seeing how much pain I was causing him the day I left for Florida... To find out Xavier was planning something against him, it only confused my emotions more... and then you..." Her eyes gazed back up to him. "That first day in the USVA it was everything in me not to throw myself at you." Her brows furrowed as she moved her focus back to the bubbles surrounding them. "I think it's why I slapped you... in my mind, it was either slap the shit out of you or climb you like a tree." She could feel the blush of her cheeks creep up her neck to her ears. "It's embarrassing to admit how many times during the two weeks I spent with you in your apartment I'd considered trying to see if it was actually possible to rekindle our past romance... but then every time I was right on the verge of making a move, I would recall all the heartache and pain of how that romance ended and it would cause me to back off." She swallowed hard, already regretting her words before she even said them. "Had you been half as forceful as Russ had been, I wouldn't have been able to hold back." Her eyes moved back up to him. "If you were to push now even with my apprehension... I wouldn't stop you..." She began to turn her body toward him, but he stopped her. Her eyes shifted back to the water in added embarrassment. "Sorry... I was just making my point..."

He turned her face back to meet his. He held her gaze, a tenderness reflecting in his eyes. "You don't need to prove anything to me. I appreciate your transparency with this. It has clarified a lot of things I had questions about, and you should know I felt the exact same way those two weeks. In all honesty, I'd hoped you would change your mind and stay with me... but I'm glad it didn't work out that way. I'm glad we've been able to build what we have now over the course of a few months. I'm not sure we would have been able to, had we jumped into things in Tampa." It was his turn to shrug. "Do I wish I could have been saved the torment of seeing you with Russ, yes... but all in all I wouldn't change a thing." He bent and kissed her lips; this time letting her turn in the tub and wrap her arms around his neck. He was very aware of his body's reactions to her b.a.r.e b.r.e.a.s.ts pressing against his c.h.e.s.t but didn't stop her, instead, he held her tighter letting his hands slide over her sleek wet body.

Jos could feel the metal bite into her t.h.i.g.hs as she pressed against him, deepening their kisses as she tangled her fingers into his damp hair. She'd gotten so lost in his gentle assault of her mouth and body that she nearly jumped out of her skin when the phone rang from the counter. "Dang..." She panted against his neck. The monitor was once again beeping loudly as she struggled to regain control of her breathing and heart rate.

He chuckled as he shifted her in his arms and lifted them from the tub. He splashed over to the counter setting her on it as he answered the call. "Hey, you guys finished?"

Chary g.r.o.a.n.e.d. [Yeah, I guess. Shelly fell asleep shortly after you called so we figured we'd give it a rest for the night. Dad and dumb and dumber are heading back to the palace tomorrow to start work on those passages. I was calling to see if you wanted me to bring her up to your room or take her to ours.]

Arei's heated gaze held Jos's. "You know what, why don't you keep her with you tonight. We have that meeting with Prometheus first thing in the morning anyways." His gaze didn't waver from Jos's as he spoke.