Fingers stained black

Chapter 18

Adora

"What?"

Persephone's mouth hangs open as she stares at her son, his arm firmly wrapped around my waist. I don't quite know what happened during the time he stopped talking to me, but I am happy that he is back to normal again. I don't know what I would have done if he hadn't been here for me. That doesn't mean I am not going to punish him, though.

My mind is still swirling from the information, but I have changed my outfit and I am ready to take on my mother. Well, not right now. We still need to plan and I probably won't be doing much fighting. But, I have come to terms with the fact that I was raised by a psychopath who tried to kill me by taking over the body of my 'future father-in-law'.

Brone's words, not mine.

I have recently come to the conclusion that when Brone is at home, he is much more relaxed. Unfortunately, much more relaxed means much more cocky and arrogant. Hence him planning our future together when we aren't even courting.

After we explain everything to Persephone, we all sit down around a large table in the meeting room and begin planning. Brone insists on sitting as close to me as possible and always having some form of contact with me. It is completely inappropriate. Although, walking around the castle yesterday, lots of guards and soldiers with their respective partners are very touchy.

I suppose it is having an effect on me. However inappropriate it is that he currently has his hand on my thigh, I take no action to remove it. Nobody seems to even notice, and if they do, they certainly don't care.

We sit in the meeting room for hours, going over logistics and planning until we feel everything is in order. Persephone explains that there is a ball that Aphrodite has invited her to, all the gods are going. We are to crash the ball and our plan goes from there. I have provided a detailed blueprint of the layout of my house. All of the tunnels and secret rooms that my mother thinks I do not know about.

I am giddy with excitement as we walk back to our rooms. When I turn to leave for my chambers, Brone pulls me in the direction of his chambers. I suppose this is the only time we will have privacy to talk. I allow him to lead me through the halls and to his chambers. Pulling me inside, he sits on the bed with his legs spread apart. Standing in between his legs, I grip at the hair at the nape of his neck, earning a groan that echoes from the back of his throat.

"We should talk," I say and his eyes snap open, finding mine. "Why did you stop talking to me? I understand if you were scared off. You didn't know how broken I was before." I stop talking when he glares at me.

"You think that is why I stopped talking to you? I stopped talking to you because your mother told me that she already had plans for you to marry Zeus's son. I didn't want to break your heart." One of his hands reaches up to brush against my cheek and wipes away a stray tear. "She also told me something else."

I look up at him before covering his mouth when he starts to talk. "Do you mean astrapí? He's gay."

"What?" Brone looks up at me and nods. "Wait. Did Zeus really name his child lightning?"

I nod again and laughter erupts from my mouth. Brone joins me and we laugh until it slowly dies off and we are left staring at each other, smiling widely.

"What did you want to tell me?" I ask and he looks away again. I run my hands through his hair and he leans forward, pressing a tender kiss to the base of my throat.

"You." A kiss to my jaw. "Are." Another kiss. "My." Another kiss, just next to my lips. "Soulmate. My chosen." He says the words so quietly that I think I hallucinated for a second. But then his soft lips capture mine and I completely melt into him.

My soulmate.

I don't question it as he pulls me onto his lap until I am straddling him. His lips move over mine gently at first before becoming the harsh and rough kisses that I have come to love. His hands travel down my body before coming to a stop at my bum. They grip my bum harshly and I gasp, he pulls me closer and I grind on his crotch.

He groans, slipping his tongue into my mouth. We fight for dominance, our tongues running over each other but he eventually wins. He falls back on the bed and rolls us over so that he is on top of me. Running one of his hands down my body, he pulls my thigh up over his hip and runs his hand over the soft flesh, pushing my dress up over his lips. My other leg lays, crushed beneath his. His other hand cups my face.

My hands are in his hair, pulling at it as he kisses me. My hands travel down his chest, pulling at the shirt that he threw over his head to meet with his mother. He disconnects with me for a moment to pull the shirt over his head before he reconnects himself to me, his lips landing on my neck, sucking and kissing.

Trailing my hands down his smooth chest, I dip my fingers into the grooves and indents of his muscles. He sucks at a sensitive spot on my neck and I let out an embarrassing moan. I can feel his lips spreading into a smile as he groans at the noise and grinds his hips into mine. I grasp his face in my hands and pull him back up to my lips. His hands travel up and pull at the two pieces of fabric that hide my breasts from him.

Wrapping both of my legs around his waist, I pull away from the kiss as he pushes the pieces of fabric away from my breasts. I knew it was a bad idea to wear the dresses he picked out for me. He kisses his way down to my chest before peppering kisses on the top of my breasts. Or a really, really good one.

He brings one of his hands down to play with one of my breasts as he sucks one of my nipples into his mouth. I moan as he flicks his tongue against it and I raise my hips against his. He harshly pinches the other breast and I gasp as he swaps sides. His hands cup harshly at my other breast and he removes himself, sucking on the flesh on the top of my breast, biting down harshly. My back arches and a gasp escapes my mouth as he continues his assault.

My hands travel down his chest and back up to pull and tug at his hair. He detaches himself from my body, lifting my skirts higher on my hips. Placing light kisses on my inner thigh, he sucks harshly on the skin, drawing me out of the lustful haze. I pull him back with a harsh tug at his hair. He looks up at me with a goofy smile that takes up half of his face.

"You are not getting any further than that until you put a ring on this finger. We are not even courting." He groans at my words, but pulls my skirt down and crawls back up the bed to meet me. I cuddle into his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. "You are turning me into a wanton harlot."

"My wanton harlot, cherry blossom, and we are in a courtship, I'll have you know," he responds, his lips ghosting the top of my head. We lay there for a while, neither of us talking. Just enjoying the last moments of quiet that we would have.

"What does your sword say?" I ask, pushing myself onto my elbow so that I am looking over him. He tilts his head and furrows his brows. "The one from the day of the race, it has a greek inscription."

He chuckles at me. "You mean to say that you, the Greek goddess, don't know Greek?"

"I can speak it just fine. I just can't read it." My face flushes a bright red as he looks at me. His hand comes up to cup my face and his thumb brushes my lower lip.

"He will never fail, because his love is eternal." Smiling down at him, I duck my head down to kiss him before he pulls back. "I will win every battle, for you." He speaks before he pulls me back down into a bruising kiss.