Uncomfortable Truths - Jercy, Jasiper, Percabeth

Uncomfortable Truths - Laid Bare - Jason - Chapter Four

I crawl onto Percy's bed and lie on my side next to him, propped up on one elbow. He grins at me stupidly.

"Your glasses are crooked."

I move my hand to straighten them, but he snatches them off my face first, then sets them on the dresser beside the bed. I watch him as he settles back on the pillow, then stares at his feet, and kicks off his shoes and socks. I wonder why this feels so much different than our first time together, why we seem to be content to just lie back and be rather than trying to deny everything, and attempt to salvage our friendship with rationalization. It could be because the lights are on this time; we're fully aware of what we're doing; the guilt factor has eased, and ... I think. For myself, I'm coming to terms with my feelings for Percy. After months of avoidance, it hardly took any time at all for us to get right back to where we left off.

Percy, settles his hand between my legs and teases me, sending shivers through my nerves. I'm still half hard and rapidly returning to full mast under his fingers.

I look at his face, at his goofy smile.

"Looks like you're primed and ready again," he says. There's an eager sort of glee in his voice.

I groan, messing up my longer-than-regulation hair, mindlessly telling myself to remember to make an appointment to get it cut this week. "You can thank my dad for that."

He gives me a funny look. "What do you mean by that?"

I guess we're talking for a while first. I think it's kind of cool to just be able to blow my load down my bro's throat and then settle in for a chat without it being weird. I don't think Percy and I have ever had a time together where we didn't have some schedule or other, some potential death threat looming over us.

"Umm. You remember the Titan War ..." I realize how dumb that sounds. "Don't answer. That was a stupid question. Well, after I defeated Krios on Mount Othrys, my dad zapped me with a bolt of lightning."

Percy screws up his face in disbelief. "Man, that guy is too much."

"No," I say, chuckling. "It was a friendly bolt, like just a quick zap, sorta his version of a high five, I guess. It was also his blessing."

"Yeah?"

"Mhm," I trace one of Percy's nipples with a fingertip, making it stand firm on his chest. "When I returned to Camp Jupiter, I'd grown four inches."

He continues toying with me, making me shudder. I try to focus.

"Four inches taller or longer?" he asks, his eyes glowing bright with mischief.

Two can play at that game. I stare directly into his eyes as I steady my breathing. "Both," I say, and then start laughing. I can't help it. I'm feeling too good, winding up, slowing down, and starting over again. "He pretty much drop-kicked me through puberty, and yeah ... It was embarrassing for a while."

"Why's that?" he asks.

"Uhh ..." I have to breathe in and out a couple of times to stay calm. Percy's totally trying to break my concentration. "There's a story from the ancient days in Rome; I don't know if it's true or not, but it runs through the legion every so often, usually after a huge battle to sort of lighten the mood."

"So, like every couple of months?" Percy asks, a huge grin on his face. I give him a pinch to distract him. "Ow!"

He pouts, but it works. He moves his hand and sets it on my thigh. It amazes me how natural it feels to be so intimate with him and okay with it.

"No, but you're right that it's not all that infrequent. More like every three years or so. Supposedly, in the baths in ancient Rome, when a guy who was exceptionally endowed would enter, the bathers would stand and applaud when he entered and call out blessings to the guy's parents. So yeah, after the Titan War, you can imagine how that went."

I can't help but smile when Percy starts laughing. He absently rubs his free hand over his chest and stomach. "You were praetor then, right? They do it even with all the formal Roman regulations about station and stuff?"

"C'mon. You were praetor too. You know how it is ... Getting elected despite not really wanting the responsibility, the burden. When you'd rather blend in and be one of the group, not always questioning if the people you call friends really like you or if they're in it because of your power." My arm is falling asleep. I reposition myself so I'm on my back instead and Percy rises up on his elbow, reversing our position. "Actually, I kinda sucked at being praetor."

Percy lifts his free hand in a fist and I bump it. Then he frowns as if he's considering something unpleasant. "You know, I think I got a bum deal. Poseidon never blessed me like that. Clarisse got blessed by Ares ... You did by Jupiter."

I back think over the other godly blessings I know about. "Piper got Aphrodite's blessing when she was claimed ... And Frank ..." I laugh. "Oh gods. Frank."

"What about him?" Percy asks, looking as if he's considering getting defensive. I forget sometimes that Percy, Frank, and Hazel are tight.

"He got a similar blessing from Mars. You know how big he is now, like buff?"

Percy nods.

"After the war with Gaea, Frank came back to Camp Jupiter as an official praetor. Hazel sent me an Iris message a couple of weeks in. Said she needed my help with him. I was already planning to head west for the forum to formally induct me as pontifex. When I arrived, she said Frank's having some sort of problem and won't tell her what's up. That he stinks to high heaven, and refuses to bathe. So I talked to him and he confided in me that the guys in the baths would stand and applaud, shouting blessings to Mars every time he walked in. Said it was creeping him out because he couldn't figure out why they were doing it."

I pause and watch Percy as he tries not to laugh to the point he can't listen anymore. His face flushes, his eyes bright, and I have to focus so I don't lose the thread of my story.

"Right," I chuckle. "One of the legionnaires clued him into what was going on, and the idea they were staring at his package made him afraid to bathe with groups of people."

"Awww," Percy giggles. "Poor guy."

I continue, trying not to laugh too. "I told him I understood how he felt, cause Jupiter pulled the same stunt with me, and instead of freaking him out more, he seemed to feel better about the whole thing. He said if Jason Grace could take the heat, then he could too, no problem. But, I couldn't leave it at that."

Percy snorts. "No way, of course not. He totally opened the door for you. What'd you say?"

Percy's laughter is infectious. I spit out the rest of the story, gasping between bursts of laughter. "I offered to go with him ... if it would make him feel better ... and then suggested ... that we could shut them all up by dueling with our godly enhanced weapons ..." We dissolve into giggles, Percy, wiping tears from his eyes. My mouth is starting to hurt from smiling. I'm not finished. "And he made that face ..."

Percy grabs his abs like they hurt and gasps to breathe. "Oh gods. I know the one ... Like he's got a constipated sneeze stuck in his nose."

I burst out in another laughing fit, also clutching my stomach. We calm ourselves, taking deep breaths until I finally feel like I can talk again.

"That's the perfect description, Jackson. I'm gonna remember that. Anyway, afterward, Hazel thanked me for whatever I did because Frank's been bathing regularly again, but now he seems to shy away from me whenever I visit. I think he's afraid I'll josh him some more, but I couldn't stop myself. The Greek has rubbed off on me."

"That," Percy says, "and the gay vibe."

I don't know why, but I'm suddenly solemn. "Yeah, well. I never realized I even had a gay vibe at all. Not till last year."

We fall quiet.

Percy's the first to speak. "Why didn't we talk about it in the morning?"

I shrug, resting the back of my hand on my forehead. "Because we're both cowards when it comes to the real scary shit, like feelings and things?"

"Nah. I mean, that's true," Percy says.

I stick out my tongue at him. I can't help it. I'm feeling childish. But then, I'm serious again. "You're one of the bravest heroes I've ever met. I mean, seriously. I don't think even Hercules has done some of the stuff you have or if he did, he didn't do it as well."

Percy rolls his eyes. "I had help, and don't diss your own heroics, Bolt Boy. You know you're not so shabby yourself."

I grin at him as a blush spreads over his cheeks.

"I was never offered godhood, Percy. That's some serious shit, and if I had, I'm not sure I would have turned it down. You're a hero on whole other level for standing up for what's important."

Percy bats his eyelashes. "Do you sweet talk all your bros like this, Jason Grace?"

That's it. He's a punk. It's the only explanation. I turn on my side and grab his backside, then drag him on top of my body as I lie back again. The air is charged between us, our breaths heavy. "Only you."

I hold onto his hips through his jeans, wanting to grind up, but not too hard with the denim between us. Percy throws back his head and moans, teasing me, and I can't take my eyes off his body. His neck bared, his broad shoulders, tight pecs, freaking beautiful abs. A small voice in the back of my head niggles at me that it's wrong to get so worked up, but I push it away.

Between my legs, I'm straining under Percy's weight. I'm so ready to pound him. "Your turn to come," I tell him. "You up for it?"

Percy smirks down at me. "I'm saving it, Grace. I'm not so gifted to be able to reload in an instant. Bet your father considers that a special blessing so you could go off and impregnate a whole town overnight like Hercules."

He's speaking in jest, but it makes me cringe. I screw up my face. "I only want you ..." And then I realize that's a lie, and it hangs in the air between us, shifting the mood. "... and Piper," I add. "But two is a far cry from Hercules and his fifty-in-one-night stand." It's not easy to keep talking, but if we are going to make this work, I have to be clear and truthful, no matter how uncomfortable it makes me. "I want the two of you for life, and no one else."

Percy grinds down on me again. We're still hard, but more subdued. "I wish ..." he starts, and then sighs.

I sense Annabeth's name on the tip of his tongue and wait to see if he'll tell me what's bothering him. He doesn't. Instead, he unfastens his fly. "I've gotta get out of these jeans. It's not fair that your junk gets room to breathe and mine doesn't."

As he climbs off the bed, I know he's stalling. He's deliberately not facing up to something he needs to. I make a mental note to try and coax it out of him later on. But then he shucks his pants and boxers and his body is the only thing I can see, the only thing worth seeing right now. I want him.

"Um, Grace?" he says. I feel him pushing against the power barrier that settles between us, testing the boundaries. It only fuels the desire building inside me. "Dude, snap out of it."

I blink, focusing on his face. "What?" I ask, looking at the uncertainty in his expression. "Did you want to turn off the lights? I just can't stop checking you out. You're freaking hot, Jackson."

He relaxes a fraction and climbs back onto the bed. "Duh." He sits on his knees, working himself into full readiness before my eyes. My mouth waters. "It's just when you start getting that alpha wolf gleam in your eye, it's off-putting. Like I've gotta to be on my guard."

His face reddens as he says that. He's totally lying if he says he doesn't like it when I look at him. "You know what I want?"

"What?"

I get to my knees, making room on the narrow bed. "Get on your hands and knees." I don't even try to hide the command in my voice. I'm testing him. If he refuses, I'll let up, but I've gotta know.

He narrows his eyes and then does it. He looks at me over his shoulder. "What are you planning? I'm not prepped." I move to the end of the bed, kneeling behind him, and grab his backside, watching him shudder, his arms starting to shake. "I know. I'm ready to fix that."

He hisses a long breath, a couple of Greek swear words thrown in, but that's not where my attention is. He shaved himself and and I can't tear my eyes away. It's too mesmerizing to pull his cheeks apart and smoosh them back together, up and down, watching them jiggle. I'm aching between my legs, but I ignore it as Percy's cheeks flush red, the heat from my hands leaving prints when I lift them. I lean forward and bite one, not hard, but enough to earn a yelp from Percy. I smooth my tongue over the teeth marks, and then do the same thing on the other side.

Percy moans and I move back. A long strand of sticky fluid dangles from his tip and he grabs a pillow, holding onto it and lowering himself onto his elbows. The new position thrusts his rear toward me further, like he's presenting himself, though I'm not sure he realizes he's doing it. He's just going on instinct and that thought shatters anything that might hold me back.

I spread him, peppering each cheek with kisses and then move between them. I slide my tongue down from the top. His thighs quiver and I smile, peppering him with kisses, and then tickling with my tongue.

My head spins full of contradictions as I keep going. By the sounds of Percy's muffled moans and delighted squeals, I can tell he's trying to work me into a frenzy. What am I even doing? Why am I loving this so much? I hum against Percy's hairless skin, amazed by how smooth it feels, how he responds, flexing, gaping, opening to me. I can only imagine what Percy's mind is doing. He's probably fighting internal angst about how he could possibly be allowing me to do this to him and the fact that he really likes it.

My heart stutters and my breath catches when I realize what a huge expression of trust it is that he's showing me. I feel both honored and unworthy.

"Jason," Percy groans, drawing my name out and making my face heat up, my need to take him that much more urgent. I push my tongue forward, wriggling against the tight muscles. He sighs and relaxes. I make my tongue a point and push it in and out, coaxing, and he makes the sweetest sounds, begging me to do it more, to take it further. "So good," he gasps into his pillow.

And it is. It's beyond good. I want him. I want him to know how much I really do want him, how hot I find him, how hot he is. I finish with a final swipe and a kiss to his tailbone, and then rise up. I smack his thigh to get his attention. "Hold yourself up on your arms."

He does it, though his arms shake, and I can see his muscles straining, not from his weight, but from the intensity of his need.

I drape myself over his back, rubbing us together while I press kisses to his back, his shoulder blades, his neck. I run my hands up and down the sides of his body, then hug him, feeling up his pecs from behind, and moving my hips so we slide against each other.

Percy turns his head, twisting his torso, and meets my mouth with a wet and hungry kiss. I reposition myself and he drops his head again, gasping while I kiss his spine. I'm so ready, my hips jerking, need building up inside my guts.

"Oil," he murmurs.

I back off, breathing heavy.

Percy twists, supporting himself on one arm and reaches for his dresser. He opens the top drawer, and then drops back holding himself up with both arms again. He flops onto the bed, then flips onto his back. His face is sweaty and his hair sticks up all over the place, but they way he looks at me, raising an eyebrow, like he's saying, dude, I'm all the way down here, you get it.

I climb off the bed, my desire sinking back to manageable levels, and then I look in the drawer he opened. There's a bottle of Gun Oil and next to it, three different sized rubber toys in plastic cases. I don't know why the sight of them thrills me, but thinking about Percy getting off with them, possibly fantasizing about me, makes me aware of every nerve in my body, my hair standing up. I grab the bottle of Gun Oil and bring it back to the bed, Percy giving me a funny look.

"What?" I ask him as I sit beside him, and he pulls his knees up to make more room.

He laughs. "Your hair's standing on end. Little static electricity going on?"

I ignore him and pour some of the oil into my palm, then slick myself with it. "Oh! Yeah!" I say, surprised by how good it feels. Percy grins wider.

"You wanna help me out too or do I have to do it myself?"

The idea of not being the one to get him ready for me is absurd. I frown, and then swipe my slicked palm between his cheeks, rubbing him until he's ready and soft.

He closes his eyes, the creases disappearing from his forehead, smile softening. "Mmm... " he murmurs, and shifts like he's trying to find my fingers and pull them inside himself. I drizzle more oil from the bottle down the hinge of his thigh, and finally push in a finger. We didn't do this last time and I wonder how much it hurt him to do it with only spit. But he's trained his body to take toys on a regular basis. I don't think I need to prep much more. I push in a second finger and work them together, curling them, testing the limits.

He stiffens and moans, relaxing again, and then bucks against my hand. "Do that again."

I crook my fingers and he glares at me. Then it clicks into place. I must have found his sweet spot. I do it again and again, watching Percy respond. He twitches, his face red and breathing heavily, and I just can't wait any longer. I pull my hand free and put the bottle back on the dresser. I lower myself onto him, slotted between his hips, sliding us together against our abs, our chests meeting.

We kiss, slow and long. I can't help thinking how much I love this guy. All the times we'd exchanged knowing looks in the past, like we might not both survive an assault flood my brain and make my heart ache. I'm beyond relieved we both came out alive.

Percy breaks the kiss, breathing hot on my cheek. "Jason, do it already."

I bury my face in his neck, still wrapped in nostalgia, latching on and drawing his skin into my mouth. He inhales sharply, then turns his head as I release him, baring more of his neck.

Mine, flashes across my mind, the need to brand him with it, to mark him suddenly urgent. I drop my head lower and sink my teeth into his skin where his neck meets his shoulder. He grips my back with his hands, holding onto my shoulder blades, making a sound like a whimper he couldn't keep in.

My need to mark, satisfied, I feel my strength growing, feeding on the sound of his surrender and fueling my want for him. I grip his waist with both hands and flip us so I'm on my back and he's on top of me. His eyes find mine, the pupils blown to the point they overwhelm the green. I see the hickey on the side of his neck and my bite mark at the base. I don't feel guilty looking at them; I feel like they belong there.

He smashes our mouths together and kisses me breathless, rocking back so I'm nudging him, and then he lines me up and takes me, raising and lowering his body, wiping my mind blank until I'm all the way in. Percy takes shuddering breaths, holding himself with one hand, using the other to play with my chest. I'm blown away by the awesome sensation of being connected, being squeezed like a vice, then feeling him relax, rippling, stretching. I come back to myself when I realize he's waiting for me to take charge.

I hold onto his waist, snapping my hips, sliding slick and determined. Percy gasps, twisting his wrist, his face red. He drops forward, supporting himself on one arm. I slow down; riding the edge too quickly. I pull back halfway and switch to shallow movements while he kisses me like he's drinking from my lips. He opens his mouth, rocking back a couple inches with each bump of my hips, breathing hot against my face. I lick his lips when they come close. His fist makes squelching noises, his eyes half-lidded.

"Right there. I'm gonna ..."

My heart does a somersault, but I keep going as requested, watching his face, then looking down as he slips in and out of the ring he makes with his fingers.

"Let me," I tell him, and replace his hand with mine.

He puts both hands on my shoulders, his thighs and calves straining, hot in my hand. And then he cries out.

"Duuuuuude!" and hot slickness covers my fist, dripping down my sides.

The smell of pleasure and sweat fills the bed and I'm overtaken with the urge to finish. I release him, smearing my hand on his hip as I grab it, and take him faster. "This okay?"

"Yeah," he grunts. "Keep going."

I'm so beyond myself, I feel one with the universe. I snap my hips, our bodies slapping. Percy's gasps and cries bring me to the brink, and then my muscles stiffen, my pleasure tearing out of me as far inside as I can go.

Percy collapses onto my chest as I soften and slip out. He straightens his legs, and they tangle with mine while I run my palms over his back, hugging him. I kiss his forehead, and then we're quiet for a long time.

As always happens when I have quiet time, my brain starts going into overdrive. I marked him. I didn't ask him first if Annabeth is going to be okay with that; I didn't even ask if Percy was okay with it. And then I think of Piper, and remember the convenience store. I didn't use protection again. I really need to get this stuff worked out and lay out some ground rules before we even think of doing it next time. If there even will be a next time. What if Piper decides I've taken it too far? What if Annabeth ... What if Percy ...

"Dude."

"What?"

"Your brain's too loud. What the hell are you thinking about anyway?"

I clear my throat. A better idea of what I could tell him coming to mind. "Uh, we should go get your laundry. It's been done for a while, and maybe take a shower or something."

Percy lifts his head, smirking. "You do realize that if we do it in the shower, I'm gonna top, right?"

Oh gods. A twitch of interest happens between my legs. I want to curse my father.

Instead, I nod. When Percy climbs off, I follow.

He hands me an iced tea from our discarded bag and at that point, I realize that when it comes to screwing the son of the sea god, the only hard and fast rule is to go with the flow.