Between Worlds (TEMP HOLD)

Seven: Proposal

          Why had I ever missed Castiel?

I remember how he had been last night before Xavier showed up. Castiel had been so vulnerable, and everything changed in less than twenty four hours. I did make mistakes. Both of them can grab my feelings, twist my words and my non-existent heart.

Xavier is still laying on the bed, and he's fiddling with the wire bracelet, casting occasional glances towards me, as if I'm worth breaking the rules here too.

Eventually, I lay back beside him on the bed, and our bodies press close to one another. He puts his arm ms around me, and pulls me close. I drink in the scent of him. I grab onto his shirt, never wanting to let go. I want to kiss him. But with the portal closed, I don't want to risk Castiel's threats. "We have to go soon, Xie. We can't stay here."

Xavier still looks miserable. "Nothing is ever going to change. Will it?"

I look up at him, so tempted to kiss the sadness from his features. "You don't know that... "

"I do know that," Xavier says. "I fell in love with someone I have no chance to be with."

Suddenly, an idea popped into my head. A very stupid, plain idea I can't believe I hadn't thought of it before. "we need to find Hera."

"Hera isn't in Olympus, Ariel. If she was, Hades would have already tried summoning her to the Underworld before the competition began. . . Last anyone heard from her, she was hiding away from Zeus somewhere in Greece. And besides, she wouldn't help us, anyway. We have another job to do."

Xavier punches in the location on our watches.

"Hera could help — "

"How? I'm a servant. She wouldn't help a servant. You're the Prince's betrothed. I already know how this goes. I don't want to be crushed down any farther than I already am. Hera won't help us unless we can help her. And face it: what do we have to offer a Goddess?" Xavier was dangerously close to crying. He turns away.

          I grabbed his face in my hands, and press my lips on his. My stomach churns nervously. His lips are warm, and so his he, and that smell of his envelops me and I want him to wrap me in his arms and never let go.

            He leans away a few seconds later, gritting his teeth in pain. The bracelet is tighter around his wrist, and I can feel the shock on his skin, the hairs on his arm standing up. Even by touching me, he's still earning a shock. Does Castiel control it? I desperately want to reach out to him, hold Xavier, kiss away the pain, call Castiel on his bluff. But I know that Xavier won't take off the bracelet.

           "That," I demanded. "We can offer her whatever she wants. I can serve her, Xavier. I can offer her money. I'll do whatever she wants. You mean everything to me, and I never want you to feel that pain again, not when you're with me."

        "Don't you know how badly I want you? How badly I want this?" Xavier grits through his teeth. His breathing becomes calm again, and he's getting goosebumps. "Only Castiel is getting in the way, now. He needs another bride."

           "Delaney?"

           Xavier almost snorts with laughter. "We'll both be in the dungeons, and, Zeus would never allow it." he says. "He won't be alone, either , sweetheart. You won't feel bad about your choice."

           "I wouldn't feel bad, anyway." I wink.

          "You have no idea what's running through my mind right now, Ariel. Lucky that we're never in the presence of Hades and Persephone." He bites his lip. He looks so sexy when he does that. He kisses me, but is cautious to touch me. "Castiel is off on his own agenda. He's off on some bullshit quest to find Grandma with daddy's hellhound. Meanwhile, we're on our own to look for Jasmine and Oscar. How would we ever even get to Hera in time?"