Decisions of the Heart Read online

  A snake and a few bugs were all that came close to our campsite while Thalia slept. Once the morning sun was starting to break through the dense trees, I softly roused Thalia from her sleep. She rolled over and shoved away my hand, unwilling to wake up. I couldn’t hold in the chuckle at her fight to stay asleep. She rolled again onto her back, her mouth was parted with her light breath breezing through. Her perky tits were straining against the sports bra and shirt she was wearing. As if they sensed my stare, her nipples hardened for me. Leaving me no choice really, I leaned down and nipped at one of the hard peaks.

  “Argh!” She jumped back with a hand on her breast.

  “Asshole!” she murmured, before giving me a smack on the shoulder. I laughed pretty hard.

  “Sorry, love. The opportunity was just too tempting,” I mumbled through my laughter. Her eyes rolled and she got up to go do her business behind some thick brush.

  Her arms were stretched over her head as she walked back to her bag and pulled out some water.

  “Here.” She handed me some trail mix and a breakfast biscuit. My right eyebrow arched up. This was breakfast?

  “Oh excuse me Mr. I’m too good for camping food. I haven’t had time to go find you some eggs and slaughter a wild boar to make you some bacon and eggs for breakfast.” She was grumpy this morning. I found it utterly cute. I had to control my urges to keep pushing her buttons. I took the miniscule breakfast and downed it quickly.

  “See, delicious isn’t it! Now let’s pack up and keep on going. I want to find this flower and get the hell out of here.” She beamed as she finished the last of her biscuit.

  Chapter 21

  We quickly went to work on packing up everything, which didn’t take too long before we were on our way. Thalia was pushing herself hard, and a couple of times I had to make her take a break. Being a demigod, she had plenty of endurance, but the human part could still wear on her.

  “This way,” she grunted through her labored breaths. She pointed to the west and we continued on, cutting our way in some of the thick parts. The humidity was making the air thick, like breathing in water almost. Just as I thought about how humid it was, a storm rolled in and the rain descended.

  I lifted my head towards the sky and let the rain run over me. It was peaceful, the rain. People these days just ran from the rain, no one ever wanted to dance in it. My Thalia did the same as I. She looked up towards the sky as well. A bit of laughter expelled from her lips before she lifted her arms above her head and spun around. My Thalia dances in the rain. If I wasn’t already in love with her, at this moment I would have fallen all over again. She was beautiful on the inside as well as the outside. Her laughter was always contagious and I found myself laughing at her enjoyment. She was the light in my life.

  A wave of power surged from Thalia unexpectedly. Her laughter turned to a gasp of pain. Fear ran through me as I started to move towards her. I fell to my knees when another wave burst from her. My body ached to have her. My dick was so hard it was almost painful. I cursed out loud. Aphrodite had warned me. Thalia was going through her time of need. And fuck, I didn’t know if I was going to able to stay away.

  “Ahh, Tristan,” Thalia cried out as she walked towards a tree and let it support her weight.

  On my hands and knees I crawled to her. I wasn’t supposed to use my magic but if I could get close enough I could put her to sleep until this was over. I was about two feet away from her when another wave came at me. A moan escaped her lips. It was so erotic my body tensed and the feeling of release was near. She looked at me, her eyes were pained, yet held lust in their depths. Slowly, she knelt down and touched me. We both cried out from her touch.

  “Tristan, I need. Oh God, I need you,” she moaned, her fingers gripping me. I tried to pull back but her fingernails dug into me, making my fists dig into the ground in my attempt to resist her.

  “Please, Tristan. Fill me,” she begged, her lips mere inches from mine. Gritting my teeth hard, my jaw locked. It took all of my Godly strength to not lean in and kiss her. Another wave passed through her and I could resist no longer.

  Our lips crashed in a mixture of teeth and tongue. My hands gripped her shirt and tore it straight off her. She moaned into me at the touch of my hands on her. I ripped off every scrap of clothing that incased her delectable body. Her hands went to work on my clothes, but she was not strong enough to rip them. Not wanting to wait any longer to be inside her I ripped them off my damn self. We fell back towards the ground, her body under mine as she cradled me between her legs.

  Another wave hit us and I slid into home. A ferocious growl ran through me as I claimed my woman. She was so wet, warm, and tight. I went at her with a relentless pace. Her body tightened and she exploded. My release came hard as she milked it from me. The carnal feeling of claiming her, and laying my seed inside her was almost too much to bear. It truly was one of the most basic primal needs.

  “Thank you, Tristan. It’s better,” she whispered softly against my lips. A shiver came over me, and my dick grew hard again inside her. It wasn’t over.

  “Oh Fuck!” I groaned while she arched her hips against me, needing sweet friction.

  In the downpour of the rain on the jungle floor we fucked like wild animals until the need was gone.

  Both of us were exhausted and in need of sustenance. Thalia was deep asleep when I dragged myself out of her arms to find food. Besides the food we had in our packs, I sought out something with a little more nutrition. I grabbed my sword and went hunting. I knew nothing would bother my Thalia while I was away. It didn’t take long before I had found a black caiman along the river and had struck it before it ran away. It sensed the animal, the Jackal, inside me and was not fearful. It should have been.

  Throwing the four foot beast over my shoulder, I made my way back to the campsite. After skinning and cutting up the meat, I threw it on a stick over the fire I had made. Thalia was still out of commission. She needed her rest. Going hunting had helped renew my strength. The sun was slowly rising, just in time for breakfast. We had been at it all evening and night until we finally crashed.

  I looked over at my sleeping beauty. I couldn’t help but think about if what we did resulted in a child. It was hard to imagine something of the sort was possible between God and Demigod. Such a thing had never existed in all the history of man. Demigods and Demigods, sure. Gods and Gods, of course. But not this blend.

  Thalia rolled over in her sleep, her face towards me. Her lips were pouty and slightly open. Her hair was knotted from the rain and rolling around during sex. Any child of hers would be perfect. A vision of a small child hit me, with eyes like mine and Thalia’s soft brown curls around her face.

  I felt oddly comforted by this vision. My resolve was made. I would not mention anything to Thalia about what could have happened in our union unless it became so. I did not want to give her hope or despair if it were not true. I couldn’t stand for her to go through anything else unless she had to.

  Walking over to her slowly, I brushed the hair that had fallen over her face behind her hair. Her soft whimpers told me she was not ready to wake, but sadly she had to. We had a mission and Leander didn’t have much time left.

  “Thalia, my love. You must wake.” She groaned then opened her eyes to mine. Stunning.

  “Is it time to go?” Her voice was low and she was still tired. I wished so much for her to continue sleeping.

  “Yes love, come eat and then we must leave. I feel we are close.” My soul felt hers. It could feel the presence of the flower. She nodded and got up. I handed her some clothes since the ones she was wearing last night were soaked and shredded on the ground. She blushed and took them. Only she would blush at the thought of what happened last night. My dick somehow rose with sight of that blush, but that time was over. There would be no more fucking until we had saved Leander.

  “Oh wow, Tristan, did you catch this?” She beamed at my caiman. I nodded and handed her some of the tail. It held the most sus
tenance for her. She chewed on it and washed it down with some water from the last bottle.

  I put the rest of the meat in a gallon sized bag and stuffed it in my back pack. Thalia was practically glowing from the events of last night. Male pride surged through me knowing the fact that I was the one that brought about that glow.

  “What?” she looked at me curiously. I realized I had been staring at her. I gave her that smile I know drives her crazy.

  “I love you.” Plain and simple.

  She walked over and leaned up to kiss me swiftly.

  “I love you, my sweet god of the underworld,” she mused. I just shook my head and brought my pack over my shoulders. I winked at her and moved in the direction she pointed to yesterday. The jungle was eerily silent today. It was sort of strange, and I grabbed the hilt of my sword just in case. Thalia saw me and did the same. I could feel the unease coming from her. She felt this strange feeling in the jungle as well.

  A shimmer of light came into view to our left. Athena. Then that light was gone. What was she doing here? I looked around and tried to figure out what her angle had been.

  Chapter 22

  “Was that?” Thalia whispered, afraid to speak any louder. I nodded my head yes. Her gripped tightened on the sword, preparing for whatever Athena had done while here.

  “Ahhh TRISTAN!” Thalia yelled while she was flipped upside down and hung by a vine. More vines moved towards her, trying ensnare us. Thalia swiped her sword at the vines and fell to the ground. The vines were animated by Athena. They wrapped around my biceps and torso. Twisting my sword around with my wrist, my sword sliced them in half and cut the one around me. Thalia was fighting them off but barely. I grabbed a knife that I had stuffed into my boot and threw it at the vine that was creeping up a tree behind her. Direct hit. We were battling an army of flora. And losing. There were just too many of them. I fought my way over to Thalia when a vine had crept its way to her throat. She gasped and tried to cut the vine but was failing. I had no choice. I was going to pay for what I was about to do. But I would not let her die.

  I used my powers and turned all of the plant life to ash. Immediately Thalia was released and tried to catch her breath. Then my knees gave out. Shit.

  “Tristan!” her voice trembled. I knew I would live but shit was I wiped out. Using my powers was against the rules, and for that I was weakened. Fuck!

  “I’ll be ok, I just wasn’t supposed to do that. Come on. Athena showing up means we are close,” I insisted urgently. My love helped me up, and with an arm around me keeping me steady, we walked on.

  About an hour later we came to a waterfall that had a vine growing along the side of it. The flower. It was right there. Plenty of them growing alongside the falls. They were beautiful, with six small leaves that were red and a yellow strip in the middle.

  “Oh, Tristan, we found it!” she rejoiced. She kissed me and then slowly lowered me down onto a rock nearby. Cautiously, she picked one of the flowers off the vine and looked it over. Grabbing a small bag from her pack, she placed it inside for Leander.

  “Is being with me so wrong?”

  Our heads turned quickly towards the voice. Orion.

  “What are you doing here?” Thalia bellowed.

  “I had hope you would not find out about this flower. I don’t understand, after all this time. You still won’t see our future together.” His voice was low, he was hurt. My body was giving up on me at the moment. I wanted to run to Thalia’s side, be there for her. But I couldn’t move. Using my powers had saved her life, but had left me unable to do anything. I couldn’t summon my powers even if I tried. I looked back at Thalia. I watched as her eyes narrowed and her features changed. Her hair changed to a fire engine red. Her eyes a deep purple color. Past Thalia was making an appearance, and she had not gained the control that Present Thalia had.

  “You killed me, Orion.” Her voice was strong, and fierce. There was no fear or sadness inside her. My gaze flicked back to Orion. He just stood there, a look of defeat covered his face. Had he finally decided to give up?

  “I couldn’t control it. My love for you consumed me. I didn’t… I wouldn’t…” His head fell. I watched him closely trying to see any trickery he may be hiding up his sleeve. His hair was messy and his eyes were tired. He was run down.

  “I know what really happened. I found out years later. You used your powers on me to save him and get the blade. But you couldn’t control it. And I let the emotions take me. I’m sorry, Thalia, so fucking sorry.” He fell to his knees. I stared in shock as I watched the man I had loathed for thousands of years become a vulnerable man on the dirt. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Thalia walk towards him. I tried and tried to get my muscles to move towards her, but fuck I couldn’t budge an inch. It went against everything I had inside me to let her near him.

  “I know.” She dropped to her knees in front of him. Her appearance was back to normal. She was back to her present self again. Very slowly she lifted a hand to his face.

  “I’m sorry I tried to use your love for me against you. I’m sorry you have lived all this time with the guilt of my death.” He was about to open his mouth to say something but she cut him off.

  “I feel your pain, Orion. I know what all has happened. I know that you still believe you love me. I know you feel guilt for what happened back then, and I know you feel guilt for what all you have done since then,” she spoke softly, caressing his cheek. Jealousy spiked inside me. Her eyes flashed to mine. She felt my jealousy. I reined it in for her. She was in control of this situation, I needed to relax. I took a deep breath and nodded for her to continue.

  “Thalia, I… I’m sorry.” Orion’s voice was broken. He knew she knew about everything he was feeling. Just from the look on his face he had realized that she knew his love for her had wavered. He felt unworthy, but still tried anyway because of that guilt to make things right with her.

  “I want to show you something Orion. May I?” She raised her other hand and waited for him to answer. He looked at her with longing, but nodded. She placed her other hand on his face and closed her eyes. My chest blossomed with heat and love. What was she doing?

  All the love that we shared was flowing back and forth between our souls.

  She was letting Orion feel it through her!

  Even though this little moment was to show him our love, I relished in the feeling. It was too tempting not too. Thalia was right about our love. There were no other comparisons. After everything we had been through, we were always meant to be together. Love like this was everlasting.

  “Now you know,” she whispered and let go of him. His eyes were boring into her intensely and then turned to me.

  “I know you will never forgive me. My eyes are finally opened. I’m am truly sorry for the pain I have caused both of you.” He stood up and helped Thalia up to her feet.

  “You were always the holy grail for me, but you were never mine. If you ever need anything from me, I will always be there for you. Any way you need me.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek before turning abruptly and walking away into the jungle. Thalia and I stared at the beaten grass where Orion had stood. I wanted to say something. Something to make everything ok, but we both knew there was pain and hurt inside of us. She walked over to me and wrapped her arms around me in comfort. Comforting herself? Me? Both?

  “You did the right thing, love,” I murmured to her. I felt my shirt become wet from her tears. I could imagine feeling Orion’s years of pain would be overwhelming, but I was proud of her for what she did. She solved this feud with love. She was truly amazing.

  “Ok, Let’s get this flower to Leander.” She pulled back and looked at me expectantly. She wanted me to transport us back. I felt the tingle in my body that I could but I knew I would be weakened even more. I gripped her tightly and flashed us back to her apartment, in her room. She looked at where we were and gave me a look of confusion. I could no longer move anything. I needed to recharge, and I wanted to be in her bed. With h
er.

  “Go, save him. I just need to rest.” My voice was hoarse. She looked at me with concern but gave me a kiss on the head and left.

  I lay there and let the exhaustion take me.

  Chapter 23

  I wasn’t sure how long I was out when soft fingers stroked up my back. I willed my eyes to open, but I was taken under again by sleep.

  “Tristan, wake up my sexy God.” I felt her warm face nuzzling my neck and jaw. I tried again to open my eyes and this time they obeyed. I stared up at the fabric hanging from her ceiling. A groan came from my chest as I tried to speak. Her head lifted up and she looked at my face.

  “Are you finally awake?” she asked innocently.

  I nodded since my throat was extremely dry. As if she sensed my needs, she rolled over and grabbed a glass of water for me. I downed the glass in seconds, and she put it back on the nightstand.

  “Ok, mister. You need to wake up like now!” She was all giggly. I moved my head so I could look at her. She was so beautiful, I was one lucky bastard.

  “I’m up.”

  “Good, because guess what?” she purred.

  “What love?” She was being oddly mysterious.

  “It’s over! Orion called off Athena. She was long over her deal with my father but held on for Orion. We are free Tristan. We can get married, do whatever we want!” She was practically squealing. I looked at her and wondered how long I was asleep, so I asked.

  “A week, and before you freak out, Leander is healed and fine and back to his normal self. And like I said, everything is over!” She was ecstatic. My lips turned up into a smile. She leaned in and kissed me. I missed her lips. Our kiss would be the first of our new life. No one was after us. Everything would be ok. And she was right. We could now get married.