Defenders_Sons of Olympus_Reverse Harem Romance

by Helen J Perry

  Jade lifted her strawberry milkshake as if to clink glasses, so Lauren followed suit. Whipped cream melted down the side of her glass and pooled where her fingers met the glass. Lauren hadn’t touched any of her vanilla milkshake yet—she was saving it for a little later.

  “To being reckless and young,” Jade declared.

  “To following your heart,” Lauren replied.

  Their glasses clinked together, then Lauren took her first sip of the sweet drink. The thick, creamy taste flooded her mouth and nearly overwhelmed her.

  She’d been doing well adapting to Spartan life. Since living full time in in a different dimension, her diet had become natural and healthy. Fortunately, the guys were terrific cooks, but it meant Lauren had missed out on a lot of the overly sweet, artificial flavors she was used to.

  “I was going to toast the triumph of good over evil too, but I didn't think you could wait. Look at your face.” Jade cawed with laughter.

  Lauren laughed along too. “Good over evil? Sounds a bit heavy.”

  “I'll bet you haven't heard as no one knows how to track you down.”

  “Heard what?” Lauren fast sobered up from the sugar explosion.

  “I think the police will want to talk to you. You should probably call in on them, but I don't think they need your evidence because they've got the phone and all three admitted it. But what do I know? I'm not a lawyer.”

  “What are you on about?”

  “You're so loved up; you don't remember do you? The night you met the three dudes. The photos came to light, they were showing and sharing them, and it just got out. It turns out you weren't their only victim and now they’re facing big criminal charges.”

  “What Odelia, Jill, Rhett, and Jason?” Lauren's mind spun. It was a horrific ordeal that could have ended so much worse, but so much had happened since then that Lauren barely gave it any thought. “Oh.” she drank more of the delicious drink, taking big gulps.

  “God. One of these days, you’re going to come back from the other dimension as a total caveman. They aren't making you eat raw meat, are they? Like, squirrel meat right off the bone? I don’t need to send you an emergency pizza?”

  “Do they deliver pizza to the woods?” Lauren set her milkshake down and rolled her eyes before shaking her head. “No, we don’t need an emergency pizza.”

  “Guess that’s what meeting me is all about, getting your fix of human food instead of living on olives. Olives aren't food. You do know that, right?” Jade laughed. “Do you miss normal food?”

  “Sometimes, to be honest. But I think it’s probably better this way. I’ve felt a whole lot healthier since my diet changed.”

  “You look healthier, too,” Jade remarked. “And it’s only been a month.”

  Lauren nodded. She would always be slender. Dodging sweets, eating fresh fruit and vegetables straight from the plant coupled with meals high in protein, meant she had a healthy diet. She enjoyed days spent foraging in the wild. She’d learned to climb trees, or relearned, apparently. And she was training in all the Spartan skills, otherwise known as the three Fs. At least, that’s what she called them. Fights, Farming and Fucking.

  “Let’s destroy that healthy living with burgers and shakes,” Jade said, grinning. “Gotta get your winter body on for the season, right? Now you’re living all wild and back to basics; you’ll need a bit of tub to survive.” She patted her own stomach.

  “I…” Lauren wrinkled her nose. “I’m not sure if there’s going to a there’s going to be a winter. I’ve heard real Greece gets very cold, but I’m not sure about semi-mythical Sparta. It’s not exactly the same as modern Greece.”

  “Eh. Burgers and shakes it is.” Jade kicked back in her chair and sipped at her milkshake thoughtfully. “Do you know how your aunt and uncle are doing since they moved?”

  “Well,” Lauren said, “I called them before I met up with you. The house is unpacked, and Aunt Lori found a job that lets her be home at night with Uncle Joe. I get the feeling that even though she’s still mad at me for leaving so abruptly, she’s glad she gets to have some alone time with him.”

  “Gross.” Jade shook her head. “Didn’t need the visual. Thanks for that.”

  “They’re a cute couple,” Lauren said. “They deserve a second honeymoon after all the hard work they put into making sure I adjusted to the death of my parents and a new high school. When I first got here, I wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows.”

  “I remember.” Jade chuckled. “I’m glad you turned out the way you did—because, for the first year there, I really wasn’t sure. But you’ve gone from mourning freshman to the girlfriend of three almost-gods. I’m pretty sure that’s got to be a record.”

  “I’m not a…girlfriend.” Lauren struggled with the word.

  “Then what are you?”

  “We’re partners.” The distinction was subtle, but it was there. “We’ve chosen to spend our lives together, and they care for me as I care for them. Together the four of us take part in the community of Sparta and most important of all defend the portal through the dimensions, as you call it.”

  “And you have sex,” Jade said dryly. “I guess a lot of it, if they’re half the hot stuff you claim.”

  Lauren’s cheeks went red. “I never claimed any such thing!”

  “Well, you indirectly implied it.” Jade shrugged a single shoulder. “If they weren’t a good lay, I don’t think you would’ve been so divided on what the best choice was. Admit it—they’re rocking your world on the regular.”

  Lauren buried her head in her arms, trying to hide how flustered she was.

  Jade laughed. “All right, no need to say anything. Your embarrassment is testimony enough. But in my eyes, if you’re caring for each other, and sharing your lives, and having sex, then they’re your boyfriends and you’re their girlfriend.”

  Lauren looked up from her arms, only daring to steal a glance in Jade’s direction. The sun from the window they sat next to streamed through and lit up Jade’s hair, turning the pale blond color to white. Lauren blinked, reminded of something, but the familiarity dimmed when Jade shifted her weight, and the sun hit her from a different angle.

  “Partner is different,” Lauren said. “Girlfriend, boyfriends, those words seem like a temporary arrangement, like a trial period before you commit to a subscription. This is the real thing. We’re committed to each other. I’m not leaving. As long as nothing happens to me as it did in my other life. We don't just promise our lives to each other for now—we promise them for the rest of time.”

  “Ah. The old promise-you-my-soul-for-all-of-eternity bit.” Jade’s lips trembled, and Lauren could tell they held back a laugh. “Yeah, of course. How could I forget? That’s a classic. My cousin, Jillian, just did it a few months back.”

  “Very funny.” Lauren found the courage to lift her head from her arms. She sipped at her milkshake to distract herself from the rest of her embarrassment. The sweetness exploded across her tongue, and she sighed with delight. “I’ll have you know it’s a little more complex than you make it out to be…and we’re exceedingly happy, thank you very much.”

  “I’m glad for you.” Jade wasn’t joking anymore. Her tone was sincere, and her smile had sweetened. “As I said, I didn’t know what to expect from you your first year here, but after all the shit you’ve been through, you deserve a chance at happiness—even if that happiness is with some divine creatures.”

  “I’m still working on them,” Lauren winked. “So far they haven’t told me about any like-minded friends, but I’m going to keep on at them. The Spartans live a lot different to us and they are in touch with other similar dimensions too. I haven’t visited them, but the gods created all these extra magical places, like islands that we aren’t aware of. There’s got to be the right someone in some dimension for you.”

  Jade waved her hand. “I was kidding before. Really, all I need is some guy or girl who’s going to treat me right. Doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be nice if th
ey could promise me eternal youth, but I’m not so picky. I’m not going to limit myself when it comes to love.”

  “As long as you’re ready to be reckless, I think you’ve got bright prospects,” Lauren said. “Besides, you’ve got a little while. Who knows what the rest of the summer will bring you?”

  “Hopefully a few more milkshake dates with you and some quiet time at the library. And some trips to Sparta, I remember you said you'd take me. Apart from that, I’m ready to have a relaxing couple of months before I head off back to college.”

  “You could certainly come to visit. It's quite safe, but there's so much that can go wrong, you must not try to find your way alone.” Lauren warned. “In the short time I've known the guys there has been a lot of traffic across the dimensions. A goddess came through to save us from an invasion of giants with six arms, and recently there have been loads of ravens.”

  “Ravens? What's the problem with ravens?”

  “Only if they're not from around here, and they can transform into people. That's what I'm talking about. I don't know if they're dangerous, to be honest. If you meet any new people in Beaumont and they suddenly grow wings and fly away, you remember, you heard it here first.”

  “Interesting. I met a woman here a while back, near the beginning of summer actually.”

  “Tell me more,” Lauren had been so wrapped up in her own love affair she hadn’t considered her friend might have one too.

  “Well, she was a lot of a babe, I mean real cute, bookish, and totally my type. That is, until she said she was seeing someone. That’s totally not my type, end of story.”

  Lauren rolled her eyes and groaned. “Honestly, Jade, that’s not even a story.”

  “Except when I met her she’d been hiking in the woods and seemed like there was something she wasn’t telling me. I never saw her since until she called out of the blue, yesterday. She sounded like she needed to talk.” Jade cocked her head to one side. “I don’t know, I just felt like she might have a story like yours. Maybe there are more bands of Spartans in the woods? Anyway, she’s coming to meet us here in about an hour.”

  “Oh, so are you hoping she’s single now?”

  “Nah. She’s totally straight, as far as I’m aware. I didn't tell her I was bi, she seemed too skittish for that info. Just my luck. I’m interested to find out is she’s met people from other dimensions too. I can’t picture her as the sort to go for naked biker types carry chains, but you never know.”

  “Does she have a name?”

  “Brenna.”

  “I can’t tell her about my men. They are secret defenders of the forest, we can’t let knowledge of them get out. If it became common knowledge I don’t know what would happen. People attempting to track them down, well, I can only see that ending in disaster.”

  Jade shrugged. “I understand.”

  Lauren had a feeling that her life was on the right track, and it was all thanks to Jade given her the encouragement to be brave and go after what she wanted. “Life has a way of throwing a wrench into your plans. I wouldn’t get your hopes up for anything predictable or relaxing around here. Beaumont, I’ve learned, is a very particular place.”

  “You can say that again.” Jade craned her neck and looked over her shoulder. “How long have we been waiting for our burgers? I think time might’ve stopped. Anyway, can you get your totally-not-boyfriends on the case about hooking some action for me and getting me into Sparta before I go back to college?”

  Lauren snorted with laughter. It bloomed inside her and took hold, and it wasn’t long until she was laughing out loud as Jade tried to flag down a waitress to ask about their food.

  It wasn’t the life she’d ever imagined she’d find herself living, but it was the only life she wanted. With three men in her heart, her family supporting her from a distance, and her friend at her side, there was nowhere else Lauren wanted to be.

  The pull in her soul that had plagued her for years was gone.

  She’d transcended through time and found her happiness.

  This is Sons of Olympus Book 2: Defenders

  Sons of Olympus Book 1: Ravens

  Sons of Olympus Book 2: Defenders

  Sons of Olympus Book 3: Architects

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  Helen J. Perry is working on a new Reverse Harem series

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  This book has reworked the ideas first published in a gay romance fantasy series.