by Laura Wylde
“So what I need to discover here is that I should put myself first. I shouldn't think about the feelings of others?”
“I didn't say that. Of course you should consider the feelings of others, my stubborn offspring, But not always above and beyond your own. I heard you say that you wanted each and every one of these young men...but your concerns about society and what people might think of you...people who aren't even here...that's what is holding you back.”
“No,” Rose said. “It's just...I'm just not...I don't want to be a slut.”
The Goddess laughed and a clap of thunder rolled across the sky as if applauding his mistress. “Rose, you are no slut. You are a sexual being. You are a Goddess. You are a direct descendant of me...Aphrodite. If those men were back in their human society and they wanted to be with you, it wouldn't matter if they had an entire list of women they'd been with the day before. No one would bat an eyelash, Rose, not even you. Why do you believe it's different for you? You are healthy, beautiful, consenting adults. My beautiful daughter, if you wish to build your own harem...square your shoulders, straighten your crown and do it. Damn them all to Hades if they don't like it!” With that, Aphrodite was gone on a clap of thunder and a roll of the dark clouds in the sky. Rose stood, looking after her for several minutes before she even remembered that Dexter was there. When she did, she turned to him and said,
“Will you vouch for me with the others? You saw her, right?”
“I saw her,” he said, in a slightly shaky voice. “I heard her too, Rose. She's right. You are so beautiful and sensual...and I'm not using this as a pick-up line, but there should be no reason that you can't be intimate with anyone you want to be with. That old stigma around women and sex needs to be broken. Maybe all of this was about convincing you...a beautiful woman, smart, savvy and in the public spotlight, that she has the power to change the way the world thinks. She has the ability to empower women.” It was definitely something for Rose to think about. She spent the time walking back to the campsite trying to absorb it. She was lost in her own thoughts as they approached the others and Dexter came to an abrupt stop and said, “I'll be damned.”
Rose looked in the direction that Dexter had pointed his gray eyes. He was looking up into the tree above their campsite. Sitting there, legs crossed and sipping something out of a gold chalice, was Hermes. He smiled directly at her. Rose frowned and looked at the other three survivors. They stood at the bottom of the tree looking up. Asher and Ryder looked furious and even Beau looked upset. “What's going on?” she asked.
“Somehow, someway, I'm going to kill this little bastard,” Asher said.
Rose looked back up at Hermes and said, “What have you done now?”
Hermes giggled, almost like a child and said, “I just told them the truth. I told them that you wanted each one of them and that if Aphrodite hadn't shown up, you would already be doing the nasty with Dexter.”
“He called you a slut!” Ryder spat. “Come down here you spineless little prick and call her that to her face.”
“No thank you, I'm comfortable here.”
Rose looked at the guys again and then at Dexter. Dexter looked angry too, but when her eyes locked into his they softened and he said, “I think this is the choice they've been talking about.”
“Yes,” Hermes said, “The choice to be a slut...or a lady. Which will it be Rose?”
She narrowed her eyes at the little man and then looking at the guys she said, “Aphroditus told me the choice was about who would father my child. A child which I'm not ready to have, so the only choice there was none of you. But I just spoke with Aphrodite...”
“Another slut,” Hermes said. Asher threw a rock up into the tree. It went right through the strange little God/man. He laughed and Rose ignored it all and went on,
“She said my choice is about my sexuality and my sense of self. I've been torn up over the strange feelings that I've had for all of you...”
“Slut,” Hermes said, with another cackle. Asher started to try and climb the tree. Beau put his hand on his arm and said,
“Bro, just ignore him. He's only trying to antagonize.” Asher was still tense, but he backed off. Hermes wasn't going to sit still and let Asher grab him anyways, but the little man was having too much fun, pushing his buttons.
“Dexter has also given me some good advice. He reminded me that in this day and age, stigmas and stereotypes are ridiculous. Every adult should have the ability to choose how they want to live their own life and who they want to love”
Hermes cracked up and said, “That's because he wants to get in your pants.”
Again, Rose ignored him. Out of the corner of her eye though, she saw Dexter flip him off. “I like all four of you, in different ways and for different things. If I am truly free to choose...I'd like to choose to get to know you all better.” The men looked like they were processing that and Rose looked back up at Hermes and said, “I don't have my crown on at the moment, but picture me straightening that bitch, Hermes. I'm the queen of my life, in charge of my future. And if you don't like that...I really don't care.” With a proud smile she said, “I am the daughter of Aphrodite and if these men want me...I'll let them take me...or, I'll take them. And I won't lose one minute of sleep over what anyone else thinks. As long as the five of us are happy...that's all that matters. I think after all of this I've finally realized what this beauty and fame have been about all along. I'm not just a pretty face. I can set an example, be a pioneer, create a legacy for future generations. Mostly...I can make sure that young women like my biological mother don't hate themselves because other people judge them so harshly. So Hermes, I've made my choice and we have all discovered the “truth” about ourselves. So you little man can flap those ridiculous wings on those ridiculous shoes of yours and fly away.”
Hermes rolled his eyes and continued to look amused as a loud boom rolled through the sky. With a dramatic flash and puff of dark smoke, he disappeared. Hopefully, for good. Once that dust had settled, the men looked at Rose and Beau was the first to say, “I would love to get to know you better, Rose. And...I would honestly like it if when we're rescued, we can all keep in touch. I know it's only been a couple of days, but I feel like we all have this strong connection.”
“I never thought I'd say this sentence,” Asher said, “But I agree with my brother.”
“I never had time for a relationship,” Dexter said. “The plethora of women I go through is to keep the ones that want to get attached, at bay. I'd be more than open to being “one” of your men, Rose.”
“My life is set up about the same, Dexter. Rose...my first thought when I saw you was that I'd give just about anything for just one night with you. I'm sure after one night, I would want more. I'm not a possessive guy where women are concerned. I believe they have as much right to choose as men. But you know that even in this day and age, it won't be easy if people know you're seeing more than one man. Society will always resist that, I think. It goes back to the caveman days.”
“I know,” Rose said with a smile. “But the first step is being true to ourselves and not giving a flying...shoe, what anyone else says about it.” They all caught the reference to Hermes shoes and laughed.
Chapter 13
Beau and Asher caught fish for dinner that night. The two of them made an unlikely, odd pair, but at the same time it was sweet to watch them begin to forge a relationship. While they ate, the mood was somewhat pensive. Rose wondered if they were all wondering, like she was, if they would be home by the following night, sleeping in their own beds.
When the sun went down, Asher built a fire and they sat around it and talked more about their lives. Even Ryder opened up more, talking about his business. He had never failed to give a couple a baby and it was something he seemed very proud of. His parents were still living too and he was able to give them the kind of life he felt like they missed out on while they were raising him. They traveled extensively, stopping in New York a few times a year to s
ee their son.
Beau's mother still lived in Hawaii and Dexter's parents were alive and well in California. Rose briefly wondered what they would all think of the strange arrangement she and the men were considering...if they made it home. But in listening to the men talk she realized that all their parents, hers included, seemed to be open minded people, who would only want to see their child happy.
When it was time to sleep, they all turned in underneath the shelter. Rose slept on her own pallet, but when she awake in the morning, she was being cuddled from behind by Dexter. He was warm and his big hand rested against her stomach. She could feel his soft breaths on the back of her neck. She smiled sleepily and went back to sleep, waking again hours later with Dexter gone, but Beau facing her, watching her sleep. “Hi,” she said with a smile.
“Hey,” he said. “I just wanted a chance to talk to you, alone. I wanted to tell you thank you.”
“For?”
“If it wasn't for you Rose, your ability to open up your mind and take this all in, I think we might have missed out on all that we learned while we were here.”
She smiled. “Well, you're very welcome, but I'm sure you would have actually had a lot less trouble if I hadn't been here.” She sat up and looked around, the others were all gone.
“They went to build another signal fire,” he said, “In case.”
“Good. You think they're coming?”
“I hope so. I keep thinking about my mom and how worried she must be.”
Rose nodded. “Yeah, I've been the same about my parents. Our hosts kept to their word so far, so I'm staying positive.”
Beau smiled and leaned in to give her a soft, sweet kiss on the lips. “I like your positivity,” he said. Pushing up off the floor he said, “I'm going to see if the guys need help.”
Rose watched him go. She had woken up feeling content and she thought it was due to finally having at least most of the mysteries solved. But she also felt in her heart that they were headed home and she couldn't wait, to start her new life, with the four new loves of her life.
Six Months Later
San Francisco, California
Rose stood at the window, looking out across the city. She loved San Francisco. It always seemed so alive...and it was one of the most accepting places on earth. People of all genders, races, religions and sexual preferences gathered there and judgment was checked at the border. She smiled when she thought about how worried her parents were the first time she got back on a plane after they were all rescued from the island. It hadn't been easy for her either, but she told her mother it was like riding a horse, if she didn't get back on, she'd always be afraid of getting thrown again. She called them as soon as she landed and she hadn't had to search the crowd in the airport long to find Dexter's beautiful face smiling at her. He had a new pair of glasses and they made him look even smarter than he had before, she thought with a laugh. It was her first time seeing him since the island while they all tried to settle back into their lives, and he'd hugged her so tightly she thought he might break her. She didn't care though. She'd missed him that badly too. They all spoke at least once a week on Face time and Rose spoke to them individually at random times throughout the week. But it wasn't the same as in the flesh.
Dexter had taken her for seafood and told her about a teaching job he was recently offered at Stanford. It would also give him the opportunity to do research and it was wonderful to see him so happy and excited. After dinner they'd taken a long walk on the wharf, and now they were back at his apartment. He had gone to do something in the kitchen, and Rose was watching the sun sink down into the bay. She didn't hear him come back into the room, but he came up behind her and ran his fingertips down her bare arms, causing her to shudder. She moaned and he brought his hands up to her shoulders and did the same thing there, before leaning in and kissing the side of her neck. She felt his body tighten against her back and she could feel his erection pressing into her. “I have some champagne chilling,” he said as he slid one of the straps of her tank top off her shoulders.
“Mm, that sounds good,” she said. What was good was the feel of his lips where that strap had been He moved the other and did the same, rotating his hips into her from behind as he did. Rose's panties were already wet and he'd barely touched her, but she had been thinking of this moment for a long time. While he kissed her shoulders, he slipped one of his hands underneath her shirt and slid it up over her stomach and underneath her bra. He cupped her breast in his big hand and she shivered and gasped as he began to massage it. He ran his thumb over her hard nipple and she moaned and pressed her backside into him harder. “Feels so good,” she whispered.
“I've waited so long to touch you, Rose. It feels like I've been waiting for you forever.”
Rose slipped around in his arms so that she was facing him and she said, “Maybe you have. Maybe we have all been waiting to meet since the day we were born. This was our fate, Dexter. I feel that in my soul.”
He smiled and nodded. “I do too,” he said, before leaning in and softly kissing her lips. Then he let his tongue come out and he licked them. He did that several times before he pressed against the seam of them and demanded access, which she readily and happily gave to him. Their tongues tangled up immediately and after they danced for a while, he continued to probe and explore the dark recesses of her mouth. He moaned into her as they kissed, and she loved it. She loved feeling how excited her was press into her...and she couldn't wait for him to be inside of her, but he seemed to want to tease her first. He flipped her back around as soon as he broke the kiss. She felt his fingers working their way underneath the waistband of her pants and she reached down and unsnapped them and unzipped them, to give him better and easier access. His fingers tickled her lower stomach and then strummed across the sensitive skin of her mound. When he found her clit she cried out loudly as soon as his fingers made contact with it. It was swollen and sensitive and she almost came when he touched it.
He slid his hand down further, playing in the wet folds of her pussy before she felt one of his fingers slide up inside of her. “Oh Dexter!” she gasped when he slipped in a second one. He started working them in and out of her. Rose's head was pressed backwards into his shoulder and she was up on her toes. It felt so good and she could already feel her core becoming tight and an orgasm beginning to build. Dexter was in no hurry. He pulled his finger out and up and found her clit again and began to circle his wet fingers around it. Then he pressed them all into the swollen button at once, sending her sailing over the side of the cliff she'd been standing on. Dexter had to hold onto her tightly as she reached her peak, to keep her from sliding down to her knees. Rose came hard and when she finished, she was ready to touch him.
Dexter picked her up and carried her down the hallway to his bedroom. Once there he dropped her down on the bed and began stripping off her clothes. She helped him get her jeans off and once she was completely nude, Dexter stood there at the edge of the bed for several seconds just gazing down at her. At last he said, in a reverent tone, “You really are a Goddess, Rose. So, incredibly beautiful.” Rose smiled up at him and then reached for the button on his pants. He helped her get them down and when he pushed down his shorts, his big, beautiful erection fell out and she couldn't wait to touch it. He gasped and groaned when she wrapped her hand around it and she lay there on the bed in front of him and stroked it up and down a few times before lifting her head up and wrapping her lips around the head of it. “Oh Rose,” he breathed out. Rose smiled around his flesh and began to lick and suck and tease him relentlessly until he finally, physically pushed her back and said, “That felt so amazing...but I want to be inside of you, Rose. I'm dying.”
“Me too,” she said, scooting back on the bed, while he stripped off the rest of his clothes. His body was magnificent. He was tall and lean, but not skinny by any account. His muscles were well-defined, his stomach flat and his arms hard and sexy. His legs looked like runner's legs, his calves bulged and he just l
ooked powerful. He lay down on the bed next to her and cupped her face in his hand. He pulled her face toward them and they kissed again. That kiss was hot, and passionate and the kind that made one person forget where they ended and the other person began. When Dexter let her pull out of the kiss, she squirmed up on top of him. Letting every exposed part of her body, press into every exposed part of his. He felt so good and she loved feeling his chest rise and fall as he sucked in each precious breath of oxygen, She kissed him softly again and then sat up straight on top of him. His hands immediately went for her breasts and while he amused himself and her with his hands, she reached down and slid his cock into her sopping wet, aching pussy.
They both sucked in a hard breath once he was inside of her. Dexter put his hands around on her back and pressed her body forward until his mouth met one of her breasts. She started sliding up and down on top of him, riding him, while he made love to her breasts and nipples with his lips, teeth and tongue. They were both too excited to make it last, but they also both knew they had all week. Rose was on a break from filming her movie in Los Angeles for the next three weeks. She was spending a week with Dexter and from there she would fly to Hawaii to see Beau for a week.
Dexter gripped onto her hips and moved her up and down faster and harder until she had another wild, intense, orgasm. Once she had worked through it by sliding back and forth on his hard, throbbing cock, he flipped her over onto her back, roughly and then he shoved his still hard cock back inside of her. She cried out when he hit bottom. He wasn't being gentle, but Rose liked it. It was exciting to be manhandled by him, and he definitely knew what he was doing. She could hear his breathing becoming heavier and more ragged before she felt the pressure in her pelvis and knew that he was about to explode. When he did, he cried out her name and she clutched onto his shoulders so tightly that she likely left her mark there. He rocked into her over and over until she had every last drop and then he collapsed down next to her, pulling her into his arms and holding her tightly. She listened to the rhythm of his breathing as it slowed down and he moved closer and closer to sleep. Snuggling down deeper, she closed her own eyes and prepared for a nap with one of her loves...and looked forward to an exciting week ahead.