A cool breeze from the ocean blew through Jos's hair and dried the constant stream of tears that flowed from her eyes. Her gaze was trained on the glistening reflection of the bright moon over the waves. Her bare feet dug deeper into the cold sand of the beach. She closed her eyes as she drew in a deep breath of the sea air. She leaned back, supporting herself on her palms as her mind dredged up all the thoughts she'd been trying to suppress for so long. There were so many regrets, so much still unsettled. One face kept pushing its way to the forefront of her mind.
"Joslyn..."
Her eyes popped open in surprise. She looked around the dark beach in search of the owner of the familiar, husky voice.
"Jos..."
She followed the sound to the dark shadows of the path leading down from the house. Her eyes bugged and she scrambled to her feet. She struggled to keep herself upright as she ran as fast as she could forward. The beach seemed to stretch out farther as she struggled, her feet slipped in the loose sand causing her to lose balance several times. Strong arms encircled her waist and scooped her up. She clung to him unable to believe her own eyes. "Arei..." His name slipped from her parted lips.
He steadied her in one strong arm as his other hand ran through her wind-blown hair. "I found you..."
She nodded, all the emotions and thoughts of just a moment ago hitting her, causing tears to stream down her cheeks again. Her hand flew up to his face, her eyes following her hand as it traced his familiar features. "It's you... it's really you?"
He nodded as he caught her hand and brought it to his lips. He placed light lingering kisses on each finger as he held her gaze. "Of course, kitten. Who else would it be? You left so suddenly... I had to see you... to hear the words from your lips." His eyes moved around the dark, empty beach. "Is this really where you want to be?"
She shook her head as more tears fell from her eyes in heavy waves. "No, not anymore!" She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist as sobs coursed through her. He tugged her face up to meet his, a smile spread across his lips as they lowered to hers.
Jos didn't think twice as she pressed onto tiptoe and returned his kiss with passionate abandon. Before she knew what she was doing her arms were snaking around his neck and she was tugging him closer. With an approving grunt, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her back down to the waterline. He lowered them both to the sand before twining his fingers into her hair and tugging her lips back to his. "I need you." He whispered huskily against her lips between passionate kisses.
Jos didn't hesitate. She shifted in his lap with his help. She studied his features and ran her fingers through his hair as he maneuvered her hip to better suit them both. "Your eyes are blue-er than usual." She murmured as she ran her thumbs gently under each eye.
A smile curved his full lips as he closed his eyes and reopened them. "Better?" He asked with a light chuckle.
She tilted her head slightly as she admired the brilliant reflection of the moon against his handsome features. "Arei… I'm so sorry…"
"Shh…" His finger pressed against her lips. "There's plenty of time for apologies." He replaced his finger with his thumb and brushed it against her lips causing her bottom lip to bounce enticingly. The corners of his lips lifted as he licked his own lips. His hand slid across the soft curve of her jaw and tangled into her hair, tugging her lips to his again. He bit down on her bottom lip and gave it a gentle pull before licking away the sting of the bite. "You taste so sweet." He pulled her tighter against his body, one arm wrapping around her shoulders and knotting into the back of her hair and the other around her lower hips.
She wiggled against his hardness pressing into her as she warped her arms tightly around his neck and drank hungrily from his lips.
'Jos'
Jos jerked away, her brows furrowed, but he quickly pulled her lips back to his. His mouth moved to her neck sending tantalizing tingles running down her spine. His fingers dug into her hips, holding her tightly against him. A moan slipped from her parted lips as she held his head in a vice grip. Her breath caught as he suddenly flipped her onto her back on the cool sand. His lips trailed down over the swell of her breast as his finger tugged the thin fabric of her shirt lower. Her fingers knotted in his hair. "Arei…" Her eyes closed tightly rolling back in their sockets as he traced the swollen pink buds of her nipple in his mouth.
'Jos'
Her eyes shot open again and shot around the dark beach. "Arei, stop… I could have sworn I just heard my name…"
His heated gaze met her seeking eyes. He nipped her nipple bringing a sharp gasp from her.
"What was that for?!" She cried out, giving his shoulders a slap.
A charming grin spread across his lips. "You were becoming distracted. Can't have that, now, can we?"
She arched a brow as she stared dubiously down at him. "Well, I'm definitely not distracted!" She glared at him as she pursed her lips out in a pout. "Too bad for you though… You've also snapped me to my senses enough to stop this from going any farther!"
He chuckled as he lifted from over top of her and flopped onto the sand beside her. He tucked his arms behind his head as he studied her from his reclined position. "And what would you like to do instead?" He asked a sexy smirk spread across his handsome face.
Jos narrowed her eyes at his uncharacteristic charms and lack of his usual empathy toward her feelings. "For someone who claims to be so devastated that you seek me out in the middle of the night in the middle of…" Her words were cut short as she remembered. She hadn't found out where she was yet. Her brows furrowed in confusion. "How did you know where to find me?" A thought occurred to her. "Did Poseidon bring you here?" She glanced around to see if he was still in the shadows somewhere nearby.
Arei unfolded one of his arms from behind his head and caught her wrist. He tugged her down onto his chest. He gently tucked the loose strands of hair that had fallen around her face behind her ears. "He's not here if that's what you're suddenly looking for."
Her brows were still furrowed as studied him closer. "Oh… ok… but he was the one who brought you here… right?"
He let out an amused chuckled as he curled upward to place a teasing kiss on her lips. "Of course, kitten. How else would I have found you so easily?"
"Yeah… of course…" Her words came out as a low mutter. She couldn't push away the sudden feeling that something was off. Her eyes moved over her surroundings once again as she sat back up.
He sat up and tugged her onto his lap. He held her tightly in his arms as he pressed kisses to the back of her neck. "What, don't you trust me now?"
His lips on her sensitive skin cause shivers to run down her spine. She forced her suspicions away as she leaned into his embrace. "I do… it's just…" She puffed out a breath of air in frustration. "This feels strange somehow…" She began to idly trace the tattoos on his arm. "It should be harder than this, right? We shouldn't just…"
He caught her chin and guided her face around to his. "You love me do you not?" His hot breath teased her lips as he placed a light kiss on the swell of her bottom lip.
"Yes, but…" His lips on her cut her words off again.
"And I, you." His grip tightened on her face as his other hand fanned out across her stomach, holding her tighter against him. "So why shouldn't we miss each other." He traced the bottom curve of her lip with the tip of his tongue. "Why should we not still desire one another."
Jos could feel the thump of her heart all the way up into her throat. Her hands tightened around his thick arm as his hand slid lower on her abdomen. "I…ah…"
"You what, kitten?" He asked as he tugged the neck of her shirt over her shoulder and place a biting kiss there.
"I…" Her fingers nervously… subconsciously… began tracing the familiar patterns of his tattoos. "I…" Her head fell back against his shoulder as his hot tongue ran up the column of her neck.
"Yes?" His seductive whisper against her ear sent shivers racing across her skin.
"I…" Her eyes moved down to where her fingers moved automatically with the muscle memory of someone who'd performed the exact same task hundreds of times over. Her brows furrowed as she watched her fingers in confusion. "I… missed…"
"You missed what, kitten?" He asked as he continued his torturous teasing of her neck, ear, and shoulder.
She studied her hands more closely as they glided beyond the outlines of the tattoos, her mind struggling to catch up with what her eyes already knew. "Arei?!" His name felt strange on her lips as she jerked her hand away from him. She quickly shifted and pushed away from him as hard as she could, stumbling back onto the sand. "You're not him! You're not Arei! Who… who are you?!" Tears burned her eyes as her entire body began to tremble.
An amused laugh rumbled from deep within his chest as a wide smile curved his lips. "It took you long enough…" He held out his arms turning them from side to side as he studied them. "And here I thought I'd replicated this jumbled mess quite nicely." His wickedly playful eyes gleamed as they met hers. "It looks rather nice on me, does it not?"
Horror filled every cell of her body as she watched the man she loved most shift into the man who'd been haunting every second of her dreams for the past several months. The memories had been suppressed for the longest time, but the second she'd agreed to help them they had all been unlocked. She scooted away from him as fast as her feet could push her backward. "Hypnos? But why?!"
He shrugged as he stood and dusted the sand from his body. "I was bored, and you have been slacking lately. I thought you could use a reminder of exactly what hell awaits you if you back out of our agreement." He lifted his hand and snapped his fingers. Suddenly everything around them changed from the calm beach to a scene straight out of a horror movie. "And believe me, things can always get much worse."
Jos frowned her features hardening to his intimidation tactics. "My first memories of life were a living hell. Do you honestly think this bothers me?"
He shrugged again nonchalantly. "Very well." With another snap of his fingers, they were in an arena of sorts.
Dust blew up all around them stirred up by the storm raging around them. Jos's eyes struggled to focus against the harsh elements. The cry of a familiar voice caught her attention. She rushed forward without seeing where she was going. The thick fog and dust seemed to part and whirl around three people. Her heart ached as she recognized the boy on his knees almost immediately. "Arei…" She clutched her chest as she began to move forward. She struggled to understand what was going on. He looked exactly the same as she'd always known him, but his clothes were seriously outdated with hand-hammered metal armor. Her eyes moved to the other overwhelmingly large man. "Thanatos…" Her words came out as a faint whisper as her gaze automatically fell to the young girl in Arei's arms. They were both covered in injuries as if they'd been battling one another. Blood pooled around them both, but the girl's gauntly pale face was proof enough that the majority of the blood had been hers.
"I can't lose her…" Arei was calling out in a sharp panicked voice as tears streamed down his face.
His cries tour at Jos's chest. It was hard to pry her eyes from his handsome, stricken features; but as she did her breath caught. The girl on the ground had shifted from someone she'd never seen before to a reflection of herself. She stumbled backward, bumping into Hypnos's thick chest. Her hand flew to her cover her mouth as she nearly cried out in surprise herself.
"Not to worry, they can't see or hear us here unless I want them to." He whispered against her ear as he clasped her shoulder in his large hands.
"What do you mean? What is this place?" She stammered, unable to take her eyes off him.
The wide, wicked grin reflected in his voice as he said. "We're inside your dear Areion's dreams, my dear." He turned her toward him slightly as he leaned over her shoulder. "Or can't you tell?"
"But why…" Her voice broke as she tried to decipher what she was seeing.
His grin widened exposing sharp white teeth. "Why? Isn't it obvious? He's comparing the loss of the only two women he's ever loved." His grip tightened on her shoulders, his fingers sinking almost painfully into her flesh. "Don't tell me you didn't even know this about the man you claimed to love so maddeningly?"
"I…" She couldn't pull her wide eyes away from the body in his arms as the face continued to flicker between hers and the unknown girl. "Who… who is she?"
"Who indeed?!" He asked in an unusual singsong tone as he spun her to face him. "You see, there are always ways to cause pain. Keep that in mind as you continue to drag your feet, my dear." He shifted his form back to look like Arei before pulling her into his arms and clamping his mouth painfully over hers.
Tears burned her eyes. "Why are you doing this to me?!"
"Because I am bored, and we all grow impatient… and because I can." He said simply.
Jos squeezed her eyes tightly shut. Even knowing the face staring back at her was not the real Arei, it still hurt her terribly to see him say such harsh words. A whimper slipped from her lips as he shook her until she opened her eyes.
"I will find equally creative ways to torment you until your agreement with us is fulfilled. Do you understand? Every time you close your eyes, I will be waiting!"
Jos's eyes popped open as she shot upright. Her heart pounded against her chest as her sleep-blurred eyes scanned her surroundings. Faint light seeped in through the blinds of the somewhat familiar living room. Her eyes moved down to the warm throw covering her lower body. She grabbed the corners and tugged it up to her neck as she continued scanning the room.
"You fell asleep on the couch last night… I tried to wake you, but you were really out, girl." Chary lifted a small pot of coffee from the counter. "Would you like a cup? Then we can talk about what will be expected of you and go over your first mission."