Achilles barely waits for us to make it to the bedroom before he says, “Get naked.”
Helen arches a perfect brow at him. “Someone’s presumptuous.”
He reaches overhead and lightly grips the doorframe, perfectly at ease, as if he’s not putting on a show for an audience of two. “I’m all for tucking you two in and keeping watch if you can honestly tell me that you won’t lie there in the dark and stare at the ceiling and stress yourself the fuck out.” He transfers his attention to me. “Are you up for it, or were you lying to the good doctor?”
“I wasn’t lying.” Nothing’s broken. I’m sure of it. I ache like a motherfucker and I’m going to be black and blue for a while, but I’m okay. I’ve had worse injuries in the past, even if I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck at the moment.
Helen crosses her arms over her chest and eyes Achilles. “There’s nothing wrong with using our brains. You should try it sometime.”
He grins. “Nah, I’ll leave that to you two. I’ll be here to help you check out when you start spiraling.”
“You might have a point.” A smile pulls at the edges of her lips but Helen shakes her head. “But we’re on the opposite sides. Continuing to have sex at this point is—”
“A really great fucking idea. Pun intended.” He sighs and drops his arms. “We were on opposite sides last night and again during the trial today. Nothing’s changed. Are you going to treat me any differently in the final trial just because you’ve been bouncing on my cock?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Good. I won’t either. With that out of the way…” He leans down and lowers his voice, a rumble creeping into his words. “Take off your clothes, princess. I’m jealous as fuck that Patroclus got a taste of that pretty pussy. My turn.”
She blinks. “Um.”
“Achilles,” I try again. “You’re being pushy.”
“Tell me you’re too hurt to want her.” He pins me with look. “Or, fuck, tell me you don’t want her.”
This is already complicated enough without tangling myself further up emotionally. Which is exactly what will happen. I’ve barely dealt with the implications of what comes next, of how it’s shifted now that we’ve met Helen…slept with Helen. How am I supposed to make my peace with Achilles moving on without me if he keeps insisting on including me in this shit? “I’m not too injured, but I’m also not ruled by my wants.”
“You should try it sometime. It’s fun.”
“How can you think of fun at a time like this?” Except he’s told us what he’s doing, hasn’t he? This isn’t Achilles being reckless; this is him taking care of us in that particular way of his. He’s a man of action, and he’s right that I’ll spend the next few hours overthinking everything, going back over the events of the day and wondering what I could have done different, looking to the future and worrying about what comes next.
He’s always used sex to help me stop spiraling mentally. It’s always worked.
Now he’s extending that to Helen as well.
As much as he was bothered by the idea of me and her before, he’s totally set that aside now that he’s involved in the picture, too. Now that he’s got some future painted in his head with the three of us. If I were braver, I’d ask him what he intends, but I’m not sure I’m prepared for whatever the answer is.
Achilles shrugs. “Both of you need sleep. A few orgasms will help that along. I’m all too happy to provide them.”
This whole situation would be aggravating if it wasn’t so Achilles. He’s more than capable of nuance, but he prefers to see the world in black and white. What serves his goals and can be acted on in this moment versus literally everything else. And he doesn’t give a shit about the latter.
To him, there’s nothing we can do until the next trial. We have Helen with us, so it’s a given that we’ll keep her safe until then. He’ll fuck us to sleep and then take watch, probably until morning if I don’t miss my guess. I sigh. “You competed today, too. You have to be exhausted.”
“You know better. I have excellent stamina.” He nods at Helen. “You’re still dressed.”
“It’s really that easy for you, isn’t it?” She sounds almost in awe. “I thought I compartmentalized well, but this is a whole different level.”
“Aww, princess, are you falling for me?”
Her face goes a little red, but she shakes her head. “Absolutely not. I don’t even like you.”
“Liar. You like me a whole lot.” Achilles strips quickly. I’ve been with this man for nearly half my life and yet my breath still catches at the sight of all that light-brown skin, of the promise that strong body holds. He’s a study in perfection, has been as long as I can remember. At eighteen, I was awkward and unsure in my body. Achilles never seemed to have that problem. He’s always known who he is and where he’s headed.