บท 79: DA : Chapter 79: Hard Choices II
( Percy (A Week Later) POV )
Percy sighed as he looked up at the ceiling of his wives' and his room, mindlessly shifting the stars and probably giving an astronomer a headache right about now. His hands gently glided across silky skin as he let the warmth of the bodies pressed against him soothe him. He glanced down at the two jewels of his eyes, a tender smile forming on his lips.
Rhea was to his left, her head nuzzled close to the crook of his neck while she hugged his arm to her chest. Hestia was to his right and slightly lower with her head resting on his chest and right over his heart with her legs tangling his.
Both had a glow about them, their bodies exposed to the waist from the crumpled bedsheet were covered in little bite marks and hickies, satisfied smiles on their beautiful faces. He had no doubt he was similar, covered in more aggressive bites and claw marks etched to the point his healing hadn't cleared him up yet.
It was a little odd, he mused. Pleasant but odd. For the last week ever since Rhea and Hestia had surprised him in Norway, every night had been long and loud hours of passion.
Bodies rolling and caressing against each other, heated looks and honeyed words, his wives interchanging between being alluringly challenging and dominant to fully giving in and submitting to him, begging him for more. And in all of it his inner wolf recognized their behavior.
The aggression and closeness, the rubbing themselves against his body, demanding to be taken again and again.
They were reinforcing that they were his and he theirs, making sure that their scents were smothered on each other and claimed in the most primal way.
And he loved every moment of it even if he was curious as to why they suddenly felt the need to reassure themselves of their union? Every night he would always finish with cuddling and tender words of love, simply holding them and relishing in the intimacy between all three of them.
Sure to many it would have come off as possessive and clingy but in truth he was comforted by that. Knowing that he was as desired by them as he did them soothed a shadowed doubt that had been etched into his heart ever since he learned about his ex's infidelity.
And he knew that they had similar doubts from their own experiences, one being turned into little more than a token trophy and the other forced to silently watch as she was forgotten all the while witnessing heartbreak and betrayal.
All three of them would carry those insecurities for the remainder of their existence but it was in those doubts that their union glowed brighter.
However, now he was worried about what could cause those doubts to shoot up in his wives? Had he been inattentive while preparing for imminent war? Was his gaze lingering on other goddesses too much? Whatever it was he would gladly fix it in a heartbeat for them but he needed to know wh—
"Percy," came the sweet voice that broke him out of his thoughts.
He glanced down again to see that both Rhea and Hestia were awake again, his hands having stopped stroking their backs while his thoughts progressed.
He also noted that the room was decidedly colder, exactly 45 degrees (Fahrenheit). Not enough to actually cause discomfort for either of his wives (being married gave them perks with each other's domains) but it was noticeable.
"Everything okay dear?" came Hestia's warm voice as she rested her head on her hands over his heart while Rhea adjusted to placing her chin on his shoulder while looking at him.
He sighed before giving them a soft smile, his hands finding each other their hips and tugging them slightly closer.
"Fine … I was just wondering what's got you two so worked up."
Both caught the question in his tone and shared a glance before Rhea spoke, being the usual voice of the two.
"Well, we just really wanted to show you that we love you," she said, skirting an answer.
"And I love you both as much," he replied with a cheesy grin before relaxing and continuing, "But still, there's more to it, right?"
They shared another glance before Hestia spoke up this time.
"There is something else …" She paused as she nibbled her lower lip shyly. "It's a little complicated so … just let us explain before you say or do anything."
That peaked his curiosity and with a slight nod, they began to explain what got them so anxious. His eyes kept widening and at times he would have sworn they were trying to play a trick on him but both remained serious, without tooth or hide of a lie. His heart sank slightly at hearing about what was happening to his sister, causing a whirlwind of conflicting emotions within him.
He loved Andromeda, dearly so, but could he change how he saw her enough to help her? Would he in any way be taking advantage of her or the situation to break fidelity? Was it a one-time thing or more? All those questions popped in his head until Rhea noticed his troubled face and calmed him with a soft kiss followed by Hestia.
"Percy," Rhea said gently as she looked into his eyes. "I know what you're thinking and you're aren't. She needs this and we could tell she was genuine about her feelings."
"But … I made vows to always be faithful to both of you," he responded as he cupped both their cheeks. "If I did this how would I be any different from the Olympians? How would it even be fair to you?"
"Well," Hestia started as she overlapped Percy's hand with her own. "We may have thought of a possibility."
"What?" he asked hopefully, not wanting in any way to go against his sworn vows.
"Okay," she continued as she took a quick breathe. "We thought about how to get around our oaths and even spoke to Styx about it." That got him to raise an eyebrow. If anything, his queens were thorough in checking options before even proposing ideas.
"And even messaged Lady Chaos. The sum being that our oaths give leeway to what the three of us consider infidelity so, as long as all three of us agree, we could have lovers."
He couldn't stop his frown at that but didn't comment with the 'wait and see' glance Rhea shot him. "So, considering that we don't want Andy being bunched into the same type as Aphrodite, we thought about marriage."
"But we're already married," he interjected only to get pinched by Rhea while Hestia raised a dainty eyebrow at him. "… Shutting up now."
"Yes, we are but there isn't really anything stopping us from having more marriages," Hestia answered before looking to Rhea as the lioness picked it up.
"However, if married then there is the little thing about our roles in the council.
It's already unusual to having two queens and adding more is just more trouble than it's worth so we thought back to how lords used to get official mistresses back in the old days of Europe without permanently getting screwed over with their wives. Basically, if you agreed to it, you would marry Andy as a consort. Officially a wife and equal to us personally but not a queen on the council floor."
"However," Hestia continued with a look of mischief in her eyes. "It still would be letting you have a lover all to yourself so we thought that as a condition, she would be married to all three of us."
"Granted that would take some explaining too and people will still talk but being official still makes it better," Rhea added while Percy just stared dumbly at them until he asked the first thing that came to him.
"But wouldn't she need to be into girls too for this?"
"Has she ever said she isn't into girls?" Hestia shot back leaving Percy without a retort.
He could not refute her, hell, if anything he at one point was rather relieved to catch Andy check out the occasional girl on their few trips to the mortal world. It saved him the worry of having to skin any would be boyfriends alive.
Granted he'd only taken it at face value at the time and didn't consider it being an assured thing of which way his sister swung since she'd sometimes eyed guys too. That usually led to him leaving with her quickly otherwise he would maul said male within the hour.
Taking his silence as a cue to go on Rhea continued.
"We also thought this might make it possible to address the feelings of … some others," she said in a slightly edgy tone.
Percy didn't need her to name them, knowing that his Shadows were harboring feelings for him. Lupa's had grown exponentially ever since having private days with Medusa and Lamia while explicitly not letting him in on what they were discussing.
The other two had been leaving the subtly and hidden glances behind over time and a part of him honestly felt guilty about not being able to return that love in that way they wanted but unable to bring himself to dash their hopes either. He cared about them and didn't want to hurt them, especially after all the three have been through.
"So … would that mean we'd have to marry them too?" he asked tentatively making Rhea snort.
"No, that option is the right thing to do for Andy after everything she's done for us. We also are considering her status as a primordial goddess and council member and what her union to us would mean politically.
We may be in the 21st century and no doubt by the time we unveil ourselves to the mortals there will be ruffled feathers but there will also be those that approve or will at least be neutral about our relationship. However, were are still the three royals and that comes with some perks and allowances," Rhea said with a smirk.
"So for Medusa, Lamia, and Lupa …?"
Hestia and Rhea shared a looked before replying cheerily, "Concubines."
Percy blinked owlishly at them getting an eye roll from his loves.
"Look, the last thing we need is every pretty face running up to us and bashing their eyelashes or flicking their skirts to try to get with us just to have a crack at one or all of us," Hestia explained.
"So, aside from Andy getting marriage as an option if she accepts this and you accept it," she said with a softer look, knowing he was still very undecided about the whole situation. "But those three do love you and are already sworn to you.
You could already command them to do whatever you want and they would follow it, but taking oaths and officially becoming concubines to the throne as it were would discourage just any girl …"
"Or possible guy," Rhea chirped while looking at Percy's slight frown in amusement.
"Or guy," Hestia amended sounding all too amused herself. "From approaching us unless their willing to submit to all three of us."
"And naturally we would take any offers with a grain of salt," Rhea continued, "Plus having Andy would mean that no one would fake their feelings or intentions. Not to mention it would be hot helping you dominate a few cuties."
That got her some odd looks from both Percy and Hestia.
"What? Lions do the same thing in prides!" she defended while sitting up, causing a healthy jiggle of feminine delight to their appreciating eyes.
"Regardless of her kinks," Hestia giggled while ignoring Rhea's pout. "It wouldn't be strange for a king or queen(s) to have concubines throughout the history of mankind so why not use that to our advantage? We give the girls the chance, keep a clear hierarchy, and leave the heavier throne room dynamic untouched."
Percy laid quietly as he digested his wives' idea, musing the pros, cons, and his personal feelings on the matter. Sure, it made sense with the way they put it and could work. Granted there was the question of how his Shadows or the other possible girl's currently crushing on him or even on his wives that would willingly go along with the conditions.
It would mean fidelity to them or at least to all those within the harem (now that was a word he never thought would be used with relation to him!). But then his thoughts returned to the original subject of all this; Andromeda.
Could he change everything with her, did he even truly feel that way about her? He wasn't sure even if he knew he loved her and would have likely done it if he hadn't already been married but that was because he would have thought of helping her anyway he could before thinking about his relationship to her.
He sighed in frustration as he ran a hand through his hair before being pulled out of his thoughts by Hestia's squeal. Apparently his loves had been teasing each other about their tastes and that lead to Rhea pouncing on Hestia and beginning a ruthless tickle attack.
Hestia was laughing hysterically while trying to futilely escape and bordering on tears and begging for mercy. The sight brought a smile and welcome distraction to Percy but he knew he would need to make a decision soon…
"Please Rhe-AWN!"
… Or focus on pulling one kinky goddess off the other before things escalated into a sleepless night of coiling bodies and swearing by each other's name in the throes of passion…
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Don't forget to throw some power Stones, to keep the story going.
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