Page 41 of Heroines of Olympus

Once Psyche is in the water, she sits next to Medusa and places her head on her shoulder. “Is this okay?”

Medusa smiles, “Absolutely,” and leans her head against Psyche’s, finding Psyche’s hand next to hers in the water and lacing their fingers together. They sit in their newfound peace with each other until the bubbles die out.

24

MEDUSA

The next day, Medusa wakes early in the morning, despite hoping she would get more sleep. The night had been restless, but in the best way. She kept feeling the silk of Psyche’s robe under her hand, their fingers intertwined, her soft lips. Has she ever yearned for someone this way? She can’t recall any time someone’s touch set her on fire and she wanted more.This is a torture she can’t seem to get enough of.

She lays there in bed replaying the night before. Her hands travel up and down her body as she caresses her hip, stomach, breasts. She may not know what to do when she’s with Psyche, but her own body, she knows well. She knows exactly where to touch, where to apply more pressure, where to be gentle. Her left hand is on her left breast, pinching her nipple firmly but not hard as her right hand trails back down and between her legs.

Medusa slides her finger over her core and finds it already wet as she teases her opening, gently gliding her fingers over it before dipping a finger in, then another. Thinking about how soft Psyche’s skin had been and the electricity when they touched, Medusa continues to slide her fingers in and out, putting pressure against her clit every time, building the pressure until, with Psyche’s lips on her mind, she brings herself over the edge. She continues to stroke herself, slowing her speed and easing out of the moment. Feeling both sated, and still full of lust, Medusa slides her fingers back out and walks over to the washbasin to clean herself and get ready to start her day.

* * *

Since it is so much earlierthan she has been waking up, Medusa wants to be the one to surprise Psyche with breakfast this time. She quickly dresses in a clean light blue tunic and brown leggings, her boots, and hood, then makes her way downstairs to the kitchens.

The smell of breakfast is wafting heavily out of the open kitchen door and it’s bustling with people hurrying to make sure they packed enough provisions for the journey. Medusa pokes her head in tentatively, wanting to assess the room and make sure she won’t be in the way or an imposition.

A short man with a handlebar mustache and bald head sees her and seems very excited by her sudden appearance.

“Hello! Welcome to my kitchen,” he says to her as a woman in the background lightheartedly chimes in with, “Ha! YOUR kitchen. Like you’d get anything done without us.”

He laughs a full belly laugh. “Well, you’re certainly right about that, Lorena.”

He returns his attention to Medusa. “Like I was saying, welcome to THE kitchens. We have heard so much about our new guest and we were hoping to get to meet you before you’re off. It’s hard to get away from the kitchens sometimes.”

Medusa isn’t sure how to feel about that but shoves down the feeling of being a novelty and focuses on the warm welcome she is receiving. She has to admit, this isle has definitely defied her expectations. Sure, there have been a few people less than thrilled to see her, and a truly awful encounter, but mostly, everyone here has at least been willing to give her a chance. It makes her want to be more open and find a place amongst them.

“I’m pleased to meet you as well. I am so happy to put faces to the absolutely delectable food I’ve been having. My name is Medusa, but it seems you might already know that,” she says, dipping her head slightly and blushing.

“My name is Oren. The mouthy one back there is Lorena, and then there’s Janus, Dela, and Rochelle.” The last three raised their hands in turn when he said their names. “Don’t worry though, we don’t expect you to remember them all immediately,” he winked. “How can we help such a lovely lady today?”

“Well…” Medusa begins. Every morning, Psyche has had a tray of food ready for me at breakfast time every day that I’ve been here. I was up earlier than usual today and wanted to… return the favor?”

“Splendid! Oh! I’ll get right on it!” His bubbly attitude is infectious, and she realizes she’s grinning ear to ear as she watches Oren race around the kitchen, grabbing foods and dishes. By the time he’s done, Medusa has an elaborately filled tray of foods, a few of which he swears are Psyche’s favorites. She takes the tray from him and backs out of the kitchen, thanking him profusely and insisting that she can manage the tray on her own. She bumps into Cadmus on the way and almost drops the entire tray, but Cadmus catches it and helps her to right it.

She sighs in frustration but tries to keep her response as reigned in as possible. She’s tired of her knee jerk emotional responses prevailing in situations, leaving her to regret her rashness later. Her voice is as neutral as she can muster through obviously gritted teeth, “um…thank you.”

He smiles. “You’re very welcome. It seems fortuitous that I was here.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Medusa snaps out despite her best intentions. “Dropping the tray may have been preferable to having this conversation.”

She sets her shoulders back and pushes around him, holding the tray tight, and heads back up the stairs, rolling her eyes at the smug chuckle she hears behind her.

* * *

When Psyche comesout of her room a short while later, Medusa is waiting for her on the sofa in the lounge. The tray of food is on the cart they have been using every morning, along with a small cup with freshly picked flowers. The Isle, and The Compound, have so much greenery all around providing an abundant supply of flowers for her to gather from, only taking from a plant that had plenty of other blooms and snipping at the stem junction to make sure the plant didn’t expend unnecessary resources where a snipped bloom would be.

She stands up and walks over to greet Psyche, who is taking in the scene with a sleepy smile on her face. “You did all this for me?”

“Yes, I hope that’s alright? Oren gave me what he claims you usually like, so I hope he knew what he was talking about,” she answers with a smile.

“I see pastries, jams, and jasmine tea for starters, and that sounds absolutely perfect this morning.” She opens of the domed dishes. “Oh! Are these moonberry tarts?”

Medusa shrugs and chuckles. “I have no idea. He didn’t tell me what he was putting on there. I’ve only known him since this morning but I get the feeling he knows exactly what every person here prefers and if that’s the case, based on your reaction to the thought of them, I’m going to guess, yes, those are moonberry tarts.”

“I will never not be astonished by that man,” Psyche says with a tone of admiration and awe. Medusa finds that response curious but then Psyche continues, “Moonberries only grow around the Lunar Temple. A place I haven’t been able to see for five years, ever since my involvement with The Allegiance became known.”

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