Santorini Paradiso Ch. 15

You are beautifully patient, and I won't try to make excuses for the delay. I'll simply apologize for the wait. I hope that you like this next chapter in the story of Elena, Adonis and Petros.

Kisses,

L

***

Her parents arrived just as they were finishing dinner. The trio had been toying with the remains of the apple tart that she'd bought earlier that day. Weary of speculating in circles about her surprising display of pyrotechnic abilities, they had turned to more mundane subjects and were discussing the arrangements to take Elena to her first appointment with the OB-GYN they'd found for her.

It would be her first appointment since the pregnancy, and while both men wanted to accompany her, they agreed that it would be better for appearances' sake if only one went along. They decided that since Petros had a few more leads to chase in his research, that Adonis would go.

Suddenly, Elena perked up, and excitedly called out "They're here!"

The boys regarded her with confusion for a moment, as she pushed back her chair and headed to the door. The doorbell chimed a moment later. The boys exchanged another look of surprise. She didn't even seem to notice that her episodes of precognition were happening more often. They opted to not make mention of it, all things considered.

As Selene and Eddy walked through the door, Elena greeted them breathlessly and threw herself into her mother's arms. She buried her face in the goddess's neck and held on tightly. Without a word, Selene looked at Eddy and he nodded, simply dropping a kiss on the top of Elena's bent head. He walked through to join the boys in the dining room, a large black nylon backpack slung over one shoulder.

Selene felt her daughter's body quivering with emotion in her arms, and began to softly rock side to side, singing a lullaby that she used to sing to her as a baby. Elena hummed in appreciation, snuggling closer, sighing contentedly. Dimly, she could hear the deep, warm rumble of the men's voices in the other room.

After a few moments, her mother walked them through to the front parlor, and drew Elena down with her onto the sofa. She hadn't tried to talk to her - not even inside her head. That kind of compassionate patience was amazing, Elena thought. She'd always loved that about her mother. They sat, side by side, with Elena's head on her mother's shoulder as the goddess gently stroked her hair, waiting.

Finally, Elena sniffed a little, and bluntly announced: "So I can set things on fire now, apparently."

Selene grew still. She leaned back and lifted Elena's chin with the crook of her finger.

"Come again?" she asked dryly.

"Tonight. I pointed at the fireplace, and—well, I was telling the guys I was cold, see? And I wanted them to light the fire. But they were talking and didn't hear me. So, I got impatient, and I asked them - I mean, I guess I told them - I forget... Anyway, when I pointed at the fireplace this... this... bolt of light shot out of my fingers..."

Elena was gesturing, and stopped to look at the tips of her fingers. Selene's beautiful face was a placid mask as she quietly listened. When it was clear that Elena was not going to continue, she gently prompted.

"And this bolt started the fire?"

Elena nodded miserably, biting her lip.

"How did it feel?" Selene asked, her voice was soft.

Without thinking about it, Elena answered: "Wonderful, actually." She looked at her mother, and saw her eyebrows rise in inquiry, wanting more.

Elena inhaled and felt a flush rise in her cheeks. "It was... almost..." She faltered.

"Stimulating? Sexual?" Her mother furnished archly.

"YES!" Elena breathed out. A giggle rose unbidden and she covered her mouth with both hands, and looked at her mother nervously.

"I know. It is a big rush." She grinned as she tucked a stray curl behind her daughter's ear. Then grew more serious. "But, my darling, this is what makes it so addictive. You have to be very, very careful. Using your newly emerging powers can become a dangerous habit. Especially in the current circumstances. Do you understand me? Those kinds of displays can be noticed, and we're trying very hard to hide you from Loki."

"Are you sure these are my powers?" Elena asked, again chewing her lower lip.

"What do you mean? Why would you ask that, baby? Why wouldn't they be your powers?" Selene looked confused.

"I—I don't know. I don't know why I said that. It's just—this doesn't feel like me, you know?" A tiny frown had settled between her brows, and she was toying with the cuffs of the sweater.

"Tell me more about that, 'Lena-mou." Selene gently prodded.

"It's like- the sight thing - the foretelling? That I get. And the ability to talk without words? That feels like something I would be able to do, you know? It makes sense to me. But this electrical thing, and this firebolt thing - that doesn't feel like something I'd expect to come out of me. It feels... I don't know... as if it isn't really ME doing it. And each time it's happened, it was an accident. I didn't really mean to do it - it just happened. If it's my power, wouldn't I be able to control it? I don't know; I'm not explaining this very well..."

"Actually, you are." Her mother was staring off, unseeing, into the corners of the darkened room. Her voice was thoughtful. "I wonder..."

"What? What are you thinking?" Elena asked, her voice anxious.

"I'm not exactly sure - yet. There is some strange sliver of memory, I think - but I can't seem to put my finger on it..." Selene's beautiful face was distant, as she tried to think.

"Hey, my beauties..." Eddy called out softly from the doorway. "Everything okay in here?"

Elena rose and crossed to him, sliding her arms around his chest as she gave him a belated hug. "Yes, Daddy - just the usual - you know: divine powers, psychic abilities, raging hormones, and morning sickness that happens basically any time of the day or night..."

Eddy kissed her forehead, wrapping his arms tightly around her. He grunted in sympathy, wishing silently that he could take her pain and confusion away.

"How's the painting going?" He asked, his lips against her hair.

"OH - that!" she looked up at him ruefully. "So bizarre these days. I zone out, and then find myself looking at work that I don't remember doing, and don't understand one bit. Want to see it? Maybe you can make sense of it. Because I don't know what the hell it all means."

They turned to look at Selene - an unspoken invitation to join them, but she smiled indulgently and announced that she was going to the dining room to say hello to Adonis and Petros, and sample some of the cognac the boys were drinking.

Elena was winded by the time they reached the garret. She barely had a tummy at this stage, but she felt her energy waxing and waning with little rhyme or reason. She switched on the lights and moved into the studio, absently rubbing her lower back with one hand as she shifted canvasses and masonry board here and there to bring them into view. After a moment, she noticed that her father had not moved from the doorway. She turned to him, an eyebrow raised. The self-deprecating joke she was about to utter died on her lips as she saw his intense expression. She didn't remember ever seeing Eddy's eyes look so serious - so...

Elena couldn't even summon up a proper description. What was the meaning of his gaze?

"Daddy?" She could hear the tremor in her own voice. "What is it?" She followed the direction his eyes had taken, and saw him staring at a particularly dark image she'd created with charcoal just the day before. It was strangely abstract, even for Elena. She'd created a series of widening circles that got darker and more aggressive the larger they became. It ended up looking rather like a tunnel - with a bright white center forming a sort of vanishing point. Elena surfaced after drawing that image, not aware of how much time had passed. Her hands and face were blackened with charcoal dust. It gave her a sense of vague pain to look at it, but she couldn't say why or what prompted her to draw such a rudimentary image.

"Oh, that!" She said, blushing a little. "Ignore that one - I hate it. I have no idea why I drew such a weirdly abstract study like that. It's something they would have asked us to do in high school art class when we were studying perspective. It makes me queasy to look at it now."

"Queasy, baby? Why?"

Elena looked at her dad for a moment, her aspect thoughtful as she searched for the right words. A look of mild frustration crossed her pretty face, and she shook her head, causing her hair to fly around a little.

"It's hard to explain - it's like I'm feeling naked... I'm cold and alone and exposed. Like some kind of bad dream... But I don't know. It's very indistinct - just raw emotions."

Eddy ran a hand through his overly long hair. He looked as if he wanted to say something, his face stricken. He walked over to Elena and pulled her into a tight hug. He looked down at her, his face very sober. He seemed to be on the verge of speaking. His eyes seemed to almost be watering. Looking at her for a moment, a strange expression crossed his face. It looked a little bit like anger, or determination.

Then just as suddenly, he seemed to snap out of it. He took a deep breath and exhaled robustly. He kissed her forehead, and then began to stroll around the studio, making small talk to distract her - or maybe himself.

Soon, he was asking Elena about various other works she had done and they were laughing and teasing one another like when she was a girl. So comforted by his easy, good humor, Elena missed the worried looks he gave her when she wasn't facing his way.

Some thirty minutes later, they had rejoined her mother and the brothers down in the comfortable living room. The fire was crackling brightly, all traces of the earlier shocking incident gone.

Elena slipped into place between Adonis and Petros on the sofa, as Eddy leaned over the pillowy canvas chair Selene was draped across to kiss the side of her neck. She lazily arched one arm up and cradled his head to her, humming softly with contentment. As he raised his head, she locked eyes with her husband and the lazy smile froze on her face. They had a silent exchange before Eddy straightened, then dropped unceremoniously into the chair to her right.

Elena never noticed. She'd first snuggled into Petros, happily accepting his kiss on her brow, before tilting toward Adonis, presenting her cheek to his gentle lips. Eddy began to regale everyone with stories of the time they'd spent in New Orleans in the early 1900s, until the boys noticed that Elena had dozed off to sleep.

Adonis shifted, softly whispering that he'd bring her up to bed. Petros helped to gently move her inert little body so that his brother could pick her up. As soon as she was in his arms, she sighed softly and turned into his chest, fitting against him, one hand gripping the button placard of his shirt. As the pair disappeared from the room, Petros sat up straight, looking into Eddy's eyes.

"What is wrong?" he asked, his jaw tight with apprehension.

***

As Adonis placed Elena on their massive bed, she made a contented sound in her sleep that sounded a lot like a kitten's purr. He rested beside her for a moment, gently moving her wild curls away from her pretty, peaceful face. He could feel Petros's unease in the pit of his stomach, but could sense that his brother was cloaking whatever was causing him distress. Instinctively, he knew that he was discussing Elena with her parents, and that Petros didn't feel happy about where that conversation was going.

Adonis suppressed a sigh, fervently wanting all of the fear and confusion to be set aside, if only for a little while. As he looked down at this miraculous woman, he couldn't help thinking about how long they'd awaited her arrival. Ever so carefully, he placed his hand against her belly, sending a wave of love and awe toward the life growing inside her. He was anxious for the doctor's appointment tomorrow. He was anxious for Elena's comfort. He was anxious for her nervous state of mind over the shocking powers that seemed to be growing within her on a daily basis. When all he really wanted was to be able to wallow in his powerful feelings of love - the completeness he felt when he, Petros and Elena were together. In all the centuries, he'd never expected that her arrival would feel so natural - so right.

Elena stirred beneath his hand, murmuring something unintelligible, as she scooted closer to his warmth in her sleep. A tiny smile tugged at the corners of her generous mouth. Adonis was unable to resist. He leaned down softly, and tenderly brushed his lips against hers.

She moaned. It was a deep, dark velvet sound. He felt his cock begin to stiffen as she automatically leaned up to return his kiss. He was convinced that she was still asleep, and yet her body cleaved to his. Unwilling to wake her up, he contented himself with remaining close to her as she curled against him and sought out still more contact. She was restlessly trying to shrug out of the massive sweater she was wearing, while making tiny impatient sounds.

Grinning, Adonis assisted her by tugging the garment up and over her head. Her arms fell up over the pillows as she allowed herself to be undressed. He was about to slip off the bed, when suddenly those shapely arms wound around his neck. Her swelling breasts were pushing fetchingly out of the low-cut neck of her tank dress, and her skirt had ridden up so high on her thighs that her sexy little panties were showing, and there was a clear wet spot at their center. Adonis stared at this impossibly sensual girl who had the power to - literally - seduce him in her sleep. He struggled to swallow as he fought his natural urges to bury his cock inside her hot, moist core.

She pressed her mouth under his jaw and feverishly whispered, her voice slow and deep, "Parakalo, agape-mou..."

That was his undoing. He groaned and gathered her against him, heedlessly kicking his shoes off as he moved more centrally onto the bed. Her head fell back, cradled in the crook of his arm, as her heavy-lidded eyes opened. She smiled lazily up at him, dazzling him with the expression of love and joy on her face.

Adonis shook his head for a moment, as if to try to clear it. His voice was thick with emotion as he ground out "S'agapo poly, Elena" and then fell upon her, plundering her accepting mouth. He wanted this, and he needed this - to lose himself in her. To stop all the thoughts and concerns circling endlessly around his head.

Elena giggled as she weakly attempted to help him to first undress himself, and then her. But her laughter stopped, caught on her sharply in-taken breath, when he thrust her legs apart and buried his face in her weeping cleft. Not in the mood to waste time, his tongue fluttered over her engorged nub in a sharp, staccato motion that he knew drove her mad. She arched up toward him, offering herself completely, as she moaned aloud. Pausing his assault on her sensitive clit, he dragged the point of his tongue down her wet folds, cupping her round ass with his hands and lifting her lower body upward, like he was drinking from a bowl. The tip of his talented tongue prodded the puckered little rosebud. Elena's hands slammed down on the bed, fisting the sheets as she writhed, her breath coming in pants. It felt so nasty, and so right.

Raising his head for a moment, Adonis grinned salaciously at her as he slipped his middle finger into his mouth, wetting it thoroughly. His eyes never left hers as he slowly slid the tip of his moistened digit into her tightest hole. Elena gasped, clamping down with her muscles out of instinct. She felt a fresh rush of wetness at the feeling - which was just shy of uncomfortable. Adonis lowered his mouth and began to again tease her lonely clit. Her body jerked in response, and it caused her muscles to relax enough that he could slide his finger deeper inside her. She exhaled in a rush as she felt his thumb moving into her sopping center, unaware until that moment that she'd been holding her breath.

Tension coiled deep inside her has he began to finger fuck both holes, his mouth alternately suckling and fellating her swollen bud. Elena dropped her head back on the pillow and allowed her eyes to close. The orgasm building within her was going to be monumental. Dimly, somewhere in her subconscious, she heard the bedroom door open and close with a quiet click. Petros had entered. She knew he was watching them. An image of the two of them on the bed swam through her mind. Feeling what Petros experienced, she saw how wild and wanton the scene appeared. He was turned on as just their witness. Licking his lips, he could virtually taste her as Adonis was tasting her. Silently, he undressed, as Adonis's efforts began to escalate. His hand moved aggressively, fucking her hard, as his face moved side-to-side against her throbbing pussy. Elena found herself pushing up against him, her feet planted on the mattress. Her climax was building, building, building. Her abdomen was clenching, a fine sheen of sweat made her skin gleam.

Petros approached them, lowering himself to the mattress alongside her, he leaned down and captured her beestung lips in a passionate kiss, one hand cupping her full, aching breast. She felt hot - her moist skin was searing. She reached up one hand, threading her fingers into his hair, as she pulled his mouth more firmly down on hers. Her other hand snaked up to find and wrap around his erect cock. Breaking the kiss for a moment, she gazed down at Adonis, their eyes locking as he groaned against her.

"Can you feel this?" She asked them both. The brothers hissed in the affirmative, their bodies straining to contain the explosion that was just beneath the surface. Suddenly, she spasmed - her body shattering in a bright white shockwave. Elena's mouth opened in a silent scream as she came. Vaguely, she heard both men shout out in their own ecstasy. She felt the splash of Petros' ejaculate across her belly, and Adonis pressed his face to her soft core, catching her own wet release across his mouth and chin.

Elena had the feeling of someone in suspended animation - as if she were surrounded by crackling electricity. Her body pulsed with it. Opening her eyes, she looked at the boys. Their eyes were closed as they clung to her in a post-coital haze. She blinked a few times - something was off - what was it? Glancing around them, she suddenly realized what it was. She remained very still, afraid to speak. But reaching out to their minds, she silently pleaded with them -

"Oh, gods! Open your eyes, my darlings, and tell me if I'm imagining this..."

Adonis and Petros seemed drugged - they sluggishly complied, opening their eyes. Blinking, like Elena, it took a moment to register what they were seeing. It only took a second's glance at them to realize that it was not her imagination.

They were floating - all three of them - some three feet above the bed. And they were bathed in a pale silver light - the source of which seemed to be Elena herself.

It was Petros who broke the spell, saying "What the f--!"

As soon as he spoke, all three dropped unceremoniously back on the bed, bouncing with the impact, and the light was extinguished. Out of breath and very dazed, they lay on the bed for a moment as they tried to recover their equilibrium.

Elena pushed herself up, resting on her elbows.

"No way that just happened." She said bemusedly.

Adonis crawled up to her other side, and both men were eager to ascertain if she was alright.

Elena laughed delightedly. "Alright?! I'm fan-fucking-tastic. That. Was. Awesome!" She threw herself back on the bed, giggling delightedly.