WARNING! THIS BOOK IS FULL OF SMUT! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
(Thanks to my beta, Avalain Nightshade, as usual. You rock!)
The reception was very nice. Or, at least that's what people said. Neither of them really remembered it.
It was at some super-fancy hotel that nobody knew the name of, but it had plenty of alcohol, free food, and wedding cake, so they didn't need to. Half of the party was drunk and the other half very well might have been by the way they were dancing. Octavian loosened his tie and put his feet up on the table. It was steamy in the room and the music was giving him a headache. It was rather ironic that he was having such a bad time at his own reception.
His sharp blue eyes scanned the crowd for Rachel, and he found her leaning against the wall looking solemn. She looked absolutely stunning in her wedding dress, and for the reception, she changed into a sparkling strapless gold dress that was very short and hugged her in all the right places. Octavian wanted nothing more than to leave the party, lock himself in the hotel room and wait until all these people left so he could be alone with his new wife. But of course, he had to stay and go through the motions of shaking people's hands and thanking them for their well wishes and wedding gifts that neither of them had any remote use for. Rachel looked in his direction and gave him a knowing look. Suddenly, Piper and Annabeth grabbed her by the wrists and yanked her into the hallway.
Octavian sighed. Now he was alone.
Reyna and Nico came and sat next to him. Both of them looked dazed.
"You should consider yourself lucky," Nico said, leaning back in his chair, nearly knocking himself over. "Reyna was crying through the entire wedding, and she used my tuxedo as a tissue. Why wasn't I paired up with Will instead?"
Reyna rolled her eyes and punched him playfully in the shoulder. "I couldn't help myself! You guys are so cute together! My favorite part was the kiss."
Octavian smirked. "Why, because it was like those stupid romance movies you used to watch?"
"Very funny. It was almost exactly like the kiss in Clueless. Annabeth and I were practically dying with feels! The way you held onto Rachel's hair and everything!"
He raised an eyebrow. "It's strange enough that you studied the way we kissed, but it's even stranger that you memorized the way the characters in the movie kissed."
Reyna shrugged and polished off Nico's bottle of beer, which neither of them really should have been drinking, but all of the guests were underage so it wasn't a big deal.
"What are you doing?" Rachel demanded. Piper and Annabeth dragged her down the hall and into one of the bathrooms. Hazel scurried in and locked the door. "Won't we get in trouble?"
Piper shrugged and pushed her onto the countertop. "We need to talk. First things first, the obvious question." The three of them looked at her as if she was a specimen under a microscope.
"Well? What's the question?" Rachel demanded.
"Are you a virgin or not? Duh!"
Rachel blushed. "Of course I am. I waited for my husband."
Annabeth giggled. "That's adorable! Well, do you know what to do?"
"Not particularly, but does it matter? It's not like we're going to... do it tonight anyway."
Annabeth scoffed. "Oh, yes you are! Everybody knows that on your wedding night, stuff happens."
Rachel shrugged. "Maybe we're not going to be a cliche couple."
Piper nodded. "Ah, the ever-oblivious wife. Completely detached until her husband's side-hoe gets pregnant with twins. Then, it's a nasty custody battle and you remarry your ex-husband's best friend only to have two more children and-"
Annabeth held up her hand. "She gets the point. And stop watching soap operas."
Hazel splashed her face with cold water and began shivering. "Um, maybe we could talk about something other than-"
"Anyway," Piper continued, "Whatever the case, you're obviously going to need some advice, and that's why we're here."
Rachel bit her lip. "Thanks, but I think I'll just let things be. Aren't you supposed to just... figure it out?"
Annabeth shrugged. "I guess you could, but why would you? We have plenty of experience in this sort of thing."
"Not me!" Hazel squeaked, clutching onto the doorknob. "You know what? I think I'm going to sit with Frank for awhile. He's probably lonely."
Piper held up her hand. "Not so fast, Hazel. You need to hear this for future reference."
Hazel sunk onto the floor and plugged her ears as Piper continued, "Anyway, we have inside information that Octavian isn't a virgin, so that takes care of one-half of an awkward encounter."
Rachel blinked. "Really? I knew something was up when he kept avoiding my questions about it..."
"Okay, chances are it's going to hurt a little bit the first time, even if you've worn a tampon before, but you'll only be a little sore the morning after and you can always take some Advil or something and the pain should be gone." Annabeth cringed before continuing. "There's also a good chance that he's going to be pretty rough with you unless he knows better. If he doesn't, then it might hurt a little more, but it's totally worth it."
Rachel smirked. "It doesn't sound worth it."
"Maybe you'll change your mind once you get to your room. Now let's talk positioning."
The room was freezing.
It was the first thing Octavian noticed when he stepped into the hotel room. It was a gigantic room with a very large TV and a huge bed. He saw two bright yellow suitcases with multicolor paint splatters all over them and figured they had to be Rachel's. Although his new wife was nowhere to be found, he could hear a sink running from the nearby bathroom. Octavian changed into his favorite pajamas-a pair of soft plaid pajama bottoms and a shirt that his grandfather sent him before he died in the car crash-and tried to toggle with the thermostat. No such luck. The air blew colder and faster, making him shiver.
Damn thermostat, he thought. Why won't you work?
He knew she was coming before she said anything. The first thing he noticed was her scent; a mix of charcoal pencils and cold water with a hint of the nice - smelling serum that Reyna put in her hair to make it straight and glossy. "Hey." She slid her slender arms around his midsection and squeezed lightly. Octavian could feel the stirring in his stomach that signified the early signs of an erection. He turned around and wrapped his arms around her waist. "What did Piper and Annabeth want?"
She shrugged. "They just wanted to give me some advice. But I do have a question for you."
"What is it?"
She looked into his electrifying blue eyes. "Are you a virgin? And I want the honest answer."
He bit his lip and stared at his feet. Of course he wasn't a virgin; he was Octavian for Pete's sakes. His first time was at age 16 with some daughter of Venus in his cohort that wanted to get a prophecy read in her favor. She was so rough with him that he could barely stand up straight for two days. After that, it was mostly lone encounters with random girls around camp and occasionally with Reyna if they were both horny enough. But none of his encounters ever meant anything. He'd wanted to do the same thing with Rachel, but he was so afraid of hurting her that he could never bring himself to do it. Now they were married and they were bound to do it at some point, but Rachel was a virgin and Octavian had experience under his belt.
"No. I'm not."
She sighed. "How old were you?"
"I was sixteen."
"Was it Reyna?"
"Not the first time."
"How many times have you fucked her?"
"Six, maybe ten at most? Wait a second. You're jealous of Reyna!"
Rachel blushed. "I didn't say that." Octavian grinned like an idiot. "Why are you jealous of Reyna? I love you, not her."
She shrugged. "You guys are so close and she's so much prettier than me and you two were in a relationship and I just feel...inadequate somehow. I know, it's stupid."
The smirk was still there. "You're so cute when you're mad."
She rolled her eyes. "I'm not mad!"
He leaned against the wall and looked down at her. "Of course you're not mad. You're obviously leaking happiness."
Rachel shoved him into the door. "I'm serious! Do you still like Reyna or not?!"
"No! I love her as a friend, but I don't like her that way anymore. And anyway, she is not prettier than you. You have bigger boobs." He looked behind her. "Bigger ass, too."
Her eyes were a mix of anger and amusement. "Octavian, I have no idea why I married you."
He ruffled her hair. "Face it, you love me."
Rachel groaned. "I never said that!"
He gave a little laugh. "I think you do." He leaned forward, slid his arms around her waist and kissed her.
They had kissed before, but this time felt... different. Rachel felt like she was soaring. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him harder. Somehow, she ended up against the wall, the only thing she could hear was his breathing, the only thing she knew was him...
Gradually, their kisses became less needy and aggressive, and more gentle. His arms loosened around her though still keeping a firm grip. Suddenly, she pulled away. "What's wrong?"
She looked up into his eyes with a dazed expression on her face. "Octavian," she said softly. "I'm ready."
