Chapter 3 – Crossed Intentions

Four forty two AM, Perseus bolted upright in his bed. His head felt like it was being caved in. That was when he noticed the THREE empty bottles of Vodka lying around his bedroom. What shocked him more was the naked figure of Artemis lying right next to him. She stirred briefly.

"Still don't trust me?" She asked him woozily. She gently used her nails to trace patterns in the side of his back as he sat there, a thin sheen of sweat moving over him. They were both still heavily drunk, but Perseus nightmares were back, and they would not be forgotten any time soon.

"No, I don't trust you, but I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt." He admitted as he swung his legs out over the side of the bed. He pulled the cord to the small lamp on the bedside table and a shallow light filled the room.

Artemis pushed herself up onto her knees so that she was kneeling right behind him. She started to trace her finger against the scars on his back. She started at the nape of his neck, the sensation of her soft caress sent a shiver down his spine. She pulled her hands all the way down his back until she was touching the fresh nail marks that would scar. She noticed the trail of blood that had been dragged frantically across his back. The dried blood stained her very own fingernails.

"Why? Because you've fucked me now?" Artemis asked him coyly. The only response she got immediately was his head tilt slightly towards her. She could see that he had an eyebrow raised in surprise.

"No, because I've admired you my whole life in the industry. I'd hate to have to kill my icon." Perseus snorted. What? He'd looked up to her the entire time he'd been a mercenary? But he was a legendary lone wolf! Sure he had expressed interest in joining Artemis' hunters a long time ago, but she couldn't have said yes then, he was a nobody, but not now, now he was Perseus Jackson, the man with a one hundred percent success rate.

"Why did you wake up?" Artemis asked him, wanting to suddenly change the subject. She'd begun feeling guilty about her past regret. She sat up and pressed her body against his. He felt the warmth of her breasts covering his back, and even though they had been in the covers, her nipples were suddenly erect and poking against his back. It served to turn him on no small amount. She even went so far as to wrap her hands around his stomach, actively touching his finely tuned abdominal muscles.

"The nightmares." Perseus admitted. Nightmares might have seemed like a childish thing to some people, but Artemis knew too well the kind of things that could scar a person, she found herself wondering exactly what Perseus' would be. The strength of the PTSD that someone with Perseus' reputation could have was astounding, the simple fact that he had outright admitted that he had nightmares made her respect him even more. She knew that this kind of thing could destroy someone so completely that they became a shell of their former selves so she didn't want to push him on the subject, she had too much respect for him, she couldn't have him go down the darkest path that a warrior faced, yet...

"What of?" She asked him quietly. Subconsciously, her hands that were tracing his finely tuned muscles had grasped him ever so slightly tighter. She wasn't really sure what her perception of him really was, but she knew that despite everything, there was nobody out there to cover his back, not in the way that she thought she once could.

Perseus slowly reached into the drawer of the cabinet and brought out an injection kit with a sigh. "Before I became a mercenary, I served in the Navy SEALS with my cousin, Jason." He began. His cousin Jason? That name was familiar to Artemis because Jason was her second in command's younger brother. "That's how I got most of my training. But the shit that I went through, they deemed me unfit for service. Mentally and emotionally unfit, not to mention my physical wounds. This serum can solve the physical problems, but no amount of chemical will help me forget the torture." Perseus sighed again as he injected a syringe of viscous green liquid into his thigh.

Service? He was in the military so of course he could only have meant THAT when he said torture, "I was a prisoner of war Artemis. The nightmares are just incredibly vivid flashbacks of the past. I heard my closest friends, my brothers no less, scream their last as their lives were extinguished in the most gruesome of manners." Perseus looked away from Artemis' longing gaze, he couldn't hold eye contact with another human being, not while the wounds in his heart were being reopened. He'd loved each and every one of his men like they were his blood brothers, and for what it was worth, they practically were, and he had to listen to them all being killed in gruesome ways, powerless to stop any of it.

Perseus looked up, his eyes no longer held that cheeky and challenging mirth that they once had, "Back in the middle east, my entire squad was either wiped out in the final firefight or we were captured and taken underground." Perseus' hand instinctively clutched around the set of metal dog tags that hung around his neck. They were dented, battered and one of them had bullet damage. These things could have saved his life at one point.

"Jason's squad came in under covert ops to rescue my squad, it was a total farce. After I'd bee found and freed, the militants sprung an ambush. Me and Jason were the only ones to get out of there alive." Perseus explained, never once being able to tear his empty gaze away from the distant darkness that was constantly threatening to overwhelm his mind.

So Artemis had been right, in his short life, he'd already seen so much that a human being should have to be put through. Her respect for him had never been higher. She'd have to be very careful how he went about showing her respect for him or people would start to notice things about her and she couldn't be dealing with rumors thought that was something that in the worst case scenario, her company could handle while she was busy personally seeing to missions like the one she had currently undertaken.

"Perseus, I'm so sorry." Was all his long-time rival could utter, her hands had found a solid grip on his body and they didn't feel like they were letting go any time soon.

"It's fine. I can eventually suppress the memories, but never for long." Percy sighed again as he returned to his lying position in the bed. To his surprise, Artemis laid her head onto his chest and wrapped her arms around him.

"This never happened, and if you tell Thalia, I WILL kill you." She threatened him at last. Perseus laughed at her sudden outburst. Would she really kill him? She could only try. After all of the things he'd been through, would it be justified for HER to be the one to finally take him out?

"It would be totally worth it." Perseus grinned. He leant over and turned off his lamp, plunging them both back into darkness. When he got back to lying down, Artemis had gotten even closer than before, her lips inches away from his own. He felt her hand bunch into a fist, like she was trying to frantically hold onto him, but his lack of clothes meant that her hand just rested lazily on top of his collarbone.

"Perseus." Artemis whined with a fake tone that implied she was seconds away from throwing a temper tantrum. That was something that, coming from her, Perseus wasn't sure whether or not he would be able to effectively handle.

"Yes?" He replied extremely cautiously, entirely unaware of exactly what to expect from her at that precise point in time. Her scent suddenly filled his nose as he took in the sweet aroma of cinnamon that danced along his senses, nullifying any anxiety he had about her in that exact moment.

"We need to sleep but I'm not tired anymore. Fix it." She told him slyly. It was dark so she no doubt couldn't see but a wide grin swept across Perseus' face at the beautiful gift that was alcohol. They were both still drunk but it was the vodka which had led to this in the first place. Artemis didn't wait for Perseus to respond with anything witty, she dragged her tongue across jawline, then down to his collarbone and straight back up to his neck where a small stubble was already growing.

A moan escaped his lips as a result of Artemis immediately giving into her animalistic instincts and freely pursuing the thing that she most wanted. Feeling pleased with herself because of Perseus' audible pleasure, she decided to continue. She swept her wet tongue back across his chest, across one of his nipples and down to his impossibly set abs. She stopped with a kiss to his belly button before her tongue picked up the trail once more. They had both been completely naked so what she was doing next was easy.

Even in the darkness it was easy for Perseus to make out the shape of Artemis' amazingly perfect ass slowly rising as her back arched and her head moved lower on his body. Suddenly he could see her entire body right as her tongue seemed to reach its destination.

"Oh fuck." Perseus moaned in overwhelming ecstasy. For someone that was renowned for being so cold to men in general, she had no difficulty in wrapping Perseus around her finger in order to satisfy her own extreme sexual desires. He was most surprised when he found out that her sex drive was almost as high as his own. They were both left feeling incredibly satisfied after they'd had their first rampage but it seemed that after only an hour's sleep that they were both perfectly happy to go again. Both of their bodies still held a sheen of moisture from where they'd both 'accidentally' found themselves covered in oil.

Perseus wasn't going to be outdone, he pulled her up towards his body before they both rolled across his bed. "I swear to the Gods Perseus, stop teasing me!" Artemis moaned after Perseus' dexterous hands had deftly navigated her curves and found the warmth between her legs. She was feeling sensitive after their initial session so turning her on was the easiest thing he'd done all day.

Sure enough they both became entangled with one another under the ocean blue sheets that lined Perseus' king sized bed and the moans of them both began to get louder and louder. It was lucky that the apartment building they were in had thick walls or he'd have plenty of angry neighbors to be dealing with after all this.

By the time they had both collapsed in a heap after their second round there was daylight trying it's absolute best to penetrate the blinds that covered the windows. The alcohol was still in effect but neither of them exactly had anywhere to be that day so they were both content with simply falling asleep for as long as it took for them to recuperate after what had become pretty much a night of solid drinking and fucking.

Not that either of them minded even remotely, Artemis made one final comment about keeping this between the two of them, which Perseus responded to by closing his lips over her exposed breast. "You can't be serious!?" She demanded in a hushed whisper before pleasure spread out across her body once more.

"Gods damn Perseus, you really are an anima-OH!" Artemis' voice turned into a gasp as her hands rapidly grasped at the sheets when Perseus' face disappeared under the sheets. She wasn't even sure how she was able to carry on doing this, but she had a faint idea. Perseus; he brought out a side of her that nobody else could.

"FUCK!" Was the last thing Artemis managed to practically scream before she pulled Perseus out of the sheets and forced her mouth against his, unable to hold herself back any longer.

A/N: Review?