The next day Percy and I took one of the vans and drove into the city. Argus came with us to take the car back to camp, since we couldn't leave it parked at the entrance to Mt. Olympus for the next few weeks. After yesterday, things with Percy and I seemed relatively back to normal, although last night I thought about him a lot; especially images from the night when I caught him fondling himself. For some reason thinking about that excited me the way I was excited when we were kissing on my bed. I made a mental note to learn more about what was going on and turned to look out the window as we drove through New York.
I may have seen the city hundreds of times, but I always loved looking at the buildings. Each time it was like a new experience and a new kind of anticipation. Plus, there was the added bonus of me seeing the almost completed Olympus in person for the first time since construction had started. Of course, I had seen glimpses in Iris messages when giving orders, but drawing something and seeing it up close and in person are two very different things. Also, I was excited to be staying there with Percy. As part of my plans, I had added in buildings in which we, the demigods, would have a place to stay should we ever visit Olympus, and Percy and I would be staying in one of those buildings. We would be staying in different rooms, obviously, but it would be nice to have some alone time after months of not really having any, and after those weird first few days.
Eventually we made it to the Empire State Building, which houses the entrance to Olympus. Percy hauled our bags through the doors and onto the elevator. After everything, I thought it would be a good idea to let him sweat, but he must've built up some more muscle because he didn't seem to have a problem. And I bet he could use those muscles with me, I thought to myself. Okay, gross. I really needed to keep myself in check. We were staying in different rooms but it's not exactly like we were going to be supervised or anything. And lately it became more and more apparent to me that my hormones were going out of control. Get yourself together, Annabeth.
We rode up to the five hundredth floor and got out, Percy letting me go first before grabbing our bags and walking out himself. As soon as I walked out I stopped in awe. Everything looked exactly like I had drawn it, and it looked beautiful. Not to brag, but these were some of the most amazing buildings I had ever seen; buildings that would last a millennia. I'm not sure how long I was standing there, slack-jawed with glazed over eyes, but after a while I could see Percy in my field of vision. He was walking down the steps from the collection of buildings for the demigods, so I guess he had put our stuff up in our apartment, so to speak.
When I saw him I broke out of my trance-like state and walked toward him. He had a mischievous grin on his face like he had been up to something, but I was sure I would find out sooner or later and I preferred to leave that for later.
"This place looks amazing," he said, putting his arms around me. I hugged him back and tears sprung to my eyes. After all the devastation from the war, we had rebuilt and created so much beauty, and I was the one who got to do it. "You did a great job, Wise Girl," he said, pulling back and kissing me on the cheek. All I could do was look at him and smile. I turned away to look back at the buildings, taking note of which ones were finished and which weren't. Surprisingly, most of it was done, so I was wondering why I was asked to stay for so long if I wasn't needed. I shrugged; I'm sure the gods would tell me soon enough.
"Come on," I said, taking Percy's hand and leading him through the new Olympus. Even though I had never been here, I still knew my way around like the back of my hand. We walked and I talked, occasionally running into some of the minor gods and goddesses. Percy seemed content to listen to me as I told him about a problem designing this building and what I did for that one, and I was so glad I finally had someone to listen to me while I talked about these things. I realized I hadn't been able to talk this freely since… well since he and I had been at camp last.
Suddenly I stopped and looked at him and I could feel the happiness emanating from me. Now I knew what it was like when all those people talked about love and I thought they were just hopeless saps. Everyone I knew had let me down, and even though Percy annoyed me to death, not once had he let me down. He had been offered the chance to be a god and he turned it down for me. That's when I knew I loved him. My buildings had given me the strength to see it, because I was too scared to without them. And I wanted to tell him. It didn't matter if he felt the same way because I had to say it and give a voice to it, just so he knew.
"I want to tell you something," I said, finally turning to look at him after I had stopped. He had a quizzical look on his face and I knew he thought that something was wrong. Then I realized my brow was furrowed the way it is when I'm thinking over a problem. I smiled to reassure him and some of the tension lifted.
"You may be a huge pain in my ass sometimes, but I haven't felt like this in a long time. And no one else would ever listen to me the way you do. And I wanted to tell you—ʺ Crap. I froze up. Suddenly my mouth stopped being able to form any sound at all. What the hell was wrong with me?
"That you love me?" Percy finished for me, but with a question in his voice. He looked at me sheepishly but his mischievous smile was back. And I was shocked. So shocked that my mouth was agape like it had been when I first saw the new Olympus.
"How did you know I was going to say that?" I asked him, once I was able to form words again. I knew that yesterday he said that he had feelings for me he wasn't sure I wanted to hear yet… Was he already going to tell me he loved me, too? What if he did? Being the idiot I was I hadn't thought through all the possible scenarios of what could happen if I told him how I felt about him. It never even occurred to me that he would want to say it back, or feel the same way. Of course I knew that ever since the Labyrinth, and when he bathed in the Styx, that's when he knew he wanted to be with me, but I didn't think he was already here. I didn't even know I was until half a minute ago.
"Now look at who's the Seaweed Brain," he said smiling, and then he laughed. I went to poke him in the back again, but just like yesterday, he caught my wrist and drew me into him. And then he kissed me, just like yesterday. Despite hating all those sappy love clichés, I couldn't stop myself from thinking that he was making my stomach flip kissing me like that. For the first time in my life I felt utterly helpless but completely at ease with it.
Percy let go of my wrist and wrapped his arms around my waist, still kissing me. He picked me up and I put my arms around his neck as he did so, laughing while we kissed. Eventually he drew back a little and I did, too.
"I love you, Annabeth," he said tenderly.
"I love you, too, Seaweed Brain," I replied, laughing lightheartedly. For once I was the ditsy girl in the story who falls head over heels for the hero. And Percy was definitely a hero. But I needed to be the one in control here. He wouldn't know what to do with himself if he was in control.
"Alright, now put me down and let's go back to the apartment." He kissed me once and then set me down like I asked, yet he retained a grasp on my hand. I conceded to let him hold it, and I intertwined my fingers in his. We walked the short distance back to the apartment, Percy following behind me as we walked up the steps separating the buildings from the street. When we entered the apartment, I let go of his hand and walked off to the room I knew was mine, but I could hear him following me. I opened the door to my room and saw that Percy had left his bags in here as well, and I heard him follow me into the room.
"Percy," I said, turning around, "why are your things in my room?" I asked somewhat forcefully. If he was having ideas, that was not good, because the whole walk back I was thinking about how much I wanted to jump him. That mischievous look was back on his face and I knew that's why it was there earlier. So he was trying to pull something. Unfortunately it might work I thought silently.
"Well I knew I was going to tell you how I really felt and I was hoping that would go well, and I was also hoping that it would mean, well, you know…"
"Oh, I most certainly do know," I said in a sultry voice. He looked up at me expectantly and as soon as he did I started wailing on him, slapping and punching so that he went cowering over onto the bed. Sorry, my bed. At one point I saw an opening to punch him in the back and I took it. Maybe I was more forceful than I should've been, but he kind of deserved it with that comment. But when I hit him I knew I had hit too hard, because instantly he flattened out on the bed, lying on his stomach and clutching his back.
"Percy, I am so sorry, I—ʺ and then I heard soft laughter coming from him and instantly I got mad again. I started poking his back this time, since I thought punching was a little rough. He made slight sounds of pain and at first his attempts to catch my hands didn't work, but eventually he caught me by both wrists and held them in one hand. Percy turned back around with a huge smile on his face.
"So Wise Girl," he said condescendingly. "How do you plan on getting out of this one?" he asked with one eyebrow raised. And I did the only thing I thought would work. I kissed him.
At first he was surprised, which was what I wanted, and he let go of my wrists. But then he got into it, and when I thought I should pull back, I could feel my body responding to his like it had yesterday. Uh-oh I thought, even though I knew that this time I wasn't going to stop him. The only way we would stop is if someone interrupted us or if Percy did, which, let's be honest, would never happen. I am Annabeth Chase after all.
When he let go of my wrists I used my arms to push him back onto the bed. We broke apart for a moment but I leaned back over him and we resumed kissing. And like yesterday, his hands began to roam. At first he started with my butt again, squeezing lightly before moving his hands up past my hips. As he went I could feel my shirt lift and I realized he was trying to take my shirt off. Okay, fine, I said to myself.
I put one leg on either side of him and straddled his pelvis. For a second he gasped before he resumed what he was doing with my shirt, but I didn't want him to take it off just yet. In order to stall him, I began to lift up his shirt, and it worked.
"What're you doing?" he asked, breaking away from me for a second.
"Taking off your shirt?" I replied, hands still on the hem. It was already half way up his chest so he sat up and let me take it the rest of the way off. For a second I just stared. I had never really gotten a chance to look at his bare chest before, and while he wasn't overly toned, he looked very appealing. And that's when my excitement started again.
"Fuck me," I mumbled, but apparently Percy heard me because he pulled me back down and met me with his lips. We kissed for a few moments before he started work on my shirt again. He went slowly at first. And then he went even slower. And then he stopped when he was just under my breasts. I knew he was scared of me freaking out about what we were doing, but I was too caught up in the moment to care.
Instead of having him fumble around with it and making things awkward, I sat up, pulled my shirt off, and unhooked my bra, throwing them both onto the growing pile of clothes on the floor. "Holy shit," Percy said looking at my now exposed chest. That's when I felt the first sign of life from below his belt. Since I was still straddling him we were both very close and I could feel his hardness through his jeans, which only served to increase my excitement.
Just then Percy decided that he had had enough of being underneath me and he flipped us so that he was on top. He stayed in between my legs and he pressed his pelvis up against me so I could still feel his member through the thin garments we both wore. Surprisingly, I let out a soft moan, something I had never done before. Percy's member twitched in response and he was on me again, but this time he had put one hand on my breast while the other kept him propped up.
He was awkward at first but eventually got into a good rhythm that felt pleasurable. But all of a sudden he stopped short and pulled back, yet still retaining a hold on my breast.
"Are you sure this is okay?" he asked me, somewhat worried.
"Your hand is on my breast," I said, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Sorry," he mumbled, taking his hand off of me. But that's not what I meant when I pointed it out to him. I grabbed his hand that had recently vacated my body and put it back where it was, holding it there for a second before letting go.
"Yes, this is okay," I said, looking him in the eye.
"Annabeth Chase you are full of surprises," he replied. He began kissing me again almost immediately and I responded in kind. Then he moved his head off to the side and began kissing down my neck. At first it felt okay until he kissed one spot in between my neck and my shoulder that made me shudder. The first time, he didn't realize it, but when he went back and I shook again, he began to pay more attention to that area. He experimented with lightly biting me and I began to shake more violently. I just hoped he continued with what he was doing.
But of course, he didn't. He moved downwards until he was just above my breasts. His hand had moved off to my thigh, but he now used it to cup my breast, bringing it to his mouth. He kissed it tentatively, and when he felt me respond with another soft moan, he continued, while also biting softly. After a few moments he moved onto my other breast, garnering the same reaction. I could feel a wetness in my panties and I knew that if he kept this up we would be swimming in that stuff.
I pulled him back up off my breasts when I couldn't take it anymore. By now he had a very obvious bulge in his jeans and I wanted to see what was there again. At that point I thought that he had had enough of thinking he was in control, so I rolled us back over to where I was on top and straddling him. Percy didn't seem to mind as the only form of protest I heard from him was a small grunt.
He seemed to know what I wanted because he unbuttoned his jeans and slid down the zipper. I lifted my hips as he slid them off and onto the ground until all that he was left wearing were some now very tight boxers. Yet when I went to release his beast, his hands stopped me.
"Now your turn," he said, a hungry look in his eye. It was funny when he thought he could tell me what to do.
"I don't think so," I replied and with that I pulled down his boxers to reveal his member. Even though I had seen it once before, it was in a totally different situation. Now I had the chance to see it in my lust-filled state, which was much better than before. He looked to be about average size, but definitely more than enough for me to handle. Again, one of the soft moans from earlier escaped my lips and he smiled at me.
Now it was my turn. Our proverbial tug of war continued as he put himself on top of me again. He began unbuttoning and unzipping my jeans, but he stopped short before pulling them down.
"What's the matter?" I asked him, knowing all too well what he was going to say.
"Is this what you want?" he asked with that same look of worry in his eyes. I thought it best not to force my clothes off this time.
"Of course, but only if you want it, too."
"Oh I do, trust me," he said, putting emphasis on the last two words. It seemed like he was seriously hormone-ridden, and I was, too, but I knew it was important to him to know that he wasn't crossing a line I didn't want crossed.
"I want you," I told him, hoping that that would end the discussion. And it did. He slid my jeans off first, making sure that they fell on the ground before turning to my panties. His breath caught when he looked at them. There were some perks to living with a guilty dad; he gave me money to buy whatever I wanted, and since I never knew if one day I would need a black lace thong like the one I was wearing, I used some of the money for that. It was a sort of investment I thought might pay off in the future, and I was right.
Instead of immediately taking my thong off, Percy started kissing me again and put a hand to work on one of my breasts. Since he was taking so damn long, I reached out for his member and grasped onto the shaft. I had never touched him in this capacity before, which excited me. I slowly worked my hand up and down his shaft, applying light pressure. Not long after, I heard him moan and he broke away from our kiss to watch me stroke him.
"Are you ready?" I asked him, knowing the answer would be an enthusiastic yes. He nodded his head vigorously, and before I could ask him, he popped up and went over to his bag. Of course he brought condoms, I thought, remembering to talk to him about that afterwards. It took him a second to get a condom out of what seemed like a large box, but he eventually got one and put it around his member.
He practically jumped back on top of me and we repositioned ourselves so that my thong was out of the way and his member was ready to penetrate me. It seemed like he liked me with my thong on, which I didn't mind this time, but I would have to make a point of making sure it came off in the future. Percy looked at me for the go-ahead, and I nodded, anticipating the pain I expected to feel. He entered me slowly, which I was grateful for, so when he broke through my hymen it didn't hurt as much as I thought.
After the initial twinge I felt ready to continue, so I nodded again and he pushed the rest of his cock into me. I had never felt anything like it and I had been right; he was the perfect size. Just enough so that it felt good, but not too much that it hurt. He slowly began to pump in and out of me until we both got used to the movement. Once we established a rhythm, he started going a little faster, but not as fast as I wanted.
"Faster Percy," I moaned, because even though what he was doing felt good, I knew going faster would be better. He grunted in reply and went faster: much faster than I expected, and it felt better than I thought. The feeling was hard to explain, but I could feel a tension in my abdomen that kept building. I knew it was going to release. It was going to happen soon. Percy kept up the pace but his breathing came more laboriously.
"Annabeth…" Percy moaned, and before I could release, he did inside of me. He grunted and kept going, probably in an attempt to bring me over the edge. I knew it wasn't enough, and I was okay with it this time, so I let him thrust a few more times before he pulled out and lay on his back. Thank the gods that Percy was smart enough to get condoms, because I knew I wouldn't have told him to pull out. I would definitely have to look into more viable birth control options.
His breathing was somewhat erratic, but after a few seconds he started to calm down. My breath was coming just as raggedly and it took me longer to get it back to normal. Eventually, when I started breathing evenly, I rolled over to look at Percy. He had taken the condom off and thrown it away and was now looking at me; more specifically he was looking at my body.
"Percy!" I exclaimed.
"Sorry, what?" he asked, pretending like he didn't know what was going on. But a smile broke on his face and I smiled back. "I love you," he said, kissing me lightly. He crawled to the top of the bed and got under the covers, beckoning me to cuddle with him. I shook my head no and got up, which he pouted at.
"You may have the luxury of taking a nap, but one of us actually has work to do," I said, locating my bra and putting it back on before looking for the rest of my clothes.
"Suit yourself," he said before rolling onto his side and closing his eyes. After I got my clothes back on I went over to kiss him on the cheek. "I love you, too," I whispered before walking out of our room to the door leading outside. Even though I never meant for it to be, it was our room now.