Lasse couldn’t leave without thanking Kane and the others, especially his brother, and due to the lateness of the hour, he and Jason shared a meal with the pack before heading back to his home in Greece. Jason was captivated by little Ollie who sat on his lap for much of the meal. Killer, Cutie Pie and the non-shifting members of the pack seemed to find Lasse’s feet interesting although Kane made a few muttered comments about them waiting to steal his boots. Nereus had pulled him aside at one stage and filled him in on the pack’s concerns about the dark elves and Lasse pledged his and Jason’s support to the fight when it came – and it would come; both Lasse and Nereus had seen it before. When he mentioned it to Jason later, his mate grimaced, but agreed to stand with the pack as well.

But now they were home and Lasse couldn’t let go of his mate. He honestly feared that if he let Jason go, his mate’s skin would turn to stone again. If he could, he would climb into Jason’s skin and stay there. It was his clingy nature coming to the fore; he knew it and he suspected Jason knew it too. It was almost impossible for him to articulate how he felt, but he knew he had to try. His behavior was bordering on idiotic and that wasn’t who Lasse was.

“I understand, poopsie. I worried you,” Jason led him to their bedroom and Lasse stood still as his mate gently removed his clothes. The shirt went over his head; his pants fell to the floor under Jason’s fingers. His cock was as hard as the coral he used to watch growing under the sea, but Lasse’s body trembled, and he wasn’t sure it was all to do with the man who was now stripping his own clothes. His emotions were all over the place.

“Come and lie down with me,” Jason prompted, his voice calm and low. “Tell me what’s going on with you.”

Lasse wasn’t sure he could without breaking down in a mass of tears, but he stretched out on the bed, grateful when Jason spooned behind him. His bed was soft and comfortable, the only light coming from a small bedside lamp. The sea’s roar was a gentle soothing background noise with only the sounds of their breathing heard over it. Lasse could feel a hardness branding his lower back, but Jason’s hands around his chest were gentle and caring rather than purposefully arousing.

“Speak, poopsie. I’m here.”

“I fear you’re going to think I’m being silly,” Lasse started hesitantly. “I think I’ve always had a fear of people abandoning me. I didn’t realize it was so pervasive until you shifted into your stone form.” Lasse fixed his gaze on a painting of the sea that hung on his wall, his hands looped over Jason’s arm. “When Abraxas left me and Nereus with Sei, most people assumed I was okay with it. But I missed Abraxas terribly. I used to have this big calendar on the wall that Artemas helped me make and for years, when I was a kid, I used to cross off every day in the five years between Abraxas’s allowed visits.”

“That’s a long time for a young child. How old were you? About seven years old, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, Nereus was five. I’d started getting sick, living at the house of the sun. Fevers, rashes, nothing too serious, but Abraxas worried. He hadn’t seen Sei since my brother’s birth and I think there were a lot of conflabs between the gods. I remember seeing Zeus once, Helios was involved too. Up until we moved, Sei used to send gifts but that’s all the interaction we ever had. It was Artemas who read the ancient texts and worked out what we needed to thrive and we ended up on Poseidon’s door.”

“Surely, you’re not saying Sei didn’t care about you?”

“Oh no, he cared in his own way,” Lasse turned his head slightly to see Jason frowning and his heart warmed at his mate’s concern. “On my tenth birthday, I think it was, he organized for three pods of killer whales to come and perform acrobatics for me under the water. They took me swimming with them; incredibly intelligent creatures. He was the one who sat me down and explained the facts of life to me when I was twelve. Whereas Artemas found me a book, with illustrations of course, it was Sei who created a puppet show for me, with hand crafted human shapes -anatomically correct. He sat there for ages, keeping them animated as he explained the ways of sex.”

Lasse grinned at the memory. “I caught him playing with those dolls on more than one occasion afterwards. But no, Sei cared for me and Nereus. But it was the little things I missed. Abraxas used to read us bedtime stories, something Sei never thought of doing. It was Artemas who taught me the joys of eating scrambled eggs he’d cooked himself. Sei never cooked. I’m not sure he ever learned when all he’s ever had to do was wave his hand and a banquet appeared. Hugs were in short supply at Sei’s as well, not because he didn’t care, but because my dad was always busy.” Lasse patted Jason’s arms. “No one ever knew how much I wished my dads didn’t come from such diverse environments.”

“You never mentioned it to either of them?”

“There wasn’t any point.” Lasse shrugged. “Abraxas did all he could at the time and I know he grieved for centuries after he gave us up. I swallowed my feelings and tried to be the best son I could be. I have a lot to thank Artemas for, that’s for sure. It wasn’t until I started going beyond the getting my rocks off stage, and really wanted to find someone who’d be there just for me…well, my reputation for being sweet was like a siren call to anyone looking to take advantage, which didn’t help and neither did Sei’s reputation.”

Jason’s growl tickled his ear but set his heart racing. “I’ll kill them all. Just tell me who they are and I’ll take them out.”

“There’s no need, it was a long, long time ago. Thor knocked a few heads about in his time, but a lot of what happened was my fault. Someone would smile, say the right things and in my naïveté, I thought they meant the words for longer than the one night. All I ever wanted was someone to call my own who would actually stay with me, and want to be with me, instead of just looking to see what they could score from me before they took off to newer and more exciting pastures.”

“There’s something to be said for one-night stands and hook ups when you’re young, or if you’re not in a position to cherish a relationship,” Jason’s breath whispered across Lasse’s shoulder. “Although it doesn’t take long before the novelty wears off and you can’t be bothered going through the motions.”

“You never thought of having a relationship?” Lasse tried not to sound so surprised.

“Never.” Jason’s voice was firm. “As my sister informed me during my shift, I spent far more years feeding the anger in my heart instead of the love lying dormant in my soul. But now I have you and you’ve shown me what I’ve been missing. I will always cherish that and you.”

Lasse hoped that was true. With everything he was, he wanted a completely honest relationship. It was that need for complete honesty that had caused issues with people in the past. That, and his clingy personality. Jason deserved his truth.

Taking a deep breath, Lasse said quietly, “I was terrified when I realized you’d have to turn to your stone form to heal. All sorts of wild and stupid things flashed through my head. I thought maybe time passed differently when you are doing your impersonation of a statue. You said you shifted to heal, but I had no idea how long that would take. In my head it could’ve taken hours, days, or even years before you came back to me and I freaked out. I felt so fucking guilty for worrying about how long you’d be shifted, when I should’ve cared only that you needed to heal. But it’s just you mean so much to me. I feel like a right bastard and I’m so sorry.”

Jason was silent for a while; his body the only thing Lasse had to hold onto. Of course, Lasse being Lasse, worried that he’d said too much too soon; that although Jason had said the precious four letter word that made his heart sing, maybe it was all only temporary. I’ll let that freaking octopus eat me, if he walks out on me now.

/~/~/~/~/

Jason knew his silence worried his mate, but it’d been so long since he’d felt a wash of warmth coat his soul, he was struggling to speak. Without being aware of it, Lasse had given him a huge gift – one that spoke of family, companionship and of course, love. The actions of the Cloverleah pack were just one example and it wasn’t as though he and Jason had been together very long. Living so long alone, it was a lot to absorb, but Jason knew if he didn’t speak soon his mate would worry himself into a coronary.

“I should’ve explained more, before I shifted.” Jason choked back his emotion. “Unfortunately, we didn’t have the time. It’s been decades since I’ve shifted into my stone form. But what today did show me, or yesterday or whenever it was, was the gift of friends and family – something I’ve never had before. The way Thor immediately summoned help so we could save you; the way Nereus asked his friends to help us both when we were vulnerable without a second thought. Not just helping you, for both of us and …I don’t have the words.”

“Nereus has always been there for me and his mates give us the link to the pack, who are all decent men.” Lasse chuckled. “Although I’d rather have introduced you to my brother when I was at least standing upright. He’s always been the pretty one.”

“What do you mean?” Admittedly, Jason noticed Nereus was good looking, having the same strength of core that Lasse had. But he’d hardly call him pretty.

“Poseidon’s sons have labels, most likely because not many people can be bothered to remember our names. Artemas is the intelligent one; Nereus is the pretty one. Baby can incite an orgy in a monastery and I’m just the good one. The one most people forget. I don’t have Artemas’s brain, or Nereus’s looks, and I’m about as sexually exciting as a wet rag next to Baby. Even Thor’s better looking than me. He’s the one everyone falls all over when we went to clubs.”

“You forget, I’ve met Thor, Artemas, Nereus, and Poseidon,” Jason rolled Lasse over so they were facing each other, running his hand along Lasse’s beard. “I’ve heard stories about Baby, who hasn’t? But I never wanted to meet him, or sleep with him. Same with Poseidon. I’m not dissing your family, or Thor, who I met well before I met you, but you are truly unique and special. Your heart, the way you care about others even after all you’ve been through. You have a way of bringing that out in others. Don’t you realize how much of a gift that is, especially in today’s world?”

Lasse’s skin heated under his fingers. “I’ve never been flashy, or witty, or anything like that. I’ve followed Thor around for centuries, doing all sorts of things with him, but he never understood my love of cooking. When you’ve run with stellar company all your life, it’s hard to feel valued sometimes.”

“And I’m glad you feel that way.” Jason knew his words surprised his mate, so he hurried to explain. “If you’d been the center of attention all your life; if people actually understood how amazing you are, you’d have already been mated when we met. I can only imagine how horrible that would’ve been. I couldn’t live without you now; I never want to. That’ll never change.”

“You’ve no idea what that means to me.” Actually, Jason had a pretty good idea, but then Lasse tugged at his beard. “However, we do need to have a serious talk about why you felt the need to fight naked in the underworld. You stole a hundred years off my life when I saw you with no clothes, covered in blood, and facing Cerberus and his brother with demons as an encore.”

“I’d shifted. Thor forgot to bring my clothes for me. I’ll do better next time.” Jason leaned forward, the hairs of his beard tugging his chin thanks to Lasse’s grip as he sucked on Lasse’s bottom lip. He wasn’t good with words; he never had been. He wasn’t that good at expressing emotions with his body either, but he was learning. Lasse brought out crazy emotions in him; ones he’d forgotten he had. But they were there and as he rolled Lasse over, rutting gently against him, he could feel his need growing like a fire in the breeze.

Lasse’s length hardened against him; his mate moaning as their kiss became heated. Lasse’s hands ran down his back, pushing their cocks more firmly together and it was Jason’s turn to groan. He didn’t have enough air, pulling his lips away just so he could breathe, but that didn’t stop him mouthing every part of Lasse’s face from the trimmed hairs in his beard to the silky soft skin of his eyelids.

Lasse’s strength, the way his body writhed beneath his spurred him on. He’d love to fuck his mate, but he didn’t think he’d make it. Their sweat helped the slip and slide between them, Lasse’s hands firm on his ass, but giving him enough room to rut. And he was rutting – there was no fancy term he could think of for rubbing his cock against his mate’s abs; his length bumping Lasse’s cock just enough to tease them both.

There was so much he could be doing. Kneel up, grab the lube, and prep his mate for his cock; shove his hand between them and tug them off. He could kiss his way down Lasse’s thick body and take his mate’s delicious cock in his mouth. Hell, he could roll over and present his own ass for his mate’s pleasure.

But Jason’s fingers were busy in Lasse’s hair; how else could he turn his mate’s face this way and that as he explored it with his tongue. His ass had just enough room to thrust under Lasse’s fingers, and the friction against his cock felt so good. Lasse wasn’t pushing things any further – content to make a feast out of his neck which sent tingles of lust running straight to Jason’s balls. It was as though Lasse was sucking them and damn if that imagery didn’t send Jason’s lust into overdrive.

Kissing and rutting, that shouldn’t be enough to bring Jason off on his horniest of days, and yet it was. Already he could feel that delicious ache in his groin and his ass wanting to clench up as he got that tiny bit more leverage in his thrusts. Lasse’s panting and moaning was music to his ears and the masculine scent of two males rutting assailed his nostrils, driving him harder. He tried to hold off – Lasse felt amazing under him and he didn’t want it to end - but then Lasse yelled and his cock’s slip and slide suddenly got a whole lot easier.

“Fuck.” Jason groaned into his mate’s hair as his balls pulsed. Lasse’s stomach was going to be a mess and so was his, but Jason couldn’t think of anything but the weight of Lasse’s arms around him and the endorphins that pinged through his body.

“Love you,” he whispered.

“Love you too.”