Jason wasn’t known for his patience and sitting around sipping coffee listening to Cerberus moan and complain about how demons didn’t listen to him and how the hellhounds thought they were better than him just because Hades wasn’t around, didn’t rank anywhere on his list of things to do. Not now he’d grabbed a handful of Lasse’s ass and tasted the man’s tongue; he couldn’t wait to see the big man bend over for him. The intensity of his orgasm…damn, Jason couldn’t stop thinking about it and it didn’t help that every time Lasse moved, Jason caught a whiff of his arousal.
But something was strange about the stilted conversation. Lasse was hiding something or trying hard not to say something to Cerberus and the more he listened, the more Jason thought he might know what it was. He figured it was in his cock’s best interests that he move the conversation along.
“What are the chances Hades just took off by himself for a while or is shacked up with a lover he doesn’t want you to know about,” he said bluntly, putting his cup on the elegantly carved coffee table. Bullseye, got it in one, he thought as Lasse threw a reproachful glare his way. “Hey, the question has to be asked,” he added as Cerberus started gaping like a fish out of water. “Hades has been around longer than most of us. He’s a man. He has needs. Maybe he doesn’t want anyone in his head while he’s getting his dick polished.”
“He wouldn’t do that to me,” Cerberus protested. “He barely leaves the underworld. Any of his needs are met by…by….”
“Persephone has been gone a long time. Their divorce has been final for decades,” Lasse said gently. “It can’t be much fun for Hades having his sexual needs met by a spirit, no matter how pretty he or she might be. It’s unlikely he’d dally with anyone from the god line, any of the god lines when you think of it. Hades is feared for good reason. Is it so hard to assume he’s found someone to spend time with who doesn’t know who he is? On the earth realm perhaps?”
“No,” the word came out as a garbled growl and Jason leapt to his feet as he felt the signs of Cerberus’s change. “He would not defile himself with a human. He loves ME.” Cerberus’s form shimmered and in it’s place was the three headed dog of legends.
“This is why I never mentioned that possibility,” Lasse said, quickly getting to his feet as Cerberus snarled and showed his massive teeth. “Cerberus, no. You know me. It’s time for you to go back and await your master.”
“I will find him on this world. I will tear his human to shreds. He’s mine!”
“I think you need an attitude adjustment, puppy.” Jason called on his sword. Forged in the pits of hell itself, it’s long blade shimmered under the living room lights. “Get back to where you belong and remember your place.”
“You don’t frighten me, Ja.” Cerberus’s six bright red eyes flared with hatred. “I won’t go back without my master.”
“It could take forever to find him. We don’t even know if he’s on this realm,” Lasse protested, and Jason noticed he hefted a sword of his own. “If Hades doesn’t want to be found, no one will find him. You know this.”
“I will not lose him again,” Cerberus snarled, three mouths working as one. “Persephone meant everything to him and she left him, just like all the rest. I’m the only one who stays with him; loved him all these years. If he wants a body for sex he can use mine.”
“Maybe Hades wants more than sex,” Jason had to get the damn dog’s focus away from Lasse. “Maybe he’s found his mate. Think of that.” All three of Cerberus’s heads rotated in his direction. “His true mate, the one being crafted just for him. How would it be, if your master arrives at the gates of the Underworld, proud to show off his faithful guard dog to his new consort and you’re not there?”
“He knows I won’t let him down. He trusts ME! How dare you imply otherwise.” By the fates, for such a big dog, Cerberus could shriek like a banshee and he was getting more rabid by the minute. Jason couldn’t shift. The living room wasn’t big enough. But as Cerberus came towards him, Jason saw Lasse raise his sword and he couldn’t allow his mate to be harmed. Tossing his sword back into the ether, Jason jumped at Cerberus, grabbing the six foot high hound around his middle.
Clinging on with arms and legs, Cerberus snapping and snarling from all three heads, trying to get to him, Jason yelled, “Gates.” It wasn’t fancy, it was barely articulate, but his animal half responded to his call. Jason had just enough time to take in Lasse’s shocked face as man and dog disappeared from Lasse’s home.
/~/~/~/~/
Tossing his sword back where he got it from, Lasse stood hands on hips, staring at the spot Jason and Cerberus disappeared from. “Damn and fuck it. What do I do now?” It wasn’t hard to guess where Jason spirited Cerberus away to, but there was no guarantee Cerberus would calm down once he was in his natural surroundings. That dog’s breakdown was centuries in the making. Lasse cursed himself for not seeing the possibility of it happening sooner.
“Trouble in paradise, sweetie.” Thor’s annoying form appeared behind him. “I thought you’d be balls deep in Ja’s ass by now.”
“I wish I was. Cerberus had a jealous fit when Jason suggested Hades had a lover. Things got a bit hairy and Jason grabbed hold of the dog and disappeared,” Lasse sighed. “I think they’ve gone back to the gates of the underworld.”
“Good excuse for traveling down there ourselves then. I’ve always wanted to rumble with that puppy.” Thor beamed.
“We can’t,” Lasse protested, even though his heart told him it was the right thing to do. “I think Jason was protecting me, even though I wasn’t in any danger. If I show up there, it’ll be like I don’t trust him to handle himself.”
“You’re mates. Protection goes both ways.” Thor slapped him on the back. “A mating is a true partnership where all parties are equal.”
“Who the fuck have you been listening to?”
Thor shrugged. “I read it on a greeting card or some such shit. Come on. I’m missing my chance here.” Thor held out his hammer. “Ooh, maybe there’ll be demons. They’re always up for a good scrap.”
“You’re stark raving mad, worse than Cerberus,” Lasse grabbed hold of the hammer. “Don’t be offended if I leave you down there.”
“You grab your boy, I’ll grab some fun. Maybe we’ll both get lucky tonight.”
I sure hope so, Lasse thought as his living room disappeared and they were suddenly surrounded by the gray and bleak existence that was the Underworld. The gates themselves were black and stretched higher than a man could see. Stretched in the ether between worlds, everything about the Underworld was an illusion; a land of mist where a spirit may appear whole and demons lurked around every corner.
Or banded together to form a fighting ring. While demons possessed an almost angelic human form, in the underworld where most of them lurked, they came in a range of shapes and colors. Horns sat atop heads or protruded from noses. Some demons had wings, some had spurs; all had the type of faces only a mother could love. The air was rife with cheers, jeers, and curses sailors could take lessons from.
From his position, Lasse only caught glimpses of his mate, but it seemed Jason and Thor shared the same wild streak. Gone was the tightly controlled man who’d followed Lasse and Thor all day. Shirtless, Jason’s skin gleamed with sweat, his long hair falling in a tangled mess around his head and shoulders.
“Come on you jealous flea-bag,” Jason’s roar silenced the crowd momentarily. “You’ve got three fucking heads and not a brain between them. Hades never thought of your skanky ass that way.”
Cerberus’s howl sent shivers down Lasse’s spine. “He’s got no weapon,” he hissed urgently as he pushed forward.
“A man after my own heart,” Thor agreed with a laugh. “Jason must care about you and your relationship with your uncle. He doesn’t aim to kill the dog, just make him submit.”
“Cerberus doesn’t know that. He’s gone psycho.” Lasse looked around as Jason gave a bloodcurdling yell and jumped back into the fray with a tangle of limbs and fur. Lasse had nothing to work with. While the underworld was bordered by rivers, they weren’t part of Poseidon’s domain and he didn’t have the right to call the waters. The sun didn’t penetrate the underworld at all, so he couldn’t rely on the other half of his genetics either. Failing to see any other option but to fight by his mate’s side, Lasse reached for his sword, but Thor stopped him.
“No, my friend. I did you a disservice today. I had no right to hide things from you.” The big god shrugged. “I guess I didn’t want to see our friendship change, although,” he added as Jason yelled again and Cerberus yelped, “if you had to have a mate, I’m damn glad it’s someone like me. He’s bound to liven things up. Be ready. On my mark, you grab Ja and get his ass home before you have nothing left to claim. I’ll take care of this.”
“You’ll never lose my friendship, you big lug,” Giving Thor a one-armed hug, Lasse winced as Jason hit the ground with a thud that shook the earth. “Can we do this now, before he’s nothing but a mass of bruises.”
With a synchronicity born from familiarity, Thor slammed his hammer into the earth, causing the nearest demons to fall to the ground. In the confusion that followed, Lasse dashed forward, grabbing his mate around a thick bicep. “We’ve outstayed our welcome,” he yelled as he dodged Cerberus’s gnashing teeth. “Time for a bath.”
Home. One of the joys of being a Demi-god was thought became things and in the time it took to think it, Lasse and Jason were back in Lasse’s living room. “What were you thinking, you fucking idiot,” Lasse yelled as he clung to Jason as though his life depended on it. “Haven’t you ever heard of tact and diplomacy? Cerberus has worshipped Hades for as long as we’ve been alive. He could barely tolerate Persephone. Throwing another lover in that dog’s face was madness.”