Now he rather liked the comfort of the same woman’s arms, night after night, as long as the woman was his own Nemesis, or Nina, as she preferred to be called.
Not for the first time, he wondered how this had come to pass. Yes, it was part of the spell on Eros’ arrow, but surely that wasn’t the only reason. He also wondered why he didn’t mind as much as he would have expected to. He should have expected to feel trapped and bored with having the same woman all time. Instead it was actually rather pleasant knowing a woman so intimately that you could anticipate her next breath.
What he didn’t like was the instability of their situation. Because of the spell what he couldn’t anticipate was when she was likely to fall out of love with him. At any time, Nina could decide to leave and that wasn’t something he was prepared for.
Pan leaving a woman…that was to be expected. He was comfortable with no longer feeling desire for someone, or finding another woman more attractive. But for a woman to leave him before he was ready for her to go? No…Pan didn’t think that was desirable at all.
For the first time, Pan wanted to know how to manage a long-term relationship and keep his woman from leaving. With this in mind, he’d invited one of his best friends to lunch to discuss the matter.
The lunchtime crowd filled the small delicatessen, forcing the gods to sit on the tall stools at the counter. Not that they minded. It was kind of fun to rub elbows with the normal patrons of the place instead of being isolated in a booth. Given the circumstances, Pan had modified his appearance to appear completely human and had even foregone his usual loincloth attire and worn casual khaki pants with a lime green polo shirt, so he fit in with the human crowd around him.
Only if you looked close would anyone notice that the fabric had an unnatural sheen to it and that the shirt’s logo was a flying horse. The pants and shirt were from Athena’s Spring sportswear collection, the goddess of wisdom having had the foresight to get into the Olympian fashion business when mixing with humans had become easier due to the trans-dimensional transfer system.
While still acceptable casual wear on Olympus, togas were out of style on Earth. The sign on the restaurant wall read “No shoes, no shirt, no service”.
Pan liked to think that it dated back to the last time he’d gotten a craving for a good egg-salad sandwich in the middle of the night, but had forgotten to change, and had shown up in the street outside in a loincloth. His appearance had collected quite a crowd, not to mention a large padded van and several burly men in long white coats. He’d transferred back before things got out of hand, but his dignity had taken a beating.
Today no one would look twice at him, although his huge companion caught some folks’ attention. So what if the other god was nearly seven feet tall with muscles to rival a movie-star action hero? The way they’d stared, you’d think no one had seen a divine blacksmith before.
Pan finished his grilled cheese sandwich and took a big slug of beer. “What do women want, Hep?”
Hephaestus paused in the middle of his corned beef on rye. “Why ask me, Pan? I’m an ugly, lame guy married to the goddess of love. The most beautiful woman ever created and she’s stuck with me, yet she’s never made any moves to be quit of our marriage.” He took another bite and chewed it carefully. “Hades if I know what women want. You’ve far more experience with them than I do.”
Perhaps Hep was right, but none of his casual experience with women was doing him any good. After Nina had left that morning, Pan had puttered about his garden, encouraging the trees near the bathing pool to start growing a canopy and spending a little more time directing the construction of her closet. It was shaping up nicely and he’d even begun work on a set of drawers for that blasted underwear she continued to use.
Knowing that Nina wouldn’t be back until evening, he’d sent a message to Hep, inviting him to lunch at their favorite Los Angeles deli. Not as authentic as the New York equivalent, but they did have a good selection of vegetarian fare, something that, as a non-meat eater, Pan appreciated.
He wasn’t sure why he was asking Hep about this, except that they were friends. Hep was one of the few gods who didn’t look down on him for having a body outside of the perfect norm. Having been born ugly and lame to boot, Hephaestus had suffered through plenty of ostracizing as a youth, particularly from his mother, Hera. The head goddess hadn’t been the least bit happy to have an ugly child.
He’d been picked on most of his life until he’d grown strong enough to handle the great hammer he used to forge the weapons that made Zeus and the other gods so powerful. Now no one messed with him. Hep had grown into his strength and with his bulging biceps and massive chest he looked powerful enough to break anyone who crossed his path with ease.
But Pan knew that Hep was actually one of the gentlest men around who wouldn’t dream of hurting a soul. That was another reason Pan liked the big god, for his even bigger heart. Hep would give him good advice.
Besides, the lame god was in one of the longest lasting marriages with one of the most demanding women on Olympus. He had to be doing something right.
“I’ve had experience, Hep, but not the right kind. Sure a few more women have been through my bed…” He paused as Hephaestus choked on his sandwich then waited while the gods’ weaponsmith took a gulp of beer to clear his throat.
Once the big man could breathe freely again, he glared at Pan. “A few women? Come on, do I look stupid?”
Pan sighed. “All right. I’ve had a lot of women in my bed…” Under Hep’s steady gaze, he added, “and a lot of other places. But the fact remains that relationships are new to me. I’m not used to having a woman…the same woman…around all the time.”
Hep resumed eating his sandwich, in smaller bites this time. Pan decided that he didn’t want to risk choking again. “So what do you want from me? What kind of relationship do you have with Nina?”
Sexual…but Hep knew that. Pan had even confided in the god of forges about the arrow that had pieced his heart and Nina’s, binding them together—temporarily. The problem was that Pan wanted it to be more than that. He didn’t want Nina in his bed just because of a bespelled arrow.
“I want her to be happy with me. We’re stuck together until the spell wears off and so far she’s reluctant to make any plans for the future. It’s driving me crazy. I don’t even know if she’ll speak to me in the morning.”
“Does she speak to you?” Hep asked with a devilish grin.
“Well, maybe we don’t talk that much,” Pan admitted.
Hep chortled. “I could talk to Eros and find out about the spell on the arrow. Maybe it would help to find out what the duration is.”
Pan shook his head. “No, better not. Nina stole that bow and the arrow and I don’t want her to get into trouble.”
“She meant well, didn’t she?”
“Yeah. She wanted to help her sister Echo win a man’s love.” Pan grimaced. “I was trying to seduce Echo at the time. I can’t imagine what I was thinking. Nina is so much more my type. We get along great.”
He said the last with so much satisfaction that Hep again paused in eating his sandwich to stare at him. His lips twitched in secret mirth. “If you get along so good, why is there a problem?”
“I want more than what we have. Yes, we’re great in bed, but I want it to be more than just fucking our brains out. I want to be able to talk to her as well. Make her see we have more in common than sex.”
“So you want to have more to talk to her about.” Hep shrugged. “What have you tried to do with her so far?”
“I thought I could teach her how to take care of my garden. That way she can make changes when she likes.”
“Good. Women like to have a say in their home. I always thought your place could use a woman’s touch. A few more comforts…like furniture and pillows. All that wicker seating is hard on a man’s rear. And there’s other things…stuff that women like to have around.”
Like a roof over the bathing pool, Pan acknowl
edged silently, as well a place to store her clothing and other things. He really had been a bachelor for a long time. He hadn’t realized that the secret to making Nina want to be in his home was to make it hers as well. He nodded silently. This was good advice.
“Have you been to her place, seen how it’s decorated?”
“Not yet. I plan on going with her tomorrow. I want her to move in with me so I offered to help her move her things.”
Hep’s grin nearly split his face. “Sounds good. Take a good look around while you’re there. You can learn a lot about a woman from the way she keeps her house.”
Pan nodded. He’d do just that. “I’d also like to have more in common with her.”
“Is there anything that she’s interested in?”
Pan thought for a moment and remembered Nina’s sudden enthusiasm at becoming a director. “There is her job…”
Hep’s bushy eyebrows went up. “She works? I didn’t know that.”
“She’s…in the entertainment business. Has a new job as a director…of short movies.” Pan balked at telling his friend what kind of films Nina was involved with. “She asked me to help her with a script and I said I would.”
The smith clapped Pan on the shoulder with his massive hand, nearly knocking him off the stool in his enthusiasm. “Why that’s just the thing! Help the little lady with her project. She’ll be grateful and you’ll have something to talk to her about.” The big man’s eyes lit up. “Hey, you might even get her a present. Something she could use in her writing.”
Recovering his seat, Pan returned the big man’s grin. “Great advice, Hep. I’ll do just that. Look if there is anything I can do for you…”
The smith just shrugged his shoulders. “Things with me and Appie are okay, at least at the moment. I’ll keep it in mind though.”
Pan suppressed a chuckle. Hep had taken to calling Aphrodite “Appie” some time ago. The goddess had fumed over the nickname until her husband had added to it and called her “Appie-pie” after his favorite dessert.
She’d told him to never call her that again and hadn’t complained further about the less repellant nickname.
They finished up lunch and Pan happily paid the bill. For the first time since that blasted arrow had stuck him he felt like he was gaining some control over the situation. It was terrible wondering each day if this would be the last he’d have to hold close his little spitfire of a nymph.
He’d try and get her to fit more into his life and participate more in hers. Even if the spell wore off and Nina stopped being infatuated with him tomorrow, he was at least going to try and keep her around a little longer. He’d found he liked waking up to a single woman in his bed every morning.
No, it was more than that. There was something about the dark-haired minx that appealed to him, beyond what he’d expected from the arrow. He was beginning to suspect that sometime in the past five months he’d really fallen in love with Nina. Unfortunately she didn’t love him, really. If she did, she wouldn’t keep bringing up the past.
Pan grimaced. Three hundred years ago he’d had a brief affair with Nemesis…brief because she’d ended it when he’d stayed out all night—apparently with another woman. It was scarcely his fault. She hadn’t gone to a party with him and he’d gotten a little drunk. The woman had been incidental, but try telling a vengeance nymph that. If only he could remember what happened as well as Nemesis did. The woman had a memory like Mnemosyne, she never forgot and would never really forgive. The only reason she was with him now was the arrow’s spell.
The only trouble was convincing her to stay once she no longer was under the spell’s influence. He had to prove himself to her. So far sex hadn’t done the job. Hopefully Hep’s advice would make the difference.
* * * * *
Nina looked up from her new miniature laptop with the upside-down pomegranate on the cover. She stroked the glossy peach-colored surface. “I still can’t believe you had Hep make this for me,” she told Pan, her voice rich in gratitude.
Pan leaned across the wicker table in the dining area of the garden. “Hey, if you’re going to be a writer, you need the tools. A computer to write on is nearly essential these days.”
Cautiously she checked the ports in the back. “Will it work on Earth as well as here?”
“Yep. I made sure it would connect using standard human WI-FI wireless networking as well as MOEN.” The latter had taken a bit of doing. Pan and Hep had needed to involve Mercury, the expert in Mount Olympus Ethereal Networking, to get the specifications Hep needed for the cross-network mapping module. It had taken some effort but they’d finally worked out the bugs in the system.
The smith had been very pleased with the result and had discussed patenting the computer and its underlying technologies, including Mercury on the project of course. They’d even brainstormed a marketing strategy, getting Homer to vet the machine as a writing tool.
“The power converter will switch between human and pantheon current as well. Up here you won’t have to worry about battery life, but on Earth you can just plug it into the wall.” Pan took it from her and pointed to a small button on the side. “And look, if you touch this, it folds up to fit in your pocket.” He demonstrated that feature, then returned it to full size and returned it to her.
Nina threw her arms around the god’s neck. “It’s beautiful and I love it.” She kissed him over and over. “Thank you so much. I wish I had something to give you. Or do I?” she asked, her voice husky.
She felt good in his arms, but Pan knew this wouldn’t lead anywhere but to the bedroom. Not that he had anything against that, but this wasn’t the time. After all, he wanted her to see they had more in common than just sex.
Pan returned her to her chair and placed her firmly on the seat before returning to his own. With effort, he ignored the bulge in his loincloth that Nina’s kisses had provoked. Getting started on this writing project should be what they were focusing on, not his erection.
Or her kisses, no matter how sweet they were.
He tapped the laptop. “Now that you have something to write with, you should get your screenplay started. What kind of story did you have in mind?”
Confusion colored her expression as she reopened the machine and brought up an empty text editor. Pan realized that he’d never turned down one of her advances before. Well, he thought in some satisfaction, maybe now she’d see him as more than just a sex object.
She nibbled her lower lip. “I was seeing it as a series of short sexual scenes held together by a framework. That way it could be viewed as a whole, or just the individual scenes could be used. Sometimes we need filler material of no more than five minutes to put between regular programs and this would give the film more flexibility.”
Pan nodded approvingly, a little surprised at how clever this was. He knew Nina was intelligent, but this was savvier than he’d expected. He eyed his little nymph with respect. “So for example, if you were to do some erotic tales of the gods, you could have a bard who is telling the stories to a king as a common link and make a full movie. Later, if you need something shorter, an individual tale would work as well. Good idea.”
A deep blush crossed her cheeks as his praise. “I wouldn’t do tales of the gods, because they might disapprove of my using their stories that way. But I did have something like that in mind, a storyteller and her stories.”
Her words were quick and enthusiastic. Fascinated by this unseen side of a woman he thought he knew so well, Pan leaned towards her. “What storyteller did you have in mind?”
Nina grinned at him. “Did you ever hear of a woman called Scheherazade?” She proceeded to tell him the story of A Thousand and One Arabian Nights.
Ten minutes later, Pan stared at her indignantly. “The sultan’s wife had to tell him stories to delay her execution?” he said, his voice showing disgust at this twist to the tale. He crossed his long fleece-covered legs in front of him. “And they talk about someone like me being barbaric.”
“I guess that is one way to look at it. She was certainly a woman to be admired. So how would you envision this story beginning?”
Folding her hands over the keyboard, Nina thought for a moment. “I guess,” she said slowly, “I’d see it starting with the sultan and Scheherazade on their wedding night. He’d be having sex with her…”
“Not making love?” Pan interjected.
Nina shook her head emphatically. “They wouldn’t love each other. Maybe she’d be in love with him, but the sultan would see her only as something to fuck. He couldn’t see her even as a human being at this point…otherwise how could he justify having her killed the next morning? It would be too hard if he actually cared for her. Besides that, he doesn’t trust her. The whole reason for his behavior is that he has no faith that a woman won’t betray him.”
“This is because his former wife made love to another man?” Pan shook his head in dismay. “It is the nature of people to seek variety in their lovers.”
Nina went very still. “True,” she said slowly, not meeting his gaze. “But few humans cope well with it. They consider it a betrayal when their lover seeks another.”
Oops, dangerous territory. Pan tried to laugh if off. “Even so, you’d think a man wouldn’t blame all women for the actions of one. He could have even forgiven his wife if she was truly sorry.”
“Kind of hard to forgive her after he’d removed her head. But as to the rest, that’s what this story is all about…a woman teaching a man how to forgive.” Nina replied.
Or a woman learning how to forgive. This could be useful, he thought before returning to the script. “So you start with the sultan having sex with Scheherazade, except he’s taking her hard, not caring about her pleasure. It isn’t lovemaking.”
A thought occurred to him, about when he’d snatched up Nina after being hit with Eros’ arrow. He’d been angry at how helpless he’d felt, and had taken some of it out on Nina, forcing her to her knees in front of him. She hadn’t seemed to mind at the time.
Divine Interventions: Nemesis of the Garden Page 3