Past Lives

by Kirsten Bij't Vuur

  After the kiss he moved towards her beautiful breasts, each no more than a handful, but still very attractive, and tasty. He sucked the nipples greedily, and felt his body relax a lot. Was it her touch, or was it just being active? He didn't know, he just enjoyed the feeling of relief, and of being able to feel lust.

  Melissa was between Aphrodite's legs now, fondling the thighs, stroking the pubic hair, feeling for what she knew was in there, but had never seen for herself.

  Paul watched her for a while, his beautiful engineer, undoubtedly studying a woman's parts with some detachment, thinking of what would work.

  When she finally spread the curly haired, fleshy labia and experimentally applied her tongue to what was beneath them, Paul felt an arm tighten around him, and he turned his attention back to the goddess in his arms and kissed her, a bit afraid she'd hurt him in her passion, but soon reassured by her continuing tenderness.

  Holding Aphrodite in his arms, feeling a strange and powerful woman so close to him was enough of a challenge for the moment, Paul did not feel the urge yet to become more active. He watched his lady with pleasure and felt his erection rising with his excitement, but he did not feel much inclination to do anything with it yet.

  He didn't think he would be able to perform anyhow, with his balls still tender, and his stomach painful and all his muscles cramped, though they were loosening nicely in the warm water, with a lot of his fear and tension draining away.

  The goddess in his arms was now moaning with passion, and wanted

  something in her mouth, so he kissed her again, and still she was gentle with him. He started to get some visions of some other part of him in that mouth, and he enjoyed that idea very much.

  It was great to feel heat, to imagine being touched by a horny woman, it made him feel strong, and wanted.

  Feeling a shudder running through Aphrodite, he knew she had climaxed, and to be sure, she now turned the tables on Melissa, floating her in the water and exploring her luscious thighs and belly and breasts. Soon, she was licking lustily, and Melissa was shivering in bliss, and Paul's excitement was rising quite steeply.

  He kissed Melissa now, his heat transferring to her, though he almost hurt himself being so passionate. Even through her bliss she saw him, and she whispered: 'Go indulge yourself, I'm sure you will be very welcome.'

  He whispered back: 'But I can't thrust, I'd crush my own tender bits.'

  'Do it slowly then,' she gasped, attention drawn away from him, by an especially good trick he guessed. The goddess must have done this before, eternal life must get boring after a few centuries, and sex in all its shapes was probably one of the best diversions.

  He made his decision and moved towards Aphrodite, stroking her back and her bottom eagerly, feeling quite self-conscious about just taking a goddess. But she knew what he was thinking of doing, for she presented herself to him, encouraged him.

  Stroking her soft bottom, feeling the enticing place beneath it, he guided himself towards it and entered her with some trepidation. She received him with a cry of encouragement, then went back to her greedy ministrations of his wife.

  It was a bit painful, his stomach made itself felt, and his balls dangled painfully, even with the water supporting them, but the feeling of bliss was worth it. He thrust a little, seeing how far he could go without the hurt exceeding the bliss, and it was very acceptable.

  Taking his time, and holding her hip with one hand, the other stimulating her clitoris gently, she seemed to appreciate his efforts, even though they were very moderate due to his hurt in, well, everything.

  His penis seemed to have gotten off best, though the shaft had been mangled, apparently she had saved the sensitive part for a later stage, and the shaft had turned out rather durable. Well, he was not going to think about that, but just enjoy what use he had of it.

  Despite his tame performance, he felt Aphrodite shudder again, and without a spoken word Aphrodite removed herself from him and offered him his wife as a kind of gift, floating on the water as she had been all this time, legs still held apart by the goddess' loving hands.

  As he took the offer, and felt himself enter her familiar warmth, Melissa moaned and kissed Aphrodite passionately.

  Still not reaching any kind of speed, Melissa seemed to enjoy his action nonetheless, and he fondled her breasts, kissed both women intensely but still very carefully, and seriously found Melissa arching in a high. She must have been very close when Aphrodite let her go, for his feeble attempt at lovemaking could hardly have done the job.

  And then he had to swallow a few times, for Melissa sat up, and both women now turned their attention to him. Melissa laid him on his back in the water, and when he had surrendered to her touch, forcing himself to stay down, trusting her to keep him safe, she stroked his hair and kissed him tenderly.

  As she held him very close, safe against her ample bosom, able to see what was happening but not required to react to it because Melissa was with him, Aphrodite stroked him very softly. She stroked his chest, his stomach, his thighs, his buttocks, and nothing hurt, her touch was so light.

  And then she bent over him and kissed his battered testicles, and even that didn't hurt. A feeling of peace and quiet came over him, and he managed to relax into his beloved's arms.

  Very slowly, the goddess of love took hold of his penis, looked him straight in the eye, and let him feel a few tricks that Lukas would murder to know of.

  Oh my, but that was good, somehow he suspected she had not done that to Lukas yet, her ultimate triumph, the goddess over the master.

  Lucky for him he had no need to prove himself, he let go of all thoughts and held on to his beautiful woman until he lost all reason and came in an explosion of bliss.

  When he felt almost real again, he said: 'So that is why people share love, to learn and to teach. Wait till Lukas finds out about this, George will have a heart-attack.'

  Aphrodite laughed and said: 'The other Englishman, George. Lykos does not know of this yet, and please don't tell him or let him feel it. I'm saving it for a special occasion, and then he can pass it on to George and whomever he

  wants.'

  Still a bit dazed, Paul embraced the goddess heartily, and said: 'Thank you for honouring me with the first demonstration, I bet you're saving it for your coronation to mistress as well as goddess of love. You're the best.'

  She laughed heartily and commented: 'For men maybe, but for women, he is the very best, the true master of love. And for men, at least the second best, so all in all he takes the honours I'm afraid. But since I love him dearly, I don't mind.

  And you must be not only the most artistic, but the bravest man as well.

  Which is why you got it first. I hope you feel better.'

  Amazed, Paul realized: 'I do, I feel much better. Thank you. I hope Lykos won't notice, he wanted to handle it if I couldn't manage myself.'

  'I didn't heal anything, Paul, that was your own will, and a lot of love, but no Gift involved. You have so much trust in Melissa, and she trusted me.

  Love did the rest. I love my job. Mostly. Yesterday I hated it for a while, seeing love perverted, having to act.'

  With a worried look, Paul now asked: 'Did you just tell us Lykos accompanied you into the mind of the woman who abused me? And that you took her Gift from her, and Lykos watched you do it? Wasn't that a horrible sight?'

  'It was, yes. The filth in her mind made him reel, and he was determined to watch me burn her out, I guess he felt the need for retribution, but afterwards he was physically sick, and when he left he was in distress. Didn't you notice?'

  'He seemed fine this morning, he was distressed because he felt my fear and my pain, and a lot of guilt, but we shared feelings, and he convinced me to let him take the physical pain away. I felt no anger in him. Was it really bad to watch, did she scream, cry, what did Lykos see?'

  Paul knew Lukas could not have confided in him that morning, his dear friend must have been devastated not to be able to share his gr
ief. Although, he could detach. They didn't notice because he loved them intensely, but Lukas would feel a certain detachment towards other people. And this woman had hurt him so badly, and Lukas loved him so much.

  Aphrodite spoke again, and it was clear she hated to mete out judgement:

  'It is terrible, even to me. We only do it when we're certain the perpetrator will strike again and again, with powerful magic. I had to do it because

  Hermes said he couldn't do large magics for half a year, and Lykos concurred. Lykos wasn't strong enough yet, this is very difficult.

  I battled the madness and the power in her, then blocked her Gift and located the places where she keeps her power, and destroyed them.

  The procedure usually leaves the mortal burnt out, and she will have to be confined and cared for until she dies. Usually that doesn't take long.

  Executing them would be kinder, but our father doesn't allow us to kill mortals over crimes committed against mortals. It is horrible to watch, and we told Lykos to leave, but he insisted on witnessing the procedure, he looked like a statue.

  I hope he will open up to you if it still bothers him.'

  They dried off and dressed, and Paul felt a certain pride to see two such beautiful women with the fruits of his labour gracing their throats. He still saw himself as a craftsman, not as an artist, but he had eyes, and he could see his work was excellent.

  Most of his body still hurt when he moved, but the stiffness was a lot less, and most important of all, he was not as frightened anymore, he felt a lot of his old spirit returned, and rather quickly. Now he just wanted Lukas back to see if he was all right, and all would be well.

  Chapter 15

  When Paul and Melissa arrived back in their room, Lukas was already there, looking a bit lost to have found it empty. He was so happy to see them, and Paul could not believe this cute, innocent looking young man had been watching the murder of someone's personality without protesting against such cruelty.

  But Lukas had seen him just after he had been saved. Of course Paul himself hadn't noticed, he had been unconscious when Hermes had brought him back from the cave, covered in his own filth, blood and chalk dust, beaten half to death, with internal injuries, broken bones, bite-marks and totally bruised.

  An hour to heal him, he must have been pretty bad, and Lukas had seen everything in detail, felt his pain, and later his fear to be touched, to be helpless. Maybe Paul could understand him after all.

  He found himself enveloped by Lukas' arms, the boyish face against his chest, but not touching it for fear of causing him pain.

  Their dear friend showed no sign of detachment at all, he was clearly in need of some serious comforting, which strangely enough made Paul feel even stronger.

  He was sure Lukas knew, or he would not have sought solace with him, and they moved to the bed together.

  This time they did talk about the things that had happened, including the meting out of justice, Lukas having found himself part of the class that had all the power.

  They talked for an hour, staying in close contact all this time, and after their heart-to-heart talk they all felt ready to look ahead once more, though Paul was nodding a little, clearly exhausted and in need of sleep.

  Hesitantly, Lukas asked him: 'Beloved, I was going to ask Melissa to share love, if she consents, do you want us to leave or stay?'

  Eyebrows raised, Paul inquired: 'Didn't you meet with a certain young friend of Dionysus'? '

  'I did, but we only talked, I thought she'd want to make love, but I caught her feelings, they were very strong. She is very much in love with Dionysus, and I can understand why, though it may be hard for you to believe. He can be very sweet and loving.

  Hailee was worried sick about Dionysus, said he was not a bad person, just very afraid all the time, she said someone was egging him on to do these things, but she didn't dare tell me who. Said that was his own decision.

  I'm sorry for her, she was really scared, of the person who put him up to his misdeeds, but also for him, she was afraid never to see him again.'

  Paul looked at his friend with some concern: 'Poor girl. I'm afraid she may be right, Aphrodite and Hermes both want his hide.

  Please stay with me, I wish I could watch, but I'm really tired, I think I need to sleep. Will you spoil me a little first?'

  As his dear friend gave in to his sleepiness, Lukas was all over him, making him comfortable, fluffing his pillow, stroking his hair, and when Paul had closed his eyes and his body relaxed in sleep, Lukas kissed him once more, very gently on his discoloured cheek, and turned towards Melissa, fire in his eyes now.

  He merely asked: 'May I make love to you?'

  A heartfelt 'Yes, please,' was her answer.

  But first, they touched each other, not eagerly but merely intimately, finding support in the familiarity of the other's body, which they knew so well, Melissa could have drawn each of Lukas' mottles from memory, and he knew her every curve, and every freckle.

  'Hmm, this is good,' he mumbled, 'just like being home.'

  'What's it like to be a god, Lukas? By the way, we've taken to calling you Lykos to your family and friends here, but Lukas to yourself, which do you prefer?'

  Still feeling, nuzzling and kissing, he replied: 'I like Lukas best, I don't mind you calling me by my old name here, but the man I am now has chosen to be called Lukas, and I see myself as Lukas. I look up when someone says Lykos, because it is a habit, and people say it with love. But it is not really who I am.

  That also answers your first question, I don't feel like a god at all, so I couldn't tell you. I have a lot of power and a lot of love, but you gave me those before, I don't want worship.'

  He took her in his arms and kissed her again, ardour rising, and said: 'You

  helped me become who I am now, I love you so much, Melissa. And Paul, I can't think of a life without him, and he was so much stronger already. I'm so glad to have the both of you, and to know Paul will be fine.'

  Their comfortable familiarity soon turned towards decided heat, and they made love with energy, freeing themselves of negative feelings.

  Afterwards Melissa told Lukas about Hermes' proposal to stay a week longer to gain some pleasant holiday memories before they went back to England.

  Lukas really wanted to see how his people settled after being freed of the spell, and he wanted to help his father find a real place among them, and enjoy swimming in the beautiful sea, learning more about his Gift from Aphrodite, in short, he liked the proposal.

  'I also want to be present when my family deals with Dionysus. I want to speak to him, tell him what he did to me, what he did to his niece. If you can accept staying a week more, I will be glad to. But if you want to go back immediately, I will pack up and leave everything behind without regrets, it's your call, or mostly his.'

  And he looked at Paul, who was still sleeping, oblivious all this time to their talking and even their lovemaking. Lukas' expression was filled with love, he obviously had to control himself not to touch his friend, until Paul's expression suddenly changed into fear and he whimpered softly.

  His body rolled itself into a ball, and froze.

  Now Lukas did touch Paul, but he did not stroke him for fear of making things worse, he led Paul's hand to his own curly head, to the horns that had been of such importance to their relationship, and indeed, as the hand explored the horns and started to scratch them, the body uncurled and turned towards Lukas, the other hand starting to feel for the body that should be close.

  When it had found Lukas' slim shape, it stroked the bare back strongly, eagerly, then moved towards the buttocks and of course, the little tail.

  With one hand on his horns and one on his bottom, Lukas couldn't help getting fired up, but the hands weren't done yet. They lifted his slender body right off the bed, and deposited it on top of his own.

  Paul's face was no longer fearful, it showed some pain when he lifted Lukas and again when he dumped him on top of his bruised body, but al
l in all Paul seemed very satisfied with the result of his actions.

  He wrapped Lukas in his arms tightly, eyes still closed, rolled on to his

  side with Lukas partially beneath him, then mumbled: 'That's better, feel safe now, thanks love.' And he appeared to be asleep again, were it not that one hand still explored Lukas' naked flesh with relish.

  The fire in Lukas' eyes was not extinguished yet, but there was no need in them, he was happy just where he was, have that large rough hand stroke him. And after a few minutes it searched his face, taking him by the neck to pull him close, and kissing him greedily, eyes as yet unopened.

  Slowly, Paul's body came back to consciousness, kissing Lukas and still stroking him. Despite having made love twice already that day, Melissa found herself quite stimulated by this scene, until Paul finally opened his eyes and said in a completely normal voice: 'That was great, Lukas. I'm hungry, shall we go find some lunch?'

  And when the two guys had their excitement under control, they dressed and went to the main hall to find someone who could provide them with a nice meal.

  They spent the rest of that day in bed together, catching up on the sleep they had missed and in Paul's case, giving his body the best chance to heal.

  When Lukas woke up refreshed and found his beloved friends still sleeping, he sought out Aphrodite, who was very pleased to give him some instruction and some loving, after which they talked until it was time for dinner.

  When Melissa woke up the next morning, Lukas was already gone, supposedly on his morning run. Though there were even fewer paths around the palace, everything Hermes' household needed was delivered by boat, during their hunt for Dionysus Lukas had discovered he didn't need a path anymore to run, like his father he could run across anything, rocks, water, forest, his hoofs hardly touched the ground, he seemed to fly.

  So from now on, Lukas would probably revive his old habit of running each morning until he nearly dropped, his chest muscles softening with lack of exercise but his leg muscles developing even more, as he enjoyed the freedom he would miss out on once they were back in England, running on his bare hoofs and running as fast as he could, blurring to anyone watching him pass by.