by Tina Folsom
“Why didn’t you tell me who you were when we decided to date exclusively?”
“I wish I could have told you then, but revealing to a mortal that I’m a god would have been severely punished by Zeus. I had to wait until I was sure about my feelings for you and yours for me.”
There was hesitation in his voice, and Psyche dropped her lids. Without looking at him, she asked, “Your feelings?”
She felt him take both her hands in his. “Yes—”
Thunder erupted in the living room, and Zeus materialized before them. “Did you think I wouldn’t find you?”
Eros immediately pushed Psyche behind him, shielding her from the god of gods. “No, but I thought you’d give me more time to explain everything to Psyche.”
In an icy tone, Zeus said, “Why don’t I help you with that?”
“I think you’ve helped enough!” Eros ground out.
“On the contrary.” He looked past Eros at Psyche. “Has he told you yet why I had to take you away?”
Psyche held on to Eros’s shoulders, shivering under Zeus’s acid gaze.
“Well, then let me tell you. Your boyfriend here has refused to do his duty as the god of love and shoot his arrows. For over a year, mortals haven’t fallen in love. It’s caused one crisis after another in the human world. Or why do you think your shop is doing so badly?” He pointed to Eros. “It’s because of him. Because he decided he didn’t believe in love anymore.”
Zeus stepped closer and tilted his head. “I had to interfere. Had he done as I told him, I would have never had to kidnap you. It’s his fault. But I gave him another chance to make things right, didn’t I?” He tossed a challenging look at Eros, before looking back at Psyche. “I offered to give you back to him if he shot his arrows again and did his duty as the god of love. And what does he do? He defies me again and steals you from under my nose! Using my own wife! The gall!” A loud thunder crackled through the air. “This is your last chance, boy! Shoot your arrows as I told you to, or I’ll take her away forever!” Zeus glared at Eros.
She felt Eros’s body harden under her touch and knew instinctively he wouldn’t give in.
“No,” Eros said calmly. “I’ll never shoot my arrows for you.”
A sob stole over her lips, but Eros was already spinning around and tipping her chin up so she was looking right at him. “But I’ll shoot my arrows for Psyche.” He smiled at her. “Because you, my love, have taught me to love again. You’ve shown me what it means to love somebody unconditionally, to risk everything for that person, even without knowing whether that person loves you back.” He ran his hand over her hair. “So even if you don’t love me the way I love you, and even if you can never forgive me for my lies, I will always love you. And to honor that love, I’ll make sure humankind knows it, too. I’ll use my arrows to help them find it.”
Psyche felt tears brim in her eyes.
“But there’s one person I’ll never shoot. You, my gorgeous Psyche. You’ll have the free will to love who you want to love. Even if that’s not me.”
Stunned by Eros’s declaration of love, Psyche couldn’t hold back the tears. The god of love loved her? With all his heart? She threw herself into his arms.
“I love you, Eros. I love you,” she choked out before she felt his mouth on hers.
She clung to him as he kissed her passionately. She didn’t know how long they stood like that, holding each other, before she suddenly heard clapping—very slow, very loud clapping.
Eros released her and looked over his shoulder.
“How cute,” Zeus commented dryly. “Hope you don’t mind if I’d like to see a demonstration of your promise first.”
Eros nodded. “Nothing easier than that. I’ll get my bow and arrows.” Then he turned back and grinned at Psyche. “Would you like to see the god of love in action?”
“Are you serious? I can watch you shoot somebody to make them fall in love?”
He winked at her. “I think you’ll enjoy this one particularly. Come.”
38
Relieved and elated that Psyche felt about him the way he felt about her, Eros finished his phone call to set up the first couple he was going to bring together.
Psyche stared at him with an open mouth. “Why did you do that?”
“You mean pretend to be Wayne’s employer and speak in his voice?” He shrugged. “I need to shoot both people while they’re in each other’s company, so they’ll fall for each other, not for somebody else. And that was the fastest way to ensure the intended couple meets in a few minutes.” He glanced at Zeus, who stood waiting, his arms crossed over his chest. He looked a little miffed. “You didn’t specify whom you wanted me to bring together.”
“Very clever,” Zeus grunted. “But I suppose it’ll have to do.”
Eros grabbed his bow, slung his quiver over his shoulder and reached for Psyche’s hand. “I’m ready.” Pulling Psyche into his arms, he nodded to Zeus. “We’ll see you there.” Then he looked into Psyche’s eyes. “Just look at me and don’t think of anything else.”
“Why, what are you—”
But she couldn’t even finish her question, because they’d already landed on a dark balcony opposite of the building he’d sent Wayne to, giving them the perfect view of the front door two stories below on the other side of the street.
“You teleported us here,” Psyche said in surprise.
“Did you feel sick this time?”
She shook her head. “No. I didn’t even get a chance to figure out what was happening.”
He smiled. “That’s good. Cause we’ll be doing this a lot.”
“That’s still to be decided,” Zeus said from behind them.
Figured that the god of gods would have to have the last word. But Eros knew that as long as he did his duty as the god of love, Zeus wouldn’t interfere any longer and leave him and Psyche be.
It didn’t take long until a red Mazda Miata pulled up in front of the building. Wayne jumped out and sauntered to the front door, looked at the labels on the door bells and rang one. There was a crackling in the air when a female voice came through the intercom.
“Yes?”
“Miss Brandeis, this is Wayne from Kevin’s Rides. I have a delivery for you.”
“A delivery?”
“Yes, I’m bringing a Mazda Miata. It was ordered for you by a Mr....” He hesitated and pulled out a notepad, then shook his head. “Sorry, can’t read the name. But it’s definitely for you. All paid for.”
“Coming down.”
Eros let go of Psyche and pulled an arrow from his quiver, then set it to the string of his bow and waited. Thirty seconds later, the door opened and his victim appeared.
Psyche sucked in a breath. “That’s Gloria, the woman who was in your bed.”
“Uh-huh,” Eros confirmed and aimed. He let go of the string and allowed the arrow to whizz through the air. It hit Wayne right in his ass, though the poor sucker didn’t even feel it, because the arrow dematerialized on impact.
“You’re making your ex and my ex fall in love with each other?” Psyche murmured.
“They deserve each other, don’t you think?” Eros asked smirking, while he pulled a second arrow from his quiver and aimed. He waited for a few seconds, until Gloria walked around the car to admire it. When she turned her back to Eros and opened the car door, he shot her in her backside. Then he lowered his arm and looked at Zeus. “Satisfied?”
“Don’t mind if I give it a few minutes, do you?” Zeus replied and kept watching the two mortals.
But Eros already knew his magic was working. Wayne gallantly held the door open for Gloria, who was now batting her eyelashes at him, tilting her head coquettishly.
“Oh my god, they’re flirting!” Psyche whispered.
“And in about half an hour they’ll land in bed together and will be inseparable from hereon out,” Eros prophesied. He cast Zeus a sideway’s look. “Don’t mind if I don’t watch.”
“Very well,” Z
eus said and turned his back on the two new lovers. “I suppose you’ve learned your lesson. I expect you to never forget it, or you know what you’ll lose.” Zeus glanced at Psyche, but didn’t wait for an answer, and instead teleported away.
Eros let out a sigh of relief and then smiled at Psyche. “Finally alone.”
Psyche motioned to the balcony around them. “Not what I’d call privacy.”
“Let me rectify that.” He pulled her to him with his free arm and held her tight. “Time to go home.” He pressed his lips to hers and kissed her.
~ ~ ~
By the time Eros let go of her lips, Psyche felt solid ground under her feet and opened her eyes. They were back in Eros’s house—more precisely, in his bedroom. Instinctively she freed herself from his embrace. Eros laid his bow and quiver on a chaise and looked at her, before nodding to himself.
“We were interrupted earlier,” he began. “There are a lot more things I need to tell you. I want to come clean about everything. Every little white lie. I have no secrets from you anymore.”
Surprised that he realized she still had questions, Psyche nodded. “I can’t even begin to understand yet what’s been happening. What’s real and what’s not.”
Eros chuckled unexpectedly. “It’s all real, and I can’t wait to show you my world and introduce you to my family and friends.”
“I guess I already know some of your friends. Triton, Dio, Hermes. All gods.”
“Yes, and you’ve met Aphrodite.”
Psyche hesitated. “She’s not your friend, is she?” Because now that she knew they were all gods, she remembered something from Greek mythology. Aphrodite was a goddess, but she couldn’t remember how she was related to Eros, nor who was her lover.
He shook his head. “No, she’s my mother.”
Relieved, yet surprised, Psyche said, “But she’s so young!”
“A god or goddess can choose how young or old he or she wants to look. My mother is no different from other women in that respect. She wants to continue to look young. I’m sorry I had to lie to you about her. But had I introduced her as my mother, you would have never believed me.”
No, she wouldn’t. But now she knew better. “And all this, you living here instead of where Zeus lives…” She made an all-encompassing movement to indicate his house. “Is this only temporary?” Or would he leave one day? And leave her here?
“I have a villa on Olympus, not dissimilar from Zeus’s palace, where I spend some time, but I like living here. My friends are here. They are married to mortal women. They have children with them.” He walked closer so he was only a foot away from her. His eyes turned a more vibrant shade of blue when he looked deep into her eyes. “I want what they have. A mortal woman who loves me and gives me children. A woman I can worship. A woman who holds my heart in her hands and keeps it safe.”
Her voice shook when she asked the one question that had been nagging at her ever since he’d told her he loved her, “For how long?”
“For eternity.”
Psyche lifted her hand to his cheek and touched it. “But the gods are immortal, aren’t they? You must be hundreds of years old.”
“Thousands,” Eros corrected her and put his hand over hers, pressing it to his cheek. “And I don’t want to walk the next few millennia alone.”
“But—”
He put a finger to her lips to stop her from speaking. “I will share my immortality with you.”
Her mouth opened in shock, and air rushed from her lips. “You can do that?”
Eros laughed softly. “It would suck to be a god and not be able to make the woman I love immortal, don’t you think?”
She couldn’t help but chuckle, while tears of joy formed in her eyes. “Yeah, I guess it’s good to have some tricks up your sleeves.”
A mischievous twinkle sparkled in his eyes. “Talking about tricks. How about we get a bit more comfortable?” He motioned to the bed. “I’m in desperate need to feel you close to me.”
Psyche slid her hand to his nape and pulled herself closer. “I need to feel you, too.”
“Good.” Eros suddenly released her and snapped his fingers.
Cool air wafted against her skin and she looked down at herself. To her utter surprise, she was completely naked.
“What—” She whipped her head back to Eros and caught him grinning at her. “Did you do that?”
He snapped his fingers again, and before her eyes, all his clothes disappeared, and he stood in front of her with not a stitch on him. “Call me impatient.”
Psyche dropped her gaze to his groin. “And ready,” she added with a smirk.
“Is that a complaint?” he asked and reached for her.
She went into his arms, molding her naked body to his. “Do you want me to complain?”
“I want to hear you moan and scream out your pleasure. Can you do that for me?” He brushed his lips to hers and pressed his hips into her, grinding his hard cock against her stomach.
“As long as you’re making love to me, you’re not gonna hear anything else,” she promised and kissed him.
~ ~ ~
Feeling Psyche’s lips on his, and her naked body pressed to his skin, Eros felt happier than he ever had before in his long life. He was convinced now that the Fates had truly put Psyche in his path, because they were meant for each other. He wasn’t going to doubt their wisdom. He felt Psyche’s love and sensed his own feelings for her multiply with every second.
“I’ll make you my own private goddess,” he promised her, murmuring the words against her lips, before he lifted her up and carried her to the bed, where he gently laid her onto the mattress, while he braced himself over her.
She lifted her lids and met his gaze. “I can’t believe that the god of love loves me.”
He planted kisses on her neck and shoulders. “Then maybe I need to show you just how much the god of love loves you.”
He nudged her thighs apart and made space for himself. Psyche spread her legs and wrapped them around his upper thighs, urging him closer.
“Yes, maybe you should do that.” She licked her lower lip and pulled it between her teeth, a gesture that made his cock twitch in anticipation.
Dropping his groin to hers, Eros adjusted his erection at her center and nudged forward, parting her nether lips with the thick head. The contact caused a shudder down his spine. The wetness that greeted him made him slide deeper without any effort, until he was nearly halfway submerged in her heat.
He kept looking into her eyes, watching with male satisfaction how her eyelashes fluttered, as he eased fully into her. A breath rolled over her parted lips and turned into a sigh.
“Yes, my goddess,” he whispered to her. “That’s what I want to hear from you.”
Slowly, he began to move inside her, withdrawing gently, then easing back inside, letting her feel the full length of his hard rod, without giving into the temptation to ride her hard and fast. Tonight wasn’t about hard and fast. Tonight was about celebrating their love with tender lovemaking to create a connection only fated lovers would ever know.
Eros reached for her hands and clasped them, then watched how she looked at their joined hands with affection. He felt his lips turn up into a smile. Psyche turned her face back to him, looking up into his eyes. A sheen of moisture covered her irises, and he could see himself reflected in them.
“I love you,” she mouthed with barely a breath to give her words voice. But even if she hadn’t said the words, it wouldn’t have mattered, because her heart lay open before him now. He could read it, just like he hoped she could read his.
“For eternity,” he replied. He brought her hand to his heart and pressed it against it. “This belongs to you. And only you.”
A tear rolled down from the corner of her eye. He kissed it away and buried his face in the crook of her neck, kissing every inch of it, while farther below, his hips continued to move in a slow and tender rhythm.
He couldn’t tell how long they stayed
joined like this, how long he pumped his aching shaft into her, or how long they kissed and lay in each other’s arms. It didn’t matter, because all that mattered was the happiness that cocooned them, wrapping around them like a protective blanket. He’d never made love like this, with such tenderness and such patience. He’d never thought it was possible to feel lust and passion while loving slowly and gently. But he felt it now, just as he knew Psyche felt it, because he now recognized the signs of her approaching orgasm. It was a slow build, and he adjusted his tempo to her body’s needs.
“Eros!” she called out all of a sudden. “So close.”
“I’m there with you, gorgeous,” he assured her and plunged deeper and harder into her, giving her what she needed.
Her interior muscles grabbed him, squeezed him like a vice, and he knew he only had seconds left. When he felt Psyche spasm beneath him, he let go of his control. He climaxed harder than he ever had, releasing his seed into her sheath while he continued to thrust, until Psyche stilled beneath him.
Breathing hard, he braced himself above her.
“Will it always be like that?” she asked, gazing at him.
“No. It’ll be much better.”
And that was a promise he was determined to keep.
Epilogue
Valentine’s Day – one year later
Holding Psyche’s hand, Eros walked down the main drag in Charleston, while together they admired the fruits of his labor. Under the canopy of a star-filled sky, lovers strolled along the streets, where the restaurants had thrown open their doors and windows and placed tables and chairs on the sidewalks to accommodate the diners tonight. Not a single table was empty.
For the last eleven months, Eros had been working overtime. Every single day without fail, he’d been out with his bow and arrows to bring the right people together and make them fall in love. And every night, he’d come home to spend time in the arms of his own love: Psyche. Psyche hadn’t complained about his grueling schedule. In fact, she’d gotten very busy herself. Her florist shop was doing well, so well that she’d had to hire staff to help her. Everybody wanted flowers for their new love. The economy was booming, and her shop was no exception, all because people were in love and making plans for a future together.