Love's Immortal Passion

by Cat Johnson

  When he was gone she pressed one hand to her nervously tossing belly. The fear for his life was so great it had even made her miss her monthly bleeding.

  Theseus would be all right. He had to be. Once he was safely out of the labyrinth, the nausea she’d felt for days would surely disappear. As she fell to her knees in the dirt again and vomited for the second time that morning, she truly hoped that would be true.

  Chapter Four

  Dionysus paced, unable to sit still. His own company was driving him mad, how could he stand to be among other beings? Finally, he gave up the solitude of his chamber and strode the halls, seeking any distraction. He only needed to wait one more day, then he could begin to make her his again. Theseus would go into the labyrinth tonight. He’d die, Ariadne would be distraught and he would comfort her, winning back her love in the process.

  Why didn’t the plan make him feel better?

  Because she shouldn’t be in love with Theseus in the first place. Her heart was his. Those days on the mountain when they’d shared passion that had shaken the very ground they lay upon she had been in love with him. He’d felt it. He was still in love with her now. Even the knowledge she was with another didn’t change that. At least his foul mood kept Eros away. It was apparently too much for the sensitive god to bear.

  His roaming had brought him to the door of his maenads’ chamber. Rolling his neck, he felt the tightness. The strain affected his body as much as his mind. He pushed through the door and was immediately greeted. He’d stayed away from them since his time with Ariadne, and judging by their behavior, he’d been missed.

  “You’ve been absent from us,” one said.

  “What can we do for you?” another asked.

  “I'm tense. I need to relax.” Having known them his entire life, he admitted things to them he wouldn’t admit to any others.

  Accepting the wine a third handed him, he let another guide him to a chaise. “We can take care of that.”

  Her hands began massaging his shoulders, while the hands of another went to work on his feet, pressing the arches until the tension began to ease. He let out a moan. Setting aside the wine, he let his head loll back against the cushion as they kneaded his muscles. The hands on his shoulders moved to stroke his chest. Eyes closed, he drifted as the other maenad’s hands traveled from his feet, upwards to work his calves and then his thighs.

  When her hands began stroking his cock he kept his eyes closed, pretending with all his might that it was Ariadne’s hands upon him. He hadn’t indulged in another since being with her. Perhaps that was the reason he was in such great need of this release. The touch of the maenads could never be equivalent to making love to her, nor should it be. This was a bodily function, pure and simple, the same as eating or sleeping in order to survive. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t imagine it was more. That it was her.

  The feel of lips upon him had him envisioning his love kneeling between his knees. He could see her long dark hair in his mind. Eyes still closed, he caressed the head he imagined belonged to his love. A shiver ran down his spine as he pictured how beautiful she would look, her eyes, green liquid pools, gazing up at him as he filled her mouth. Not wanting the fantasy to ever end, he held back his release as long as possible.

  He smelled the wine on the table next to him, and remembered the taste of it on her lips. He buried the pain of the knowledge that it was the wine that had stolen her memories of him. Instead, he moved on to remembering the taste of her juices on his tongue when he’d plunged it inside her.

  As long as he didn’t open his eyes, she was with him, until his maenads grew impatient with his delay of the inevitable conclusion. Countless hands joined the mouth upon him. Soon they caressed every part of his body. When one slid an oil-slickened finger into him, massaging inside with a practiced skill only they possessed, he could no longer imagine it was Ariadne.

  Giving up, he let them coax the much needed release from him. Though when the last pulse was over, even with the warm bodies surrounding him, he still felt empty and alone.

  “Mmm, can I come in and play?”

  “Dammit, Eros.” Eyes still shut against the ill-timed invasion, Dionysus groaned. “Don’t you knock?”

  “I was merely walking by. The door was open.”

  He forced his eyelids apart and saw the door indeed was wide, just as he’d left it, he supposed. Dionysus hadn’t intended on what had happened. That was his only excuse. If he’d anticipated being serviced in such a way, he surely would have both closed and secured the door, especially if he’d known Eros was afoot. With one maenad’s finger inside his ass, and his cock still twitching inside another’s mouth, the last thing he needed was to entertain Eros.

  Prying his body from beneath the female collapsed on top of his legs, Dionysus stood, adjusting his clothing to cover himself. “Was there something I could do for you?”

  “Besides loaning me the use of your lovely maenads?”

  “They are not for loan. Anything else?”

  “Actually, there’s something I can do for you.” Eros grinned.

  “I seriously doubt that.” Dionysus scooped up his wine and took a sip. Noticing Eros eyeing the cup in his hand, he signaled to the nymph nearest him. “Go on. Pour him some.”

  That elicited a brilliant smile. “Thank you, my friend.”

  Eros strode boldly into the room and positioned himself on the chaise Dionysus had just vacated, most likely hoping for treatment similar to what he’d received while seated there. He’d have no luck there. The maenads were his and his alone, and he wasn’t in the sharing mood at the moment.

  “So, aren’t you curious what news I deliver?” Eros asked.

  “I suppose.” A distraction was a distraction, after all, and Dionysus surely needed one.

  “Perhaps I should think of a barter. What could you do for me in exchange for the news I bring?” A devilish grin crossed Eros's face as he inched his toga up his thighs and eyed the nearest female.

  “Forget it.”

  “Oh, come now, Dionysus. You have so many and from what I’ve heard, you’re letting them lie fallow this past month while you pine over your lost love. It’s said they’ve been untouched by you, until just now, as I was witness to. Aren’t you afraid they’ll lose their skills if they don’t exercise them?”

  “They have lost no skills.” He could attest to that.

  Eros sighed. “Fine. I’ll tell you anyway. Perhaps you’ll be so grateful, you’ll reward me later.”

  “Doubtful, but go on.”

  “Theseus enters the labyrinth at sundown today with the seven sacrifices to the minotaur.”

  Dionysus rolled his eyes. “That is your news? I know that already, Eros.”

  “Then why are you here?” Eros eyed the exposed breast of the nearest female. “All right, I can understand why you are here, but now that you are done for the moment, why aren’t you at the labyrinth on Knossos watching the demise of your rival first hand?”

  “I have no desire to watch Ariadne weep for the loss of another.”

  Eros nodded knowingly. “Ah. Understood. I, however, intend to watch every last moment.”

  Emptying his cup, he set it aside and sprung from the chaise.

  Dionysus frowned. “I thought you didn’t bother with mortal events that didn’t concern you.”

  The young god grinned. “Unless they are entertaining. I believe this particular event should be just that.”

  “Then I hope you enjoy it immensely.”

  “I’m sure I will. Perhaps I can find a nubile young mortal to suck my cock as well, while I watch the games.”

  “I’m sure you will have no problem doing that either.”

  With a parting grin and a wave, Eros was gone, but Dionysus’ anxiety was not. He called for more wine. It was going to be a long night of waiting.

  Chapter Five

  Theseus hid the giant ball of yarn behind his shield, nodded to Ariadne, and passed through the door into the labyrinth
. The seven young men and girls he’d brought with him from Athens to be sacrificed to the minotaur as tribute to Minos followed after him, then the door was slammed closed with a bang. Ariadne’s eyes filled with tears. With her father’s guards surrounding them, she hadn’t even gotten to kiss him goodbye.

  Whispering, “Good luck, my love,” she hoped his heart would hear her.

  She imagined his actions inside. He would tie one end of the thread to the door, and then let it roll out behind him, marking his path back to her as he moved forward, toward the center and the minotaur.

  A great roar from within startled her. The giant beast had sensed people near. His bloodlust would overtake what little sensibility he had left. Theseus would either slay her half brother or be torn to shreds by him along with the other innocent souls sent inside as sacrifices. She drew in a shaky breath. The waiting was the worst part. All she had to do was survive this night, then by morning at the latest he would return to her and they would leave for her new life as his wife.

  A small bag containing a few precious possessions and necessities sat hidden beneath a bush. One of Theseus’s fastest ships lay in wait in the harbor. On that, they would make their escape, but only after Theseus had conquered not only the minotaur, but also the maze’s more than one thousand winding pathways.

  She glanced at her father’s palace in the distance. He would be angry that she’d helped Theseus and the Athenians escape the labyrinth, and that she’d run away to Athens to marry him.

  Good. She hoped he was livid, barbarian that he was. Requiring that Athens send seven citizens to be sacrificed in tribute to him each year was unconscionable. And shame on him for using her half brother to terrify and further his power. That would all end soon though. The creature would no longer be his to use…if Theseus was successful.

  Drawing in a shaky breath, she pressed a trembling hand to her churning stomach.

  “Ariadne?”

  She jumped, startled by the male voice behind her. Turning, she saw a beautiful young man with golden curls and a cherubic smile. “Yes?”

  “Hello.”

  “Do I know you?”

  He shook his head. “No, but I have heard of you.”

  “Oh?”

  Frowning in her direction, he tipped his head to one side, as if he was listening for something faint. “Do you know you’re with child?”

  Ariadne felt her eyes widen as one hand went instinctively to her stomach. “How do you know?”

  He shrugged. “I have a gift.”

  She stared at him, without really seeing anything. When she spoke, it was more to herself than to him. “We only lay together for the first time last night.”

  The man shook his head. “No, this child was not conceived merely a day ago. I can feel its emotions. It’s been growing at least a month in your womb.”

  “A month?” How could that be? Until Theseus, she’d never been with another man like that. Then a frightening thought struck her. “The bacchanal.”

  The beautiful youth grinned at her, but beneath the angelic façade, lay mischief. “That would be my guess.”

  “I don’t remember anything of what happened there.”

  “It seems to me you don’t have to remember. You carry the proof inside you.” His gaze dropped to her stomach.

  Panic gripped her. She tried to swallow and found her throat too tight. What would Theseus say when he learned she carried another man’s child? A babe fathered by a stranger she couldn’t remember.

  “Don’t worry. I won’t tell your lover, if he lives.”

  She stared at him. “How do you know so much about me?”

  Shrugging, he didn’t answer.

  “You are extremely frustrating.”

  “So I’ve been told.” He grinned in a most annoying manner.

  A loud agony-filled wail from within the labyrinth drew all of her attention away from the stranger. “What’s happening?”

  “I’d wager someone has won the battle.”

  “Who?”

  “That we will have to wait to discover.”

  “You who knows so much does not know the one thing I long most to discover?”

  He shrugged again.

  Ariadne stamped her foot in frustration and turned to stare at the door, praying it would open and Theseus would emerge.

  The stranger laughed. “You are entertaining. It’s no wonder Dionysus enjoyed you so.”

  That drew her interest back to him. “Dionysus?”

  “The bacchanal. Wine.” He pointed to her stomach. “Apparently a successful coupling. Does none of this jar your memory?”

  She covered her belly protectively, not liking how he kept referring to the child she’d only just now learned existed. “No. Were you there?”

  “No, but I'm beginning to regret I wasn’t. Though if I had been, that babe could very well have been mine, and I’m not sure I’m ready for fatherhood quite yet. Though a pair of fair lips clasped tightly around my cock is something I’m always up for.” Laughing, he glanced around as if looking for a volunteer.

  She frowned at him, her disgust overwhelming her fright. “You are no better than a rutting pig.”

  “Perhaps, but we can discuss that later because your lover has emerged from the maze along with some very grateful-looking young maidens. Excuse me while I go and help them celebrate their reprieve from certain death.” He waggled his eyebrows and was off, as he’d said, to greet the weeping maidens who ran through the door of the maze.

  Ariadne was afraid to look, but the young man had spoken the truth. There stood Theseus, bloodied but alive. She ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck. He disengaged himself from her. “Ariadne. Control yourself. There are people about.”

  Tears of happiness streamed down her face. “You’re alive. Are you hurt? There is so much blood.”

  “His blood, not mine.”

  “Oh. I’m so happy and relieved.”

  He looked down at her with coldness in his eyes. “You should be neither. I just slaughtered a poor, unfortunate creature.”

  “If you didn’t he would have killed you and the others, and more after them, every year until my father died.”

  Theseus drew in a deep breath. “I know.” He glanced around them. “We need to leave now before news of our escape reaches your father. The guards who escorted us here seem to have left, but it’s only a matter of time before word spreads.”

  She nodded. “I have our things hidden. I’ll get them and we can go.”

  He held her arm to prevent her from moving. “Are you sure you want to come with me. Your father knows nothing of how you helped me. You could stay…”

  “Theseus! Of course I’m coming with you, just as we planned.” She loved him. They were to be wed in Athens.

  After a moment of silence, he nodded. “All right. Get our things. I’ll tell those I saved we leave now.”

  She led the group of the seven rescued Athenians and her lover down a path that took them to the harbor without encountering any of the main roads. Once on the boat, she finally felt as if she could breathe again. Though the ship did nothing for her nausea.

  A baby. Not Theseus’s baby. Thankfully, her getting ill over the side was credited to seasickness and not questioned. That would not be the case for long. She would have to hide the symptoms of the pregnancy for a bit, until enough time had passed for Theseus to believe the babe his. Or she would have to confess the truth and hope for the best. If he hadn’t been acting so strangely toward her, she’d opt for the truth and not start their lives together with a lie, but something felt wrong between them.

  When they docked off the coast of the island of Naxos and he requested the two of them take a small boat to the island alone, she feared for the worst.

  Silently, he rowed them to shore, helping her through the surf and onto the beach. On trembling legs she followed him to a shaded area where he told her to sit on a downed tree. She did. Her limbs could barely hold her upright she shook so badly
.

  “Ariadne. I’ve thought long and hard about this. I’m a man who attempts to do the right thing at all times.”

  “I know,” she interrupted. “That's what I love about you.”

  He held up a hand to silence her. “Let me finish. I find your betrayal of both your father and your brother something I cannot forgive.”

  She frowned. “My betrayal? Had you not killed the minotaur, you and seven of your citizens would have perished. And seven more each year.”

  “I know, you have pointed that out before. But I think another solution could have been found. I could have struck a bargain with your father or gone to war against him, if necessary.”

  “War? You’d willingly send all the young men of your country to fight and die in a war against my father, yet you judge me for betraying him to save you and your citizens?”

  “Now that you mention war, there is that too. Your father could very well hit the shores of Athens with everything he’s got once he finds I have you with me. I can’t subject my people to such hardship. That is in addition to your betrayal of your family, which I find I can’t forgive. I’m afraid it has tainted any feelings I had for you. I will leave you here. As soon as I reach Athens, I’ll send a boat back to transport you home to Knossos.”

  Had she gone insane? Perhaps she was asleep and this was a nightmare. She looked at the man she had given both her heart and her body to and laughed, evidence that she may indeed be crazy. “Fine. Go, but go with this knowledge. I carry another man’s babe in my womb and would have hid that fact and become your wife anyway. How’s that for betrayal, Theseus?”

  He shook his head. “Goodbye, Ariadne. I really do wish you well.”

  Then he turned and walked away, leaving her alone on an island. Curling around herself, she fell on the ground as sobs wracked her.

  “Don’t weep for him. He was an idiot to treat any woman as he has treated you.”

  She jumped at the unexpected voice. “You.”

  “Yes, me.” The golden haired stranger sat next to her on the log and pulled a flagon of wine and a cup out of a sack he carried. He poured the burgundy liquid, took a sip himself and closed his eyes with apparent pleasure. “Ah. Nectar of the gods. Here. Drink.”