Arcadian Nights (3 page)

“
I’m not
alone.”

“
You know what I mean, you
stubborn mule. Maybe another romp with Aphrodite was what you
needed. Something to loosen you up.”

“
I don’t think that was
her intention, though it certainly has her mark to it. I think she
just wanted to get to me and see what happened.”

“
Something definitely
happened. How was it?”

Hermes sighed.

“
Come on! I know it was
great. Aphrodite always gives marvelous details.”

“
Yes, it was great, but it
was very confusing. Are you going to take this seriously and help
me or not? I’m sure Zeus is going to think it’s a riot too, but
that can’t be helped.”

She patted his arm. “Once we recover
ourselves, I promise we will take it seriously. Don’t worry. I
suppose the concern now is keeping you away from her.”

“
I can’t even get her out
of my head.”

“
Well, I’m also concerned
about you two getting it on. We don’t need a little hell-raiser who
can outrun us all.”

Hermes shook his head. That would be a
nightmare.

Hera went on. “Aphrodite gave birth so
quickly, and Eris might be the same. You never know.”

He stopped, wondering if his queen had
just let a secret slip. “Hera, are you saying what I think you’re
saying?”

“
Hmmm? Oh goodness, no!
Sorry. I meant because she wasn’t born. She and Eris were both
created, called into being, whatever. They weren’t born to two
parents.” She giggled. “None of you are going to catch me out that
easily. Eros keeps trying though.”

“
You love doing that,
don’t you?”

“
I didn’t do it on
purpose. I was thinking out loud.”

Hermes never knew whether to believe
her or not. Her ramblings often seemed a little too convenient.
He’d suspected for some time that she wanted to push him and
Aphrodite together, but he couldn’t be sure if she only wanted to
make a match or if she didn’t want her son with the love goddess
for some reason.

“
If you say so.” Her
thinking out loud made him wonder though. “Could Eris want
something like that? To have a child? What if sleeping with her is
the only way to break this spell?”

“
She could enchant anyone
she wanted. She’s slept with Zeus before.”

“
But no child. The Fates
hadn’t willed it. Could she be trying to get her way on her
own?”

“
Who’s to say? The Fates
grow more cryptic with each passing year. How do we even know their
powers still affect us?”

“
I’m sure they do. All
things have a reason.”

She smiled. “You’ve always believed
that more than any of us. Why?”

He didn’t know how to answer her
question. “I don’t know. Things make more sense that
way.”

“
So if the Fates determine
everything, they made you walk away from Aphrodite. It was them,
not you. They are the ones who decree you should be alone. It’s
destiny, not choice.”

“
I never said that. We all
exercise free will. I do believe in that as well, though I still
think the Fates make plans for us.”

“
Then where do the Fates
come in exactly? A plan here, a scheme there for the good of
humanity?”

“
We’re talking in circles.
Can’t we have both? Destiny and choice?”

She nodded. “I think we do. I think we
all need both. I was only trying to understand you. It’s hard at
times.”

“
Help me and maybe I’ll
oblige you.”

She kissed him on the cheek. “You know
we’ll help you, Hermes. How can you doubt it?”

“
I’m only making sure you
feel the urgency here.”

She smiled and ran her hand over his
chest. “How urgent is it?”

He stepped away. “Don’t do that. I’m
not sure what might get me in that state again.”

“
Fine. Zeus wouldn’t like
it anyway.”

“
No, he would not. Crazed
hormones or not, I still have that much sense.”

Hera walked a few feet away, watching
the water flow past them. “I don’t think she means real harm, not
like the kind she’s caused before, but I don’t want to take the
chance. I’m going to go explain things to Zeus. The sooner I do,
the sooner he’ll stop laughing.”

Hermes put his hand on her shoulder.
“Thank you.”

She smiled. “Don’t mention it.” She
snapped her fingers and disappeared.

Hermes walked down the stream, heading
for home and hoping he could avoid running into anyone
else.

* * * *

Eris lay stretched on her couch,
petting her black cat, Chaos. His sister Cosmos lay on the arm of
the chair, cleaning her gray fur.

“
They’ll never learn, will
they, babies? It’s about time they were all taught some
manners.”

Eris hadn’t had the slightest desire
to attend Eros’ wedding, but she’d felt she had no choice when
Aphrodite sent her a handwritten invitation. Ares had shrugged it
off and told her to do whatever she wanted to do. He never thought
of the consequences of his actions. She wondered if he’d ever learn
to. Hera bailed him out so often he didn’t know what it was like to
be punished.

She did though. She had never wanted
the favor of Olympus, though being Zeus’ lover had definitely had
its advantages. She regretted nothing. She had her purpose in the
cosmos, and she had more intimate knowledge of the working of the
Fates than any other god or goddess. Perfect order meant death to
all things just as perfect chaos did. The world needed her, and she
wanted to show them all the equilibrium of the cosmos depended on
her. Without both her and Harmonia, balance could not be
maintained.

Eris wondered what had become of the
white-haired, whimpering goddess. She hadn’t seen her in a century
or two. That went unnoticed by the Olympians, but if she
disappeared for more than a few weeks, someone came looking for
her, as if she was hiding somewhere and secretly plotting to
destroy the world.

Eris had gone to Eros’ wedding
determined to be nice and sociable. However, she hadn’t had the
chance. No one had even tried to talk to her. They’d all stared,
but no one had come near her. She’d felt Hermes watching her the
whole time. She’d always found him interesting, especially given
his fling with Aphrodite. The love goddess simply wasn’t his type.
He was too serious for her, she too frivolous for him. Was that why
he had chosen her? No chance of falling for her or keeping her?
Aphrodite had never made a secret of how impressed she was by him
as a lover. That interested her too. Though he was well-built and
handsome with lustrous black hair and smoldering brown eyes, it was
hard to look at his stern countenance and imagine him as a
passionate lover.

She smiled as she thought of the lust
she’d felt rolling off him. Everyone at the wedding had been sure
she was up to something, but only he had dared to show his
suspicions without apology. She had plans for him. Fucking her
would cast suspicion on him, no matter how well behaved and
mild-mannered. Then he’d see what it was like. She could have
demanded an apology, and he probably would have given her one. That
wasn’t what she wanted though. She wanted him to understand.
Everyone trusted him, so his influence was limitless. When they all
raised their eyebrows at learning of his affair with her, however
brief it might end up being, he would understand why she felt the
way she did. She didn’t want to get lovey-dovey with the other gods
or start having tea and shopping trips with Hera and Aphrodite. She
wanted the respect she deserved. Once everyone had concluded that
he hadn’t been hopelessly tainted by her, perhaps they would begin
to view her in a different light.

She thought of Hermes again. She
couldn’t read his mind, but she could feel his confusion and
turmoil. She’d used the spell before on a mortal she’d found
particularly interesting. By now, she knew Hermes would be in quite
a state. Even though Aphrodite had grabbed him for a quickie in the
woods, Eris knew she had never left his thoughts. His cock would be
aching for her, and he would be thinking of nothing else but how to
possess her.

She hadn’t had sex—good sex—in a long
time. A few weeks of pleasure with the handsome god might be just
what she needed. The thought of his supposed sexual prowess
combined with the power of her spell made her shiver as she
imagined lusty, pleasure-filled nights. She had yet to meet her
match in the bedroom, but he seemed strong-willed enough to be a
possibility. She preferred to dominate, but she secretly longed to
be made to yield. She’d thought she might find such a partner with
Zeus, but he was so under Hera’s thrall he’d long ago forgotten how
to seduce and subdue a woman.

She sighed and closed her eyes to
picture Hermes, and her pussy grew wet as she thought of him. She
sat up and moved Chaos to a nearby chair.

“
Damon?”

The beautiful auburn-haired boy
appeared wearing only black leather pants. He smiled at her. “What
do you desire, mistress?”

She stood and slid her skirt off, and
then pulled her panties off and tossed them aside. She’d been
growing tired of the mortal, but he made her come quickly, so he’d
do well enough for a while longer. “Come over here and eat my
pussy. Make me come quickly and you can fuck me.”

She sat on the couch and spread her
legs. He got on his knees and began sucking her clit vigorously.
She moaned and closed her eyes, picturing herself leaning over a
bed with Hermes behind her pounding his cock into her again and
again. She imagined him entranced by her, determined to make her
come. He wanted nothing more than to please her.

She moaned again as Damon swirled his
tongue over her clit and worked his skilled fingers inside her. As
always, she came hard and fast. He moved his hand and buried his
face in her pussy as she convulsed. His tongue on her sensitive
skin was maddening.

She pulled his face away. “Do you want
to fuck me?”

“
Yes,
mistress.”

She stood and leaned over a table.
“Then do it.”

“
This is what you want,
mistress?” His eyes shone with lust. She almost never let him
dominate, and he craved it all the more.

“
Yes. Fuck me as hard as
you want. I’ll make sure you last.”

He grabbed her hips, rubbing her ass
possessively before sliding into her. He began fucking her, hard
and fast, sending waves of pleasure all over her body. She loved
how eager he was. She’d make sure she found the perfect woman for
him when she sent him away. She kept thinking of Hermes, picturing
him on top of her, holding her down and grinding her into the bed.
She imagined how strong he might be, what sorts of games she might
be able to interest him in.

She smiled as she came. She couldn’t
wait for the night Hermes would be the one making her
tremble.

* * * *

Hermes collapsed on the floor. He’d
been sure a vigorous exercise routine would help him keep his
errant desires in check. It wasn’t working. Instead of sating his
lust for Eris, the strenuous activities only made him long for her
hands to massage his aching muscles, among other things. Doing a
hundred sit-ups would kill any other man’s sex drive, but
apparently the normal laws of nature no longer applied to
him.

He got up and toweled off, then put
his shirt back on. Though going to see Aphrodite might not be the
best plan ever, he had no one else to turn to. In a moment he was
at her front door, but before he could knock she’d flung it
open.

“
Come in, come in! I was
just thinking of dinner.”

He allowed himself to be ushered in.
“Will it do any good to tell you this isn’t a social
call?”

“
Nope. You want to talk,
you have to eat.” She snapped her fingers and a pizza appeared on
the table along with two plates and two glasses of wine.

Hermes laughed. “Very
classy.”

She smiled and sat down. “It’s Thai
chicken and you’ll love it. And I’m sure you could use the wine.
You look tense.” She picked up a piece of pizza and began
eating.

He sat down. “I came to see what
you’ve discovered.”

She sighed and put her pizza down.
“Nothing. Spells are tricky. I did have an idea though.”

“
What?” Her ideas
typically backfired, but sometimes they were perfect, so he thought
it best to give her the chance.

“
I can make her fall in
love with you. Then she’ll release you!”

He shook his head immediately. “No. No
love spells.”

“
But it would be
easy!”

“
Number one, I don’t want
to do that to anyone, ever. Number two, I don’t want her of all
people in love with me. And number three, what would we do if it
backfired? She might leave the spell on so she could have me. If
she wanted to do this to me when she hates me, what would happen if
she loved me? And then there’s the issue of what her revenge can be
like. I wouldn’t want her to stay in love with me, and she’d be
pissed as hell afterwards. At both of us. She might even be pissed
the whole time she’s chasing me. She’s a complicated
woman.”