Lesson in Love (Olympians, 2)

Eros hates Valentine’s Day.
When his loathing for the lover’s holiday angers Zeus, he goes to
his favorite bar to cool down. Instead he ends the night even more
confused because the bar’s enchanting and beautiful owner Iris, who
turns out to be a goddess herself, berates him over his horrible
treatment of women. He doesn’t know his mother Aphrodite and the
goddess Hera plan to use Iris to teach him what love is really all
about.

Lesson in Love

Olympians, Book
Two

by

Marie Medina

MF

Twisted E-Publishing,
LLC.

www.twistedepublishing.com

A TWISTED E-PUBLISHING
BOOK

Lesson in Love

Olympians, Book Two

Copyright © 2008, 2015 by Marie
Medina

Second E-book Publication: June 2015,
SMASHWORDS EDITION

Previously Published 2009

Cover design by K Designs

All cover art and logo copyright © 2015,
Twisted Erotica Publishing.

ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED:
This literary work may not be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part,
without express written permission.

All characters and events in this book
are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is
strictly coincidental.

Lesson in Love

Chapter One

Eros was bored. He’d been sitting in
his favorite bar for three hours, watching all the people around
him enjoy Valentine’s Day.

He hated Valentine’s Day.

In fact, he hated it so much he’d
almost gotten a lightning bolt right in the ass from Zeus. He
pushed his drink away and crossed his arms with a huff at the
memory. He’d only pointed out to Zeus that the modern world didn’t
need a god or goddess of love. If his mother wanted to play games,
that was fine, but mortals no longer had passionate, timeless
affairs—they had one-night stands and multiple marriages. Love and
sex were just words to them, so why did they deserve the help of
the gods? Why did he have to spend his entire life bringing couples
together?

The final straw had come when he’d
pointed out that despite the fact that he was portrayed as a fat
baby with wings shooting arrows at people, at least mortals still
believed in him. As he’d watched his mother, Aphrodite, cover her
eyes and shake her head, Zeus had clapped once and made the entire
throne room of Olympus shake. Eros had fallen through an enormous
hole that had suddenly appeared in the floor and landed in the
middle of a cow pasture in east Devon. He’d shouted a mortal curse
word at the clouds before deciding to go to London.

With a snap of his
fingers, he was sitting at his favorite table in
The Iris
, the best bar
and grill he’d ever found. For a while, he’d played a little game
with himself, guessing which couples would break up first, who
would be the one to leave, and how it would happen. After five
drinks, he was getting pretty creative.

The blonde in the
corner
will find out that her new
boyfriend fooled around with his friend’s mother in high school.
And now that woman is the blonde’s stepmother, because of course
her first husband found out she was seducing teenage boys and
divorced her.

He nodded, very satisfied with
himself, until the blonde jumped up and started screaming
excitedly. An enormous diamond shone on her finger, and everyone in
the building began applauding and raising their glasses.

Eros kicked the table in front of him.
He ignored everything around him until he realized that a woman who
was not his waitress stood at his table with her arms crossed,
staring daggers at him.

“
You have a problem with
your table, sir?” she asked.

The woman looked about thirty, and she
had dark purple hair. Her eyes were like crystals, reflecting every
color in the spectrum, and Eros couldn’t take his eyes away even as
her sharp gaze practically bore a hole in his head.

“
No. Sorry. I just don’t
like Valentine’s Day,” he said.

She raised her eyebrows, but then she
rolled her eyes. “Then why did you even leave the house
today?”

He shrugged. “Just felt like it. This
is my favorite place.”

“
I know, but you’re
usually here for a different purpose.”

He stared at the woman. What was she
talking about? She couldn’t know anything about him. “What do you
mean?”

She looked at him patiently, as if he
were a child who had said something petulant. “I know who you are,
but of course you have no idea who I am. Typical.”

He took a guess, as she wasn’t wearing
a nametag. “I suppose you’re Iris, since I’ve never seen you before
but you seem to know who I am. I’m sorry for kicking the table, but
I don’t think anyone noticed. I didn’t mean to cause trouble. This
really is my favorite place. You have great food here, and I love
the atmosphere.” He stood and took some money out of his pocket.
“Really. I’m sorry. I’ll leave.”

She looked at the money for a moment,
and then took it. “Come to the back and sit for a little while.
I’ll make you a drink at the bar.”

Eros followed her, not feeling he had
much of a choice. He didn’t really know why he was obeying a
mortal, but he didn’t want to offend the owner of his favorite
place. As he followed her back past the kitchen door, he noticed
that her eyes were not her only striking feature. Her hips swayed
seductively, her ass curved just right, and her long legs seemed to
go on forever. When she turned and opened a door, he also saw that
her breasts were full and round, with a lovely jiggle that showed
they were real. She gestured for him to sit down in her
office.

He wondered what possibilities a drink
or two might present as he watched her walk to the bar. She made
them each a rum and Coke. He knew any mortal woman would melt in
his arms the moment he wanted her to, but this one might be fun to
pursue.

When she returned with his drink, he
accepted it and proposed a toast. “To the lovely owner of the best
restaurant in the world.”

She clinked her glass against his.
“Now tell me why you hate Valentine’s Day. Seems rather
inconvenient.”

He took a sip of his drink. “What do
you mean?” Something about Iris disconcerted him, and it wasn’t
just her hot body.

“
Shouldn’t the god of
love, well,
love
Valentine’s Day?”

Eros turned and slammed the door shut
before locking it. “Excuse me? Who the hell are you?”

“
My name is Iris. You know
that already.” She seemed to enjoy the jolt she’d given
him.

Eros stared at her. Why had he done
that? He could wipe her memory if he wanted to. He never lost his
cool, especially not with women, so why was this one
different?

“
Think about it,” she
prompted. “Haven’t you heard the name Iris before?”

As he stared into her eyes, he
remembered something. He’d met her before, but her hair had been
emerald green and she’d had golden wings. He felt his face flush.
Zeus had thrown a costume party last All Hallow’s Eve, and Eros had
hit on her, telling her that if she wanted to fly she should come
home with him. Or something silly like that. She’d told him he
wasn’t the only god with wings and then left with
Poseidon.

“
Didn’t even know my name,
did you? You thought I was some random mortal there for the
pleasure of the gods.”

After a moment, he admitted, “You’re
right. I didn’t know you were a goddess.”

“
Well, I am. I’m the
goddess of rainbows, and those wings are very real.”

A gust of air passed over him as she
broke her glamour and unfurled her wings, which she obviously kept
hidden in the mortal world. They were golden and more delicate than
his own. He hadn’t broken his own glamour in decades.

She drew them in again and
smiled.
“Electra is my mother, and Thaumus
is my father. I’m Hera’s messenger.”

Eros sighed. So, her mother was an
ocean nymph and her father was a sea god, which irrevocably placed
her under Poseidon’s protection and in his favor. On top of that
she was not only favored by Hera, but she was also a sky goddess
with her own powers and freedom. This couldn’t be good, as Zeus
wouldn’t stop any of them from doing whatever they wanted to Eros
right now.

“
And, in case you care to
know who else might come after you for insulting me, remember that
Thaumus is the father of the Harpies, making them my half sisters.
They dote on me like good big sisters always do.” She grinned with
satisfaction and laughed.

He scowled at her ability to read him
so well. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” He wasn’t really
angry, as he was still embarrassed, but he still didn’t think her
teasing was very fair.

She quit laughing. “Not that much. But
it was nice to put you in your place.”

“
My place? What do you
have against me?” Besides hitting on her, what had he ever done?
How could any guy, mortal or immortal, be blamed for trying to pick
up a pretty girl? It wasn’t as if he had drunkenly groped her or
anything.

“
You’ve been coming here
for five years and you never even knew I was here. Not being an
Olympian doesn’t make me any less of a goddess.”

He held up his hands in surrender.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. But I am typically pretty busy. How am I
supposed to keep track of every minor deity if I’m dealing with
mortals all the time?”

“
What is that supposed to
mean?” she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

He gulped, no longer finding it hard
to believe the Harpies were her sisters. “I just meant… Well…okay,
I have no idea what I meant. I was just talking.”

“
You don’t care about
anyone’s feelings, do you?”

“
What? Just because I
offended you, you think I’m unfeeling? I think you should cut me a
break here. Do you know how much heartbreak and pain I’ve seen?” He
finally understood why he hated Valentine’s Day. No matter how hard
he worked, couples still broke up, still got divorced, still hurt
each other, their children, and everyone around them. And he was
sick of it.