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Passion Colours Everything

for @spookybibi / from @redtintedhale 18,590 words Rating: M Warnings: Explicit Sexual Content Mythology AU – Aphrodite has spent centuries moving from lover to lover, some more reluctant than others, but none of them have ever made her want to move to be with them. To try and be more herself than she had ever been before. But when she finds him will he accept the truth of who she really is or will it spell a lifetime of loneliness for her?

She had spent much time on earth over the centuries, it was so much more preferable to existing up in the land of the gods, though there were many reasons behind that. Up there, she was never exactly given much of a chance to watch how humanity changed and developed as the years passed, how a thing like the wheel could explode into the concept of travel, or how a cave painting could morph into all many different types of self expression known as art, from sculptures to painting on more things than just the different-shaped vases sold at the agora every week.

It had started with the need to be away from Olympus because of the fact that Zeus had decided to marry her off to one of his more unattractive sons, in the hopes that it would stop all the debauchery that seemed to appear with her presence. Though it was hardly her fault that her very presence seemed to instil in every god - and on the odd occasion, goddess - the feeling of being loved and wanting to be around her to the point that everyone seemed to fight over her. She had tried to deal with it a little by sending her son Eros around, trying to put their attention onto mortals in the hopes of easing the violence, but that had been just as problematic. She’d been pulled to Zeus’s presence after a particularly loud fight between Apollo, Dionysus and Ares which had shaken the heavens and only been split up by the god of thunder.

“You know this has to stop, Aphrodite,” he’d sighed, rubbing his face from where he was lazing in his throne, while Hera seemed to be busy making notes and giving her the evil eye every time she was sure her husband and brother wasn’t looking. That was unfortunately a more unpleasant symptom of her presence to those who didn’t want her, the jealousy, and Hera seemed to take that to new limits.

“Excuse me? I’m the goddess of love, it’s what I do,” she’d said, raising a perfectly plucked eyebrow as she crossed her arms over her chest so the minimal silk chiton showed off her chest, which wasn’t her intention but still seemed to get his attention. Hera cast her a lethal glare for that move, causing her to roll her eyes.

“Yes…yes well that might be true but surely you would have learned to control it by now,” he stuttered out when Hera stood on his foot to get his mind back on track.

“And just how do you propose I should do that? I can’t just have a set limit of mortal and immortals to cast my attention over before turning it off. It’s not a candle that can be blown out,” she’d sighed, letting her arms drop before her.

“Maybe there’s another solution…” Hera chirped, bringing both their attention to her, and causing a bad feeling to slide into place in Aphrodite’s stomach. Hera was known for being the most vindictive of the goddesses, just as her brother Hades was for their male counterparts, and the sly smirk on her face screamed that whatever was coming was a result of her jealousy.

Zeus frowned at his wife, but leaned towards her when she beckoned so she could whisper her idea in his ear, leaving Aphrodite standing between them, toying with her long red hair over one shoulder checking for split ends. She only looked up when she saw Zeus nod, and knew Hera had managed to talk him into it. Whatever it was.

“Yes…that’s a brilliant idea.” Zeus murmured.

“What’s this idea, or don’t I dare ask?” Aphrodite asked, casting a glare at Hera, who merely gave a smirk before looking at Zeus to be the one to break the news to her.

“We…or rather I, think it would be best if you were married to our son Hephaestus as a way to stop all the fighting.” Zeus said, his tone filled with one of no arguments.

The mention of her and Hephaestus in the same sentence was enough to have Aphrodite close to willingly falling to her knees to make Zeus reconsider. She and the blacksmith god had little if anything in common at all, they didn’t run in the same circles and there was nothing to connect them at all. It was the lowest possible idea, with Hera’s name all over it, a way to marry Hephaestus off so she didn’t feel guilty about his existence and get Aphrodite’s own credibility as a single free and easy goddess crushed. Funny that she hadn’t thought of something similar for Dionysus though.

“What? You can’t be serious!” Aphrodite scoffed, though Hera’s eyes narrowed, telling her just how serious she was.

“Deadly serious. You’ll be married at the end of the week.” Zeus said, making it clear her objections wouldn’t change his decision. She left him calling out for the next deity that needed his attention, and reluctantly moved off to her part of the mountain.

Her quarters were small, and shared with Eros, Dionysus and Athena with Hermes appearing every so often when he wasn’t needed elsewhere to help a hero or deliver a message from one part of the land to the other. It was light and bright, with rooms curtained off for each of them; Aphrodite’s was the closest to the large lake and waterfall that acted as a bath, not that it was anything that was necessary to worry about. But compared to where she knew Hephaestus lived, it was paradise.

His dwelling was in the very centre of the volcanothat was the mountain, closest to where the heat was, which made it easier for him to make weapons for the other gods and goddesses. He rarely came to the top of the mountain unless it was for a meeting of importance, and even then, she knew he was often the first to leave when it was done. She wasn’t made for surviving in a volcano and only hoped he’d allow her to stay on the top when they were married.

She flopped on to her couch in the main common room of sorts that they shared with the others, muses and nymphs coming and going, Helios and Selene parting as Selene was about to rise for the mortals’ night time, Ares and Athena arguing, and Artemis and Apollo crooning away while Artemis sharpened her newest spear. It was all the kind of noise that would usually bring a smile to her face, but in all honesty, the news of her impending nuptials really made it fade away.

“Hey, are you okay, Mom?” Eros asked, her golden haired baby boy sinking down beside her, looking concerned as his wings flicked back and forth in anxiety.

“Yes baby I’m fine, just come here…” She sighed, gesturing for a hug. He hesitated before crawling up the couch to hug her tightly.

“Hermes said he heard you’re supposed to be getting married.” Eros murmured into her shoulder as she toyed with the hair at the base of his neck wistfully.

“Certainly looks that way…let’s just hope your new step dad is going to be accepting,” she said, pressing a kiss as he pulled away and kissed her cheek before gathering some more arrows and disappearing to disburse them to the rest of the cherubs.

“You look like you could do with a vase of wine…” A voice came as she braided her hair listlessly, knowing it would be only a matter of time before Hephaestus would be told and come for her.

“More like two…you got any on you Dionysus?” she asked, looking up at the blonde curls of one of the more fun gods. She and he seemed to get on pretty well since partying and drinking, his speciality, seemed to go hand in hand with hers; but his nights with nymphs and maenads did make her unnerved when he went down to the mortal land.

“Only a flask of ambrosia I’m afraid,” he said, offering her a sympathetic shrug. Though, he did pull the flask out from under his chiton when she gestured for it.

“Thanks. I can’t believe Hera’s managed to get her way again,” Aphrodite sighed, pushing herself upright so all her braids untangled and he came to sit beside her as she downed a mouthful of the sweet liquid.

“Why are you always so surprised? You know Dad will always go along with whatever plan she wants after she’s caught him with someone else again.” Dionysus shrugged, as she downed another mouthful before handing the flask back to him.

“I don’t know, but me marrying Hephaestus…that’s taking it a bit far, surely.” She huffed, not the least bit surprised when he doubled over laughing and fell off the couch at the news.

“You…Hephaestus….what?!” he laughed, causing her to roll her eyes and wrench the flask back from his hand to down some more.

“Yeah, laugh it up party boy - but there’s nothing to say you won’t be next,” she murmured, which made him laugh even harder and cover his eyes with his hands.

“Stop it! Stop it, you’re killing me!” he laughed, even as she poked him with her foot to shut him up. She ended up finishing the contents of the flask and throwing it at him, leaving him rolling around on the floor to the amusement of the rest of the gods as she made her way to her room.

Xo

At the end of the week,Aphrodite and Hephaestus were married before the eyes of all the gods, goddesses and demigods on Olympus. Their reception was nowhere near as entertaining as any of the others in the past had been, like Hades and Persephone, or Poseidon and Amphitrite,but Aphrodite was too glum the whole day to have really enjoyed it anyway. She’d still made the effort to dress her best and keep a smile on her face, but everyone that really knew her knew it was for show more than anything else.

As she’d expected and dreaded,Hephaestus insisted that Aphrodite and Eros come live with him inside the volcano, leaving her hair frizzy and her skin slicked with sweat for the first time without there being amorous activities involved. She hadn’t been able to sleep beside him, as his dead blind eyes refused to close properly and his stump kept kicking her in his sleep, so she’d asked to stay in her quarters on the top the next morning. He’d agreed, as long as she came to see him every night, but for the most part they were married on paper more than anything else.

It was that which had made it so much easier for her to still keeping seeing gods and mortals without his knowledge. From Phaethonto Butes to Adonis, they all came and went from her bed, the time together seeming to soothe her. Often the ring Hephaestus had made her would sit in her chest of drawers for days on end, only going back on her finger when he wanted her and Eros to come see him inside the mountain.

But one of her more extended extramarital affairs, if that’s what you wanted to really call it, was with the god of war: Ares. There was something about the sight of him in his armour and helmet cackling over the mortals while Athena glared at him as she tried to protect Athens from his next influx of Spartan troops that wasirresistible to Aphrodite. Also, the fact that he was the most passionate lover in immortal form,who could keep up with her, had been the best part.

She had known that, to some degree, everyone else on the mountain knew about her and Ares. No-one could really ignore it when Ares wouldn’t stop talking to whoever would listen about how good the night before was. Each time she’d try and get him to stop, though he was as pig-headed as he was a sore loser, so it was really no surprise that they had got caught by Hephaestus when they had.

The day in question,Hephaestus had said he was going to accept his offerings at the temple in Athens and also watch over the Chalkeia festival, so Aphrodite had been sure that there was enough time for them to be alone. Ares had left Athena to overlook the wars and advise whichever hero would dare to call out to her for guidance.

He’d come to find Aphrodite in the common room, which was empty that day as everyone was attending their own business or visiting other gods and goddesses if they had nothing to do. Arespicked her up in his strong arms and kissed her deeply. She hadn’t been able to stop the smile on her red lips as he’d nipped her bottom lip and carried her into her room.

He’d thrown her back onto her bed, and thrown his armour aside before climbing over her, sliding her silk Chiton off her form and leaving it open to his advances. Her back arched against the couch as his lips had brushed up the pale skin of her legs while he parted them, and then up her torso to nip and suck on her neck as she cried out for more. Her nails had clawed at the skin on his back as he’d thrust deep inside her, causing her to pull his lips back to her to muffle the sounds.

But just as he was thrusting deeper and deeper towards the spot that ached for him, she felt him stop and looked up to see a net covering the both of them. Aphrodite swallowed as a bad feeling set into the pit of her stomach. The net began to tighten when Ares tried to part himself from her, and the ropes of the net began to burn the skin it touched.

She was just on the verge of calling out to someone to help then when she heard someone say her name and saw Hephaestus stood in the doorway, pulling on the net until both she and Ares were pushed deeper together into the net as it was tied together and hoisted to the ceiling of the room. She heard him call out to the rest of the few gods that were here about what had happened and not to let them down until he came back.

Needless to say they spent hours sat naked in that net, Dionysus came to sneak a picture, which Ares threatened him within an inch of his life for, and Eros blushed furiously when he came looking for Aphrodite and found them in that position. But even through the pain and humiliation, Ares seemed the most pissed at Hephaestus and told Aphrodite all the many ways he was going to smite him once they were out of that net. It was more reassuring than him telling her they were finished at any rate.

But things between her and Ares soon began to cool after that. He’d find other women, nymphs, muses and even mortals to sleep with. True he’d still come looking for her when there were no wars, and she wasn’t fixating on the pagan festivals that began to pop up associated with love. But after the humiliation with Ares in the net, she’d started to spend less time on the mountain, her fellow deities that wanted her often coming to look for her when she was on Earth.

That was around the Romantic period, when she’d gone to Europe to experience the Renaissance of Greek artwork, following it from one side of Europe to another just enjoying the creative ambiance and the crowds that followed her, the mortal men and sometimes women that would come to her and share their bodies and beds with her. But once the exhibition moved to America, she knew that she’d found the place that she wanted to stay in, since it was so much more open and less reserved and polite than European countries.

She settled in New York when Eros began to brag about it and how he’d found his other half in the form of a beautiful mortal named Psyche that he couldn’t stop himself from going back to. She’d never seen Eros so happy, and though there had been a slight sense of jealousy at the way men seemed to like Psyche, both gods and mortals aplenty,She managed to ease it for his sake.

Aphrodite would mostly grab whatever work she could find, sometimes moving on to higher education as the years began to favour it more for her gender. She stuck to art history and classical history, and became a highly respected academic in both subjects, though moved on to Chicago as a professor in both subjects when she felt she had outstayed her welcome in that state, and got too much attention. Though by then Eros and Psyche were having their own version of a proper serious relationship, after the debacle with her family finding out when he’d asked her not to tell. Aphrodite had seen how much Eros loved her and managed to persuade her son to let himself be found.

Every so often Aphrodite would go back to the mountain to check in on the newest couple, to see Ares with a new child in his arms, and his gaze would search her out in the crowd for a night before she went back down to the mortal realm, but that dance began to get boring over the centuries. In the end she gave up on love.Oh, every so often she’d find herself going to a club to find someone to spend the night with and indulge in that ecstasy, sure, but her mind seemed more fixated on her work.

She moved to Washington DC when she next came to the mortal world, and started another degree in her spare time, fixating on mathematics instead of history, giving her something else to focus on. She ended up spending more time with Athena, as she tried to work out the more complicated formulas, than any other god but it was worth it in the end as it helped them become closer.Athena seemed to be overwhelmed with all the wars going on, but while she was happy to leave it up to Ares for a while, it was never for too long as he would only end up causing havoc.

One night,Aphrodite was working on her dissertation withAthena sitting beside her, dressed in mortal clothes of skinny jeans and a V-neck with her black hair in a ponytail over her shoulder. The change in wardrobe was something Aphrodite had long since got used to, as the fashions had progressed over the years it had become easier for her to be more comfortable in shorter flowery dresses instead of her chiton, with her hair cut short in a bun for comfort. As they sat together, Athena made a thoughtful sound.

“What’s that sound for?” Aphrodite asked, looking up from the theorem she was trying to work out, tapping the pencil to her lips.

“I was just thinking, it’s been a while since I’ve heard any gossip through the grapevine about you and anyone. I never thought I’d hear the day that you, the goddess of love, would have given up on it.” Athena shrugged, leaning over Aphrodite’s shoulder to point out something she needed to change.

“Why is that such a hard thing to believe? I mean, I know I’m loved by family and friends…and it’s just as satisfying as trying to look for the next man or woman I want in my bed,” Aphrodite sighed, scrubbing the number out with the eraser on the end of her pencil.

“I don’t doubt that, really. I was just saying…me and Artemis have our reasons for not being with someone else. I mean, if Artemis had her way she would have jumped Helios by now, but she’s keeping true to her followers.And I’m happy fixating on Athens even now, and knowledge is so much more fulfilling. But you…my dearest Dite, you’re made to love…it just doesn’t seem like you to not be involved with someone, that’s all,” Athena said kindly, though she wasn’t able to hide the worry on her face.

Aphrodite didn’t say anything.

They finished the rest of the theorem without Athena voicing her concern again, but as she was about leave for Olympus (before Ares guided a plane into an airspace it shouldn’t be in), she hovered like there was something else she wanted to say.

“Eros and his siblings are just worried about you, that’s all. Please, just think about it instead of repressing that side of you huh?” she asked, offering a small smile before she left.

It left Aphrodite sitting there staring at her finished theorem and wondering if she was really turning her back on love for all the right reasons..

She began to focus more on guiding mortal loves when she was sitting in cafés, winking at the cupids that appeared, with smiles that seemed to make them relieved, behind her books. She felt better about being more involved in other people’s love lives again it every day, but wouldn’t focus on her own love as much as she had done in the past. It still seemed to become powerful enough to help another of her fellow gods find his other half, as he came to pester her about it that night when she was marking papers for the class she was TAing.

He appeared looking dishevelled, and clutching a bottle of wine since he’d followed the times just as much as she had. He too was dressed in human garb, looking like he was going to go out to a nightclub but had changed his mind at the last moment, tight black leather pants, with boots and a white t-shirt that was sticking to his chest from the wine that dripped down his chin when he drank. His curls were dishevelled, as though he’d been running his fingers through them since he set eyes on her.

“…I mean she’s so beautiful…so snarky….so so everything…and I just…I can’t…” He was getting hysterical; his words were separated by hiccups. He looked like he was about to fall over. Whatever he was feeling, it was obviously more intense than every other love interest he’d had before. That was definitely a first. She’d have to double check that Eros’ arrows weren’t going haywire.

“Dio, come and sit,” she sighed, throwing her pencil aside and leading him towards her bed before he tripped and hit his head, since she had no idea where Asclepius was at that moment in time.

He flopped down on the mattress as she set his wine aside and laid beside him, running her fingers through his hair reassuringly as he murmured every little thing that he seemed to love about this mortal woman that he’d set his eyes on and just fallen head over heels for.

“I’m surprised you didn’t go and speak to her. I mean, it’s not like you to shy away from talking to a woman.” She murmured, as she felt him smile at her.

“What exactly do I say to a woman that beautiful? I mean why would she say yes to me anyway?” He asked, with a small frown that caused her to bite her lip. Dionysus never usually doubted himself, he was very laid back and self assured. It must be really serious.

“You compliment her, just like you do every nymph, muse and mortal. Just take things slow and don’t try to jump her like you do the others ok?” She murmured reassuringly into his ear as she gave him a tight hug. “I need to finish these papers, but sleep all that wine off first before you go yeah?”

He murmured something sleepily that sounded like an acknowledgment before his body went limp, leaving her to climb off the bed as she heard him snore. She put a blanket over him and turned back to her papers, hoping that when he woke he’d be more clear-headed, and there would be rumours buzzing around Olympus of him finally settling down. It was about time.

Sure enough she ended up being summoned to Olympus for his and Ariadne’s wedding a couple of months later, watching the adoring look on his face, as he watched her the whole way through the exchanging of their vows. How his blue eyes would watch her green ones, how his fingers would fidget between her lithe slender ones and how a smile remained on their lips at being so close. It was no surprise when they left to run off somewhere, but being surrounded by the crowds of couples made it a lonely place to be a as a love goddess, even as the amorous energy seemed to replenish and settle her itch to find someone herself.

She managed to find Eros and Psyche to say her goodbyes to those two, as well as Eros’ siblings, before going back to Earth. She packed up her office that night, leaving only a letter of resignation on top of a pile of marked essays before making her way to her next state. She was just thankful that her maths dissertation was done, she’d email them her new address when she found it.

She ended up in San Francisco, living in an apartment not far from the Californian College of Arts, and started working as a barista on campus while applying for art history positions with her previous degree. She was soon snapped up as a tutor and junior professor, taking classes of all years and hoping that this time her academics would lull her enough to get settled. She got her Maths honours degree not long after, but kept it with her classical history one in her flat.

She’d got a roommate in the form of the muse Euterpe, though it was only temporary as Euterpe didn’t like to stick around for too long, making it a habit to move around art and music educational institutions to help inspire students. But at the moment, she seemed keen to hang around, as though her sisters had mentioned she shouldhelp reassure Aphrodite that she had people who cared.

It was surprisingly soothing to have the muse around, though Aphrodite knew that was because that was the way that a muse worked. Still she and Euterpe would hang out between Aphrodite’s days working and Euterpe’s days of lurking in corridors and libraries.

It was a couple of years later that she got the urge to move again. Euterpe had moved on after finding a mortal that she’d found a connection with in New Orleans. Aphrodite been hovering there ever since, her excuse for going away every so often her mysterious job, though she was happy that Euterpe had found someone who understood and really loved her. Aphrodite had the other muses passing through every so often, and even a couple of nymphs when the weather was frightful along the coast so it wasn’t like she was ever alone.

But one day Aphrodite got the urge to move. That she needed to move, there was no other way to explain it really. She’d wanted to stay longer, to wait until after the exam period for her students hit, but the urge was like a punch in the gut that nearly winded her. It felt like the effects of one of her son’s arrows but that was impossible, her own magic wasn’t supposed to work on her. Still, she found herself packing her cases, emailing a resignation letter and emails to her TAs to take over for her for the next couple of weeks until exams. She packed her bags and was gone, driving her car and hoping that her gut knew where she was supposed to be going exactly.

She drove down the highway towards LA, hoping that somewhere along the way this constant feeling would stop. She made it to the petrol station an hour outside of LA for more gas but it didn’t seem to be easing, obviously her journey was going to be longer than she thought. She paid for the gas and some food, getting back in the car and continuing the drive. But the urge to keep going once she reached the outer limits of LA was just plain confusing.

She frowned but continued on the highway, picking her fingernails every so often and turning the radio off as it changed the station according to where she passed through. But soon she’d reached the limits of a place called Beacon Hills, and the feeling seemed to spark through her veins as though it was where she needed to be.

She drove up the high street, looking around as she went. It was a small town really, just a sleepy town filled with people who’d been born and brought up there dying there because they felt content in that one place. She chewed her lower lip as she drove towards the one hotel opposite the only café, stretching as she grabbed her bags and hoping there was a room free.

Thankfully there was a room free for the time being, and after throwing her things on the floor she collapsed back on the bed despite the fact she felt gross and could do with a shower. Still she summoned her son and he soon appeared before her, shirtless with his wings flickering like he’d been about to go to bed himself.

“Mom, what the Hades? I was just about to go to sleep!” he said, though he was flushing as though sleeping was the last thing he and Psyche had had on their minds. Aphrodite overlooked it for now.

“Did you or one of your brothers shoot me with one of your arrows?” she asked tiredly, causing him to frown as he sat down on the bed beside her.

“What? No. Of course not. I thought they couldn’t work on you anyway,” he said, crossing his arms over his bare chest as his wings slumped closed to rest at the small of his back.

“I thought that too…but what other explanation is there for the reason my gut wanted me to come to this town in the middle of nowhere?” she asked, gesturing around the room causing Eros to shrug though the way he bit his lip he obviously had an idea. “What? What is it?”

“It’s nothing…. you’re just kind of describing how I found Psyche. It was a random urge to just go to New York that refused to leave me alone until I went there. Maybe you’ve finally found the mortal you’ve been waiting for?” he asked, though she frowned at the thought.

It had never happened to her before so maybe it would explain why she’d never felt a connection like that with a mortal before. Even with Adonis it hadn’t been anywhere near this intense. Sure she missed him ferociously after his untimely death (thanks to a very jealous Ares) but her feelings for him had never been so deep.

“Mom? Can I go back now?” Eros asked bringing her back to reality and causing her to smile reassuringly at her son.

“Yes of course, sorry sweetie. Give Psyche my apologies,” Aphrodite said, kissing his cheek before he got up from the bed.

“Will do . Night, Mom,” he said with a flickering of his wings and a wave before he disappeared, leaving her to push her body up from the bed to take her desperately needed shower.

The urge refused to leave her even when she was sleeping. She tossed and turned through the whole night and cursed Eos to Hades when she brought the dawn that morning. She took another shower and made herself go get some breakfast from KJ’s café on the high street, hoping that she could get more of a sense for the place by being around a community hot spot.

Aphrodite ordered a coffee and a pastry and took them to sit in an armchair in the window, watching people coming and going over her winterberry latte, as she picked her croissant apart. She was just checking her phone for messages of confusion from her TAs and texting Euterpe to let her know where she was when the urge spiked in her chest causing her look up at the time he walked into the café.

He was dressed in a deputy’s outfit, with a smile on his lips despite the hour. His arms were muscular enough to make her body shiver at the thought of being held in them and thought of what was hidden under that uniform had her hands shaking. His entrancing green eyes were filled with an attentiveness like whoever was in front of him was the most important person in that moment. Every single little thing about him seemed to set her blood alight, and it was from that alone that she just knew he was the reason she was there. He was the person that had her heart humming and seeminglymore settled now that he was in her very presence.

She heard him making small talk with the barista, who was packing a lot of pastries into a takeaway box while another was making a series of coffees, scribbling names on the tops to identify whose was whose before they were closed. She bit her lip as she watched him gather the box of pastries and balance a tray of coffees before walking out the door backwards so he didn’t have to use his hands to open it.

And just was soon as he was there, he was gone. The urge stabbed at her hard, like a painful loss that her body just couldn’t handle. She cursed under her breath, gathered her things and picked up her coffee, thankfully in a takeaway mug, to leave. Hopefully if she could at least find out where he worked, she could ease the pain a little.

She ended up following him to the deputy’s station, watching him chatter with the receptionist as she was taking one of the coffees from the tray. She could tell the receptionist was flirting rather blatantly with him, her aura was lit upfuchsia pink like a Christmas tree, but for him the feeling was definitely not mutual as he picked up the coffees and pastries and disappeared from view, leaving Aphrodite to sink down on the steps of the station and wonder what the hell she was supposed to do now.

She ended up coming up with a plan of sorts. First, she’d find somewhere more permanent to live and find a job maybe at that café, so she could get to know him a little bit at a time, and then she would try and come up with how she was going to progress. Sure she could just turn on her magic over him but something told her it wasn’t going to have the same effect as it would have over Ares or anyone else she had been enamoured with in the past. This was different, and she would need to come up with a more mortal kind of tactic.

Xo

Over the next week she found a flat to live in, in one of the buildings opposite the station so his presence when he was there would ease the blow a little. She also managed to get a job at the café, and another as a temporary math and history teacher at the high school, which considering her hours at the café would be the morning shift would be a bit awkward. She’d find a way to work around it.

Every morning she’d get up and dressed with the sole purpose of seeing him. She was unfortunately always the one helping the barista with the coffees, so she never got to speak to him face to face which she was sure would have helped a whole lot more. But the odd glimpse of him or feeling of his presence was enough to ease the pain for the rest of the day. She’d usually have got a text about whether she was needed at the high school or not and if not would spend the rest of the day at the café just working.

Sometimes another deputy would come at lunch for the next round of coffees, other days they’d steer clear all together, but he was still in her thoughts even then. But one day, a couple of months later, she seemed to get a break as the barista that usually took the orders and money from customers was sick and she now had enough experience from day shifts to be able to cope. Thankfully it wasn’t too busy that morning when he appeared.

“Hi there, what can I get you?” she made herself ask, even though her mouth was dry and her hand refused to stop shaking around the pen she was holding.

“Erm hi, where’s Kali?” he asked, as though he was used to the deputy’s orders just being known, and not having to go through them.

“She’s sick.It’s okay, Jordan, just give Lydia the cash and I’ll deal with the other stuff when I’m done,” the other barista, Jennifer, said from the coffee machine.

Aphrodite had been Lydia for centuries when it came to her time on Earth by this point, after her first couple of tries as Aphrodite had been met with disbelief and blasphemy, but to know that was the only name he was going to know her by unless she said something suddenly made her want to cry. Still she tried to pretend it didn’t bother her when she took his cash for the coffees and pastries, and handed over his change, moving to the coffee machine when Jennifer told her to, but being unable to stop looking at him now that she knew his name.

She heard him and Jennifer whispering amongst themselves but pretended not to care as she made a latte for Jordan’s order, letting Jennifer take it and scribble a name on it before adding it to the tray and handing it over to him. But she felt him pause as he was about to leave, his gaze lingering on her, easing the pain and causing her to revel in the feeling for a moment before she heard him put a few coins in the tip jar and the sound of him leaving like always.

It then became a kind of ritual for the next couple of weeks. He’d come in every morning and make the effort to speak to her even if Kali or Jennifer was back at the counter, asking her about her day or if she had managed not to burn herself after a particularly bad day where her hands had been covered in the damned things. He’d been there and drawn Kali’s attention to it, holding an ice pack to her hands for her while Jenifer took over. Her whole being had been purring that day, but her mouth just couldn’t seem to come up with anything to say to him…all her usual flirtatious banter seeming like it would insult him.

But one day he appeared while she was cleaning up the café alone, Jennifer and Kali having a date with a movie in their flat above the café, giving her a key to lock up when she was done. It had been a long day of dealing with rambunctious teenagers on top of making lattes and she just wanted to go home, maybe summon some of her children for a hug to reassure her that it would be worth it in the end.

She heard the doorbell jingle and sighed from where she was brushing up the crumbs from behind the counter, not looking up as she called, “We’re closed.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” a familiar voice said, causing her to stiffen and turn to see him on the other side of the counter. He wasn’t dressed in his uniform but a teal v-neck with a pair of jeans, a smile on his face that made everything about his mortal soul seem to glow and call out to her at the same time.

“Jordan…I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was you” she apologised, putting the brush aside and turning to watch him lean over the counter that she’d just cleaned with anti-bacterial spray, but at the moment she really couldn’t care less.

“I just wanted to see if I could grab a drink before I go on my undercover shift, but I think I may have missed the boat there.” He smiled, causing her to brush her hair behind her ears and reluctantly nod.

“Yeah, sorry. I’m just supposed to be closing up shop,” she said, moving past him to start putting stools up on top of tables though she felt his gaze following her figure as she moved.

“That’s a shame, still…maybe you’d like to have a different kind of drink with me instead?” he asked, causing her to pause from turning a stool upside down before putting it on the table, and turn to look at him instead.

“Wait, you came here because you wanted to have a drink with me?” she asked, watching him smile brightly as though he couldn’t believe she hadn’t picked up on that sooner.

“Well yeah, unless you have other plans I mean,” he said, his confidence seeming to wilt a little, as she moved to put up stools on another table.

“No, no other plans at all. I’m just…if you’re supposed to be undercover then…” she began but stopped when she felt him behind her, causing all manner of sparks to flow through every inch of her body. She swallowed as she dared to look over her shoulder at him and felt his hand brushing against her aura as though he was debating with himself whether to touch her or not.

“…then I want you to come with me. Think of it like a kind of pseudo-date,” he suggested, causing her to frown.

“A pseudo-date?” she asked slowly, taking a few steps out his reach to move to another table so she could try and think about this more rationally. She found it hard to believe that he didn’t have a co-worker from the station that could be the date or his back up.

“Well yeah, it’ll give us the chance to get to know each other a bit more while I’m undercover, and then, maybe I could ask you out properly for a real date,” he said, as she turned around from putting up the last couple of stools on the table and turned back towards the counter.

“I don’t think being undercover can really be considered a precursor to a date. Sorry. I’m really tired, and just want to go home,” she apologised, even though every fibre of her being seemed to be screaming at her for turning down the opportunity. She’d been hanging around just waiting for the opportunity to get to know him more, and yet now it was stood in front of her she was saying no?!

From Jordan’s aura he seemed to be losing his confidence altogether now that she’d turned him down, immediately making her want to change her mind. His aura was bleary and tinged with scarlet for embarrassment, which had her beating herself up.

“Right, of course. Sorry…I should probably be going then. I’ll see you later,Lydia,” he said, easing towards the door, leaving her to silently berate herself behind the counter as she watched him walk out.

She sighed miserably, and picked up her bag and coat. This really had been one of the worst days of her existence. The Fates must be laughing their asses off. She made sure to lock up, willing to put up with being told off by Kali for not cleaning up properly as she walked towards her flat, wondering what she was going to do now. Considering she was the goddess of love, it shouldn’t be this hard!

The next morning after having a cuddle with Thalia, Euphrosyne and Aglaea, she managed to come up with a plan. Just a simple way to let him know that she was interested, even if he’d gone about asking her out all wrong. She made her way to the café, endured the chewing out from Kali for doing everything wrong, and stood at the coffee machine practically buzzing as she waited for Jordan to come in.

But he didn’t appear, another deputy taking his place with the pick up for the station. She wanted to ask where Jordan was, but knew it was because of her turning him down. He’d probably thought it best to steer clear of the café. It stung a little, but she managed to assure herself she would make it up to him, if only to reassure him that she was interested. When it came to her lunch break, she grabbed Jordan’s usual lunch from the café as well as her own and went to the station.

The receptionist seemed to wilt a little when she asked where Jordan was, but Aphrodite didn’t let that bother her, as she made her way into the main office. Deputies were bustling all over the place, a few just sipping coffees as they took their breaks with their feet up on desks or other chairs. But as she looked amongst them, she didn’t see any sign of Jordan. So she tried to home in on his aura, leading her towards the break room, where he was sitting, surrounded by paperwork, with a cup-a-soup.

As he was about to lift the mug to his lips he spotted her and stopped, setting it down beside him as she came towards his table.

“Lydia, what are you doing here?” he asked, his tone filled with professionalism and confusion as she offered his lunch to him.

“I came to bring you some lunch…I was actually hoping you’d come in today so I could apologise for last night,” she said, letting him take the lunch and pull up another chair for her.

“Thanks but you didn’t have to. I would have come in, but we’ve got a rookie so it’s his job now, and I was in interrogation with a suspect.” Jordan said, watching her sit down opposite him and sip her coffee as he cleared the paperwork into a pile on one side so they didn’t get food on anything.

“Ah, that explains it,” she said, nodding in understanding as she removed her sandwich from its bag.

“Anyway, you don’t need to apologise – I do. I mean, I’m sure you get asked out all the time. It must get tedious,” Jordan said, sipping his own coffee as his cold cup-a-soup was ignored.

“Actually no I don’t…not since I came to town anyway. But I wouldn’t exactly say yes if anyone other than you asked me, anyway.” Aphrodite shrugged, watching his green eyes widen as he looked like he was about to choke on his coffee.

“Say that again?” he croaked, bringing a smile to her lips as she rested her free hand on his.

“I know that I said no to last night but…I didn’t want a pseudo date with you, Jordan, I wanted a real proper date. That was what I’d been waiting for and part of why I turned you down.”

“And what was the other part?” he asked.

“I really was tired last night. Being part-barista and part-substitute teacher for a bunch of high schoolers is enough to exhaust anybody. So if you’d come in today…I was hoping to ask you out for real.” She smiled, ignoring her food as she let her gaze move over his face, take in the bright gold of his aura and how it seemed to get brighter as he blushed. It was the purest thing she had ever seen and something she never wanted to be parted from.

“Then ask me,” he murmured, setting his coffee beside his untouched sandwich.

“Okay, would you like to go out for a real drink tonight, Jordan?” she asked, brushing her hair behind her ear as a smile lit up his features.

He brushed his hand against her cheek softly.“I’d love to go out for a drink with you, Lydia.”

Before both their lunch hours were over they’d exchanged numbers and agreed to meet outside the café (since Kali was making Lydia stay behind to do a proper close up that night), so that he could show her the best bar in the town. Aphrodite left the station after pressing a kiss to his cheek and felt his gaze following her departure - along with every other person - but all that mattered was his attention.

She spent the rest of the day with her head in the clouds, her heart floating on air at the fact she was going to actually be going out with him after so long of just pining from afar. She managed to get through her day without messing up, and it seemed to be good enough for Kali to let her go early. It gave her time to get ready for her date so she could go back to the café and feel a little bit more like the love goddess she actually was.

She arrived back at the closed café ten minutes before Jordan was supposed to appear, dressed in a knee high pink floral patterned strapless dress under a white cardigan with white high heels, her long red hair in waves. She already felt like her old self. Like the Aphrodite that she had always been, before she had become so fixated on trying to be someone else. Yet unlike her usual self she knew this was important, not just another fling that if it went wrong she could easily replace.

She heard footsteps coming towards her and turned towards them to see Jordan dressed in a black, short sleeved shirt with an open collar, showing off his muscular arms, and a pair of black jeans with a leather jacket on making him seem more him and less like he was trying to impress her. He stopped a few steps shy of her and she felt his gaze moving over her as though he couldn’t believe she was actually there.

“Hi, Jordan.” She smiled, closing the couple of steps between them and seeming to snap him out of his thoughts as a bright smile appeared on his face.

“Lydia, you look amazing,” he smiled, resting a hand on the small of her back as he started to lead her in the direction she assumed the bar was.

“Thanks, you don’t look too bad yourself. Definitely suits you more than what you were wearing undercover.” She smiled, trying to ignore how her body seemed to be filled with sparks from his touch.

“Thanks, yeah, that was definitely not my usual look but I did have to try and blend in a little.” He shrugged.

“How did that go anyway? Anything interesting happen?” she asked, letting her gaze linger over his profile as he led her down the pavement.

“Not as exciting as you would have expected. If there was any drug dealers or anything they obviously chose last night to stay home. Can’t complain really, at least it meant I could go home earlier than planned.” He grinned, causing her to smile and nod shivering a little despite her cardigan. Obviously Zeus was in one of those moods.

“Hey, you cold?” he asked, bringing her closer to him so his hand moved to her waist. The feel of him so close causing her heart to race.

“Just a little, it’s nothing. We can’t be that far to the bar right?” she asked, as Jordan nodded and led her down an alley towards a door.

It looked like it was a hidden secret for the town, the kind of bar that people would only know about if they went there before. It seemed to be a pretty modern kind of bar with an ambiance that quickly settled what nerves she’d had lingering in the back of her mind. There were only a few patrons, since it was a week night but it still seemed to be enough business that there was more than just the one bartender.

Jordan led her towards the end of the bar that was away from the prying eyes of the rest of the locals and offered her the stool while he just leaned against the bar. She leaned against his body as he was looking at the assortment of bottles behind the bar trying to decide what he wanted. It was surprising how natural it felt to be out with him.

“So, what’ll you have, Lydia?” he asked, pulling his wallet out his jeans pocket.

“Just a gin and tonic please” she smiled, as he pulled out a couple of bills as a bartender came to get their orders.

“Just a gin and tonic for the lady and a house beer for me thanks, Laura.” Jordan smiled, watching her go to grab the right glasses and sort through the beers for the right one.

“You been here a lot then?” Lydia asked once he’d set the right amount of cash on the bar and took the beer from Laura thankfully.

“Not really, I mean the guys at the station sometime drag me out when they want a night out, but can’t be bothered to go all the way out to Jungle or Sinema. Though, coming with a lot of deputies just wanting to get a buzz to help them unwind after a day of paperwork or speed trapping is a lot louder and more expensive than you’d think,” Jordan shrugged, taking a swig of his beer.

“Don’t go blaming Danny for the prices again, Parrish. Here’s your gin and tonic,” Laura said, setting it down and taking the cash before moving to her next customer.

“You want to just stay at the bar?” Jordan asked as Lydia took a sip of her drink, appreciating the buzz of the alcohol over her taste buds.

“We could always go sit at a table if you want,” she shrugged, watching him offer her his hand to help her down. She took his hand as she eased herself from the stool and picked up her drink before following him towards a table out the way of the attention.

“So you said today that you’re a substitute teacher for high schoolers as well as being a barista, that must be interesting,” Jordan said, once they were both settled at the table, her cardigan over the back of the chair like his leather jacket.

“It’s not all the time, but it sure has its moments. Still at least it reassures me that my degrees are still useful for something.” She sighed, resting her head on her hand as he brushed his fingers over his beer bottle though his gaze remained on her the whole time like he couldn’t make himself look away even if he tried.

“Degrees? As in more than one?” He asked, eyebrows raised as though he hadn’t been able to deal with the thought of doing one let alone more than one.

“Yeah it’s not as interesting as it sounds. I’ve got my doctorate in classical studies, a masters in Art History and a masters in Mathematics. I had a lot of time between jobs to think of what I wanted to do next,” she shrugged. She knew that was putting it lightly but she couldn’t tell him that just yet.

“Wow, I only wish I’d been as keen as you are about academics,” he said, taking a sip of his beer.

“Did you decide not to go or…?” she asked curiously.

“I didn’t have the time to think about it really. As soon as I finished school I enlisted and didn’t really look back.”

“Enlisted? Wow, that must have been a whole other experience…” she said, her eyes wide as he bit the corner of his lip.

“Something like that. But unfortunately after an incident with some of my squad getting shot and bombed in front of me, my psych eval said I should be discharged. I was given an honourable discharge and left to decide what I was going to do for the rest of my life,” he said.

“So you chose to be a deputy?” she asked tilting her head as she took a sip of her drink.

“More like the opportunity arose. There was a jobfair at the DVA to help veterans with PTSD with looking for a new career and a rep from the police academy was there. I didn’t think too much about it really to start with, since having PTSD is hardly conducive to being a deputy, but I decided to give it a shot. While in the Academy, my instructors were very helpful and it made it easier for me to actually consider it a career move. I’m just lucky I managed to get a position here in Beacon Hills before I graduated - before I could talk myself out of going through with it,” he said, playing with his beer bottle between his hands as though the subject was a tough one for him.

“Hey, it’s ok,” she said softly, resting her hand on the back of one of his, which seemed to ease his anxiety a little.

“It still affects me every so often with nightmares after an exceptionally bad day, but it’s not as bad as it was. That’s the main thing,” he said, earning a reassuring smile from her.

“You’re definitely one of the strongest men I’ve ever met.” She said softly, watching his aura blur a little with embarrassment. But there was smile on his face that made her heart race and her fingers part and slide between his.

“You obviously don’t know that many men then, do you?” he joked, causing her to roll her eyes and reach back for her drink, the two still holding hands between them.

They spoke about their travels, and they had surprisingly been to a lot of the same places, despite the fact that Jordan had been there while he was on leave while in the army, and the usual favourites. The more they spoke the more she could feel the bond building between them, along with the need to be around each other. But soon the bar was closing and they both had early starts, so he insisted on walking her to her apartment.

“It’s been good to finally get to know you, Lydia,” he smiled, as they hovered outside the bakery that her flat was above.

“Yeah, you too, and if you have the chance I’d love to do it again sometime,” she said, brushing her hand against his cheek.

“The pleasure would be all mine.” He whispered, taking her hand in his and pressing a kiss to the back.

She bit her bottom lip coyly as he let go of her hand, and took a step closer to him, feeling his hand on the small of her back as he bent to kiss her. It was only a simple kiss, nothing fancy or over the top, but for her at that moment it was the most perfect kiss she had ever had. She almost didn’t want him to leave her, but managed to restrain the urge by pulling back and meeting his gaze.

“Night, Jordan,” she whispered, brushing her hair behind her ear.

“Night, Lydia,” he smiled, walking backwards down the pavement to keep his gaze on her a little longer, which had her giggling as she turned to unlock the door.

Xo

The next week continued on like that slowly, with her seeing him every morning for the station’s pick up; with him pausing to kiss her goodbye on the cheek before leaving for work; with the two of them texting and meeting up whenever Jordan wasn’t on a night shift. On the nights that he was, he’d come to the café so they could have their lunch breaks together.

It was easy for her to feel how enamoured he was with her as the days progressed, how his fingers would linger over the skin on the backs of her hands while she was talking about the bad customer of the day, how no matter how bad the day he was having, his face would always light up with a blinding smile at the sight of her, and how every time he walked her home or was about to go back to work he’d kiss her softly like she was made of the rarest, most precious porcelain.

But exactly one week after they’d started seeing each other, she knew that just seeing him wasn’t enough, that the odd kiss on the cheek or lips wasn’t enough, when the urge to feel his body up against her own or his arms around her was building day by day. But at the same time, she didn’t want to make him feel like she was pressuring him to get that point in their relationship. Things were still so fragile and new that one wrong move could shatter everything apart. But every time he was around her that pain that she felt when they were apart would merge into the feeling of butterflies fluttering in her stomach, and his skin against her own ignitedpassionate sparks though every nerve in her body.

It was all that assured her that things between them were so right, that she felt like she should at least let him know that she was interested in that kind of relationship. If he wasn’t, she could handle that, she could hold out a little bit longer until things were more serious if that was what she wanted, but either way she just couldn’t stand the thought of losing him. She ended up inviting him over to her apartment with promises of a movie and dinner, though it left her rushing around the flat to make sure it looked OK, picking up the ingredients for a chilli on the way home and changing from her barista get up.

She’d chosen a flowery mid-thigh length dress with her hair in curls and powder pink silk flats, though she would usually walk around the place barefoot and in something more comfortable when she was alone. She was just setting the table when she heard a knock at the door, causing her to stop like a deer in the headlights and swallow against her nerves.

“Coming!” she called, brushing her hair behind her ears and biting her lip as she made her way towards the door. When she opened it, it was to the sight of him stood there, a bottle of wine held in his hand.

“Hey,” she smiled, watching his features light up; that was never going to get old, no matter how many times she saw it.

“Hi, you’re looking beautiful as always. I hope you don’t mind, but I brought some wine,” he said softly, pressing a kiss to her lips that already had her legs turning to jelly.

“Thanks,come in,” she said, taking the bottle from him when he offered and moving aside.

She led the way towards the kitchen after closing the door behind him and watched him look around the place out of the corner of her eye as she located her corkscrew. She grabbed two wineglasses from the cupboard once she’d found the corkscrew, and set them with the bottle on the table.

“You have a quite a place here. Until I started walking you home, I didn’t even know there were apartments here,” he said, following her towards the table.

“Yeah, neither did I, but when I first came into town the rent was cheaper than continuing to live in the hotel,” she lied, not about to admit that he was the reason she’d taken the place.

“Must be pretty convenient,considering it’s not far from the café,” he said, watching her open the bottle and pour the white whine into a glass before handing it to him.

“Well, there’s that too,” she smiled, taking a sip from her own glass once the bottle was in the centre of the table and going to the kitchen to check on the food.

“Well, my place definitely seems to lack in comparison, even though I’ve been looking for another recently. Then again, that’s what happens when your flatmates get together and you feel like a third wheel, it’s better to just give them the place and move on,” he shrugged, taking a sip of his wine.

“Yeah that sounds like an awkward situation, I mean, you could always stay here any time that they want to be alone if you want,” she suggested, stirring the chilli before sampling a taste.

“No, I couldn’t do that to you. Besides they both work nights anyway, Laura’s a bartender and Cam’s a paramedic, so they usually have the flat to themselves while I work during the day. It seems to be working out so far, but like I say can’t be too careful,” he said thoughtfully, tapping his thumb against the stem of the glass as he watched her rummage through the cupboard for chilli powder and salt.

“Well, my couch is always there anyway,” she shrugged, adding both ingredients and stirring the mixture around a few times before moving a step to check on the rice.

“I’ll definitely keep it in mind. You need any help with that?” he asked, setting his glass aside and coming into the kitchen.

“Could you just drain the rice? I’ll just grab us some bowls,” she smiled, handing him the sieve and kissing his cheek before moving to the right cupboard.

The rest of the night was perfect, just the way that she had hoped it would be. He complimented her minimal cooking skills, and didn’t even care that the dessert was a leftover white chocolate mud cake from the café, and some spray can cream. They asked each other about their days, and she listened tohim telling a story about the criminal from his latest investigation, who’d come up with a ridiculous alibi in the hope of discrediting his breaking and entering charge, when the crime scene technicians had pulled his print from the window he’d jimmied open. Then he listened her to cursing the coffee machine for burning her again. The feel of his lips against the burn made it more than worth the pain.

When they were both finished she put the pots and pans in the sink to deal with later, and watched him fiddle around with the DVD player which was refusing to play the one DVD she owned that he was keen to see. He soon called it a failure and turned the TV back to cable, leaning back against the couch cushions with the remote in his hand.

He looked like he belonged there, had always been there in her life and she couldn’t remember a time when he’d never been there. It made any nerves that she’d had about this plan of action fade and reassure her that trying to attempt this move was a good thing for the both of them.

“You just going to stand there and watch me or you coming to sit down?” he asked, causing her to smile as she slid off her flats and moved to the couch. She watched him move a little as though expecting her to sit beside him, but she instead moved to straddle his lap, pressing a kiss to the side of his neck as she felt his body stiffen below her.

“Lydia, what are you doing?” he asked hoarsely, though his voice was strained like it was taking every inch of restraint he had not to put his hands on her, pull her close and kiss her.

“You know what I’m doing…I just thought it was time she shake things up a little you know?” she murmured, as she continued to rain kisses down the length of his neck, smiling at the sight of her smudged red lip prints over his pale skin.

“Uh huh…ok…” he still sounded uncertain causing her to frown and sit back on his thighs as she looked him in the eye. What she saw there made it all the more obvious this wasn’t going to be happening tonight. For the first time ever, she was really going to have to make the effort to actually seduce someone and that had never happened before.

“I’m sorry…I just thought…but you don’t want to yet…” She bit her lip apologetically as she began to make a move off his lap. She stopped, though, at the feel of his hands on her waist stilling her.

“I do want that, god you have no idea how much I want that, Lyds, but it’s still early days between us. Maybe we should wait just a little bit longer?” he murmured as she rested her forehead against his and swallowed.

“I just wanted to make sure you knew that I want this, I want you so much Jordan. Every time I come home after one of our dates I just can’t stop thinking about it,” she whispered, feeling his hands sliding up her sides as their gazes remained locked.

“Yeah?” he asked, his fingers tracing the outline of her bra as they moved across her back towards the zip of her dress. She brushed her thumb against his bottom lip and nodded silently, letting out a soft moan as she felt his lips part and suck her thumb.

“Please Jordan…please,” she murmured, removing her thumb and capturing his lips in a deep kiss as she felt his fingers catch the zip and pull it down her back.

In one swift move she was on her back on the couch,, the coarse material scratching against her bare skin, but none of it seemed matter as much as the feel of him between her legs. The way his lips moved down her neck after pulling his shirt over his head and throwing it aside, leaving her lips to worship every bit of skin open to her touch with her mouth down his torso and her nails scratching hard against his back. She felt him curse as he began to nip and suck at the skin of her neck, causing her to cry out and try to pull her dress off though she heard a clunk as he toed his shoes off.

He pulled back to help her push the dress off over her head and let it fall to the floor somewhere by her kitchen as his teeth drew a line of red down from her collarbone to her chest. Her hand rested on the back of his head to pull his lips back to hers, feeling his teeth nipping and sucking hungrily at her already abused lips as his calloused hands traced down her waist. She felt his fingers sliding under the edges of the panties she was wearing and her hips jerked at the touch, feeling him grinning against her lips as he brushed his thumbs against her hipbones teasingly.

“Please take them off…just take them off…” she pleaded against his lips, though his lips pressed against her own silenced her pleas as his thumbs guided the panties down her thighs to her knees.

She watched him slid off her as she sat up, to throw the panties wherever they fell, though as she was reaching for her bra she stopped as the sight of him unzipping his jeans and letting them fall with his boxers to his feet. Her eyes moved over his messed up hair, the blossoming bruises on his neck, the planes of his abs, his muscular thighs and his hard cock between his legs. Every instinct in her body just wanted to fall to her knees and suck it, feel the taste of come on her tongue but before she could move he was making his way back towards her.

He guided her legs apart and slid his body back between her thighs, causing her legs to immediately curl around his waist as he kissed her deeply, nipping and sucking at her lips. She could feel he was deliberately distracting her as she felt one of his hands sliding between her legs and brushing her clit making her to groan as her back arched against the couch.

“You look so beautiful like this,Lydia, even more beautiful than when you were in that dress,” he whispered against her skin, like it was a secret he wanted her to hear.

“I find that hard to bel…..” she groaned even louder before she could finish the sentence, his thumb and index finger brushing teasing her clit to the point she couldn’t even think straight.

“No it’s true. From the moment I met you all I could think about was the sight of you like this on my bed,” he breathed against her skin, his other hand rested on her hip to keep her from moving too far away.

“Oh god just fuck me…do it…please…” she begged, her back arching painfully against his fingers seemed to find her g spot, which, combined with her clit, was making it impossible for her to think about anything but the man above her. He kissed her filthily as he finally guided her over the edge to a sea of white.

She came around to the feel of her bed under her, and looked for any sign of Jordan. He was laid beside her, just as naked as he had been when he’d fingered her to heaven, his gaze on the ceiling as though he was doubting if this had been a good idea.

“Hey, you stayed,” she whispered, pushing herself upright and smiled as him as he looked at her.

“Well, I wasn’t done yet, seemed a little rude to just leave,” he said, moving across the bed towards her, brushing her hair out of her face for her, and pressing a sweet kiss to her lips as her arms encircled his waist.

“Then let me help you,” she flirted, letting her lips move down the bruises on his neck as she slid into his lap.

He guided her lips back to his as he unclasped her bra and threw it across the room, his hands then guiding her legs back around his waist. His lips stayed on hers the whole time he was thrusting deep inside her, muffling the groans and moans of his name, her nails digging deeper into the skin of his back as she felt herself back on the brink of an orgasm like she had been before. Everything about him was just perfect, how his body seemed to be made for her and destined to give her pleasure better than any mortal she’d ever been with before.

She came first, but she felt him still thrusting deeper and deeper inside her, even though she felt sore in the best way possible, but it seemed to be enough to get him to finally come. He slumped beside her on the bed while she recovered, a smile on her lips as she cuddled up to him and pulled the covers over them.

Xo

She woke the next morning to the lack of him beside her, though the bed was still warm so it had been pretty recent. She raked her fingers through her hair so it was out of her face as she slid from under the covers to grab her robe. After she’d found it and used the bathroom, she went into the main part of the apartment to see him dressed in his boxers, stood at the oven making something that smelled like breakfast.

He seemed to be so focused on what he was doing that he didn’t realise she was there until she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed a kiss to a bruise on his neck.

“Morning,” she smiled at the sight of a smile on his face as he turned around to pull her into a deep kiss.

It was the kind of thing she knew she could easily learn to love, having him there when she woke up after a night like the night before. Her fingertips traced the marks she’d left on his back the night before, and she let him out of her arms as he moved to check their breakfast.

Soon they were sitting on the couch eating their French toast and sipping some of the French press coffee she’d brought with her from San Francisco. They watched TV, but she knew they would need to talk about this, what it meant for them as a couple, since they had skipped a few steps in the usual dating process. But then again, when dating the goddess of love you’re bound to skip a few steps when she wanted to jump your bones from the moment she saw you.

“So,do you have to get to the station?” she asked, taking their plates to the disastrous kitchen she was probably going to spend the next day cleaning.

“I drew the short straw for night shift, which is a good thing considering last night,” he smiled, sipping his coffee as he leaned against the counter.

“Ah ok, then I guess maybe we should talk?” she asked, causing him to frown and she knew immediately she’d said something wrong.

“Ok, what do you want to talk about?” he asked, setting his cup down as he crossed his arms over his chest, his aura practically screaming of vulnerability, which made her want to scream.

“It’s nothing bad, I mean after last night there is no way it could ever be bad. I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page, since you were still all set on us taking things slow before I persuaded you to give in…” she said watching him tilt his head as he frowned.

“Lydia, if I didn’t want to be with you last night I would have walked out the door when you tried again. Trust me, I don’t regret what we did and I’m more than willing to do it with you again and again for as long as you want me,” he said, resting his hands on her waist.

“Neither do I, and trust me if I had my way you wouldn’t be leaving my sight for a very long time,” she smiled, pulling him close with her arms around his neck and kissing him hungrily.

“Glad to hear it…now what do you say to round three?” he grinned, sweeping her up in his arms and carrying her back to her room, all thoughts of cleaning and doubts forgotten.

“Sounds like a plan to me!”

Xo

The next couple of weeks between them were blissful, the kind of honeymoon period she could remember Eros and Psyche having. Jordan made her the happiest she had ever been, his presence calming her sour moods and bringing a smile to her face when she woke up in the same bed as him in the morning.

Yet soon, her immortal family members began to turn up and after not seeing them for so long she knew that had to spell trouble. It started when she came home from work one afternoon to find Dionysus sitting on the counter in her kitchen, his long legs swinging back and forth against the cupboards as he looked at the leftover coffee from that morning.

“Dio, what are you doing here?” she asked, throwing her bag aside and watching him tilt his head as he slid off the counter.

“Rumours have begun to circulate around the heavens about you finding your other half. Come on,‘Dite, you know that the cat was going to be let out the bag sooner rather than later,” he said, leaning against the counter as she made herself a drink not bothering to ask if he wanted one. She had no wine, so he probably wouldn’t be interested.

“Yeah, well I was hoping they’d be kept in the bag for just a little bit longer. Who’s the blabbermouth?” she sighed, sipping her apple juice.

“Does it really matter?”he asked, though sighed at the look she gave him. “Fine, it was Eos. She’s been keeping an eye on the two of you during the mornings and finally made the mistake of telling Ares. Why do you think that war in Iraq started so quickly?”

“Really? Of all the people she could have told she had to pick my immortal lover? Though I don’t get why it bothers him so much, when he already has his fair share of other halves,” she huffed, pushing her glass forward on the counter.

“You should know what Ares is like by now, he doesn’t like to share.” Dio said pointedly, causing her to groan as she buried her face in her hands.

“Please don’t tell me he’s planning on doing what he did to Adonis to Jordan. I don’t think I could handle it if that turned out to be the case,” she pleaded.

“I don’t know, I don’t think he’d thought that far ahead yet. I’ll make sure to get one of my nymphs to keep an eye on him though,” hesaid, earning a small smile from her.

“Speaking of other halves, how’s things with you andAriadne?” she asked, smiling when he began to flush at the mention of his wife.

“She’s expecting, Hestia’s taking care of her a fair bit at the moment since it’s her first immortal birth, but she’s doing so well so far,” he gushed, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Congratulations. Baptisms are always as worthy of parties as marriages from what I remember,” she beamed.

“Yeah you’ll have to bring this Jordan with you,” he smiled, though the reminder of Jordan’s mortality caused her smile to weaken as she looked down at her hands.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to do that, Dio.” She said.

“What? Why not? Come on, meet the family and not be the main attraction is the best way to go about it,” Dio frowned.

“He doesn’t know yet, Dio, and honestly I don’t know if I’ll ever tell him,” she said sadly.

“No, come on! Consorts of gods shouldn’t ever stay mortal, after Adonis I thought you’d have realised that much! He needs to know and you need to make him understand,” the blond said, causing her to purse her lips and shake her head.

“We’re still fairly new, I don’t want to scare him off,” she said, partly a lie but Dionysus seemed to see through it by the way he narrowed his blue eyes at her.

“’Dite…”

“Don’t you need to go back up and check on Ariadne?” she asked, silencing his objection before the argument got heated.

“Fine, but this isn’t over,‘Dite.” He sighed, disappearing in a flash and leaving her to collapse on her couch and wonder what the hell she was going to do now.

Her next visit was from Athena, which was kind of unexpected as usually when it came to god and consort relationships she was usually the last one in the know due to her own self-appointed celibacy. But Aphrodite had a feeling that due to her closeness with the war goddess during her dissertation,Athena had obviously been keeping tabs on her as much as Dionysus, Eros and probably even Ares.

“Wish I could say I was surprised to see you,‘Thena, but after seeing Dio last week it seemed like it was only a matter of time,” Aphrodite sighed from where she was watching TV, but the prickle of the other goddess’ presence had been enough to let her know she was there.

“He thought you could do with some counsel about this mortal of yours.” The other goddess shrugged, as she came to sit beside her on the couch, dressed in her armour, head gear and all. She’d probably come from a strategy meeting with Ares.

“Well after being told Ares is acting like a spoilt brat by starting a war after he heard about me with a mortal, I think that should be the subject actually,” Aphrodite murmured, twirling a curl of red hair around her finger.

“Eos thought she was doing the right thing because of your relationship with him. Although I do think she was going to tell Zeus, so maybe from that perspective she was saving you from a blow.” Athena said, toying with her shield between her fingers.

“Doesn’t mean I’m not still pissed at her. I hope Helios and Selene are making her pay for the mistake she’s made.”

“So, what exactly about this mortal of yours does Dio think I can help you with?” Athena asked, causing Aphrodite to sigh and put the TV on mute.

“He thinks I should be telling him about who I really am, like he did with Ariadne, and Eros did with Psyche. But it’s not exactly that simple. He might not be as understanding as they are…” she said, turning to look at her fellow goddess.

“There maybe some truth in that, but you’ll never know unless you actually tell him. He could surprise you, I mean you’ve been together a month, he’s already more serious about you than he’s been about anyone else and you’re planning a life with him. But you’ll never be able to have that kind of life if he’s going to die. You could try and do an Orpheus deal afterwards but you know Hades and Persephone have started to crack down on that…especially when a god is involved. No matter how fond of you Hades is he won’t do you any favours,” Athena said, her words filled with the wisdom that she was well known for.

“But what if he doesn’t accept it? What do I do then? I feel like my heart would break in my chest if he rejected me,‘Thena,” she sighed, watching Athena offer her a small smile.

“Then you’ll come home, let yourself be married to Hephaestus as you should have done in the first place, and let the healing process begin with your children around you. It’s the only option you have. Just give it some thought.” Athena said softly, pulling her into a reassuring hug.

“Thanks ‘Thena,” she said with a weak smile as she pulled away in time to watch the other goddess disappear.

The next week she spent coming up with the pros and cons of telling Jordan the truth about who she really was but every outcome seemed to be a bad one. Every eventually he’d reject her, call her crazy and probably have her committed, which would be the worst possible way to end a relationship. She tried to put it off a little bit longer and was surprised by her next visitor in the form of her daughter in law Psyche.

She hadn’t seen her since Dionysus and Ariadne’s wedding, through she had a feeling that Eros had been keeping an eye on her, despite her attempt to leave him to his married life with his wife after her freak out when she first arrived in Beacon Hills. She came out of the shower when she was trying to get ready for a night over at Jordan’s, and walked into her bedroom to rummage through her closet to see Psyche sitting on her bed, offering her a small smile.

“Hi Aphrodite, it’s been a while.”

“Yeah, you could say that. I thought you and Eros would be enjoying some time alone.” She frowned, crossing her arms over the towel the only thing she was currently wearing.

“We did for a while, but you know what your son is like. He worries about you, especially when you have another lover. He wanted me to come down and give you some advice for telling him about being a deity. I did tell him it wasn’t my place but, when has he ever listened to anything I’ve said?” she shrugged.

“Good point. Well, do you mind if we talk while I get changed? I have to be over at said lover’s in about an hour.” She asked, gesturing towards her closet with a jerk of her head.

“No problem.” Psyche said, her gaze on the floor as she moved back towards the closet.

“So how did you take Eros telling you he was a god then?” She asked, rummaging through her dresses.

“I’ll admit I didn’t take it well, probably better than Ariadne from what I’ve been told though. But then again many people don’t really believe in deities, let alone ones from an ancient world so it’s understandable. But he showed me his wings and his arrows which helped a little. I did feel a bit violated that I’d been with a god without knowing the whole story before we got together. Though, I have a feeling that for Jordan, the violation might feel a bit harder to ignore.” The consort said, toying with the stray thread of the duvet.

“What do you mean?” she asked, pausing on a plain dark blue dress.

“Well Eros just does what he’s told…but you can actually influence people’s affections towards you. He’ll probably wonder if you influenced his emotions so he felt the way he does about you. That’ll be a barrier you’ll have to deal with when you tell him,” the brunette said.

“But I didn’t, He’s my world….my magic wouldn’t work on him even if I tried,” she said, grabbing a coral dress and throwing it on the bed, her thoughts on anything but the task at hand.

“And that might be true, but you’re a love goddess in every meaning of the word, Aphrodite, you’ve seduced gods and mortals alike since you came into existence. Even if he does believe that aspect, he’s not about to appreciate the amount of people you’ve slept with over your lifetime - it’s going to take a while for it to sink in.” Psyche said, her words filled with truth, which should have hurt but Aphrodite knew it was from a helpful place instead of a hurtful one.

“So how do you suggest I go about it?” She asked, putting on some lingerie under her towel before pulling her dress over her head.

“There’s no ideal way to tell him, Eros struggled like hell to get the words out, Dionysus tried to bring it up four times with Ariadne before he could finally say the words. Just, be patient and honest with him. If he thinks it’s a joke just find a way to prove it and if he says anything hurtful, just understand he’s probably surprised and doesn’t mean anything by it,” Psyche said soothingly.

“You think he’ll believe me in the end?” Aphrodite asked, turning to look at Psyche when she was finally dressed and throwing her towel into her bathroom for the time being.

“If he truly loves you then, yeah, I do. Just remember no matter what we’re here for you.” The younger woman said with a smile.

“Thanks Psyche. Give Eros a hug from me,” she smiled, hugging Psyche and sending her back up to the heavens with a quick spark.

It left her to try and put the thoughts to the back of her mind as she finished getting ready. But for the whole drive over to Jordan’s, Psyche’s words refused to leave her alone. The moment she stood at the door, waiting for Jordan to let her in, she knew this night wasn’t going to the way she had hoped it would.

She offered him a smile, and pressed a kiss to his cheek as she followed him in. Instead of jumping him like she would have done every other time, she knew he could tell there was something on her mind as he sat beside her.

“Lydia, are you ok?” he asked, sliding his fingers between hers and causing her to swallow.

“No, I have something really important to tell you and I know you’re not going to like it,” she sighed, looking down at their intertwined hands and how this was probably going to be the last time she had him this close to her.

“What is it? I swear, no matter what it is, you can tell me,” he said sweetly, causing her to take a deep calming breath.

“My name isn’t Lydia…it’s Aphrodite,” she said softly, feeling his body stiffen up beside her.

“What? Aphrodite like the Greek goddess?” he asked with a frown.

“Not like, I am the Greek goddess Aphrodite,” she corrected.

She watched the disbelief enter his eyes and his aura, and expected him to pull his hand back before he did, leaving her craving the touch already.

“What do you mean you’re the Greek goddess Aphrodite? That’s just a myth, something that Classics studies students learn about in their classes.”

“It’s never been just a myth, Jordan, the rest of the world may have moved on with their religions but we’ve still survived with those few believers that still exist, as well as those students that study and learn about us. It helps to keep us alive,” she said softly.

“But that’s crazy, for you to be Aphrodite that would mean that you manipulated me. That none of this is real between us.” His voice cracked, sounding completely broken, and causing her heart to ache.

“That’s not true! I would never,could never, manipulate you Jordan. Everything that has happened between us has been real. I left San Francisco because I was looking for you. Because I needed to find you, and every mile between us was killing me. The moment I first set eyes on you I knew it was you I’d been searching for. You that I would do anything for,” she said, swallowing as she watched him get up from beside her and begin to pace back and forth as he raked his fingers through his hair.

“…to the extent that you would use your magic on me to make me be with you. That you would seem so completely perfect to me after us only knowing each other for a month, Ly…Aphrodite. I know nothing about the real you, and you know everything about me,”he croaked, his back to her the whole time.

“You want to know something about me? I’m called Aphrodite, I’ve been in existence for as long as anyone can remember, I’ve had six consorts before you, and have seventeen children with various fathers. But never have I loved any of them as fiercely as I do you, Jordan! I have never wanted to willingly follow them to the ends of the earth or go down to Hades to pull back any of their souls if they died, but I’d do that for you in a heartbeat!” There were mascara tears falling down her cheeks with every word she spoke, but he continued to shake his head over and over.

“If you loved me as much as you claim, you would have told me! You would have said something instead of trying to worm your way into my life like this! Nothing about this speaks of love to me, which is ironic consider you’re supposed to be the goddess of love. No. I think you should go,”he exclaimed though those last five words caused her to freeze.

“No, Jordan, please!” she begged, watching him sink down into a chair finally, with his head in his hands.

“Just go. I don’t want to see you again.”

She swallowed hoarsely as she made herself get up on stiffened legs in the direction of the door. She paused in the open doorway to look at him, her heart seeming to break, knowing that this was probably the last time she was going to see the true owner of her heart in front of her. She closed the door softly behind her and let the tears fall as she made her way home, to the place she never should have left.

Eros and Thalia were waiting for her when she appeared in the common room outside her quarters, her daughter and son pulling her into a tight hug as she collapsed against them. She barely remembered getting to her quarters, but all she could remember was the reassuring words of her children trying to ease the cracking hole in her chest.

She woke hours later to the sight of Eros beside her, Dionysus sitting in her chair, while Psyche and a rather pregnant Ariadne seemed to be waiting for her to wake up.

“What the hell gives that mortal the right to turn down the purest love known to humanity, just because she lied to him a little?” Eros asked, his wings fluttering in outrage, while Psyche rested a reassuring hand on his arm.

“You knew it was a big risk Eros, just like you and Dionysus knew it was big risk telling me and Aria. She followed what her heart thought was best, and unfortunately it ended in disaster. We just have to be there for her to reassure her it’s for the best,” Psyche said.

“I’ve never seen her cry so much before.” Eros sighed, causing Dionysus to rake his fingers through his hair as he took a glance at Ariadne before getting up and leading her towards the chair worriedly.

“Dio, stop looking so worried, it’s not like I’m going to go into labour right here.” Ariadne huffed, smiling.

“Looks like someone’s finally awake.” Psyche said, bringing the other occupants’ attention to Aphrodite’s presence.

“Hey Mom, you ok?” Eros asked, as she pushed herself upright so her back was resting against the headboard.

“I’ve been better, but it’s nothing some ambrosia or wine wouldn’t fix,” she said, fidgeting with the knots in her hair.

“Wish I could help you with either ‘Dite but I’m sober until the baby’s born. Parental solidarity and all that” Dionysus shrugged apologetically, though Ariadne rolled her eyes.

“I didn’t tell you that you had to completely abstain, Dio.Get the girl some wine - she could do with it after the night she had.” Ariadne said, nudging him with her elbow in his ribs until he left the room to fetch some.

“The rest of the heavens heard about my return yet?” Aphrodite asked, looking at Psyche and Eros, who exchanged glances.

“Your other children have all said they’ll come and see you at some point, but some of them are quite busy,” Psyche supplied, bringing a smile to her lips that brightened at the sight of the bottle of wine that Dionysus seemed to have dug up from somewhere when he reappeared.

“That’s good of them, though if you guys don’t mind, I could do with being alone for a while,” she said, taking the bottle from Dionysus. All the other occupants exchanged looks as though they didn’t want to leave her on her own, but after a bit of reassurance they all left, leaving her to drown her sorrows and fall asleep again.

She woke again with an empty bottle hugged to her chest, and reluctantly got up to change and face the others. They were all at a feast when she finally left her room, and though the last thing she wanted to do was be under the scrutiny of all other gods, whether her spawn, siblings or otherwise, she knew she couldn’t avoid them forever. Thankfully when she sat down everyone just took a glance at her and continued with what they were saying or eating.

The next few days she managed to get back into her routine with Eros’ help, though she knew she would have to go back to her apartment in Beacon Hills to gather her things and pay her last rent before coming back to Olympus permanently, which wasn’t something she was looking forward to. The thought of being in the same town as Jordan but not being able to see him because he didn’t want to see her hurt, but she hoped that with time the ache would subside as she fixated on other people’s happiness instead of her own. Every time she seemed to focus on her own, it only ended in disaster anyway.

Another couple of days, and she decided to get the last bit of her life as Lydia over with. She managed to dissuade Eros, Dionysus or Apollo from coming with her in case Jordan appeared, though she highly doubted he would, and reluctantly went to her apartment. Everything was left just the way it had been on the day everything went to Hades in a basket of pomegranates. She threw all her mortal wardrobe into black bin bags to drop off at a charity shop, and gathered all her important paperwork, like her degrees and things, into one ledger to take back, including one picture of her and Jordan looking sex-drunk on a morning after in her bed. She left a letter for the landlord, along with her last month of rent, in his mailbox and dragged the bag of clothes down the street to a shop she’d walked past every day while working at the café.

She made sure to resign at the café on the way back, grabbing her last pay check and walking back to what used to be her apartment. She put a sign on her car saying it was for sale, grabbed the ledger and locked up before putting the apartment keys in the landlord’s mail box.

When she walked in, though she was surprised to see Jordan sitting on the couch, staring at the picture she’d taken of them. She swallowed and bit her lip as she cleared her throat, causing him to look up and set the photo down back amongst her documents.

“I didn’t expect to be seeing you,” she said softly, picking up the ledger and holding it close to her chest as she watched him get up to his feet.

She was dressed in her usual Aphrodite garb, having changed back to it once she’d come back in from the street, her hair in its usual long red waves while her Chitonof silk was draped artfully, but unlike before, was actually covering as much of her torso and chest as possible. Her arms were covered in gold bracelets, which were a stark contrast to the white silk and her tanned skin.

“I’d been coming here every so often since that night just to see if you’d come back,” he said softly, causing her to look down at her bare feet and swallowed.

“You said you didn’t want to see me again. It seemed better for me to just leave until I felt like I could handle the clean up.” She shrugged.

“I just meant I needed some time to let it all sink in. I didn’t meant for you to leave permanently,” Jordan said softly, taking a step towards her, though she took a step back. The words he’d said that night still stung and he seemed to realise that as he looked down.

“There’s nothing to stay around for if the reason I was here in the first place doesn’t want me here. It’s easier this way, Jordan,” she said softly, moving towards the door and toying with the key to the apartment.

“There is a reason. I don’t want you to go,” Jordan said, his voice breaking causing her heart to crack in her chest for a whole other reason.

“Is that really a good enough reason after how you acted? After how you questioned my feelings for you and how much you mean to me? That doesn’t seem like a good reason,” she said, gesturing with a jerk of the head for him to leave the apartment.

“Aphrodite, please,” he said, causing her to stop mid-gesture and look at him.

She’d never heard him use her real name, let alone in that tone, and it weakened her resolve a little. He seemed to pick up on that as he came towards her and brushed his hand against her cheek so their equally bright green eyes were meeting.

“Aphrodite, love goddess and owner of my heart without even trying, I am begging you not to leave me. Not to give up on us, when there is so much for us still to fight for,” he whispered, his thumb tracing over her bottom lip the way his tongue and teeth had used to when he was kissing her.

“Jordan, that’s not fair…” she murmured, biting her upper lip as he closed the gap between them and rested his forehead against hers.

“Aphrodite, please,” he whispered, causing her to swallow and press a soft kiss to his lips. Just like that, the spark was back between them and a groan was ripped from her throat as his arms wrapped around her as their mouths moved hungrily against the other.

Her ledger fell to the floor as her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer as they shared the same air. She could feel their hearts beating in sync as though it was the most natural thing in the world, and that was all she could have asked for.

Xo

Epilogue

After she and Jordan made up, they went back to his apartment to talk, since she was effectively homeless on Earth at that moment. They spoke about what this meant for their relationship, and he agreed to at least come with her to visit Olympus, though she did warn him that Eros and Dionysus wouldn’t be happy to see him after how he treated her. That was an understatement of epic proportions, as she and Psyche ended up having to stand between Eros and Jordan so her son didn’t smack him in the face.

The rest of her children were also a little concerned about her relationship with him again, but didn’t think resorting to violence was a good idea, settling instead on thinly veiled contempt that they learned from their father Ares. The dinner went off without a hitch, despite Dionysus giving Jordan the odd glare, but he was more focused on Ariadne who was a couple of days overdue, and Eros was only just distracted by Psyche whispering in his ear.

After a few more dinners, and a bit more talking with Jordan, she managed to convince him to actually become her consort though that was in no small part because of the news that Hestia had told her when she’d walked past her one night after going to check on Ariadne. Needless to say Jordan becoming her consort had become a much more urgent matter than it had been before.

She’d spoken to Zeus about it when Jordan had agreed, and he’d agreed to give him ambrosia since he was obviously worthy in her eyes even if Hera had scoffed the whole way through their conversation. She only hoped that Jordan knew what he was getting himself into by agreeing to be her consort.

Still the day came for him to be given the ambrosia, and she stood beside him in front of Zeus while the rest of the gods and goddesses watched from the wings. It wasn’t exactly a pretty sight, turning from mortal to immortal, but still there was always someone who was morbidly curious, she was just surprised Hades hadn’t torn himself away to witness it.

She watched Zeus perform the usual ceremony, like he had with Ariadne and Psyche, and squeezed Jordan’s hand reassuringly as he took the cup. He took a glance at her as though that was all the reassurance he needed before downing the whole thing. She took the cup from him as he collapsed, and knelt beside him with his head in her lap as the ambrosia filled every inch of him, replacing his blood with that of an immortal. It felt like it took a lifetime but soon his eyes were open and his body had stopped spasming from pain. He met her gaze and smiled that bright smile that assured her she’d done the right thing.

He moved into her quarters with her after they’d gathered everything he owned, and it was just the way it had been on Earth, only she was the one with the job while Jordan tried to figure out what his role was. It was taking him a while, since Eros still hadn’t forgiven him and refused to give him a trial in helping him with his work. Every time she and Eros were away from Olympus together he’d bitch about Jordan and cause her to sigh.

“Look, I don’t know what to tell you Eros. You’re just going to have to get used to it. He’s your new stepfather, and there will be another child in the family thanks to him.”

“Wait what?! When did that happen?” Eros asked.

“Sweetie, I know you aren’t that naïve. Jordan and I didn’t spend all our time together doing jigsaws and watching TV, you know. Now please, just cut him some slack and help him find his place when we go back,” she said, brushing her hand over her growing bump.

“Does he know yet?” Eros asked, as he removed an arrow for his intended target with all the air of a pro.

“Not yet, but he will do soon,” she smiled, pointing out the target and watching the arrow sail through the crowd towards the target before pointing out the other intended.

That night she cuddled up to Jordan as he lay there staring at the ceiling, her head rested on his bare chest and his arm around her waist, brushing against her skin like it was a pastime he could spend centuries getting used to.

“You know, is it my imagination or have you been putting on a bit of weight?” he murmured into her hair as she pressed a kiss over his heart.

“Wow, and they say chivalry is dead,” she snorted, as his fingers traced up and down the length of her back.

“I’m sorry, but you know what I mean. Is there something you want to tell me?” he asked, as she pushed herself up so her body was laid against the length of his, before taking his hand and resting it on her stomach, on the spot she always felt the baby kick.

“I might….be pregnant,” she whispered against the skin of his neck.

“What? You sure kept that quiet,” he grinned, causing her to roll her eyes as she rolled on to her back so both his hands could caress her stomach.

“I didn’t even know until Hestia told me after visiting Ariadne. You’d think after giving birth seventeen times I’d be able to tell when my body’s going through it again. Still, it did give me enough of an incentive to make sure you were here with me,” she smiled, kissing his cheek.

“Well, you didn’t need that. I love you and the hell if I’m going to go anywhere without you now,” he whispered against her shoulder.

“I love you too Jordan. Now, let’s get some sleep…I’m going to need all the sleep I can get before the baby wakes me up,” she smiled, lacing her fingers with his as she turned out the light with a click.

Fin.

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