The Love of War

DISCLAIMER: I don’t own any character except Jessie. The Hercules/Xenaverse belongs to USA Studios and Renaissance Pictures. I am writing because I was bitten by the ‘what if’ bug.

WARNING: Ménage a tois in the works along with the D/s and bondage that you’ve already read. I’m guessing that if you’ve read this far, then you are probably going to finish my story. What brave and wonderful people you all are!

The Love of War, Chapter 15

Cupid was feeling smug, sated and completely satisfied. After the last go around, he’d had to pick Strife up, transport them both back to Strife’s temple, and put him carefully into his own bed, because Strife couldn’t concentrate hard enough to manage the short hop home. Cupid had laid a completely boneless Joy into his own bed and tucked the covers around the other deity like he did with Bliss at bedtime. Strife hadn’t had enough energy to do more than shift himself into a slightly better position and hadn’t woken up enough to even give a parting kiss. Cupid had looked at his sleeping lover, comparing the slack form with the female mortal in his own bed and *felt* the arrogance in him swell. Two almost comatose lovers, one of them wanting him badly enough to do something almost completely out of character and take the direct approach, and *both* of them were puddles of useless flesh.

It was a good thing that he was getting such a good energy buzz from all the conflict on Earth, or he’d probably be collapsed on the bed next to one of them.

As it was, he felt himself sit down a little harder than usual into his chair. For a split second, he let himself collapse the *tiniest* bit. Here. Now. While he was alone.

He went back to work, glad that he could sit down for a while.

He was just finishing reviewing one of his maps when he felt a mental call from one of his better generals. Ah, the interruptions never ceased. But, Marius wasn’t the type to call his god for frivolous reasons, so he thought on his leathers and flashed down to Earth.

Every warrior in the tent went to one knee as their god appeared among them. Marius was the only one to almost immediately come to his feet; the others knelt and awaited their god’s pleasure. Cupid took the opportunity to look around at the disarray of broken tables and chairs that littered the normally well ordered interior of Marius’ command tent. A body lay off to the side, still fresh enough to be warm.

“My lord,” Marius greeted him with another short bow.

“Yes?” Cupid allowed a shade of irritation color his voice. He had maps to review a cuddly mortal in his bed that he could be waking up right about now.

“My lord, someone tried to kill me.” Marius gestured to his men for them to rise

“You called me down here because ‘someone tried to kill you’?” Cupid asked with a raised eyebrow. People trying to kill him shouldn’t be a new experience for Marius, it happened regularly. Certainly, not something that warranted *his* attention.

“I called you, my Lord because of *who* tried to kill me,” Marius informed him and walked over to the body to roll it over with his toe. The assassin was dressed like a warrior slightly down on his luck. Cupid’s general squatted down and held up the man’s right hand. Tattooed on his palm was a perfect spiral bisected by a jagged slash.

It was the mark of Psyche, the Goddess of Discord. Only her best and personal attendants got that tattoo and those who had it didn’t answer to anyone but her. His ex-wife had sent one of her own to kill one of his favorite generals. Only rigid control kept his feathers from quivering. Rage was sliding along his veins like hot honey.

The soldiers in the tent shifted nervously at the grim twist to their god’s mouth. His muscles were standing out in stark relief and all of the lamp flames in the tent suddenly shot up so that they were a handspan tall. They all rechecked where the exits were.

An angry God of War was not a good thing.

Jessie swam up from the grey well of unconsciousness and tried to focus her eyes. Bed, she was in a bed with the covers up to her chin. There was food and a full goblet on the bedside table. Now, could she actually move her arm enough to lift the goblet? There was only one way to find out. Her growling stomach was telling her quite emphatically that she needed some fuel to keep up with the god who’d claimed her for the next little while. By concentrating, she was able to lift the goblet to her lips without dropping it down the front of her.

Mmm, peach nectar. The cool liquid slid down her throat like a benediction. She could also taste honey in the liquid. She snorted. Cupid probably thought that she’d need the energy. She managed to pour herself another serving from the pitcher without spilling any. Considering her fatigued muscles, that was a major accomplishment.

She was just giving some thought of closing her eyes for some more sleep when a sparkling flash filled the room. She blinked, expecting to see her lord and lover, but instead was surprised to be looking at his son; his obviously upset and slightly scared son.

Bliss was looking around the room for his daddy while Jessie did a frantic search of her own for something to wear. Damn, the God of War had not left any clothing, not even the tunic that she’d been wearing when she’d arrived. It was also obvious that he kept his own clothes where his slightly frantic sexual pet couldn’t find them without leaving the room and the sniffling godling at the foot of the bed. Finally, she yanked the sheet from its moorings and wrapped it toga-like around her body. It was way too big, dragging behind her like a wedding veil train as she slipped from the bed and walked to where the little God of Mischief stood.

“What’s the matter, honey?” she asked, going to one knee next to him.

“Want Daddy,” he said her with another sniff.

“Umm, he’s not here right now,” Jessie told him, wondering where Cupid had taken himself off to and also wondering who he’d arranged to watch his son during the duration of their bet. Whoever it was probably didn’t know that Bliss was here.

“I had a bad dream. I was staying with Grandpa, but Daddy *always* scares the bad dreams away.” Bliss informed her, rubbing his left eye with a tiny fist.

“Yeah, I can see where your dad could scare *anything* away,” Jessie said wryly. She gently brushed the blonde hair away from his eyes and used a bit of the huge red cloth that she was wearing to wipe away the little god’s tears. “Would you like to wait here with me until he gets back?”

Bliss nodded, Jessie took his hand and led him around to the side of the bed. She was just lifting the little god up onto the bed when she heard a scrabbling of what sounded like claws on marble in the hall.

“What’s that?”

“Greagus,” Bliss shrugged and started to crawl up the bed to the pillows. He was just settling on the pillows when the door slammed inward as a dog the size of a Shetland pony burst into the room. The Dog of War barked and growled at the unusual mortal around one ‘his’ persons. She could see why Cupid hadn’t let her out of the bedroom that first day when he was taking Bliss to his grandfather’s. The friggin’ hound was huge!

Dominance with any dog had to be established early so Jessie did not allow herself to doubt her own power when she pointed her finger and in a firm voice shouted “Stop!”

Greagus blinked and reassessed the situation. This two-leg was new, but she smelled like one of his persons had marked her. He barked again, testing her.

“Quiet!” She snapped. “You come!” she brought her finger down to the bit of floor right in front of her.

Greagus blinked at her audacity and resumed his growling bark.

“Come!” she shouted the order and snapped her fingers.

Greagus blinked again. She *sounded* like someone he should listen to. Could this be his alpha’s female? He could smell that she was getting impatient and had no fear of him. He flattened his ears and crept forward with his tail down and his head submissively bowed. This was the alpha bitch and she was angry.

Jessie didn’t even allow herself a nervous swallow as the huge dog slunk slowly forward like Alexi did when he got into the garbage can and knew that he’d been caught. When he was in front of her, she realized that the dog’s head came to her chest. His fur was short and his head was shaped a little like a pit bull’s. Greagus also had the wrinkles around his face and neck of a bull mastiff. He was all black and his eyes were glowing red, like a pair of taillights. His teeth looked very big, so she ignored them. If she was ignoring them, they weren’t going to be rending her flesh to tatters.

“Sit.” She ordered. The huge butt obediently hit the floor. “Good boy. You are such a good boy to be guarding Bliss,” Jessie cooed at the dog, scratching the top of his head between his ears and the spot on the chest that no dog, no matter how big or limber, could reach with his hind feet.

Greagus groaned and flopped onto his back. This *had* to be the alpha bitch, she was praising and petting him for his submission, and she was hitting all the right spots too.

Jessie spent a couple of minutes scratching all the ‘spots’ she’d learned on other dogs. Greagus had them too, they were just bigger. Then, with a final pat and a firm, “Stay”, Jessie climbed into the bed after Bliss.

She was brought up short when she realized that Greagus was laying on part of her sheet. She sighed and yanked a few times to get it loose. A slight canine grumble drifted up from the floor, but she ignored it. Bliss blinked sleepily from where he was curled up on the pillows. Jessie pulled the remaining covers up over the both of them and cuddled Bliss to her side. Bliss sighed and snuggled into the hollow of her shoulder with the confidence of a well loved child. His soft wings lay on most of her arm, but she was able to curl her hand around his hip. She rested her cheek on the top of his head.

She’d just rest her eyes for a minute while she waited for Cupid to get back. If he remained true to form, it wouldn’t be long before he’d want to start another round of ‘How many times can I make the mortal beg?’

She’d only close her eyes for a few minutes….

It took all of Cupid’s control not to go to the nearest temple of Discord and start reducing it to rubble. A good energetic fuck was definitely in order. Jessie screaming and coming apart in his arms was just the thing to clear his head. She’d slept long enough.

He flashed into his room ready to pounce, only to be brought up short by the sight of his son cuddled up in Jessie’s arms with Greagus on the rug next to the bed. Jessie was curled protectively around Bliss, with her head resting on top of his sunny hair. He could just see the top bit of the wrapped sheet around her body. The thoroughly domestic scene in front of him was something a little out of his experience. Bliss looked so right, so natural snuggled up to Jessie. It was as natural as the sight of Jessie curved protectively around him.

It wasn’t like Bliss to instantly trust strangers. Oh, he liked meeting new people well enough, but to climb into bed with someone he had only met once? It wasn’t like him at all. He didn’t know whether to be concerned that Bliss was sleeping deeply next to Jessie, or wonder at his son’s instincts. Did the Godling of Mischief sense something about his paramour that his father didn’t know? And he could tell that Jessie was sleeping deeply, not feigning sleep to make the perfect picture of Domestic Motherhood of herself and his son. It was confirmed as Bliss whimpered a little in his sleep and she, still asleep herself, cuddled him closer and rubbed her cheek on his head.

Greagus raised his head and his tail started to thump at the sight of his master. The thumping woke Jessie who raised her head and blinked at him, focusing her eyes on her Lord standing in a mixture of bemusement and anger at the foot of the bed.

“He had a nightmare and came looking for you,” she explained quietly and started to sit up. Cupid halted the movement with a gesture. No need to wake Bliss up when he was sleeping so deeply. She sighed and relaxed back onto the pillows.

“Is something wrong?” She asked, noting the anger that was still lurking in his eyes.

“Nothing that won’t keep until morning,” he sighed. Psyche would still be there when he woke. He conjured a loose tunic in place of his leathers and climbed into bed on the other side of Bliss, pausing only to give Greagus a few scratches around his ears. Jessie settled herself back onto her pillow, sleep beginning to overtake her again. His shrug had reassured her that if he was angry, it wasn’t at her. She met his eyes over Bliss’ head, gave a little smile, and went back to sleep. The past few days had taken their toll on her energy.

Cupid watched them both for a few moments. The sight of them both was hardening a resolve inside of him. Jessie was going to be his at the end of the week. Anyone that Bliss trusted enough to sleep next to wasn’t going to get away from him.

He started to fall asleep, stratagems still dancing in his head.

Ares had been frantic when he had gone to check up on his grandson and he wasn’t in his bed. He’d done a mental sweep of his temple and the little one wasn’t there. A further sweep of Olympus had yielded the desired return of telling him that Bliss had simply gone home. He’d gone to his mirror and called up the image of little Mischief. A grin had split his face when he’d seen Jessie lifting the godling up into the bed and then facing down Greagus with nothing more than her guts and a pointed finger. He had been ready to transport her away in a blink, but the Dog of War had fallen immediately to her charms and had wriggled like a puppy under her hands. Oh yeah, no matter what Cupid said about finishing a conquest, Jessie was conquering the House of War bit by bit.

Cupid had flashed in with a look that said he’d been ready for some vigorous fucking, but had been slightly phased by the sight of domesticity in his bedroom. Domesticity had been the last thing on his mind when he came in by the look of it. But now, he was settling in next to his son and the future mother of his children without another peep.

: Son, is Bliss okay? I just came in to check on him and realized that he went home.: Ares sent the thought out to his eldest.

: Yeah, Dad, he’s fine. He just had a bad dream. I’ll bring him back in the morning. :

: Okay, I’ll see you both then. :

Ares blanked the mirror and went to one of the others on the wall. He needed to tell Aphrodite how well everything was going.

After that, if he wasn’t going to be looking after Bliss for the rest of the night, maybe he should wander down to Earth and that crop new temple virgins that had come in. He wouldn’t want his followers to think that he was neglecting them, now would he?


Eris looked down at her sleeping son with a rueful shake of her pretty head. Strife was as limp as a jellyfish in his bed. Evidently, the God of War was as energetic a lover as she’d thought. He came by it honestly; Ares could wear out anyone in the pantheon, why would Cupid be any different?

It was almost perverted; the amount of energy that she had got from her son and nephew was buzzing under her skin like a hive of bees. A mother shouldn’t get this kind of power from her son getting nookie. But, since she had it, it was time to put that energy to good use.

If Cupid were a *shade* less exhausted, she wouldn’t try this, especially in his own House. She leaned over and brushed a curl off Strife’s forehead and then quietly left the room, heading for her workroom. Usually, she worked with potions, but there was no way she’d be able to spike anything that Cupid was eating or drinking. Her nephew was just too suspicious. But, he was also arrogant, so he probably wouldn’t expect his aunt to mess with his head directly.

Weelll, she wasn’t ‘messing with his head’, exactly. It was another part of his anatomy that she was going to affect. It was just a *tiny* little push to influence that other part of Cupid’s anatomy to get the three of them in bed together.

Possessive and arrogant, oh yeah, she could work with that. But, as she sent her mental feelers out to the God of War, she was put out to find that she wouldn’t be able to slip past his unconscious guards so easily, even when he was this tired. Damn, it looked like she’d need some help.

Eris felt around for her twin. Oh boy, Ares couldn’t have waited until *tomorrow* to visit Earth? He was really involved too. She had to stop herself from frowning, it caused wrinkles. There was no way that she was going to be able to get his attention without dowsing him with water from the artic circle. And, his help would come with *hours* of pouting for spoiling his ‘deflowering’ duties. Too bad she couldn’t have caught him before he left; if she’d been able to do that, it would’ve been only a slight pout, not a full tantrum for interrupting him. Sometimes, being one of the two Gods of Love was a pain, especially when she couldn’t snag her twin for some assistance.

Who else could she ask for help? Demos and Phobos would be delighted to lend a hand, but neither of the boys would be able to keep his mouth shut about pulling one over on their big brother. Asclepius was sneaky enough, but it would be the same problem as with the twins, he was the biggest gossip on Olympus. Hmm, who could she ask for help that had enough power to aid her without letting Cupid know that he’d been influenced? Who wouldn’t be spreading the tale over the Heights?

Wait. A name was coming to her mind. Would she do it? This wasn’t the sort of thing that Eris would normally ask her help for, but it was in a good cause. The Goddess of Love went over to her mirror and called an image into it.

“Aphrodite, I need your help.”

“Eris, the Fates were very specific. I can’t directly interfere.” The Goddess of Marriage said with a frown.

“’Dite-“

“Eris, I don’t think that either one of us wants to find out what happens if we fight with Fate.”

“I’m not asking you to do it yourself. *You* aren’t going to be the one that lays the spell, *I* am. I’m asking you to help me set the spell. Even with the buzz I’ve got, I don’t have enough power to do this myself, and if I wait until Ares is finished on Earth Cupid will have gotten enough rest to shore up his defenses. I wouldn’t *dare* do this if he wasn’t this tired.”

“I think that Ares would forgive you for interrupting for this.”

“Yeah, eventually, but by the time I got his attention, got him back up here, *and* he was finished throwing a tantrum for pulling him away from the new ‘Love Bunnies’, Cupid won’t be open enough for me to do this. I need to lay this spell while he is running low on personal energy.”

“Well…”

Eris struck quickly, while she could see her sister wavering.

“We want Jessie firmly tied to the Olympian Pantheon, right? It makes sense to forge more bonds, right?” The Goddess of Love went over and showed her sister the images of Jessie comforting Bliss and the picture that the three of them were making in Cupid’s huge bed.

“She’s already feeling very protective of Bliss. You’ve seen her aura; she’s very protective of the ones she loves, ruthless even. Sex, no matter how good, doesn’t a relationship make.”

“I never thought that I’d hear you say that.” Aphrodite remarked.

“Hey, I never said that it wasn’t a good start.”

“You’re still suggesting that I help you lay a spell for *more* sex. And not just sex with my son, but with your son as well.”

“Look, I love the Maniac of Manslaughter that you gave birth to, don’t get me wrong. But, he doesn’t show the tender side of his nature with anyone except his son. Strife is the God of Joy; if anyone can bring that to the surface, he can. We’re working in a time limit, ‘Dite, we need some firm bonds of affection formed. And, Jessie might not see this as anything more than a week of good orgasms if we can’t show her that Cupid is capable of love.”

“I would think that the fact that Bliss flashed directly to his father when he was frightened would show her that.”

“Very true,” Eris allowed. “But you just feel *better* when you’re around my son. You feel more relaxed, open, and caring. Now, throw sex into the kitty, and-wham! A tender, caring, Dominant in black leather who can still make you scream.”

“Hmmm…” Aphrodite mused thoughtfully.

“’Dite, I’m not asking you to set the spell. You’re right, that would be directly interfering, I’m asking you to lend me a little of your strength so *I* can do it. *You* won’t be laying a metaphysical finger on your eldest.”

“Well…that’s splitting the hair of law a little fine.”

“The longer that we fight about this, the more rest Cupid is getting. If we wait another hour, I’m not going to be able to do this.”

“Alright,” Aphrodite sighed.

“I promise, if they smite us for this, you can say ‘I told you so’ for the next millennium.” Eris grinned.

“That does not make me feel better, sister.”

Eris kept smiling as she went over to one of her shelves and retrieved a pair of tokens that Ace had given her once upon a time. They would shield the two goddesses from detection when they flashed over to the House of War. She looped one over her sister’s head before doing the same for herself. Aphrodite and Eris then joined hands and flashed into Cupid’s bedroom.

Neither goddess said a word as they gazed down at the picture of family that Cupid, Jessie and Bliss made sleeping in the bed. The amulets were protecting them from detection from even Greagus’ acute canine senses. Aphrodite moved behind Eris and laid her hands on the smaller goddess’ shoulder. Eris felt a strong and steady stream of power pour into her. Eris used it and her own strength to form the spell.

Eris went back into her own experiences and conjured the feeling of skin sliding along skin. Of watching your lover being driven crazy by another, of feeling your lover writhing between you and another because they couldn’t stand another minute of loving torment. She conjured the feeling of possessive pleasure knowing that you could share your lover with someone else and still know that they would want you; that they would want you even more because of it. She pulled the feeling of satisfaction about having both of your lovers waiting for you and looking at you with hungry eyes and threw that into the mix. She condensed all those feelings into a ball of dark purplish red energy that pulsed over her palm and then blew it like a soap bubble at her sleeping nephew.

She kept the spell in that tight little ball so that it wouldn’t spread over the sleeping godling in the bed, infecting him with desires that he was in no way ready for. Bliss would be getting into enough trouble as he grew up without his Great Auntie stoking up adult fires in him.

Eris fed the spell more energy as it bounced around in the air above the sleeping God of War. Heart or groin, where should she send it? Heart, she decided and nudged it around so that it bobbed in the air along Cupid’s back. There was no sense in letting it get any nearer to Bliss than it had to. Eris made an elegant pushing movement with her hand and watched with satisfaction as the ball of energy made contact with the skin of Cupid’s back and melted into his heart from there. Damn, his protections were strong. It felt like she was pushing her hands through partially frozen honey. She knew that if the blond god in front of her were at full strength, those protections would be diamond hard, not thick and syrupy. It was only the fact that Cupid was already *slightly* considering a threesome that allowed her to get through at all. There, she felt the spell slide into place like a knife into a sheath. Her knees trembled as she opened it like a butterfly in Cupid’s chest. Once she felt it spred there, she sent a slight pulse of their combined energy to prevent the sleeping god from detecting the fact that someone had ambushed him.

There, done. Both goddesses trembled with exhaustion as they transported back to the House of Love. Both of them collapsed into chairs in the main room with identical weary sighs.

“That was harder than I thought it would be. And, I didn’t exactly think that it would be easy.” Eris groaned.

“Indeed.” Aphrodite rubbed her forehead and then allowed her head to rest on the back of the chair.

Demos came in wearing a sleek and satisfied grin. It was obvious that he’d just come back from Earth.

“Mom, Aunt Eris? You both looked wiped. What’ve you been doing?” Demos thoughtfully conjured goblets filled with ambrosia and handed one to each of them. He crouched down next to his mother’s chair and tucked a hair back into place. Eris sent her sister a significant look over the rim of her goblet that Aphrodite correctly interpreted.

“I’ve just been a little busy, dear. I’ll be fine.” Aphrodite smiled at her son. She loved the twins, but neither one could keep a secret. Shameless hustlers, the both of them, and almost as bad at gossip as their cousin Asclepius.

“It isn’t like you to not take care of yourself, Mom.” Demos frowned. It was plain that it wasn’t a normal expression on his face.

“Your aunt and I were working on a project of mine. There is a pair of temple dancers in Thebes. One is hers and one is mine, we decided to work together to get them matched. They were a little resistant and I haven’t been eating like I should. The mixture of both has me a little tired.”

“Same here about eating,” Eris simpered. “You know me, I’d forget my boobs if they weren’t attached.”

“Only ‘til the next time that you were changing your gown,” Demos laughed and shook his head. He called a full pitcher of ambrosia to him and refilled both goblets. Both were drained quickly.

“Go on, dear. We’ll be fine, thank you for the ambrosia.” Aphrodite brushed a kiss over her son’s cheek. Her children were a joy to her, even when she was shaking with frustration at their antics.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, honey. We’ll be fine in a few minutes.” Eris nodded. Demos shrugged and flashed out.

“Now, we’ll wait for that spell of mine to percolate,” The Goddess of Love said with satisfaction. “It will hit him the hardest when he brings the little one back over here in the morning.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, it will fully burn the next time he sees my boy. We’ll be able to hear the screams from his bedroom clear over here.” Eris smiled like a cat with cream on her whiskers.

The Queen of Olympus heaved another sigh and silently hoped so. They were running out of time.


Cupid woke to the feeling of feathers brushing his stomach. He opened one eye to see Jessie lying on her back with his son draped over her. The Godling of Mischief fingers were curling and uncurling and his little wings were twitching from his dreams. Jessie’s arm was still around him and her hand was resting on the small of his back, just under the wings. Bliss’ cheek was pillowed on her breast and one leg was tangled in the sheet that was still wrapped around his lover. Damn. He should have conjured a tunic onto her last night, but he’d been distracted by his rage at his ex wife, and then the picture that Jessie and Bliss had made in the bed. If he did it now, he might wake them. Jessie’s hair was a tangled mass spread out across his pillows with a little covering one of her cheeks. He reached over his son and brushed it off with a gentle caress. A gentility that he’d yet to show when she was awake

Once he’d had visions of mornings spent with his son and Psyche in the bed, just like this. Visions he’d wanted of waking with his own family, just like he’d woken with his own parents when he was young. He and Bliss were definitely better off without the Goddess of Discord, but it did rob Bliss of a female presence in their own little unit. It wasn’t like his son lacked for female influences, not when he spent so much time over at the House of Love with Eris, but it wasn’t the same. And, while Olympians might not really think much about the concept of incest, the thought of bedding one of the goddesses who’d wiped the milk moustaches off his face when he’d been growing up, was not a comfortable thought, even if she did love children.

Besides, she was his dad’s twin, and that was too close a relationship, even for Olympus. Yuck, why was he even thinking about this?

Maybe the maternal image that Jessie was making curled around his son was making him think about including another in their small family circle. His sister Harmony lived here, but she wasn’t the nurturing type and Bliss could use a female influence that was clearly loving and willing to spend time with him. Cupid was pretty sure that she would be loving and firm. Jessie could fit in around here.

He’d wanted her permanently tied to him before, (at least until he’d tired of her) but the more time he spent with her, the more time he wanted. Granted, he was a greedy bastard to begin with, but even the willing and energetic loving he’d gotten with Strife didn’t change his desire to keep the bewitching mortal with him.

How to do it? He could probably trick her into pledging herself, but he didn’t want a grudging compliance. At least now, at any rate, not when he could get this sight every morning if he just worked a little harder at getting what he wanted. He could get her to agree to anything when she was really close to climax, but that wasn’t the way to go either. He didn’t want her spirit diminished and that might happen after the post coital euphoria faded. Damn, when did he get *scruples* about getting what he wanted?

When his son had sensed something about his woman that caused him to climb right into the bed with her to wait for Daddy, he realized.

The object of his musing’s eyes fluttered open and for the second time, she looked at him across the form of his sleeping child. Jessie gave him a sleepy smile and then gently slid Bliss off her chest and into his father’s arms. Bliss grumbled in his sleep and immediately flung an arm over his father’s chest. She slid out of bed and dropped the sheet. Her early morning stretch with a wide yawn did interesting things to his insides.

“My lord?” she whispered and gestured to her naked body. He clothed her in a brief tunic and she nodded her thanks. She left the room to attend to the needs that all mortals had, while Cupid pondered how to keep her with him.

When she came back in, Greagus woke up and immediately trotted over to her for some scratches and petting. Cupid’s eyes got wide for a moment when he saw his dog flop onto the floor in front of Jessie so that she could rub his tummy. The Dog of War weighed twice as much as she did, was a bloodthirsty slayer of men but he was acting like a puppy around her. Cupid closed his eyes and shook his head. What had she done to his pet? Another conquest made and further proof that Jessie belonged here.

She stood up with a last pat to Greagus and then poured herself a goblet of nectar from the food and drink that was still on the table next to her. She took a healthy swallow and then crammed some food into her mouth like she was afraid that she wasn’t going to get another chance to. Then Cupid thought back over the last few days and noticed a pattern emerging that whenever a meal was brought, he either started another bout of sex, or she was too exhausted to eat. He’d have to be more careful about feeding her; she needed all the strength and fuel that she could get.

He wanted her nice and healthy for what he had planned.

After quickly devouring the contents of the plate she climbed back into bed and snuggled up behind Bliss. He could tell that she was tired because as soon as she was lying down, her eyelids immediately began to droop. Well, maybe a *little* more rest was in order. He could lay here for a little while longer.

His son was cuddling with him, his woman was in the bed close enough to touch, his dog was lying on the floor next to him, and his male lover was a useless puddle of flesh. The only thing that would make this scene perfect was if he could have Strife’s limp form within sight to gloat over.

For the moment, life was good. And it was going to get better soon.

*****Patience is a virtue, they say. Unfortunately, I'm not all that virtuous. Sorry this is so late in getting up, guys. I remember what it was like to be reading an uncompleted story and to have the author be slow about updating. I'll be better about writing, even though I'm on a computer all day at work. I really want to finish this story so that I can really start on another one, so I'll work harder about getting this into print.

Thanks again for everyone reading this.