The Forge King

by Jovee Winters

  “Woman,” he growled and rubbed at the bridge of his nose, further smearing the sweat and dirt, “I really do need to work, and you’re—”

  I made my gown fade to near translucency. He shut up, his jaw dropped, and the whites of his eyes grew big.

  “Aphrodite,” he growled but still hadn’t taken his hot eyes off of my breasts, “it’s not polite to tease.”

  I grinned, biting my bottom lip coquettishly, before saying, “who said I teased? You know, I’ve never ridden a bear before.”

  He coughed and shook his head, and though I could tell it took serious effort, he cut his eyes to mine. But where I’d hoped to find laughter, or hell, even desire glittering in his eyes, all I saw was anger.

  At me.

  “Go.” He said it softly. Almost cruelly.

  I flinched. “But—”

  “Go. Now.”

  He pointed, and I shook my head, fashioning chain mail over myself, feeling the sudden need to hide from his disapproving glare.

  “Did I… do something wrong?” I felt heat burning in my eyes and couldn’t understand it. Was I about to cry? Because he’d gotten vexed with me?

  I hopped off my throne and rushed to him. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it in mine. “We are friends, you and I. So I will humble myself to you as I would for no other. Forgive me, my Hephy. Please.”

  I didn’t know why I’d flashed him as I had. I honestly couldn’t understand myself half the time. But he’d been ignoring me, and well… I never handled that well.

  The hardness was gone, but there was pain in his eyes that lingered still. As if sensing my study of him, he closed them. And I leaned up on tiptoe, rubbing my palm over his coarse cheek.

  “I am sorry, my friend.”

  He rumbled deep in his chest but nodded. “You should not tease me, Aphrodite. Friends do not do that to one another.”

  “Look at me,” I whispered with urgency and was flooded with relief when he did. Rain danced in his eyes, and I’d never seen anything quite so beautiful before. “I promise. Not you. Never you. I can learn things, Hephy, if you’ll only give me a chance.”

  He squeezed my hand one last time before letting it go. And I felt bereft without his hot, calming touch.

  I was coming to quite crave his presence. Not that I’d ever actually told him that. But I felt centered when I was with Hephaestus. As though I didn’t have to put on airs and be silly and sexy, as I had to be with everyone else.

  I gave him a wimpy smile. “Friends again?”

  He pulled me into his hard frame and hugged me tight. And it felt so good. So very, very good. I wrapped my arms around his waist, and he was so broad I was unable to even lock my hands together.

  “Always,” he murmured tenderly. “Always, my rose.”

  I smiled, because all was right with the world again.

  “And just so you know, you should wear fire. It is what Ares likes best,” he whispered hoarsely.

  I nodded. “And you, Hephy? What do you like best?”

  He frowned, eyes casting down toward my feet, then he reached behind us and with just his pinky finger dipped out a tiny curl of white-hot flame. He did not look at me but breathed upon it, and then he handed it to me.

  When I took it, it changed instantly into a tight white dress with a heart-shaped corset and a bell-shaped skirt that would just barely cover my ass.

  He stepped back. “Ares told me of the time period. I thought this would do.”

  I crushed the dress to my breasts, staring up at him through my gem-soaked lashes. “You… you made me a dress?”

  Grunting, he cleared his throat and picked up his hammer, his back to me as he said, “It wasn’t a big deal.”

  Then he began hammering hard. So hard I felt the vibrations through the soles of my feet.

  But he had no idea that to me, it was a big deal. A very, very big deal.

  When I got back from my weekend in Los Angeles with Ares, the very first person I came to see was Hephy.

  I was blissed out and sexually satisfied. Ares had taken me all over LA, as the locals had called it. We’d eaten food I’d never seen before in my life, like a glorious concoction called the hamburger. I was positively obsessed with their greasy, cheesy goodness and figured that maybe Hephy would be too.

  I’d also gone to the beach and had worn a bikini that had basically only been held together by a thread and a prayer. Ares and I had had no shortage of fuck buddies for the weekend, looking as we had. He’d then taken me to a concert. Hair metal, he’d called it. It was… interesting, to say the least.

  But I’d had fun, and now it was time to share that fun with my best friend.

  Still dressed in the ridiculous and wild fashion of the 1980s, I had my blond hair teased sky high and had dumped nearly a ton of Aqua Net into it to make it so; it completely defied gravity and was amazing. I wore makeup that was just this side of clownish and a rhinestone lace glove on one hand only, because apparently everyone in the eighties was incapable of keeping the pair together. I also wore white six-inch heels with dainty little white socks that had ruffles at the ankles. I did like the socks and thought that maybe my Hephy would too. They were cute and dainty, just like me.

  I was also wearing Hephy’s dress. And I wanted him to see me in it most of all.

  I expected to hear hammering at the forge, but I did not hear the hammering. I did hear muttering, though.

  Clutching the bag of burgers in front of me, I walked quietly into his forge, glanced around, and spotted him instantly sitting at his workbench. He was hunched over it, that ever-present bun holding his hair up and out of his face, his pink tongue poking out the corner of his mouth as he stared into the largest magnifying glass I’d ever seen. His skin was freshly scrubbed and free of soot. He even had on clean clothes.

  Gods, he was adorable. I smiled softly, until I started wondering why it was that he should look so nice. That smile instantly vanished. Was he expecting someone? Had I intruded on a private moment?

  My stomach dove down toward the region of my knees. I leaned back on my heels, thinking that maybe I wouldn’t be wanted here. But he was so deep in work, not acting at all as if he was expecting someone. I pursed my lips, wondering what it was that held him so enthralled.

  In front of him was an exquisite mechanical ballerina, every detail nuanced and utter perfection, right down to the perfectly formed hands in the fifth position. I smiled as he inserted a hand crank pulley into her back. There was a click, and then he smiled broadly as he began to crank it.

  When he released her, she danced. And there was no music anywhere, but I could hear it, in my heart and all around us. She moved with verve. Passion. Life. Her movements were so fluid and almost lifelike. And then she turned, and I saw her face, and my heart quivered, because she was me in miniature. Heat shimmered in my eyes.

  “Oh, Hephy.” I covered my mouth with trembling fingers. “She’s so beautiful.” The words were breathed from the very bottom of my heart.

  He jerked so hard that he scattered all the loose little metal pieces in front of him to the floor. The ping as they hit the ground sounded unnaturally loud in the thick silence. He snatched her up and tapped her back, and instantly the tiny dancer stopped, and I was so sad to see it.

  “Aphrodite,” he said, sounding shocked, “what are you…” He shook his head. “What are you doing here? I thought you were still in the mortal realm.”

  I watched him tuck the pretty dancer away and looked up at him. He was standing now, rubbing his big hand down his neck, a quizzical look on his brow.

  I jerked, holding up the bag of burgers in front of me like a shield. “I… I brought food. For you.” I twitched. “And me. If you’d like to—”

  “Yes,” he said rapidly. “I’m starving.”

  I walked over to him on suddenly shaky legs, wishing I didn’t look so silly. I’d thought to make him laugh, but now I felt hot and uncomfortable, as though I’d inadvertently intruded on a private moment. Pe
rhaps for Hephy, he preferred machine girls to real girls?

  Normally, I wouldn’t care.

  But with him, I was quickly learning, based off the thread of disappointment fluttering through me, that I did care. I cared a lot. But I covered it with a grin.

  He rolled his wrist, manifesting a soft pelt of furs for us to sit upon. Giving him a grateful smile, I sank to my knees and began to unpack my wares.

  He sniffed appreciatively. “What in the hell is that? Smells amazing.”

  I laughed, feeling more at ease now. It was just my Hephy. My best friend. And yes, he’d made a machine model of me, but that was okay. I was pretty. It was no surprise he would wish to mate a metal version of me.

  I frowned. But why metal when the real flesh-and-blood person was right here? Was I not perfect enough for him?

  With a tiny growl, I yanked the now sodden burgers out of the bag and slapped them down upon the pelts.

  “What’s the matter, Dites? Didn’t have fun this weekend?”

  His eyes twinkled, and I hated that he didn’t seem to care at all or even notice how much the idea of him wanting to mate a machine was bothering me.

  “Though I won’t believe you if you say that, because Hermes had a grand ol’ time telling us all about the hundreds of humans you both bedded. Sounded fun,” he finished softly, not sounding at all as if he meant it. He inhaled deeply and plastered on a tight smile that never quite reached his eyes. “Said you’d be coming home soon. Glad you came. I was bored without your incessant chatter to keep me company all weekend long.”

  I smothered a grin. Maybe he’d dressed up for me, then. If so, how adorably adorable. And if not, well, I’d pretend he had, anyway. I licked my front teeth and gently bumped my shoulder into his big chest before sniffing and tilting my head up. “Can we not speak of bedding humans? They’re such weak, simple little beings”—not entirely true; I’d fallen in love with a few of them in my day, but still—“and I… I… I’m hungry.” I unwrapped my In-N-Out burger and shoved it into my mouth, and bloody hell, what had tasted like manna just hours earlier no longer tasted all that good.

  He blinked, smile slipping off his face, and dammit, he looked hurt. I sighed and forced a smile onto my face. I reached over and picked up his burger.

  “I told them to put everything on it. Bacon. Fried onions. Mushrooms. Cheese. These strange and glorious sauces they call ketchup and mustard and mayonnaise. Oh, Hephy, you’re going to just love it. I know it. Now, open your mouth.”

  The only other time I’d ever fed him had been the first time we’d spoken to one another. And I wasn’t sure he’d allow me such liberties anymore, but he did as I asked without question.

  And my heart grew warm. This time when I smiled at him, it was no longer forced. I leaned up on my knees and fed him the burger.

  He took a man sized bite, which was to say he’d very nearly bitten the damn thing in half.

  And then his eyes rolled back, and he was making noises that I’d only ever heard in sex, and my nipples were so hard I was pretty sure I could cut glass with them.

  He smiled as he chewed. “Oh. My. Gods,” he whispered animatedly, and I nodded.

  “Right? I knew you had to have one.”

  Speaking out of one side of his mouth, he said, “Oh, I think I’ve been ruined for life. That’s incredible.”

  There was a little bit of ketchup and mustard on the corner of his mouth, and without thinking, I swiped it up with my finger and brought it to my mouth and licked it off.

  His nostrils flared, and he stopped chewing. I was slow to pull my hand away, realizing what he must think, that I was teasing, being cruel.

  I blinked and shoved the rest of the burger into his hands and scooted back on my knees toward my barely touched burger, which I was no longer hungry for. My tongue tasted of sweet and hot, and I closed my eyes. Why had I done that?

  “This is very good, little bird,” I heard him whisper a short time later.

  My eyes flew open. He wasn’t vexed with me?

  He was popping the last bit into his mouth. “Please tell me there’s more.”

  I grinned. He wasn’t upset. And that strange mood between us was gone now, and he was just my dear, sweet boy. “Anytime you want one, Hephy, I promise I can make it happen.”

  He nodded as he swallowed and then patted his stomach. “That wasn’t nearly enough. You do realize I’m a growing boy.”

  “You’re a giant, is what you are. Here, take mine. I’m not hungry, anyway.” I smiled as I pushed mine toward him.

  He snatched it up and had the damn thing demolished in less than two seconds.

  I lifted my brow. “Sorry, sweets, there is no more. For now.”

  “That’s okay.” He leaned back on his powerful arms, mechanized legs kicked out before him, looking at ease and so damn handsome it made me feel hot all over. “I had my lunch half an hour ago.”

  I laughed. “Because of course you did. You really are a beast, aren’t you?”

  He chuckled. His lightning-streaked eyes looked me up and down. “Nice dress, by the way,” he said, quickly switching subjects.

  I snorted. “I think the body makes the dress. But you know, whatever.” I shrugged and rolled my wrist.

  He snorted back. “I’m sorry I brought up the orgy. Sometimes I don’t think,” he said softly.

  “Oh, Hephy,” I sighed, “I’m not offended that you should know about my sex life. It’s just…” I shrugged. “That’s not part of you and me. You know? I am someone else when I’m with you.”

  He looked at me for several seconds. “Good? Or bad?”

  “I don’t know.” I shook my head. “Just better. I’m happy.”

  “And you’re not normally happy?”

  Blowing out a harsh breath, I wasn’t sure how to answer that question. “I’m not unhappy. I’m just… I don’t know. I’m better.”

  He grunted but kept the rest of his thoughts to himself, and I wasn’t ready to go, and already, I could feel the tension in the air, his need to return to his forge and work. And I didn’t begrudge him his work, really. Most days.

  But I wasn’t ready to let him get back to it just yet.

  “I saw a concert,” I said.

  He frowned. “A concert? Of what?”

  I giggled. “Of music. It was loud and screechy, and the singers wore these ridiculously sparkly and tight pants that showed their banana-sized cocks, most of which were fake.”

  He chuckled. “Can’t get one over on Lust, eh?”

  “Damn skippy,” I snipped and winked at him. “Most of them were really like this big.” I held up my pinky finger, and he guffawed loudly.

  “Gods, female. I missed you.”

  Missing him like crazy and wanting to get as close to him as I possibly could for some unfathomable reason, I jumped to my feet and held my hand out to him.

  He didn’t take my hand, but he did stand. So close that I felt his heat brush mine, and I shivered.

  “There was one song, though,” I whispered, “that I knew you and I had to dance to.”

  He frowned. “Aphrodite, I do not dance. Not now. Not ever.”

  I clapped my hands, and suddenly, his forge was echoing with the sounds of Def Leppard’s “Photograph.”

  He shook his head. “Cannot make me dance.”

  I grinned and began moving my body, running my fingers through my hair, teasing it even more as I shook my apple bottom at him. “Did you know the drummer only has one arm?”

  “Good for him.” He groused back at me.

  I thinned my eyes. “Now, now, Hephaestus, be kind.”

  “I’m very kind. But I’m not doing this.”

  I grinned. “Please.”

  “Ohhhh, you’re evil, female.”

  My grin widened. “For me.”

  He growled and dropped his head into his hands, and I wanted to crow because I knew before the night was through he’d be dancing with me.

  “If you ever, ever speak of this
to another soul, I’ll deny it to my dying breath,” he said between his fingers.

  I clapped my hands excitedly. “You love me. Admit it.”

  “No.”

  I smirked. “You do. You love me. You just can’t help yourself. It’s okay. Everyone loves me. Eventually.”

  He growled and took a menacing step toward me, clenching those big, powerful hands of his, and I was so incredibly turned on my heart fluttered like moths’ wings in my throat.

  “I’ll kick you out of here, Dite. Test me on this.”

  Gods, he was so gorgeous when he was growly. Was it bad that I wanted to lick the small cleft in his chin? I bit the inside of my cheek, stomach a writhing nest of razor-tipped butterfly wings.

  I mimed zipping my lips and throwing the key away.

  And then he started dancing, and would wonders never cease, but the big guy could move. And before the night was through, there was shared ambrosia, and he was laughing, and I was laughing, and I do believe I had more fun that night than in any night that had ever come before it.

  10

  Hephaestus

  The image cleared, and I didn’t know what to think. Everyone was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop in the hall. And then as one, I felt the eyes of all of them turn to me, looking at me with questions in their eyes. When had Aphrodite and I built such a friendship? And the truth was quite simple.

  We hadn’t.

  And yet…

  Themis could only reveal truth.

  I looked at Aphrodite. She was a tiny flower in that massive throne. And she stared down at her sandaled feet with pain and misery clearly etched on every line of her face.

  I’d felt her emotions viscerally during that memory. The highs. The lows. The wonder. Joy. Even her jealousy, and each one of them now felt like a precious, golden flame that I needed to guard. To cherish. And to protect.

  I wanted to talk with her. Wanted to ask how. What was this? She’d told me many times that she came from a different place. A different time, when we’d loved each other and we’d been each other’s whole world, but I couldn’t fathom that as a reality. As the truth.