For the Love of a God [Gods of Olympus] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)
Page 1
Gods of Olympus
For the Love of a God
Welcome to Mount Olympus, where nothing is as it seems.
Eros, Greek God of love, is so tired of finding love for everyone else. All he wants is to find a lover or lovers of his own. Using his powers, he finds a man and a woman who share his fantasy of the ménage relationship.
Neil and Talia have captured Eros in a way no others ever have. With the encouragement of his mother, Aphrodite, Eros embarks on a quest to make them his own. Successful, Eros enjoys the relationship of his dreams. But Eros soon begins to wonder if his lovers feelings are genuine or simply a product of his powers.
Join Eros, Neil, and Talia as they search for love in the midst of Eros's zany immortal relatives in this searingly hot romance.
Genre: Fairy Tales/Myths, Fantasy, Ménage a Trois/Quatre
Length: 34,733 words
FOR THE LOVE OF A GOD
Gods of Olympus
Lynn Tyler
MENAGE AMOUR
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at
legal@sirenbookstrand.com
A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Amour
FOR THE LOVE OF A GOD
Copyright © 2013 by Lynn Tyler
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62740-011-4
First E-book Publication: May 2013
Cover design by Harris Channing
All cover art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
Dear Readers,
If you have purchased this copy of For the Love of a God by Lynn Tyler from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.
Regarding E-book Piracy
This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.
The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.
This is Lynn Tyler’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Tyler’s right to earn a living from her work.
Amanda Hilton, Publisher
www.SirenPublishing.com
www.BookStrand.com
DEDICATION
As always, to my main man. Love you!
Special thanks to my editor who helps my books shine.
FOR THE LOVE OF A GOD
Gods of Olympus
LYNN TYLER
Copyright © 2013
Chapter 1
“Oh, for Zeus’s sake, Eros, cheer up.”
Shit on a shingle, why had he accepted his mother’s invitation for dinner? Oh yeah, because if he’d declined, she would have packed up his stepfather and brought the dinner to him, and that would have been a disaster.
Thankfully, his stepfather stepped in before she could harangue him some more. “Now, Aphrodite, leave the boy alone. Everyone’s entitled to a bad day.”
Aphrodite grumbled, but she stopped pestering him, walking into the kitchen and muttering about stupid males the whole way. The sounds of banging pots and clattering pans had him flinching. It wasn’t like she was cooking or anything so mundane. They were gods. They ate ambrosia, not food.
That didn’t mean she wouldn’t make them eat real food at some point though. She had gone through a domestic phase in the fifties, cooking for him and his stepfather every night. It had quickly become clear that cooking was not one of Aphrodite’s strong skills. Still, he and Hephaestus had eaten everything she’d ever put on their plates. His mother had a wicked temper, and neither of them had wanted to risk upsetting her. It wasn’t until Zeus tasted her cooking one day that she heard the truth.
Now she only threatened to cook when she was feeling particularly irate with something. Or somebody. Like him.
“Now, you’d better buck up, son, or else we’ll be eating scorched meat and clumped rice. And I’ll be sleeping on the couch for siding with you.”
“I heard that,” Aphrodite called from the kitchen. “And forget the couch. You’ll be sleeping in your forge if I find another half-finished sword lying around the house.”
Hephaestus swore under his breath and jumped to his feet. “That sword is for Ares, Affie. Please don’t do anything to it. He’ll bitch about it for days if I don’t get it to him on time. That man’s the biggest drama queen around.”
He disappeared into the kitchen, and Eros followed him in, just in time to see his parents share a passionate kiss. They may have started off as an arranged marriage, but love had blossomed between them for everyone to see.
Hephaestus scooped up the sword and cradled it against his chest as if it were a precious child. “I’m going to go out and work on this some more. Call me when it’s time for dinner.” The door closed behind him, blocking out the roar of his forge in the backyard.
Great. Now Eros was left alone with his very protective, very nosy mother. She didn’t say anything, just opened her arms.
And crap, if he didn’t need his mom’s arms right now. Not that he’d ever admit to needing his mother. The others on Mount Olympus would never let him hear the end of him being a mama’s boy. But sometimes, only a mother’s love could make things feel better.
She stroked his hair. “Eros, baby. What’s wrong?”
He sighed and pulled away. It wasn’t like he’d be able to hide it from his mother forever. He’d confessed his issues to Hermes in a temporary fit of insanity, and the other god was sure to open his big mouth soon. It was better his mother heard it from him than that gossiping god. Hermes was worse than a bored housewife.
“I’ve been helping people find their true loves for thousands of years now,” he hedged. He wasn’t exactly sure how to proceed.
A steaming cup of tea appeared in front of him, delivered by his mom’s hand. One sniff of the dark brew told him that it was safe to drink. He’d long a
go stopped wondering why ambrosia always tasted like whatever he felt like eating, ever since his mom had sent him to Athena. His aunt had just looked at him and told him that was the way of things. So much for her wisdom.
Aphrodite sat down next to him at the scrubbed wood kitchen table. “And you want to be able to experience love yourself.”
It was remarkable how keen his mother really was. But then again, she was the goddess of love, and she usually was able to ferret affairs of the heart out without too much trouble.
He nodded miserably and wrapped his hands around his mug, letting the heat warm his hands even if it couldn’t reach his heart.
“Is there someone in particular who holds your heart?”
Well, now, here was the real problem. It wasn’t one person who held his heart. It was two. Not that having a relationship with two or more people was all that uncommon up here on Mount Olympus. Gods seemed to be a perpetually horny bunch, and many of his relatives participated in orgies on a regular basis. It was just that he had no idea how to go about courting two mortals.
“There’s a male and a female. Both fascinate me for different reasons. Mainly because of whom they are at their cores, but also because of their sexual preferences.”
“Ah. They’re kinky. Good for you, Eros.”
He groaned and dropped his head so that it rested on his folded arms. Great Zeus, he might be the god of love, but the idea of his mother knowing exactly what got him off was so embarrassing.
She simply patted his shoulder and chattered on. “Come now, Eros. I have the same gifts as you, remember? I can see exactly what turns someone on. I know their deepest, darkest fantasy. Not that your fantasy of having a romantic relationship with both a man and woman is all that deep or dark. I mean, you could have gotten off on satyrs or centaurs or, you know, cows. Your fantasy is pretty damn tame compared to some I’ve seen.”
Oh, this day just kept getting better and better. “Mom, can we talk about something else, please?”
“Okay,” she said brightly.
Eros frowned. That was entirely too easy. His mother never just gave up. She talked everything to death, or at least until she got whatever it was she wanted. He raised his head and stared at her.
“Well, I have some exciting news,” she said with a sly grin. He raised his eyebrows and waited for the shoe to drop. “Hephaestus learned this new trick with his tongue. He now licks all around—”
“Mom!” Gods, now he’d have the image of his stepfather going down on his mom burned into his brain for the rest of his life, which was a very long time considering he was immortal. He had to get her to stop putting those images in his head now. “Okay, okay. Tell me what you think about my love life. And please stop talking about yours.”
“You know, dear, given all that you must have witnessed as the god of love over the years, the idea of me and your dad getting down to business should seem pretty tame by now.”
Kill. Him. Now. Smashing his head into the table was looking like a pretty good method of suicide right now. Not that he would actually do any lasting damage to himself, but it might drown out his mother’s voice.
“Now, back to your question.” He’d asked a question? He didn’t remember asking his mother anything, but hopefully if he just let her continue on this track, he could steer the conversation toward dinner. “In order for me to give you any advice, you first have to tell me about your two loves.”
He sighed and rubbed his forehead. His mom did know a thing or two about romance, and she wouldn’t judge him. “There’s a guy I work with in the mortal realm, Neil. He’s brilliant, funny, and sexy as all get out. And he’s as bisexual as they come.
“Then there’s Talia. She’s sweet, nice, and pretty. She’s studying for her master’s degree in history.”
“Mmm-hmm. And what’s her kink?”
He warmed at the thought and shifted around in his seat as his cock twitched behind his fly. “Being with two men. I mean, seeing two men together just flat out does it for her, as well as the idea of making love with two men at once.”
“Well, I fail to see the problem, dear. They sound perfect for you and each other.”
Okay, now he knew his mom had some type of plan. She knew perfectly well he couldn’t use his magic to make people fall in love with him. He could only use it to help others fall in love with each other. “What do you have in mind?”
She preened under his attention. Eros rolled his eyes but made a mental note to come and visit more often. He’d been gone for far too long this time, and he was just realizing how much he’d actually missed his mom and stepdad. “It’s easy, darling. Use your gift to make them fall in love with each other and then offer to be the third they both want.”
That gave him a pause. It could work. Actually, it was a really good plan. Well, maybe not really good, but it was better than anything he’d come up with on his own. Hmm. Neil and Talia were into the same things sexually. Bondage, tease and denial, and both fantasized about ménages.
His mother patted him on the shoulder again, and this time he offered her a grin. “Thanks, Mom.”
“You’re very welcome, dear. Now, I can see you’re eager to get on with your plan. Stop by Hephaestus’s forge before you leave. He has something for you.”
He stood up and bent at the waist to kiss his mother on the cheek. “I’ll visit again soon.”
She waved him off, but he could see the soft, indulgent smile on her face.
The heat from the forge was almost unbearable when he poked his head in. “Hephaestus? Mom said you had something for me?”
Hephaestus looked up, sweat streaming down his face and bare chest. He smirked and gestured to a couple of sets of handcuffs hanging on a hook near the door. “Did you really think your mom didn’t know what was wrong with you? She asked me to whip something up for you. Those handcuffs are for you and the ones you love. They’ll restrain the wearer without marring the skin. Perfect for mortals, who damage so easily. And for saucy goddesses who need someone to remind them who’s boss.”
Now he really had to scrub his brain with something abrasive. “Thanks for the image, Dad. I’ll see you later, okay?”
Hephaestus turned to face him fully. “Don’t wait so long between visits, young man. Your mother gets worried, and you don’t want to know what she gets up to when she’s worried.”
Yeah, really. He’d already figured out that she’d probably been visiting him when he was sleeping if she knew enough to have his stepdad make these handcuffs for him. Which sounded creepier than it was. Goddesses were notoriously protective of their offspring, and he’d brought it on himself by waiting six weeks to visit. “Will do. Try and rein her in, will ya?”
His stepfather gave him the one-fingered salute and turned back to his work. “Get outta here, boy. Go find those humans you love so much and bring them for dinner. Your mom won’t shut up about it until you do.”
He pocketed the handcuffs and walked out of the forge, not even bothering to say good-bye. Hephaestus had already gone back to work and wouldn’t have heard him anyway.
Mount Olympus disappeared from view as he concentrated on the thought of his house in the mortal world. He double-checked the time before heading up to bed. Time moved differently here than it did on Mount Olympus. He was happy to see that it was only nine o’clock in the evening. Good. It gave him more time to plan.
Tomorrow, Neil and Talia wouldn’t know what hit them.
Chapter 2
Neil walked into the office, thanking his lucky stars once again that he’d landed a job at one of the most casual firms in existence. He could come to work in board shorts, a tank, and flip flops if he wanted. In fact, he was pretty sure he’d seen that exact outfit on his boss once or twice.
As it was, he’d had to scrounge around in his dresser drawers to find the skin-tight blue jeans and the college sweatshirt he had on today. He really needed to do laundry, but the laundry room in his building was closed for repairs or some shit l
ike that. He felt like he was back at university, which wasn’t too far off the mark since he’d had these clothes since before he’d graduated. He’d been scraping the bottom of the barrel, so to speak, and it wasn’t like anyone in the office would care.
He juggled the two coffees he’d picked up at Starbucks and stopped at Aaron’s office. “Hey, Aaron.” When he got no response, he kicked the door. “Aaron? Dude, you awake? I brought you coffee.”
Aaron jerked and spun around in his chair, an expression of surprise crossing his handsome face. “Oh, thanks, Neil. I didn’t hear you there.”
“Maybe you should get your hearing checked, dude. I mean, sometimes I wonder if you even remember your own name.”
Those beautiful blue eyes widened, and Aaron’s lush, bee-stung mouth formed a small O. “I was just distracted, that’s all.”
Neil narrowed his eyes at the other man. Something was off with Aaron today, more than usual. He wished he had the right to ask the other man what was on his mind, but until he got up the courage to ask the guy out, he really had no insight into Aaron’s strange behavior.
“Yeah, right. Here’s your coffee.”
Their fingers brushed when Aaron reached out to take the cup, and shivers raced up Neil’s arm. It happened every time they brushed up against each other, which was more often these days because Neil had been making sure to get as close to Aaron as possible.
Aaron flashed him a shy smile and took a sip from the cup. His eyelids dropped until he was staring at Neil from under his lashes, the smile still playing at the corners of his mouth.