Lesson in Love (Olympians, 2) (4 page)

Hermes spoke first. “You want to know
about Iris. You’re going to have a hard time.”

“
Why?”

Hermes kept looking ahead. “No one
knows much about her. She’s been close to Poseidon at times because
her father was also a god of the sea. She’s very close to his new
wife, Layla. She may confide in Hera also, as most goddesses
do.”

Eros rolled his eyes. Above everything
else, Hermes’ ability to be boring in every aspect of his life told
Eros this god could not be his father. His mother had probably only
slept with him to make sure he was alive. “Don’t really want to
involve Hera, but she probably already knows I’m
interested.”

“
Just interested? Nothing
more?”

Eros looked at Hermes, a bit surprised
by the suggestive remark. “Maybe a little more than interested. I
can’t say I’ve ever had a relationship with a goddess. Psyche
wasn’t born one, so that’s different.”

“
Relationships with
goddesses can be interesting. And complicated.”

Eros looked at Hermes, but Hermes’
expression revealed nothing. “I know. Iris is definitely complex. I
won’t deny that. I simply thought you might know more about her.
I’ve never heard anyone talk about her.”

“
She is Hera’s personal
messenger now, has been for centuries. She stays among mortals and
keeps to herself. Not much gossip for anyone to pass
along.”

Eros knew he wasn’t going to get
anything else out of Hermes. “Well, thanks anyway.”

“
No problem.” Hermes
turned at the next hallway and left Eros standing alone.

Eros shook his head.
“Whatever.”

He felt arms wrap around his waist and
a gentle kiss on his neck. “Hey there, sweet cheeks.”

He turned to see Hera standing behind
him. He would almost prefer being called Cupid. “Hera. Been
eavesdropping?”

She kissed his cheek. “It’s my
palace.”

“
You’re absolutely right,
so just go ahead and spit it out.”

“
Spit what out?” She ran
her fingers down his chest. “There’s nothing in my mouth at the
moment.”

“
You must have an opinion
about me and your messenger.”

“
Hmmm. Never thought about
it much before, seeing as how you didn’t even know she existed.”
She continued to run her hands over his chest.

He tried to focus on his own words,
not her hands. He had enough trouble with Zeus without sleeping
with Hera, no matter how much he wanted to. He tried teasing her.
“You trying to distract me away from her?”

Hera folded her arms over her chest.
“No. Simply pointing out an interesting fact. Sorry for the
wandering hands. Old habit.”

Eros sighed. “Well, the lady has
pointed it out already. She seems to resent me for never noticing
her before.”

She smiled, mischief gleaming in her
eyes. “That will only make things more interesting.”

“
Maybe, but how about you
stay out of it?”

“
Fine. I’m interested, but
I can behave. I won’t speak for your mother.”

“
Yeah, well, that’s never
wise anyway. I don’t care what she thinks. I suppose you already
know what she did? She wanted to make me feel guilty, so she
tricked me.”

Hera held up a finger. “Maybe she was
trying to teach you something important. She only has your best
interests at heart.”

Eros decided to catch Hera off guard
and try one more time. “She’s not thinking of me. She’s with my
father right now.”

“
Really? How do you
know?”

Eros glared. “How do you keep secrets
straight in that head of yours?”

She laughed. “It’s hard, but I manage.
I happen to know that she’s with Ares right now. That’s no
surprise. Why do you care?”

“
I don’t, but someday I
want to know the truth.”

She put her arms around his neck and
brought her lips to his. “One way to find out…”

She kissed him heatedly, and he became
aroused because her nearness was hard to ignore. He pushed her away
slowly. “Problem is, you probably wouldn’t tell me. Not worth the
risk of ending up in a cow pasture again.”

She pretended to pout. “Do something
especially pleasing to the gods and perhaps we will tell
you.”

“
That’s quite a task. I’ll
keep trying the trickery.”

“
Suit yourself. Now get
out of here. You have things to do.”

He started to speak, but before he
could he found himself in his own bedroom. His body was still
responding to Hera’s touch, so he was grateful she hadn’t zapped
him back to Iris. He rubbed his cock. Thinking of Iris only made
things worse. He went into the bathroom. A long, cold shower would
have to do, as he couldn’t yet have what he wanted.

* * * *

Iris set Hermes’ tea down and took a
seat at his table in the back of the restaurant. “I’m overrun with
visitors lately. I think I know who to blame.”

Hermes stirred his tea and took a sip.
She had always been amazed at how calm he always seemed,
considering he was the fastest being on the planet.

“
You have something to
convey?”

“
Eros came and asked me
about you a few days ago.”

Iris hadn’t been expecting that. “So
you don’t have a message for me? You just wanted to tell me
that?”

He nodded. “He must be very curious.
He usually avoids me as much as I avoid him.”

“
I know. It certainly
proves his interest.” She folded her hands. “We’ve had this
discussion about Eros before, but you don’t like him—”

“
Because he is arrogant
and annoying. You’ve always agreed, despite your
feelings.”

“
And you’ve never said
right out that you disapprove of my feelings.”

“
It’s not my
concern.”

“
Would it be if he were
your son?”

“
His mother handles him
quite well.”

Iris looked around the restaurant,
then back at Hermes. “She does. No doubt about that. You know what
she’s planning?”

“
Another match.” He met
her gaze. “She is always planning another match.”

“
Perhaps she should make
one for herself.” Iris gave him such a hard time because she
desperately wanted to see a crack in that hard exterior. Thus far,
it seemed Aphrodite was the only one who had ever penetrated
it.

“
It wouldn’t be with
me.”

“
Why not?”

Hermes remained silent for a moment.
“You care for some reason?”

She decided to be blunt. “You are a
god, and you are miserable and unbelievably boring. She would liven
you up. She even got Hephaestus to come out of the underworld for a
few months.”

Hermes looked down at the ground. “No
one’s ever said anything like that to me before.”

“
You’re the messenger of
Zeus. Everyone’s scared of you. You mean Hera’s never suggested it?
She wants everyone bonking away like rabbits.”

“
Hera leaves me alone. She
knows it’s pointless to try to tell me what to do.”

Iris sighed. “Fine. I’ll stop. You
came here because you care about this.”

“
I don’t have to wear my
feelings on my shoulder to show that they do in fact exist. I
thought you should know.”

“
Thank you very much then.
I will make sure my heart and sanity are well guarded.”

He shrugged. “Eros is arrogant, but
you love him.”

“
That news seems to be
traveling fast.”

He stood up. “Don’t blame me. Hera and
Aphrodite handle that department.”

“
I know. It’s hard to
forget. They kept my secrets, at least until last week.”

He hesitated and then added, “Just be
careful.”

She watched him walk away. “I will.”
She hoped she’d be able to keep that promise.

Chapter Three

Eros scanned the customers
in
The Iris
. He
waited until he was sure there were no Olympians around before he
sat down. He chose a booth instead of his normal table. He wanted
to surprise Iris and maybe catch her off guard. He’d avoided the
restaurant for almost two weeks. Maybe she wouldn’t be expecting
him to come back at all.

“
Trying to make a change
in your life?”

He looked up and saw Iris peering at
him over the back of the booth. Her hair was powder blue, and she
wore a dark blue dress. Her eyes appeared clearer than usual,
reflecting the color of the dress.

He shrugged. “Just wanted to sit here
today.”

She just looked down at him. “What do
you want?”

“
Just a light beer for
now.”

She narrowed her eyes and then walked
off.

He watched her walk away. She
obviously hadn’t wanted to take his order; she wanted to know what
he was up to. Her question had given him the perfect opportunity to
deliver a flattering line, but she’d seen him do that before. She
would have been expecting it, and she would have shut him down
immediately. She wouldn’t take his attention seriously if he
started off the way he always did.

The problem was he didn’t know any
other way of getting a woman’s attention. He knew lots of methods,
but that was just it: they were all methods. They didn’t work on
goddesses. Gods and mortal men alike usually had to wait until the
goddess in question decided she wanted them.

Iris set his beer down on the table.
“Anything else?”

He looked up at her, wishing he’d
thought more about what to say. “No. I’m fine for now. Thank
you.”

She walked away and he sighed. It had
occurred to him that his lack of flirting and cute lines might make
her even more suspicious. After all, he’d insulted her and been
kicked out the last time they spoke, so his good behavior probably
indicated he wanted something.

Great.

“
Why so sad,
baby?”

He looked across the table at his
mother. Her blonde hair was curly and long again, flowing down her
back. She wore a flattering white sundress.

“
You just wanted to hurt
my feelings, didn’t you?”

“
What do you mean?” She
reached down and picked up a cup of frothy coffee that had appeared
at the same time she had.

“
You planned it all out.
You wanted me to go see Abigail on Valentine’s Day when you knew
she wouldn’t be alone.”

“
Did I make you have a
fight with Zeus? Did I bring you here and make you fight with Iris?
Or make her come to me? It was all the Fates.” She smirked at him.
“Come to think of it, you could have gone to bed and gone to see
Abigail the next day. Who knew you’d do what you were told so
quickly? Unless you wanted to see her pining away over you on the
holiday of lovers.”

“
No, I didn’t. I had no
idea she had ever done that at all until Iris pointed it
out.”

“
A fine lesson, then. At
least you’ll take one thing away from this incident. Three hundred
and fifty days until another Valentine’s day.”

“
I haven’t forgotten, but
that’s not a major concern right now.”

“
Come to make up? That’s
sweet.”

“
Best not to have any
goddess mad at me. They have such long memories.”

“
We do. I agree. And on
that note, why did you decide to talk to Hermes?”

He hadn’t been expecting that. “He’s
Zeus’ messenger. I thought he could tell me something, and I knew
he wouldn’t run and tell anyone else I had asked.”

Aphrodite raised her eyebrows. “You
thought so? He surprises everyone now and then.”

His mother seemed to be going
somewhere, but she might just be teasing him. He took a long swig
of beer. “And?”

She sighed. “Why didn’t you come to
me?”

“
I can’t say I trust you
much right now. You’re plotting something, and you’ll do anything
to get your way.”

“
I always get my way.” She
looked around the restaurant, but obviously no one present
interested her because she looked back to him quickly. “Maybe it
has nothing to do with me. I might be here for Iris. Isn’t it
possible I don’t want you doing to her what you’ve done to so many
others?”

“
I have never deliberately
hurt anyone!”

“
You have been careless
and thoughtless and self-absorbed. The pain of others is just as
strong, regardless of your motives.”

“
I doubt I could hurt
Iris.”

Aphrodite nodded. “If you say so.
Perhaps I’m here for you, then.”

Eros thought about this, but he didn’t
buy it. “She’s not going to hurt me. She couldn’t.”

“
Are you so sure? You’ve
never had to fight for a woman before. As I recall, Psyche did all
the work fighting for you.”

He did not want to talk about his ex.
He had no idea why everyone brought her up so casually, as if they
thought he had no feelings at all.