Hello, my darlings! I know I took a very long hiatus from writing and that some of my stories have been on hold for months if not years. I am very sorry to keep you waiting. If you haven't visited my profile lately you may not know that I've been having some issues with my laptop (where all of my drafts, outlines, and notes are stored) for months which is part of the reason I've had to extend my break from many of my stories. And as I've alluded to in the past, the rest of my absence this last year has been due to personal issues I won't get into. But I want you to know that I very much appreciate all of your love and support and I still read every single review I get. So, to tide you over while we both wait for my laptop to (hopefully) get fixed, I thought I'd go back to writing one-shots for a while. I hope you enjoy what I come up with. This is not meant to fit into The Battle With the Heart Isn't Easily Won but it does build on the personalities of Aphrodite and Hephaestus that I established in that story.

As always, PLEASE REVIEW!

Much love, Cat

xxxxx

Aphrodite shivered as she felt his lips brush against her bare shoulder.

"Cold?" he guessed.

She shook her head but she allowed him to help her into her robe.

When she continued to stare out the window in silence he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. He knew what he wanted to ask her but he couldn't make himself say the words. He did feel slightly reassured by the way she relaxed against him as soon as his arms had come around her. She seemed to respond instinctively to him as though her body had acknowledged something her mind wasn't ready to accept. Or perhaps that was just wishful thinking.

Aphrodite stared out of her bedroom window as the rising sun lit the grounds with a warm, pink glow. She wanted to throw open the window and bask in the light of its beams. She had the foolish feelings that she could bathe in those rays and be reborn, or at least banish the shadows of the night and its dangerous uncertainties.

She hadn't been a maiden. She had had other lovers before him. But somehow it had been different. Even now her body longed for his with an intensity that went beyond physical need. Their coupling last night hadn't felt like a mere slaking of lust. It had felt like reconnecting with the other half of herself that she hadn't realized was missing. For the first time she began to believe there might actually be such a thing as love. And it terrified her.

She didn't say any of this to him. Instead, she turned around in his arms and tipped her head back to meet his gaze. So tall. So stoic. She gently lifted her hand to caress his face, emboldened by the brief flicker of uncertainty in his eyes to press her lips to his. All at once an ache flooded through her body to remind her of the pleasures they'd shared last night. A honeyed warmth settled in her lower body as they cultivated their desire, nurturing it between them with a languid, indulgent kiss and furtive caresses. His hand brushed her breast. Hers stroked his broad back. They acted like lovers conducting a clandestine affair, savoring kisses and stealing touches to which they had no claim.

Needing to escalate their passion, she cupped his face in her hands, deepening the kiss as she drew him back towards the bed. Their bed. The one they had shared for months but had only consummated their marriage in last night. He was truly her husband now. So why did she feel more like a lover than a wife? Those thoughts left her mind as his body covered hers and the memories of what they'd shared last night stoked the flames of her desire.

Hephaestus was breathing heavily, his face made fiercely beautiful by the yearning flashing in his dark brown eyes. He had never felt like this with another woman, bolstered by the force of his need for her, charged with primal lust, all the while feeling like he could burst with the intensity of his feelings. He had never felt so reckless and yet powerful. He threw himself into the forge, ready to melt in its heat.

He pressed a fiery trail of kisses down her neck, charting a path that ended with his mouth covering her breast, his tongue laving the nipple he held between his lips. She inhaled sharply and he suspected that she was still sensitive from his fervent attentions the night before. Pulling back, he soothed the soreness with a soft kiss before cupping her full breasts in his hands, massaging them gently, carefully to avoid the tender tips. She moved restlessly beneath him, arching into his touch. Her breasts were very sensitive and he knew from his recent experience that he could bring her close to fulfillment simply by caressing them. But he was not to do so at that moment.

Aphrodite suddenly batted his hands away from her breasts and urged him onto his back. She stretched one long, shapely leg across his body before sitting up to straddle his waist. She leaned down to kiss him heatedly before setting upon her own slow seduction. When he was groaning and arching off the bed in frustration, she finally took him inside her. She sucked in a breath as she slowly lowered herself onto him, her flesh still tender from their repeated coupling the night before in spite of her desire for him and the moisture that eased his entry. She moved over him slowly, teasing them both with shallow thrusts and allowing their desire to bank instead of rage, the fire consuming them slowly but surely. Eventually a hitch in her breathing signaled her climax and she gasped as her body pulsed around him. He followed quickly, thrusting twice before his body tensed and convulsed beneath her. He cried out as he was hit by the full impact of his culmination. After her breathing and heartbeat settled she allowed him to help her disengage from him and nestle into the curve of his body. She felt suffused in a warm, pink glow, tendrils of pleasure continuing to unfurl even as the warmth of his body and the comforting weight of his arm resting over her waist tempted her to sink back into the embrace of sleep. She yawned. She kissed him gently and made one last half hearted attempt to keep her eyes open before she settled back into her husband's arms.

xxxxx

I really hope you liked this. I know it's a little different for me as I'm usually less explicit, but I hope you don't mind. If I'm going to write romance, I need to get more practice with this kind of thing, right? Let me know what you think.

As always, PLEASE REVIEW!
Much love, Cat