First Encounter
Before she made the journey to Asgard through the Bi Frost, Aphrodite had already decided to use another of her names, so as not to be recognized. Originally, her cult was from Cyprus, so she was also known as Kypris, the Lady of Cyprus. It was a name that she did not think the Asgardians would recognize, so if pressed, she would simply say that she had come to Greece from Cyprus, which was true.
She watched until Loki finally took a seat where he had the best chance of seeing everyone in the hall. The corner where he sat was crowded, but Kypris simply walked behind a couple sitting next to him, and they drifted away to another bench. She sat down beside him, and noted with pleasure that the thin green silk she wore complemented Loki's green perfectly. She made no move to attract his attention, knowing that her very presence would force any male near her to look at her before long. Her appeal could be felt as well as seen; it permeated the air like the fragrance of lilacs
Loki turned to her, and he was so much taller than she that he had to lean over and bend his neck to look in her face. She looked at him with her great blue eyes, and drew him in, like a fish on a hook. He said nothing, but continued to look at her, his face serious. Then his face broke into a smile and he laughed, saying, "What is a woman of your quality doing down here at the far end of the table? I saw you before you sat down, and I just assumed you'd been brought here for the pleasure of Odin, or perhaps my brother. Who are you?"
"I am Kypris, a visitor from Midgard; I am a demi-goddess. Your father kindly allowed me to come to Asgard because my situation at home was impossible."
"How so?" He smiled winningly. "Wait, I see it now. You tempted the husband of an important goddess, perhaps more than one, the goddess complained about you, and her husband denied everything. Am I near the truth? I imagine that most men who desire you are married; you must greatly please a man married to a dull wife, or come to think of it, even one not so dull." He turned his head, smiled and winked at her. "Do you sleep with everyone's husband, or just the most important ones?" He leaned in closer, no longer smiling; one large hand cupped her chin with a grip of iron. There was nothing gentle about Loki. His face came very close to hers, nose to nose, deliberately offensive. "Whom do you plan to seduce here?" He laughed suddenly, and dropped his hand.
"You certainly get straight to the point, Prince. If you think I am so attractive, why do you insult me? I don't go after the husbands of other women. I had thought to find a welcome here in Asgard, but I see that is not to be the case." She sighed, blushed delicately, and dropped her eyes, apparently submissive. It was a wonderfully simple trick, and almost always effective. She could feel his eyes still on her. His grasped both her shoulders, and pulled her around to face him squarely. She tried to break free from his grasp, but knew before she started that it was a pointless while she was in human form. She really wanted him to feel the soft skin of her shoulders and upper arms through the thin silk.
"My Lord, please, is this how you welcome a guest?"
"I am wondering just what kind of welcome you seek, Lady Kypris, and I'm wondering if it's my welcome you seek; I still have no idea who you are. Are you the daughter of an Olympian? You are certainly lovely enough to be. Who are you?" He still held each of her shoulders in a sure grip, and looked at her, the green eyes blazing with suspicion, and perhaps some paranoia. She realized that he had a tendency to violence perhaps as great as that of Aries; she knew what had happened when he came to New York.
"I told you sir, I am a demi-goddess, but I am not the child of any Olympian, and I live in New York, near Olympus. Does that answer your question? Is this how you treat everyone? I feel very conspicuous; everyone is looking at us. Could you please let me go and do the courtesy of pouring some wine?"
His face and voice changed immediately, and he dropped his hands. "Where are my manners? What would my royal mother say of my behavior? I will indeed pour you some of this wine, it is excellent." He handed her a golden goblet of wine which he transformed before her eyes so that it was embossed with waves and sea creatures. She drank, and in the bottom, she found two tiny conch shells. She smiled up at him through dark lashes.
"Ah sir, the Master of Magic and Mischief, I am told. That was lovely magic."
His voice was soft and very melodious, full of respect, "Are you interested in mischief and magic, Kypris?"
She looked down into the cup, "I think I am interested sir, interested in everything to do with you. May I call you Loki?"
He threw back his head and laughed, showing all the white teeth. "By all means, lady. Perhaps we met when I was last in New York, though I was terribly busy at the time."
"No, Loki, fortunately I was not in New York during your… what shall we call it? Your last visit?"
"That works as well as anything else, though I don't know if my brother would call it that. Speaking of my brother, he and my father will be shocked to learn that the most beautiful woman in the room is interested in me! Ha!" He looked down at her again.
"Loki – is there more to you than mischief and magic? What interests you, beside that and occasional attempts at planetary domination?"
"That's not what I'm thinking about now, lovely one," his voice very low, but with just a hint of aggression in his tone. "I am interested in you. All of you and everything about you." He lifted his right hand and lightly brushed her upper arm with his long fingers. She could feel the trail of each finger on her skin. She looked into his eyes and shifted her body slightly as a woman does when she first feels desire. His response was immediate. He took both her hands in his, and lifted them to his lips. He gently kissed each hand, and with the second kiss he delicately touched his tongue to the tip of her finger, giving it a lick as if he were savoring the taste of her flesh. Her pupils dilated slightly, and she let out a sigh that just slightly shuddered. She lowered her eyes again.
"Prince, you embarrass me! What will everyone think?" But as she said this, she looked about her and saw that no one was aware of them. When had he made them invisible, and how had she missed it? She had to focus; she must not lose control of this situation. He put a hand on each shoulder and pulled her to him, and leaning his head down low, he kissed her delicately on the mouth. It was shattering, soft and lingering, and after what seemed like minutes, she finally breathed again. He kissed her again, this time with more insistence. She raised a hand and stroked his cheek. He pulled away a little and looked at her with laughing eyes, his face delighted.
"They will think I desire you, and they would be right, if they could see us. But," his smile faded and he gripped her arms, "Before I spirit you away to my chamber, I must know why you are here. You've been here one evening, and you're ready to run off to bed with the first man who's taken notice of you. That's lovely for me, but I admit it causes me concern. I'm a man with a terrible reputation, the worst in Asgard. Whom will you bed tomorrow night?"
"That is insulting, Loki, let me go!"
He kept an even tighter hold on her arms, digging in his fingers. He spoke softly, but his voice trembled with intensity. "I will do no such thing until you tell me what I want to know! You're a demi-goddess from earth named Kypris, and are a guest here. That's very little information, lady; I always find out what I want to know, and what I want to know is why you are here. Your little story of a jealous goddess is trite. Why are you here? Who sent you? Why are you interested in me? Why do you not pursue one of our heroes? What interests you in me? Tell me! Who sent you?"
Kypris sighed and dropped her eyes again, then peeped up at him through the dark lashes. Her eyes swam with tears making her eyes so bright that they often took men's breath away. Loki stared at her for a moment, and then looked away. She blinked the tears away. "First, Prince, the story of a jealous goddess was yours, not mine. Also, I don't want to tell you what brings me here; you will not believe me; you will think I'm lying."
"Try me," he whispered. "Now!" All at once he was menacing; his size and physical power intimidating her - the fear was actually physical. But it was his face, really; she could see just barely controlled rage and something more ominous behind his eyes. The softer his voice, the more frightening he became.
"Oh Loki, let me go! I told you who I am, and no one sent me. I come to you on my own, completely on my own. And what interests me in you? I'm tired of heroes; heroes are boring and full of entertaining stories, all about themselves. They are interested in nothing but their own glory and honor. To them, a woman is a only a possession, nothing more. I'm tired of grim and dirty men and I am tired of men who are too good and righteous. I tired of the men of Earth, so I left there find a better life elsewhere, with someone who is not a hero, but someone who is smart and goes after what he wants. Isn't that you?"
"Yes, Kypris, that is certainly what I do and who I am, my famous brother and the All Father permitting, of course. You've come here at an opportune time; I'm not imprisoned or in chains. However, I am closely watched."
"Loki, I was allowed to see Asgard from Earth, and I saw you. I saw that you were freed from your prison, and I know the death and destruction you have caused. I know it, but it's still you that I want. You are fascinating, and you always appear to be enjoying everything, and to hell with the cost! I want fun and a good time, like you, and I want to do what I want to do, not what others tell me to. Also, I admit it, I find you very attractive. You will find I am very different from other women, Loki, very different."
Loki twinkled. "I don't believe a word you are saying to me Kypris, as flattering as it is, but I know an accomplished liar when I see one, and believe me, I'm an expert. Right now, your story will just have to do. Though keep in mind, I will find out your true purpose here. Shall I kiss you again?" He pulled her to her feet and away from the table.
"Oh yes." He kissed her lightly.
"Before we leave for my chambers, I will tell you one thing lady, which you'd best keep in mind. I am capable of absolutely anything, do you understand? Anything. While you are my lover, you will belong only to me, and if you stray, you will be sorry, very sorry indeed. You are mine. Do you understand?"
"Oh yes. I will do whatever you ask, whenever you ask." She was very close now, the trap was almost sprung.
He pulled her to him roughly and leaned down to kiss her again, deeply, his big hands in her hair and on her skin. He swung her up in his arms, laughed again, and they vanished.
…..
She was right, he thought, there was something different. He'd been bedding women, goddesses, and everything else for thousands of years, but this was different, really something out of his experience. He felt as though he'd been dipped in honey, and was experiencing a languor so deep that he could barely keep his thoughts together. It wasn't exhaustion, though that might be understandable, it was as if he'd been drugged, and she was the drug. Every time he thought about getting out of the bed, his body rebelled, and he rolled back over to touch her and make sure she was still there. The substance of her flesh was like a fix, and back he would go, sinking deeper. When she stirred, or smiled and kissed him, he would make love to her immediately, completely immersing himself. There was no room, no Asgard, and no universe but what was in the bed. How long had it been? Hours? Days? Weeks? Like the Lotus Eaters in Ancient Greece, there was no time, no beginning, and no end. What was happening outside this room? Shouldn't he be out there making mischief and bringing chaos to all? Sometime, sometime soon perhaps, but certainly not now. He just didn't care.
She smiled to herself for she knew exactly where he was and how he felt. He had fallen into her hands as neatly as a ripe peach. He, the trickster and the mischief maker, was caught off guard. He thought to dominate and menace her, but right now, she owned him. The irony was that she'd not used any of her powers as the goddess of love and beauty; she'd simply been an extraordinarily responsive lover. She knew how to anticipate his every want and desire, before he knew what he wanted. He thought he'd controlled their love making, and that she'd been utterly responsive to him and the latter part was true. But Loki didn't know what he was up against; he was the god of mischief, and she was the goddess of love. He never had a chance. Still, he was a lovely lover – tall, strong, smooth-skinned, and very masculine. He was wonderfully good humored, and took delight in everything, full of laughter and little jokes. Rarely had she laughed so much with a man or god. He was a man who enjoyed making love with no holds barred, no self-consciousness, and was never in a hurry. It was delightfully refreshing. Her husband, Hephaestus, made love just as one would expect the god of the forge to: crash and bang. He was neither graceful nor loving. Aries, on the other hand, was extraordinarily strong and masculine, and loved her, as much as he could love anyone. But she always felt that he made love to her as if he were on campaign, besieging a town, and she was the town. If she would just surrender, and allow herself to be ravished, it would all be over so much more quickly, and everyone would be happier. Both gods were about as sensitive as bricks, while Loki was astoundingly sensitive and aware, keen on giving her pleasure. It may only have been to impress her with his skill, which was impressive, but underneath that she felt a deeper longing for love and intimacy than she had ever felt in a man. She felt his extraordinary loneliness. He was superbly guarded, and would only let down his guard when he trusted her completely, but they had a long time to go before that happened.
Eventually, even a god and goddess have to get out of bed, and at the end of the second day, they decided that they should make themselves presentable, and appear in the banquet hall. This was the first test. Would he walk in ahead of her, leaving her to sit where she may? Would he make ribald jokes about her in front of the warriors? She'd seen men do both. Or, would he lead her to a comfortable seat, and playfully feed her from his own plate, making sure they never lost physical contact? In the guise of a demi-goddess, it was possible for anything to happen, but she would never get the full measure of this man if she revealed herself in her true form now. To her gratification, Loki took her hand, and led her to a seat at the high table. Heads turned, but he smiled, and greeted his mother and brother. They smiled back. Well, so far, so good. He kept one hand on her leg the entire meal, and met her eyes with longing often. Then they'd laugh some more.
Loki, his hair still tousled from the bed, stood in a far corner of the hall and watched the proceedings with interest. Who was this woman who had given him such pleasure for two days? If anything, she was as great a liar as he was. Had his father sent her? What was their game? He watched his double graze her cheek with his lips, and watched her smiling response. Who the hell was she?