Hello my loves! I'm back with another update. Sorry it took so long.

Sometimes I feel like I want to talk to you but I don't think anyone reads my profile. Maybe I should start a forum? I don't know.

I've been meaning to ask you how you would feel if I joined another website to write my own original work like Fictionpress or Figment or even if I started working on a manuscript. Is that completely crazy? Would any of you keep reading? Let me know in your reviews or personal messages.

I hope you enjoy this new chapter. I was going to go in a different direction but I decided to reward you with something a little more fun.

xxxxx

As always, PLEASE REVIEW!

Much love, Cat

xxxxx

Many thanks to my wonderful betas, McGonagall's Bola and BardsofBedlam.

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Aphrodite tried to swallow, but the saliva just pooled in her mouth. She should say something. No, he should say something. Wasn't it his arm wrapped around her? But then, why had her head been pillowed on his chest like that? And…why could she still feel the heat of his thigh pressed against hers? Oh Gaia, had she actually crept into his arms during the night? As she stared down at him, stunned into immobility, her only instinct was to sink back into the warmth of his embrace. An embrace he apparently hadn't volunteered if her other instincts were right.

I thought you were going to keep your distance, a voice in his head asked dryly. He wanted to tell himself to shut up, but he was right. What he was doing was wrong. His head began swimming from the contradictions, or maybe it was the sweet smell of the silken gold strands still sliding distractingly over his flesh. Whatever it was, it was too early to parse out the implications at this hour. He wanted to go back to sleep. But he wanted to pull her back into his arms first.

Hephaestus could feel his eyelids growing heavy. The light peeking through the curtains was a dim gray. What time was it? It was certainly too early to be awake. He yawned.

Aphrodite watched, transfixed, as he stretched and fell back against the pillows. Or, more precisely, she watched the blankets slip over the contours of his body, teasing her by slowly exposing the tantalizing expanse of his bronzed torso before finally pooling at his waist. At which point a conflict arose. Should she enjoy the flexing muscles in his sculpted arms as he raised them over his head? Or should she instead contemplate the undulation of his contracting abdominal muscles? A difficult choice.

Hephaestus turned to look at her bleary-eyed, unaware of the direction of her thoughts. Without considering what he was doing, he placed a hand on her shoulder.

The heat of his palm almost singed her skin. Yet instead of retreating, she found herself instinctively responding. Her body seemed to melt at his touch, the tension in her muscles easing so that she naturally curved into him.

Her skin was so soft. He had been about to say something but he couldn't seem to remember… How could he when his imagination had already run ahead, speculating on whether her skin was this soft everywhere? Without input from his sleep-fogged brain, he found his hand was gently cupping her jaw, softly stroking the skin at her throat with his thumb.

She shivered as his slightly callused fingers caressed the sensitive spot just under her ear, at the base of her neck. Her eyes shut at the pleasurable sensation. Then, an even more pleasurable sensation overcame her defenses as his lips touched hers, tentative and teasing, awaiting her permission. The kiss was so sweet her body ached with it. The uncertainty of the moment was novel and all the more sensual for it. She melted into him, reaching out to cup the back of his head and keep his lips pressed to hers.

They abandoned all thoughts, irresistibly susceptible to the pull of their unexpected attraction in their sleep-muddled haze. Yet it was still just a kiss. Neither one of them seemed inclined to initiate anything more.

He kissed her and kissed her and kissed her. Until his mind was clouded with the feel of her. Until the taste of her kiss was imprinted on his tongue. Until the heat started to spread as his lust began to rise.

Until she called a halt. "Stop," she panted, pulling away from him. "Hephaestus, stop!"

They stared at each other in shock, trying to catch their breaths.

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Hope you liked it.

As always, PLEASE REVIEW!

Much love, Cat