Since it's Valentine's Day and I have a story about Cupid, I thought I'd share some of it. Perfect is book #2 in The Gods series.
Perfect
The
Gods: Book Two
http://youtu.be/q50GEjdliWo book trailer
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Blurb:
Jaded billionaire Jeff Mayfield loves only what his
money and power can buy, but the Fates have plans for him. First a player in
Jeff’s casino hits a huge jackpot and things turn hectic. Then, in the middle
of the chaos, Jeff lays eyes on the unbelievably sexy Cam Smith—Cupid in his
human form.
Seized by lust, Jeff makes a move, only to find
himself on the receiving end of a blistering wave of sexual intent. Cam
disassembles Jeff’s self-image and puts it back together upside down. But Jeff
isn’t the only one struggling with control. Cam’s alter ego is Jealousy, and if
he loses his composure, the consequences will be deadly.
* * * *
The arid, hot air of the desert swept
across Cupid’s body and sucked the breath from his lungs as he stepped off the
shuttle bus in front of The Palms casino in Las Vegas. Running his fingers
through his short, curly blond hair, Cupid walked into the coolness of the
lobby. He scanned the area, hoping to see the owner of the place—a certain
gentleman named Jeff Mayfield—and resisted the urge to rub his hands together
gleefully; he had big plans for Jeff.
“Ah, it’s good to be back,” Cupid said
quietly. He was disappointed he didn’t see the one he wanted, but a small smirk
lifted his lips. “Lay a monster challenge on me, will you? Claim you don’t
believe love is for you? By Zeus, I’m going to have such fun proving you wrong.
Jeff, you poor human, you don’t stand a chance when the god of erotic love is
involved.”
Four months had passed since Garrett and
Randy, his most recent targets, had confessed their love to one another. A
pleased smile crossed Cupid’s face as he thought of the night he had spotted
those two. He’d had every intention of planting one of his golden arrows into
Garrett or Randy while they were at the craps table, but the oddest thing had happened.
His bowstring broke each time he lined
up a shot. This had never happened to him before. He was known by many names, but he preferred Cupid,
the name his mother had given him. Greek mythology, Roman mythology… he
shrugged. Little did the humans know just how badly they had messed up the pantheon,
not that it mattered. He knew the truth, as did others of his kind. Later,
while he and his sister, Psyche, watched the light go out in the window of the
Peabody Hotel, he had idly wondered if the Moirai, also known as the Fates, had
intervened. As curious as Cupid was, it was in his best interest not to question
why. Those three gave new meaning to the words hazardous to your health. Thanks
to them, the most widely-known image of him included a diaper.
“Well,
let’s get this show on the road.” Cupid strolled across the lobby to the
check-in desk, getting his license out of his billfold. He knew Reception would
card him because he looked so young.
After a long debate with the girl behind
the counter on whether or not he was old enough to rent a room at the Palms,
much less use the casino—and the fact he had such a common last name like
Smith—he stood in front of his room. It was one of the casino’s standard hotel
rooms, nothing special, but it had what he needed: privacy. He dropped his
suitcases near the door and walked into the bathroom. Taking a deep breath, he
gazed in the bathroom mirror at his reflection.
He planned to do something that defied
logic and would make his dear sister laugh hysterically. Cupid had debated doing
this on Mount Olympus, but Zeus would’ve noticed the surge of energy, and the
last thing he wanted was interference from the god of all gods. As it was, when
Zeus figured out what he planned, the big man wasn’t going to be happy. If this
worked, he would be weak and need to rest where he’d be safe. There was those
on Mount Olympus that would take advantage of his weaken state, so this was the
best place to attempt what he planned.
Cupid closed his eyes, clearing his mind
of the usual random day-to-day thoughts. He focused and, chanting softly,
started the aging spell. Heat scored his body, warming him from the inside out.
His skin tightened until it threatened to burst open from the energy spiraling
through him.
His body temperature crested as though an
explosion was imminent, then cooled. The relief was short-lived,
however, since his body continued to cool, his core temperature dropping
steadily. Numbness racked him while chills chased over his skin. Shivering, he
plowed ahead with this gods-be-damned spell and struggled to finish as darkness
edged his thoughts. A white light exploded in his mind and then the changes in his
body finally leveled off. When the coldness retreated, it left him
gasping for air but with a shaky feeling of accomplishment. He completed the
spell and took a deep breath to prepare himself, then opened his eyes and studied
his reflection critically.
“Not bad.” Cupid turned this way and
that, checking all the angles in the mirror. “Not bad at all. At least I don’t
look like a teenager anymore.”
The light blond curls were gone, pulled
out by the weight of his longer hair into golden blond waves. He ran his hand
through the strands, admiring his new look. Surprisingly, his eyes were the
same dark turquoise as before he did the aging spell.
“Wonder what other changes there are.”
Hastily he removed his clothes, anxious to see what else might have been
transformed.
He studied his reflection in the
bathroom mirror, noting the slight differences. His body was still long, lean,
and defined. He wasn’t as skinny as before—his form had filled out. His face
was more mature, the first bloom of youth gone, and small laugh lines appeared
around his eyes when he smiled.
“I can pass for someone in their late
thirties, no problem.” Cupid spoke to his reflection, watching his mouth move.
Amused, he laughed. “Even though I’m much, much older.”
Cupid had known Jeff wouldn’t touch him
unless he did something about how young he appeared. Satisfied, he watched his
reflection smirk back at him.
“Okay, part one of the plan is a
success. I won’t have trouble attracting Jeff’s attention. Hmm, but the name on
my driver’s license doesn’t really fit this new look. Cambridge sounds a bit
snooty.” Cupid tapped his lips. “Maybe I could shorten the name? How about Cam?
Hmm, I like that. Combining Cupid and Amor is cool, if I do say so myself. Cam
Smith it is.”
He picked up his clothes and strolled
out into the main room. Yawning, he dropped them on the foot of the bed and
closed the curtains, then lay down naked. There were a couple of hours before
things started jumping on the casino floor, so a short nap wouldn’t hurt. Soon
it would be time to put part two of his plan in action.
Cupid woke to darkness. He stretched,
running his hands over his body. This would take some getting used to. His body
felt different now. Rising from the bed, he pulled the curtains back. More time
had passed than he realized; it was late in the evening. He showered, stepped
out, and toweled off. Walking nude to his suitcases, he picked out a white Polo
button-down and a pair of black jeans, laying them on the bed.
“Perfect. Gives me a nice, casual look.
Now for a bit of naughty.”
Grinning, he rummaged around until he
found a pair of mesh briefs. These were sure to get Jeff’s motor running. He
slipped them on and returned to the bathroom. If things went according to plan,
those briefs would drive Jeff out of his mind later. Humming with pleasure, he
glanced in the mirror.
“Well, would you look at that.” He
leaned closer to the mirror, his hand brushing across his cheek. “Check out the
five o’clock shadow I’m sporting. Wonder if I should shave? Naw, I like how it
looks, think I’ll leave it. It’s weird to have facial hair, though.”
He had studied Jeff’s likes and dislikes
intensively, just as he had studied the man himself. Jeff was in his early
forties with short, dark nut-brown hair that, in certain lights, burned with
red highlights. His hazel eyes were framed with thick lashes. A straight nose
gave way to nice, kissable lips. Below that was a sweet little dent in his
chin. From what Cupid could tell, Jeff had a nice body. Wide shoulders, what
looked like a toned chest that tapered down to a slim waist, and strong legs.
The man obviously worked out. And hair… hair everywhere, from the few times he
had seen Jeff before; hair on his arms and hair peeking out through the open
collar of his shirt. That alone made Cupid’s mouth water. He was smooth
himself, but fantasizing about how much hair Jeff had made Cupid breathe hard.
Jeff was the very image of a superrich, well put together, ruthless
businessman.
He splashed on some cologne from a well-known
green bottle with a polo player on it. This cologne was common, but it was a
favorite of Jeff’s. The heavy scent was like a beacon that would attract him. Cupid
shivered. He planned to assault every sense Jeff owned. He intended to light a
fire in Jeff, nurse those eager little flames along until they exploded into a
full-fledged inferno, and then… make him wait.
“And I
will wait, no matter how much I want it.”
Jeff needed to understand there was such a thing as love—that there were
risks involved, but that they were worth it. There were the pleasures of the
flesh, and there were the pleasures of the heart. Cupid was determined to show
Jeff the difference. It was one reason why they would wait before going to bed
together, even if it killed him. The other reason was more involved and would
need careful handling.
Jeff acted much like Garrett had before
he’d met Randy: the jaded playboy who was used to getting what he wanted in
both his business life and his personal life. Both Garrett and Jeff took what
was offered and enjoyed it to the fullest, no strings attached. But unlike
Garrett, Jeff was far more jaded and cynical. After one bad experience, Jeff had
sworn off love. Jeff was never cruel to his lovers, but he made it clear he
wasn’t interested in anything outside of casual sex.
“He has every right to be jaded and
cynical.” Cupid shook his head as he slid the tight jeans over his ass. “Brad
did a real number on him all those years ago.”
Brad Mayo was the ex, and Jeff had
fallen hard for him. They’d met at the casino and their relationship took off
quickly. Brad was so sweet and innocent, a genuinely nice guy. Or so he had
seemed. Cupid rolled his shoulders as picked up his shirt in disgust. Brad’s
soul was as black as tar—the only person he loved was himself. It was too bad
Jeff hadn’t been able to see what Cupid saw when he looked inside the guy.
Within a month Jeff was talking about
something more permanent and introduced Brad to the main people in his
life—including his best friend, Aaron, who was a leading film producer in
Hollywood. Garrett, Jeff, Zygi, and Aaron had known each other for years. At a
party one night, Jeff found Aaron fucking Brad during a casting party for a new
movie Aaron had released. Jeff lost his boyfriend that night and a close
friend. Later he found out what an excellent actor Brad was when he starred in
Aaron’s films. Brad was still with Aaron, but their fights were legendary in
the hills of Hollywood. Jeff’s attitude took a plunge toward suspicious,
reserved, and pessimistic.
“Yeah, Brad and Aaron deserved each
other.” Cupid buttoned up his shirt and admired his image in the mirror. “Ah
well, his loss. It’s a shame Jeff’s so guarded now, but I do love a good
challenge.”
The challenge was simple: Cupid refused
to use his golden-tipped arrows on Jeff. When asked—and he was certain he would
be—he wanted to be able to say he had not used his arrows. Jeff had to know he
fell in love of his own accord and that love could exist without help from the
infamous Cupid.
Putting on his shoes, Cupid jogged down
to the casino floor and part two of his plan.
