Page 25 of The Night Belongs To Lovers

Wonderful! How absolutely charming. I chose well tonight.The god was delighted, though his face remained frozen and his body still as he kept a necessary hold over his desire to pounce and feed.

“Don’t minimize your talent,” Corey stated with supportive intent. “I bet you’re better than you think. We’re always our own worst critic.”

“Ya, I guess,” the young man shrugged.

“Look at me, Christian, with your artistic sight.” It was a godly command, not a request, but done without aggression. “Describe how you see me.”

OLYMPIUS

The Past

OLYMPIUScraned his neck toward Coriolanus and furrowed his brows again as a look of sheer discomfort appeared upon his pale face. “Why you?! What nonsense! My love, come away with me now and—”

“No!” Coriolanus roared. “Tell me! Why did you pick me to be the first? You have given your blood to no other, and I was undoubtedly chosen among hundreds of strong, handsome, muscular men to be your companion. Why me? Was I made only to forge and General an army for you because youdo not know how to wage war? Am I to lead mortal men against your enemies because you have no allies? I have seen no other gods, Olympius. Have they rejected you? Was I your next best alternative? Why me?”

“Beloved, I—”

But Coriolanus spoke over his Maker, drowning out any chance for Olympius to speak, for the warrior-god was hot, and he still had more to say.

“I saw you in my mother’s thoughts, Olympius. You have been visiting her for years, granting a request now and again. Just how long have you known about me? How long have you been watching me, manipulating my life?”

Olympius turned completely towards Coriolanus and lowered his head. He was unaccustomed to expressing his raw emotions or being honest about his past. Though he often show his love for Coriolanus through physical intimacy and heartfelt expressions of affection, he had shared only small fragments of his personal story.

“I first laid eyes upon you, beloved, the first time I visited Veturia, a god appearing before their mortal worshipper. When I eventually departed, soaring above your family’s domus, I saw such a sight through a high window on my way to the night sky!

“It was you, a young man, naked except for a loincloth, alone, practicing with sword and shield. Illuminated by the few torches around your room, you, Coriolanus, were the most beautiful mortal I had ever seen. Eyes that pierced the darkness as they sparkled, reflecting the light of the flames. An exquisite musculature with bronze skin that glistened with sweat as you moved with a perfectbalance of grace and ferocity. I took in your musk, and oh, even now, I can recall the scent of your budding strength, that erotic potency.

“I felt a fire from within, something I had never before experienced, an emotion I never believed was real, or at least one that would ever be for me. I could not describe or name it then; I struggle to now. It was desire, lust, amazement, longing, and something unknown to me—love. It was true love at first sight. The goddess Fortuna calls this rare thingsoulmates.

“Can one believe in such a fanciful thing? A connection that deep upon first sight? I had not believed in it—until I found you. You are what I never understood was missing from my mortalandimmortal lives. I feel complete with you at my side. I feel whole.

“I knew, then, at that moment, as I still believe now, that something greater than the gods, the Celestial Realm, itself, if you wish, made you and me for each other. We are two beings carved from one Celestial soul. Though I must sound foolish, I could go on speaking the poetry of your magnificence, of our bond, forever.

“What else can I say to make you understand? I have never manipulated you or forced your destiny. I could have easily saved you from Aufidius, your mother, and Rome’s betrayal, but your mortal life was always yours to shape.

“I cannot see the future, beloved, but Fortuna walks the path of The Fates, gifted with foresight. She appeared to me that night I first saw you, revealing thatyou and I would be together one day, but she warned me not to interfere with the Wheel of Destiny. Yes, she saw my desire to have you immediately. Fortuna has never lied to me orled me astray. So, as much as it tormented me to be away from you, I waited.

“When you wed, I knew it was not for love but a strategic move orchestrated by your mother. It was just another of her schemes to secure higher social status and political power. I wanted nothing more than to rescue you from her manipulative grasp, but I did not intervene, though my heart was deeply pained.”

Coriolanus placed his hand over his heart as if to swear an oath of truth.

“Please believe me, Olympius, when I say that the woman in question was never of any significance to me. I had no true feelings for her, nor do I now harbour any thoughts of her. Our relationship was purely a matter of political convenience. The sons she bore are not of my blood.

“And though I did have a desire, perhaps even true affection for Aufidius, which I suspect also caused you pain, whatever I felt then pales beside what I feel for you now. Mortal passion does not compare! Know this!”

“I do, and I did know all that then, beloved, as I said, but logic does not always lessen suffering. But the joy I felt when the night finally came to make you a god—mygod. But never think I own you. You are free; you have autonomy, as I stated upon your Becoming. I did not wish for your death at the hands of those beastly scum. I regret our first meeting was under such disagreeable circumstances.

“In the end, I could change nothing. You are my beloved, my heart, made into a god at the time of The Fates’ choosing, but youare perfect, neither too young nor too old. And no mortal or god shall ever come between us, no matter their beauty or power. What else is there to say?”

His immortal heart glutted with happiness, Coriolanus could not help but smile. When his confusion and rage dissipated soon after his Becoming, and he finally looked into the face of his saviour with clarity, he had felt the same way: an absolute, inexplicable connection. But the young god still needed to know one more thing, so there was no question left unanswered in his mind.

“So I am not just a tool to be—disposed ofwhen I no longer serve a useful purpose in your revenge against Rome?”

The look of shock and horror on Olympius’ face regarding his last question was all the proof Coriolanus needed to know how his Maker felt about him and his place in his world.

“How could you ever think such a thing even possible knowing what we share, our connection?! Coriolanus, have you ever seen such duplicitousness in my thoughts when we unite our souls? I would sooner behead myself than harm you, my immortal beloved. And I shall tear apart anyone, man or god, should they seek to injure you or come between us. Believe that. We fight and love together as one, always.

“And yes, I am the darkness, Lord of the Night, the god of rage and vengeance. Some have even called me the god of hate. And though I will forever be attached to my deification, I know love. I even understand compassion, though I do not always agree with the timing of someone’s actioning of it.”

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