Chapter One Techne
“In an hour, you are going to feel silly about being worried about this,” my best friend and the goddess of chocolate, Ixcacao, assured me, leading me down the long, white hallway to Research and Development’s test lab at Love and Lust Inc.
She casually brushed a long section of her onyx-black hair behind her shoulder. “You’re going to revolutionize love!”
I gripped the large cardboard box in my hands and pulled it closer to my chest, thinking about the small but steady decrease of beings willing to work as Cupids.
People didn't dart themselves. Someone had to encourage the one-night stands, the sudden realizations that their BFF really was the perfect person for them, or that a good hate fuck would be the perfect beginning to something more.
While folks could fall in love on their own, often, they needed our help.
“If I can boost operations by ten percent—” I said.
“‘—then it was worth the effort,’” Ixcacao recited from one of our many conversations over the last month.
My solution is worth the effort. I could solve this problem.
I, Techne, the goddess of technology, was about to present an innovative way to deliver love throughout the cosmos to one of the OGs’ kids—Eros, the god of passion, the Cupid himself.
You’d think being a child of a different set of Original Gods would make things easier for me, that socially I had an edge.
A way that allowed me to speak to him easily, like a peer.
But, like most things in my life, it wasn’t that easy.
This might be partly due to my highly inappropriate, could-get-me-fired thoughts about Eros, who was my boss.
My thousands-of-years-older-than-me boss.
The god who could literally have anyone else.
Why my subconscious thought I had a chance in Hades was beyond me.
So, I did what anyone else out of their league would do: I threw myself into my work and tried to avoid him, hoping my crush would die a natural death.
Then he gave me this project. And now I had to convince the god of passion I could spread love in a never-before-seen way. No biggie.
My chest constricted from the stress. I can do this.
I am a professional. I’m just here to tell my boss that I have a machine that can do it better and faster than he can.
Sweet cosmos, that sounds terrible. Like, I have some sort of magic vibrator.
Not that the god of carnal love needs a vibrator, though a good lover shouldn’t be intimidated by marital aids——
“Techne?” Ixcacao questioned, snapping me out of my downward spiral.
“I want to make people’s lives easier,” I said quietly, the sound of my voice still reverberating louder than I wished off the snowy marble.
Why did I think this was a good idea?
“I know, hun,” she said, stopping before large, bronze double doors.
“You are amazing and are capable of great things.” Ixcacao turned to me, her vibrant, scarlet bodycon dress providing a welcome splash of color.
“Just don't shoot him in the ass, and you’ll be fine. The worst thing that will happen is he decides to go in a different direction. Either way, you are getting your ideas out there, and you are one step closer to—”
“Making everyone’s lives better. Right.” I nodded, juggling the box in my arms to accept the bit of dark chocolate Ixcacao manifested with her magic.
I popped it into my mouth, letting the slightly spicy dark chocolate melt on my tongue.
“I’ll let him know you’re here. You are going to knock his socks off!” She squeezed my shoulder before slipping past. I admitted at times there were big perks to being BFFs with the CEO’s and CFO’s secretary. She knew them well, so if she said Eros would be impressed, I believed her.
As the door clicked shut behind her, I took a deep breath and took time to analyze my appearance in the bronze double doors.
I have the knowledge, and I dressed the part.
I loved this suit: black velvet with a white button-down shirt.
Shaped like a fertility goddess, I was not, and this outfit made me look less angular.
Also, I loved these little red kitten heels and how they boosted my 5’6” height up an inch.
At home this morning, I let Ixcacao enhance my appearance with subtle makeup. Thank goddess for concealer. My dark circles were permanent, one of the consequences of my obsessive need to create.
Even with the masterful cover-up and contouring, I had no illusions.
My dad, Hermes, described me as “handsome.” Even with my medium-length, wavy, electric blue hair, folks weren’t quite sure if I was a goddess or a god.
I played that up. If you couldn’t be the goddess of curves, be the goddess who makes people question their sexual preferences, amirite?
Ixcacao returned. “All right, girly pop, he’s ready!” She held the door open for me.
I can do this even if everything I’d worked on so far has crashed and burned—these babies won't.
With a bit of a wobble in my step, I swept past her carrying my box of revolutionary tech to face his Cupidness.
I had requested that the usually jam-packed room be arranged so that different victims, er, targets were placed around the vicinity.
So, I was pleased to see that my peeps from Research and Development had placed practice dummies under worktables, in chairs behind whiteboards, and on top of cabinets.
They had even strung one from the ceiling by its stomach.
Grateful that my coworkers supported me and wanted me to do well, I stood a little taller as I approached Eros.
He waited on the other side of the room, head down, reading over a familiar-looking packet of papers outlining my idea, including the specs of my Cupi Drones. I hugged my box tighter. The three prototype drones and my tablet that controlled them were safely nestled inside.
My heart sped up in my chest, a problem only he seemed to cause.
He was tall, over six and a half feet. I always felt the height discrepancies between the gods and goddesses were unfair.
His hair wasn’t blond, as depicted on the fat baby angels the humans pulled out every February fourteenth.
He had the same jet black hair as his father, Aries.
Eros was swarthy and well built in a way that would likely give me a heart attack if I ever saw him in gray sweatpants.
The god of carnal love in sweatpants... I could almost feel the steam rising off my cheeks as I imagined his Adonis belt.
He was swoon worthy in a plum suit with matching plum-colored leather loafers and a blue button-down shirt.
The collar was unbuttoned, and I bet a matching tie was somewhere in his office.
Light red, almost pink eyes lifted to mine as I took the last steps to the table off to his side.
“Techne,” he said, his voice rich and low.
The hair on my arms stood on end. It wasn’t out of fear. Standing next to an old god was like standing by one of Zeus’s thunderbolts—the power was palpable.
“Sir,” I replied, noting a tightening of his jaw.
Perhaps he was annoyed, and maybe he had reason to be. I couldn’t say I was his favorite inventor. Hands down, that was my boss, Hephaestus.
“I’ve been looking over the proposal. It sounds good, almost too good to be true. Smaller, faster, no need to stop to eat or take breaks, these drones sound like ideal companions.” He continued to flip through the papers.
“Y-yes.” I cleared my throat, taking each of my white and red prototypes from the box and setting them on the table. “I’m glad you agree that they should be companions, especially in this early stage.”
He set the packet down, resting a hip against the table and crossing his arms. “Do you not trust your work?”
I snorted, instantly regretting the action.
Busying myself with my tablet so I didn’t have to look him in the eye, I started the program for the drones.
“It’s not that I don’t ‘trust my work,’ I’m a realist. I am combining my magic with yours, and it seems oddly...
resistant.” I nervously swiped errant strands of hair behind my ear.
He reached out a large hand and gently picked up a drone. “It has been. There’s been talk that you are a new Muse,” he replied, gingerly turning over my drone and inspecting the area the new Cupi Darts would load into. “It could be that your powers are meant to enlighten others to create.”
“I’ve heard. The humans certainly are inspired every time I visit their realm.
I would be honored to be considered a Muse, of course, but I’m more concerned about spreading love as efficiently as possible.
” I checked the demo I had in place and the AI I installed, making tweaks for the second half of the demonstration on the dummies.
He put the drone down, turning to pick up a medium-sized, black paper box I had missed coming in.
When he flipped the lid, I saw the multicolored darts that the rest of the team in R&D were working on—love, lust, and true love darts in the respective colors of red, orange, and indigo.
Fakes, of course, dummies didn’t need the real thing after all.
I put my tablet down on the table, satisfied the programs looked correct.
“Why is it important to you to improve our efficiency?” Eros asked, passing me the paper box, and our fingers briefly touched.
Goosebumps zipped up my arm and ignited a pleasurable shiver down my spine. I was sure that happened to anyone who met Mr. Cupid.
If I’m a possible Muse, I don’t see why he isn’t one. Being around him causes all this... sensation! Thoughts that would make HR start filling out harassment paperwork entered my mind, and my cheeks heated.
I loaded a few of each color of darts into the drone Eros had recently put down and flipped the Cupi Drone’s switch to on.
“Are you all right, Techne?” He brushed my hair aside, his cool fingers softly resting on my forehead.
I jumped, losing my grip on the box of darts, which flew across the table, and orange, indigo, and red prototypes scattered across the metal surface. When I reached for the table to steady myself, I missed and swiped the tablet. I fell backward, landing on my tailbone, and winced at the sharp pain.
“Oh, for the love of bandwidth,” I grumbled, looking up into bemused, rose colored eyes.
“This is all my fault,” he said, crouching down next to me.
“It is,” I replied, my face burning. “Who goes and touches someone’s face?”
“You hadn’t answered my question, and your face is flushed. I apologize, but I was concerned for your health,” Eros replied, offering a hand to help me up.
After I took it, he pulled me to my feet.
“I’m sorry, I feel fi—” A whirring noise was the only warning before something hit my neck. My hand raised instinctively. I watched in horror as an indigo dart rolled down my chest to the floor.
I gasped, looking up into the alarmed gaze of Eros, his hand outstretched as if to stop what was already happening. I blinked in shock, the Cupi Drone now in my sight with two projectiles flying toward us.
“No!” I screamed, rushing toward Eros.
The indigo dart clocked him in his ear of all places.
I shot my boss. I am so fired. My heart beating wildly, I pushed him aside, saving him from being hit again. Instead, I was nailed by an orange dart between the eyes.
Strong arms banded around my waist, the buzzing of the propellers retreating.
“Shit!” He cursed.
“Hmm?” I replied, feeling woozy. His face was so close. I was struck by how beautiful his black sooty lashes were. They framed his stunning eyes. Why hadn’t I noticed them before?
“The door was cracked, and your Cupi Drone is free,” he said, returning my focus to the crisis.
“Oh, that is a problem,” I agreed, feeling a wave of heat crash through me.
A wanton moan left my lips. My nipples pebbled to the point of pain against my bra, and my clit throbbed as another wave pulsed from my chest. Overwhelmed by the need to seek relief, I collapsed, only to be swept up against Eros’s chest. I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his hips like it was the most natural way to be carried by my freaking sexy boss. “What is going—?”
He pressed me closer to him, his hand firm on my ass.
“I’ve got you, baby girl. Give me a minute.
” He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and made a selection before he brought it to his ear.
“I need the building on lockdown. One of the Cupi Drones has gone rogue, and it’s equipped with real love, lust, and true love darts.
The only being immune is Aphrodite, and she’s out of the office this morning. ”
The darts were real? What a fuck up! I groaned. How is this my life?