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Category: Erotica/Erotic Fantasy/Fantasy
Description: Nights of Passion on Mt. Olympus! In this all new collection of erotic tales just perfect for bedtime, bestselling author Michelle Houston mixes eros, magic, sex, and myth to produce a stunning book that is sure to win her new legions of fans. One thing is for sure, Mt. Olympus will never be the same again! Here is Houston's take on the classic Greek and Roman legends. Meet Pandora: Created by the Gods as punishment. It took a goddess to understand that she too was being punished, and a God to unleash the woman she was truly meant to be; Persephone: Kidnapped by Hades, she knew that there was more to him than the Lord of the Underworld bit. Underneath his death lord exterior beat a kind and caring heart, as she knew all to well; Psyche: Beloved of Cupid, she wasn't to ever know who her husband was. But she wasn't content to be kept in the dark forever; Charon: He had been alone for a long time; then one day a whirlwind of emotion named Ledia demanded that he take her across Styx to meet with Hades, so that she could bargain for her brother's soul. Charon never expected to fall for the demanding minx; Galatea: Loved by her creator, she was given life. Unfortunately, the personality had to be worked on a bit; Aphrodite: It's quite simple exhausting to be the goddess of love. Everyone wants something from her, including the other deities. Yet Aphrodite knows that sometimes a Goddess just has to have some down time. Discover for yourself why In the Library Reviews says Michelle Houston is "a Refreshing Addition to the Erotic World of Romance!"
eBook Publisher: Renaissance E Books/Sizzler, 2006
eBookwise Release Date: April 2006

21 Reader Ratings:

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Available eBook Formats: OEBFF Format (IMP) [135 KB]
Words: 31240
Reading time: 89-124 min.

Ever since I can remember, I have always been fascinated by myths. From Greco-Roman, to Celtic, to Egyptian, there has always been something about them that appealed to me.

A while back I decided to try my hand at writing a retelling of some of my favorite Greco-Roman myths, expressing the truly erotic moments that take place "off camera". So I brought Pandora and her box to life. At a little under 1500 words, it was a great start. However, I always felt that something was missing. But I set her story aside and decided to try Psyche's story.

When I was done, Psyche's tale was just under 2500 words. I was content with it, but not completely satisfied. Again, I felt that something was missing. But the muse being a fickle creature that she is, demanded that I move on. So I did. But I always wondered just what more the ladies would say if I gave them a chance.

So I decided to go back and rewrite them, as well as to try my hand at writing the stories of a few other myths. And so Maidens and Myths was born. Psyche has been expanded from the short version in Bedtime Tales, and Pandora has been almost completely rewritten as well as tripled in length from the version in Naughty Whispers. The other stories, Persephone, Charon, Galatea, and Aphrodite are all new.

Included after each story is a brief summary of the Myth, for those not quite familiar with them. I also included at the end of the anthology a short explanation of my thoughts as I was writing each tale.

Enjoy!

Michelle Houston

High above the peak of Mt. Olympus, within their palace upon the clouds, the gods and goddesses were in a rage. The skies flashed with their anger and all on Earth trembled. Never before, had the world seen them in such a state.

"I'll blast him! Send a bolt of lightning, and use him as an example to others," Zeus thundered, his hair standing on end with the static in the air. He slammed his massive fist against the table, causing the clouds below them to rumble ominously.

Seated beside him, Athena laid a restraining hand on her father's arm. "Wait."

He turned to her, lightning flashing in his eyes. "What?"

Instead of cringing like most would from his infamous wrath, Athena remained calm. "If you want to make an example, there is a better way."

On his other side, Ares and Hades sat together, watching the drama before them unfold; one cynically amused, the other frustrated at the endless antics of the other deities. "Damn, interfering woman," Hades whispered, soft enough his niece couldn't actually hear him.

Athena's voice was soft and melodious, each word spoken to sooth the listener. "Prove that his Gods disdain him so much that they have turned their backs on him, dooming him to suffer in their shadow for the rest of his life."

At the other end of the table, Apollo raised an eyebrow at his twin.

"I'm betting Athena gets her way," he whispered.

Artemis nodded. "She always does brother mine."

"I'd still rather chain him to a rock and let his insides be eaten out by a vulture." Zeus' voice had lost a lot of his heat.

Seated opposite Zeus at the long table, Aphrodite stood. Her regal bearing drew everyone's attention to her. "And you still can Zeus. After you let him suffer, wondering just when you will punish him. Let him stew on it for a while." Thought softly spoken, her words resonated in the great meeting hall. The impact of her words was made all the greater by the fact that for once, she was in agreement with Athena instead of at odds with her.

From his seat next to Athena, Poseidon echoed Hades' earlier statement, only louder. "Damn, interfering women! The lot of you, getting in the middle of a god's revenge." He blasted away, completely ignoring the glares that the Goddesses shot his way. "It just isn't right. It seems to me that Prometheus is getting off light; not having to put up with you women."

Athena ignored her uncle, knowing once his temper rose, he was ready to do battle. But beside her, Ares and Hades were nodding their agreement.

"Sounds like a good idea Poseidon, let's punish him with a woman!" Hades' deep voice washed over the room. His eyes twinkled at the needling he was giving the other God.

Aphrodite's eyes narrowed as she leveled a glare at him, her gaze cold enough to freeze a mortal man in his tracks. But Hades didn't even seem to notice.

Zeus rushed to agree. "Sounds good to me too. Only, she can't be just any woman. She has to be someone he can never have, that no mortal can."

Artemis rolled her eyes at Apollo. He nodded at the unspoken words flowing between them. "For some reason, I have a feeling that Zeus is serious" he whispered.

After days of plotting and arguing, it was agreed upon to bestow a woman upon Prometheus so beautiful, so soft, so gentle, and so perfect that only the Gods could have created her.

Each of the deities gave her something of their own, some virtue or gift, that they had control of. Aphrodite gifted her with beauty and the ability to love. Athena blessed her with wisdom and common sense. And so on they worked to craft her to be modest and gentle, but always to be unattainable by mortal man.

Over the next eighteen mortal days, the deities watched her grow to maturity. Teaching her all mortal trades, they sculpted her, molding her into the perfect woman, the perfect wife, and their perfect revenge. They named their creation Pandora.

Zeus leaned against the doorframe, watching silently as Pandora paced back and forth in her room, her long hair swaying gently against her hips. He had watched her grow these last few days, from a gangly youth to a raving beauty, tempted more each day by her.

Tomorrow she would be taken to the land of man and gifted to Prometheus, but tonight, tonight he couldn't resist her. She would be his.

He stepped into the room, and she turned, startled to see a male in her private quarters. Her delicate hand rose to her chest, covering her heart. He could see the pulse throbbing in her neck.

Slowly, he stalked towards her, and with each step he took, she took one backwards. Here was a mortal woman with the ethereal beauty of Aphrodite. Never had a woman appealed to him so much.

He wanted her. He was determined to have her.

Her knees hit the edge of her bed, and with a gasp, she fell backwards. Zeus restrained the urge to laugh. She was simply priceless in her naivety.

As he reached the bed, he kneeled upon it and she scrambled away. This time he did laugh, as with a thought, he made her clothing disappear.

"My Lord!"

Zeus' lips curled in amusement. Intimately, he knew how the cat felt, playing with the mouse. "Yes?"

"Where are my clothes? You can't be here."

"Oh but I can, for I haven't given you my gift yet." With those words, he transformed into a thick mist and spread out, enclosing the tiny woman within his essence. Pandora trembled beneath him.

What felt like lips pressed against her neck, eliciting tiny shivers down her spine. Pandora wanted to flee, even as she desired to know the touch of a male. She had explored her own body the night before, pinching the tiny buds that capped her breasts, parting the dewy curls at the apex of her thighs, even dipping a finger into the nectar-filled cleft of her sex.

Zeus' touch felt familiar, yet oddly different, as there was no sensation in her hands, when a firm hand slid down her thigh.

She could feel thighs between hers, slowing parting her. Then a weigh atop her, even as Zeus' form grew steadily more solid. She welcomed the weigh, as his hands brushed up and down her body, stopping to tease and caress her awakening flesh.

Her senses reeled. "My Lord, please," she gasped, even as she wondered what she was begging for.

A warm chuckle filled with masculine smugness brushed over her heated skin. His mouth pressed against her, the warm velvet of his tongue slid past her parted lips, delving deep into the recesses of her mouth. The heady scent of his maleness threatened to overwhelm her senses.

Slowly, he pulled back, pausing a breath away from her lips before moving down her body, kissing the invisible trail from her lips to her core, pausing to flick his tongue in the slight indentation of her navel.

Pandora tensed as his lips brushed against the curls covering her mound. "Relax. You'll like this," he whispered, then nudged his nose against her pussy lips. Pandora couldn't help but gasp as his mouth pressed against her nether-lips, and slowly parted them for his tongue to thrust past. She arched her hips, grinding against his face as she reveled in the sensations awakening within her.

Her inner thighs grew damp with his saliva and her own juices as he manipulated her clit with his tongue, evoking tiny tingles of pleasure all over her body.

"Please," she gasped, as she felt her inner muscles contract, grasping for something just beyond her reach.

Then suddenly, he pulled back and slid up her body, his cock leaving a faintly wet trail along her inner thigh.

As he settled between her thighs, she could feel his cock pressing against her core, nudging slowly past her moist lips. With a smooth thrust of his hips, he drove forward.

Pandora gasped at the sudden and full sensation. Her pussy ached in a way she wouldn't have envisioned. She whimpered, trying to shift away from the hardness that pierced her.

"Shhhh, little one. Just hold still," Zeus whispered, his lips kissing away the tears as they spilled from her eyes.

His hips holding her still, Zeus gently caressed her thighs, his fingertips almost magical. With his lips, he kissed the trail of her tears down to her neck, capturing the last glistening drop on his tongue.

Desire awakened within Pandora, raging fiercely. Arching her back, she offered her breasts to her god, silently begging him to feast on them.

His form took on more substance, as once again he was solid, and all male. Showing his true visage of a male in the prime of life, rather than the bearded, white haired old man he appeared to mortals as, he was breathtaking.

He nipped at the tender buds of her nipples, as he slowly thrust against her, driving his cock into her core. Pandora panted softly beneath him, overwhelmed at the sensations withering through her body.

"My Lord, what do I do?"

Zeus let her nipple slip from his mouth with a pop. Smiling at her sweet innocence, he whispered, "Just relax and enjoy."

As he thrust deep, Pandora clasped his shoulders, her nails digging tiny crescents into his flesh.

Static electricity filled the room as passion overwhelmed them. Tiny sparks danced along her skin, as Zeus slipped a hand down to where their flesh joined, and manipulated the tiny button of her clit. Pandora arched into his touch as a zing of pleasure raced from her pussy to her breasts.

"Zeus," she gasped, spreading her thighs wider for his thrusts. "Please." She wasn't quite sure what she was begging for, but she had a good idea Zeus did.

And then she lost the ability to think, as he quickened his pace. He slid into her moist pussy, then slowly pulling out, only to slam back in. Closing her eyes, she existed only for the physical sensations her body was experiencing.

A dull hum filled the room, as the tiny hairs on Pandora's arms stood on end. Pandora moaned and thrashed beneath the weigh of her lover. A strange tightness wrapped around her lower body, her breasts felt heavy and achy.

Opening her eyes, she stared into Zeus' as he pinched her clit between his fingers and the world as she knew it ceased to exist. Her arms tight around Zeus' shoulders, Pandora screamed as tiny electrical sparks flowed through her body, arcing between her and Zeus as he threw back his head, letting loose a thunderous groan.

He rolled to the side, and lay there, his breathing deep and raspy. Pandora curled against his side and listened to the steady thump of his heart, echoing the racing of hers.

"Thank you."

Zeus wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, his lips pressing softly against hers. Pandora thrilled at the firm touch, and then the warm slip of his tongue as it mated with hers.

He pulled away, his lips threading soft kisses down her neck to her shoulder, pausing at the tiny indentation of her collarbone. "Don't thank me yet little one, the night is still young."

As morning dawn crept through the skies, and Zeus slipped from her room, Pandora succumbed to sleep. Her dreams were filled with the lust of a god, her body still tingling from his touch.

Later that morning, Zeus called upon Prometheus and gifted Pandora to him, telling him that she could only be mated of her free will. Prometheus was too wise to fall for any trick of the gods, but at first glance of her, his brother Epimetheus fell deeply in love and vowed she would be his, willingly.

Months passed as Epimetheus wooed her, gifted her with lavish presents, until his lust for her, his sheer passion to claim her overtook him. He couldn't concentrate on his work, nothing mattered to him but winning her heart. Prometheus watched all of this, troubled at the plight of his brother, and eventually, nothing else mattered to him but helping his brother win Pandora's heart.

All the while, Pandora lived in a silent misery. A mere man could never touch her heart for her body craved the touch of a god. Created never to complain, she suffered in silence. By day, Pandora had a ready smile, a helping hand for everyone, but at night her dreams were plagued by memories of the night the King of the Gods had graced her bed.

Watching from above, Aphrodite felt pity for their creation. She knew what it was like for Zeus' conquests. He never spared a thought for them after his passion was spent. Zeus never realized that a mere mortal could never compete. And here Pandora was denied even the touch of a man, forever to be chaste, untouched by mortal fingers.

Turning to her husband, she asked Hephaestus to create a chest of gold and silver inlaid with the most perfect of jewels. Intricate designs covered the chest, a swan curled at the feet of a naked woman, a mist laying over a maiden as a cover, a woman lying naked on a bull's back. All of the decorations were the guises Zeus had used to seduce mortal women.

For the inside, she asked Athena weave a cushion of the finest silk, soft and delicate but strong as steel. It took some doing, but Athena a finally relented when she saw how miserable Pandora had become.

The most skilled carvers from all over the realm of man were told to create subtle phallic symbols, perfect to the last detail, in only the best of materials. In exchange for their efforts, all who succeeded in pleasing the goddess would be blessed. The wasn't a craftsman alive who wasn't willing to try and curry her favor.

Over the next few days, jade, ebony, and ivory, silver, bronze, and gold were used to create perfect replicas of various items resembling the length and shape of a male cock, perfect down to their last detail. The alters of Aphrodite flowed over with the products of the labors. Choosing only the most intricate, the most appealing, Aphrodite visited each man in his dreams and granted him one wish.

After the last homage was paid, the last mortal man's wish granted, Aphrodite gathered the chosen few phallic forms and presented one to each god to bestow his essence within. Ares chose the one of steel, shaped to resemble a warrior's blade. Zeus was presented with a phallus of the smoothest of ivory shaped much like a large swan's feather. Poseidon was given a blue sapphire shaped like a teardrop, waves rippling down the sides. To all of the gods, she went, having each bless a phallus, with nary an explanation given.

Once each had been touched and infused with the essence of a god, Aphrodite carefully placed them in the chest and sealed it.

That night, as Prometheus and Epimetheus slept, she visited Pandora.