Of Love and Forge

<p><strong><em>The god of the forge...</em></strong></p><p>Life was good in the Neosphere District. I'd made a name for myself as a renowned supernatural bounty hunter holding the record for most harpies slayed. But the best part about living in the future? Avoiding the other Olympian gods. Banishing a guy from Olympus because he was imperfect tends to make one hold a grudge. Go figure. And no other god possessed the means to time travel. But I did. Thanks to the portal hopping device I forged.</p><p><br></p><p>Yup. Life. Was. Grand.</p><p><br></p><p>Until a bounty popped up on a certain love goddess. Aphrodite and I had been friends since we were wee gods. I'd be lying to myself if I never thought our innocent flirting banter were real on occasion-kidding myself if I said I never wanted things to go beyond platonic. Hence why I recently kept my distance. For my own sanity. So of course I made the grave mistake of <em>taking</em> the godsdamned bounty.</p><p> </p><p><strong><em>The goddess of love...</em></strong></p><p>Since reconciling with my son Eros after centuries of bad mojo I'd decided it was time to clean up my act. Ride the straight and narrow. My companion service Sans Solo became just the ticket I needed. And it allowed me to use my powers in disguise in modern California under the name Vena Milo.</p><p><br></p><p>With the aid of my best friends and fellow goddesses the Graces we ran a legitimate business. All was right in the world.</p><p><br></p><p>Until the volcano god showed up. Hephaistos. <em>Heph</em>-a lifelong friend who never failed to confuse me mind body and soul. Especially when he showed up with a magical pair of handcuffs. His audacity pissed me off but the mere sight of him the <em>smell</em> of him made my stomach <em>flutter</em>. That...I couldn't deny. And when Heph's plan goes to Tartarus things got even dicier and <em>we</em> became...the hunted.</p><p><br></p><p>-A cyberpunk fantasy Hephaestus x Aphrodite romance that defies myth but answers true love's call-</p>