Aphrodite's Flame

58.

It's not perfect right away, but at least we found each other. We will talk about things when we're both ready.

Lipari is as beautiful as I remember. Hephaestus brought me there the minute we were ready to disentangle. We find ourselves in the room he prepared for me in the castello. Smiling, I look for his fingers and entwine them with mine.

'I have given it some thought,' Hephaestus tells me this morning, when a fine May sun lights up his tan skin. The ocean breeze plays with the curtains. We are lying in bed, naked. Well- I'm wearing one thing. The necklace he made me.

'Forever is mighty long. As long as you are honest with me, I will accept that you are the goddess of love, pleasure and sex. Just- promise me one thing, Dee.' I turn on my belly and lean over his chest so I can look him in the eyes.

He has beautiful eyes. They're dark as coals.

'Anything' I tell him, pressing a kiss on the spot where his heart is. He combs through my hair with his fingers.

'No distracting me now,' he says when I slowly move my kisses down his abdomen. I stop moving and look up at him from under the sheets.

'When you're with me, you are only with me. No sneaking into my rooms at night when you're supposed to be somewhere else, with someone else. No promises of love when you don't mean them.' I smile and roll off him.

'You know me. My longings, my dreams and my fears. You know how I feel, all the time. You know my soul. And I know yours. I'm sorry I hurt you. I should have known. I should have seen it. I promise I will pay attention from now on. I promise I won't do halves anymore. I will love you fully, all the way, always.' I crawl back up to kiss him.

'I love you.'

'I love you.'

Persephone can feel colour, but I can see the fire in people. Their desires, their loves, they are engulfed in flames. I know what they're feeling, I know what they're thinking. I know what Hephaestus thinks, what he feels. I know he loves me. And his love for me is white. It is not perfect, but it is pure.