The Lover's Vow

Chapter 32: Aphrodite

I watched Aidan and Callie sleeping as the sun began to dawn on a new day for them. It was obvious that they'd had a busy night since they were both naked with the sheets tangled around them. I was glad I was only checking in now- I had no desire to watch them "do the nasty", as some of the other Olympians were calling it. That was private, and even though the irony of valuing privacy while I was inserting myself into their lives was not lost on me, I knew that watching them in that most private moment was a kind of intrusion I couldn't tolerate.

Things seemed to be progressing nicely, but I supposed I could give Aidan another reminder. I smirked to myself and used the enchanted pen and paper I'd gotten from Hephaestus to send off an email to Aidan like I had the week before. This pen and paper really were amazing. As long as I wrote the name of the person I wanted the message to go to, the form of the message, and signed a heart as my signature at the end of the message, it somehow got where I wanted it to go.

"Aidan, glad to see you two getting along so well," I wrote. "Don't forget about the time limit! You have until next week to make her say those magic three words. Trust me when I say you do not want to fail." I signed the letter appropriately, and the words began to vanish. Just as the little heart disappeared, I saw Aidan's cell phone light up on the stand next to his head. It must have made a noise as well because seconds later his eyes squinted open as he reached for his phone.

I watched him open the email with a raised brow, and a purely masculine frown lined his face as he read the short message. He closed his phone and set it back on the side table before spearing his hand into his hair. His lips were moving, muttering some kind of obscenity, I was sure. I mentally commanded the vision cloud to produce sound. I snickered as Aidan's words filled my room.

"...I mean, who does she think she is? Stupid vows and shit."

Callie began to shift next to him and his eyes widened in sudden panic. Part of me wondered if she'd heard his words too, and my heart thundered in my chest for a few beats before a small snore filtered out of her mouth. Aidan calmed, smiled softly, and wrapped his arms around her. He pressed a long kiss against her hair, shutting his eyes in what seemed like pain.

"Callie," he whispered so quietly even I almost didn't hear him, "I love you. I hope you forgive me when this is all over."

My heart suddenly ached, and my throat started feeling tight. What can I say, I'm a sucker for love. I could only hope that Callie would fall just as easily as he had- for all our sakes.