One of the most interesting aspects of the research into Greek mythology for my Gods of Love erotic romance series, has been the discovery that the ancient Greeks did not define sexual orientation or behavior by gender. Rather, they looked at sex from a Dom/sub point of view. One person as the dominant penetrator, and the other as the submissive penetrated, regardless of gender.
Gender in fact, became almost irrelevant as sex and sexual activity did not come attached with the social “labels” that we use today – gay, lesbian or transgender, for example.
The lack of moral judgement on sexual activity, and the growth of mythologies around particular gods and goddesses as patrons of different types of love, was extremely appealing to me as an erotic romance author developing ideas for a GLBT themed trilogy that would place ancient Greek gods into a modern day setting.
Shades of…hmm, dare I say it? Yep! Grey, rather than black and white. The idea of almost infinite possibilities for love and desire, without the moral labels, intrigues me. And I’m wondering if maybe we should be taking some lessons from ancient history?
In my first story in the Gods of Love trilogy, Platinum Passion, I introduced Pothos, god of sexual yearning and one of the erotes (aspects of Eros and the children of Aphrodite, goddess of love and sexuality). Pothos visits Jake and Jeannie on the night of their twentieth wedding anniversary to fulfill Jake’s wish to experience bisexual love and to help Jeannie regain the sexual spark that their long-term marriage has been missing.
Aphrodite Calling (Gods of Love #2), is about Himeros, god of sexual desire and brother to Pothos. He responds to the call from Gina, a post-surgery, male to female transsexual, whose desire to be accepted as a woman touches Himeros like no other call before.
The third story in this trilogy, tentatively titled Sex Club Secrets, will be about Anteros, god of requited/unrequited love, who has settled into modern life as the owner of a sex club. Anteros is a naughty boy at heart, and he has a whole lot of fun with two bisexual friends who need the blinkers removed in order to see the truth directly in front of them.
Each of these stories is a stand-alone read, but with the common theme of the erotes running as a thread throughout them all. The freedom I’ve felt in writing these varied storylines has come directly from my research, and from my discovery that not everyone throughout history has defined sexual orientation or gender in the same way that we do today.
What do you think? Can we learn something from those ancient Greeks? Do you enjoy a touch of mythology in your erotic romance, and if so, what are your favorite mythologies/myths?
Here’s a short snippet from Platinum Passion (Gods of Love #1)– a Best Book of 2011 nominee in GLBT Fantasy Romance at The Romance Reviews. It is available for only 99 cents at Amazon, All Romance ebooks and Barnes & Noble:
“Are you ready again, Jake?” Pothos asked, and he nodded.
“Yeah.” His voice was hoarse.
“Jake.” Jeannie spoke his name again, but this time with understanding. She could probably read the rampant desire in his face. Her lips parted and she asked hesitantly, “Who do you want?”
He reached for her beneath the water, felt the curve of her hip and pulled her close. She gasped when she came into contact with his cock. Hell, he felt like gasping himself, he was so ready. “I want you, Jeannie,” he said. Then he looked over his shoulder. “And I want you, Pothos. I want you to fuck me, hard, while I make love with Jeannie.”
He didn’t wait for a response from either of them, confident that the ache of desire he felt was about to be amplified by Pothos. However their new lover did it, Jake didn’t care. He just knew that this night was like no other he’d ever experienced, and the heady lust that filled his nostrils had just gotten stronger as Pothos’ eyes flashed bright and his wife let out a faint moan and shifted impatiently against him. He lifted Jeannie, taking her weight easily with the help of the water’s buoyancy, and settled her warm pussy onto his dick. She immediately wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck and clung like a limpet while she kissed him. His hands kneaded the rounded cheeks of her buttocks and he pushed up into her hot center, taking her resulting gasp into him as they continued to kiss, feeling the tip of his cock connect with her body in that deep, dark place inside her.
He broke off the kiss. “You’re mine.” He thrust again, not sure why he felt he had to stake his claim, and she let out a strangled cry.
“Always, Jake.”
Then he felt the hardness of a male body up against his back, pressing into his thighs, and he buried his face in Jeannie’s golden hair, almost overwhelmed with a mixture of fear and excitement at the realization of what was coming.
“And you’re mine, Jake,” Pothos said. “You and Jeannie. Mine.”
Here is a short snippet from my upcoming release, Aphrodite Calling (Gods of Love #2):
She felt the zipper on the back of her dress begin to wend its way down her spine, and her breath caught when the warmth of a fingertip followed in its wake, urging the edges of her dress to slither away more easily until the material pooled at her hips. Then his lips were against her skin, branding her with heat, just at that dip where her neck melted into shoulder.
She let out a shuddering breath, one she hadn’t even known she was holding, and arched her head to one side to allow him better access. So hard to think straight, when his hands were spanning her waist like that, caressing the edge of her ribs. When his lips and tongue were doing the most incredible things up the delicate line of her neck to nuzzle in such an intimate manner at her earlobe.
“Himeros,” she whispered, as her knees threatened to buckle at the heat and the heaviness between her legs. And it felt different, this time, from what she remembered of past encounters. It wasn’t just centred in her groin, that familiar feeling of an impending explosion. It was her pussy that was hot and heavy, and aching to be stroked, yes, but she also felt the ache throughout her whole body, like a river of spreading warmth. She hadn’t realized it could feel this…damn…good…
She reached back to find his hips, pull him closer in against her, wanting to share this newfound sensation of desire.
“I do desire you,” he growled in her ear. “So much.”
“I know,” she said, emboldened by these new feelings, wiggling her ass against the rock-hard core of him. “I can feel how much you want it. Me.”
She turned in his arms then, and she caught the momentary grin that lit his features before his mouth swept down to claim hers. And if she’d thought the sensations before were unique, they were as nothing to the onslaught that swept through her when his lips and tongue forced their way in to brand her with his essence. The power behind his kiss was so intense she couldn’t even respond, other than to let out a moan that he swallowed then continued on.
Demanding more.
Dominating.
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