The rosy light of dusk shone through the pillars of the deserted temple of Hermes. I lay on a cushion and loosened the neckline of my dress until it exposed my breasts. The pallor of the marble pillars nearly matched my skin, and my nipples blushed like the clouds. I ran a slim finger from my underbust upwards and felt a perfectly smooth, soft line. I was certain yesterday that today I'd be dead, killed by a monster that even gods feared. Today, I was not only alive, but in a new body.
I smiled to myself, remembering an imitator I'd once seen do a pathetic impression of a woman by stuffing pillows down his shirt and gawking at them and caressing them. I'd asked him, snidely, how long the character he was portraying had been a woman. He said that she was an old matron, who had once been a young maid, and before that, a little girl, of course. At that I laughed - the way he was carrying on, you would have thought she'd acquired her breasts yesterday, overnight. I wondered how soon the novelty would wear off for me.
I lifted the finger that I was lazily trailing around my nipple. I wanted to drive myself to distraction, throw myself into the pleasures of my new life. Maybe then I could forget about the one I left behind. As a mortal man, I had married and fathered children. My wife and I had met as near-equals and charmed each other with our music. Sometimes we would spar, not with our bodies, but with sweet sounds and eloquent words. We would answer each other in song until one of us ensnared the others' mind. It didn't matter who won out. When we made love, my pleasure would reverberate in her mind, and hers in mine, until we were lost in bliss with each other.
The years we were together, the threat of the monster loomed like a shadow in the distance. I knew that if it managed to overthrow the gods, it would be the end of me, and all the comforts I had ever known. In this knowledge, I put aside my security and risked my life several times in my pressing need to research the monster.
Each time I left the comforts of my wife's arms, I came back with knowledge and experience of things that she would never have even dreamed of, left to her own devices. Little by little, I became accustomed to her songs, while mine were always new to her. Instead of singing in return, my wife would sit motionless as a doll, entranced by my voice. It was a different kind of pleasure, to drink in her helpless form with my eyes until I was drunk on her beauty and my power over her. I would whisper my wishes in her ears, and she'd wake up thinking they were her own desires. In return, I would make sure to tell her of the most beautiful things I'd seen, leaving her happily dreaming of a world full of wonder.
When the road became rough on my journeys, I was consoled by the knowledge that a gorgeous woman waited for me at home. But the more powerful I became, the more I could see the fragility of my wife's mind. With her, the bulk of my power had to be held back, but an adventurer's heart longs for a test of skill. I should have seen earlier that my wife and I were drifting apart mentally as well as physically. It was only a matter of time before the differences between us became too great. At that point, I would leave and not return.
The last time I'd left, it was because I knew the monster was on the move. I saw it shrug off the attacks of each of the gods as if they were the scratches of particularly annoying cats. Their attacks rebuffed, the gods fled. Finally, Zeus alone remained, standing against the monster not with his fellow gods at his side, but with the most powerful of their mortal champions. I was one of them. Standing beside the monster like an ant beside a man, I threw my most powerful enchantment at it, knowing that I could buy Zeus some time while its mind was confused. Upon Zeus's victory, I was richly rewarded - where once I had the body of a mortal hero, now I had the body of a goddess.
The point of no return had come - I was no longer the man my wife loved. I was a goddess, waiting in the temple of the god I had once served to show him my new form. Over the years, my services and donations to his temple had granted me his blessings. I hoped that with a bit of seduction, I could coax Hermes to grant me any wish as a reward for being his champion.
He entered swiftly; I didn't notice him until he was standing near me, a quizzical look on his boyish face. His muscles fit together like pieces of a puzzle, each one exactly right to create the picture of lithe gracefulness. I knew the part a clever woman must play with such a man. Like honey that lures and soothes a powerful beast, I would let him come to me and take what he wants, knowing that his desire for me would give me the upper hand.
"This isn't where you expected to see me next, my lord."
I moved the cloth of my garment just slightly, not quite enough to fully cover my breasts again. I rose to stand respectfully at attention, lifted my chest delicately, and extended my spine to show off the curve of my low back. Demurely, I cast my eyes toward the ground.
"Definitely not," Hermes said "I'm glad I'm seeing you here instead."
I looked up through my lashes to see his eyes trailing over my body, then quickly looked back down.
"I have a request to make of you, my lord," I said, not moving from my position.
"You may make your request, and I'll consider it," Hermes said.
I fell to my knees, letting the smooth curve of my bottom rest on my heels.
"Great one with the power to grant any favor, please promise me any one wish that I ask."
