That was a first.
Not her first time. Not her first man. Not even her first temple.
Her first equal.

There was a room behind the temple for the Goddess to retire to when she was done accepting offerings. She was definitely done for the day. And the night.

Probably the next day too, but that remained to be seen. One arm stretching after another, the Goddess rolled between the sheets, blinking sleep away. She felt strangely light and real at the same time. Strangely... normal? Was this normal for gods and goddesses? Was this a perk that came with being divine?

"Kamadeva?"

Venus stretched... He had done things in his life but was rarely, truly satisfied. typically he was always hungry for me, was it possibly this Goddess had exhausted him.

"Mahadevi." was the half awake answer to that question. Perhaps she had thought more about the questions he had come asking in the first place.

He stood in all his bare redness, crossed the room and poured to glasses of...something he couldn't be bothered to check. He paced back over and laid toward the bottom of the bed bringing his face near her stomach. he offered the drink without further conversation. he wanted to know where she was going with this.

Her eyes followed him, her form resting lightly between the tangled sheets - she was more relaxed than she remembered being for a very long time, her arms spread out on the pillows instead of hovering in their ceremonial forms. Her eyes followed him back to the bed.
A drink was offered. The Goddess sat up, accepting the offering and brining the glass to her lips.
He seemed like he was waiting for something. Sipping some of the wine - it was wine, red as his skin - she offered the glass to him. Her eyes still on him.

"Is the Deva of Love satisfied?"

"Satisfied isn't apt to how you have made me. Complete or fulfilled perhaps would better serve." he didn't take the glass but sipped from it as she held it. he was having fun with her, he doubted that she had ever had a glass for someone else while they drank from it.

After he took a sip after the goddess. he looked into her eyes fixing her with the same smoldering look he did before this all started. "And you, have I fulfilled you and delivered what I promised?" his chin laid on the flat of her stomach.

>>"Satisfied isn't apt to how you have made me. Complete or fulfilled perhaps would better serve."

He earned a smile with that. She almost felt like a girl inside again, and she had the distant feeling she should scold herself for that, but she didn't.
Complete did sound like the right word, even in English.

>>"And you, have I fulfilled you and delivered what I promised?"

He was as comfortable with her as one deity can be with another. She wondered if it was the same for humans. One hand holding the glass, another came up to touch his cheek.

"You have showed me more desire than you promised." she nodded "And divine love. So now, Kamadeva, how do you propose to set me free?"

Even gods have been known to play games sometimes.

Venus dared to move into the next portion of his plot, to free this girl from a life of servitude. Oh , it was servitude in its finest form, gifts worship, but she was still caged, the cage just had frills as far as the eye could see. He wondered if all of India would hunt him for swiping their goddess, or just most of it?

“I have already done this in one way already. But true Freedom. Comes with seeing things from more angles. A song bird might never know it was caged until it experienced the freedom of the sky. Come see the city with me wander the streets for a night, without any servant except myself, experience the world as it. Beyond curtains of fine silk and manicured manners. Live as the mortals do for a night; let your proverbial hair down. Experience it, for yourself.”

He was done with the delicious red wine, but not with the goddess, he playfully kissed her from outside the sheets as she thought over his proposal.

>>“I have already done this in one way already. But true Freedom. Comes with seeing things from more angles. A song bird might never know it was caged until it experienced the freedom of the sky. Come see the city with me wander the streets for a night, without any servant except myself, experience the world as it. Beyond curtains of fine silk and manicured manners. Live as the mortals do for a night; let your proverbial hair down. Experience it, for yourself.”

Even the kiss could not distract the Goddess from the offer she was hearing. Looking down at Kamadeva, she looked for signs that he was just fooling her. She could not find any, and she was deeply disturbed by that fact.

"You want me to go... out there?" 'out there' being the rest of the world "Alone?... How do we know people will not try to harm us? Anyone who looks at us can tell we are divine, but people in this country treat everything they don't know with suspicion. Do you think it is safe to walk out there alone?..."

She did not like the idea one bit. Why would Kamadeva even suggest that?

Venus smiled at the young woman and reeled in the smile quickly as he realized how unthinkable this seemed to her.

“Sweet Mahadevi, I assure you, I would not leave your side, and there is no one that would survive the foolishness in attempting to harm you. There is something to be said for the protection love can offer . he plucked a marble button from the wrist of his discarded shirt, Toward the neck, he wouldn’t button it anyhow and rubbed his fingers together rendering the stone into dust. “The man that came toward you with any ill intent would meet the same fate.”

“Beyond that promise I assure you the world is not so treacherous as you may have been lead to believe. I have walked this realm and saw it sights, while chaotic it is largely invigorating. Why should you in your divinity not walk where ever you so please? Watch the mortals seizing the most life has to offer is quite entertaining. Showing them how to seize it can be better.”

He reached up and softly pet her forehead to smooth any furrowing of the brow. “Worry not sacred Devi, I would never lead you astray.” He shook his head softly. “Or anywhere if the thought does not please you.”

>>“Sweet Mahadevi, I assure you, I would not leave your side, and there is no one that would survive the foolishness in attempting to harm you. There is something to be said for the protection love can offer... The man that came toward you with any ill intent would meet the same fate.”

The display of power was quite impressive. So much, in fact, that the Goddess considered postponing the conversation a little bit longer while she enjoyed Kamadeva's company a little bit longer...

>>“Beyond that promise I assure you the world is not so treacherous as you may have been lead to believe. I have walked this realm and saw it sights, while chaotic it is largely invigorating. Why should you in your divinity not walk where ever you so please? Watch the mortals seizing the most life has to offer is quite entertaining. Showing them how to seize it can be better. Worry not sacred Devi, I would never lead you astray. Or anywhere if the thought does not please you.”

He had a way with words too. Kamadeva was truly a divinity with many gifts and blessings.

"No, it..." she looked at him for a few moments, hesitant yet intrigued "No, it quite pleases me. I will take that journey with you, Kamadeva. I am not afraid with you by my side... although I do not know what to expect from this strange place, and these strange people. But it would be foolish to worry for two gods when they walk the streets. You are right. We shall go."

The look in her eyes sparked new flames in the man across from her. Perhaps a goddess was what he needed all along. Her words pleased him all the more. She trusted him to keep her safe and looked forward to exploring the world. He would have to pull out all of the stops, keep things lavish, and mix in a bit of controlled excitement here and there.

Yes, He just might have to rob a nation of an Icon. He found her much to his liking. He didn't see the that she was entitled to being high maintenance, No she was to be pampered because she simply deserved the best. She was divine.

His lips found hers once more. " Very good. You most only tell me when you are ready and we will venture out."

Story continues here!