Eros' Errant Arrows

Cupid looked at his cards again and grimaced. His tell said he might be bluffing, but he could not meet the last raise. It looked like I would win the hand unopposed.

Cupid pulled a golden arrow out of his quiver. In the dim light of the poker table, it glowed with intense warmth. Every eye around the table fixed on it.

"How much is this worth?" asked Cupid.

"Not enough, Cupie doll."

His cheeks turned red, and his golden hair looked like it was on fire.

"Do you know the power of one of these arrows? You shoot a someone with it, and your target will not rest until she has given herself to you."

" 'Given herself to you?'"

"If you hit her with one of these, she'll fuck your brains out."

The table erupted in laughter, and everyone checked their cards again. I could see in my buddies' eyes they were considering their potential targets.

"I'd aim for Katie Perry," said one.

"Taylor Swift! Absolutely!"

"Too skinny. Emily Ratajkowski, mmmmm."

"What about Rachel Burch?"

"Oh, yes! Rachel Burch!"

The consensus winner among my buddies was the girl Maxim called "The Most Desirable Woman in America". For a moment their thoughts drifted to a night of pleasure with Rachel Burch.

"Anybody but Rachel Burch," I said. "She's a spoiled rich kid."

"You know her, don't you Ross? Your mom and her father work together, and you take vacations with them. How can you not notice her?"

"Yeah, I know her." Because my mother worked with her father Robin Burch, we spent way too many working vacations together. I'd seen her grow from a skinny kid with scraped knees, to a snotty teenager who teased boys, to a curvy coed with more jewelry than books. Now, she was out of school, and exploring her rich girl's world. Her latest bit of annoyance was to hire my girlfriend Marian as her companion. I hadn't seen Marian in three months. So I needed those arrows.

I turned to Cupid. "Let's play."

Cupid said, "This arrow is a one-time shot. She won't rest until she's gone to bed with you... But she will only feel compelled once. Whether she feels true love after that depends on you."

We paused while we considered the responsibility. Then my friend said, "So, I can fuck her, and not have her calling me in the morning? Where's the down-side?"

"I'm in!" "Me, too." "Go for it, Love-God."

He met my raise. We settled on 3 golden arrows and a slightly used bow. Just making the bid was an orgiastic experience for Cupid. His shoulders relaxed, and he stopped sweating. He had the biggest grin on his face I've ever seen.

"Okay," I said, "time to see 'em."

Cupid turned red again, his lower lip quivered, and his eyes swelled with tears. He sobbed, "I was just bluffing!" He buried his head in his arms, and made us all uncomfortable around the table with his blubbering. Still, it was memorable, and one of the reasons we like to play cards with him.

He gave me a bow and one arrow for each month Marian had been gone. My buddies still couldn't get Rachel out of their minds. "Marian is beautiful," they said, "but she's no Rachel Burch."

"I wouldn't wish her on my worst enemy," I said. They groaned.

"You're going to play with us again next week, right, Cupie-Doll?"

With a devilish smile, he said, "Of course!"

And that's how I became the owner of three magical arrows.

I called Marian at the Robin Burch Compound. She said, "Rachel is planning a little trip to a secluded island she knows. I don't think I can keep up with her."

"I don't want you to keep up with her. I want you to come home to me."

"Oh, Ross, I'd love to, but I can't pass up this money. I can't thank your mom enough for getting me this job. She told me I'd love it."

Yeah, thanks, Mom. My mother was the executive personal assistant for Rachel's father, the great lobbyist. They argued fiercely and constantly, but their business worked spectacularly. She had known Robin Burch since he was just starting as a young lawyer, and had stayed with him through his rise to the Mount Olympus of powerbrokers. My mother dressed the part of the personal assistant to the most powerful man in DC, and kept herself ready to be photographed at any time at Robin Burch's side. That didn't leave much time for me, so she made up for that by giving me everything that Robin Burch's lobbyist money could buy. Despite their fights, she had that kind of sway over him. I never knew my own father; it was a subject she would not discuss. Robin Burch became my surrogate father in a lot of ways.

When I started dating Marian, Mother had her investigated. After investigating Marian, my mother approved. But less than a year later, that the wonderful position of companion for Rachel Burch opened up. Marian was hired at an extraordinary salary. Now, Marian travels the world with Rachel for a living.

I knew exactly what to do with those three terrible arrows. If I struck Marian just once, she would come running to me, and nothing could stop her. Just think what hitting her with three arrows would do! I wanted to get to her before she and Rachel left for their next yacht voyage, so I needed to get to Robin Burch's compound immediately.

Robin Burch's isolated, gated compound sprawled on beach three hours away from the office by express train. Robin Burch kept the gawkers and paparazzi away using long, secluded stretches of beach together with towering fences. Still I learned of a weakness in his defenses, a place that I could sneak in to catch a glimpse of my Marian. There was a grove of rare palm trees on a ridge overlooking the spot Marian and Rachel sunbathed. Yeah, I admit it; I spied on them. Rachel's bodyguard, Tony, caught me a few times, but he's not a bad dude. He understands that Marian and I are totally committed to each other, but he warned me about Mr. Burch.

"Don't let Mr. Burch find you spying on his daughter," Tony said.

"I just want to see Marian." I looked at the beach. Marian stood up, arranging her towel and taking special care with her camera. An ocean breeze whipped her dark mahogany hair across her face, and she shook it free. She was tall, slender, with a flat stomach and long, lithe legs. She hunched her shoulders to slip off her bikini top, then stretched backwards. I remembered what her breasts felt like — soft, responsive, and perfectly shaped if a little on the small size.

Rachel ripped off her own bikini. Her gestures and body language told me she expected Marian to lose her bikini bottoms. When Marian was with me, she was too embarrassed to visit a nude beach. She shook her head. Rachel laughed, and snatched the ties to Marian's bottoms. In an instant, Marian was bare-assed.

Her tan lines were nowhere near as pronounced as when she had been with me. When Marian turned around, I saw that her bush had been narrowed to a tiny strip. Tony, the bodyguard, gave Marian and Rachel lessons in self-defense, and it showed in her improved muscle tone. She stretched again, enjoying the warm sun, and it was clear she had overcome her shyness. She crouched down to shoot a few tasteful nudes of Rachel. She was so limber her thighs rested easily on her calves. She stretched out on her tummy next to Rachel, who turned tummy-side up.

Rachel Burch was tiny, but she had perfect proportions. Her shoulder-length hair was sandy brown and caught golden highlights in the sun. Her waist was impossibly narrow, especially when I considered the inviting width of her hips and the luxurious weight of her breasts. Her well-rounded ass was taut and brown. If Marian was just a bit too small up top, Rachel's tits were just a bit too large. Her areolae were a milk chocolate brown, with pencil top nipples that never seemed to relax. Her eyes sparkled with an unimaginable mystery. Her nose was slender, her lips were naturally red and turned up into an inviting smile. Her teeth dazzled with their pure whiteness. For as long as I'd been spying on her, I'd never seen any hint of pubic hair on her. Her thighs bulged slightly to cover her modesty when she walked, so I had to look closely. Which I had, and I'm telling you, she was slick and hairless as a bicycle inner tube.

Next to me, Tony gave a long, anguished sigh. "Tony, what are you looking at?"

"Nothing, man. Sorry." Tony seemed flustered and looked around quickly to assure that his boss Robin Burch was nowhere to be found. When I looked down at the beach again, Marian was stretched out full-length on her back next to Rachel.

I asked him, "Why does Rachel act like such a tease?"

"To get her daddy's undivided attention? To make up for not having a mother? Maybe she likes to torture men." Tony gave a head nod to emphasize what he had said, and to confirm that I took it seriously.

No problem. Marian held my heart, and she was the object of my desire. Now she would be the target of Cupid's incentive plan.

Tony tore his eyes away from the two women. I couldn't complain, because it was his job to keep an eye on them. As he left he warned me again, "Don't hang around here much longer." I retrieved the bow and three arrows from under a palm tree. I tested the strength of the pull, and liked it. Each arrow seemed to vibrate in my hand, and I wondered if one was any more likely to incite Marian's desire than another. Eventually I just pulled the longest, straightest one, with dark feathers and golden highlights. The other two, I stuck in the ground again near the palm tree.

I waited. The shot while she was lying on the ground was too difficult. I enjoyed watching her. Each shift of her long legs, each time she raised her arm to put it behind her head creating lift on her pointed breasts, caused a thrill from my chest right though to my knees.

Eventually she stood up to stretch, one arm reaching for the brilliant sun, the other counterbalanced toward the ocean. She arched her back, and thrust her hips slightly forward. Rachel rose to her knees, too, stretching on all fours, her ass raised high. They were getting ready to leave the beach.

The moment was now.

I notched the arrow, and pulled. I drew a bead on her. The bow trembled under the intense pressure to release its load. My left arm was straight and trembled holding the pressure. Allowing for the slight wind, the height of the ridge, and finally the fist-sized target of her heart, I let fly the arrow.

It whistled through the air. It took forever to strike. Then it landed with a satisfying, resounding thunk, quivering in its final resting place. Marian made no movement that would let anyone know she had been struck by love's insistent shaft.

Why should she? The arrow had flown toward Marian's sweet heart, but dropped and drifted to the right. It protruded from the ass of The Most Desirable Woman in the World. She straightened up, and squeezed her round buttocks together. She had a quizzical look, but a sly smile on her perfect lips. Rachel stood, her nipples tense, her tongue licked her lips, and her hands rubbed up and down her thighs. She rolled her hips, enjoying the feeling of the quivering shaft, which began to fade away like smoke in a gentle mist. Marian was oblivious to the attack on Rachel's nether region.

I was so shocked, I couldn't move. Rachel scanned the horizon for her new love. She spotted me.

"Uh oh."

I dropped the bow near the two remaining arrows, and ran from the beach area. I hadn't covered fifty feet before my phone rang. The ID said, "Rachel."

Uh oh.

I refused to answer. I needed time to think. I took the express to Robin's and my mother's offices. Rachel called me hourly for the next four hours. She texted me every few minutes. She sent me photos, too, but I was not even tempted to open them. I could image what they might show. It was nothing I really wanted to see. I hoped the arrow's magic would eventually wear off.

Marian didn't know it, but I was dying to talk to her. When I called her from the privacy of my mother's office at the end of the day, Marian picked up immediately. "Where are you? What's going on with you and Rachel? She's driving me crazy asking about you!"

"I'll tell you when I see you."

"I love you, but I don't understand what is going on."

"It's hard to explain."

Marian took a deep breath before saying, "Well, then. Good-bye."

"Wait! Are you alone? I mean, Rachel is not around is she?"

"No, Rachel's father came after Tony called. You have five seconds to explain." She began to count.

"Okay. I missed you so much that I shot a magic love arrow at you. It missed you, and it must have grazed Rachel."

"What? How gullible do you think I am? If you don't want to tell me about you and Rachel, fine."

"It's the truth!" I was desperate now. "Look. Are you still at the compound? Do you know that rise about the beach where you and Rachel sometimes go to ...ah...swim?"

"I know the place. How do you know it? It's supposed to be extremely private."

"Trust me, I know about the place. Go up there, and you'll find a bow and two arrows under the tallest palm tree. Those are the magic things. They are arrows that make a person go nuts over someone."

"So, is this the magic you used on Rachel?" I could hear Marian's voice breaking.

"No! I mean, not intentionally. You've been gone so long, and I haven't seen you, and I was worried that you had forgotten about me..."

"Aw, Ross, that's so sweet. But you are an idiot."

I couldn't disagree.

"Ross, there are no other men out here. I worry about you. Every night I worry about what you might be doing, and what other girls you might be meeting. You have nothing to worry about with me."

"Not even Tony?"

She laughed. "Please. He's old enough to be my father."

"But you wear almost no clothes when he's around."

"Well, that's true. He does make us work out and defend ourselves completely naked. He says if we can attack when we look completely vulnerable, we'll be fine. But he doesn't even pay attention to my nakedness."

"Trust me, Marian. He notices."

"Really?" She sounded as though this was new but fascinating information. "I'll pay more attention next time."

"See? That's why I wanted to use the arrows on you. It drives me crazy to think that anyone else sees you. I want you all to myself."

"You have me all to yourself, you silly boy. I just have to see you to convince you."

I imagined her teasing smile. "I'll be right there."

"Say, Ross. Here's a fun idea. What if I used one of those arrows to shoot you? Do you want to be crazy in love with me that way?"

I laughed. "Well, sure. But I'm so crazy in love with you now, how would you tell if there was any difference?"

"Well? That would prove your love for me couldn't get any greater. Where are those arrows?"

I knew this was a bad idea, but I wasn't exactly sure why yet. "What do we do about Rachel? Can you keep her from attacking me? Her father can not happy with the emails and texts that she has been sending."

"Did you like them?"

"Like them? I didn't even see any of them. I don't want to encourage her."

"Oh." Marian sounded a little disappointed. "I took those pictures. I was proud of them."

"Marian! I don't want to see another woman, especially not Rachel. She does nothing for me! I love you. I only want to hold you, and kiss you, and if I can't do that, then I'll settle for gazing at pictures of you. But for my eyes only, please."

"Of course. For your eyes only. Can I use the arrows?"

I was kind of stuck. "I think they might be lost. I just dropped them after one arrow hit Rachel. So, they might not even still be on the rise."

"I can check. I'll call you back."

"Wait!" But it was too late. The phone showed she was gone.

I left a note on my mother's desk, promising I'd call. I hoped that would stop her relentless calls, too. Just then, she returned to her office. I was trapped.

"Ross? What's going on?"

I played dumb.

"Ross, Rachel Burch has been driving me crazy. She says you haven't been answering your phone. I told her that was so unlike you. What's going on?"

"I swear, Mother, nothing. Probably Marian was telling her about me, and she wants to get to know me better."

"Marian must be telling her awfully nice things about you," and here my mother's voice got louder, "because Rachel wants to invite you to her house for dinner, or lunch, or breakfast. She wonders if you'd like to go on a cruise with her, or to Acapulco for a vacation." Now my mother's voice became uncomfortably shrill. "I don't need to tell you that you can't see her, do I? She's Robin's daughter. I know how young men are. Believe me, I know."

"Mother, I'm in love with Marian. I feel nothing for Rachel." I could tell my mother was losing it.

"She has other ideas for you. Whatever you're doing to encourage her, stop it! Stop it right now. I am very serious about this."

"Mother, I have no interest in Rachel. If you see her..."

"If I see her? Robin went to the compound to calm her down. What am I supposed to tell her, hmm? I can't exactly say you have no interest in talking with her."

"You know, this is really your doing. You set Marian up to be her companion. Now if I want to see Marian, Rachel is around. Can you get Marian fired? We just want to be together."

There was an uncomfortable silence. I recognized the cause. Mother's plan had backfired. She expected to separate Marian and me, and that would end of our romance. Instead, the "Rachel factor" had been triggered.

"Ross? Listen to me. You don't want to mess around with a girl like Rachel. If Robin Burch finds out that you and his daughter.... Just stay away from her. I think I better have a word with Robin. And with Rachel."

"He's down at the compound."

"I know," she said. She slammed the office door, leaving me to wonder how whether I could get to the compound before her.

Another ping, and a text with attachment. I'll say this: Rachel is persistent. A part of me wanted to open those attachments -- after all, these were from The Most Desirable Girl in the World. I grew up in the permissive generation. Sex wasn't a commitment but a way to scratch a biological itch. Women were as casual with hookups as men, and there was no shame, no regret, and no strings attached. At least that's how most women were, but not Marian.

Marian was different. I could trust her. She was always where she said she would be when we were apart, at least until she got the job with Rachel. Who knows where she was now? I trembled when I thought of the deck hands on Rachel's yacht who saw her in her tiny bikini, or no bikini at all. But still I trusted her. So, why did I need the terrible arrow? Because I was insecure, I admit it.

I had to get to the compound, as quickly as possible. The express train was quickest, and I was there in three hours. As I left the station and ran to the compound, Marian called me.

"I found the arrow," she said

"Two arrows," I said.

There was a pause. "Sorry, Ross, there is only one arrow."

"Well, keep looking! It's got to be there."

It was quiet again. "I've got the one arrow. That's all I need."

"Sure," I said. "I'll be there in about fifteen."

"Should I practice?" she asked, not exactly innocently.

"No! Don't touch anything until I get there. Promise?"

"You sure know how to wreck a girl's fun."

I began to worry who might have possession of the last arrow. I ran as fast as I ever had. The guards knew me, and let me pass. I was focused on reaching the rise, and seeing Marian, and getting both arrows back. I heard my name being called, and turned to see Rachel. She was accompanied by Tony and Mr. Burch, who each held one of her arms. One arm broke free to wave to me before Robin Burch pulled her toward the main house

I pretended I didn't hear her. I ran until I reached the rise, and looked around. Nothing. I called out, but no one answered.

I looked under the palm tree where I had dropped the bow and had left the two arrows sticking in the ground. Marks showed that the arrows had been pulled up.