"Are you sure we're both going to fit?"

Iolaus smiled at his lover's plaintive question and added a last bucket of steaming water to the newly completed tub. "Relax. I took the measurements three times before I even started working on it. You'll fit, I'll fit and we'll even have a little room to play in."

"You're the expert." Leather and linen hit the floor as the tall man quickly shed his clothes and stepped in, hissing at the heat. Silvery ripples spread out, reflecting against the sloping sides as he looked worriedly at the smith. "It's very hot -- you're not going to burn yourself, are you?"

Iolaus didn't bother to answer; he just stripped off what little he was wearing and hopped in, splashing water over the sides when it rose to the very top of the tub. "Ah, that's perfect," he sighed in contentment. "Wash my back?" he asked hopefully, settling himself between the long legs stretched out along the bottom.

"Sybarite," came a teasing voice in his ear, stirring the blond curls and sending shivers down his spine. From the corner of his eye, Iolaus saw a large hand pick a soft cloth off the floor. Then he felt it drawn across his shoulders, streams of liquid heat cascading down his back, over his chest, easing his weary muscles.

Long wordless minutes passed as Iolaus luxuriated in his lover's intimate ministrations. The cloth was passed down each arm, lingering on his hands, laving each finger. Then it wandered down his sides and stomach, swirling in the dark blond hair that covered him. Long strokes along his flanks followed, his lover easily moving Iolaus's smaller form as the tub proved to be as spacious as promised. The cloth hit the floor with a wet thud as it soon was discarded in favor of flesh on flesh.

Iolaus found the warmth of the water quickly superseded by a growing heat in his loins, a hunger that built as every inch of his body was caressed except the heavy ache between his legs. A moan emerged from his lips as he was pulled back to lie against a broad chest. He stretched out atop the larger man, his entire body offered up for exploration. His hips began a subtle undulation, pushing upwards, seeking those strong hands until one finally, finally! glided up his thighs and closed around his cock. The other continued over his chest, circling his nipples with a light touch before slipping across his flat stomach to hold him steady.

Iolaus turned his head to the hollow between shoulder and neck that cradled him, pressing openmouthed kisses along the collarbone. He reached up with one hand and tangled it in the shaggy locks and pulled the other man's head down to him. Hot mouths met, lips parting as tongues thrust and parried. They broke apart only when the need for air became desperate.

The thunder of his own heartbeat filled Iolaus's ears as the hand on his cock started a steady rhythm: a firm stroke upwards, a tantalizing caress gliding over the weeping crown, a downward stroke. Then a detour to weigh the heavy sac between his legs, rolling it gently before a finger slipped back to explore the tight opening of his anus. The water seemed to echo each caress, a constant stimulation magnifying each touch along every nerve he possessed.

An insistent hardness beneath him broke through the fog of Iolaus's arousal. He relaxed and clenched his ass cheeks, pressing down against his lover's cock, seeking to share the pleasure that consumed him.

Disjointed murmurs, sounds without meaning, fell from his lover's lips, mingling with his own constant moans as the world narrowed to only the lap of water over his body, only the touch of skin on his fevered flesh, only the hard body under him. The climax took Iolaus by storm, sending cascades of water over the sides of the tub as he pumped his hips urgently, strong arms holding him tight. He gradually stilled, panting harshly, and felt the thrusts beneath him as the muscled form beneath him sought release. A moment later, the spasms took his lover, hot seed pulsing against his skin before it mingled with the water.

They lay there for a long time, relaxing in the slowly cooling water. Nothing disturbed the easy silence until --

"Iolaus, the bottom of this tub is lumpy."

"No, it's not," came the sleepy reply. "Didn't you see the relief work before you got in?"

Iolaus found himself lifted and cradled like a child as the big man stood up, peering down through the disturbed water.

"What is it, a landscape? Are those mountains or ...." The voice trailed off before accusing eyes pinned Iolaus with a glare. "Those are wings. You put Cupid on the bottom of our bath tub."

"Hey, it only seemed fitting. After all, if it wasn't for him shooting us we would never have gotten around to confessing our true feelings for each other. C'mon, admit it. We'd have been 'son of Zeus' and 'faithful companion' and never done anything more than talk till the day I died."

A baleful frown marred the handsome face so near his own. "That nephew of mine still insists it was an accident but it's just the sort of thing he'd think was funny. He's just lucky that our feelings didn't change after he lifted the enchantment."

Iolaus kissed his lover until the frown was replaced by a look of heated arousal. "I guess true love always finds a way."

"I guess," Ares smiled down at him.

the end
2 December 1997

Bathtub Challenge story from the Hercfic list. The only guidelines: 500-750 words, Iolaus slash, a bathtub and Cupid. So I went a little long. That's the least of my sins.