Too angry to speak, he stormed from the room and headed to his "prison." Granted it was better than the hole his father had thrown him into initially, but it was still a prison.
It was all he would ever know and if his father had his way, he'd be kept shut in here for the rest of his life.
At least there were no guards outside it today. Even they had been given a day of freedom. A day to do as they pleased.
"Why did you leave?"
He drew up short as Artemis appeared before him. "Why are you following me?"
"You make me curious."
"Curious about what?"
"About you."
He laughed bitterly at that. Even a goddess was no better than the humans who hounded him. "Do you want me naked so you can explore me?"
Her cheeks darkened, but even so he saw the heated look in her eyes.
He also noticed she didn't contradict him. So be it.
Artemis watched as her newfound human slowly released the pin for his peplos. She should stop him, she knew it and yet she couldn't bring herself to say the words.
She trembled from expectation of what he might look like naked. No wonder her brother spent so much time with human females. If they were half this evocative . . .
He dropped his peplos to the floor.
Her thoughts scattering, she swallowed as she saw his nudity. He was even more handsome than she'd suspected.
His skin was tawny, inviting, and stretched over a body that was finely honed and well muscled.
Against her will, her gaze dropped down to the part of him that was uniquely male. He was very well endowed and as she stared at him, his shaft grew larger, thicker as it slowly lifted to curve against his body. His balls tightened.
She'd never seen a man like this. Rife with desire. So bold and uninhibited by fear of her.
He closed the distance between them. "Don't you want to touch me?"
Yes she did, but she couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. She felt the heat from his body, the stirring of his breath against her face.
His nearness was intoxicating.
He took her hand into his and led it toward his erection. His grip was tight as he brushed her palm against the tip of his cock. He was so soft, and yet hard.
She swallowed as he slowly slid her fingers down the length of him until he rubbed her hand against the soft sac. She bit her lip while he rubbed himself against her palm. His body was so different from hers. So incredible and beguiling.
He released her hand.
Her first instinct was to withdraw, but she wasn't one for timidity. Instead, she ran the back of her fingers underneath his sac, letting his balls sag around them. His body felt so strange to her.
She lifted her hand up in silent exploration over his stomach to his chest.
He didn't move to touch her. He just stared at her silently while she explored every inch of his body. His eerie silver eyes were incredible. She'd never seen anything like them. Never felt anything better than his masculine skin beneath her hand.
Oh, but he was luscious.
"Do you want me to fuck you?"
She shivered at a question that should have offended her to the core of her being. At the deep accent of his voice. She wanted him with a madness that was consuming.
If only she could.
"No," she said quietly. She looked up at him. His gaze was searing. "I want you to do to me what you did earlier. Make me feel that again."
He took her hand and led her toward a bed where they could be alone. Undisturbed.
She shouldn't be doing this. She was a virgin goddess. Untouched by man or god.
At least until today.
No one had ever kissed her before. No one had ever breached her. She'd been known to kill men just because they had seen her naked and yet for this one, she was willing to let him seduce her.
She didn't know why any more than she understood the compulsion inside her to be with him.
He just made her feel oddly happy. Warm. Decadent. Desirable.
Acheron laid her back against the mattress. She was nervous-it was something he was used to with women who lacked experience. Even so, she was beautiful. Her auburn hair fanned out over his pillows, making him even harder for her. It wasn't something he was used to feeling.
The scent of roses clung to her skin. He kissed her lightly on the lips while he grazed his hand up her leg, lifting the hem of her gown. She stiffened a bit, but quickly relaxed. She was shy.
Not wanting to embarrass her, he left her lips to crawl down her body.
Artemis was uncertain as she watched him vanish beneath the folds of her white gown. Even so, she could feel him moving. Feel his whiskers scraping against her thigh as he trailed a hot line of kisses up the inside of her thigh until he reached the part of her that ached for him.
She moaned the instant his lips and tongue found that spot. Biting the heel of her hand, she surrendered herself to the pleasure he gave her. It was blinding and exhilarating. No wonder the other gods and humans risked so much for this.
And this time, when she came, she fully understood what was happening to her body. At least she did until he made her do it again and again.
Acheron growled at the taste of Artemis. At the sound of her cries filling his ears. He loved the way she purred. The sensation of her hand in his hair, stroking him.
She slapped her other hand against the mattress beside her. "You have to stop. Please. I can't take any more."
He gave one last, long lick before he pulled away. "Are you sure?"
She nodded.
Reluctantly, he did as she asked and moved to stretch out beside her even though his own body was far from sated.
Artemis draped herself across his chest, listening to his ragged breathing. He was still hard and stiff.
"Does it hurt you to stay like this?" she asked, brushing her hand over his cock.
He drew a sharp breath as if her caress pained him. "Yes."
"Can you not pleasure yourself?"
"I can." He studied her face. "Would you like to watch?"
Before she could answer, his hand enclosed around hers, holding her palm against him.
Acheron closed his eyes at the heat of her hand against his cock. Sex meant nothing to him. It never had. It was just something that was expected of him.
He'd masturbated before crowds and with lovers more times than he could even recall. For some reason, it seemed to give other people pleasure to see him come. He barely felt the momentary release of hormones anymore. It was a piercing pleasure, quickly gone.
He'd long ago learned to want something more than this.
But it wasn't meant to be and he didn't know what it was he craved anyway. Artemis was here because, like many others before her, she was curious about his body. She might come back to visit him. She might not.
There was a time when he would have been beaten had a lover not returned for him.
Back in Atlantis, everything had hinged on his ability to make people crave him. How much sleep he was allowed. How much food.
How much dignity.
If his lovers didn't feel well sated after leaving him, he was beaten for it.
Now his father would beat him if he ever learned of this. The king demanded celibacy from a man who had never known it. But in truth, he liked being with Artemis. Her touch was gentle. Her skin creamy and soft.
Sucking his breath in, he imagined what it would feel like to slide himself inside her body. No, better yet, he imagined what it would be like to have her hold him cradled against her as if he mattered. The very thought of someone caring about him, really caring about him was almost enough to make him smile. But he knew better.
What he had was a stupid dream that had been fed by Ryssa and Maia at a time when he'd been gullible. Those illusions were long shattered.
Artemis was a goddess. He was lucky she would even deign to be in the same room with him. He would please her because that was what they'd trained him to do.
There could never be any kind of relationship between them. No doubt she'd vanish as soon as this was over. He'd be alone again.
Nothing in his life ever really changed.
Artemis watched Acheron's face while he used her hand to stroke him. It was odd to touch a man like this and she wondered what thoughts were in his head. Normally she could hear mortal thoughts when she wanted to, but for once she couldn't.
How very strange . . .
He stiffened ever so slightly before his hot seed shot through her fingers. Instead of crying out as she'd done, he merely sighed raggedly, then released her.
She ran her hand through his warm moisture, studying it. "So this is what makes women pregnant."
"In most cases."
"In most?"
He shrugged. "Mine is harmless enough."
"How so?"
"I was sterilized at puberty, Goddess. My kind always are. No one wants to be made pregnant by a whore."
Artemis arched her brows at his disclosure. "Humans can do such a thing?"
"No, but the Atlanteans can. They taught the procedure to the Apollites."
She studied his fluid again. " 'Tis a shame they did that to you," Artemis said quietly. "You are far too beautiful to be made sterile. Shall I fix you?"
"No. There's no reason to. I told you, no one would ever welcome a child conceived from me."
It was the pain in his silvery eyes as he spoke that brought an unfamiliar ache to her chest.
Her poor human.
He looked spectacular lying back against the white linens that only emphasized the wide expanse of tawny masculine skin. Every muscle of his body was a study in perfection. He was so inviting. Warm. And he was completely unabashed about his nude sexuality. About what they'd done. He wasn't cocky or arrogant that he had touched her.
He treated her like she was . . .
Human.
Most of her family couldn't stand her. Humans feared her. Even her handmaidens laughed among themselves, but kept their guard up whenever she drew near.
But this man . . .
He was different. He held no fear of anything or anyone. Like a powerful, untamed beast, he was defiant and bold. Unyielding in her presence. He was docile now, but the power of him was undeniable. It was frightening even to her.
"Have you any friends?" she asked.
He shook his head.
"Why not?"
"I suppose I'm not worthy of any."
Artemis frowned at his reasoning. "It can't be that. I haven't any either and I am more than worthy. Perhaps there is a flaw to us." She paused as she thought about that. "No, that can't be right either. I have no flaws and yet I'm as alone as you are."
Never before had Artemis realized just how alone she really was. Her twin brother had friends. He had lovers. Apollo was the closest thing to a friend she'd ever known, but even he was reserved around her. Apollo never invited her to do things with him unless it involved destruction or punishment. He didn't laugh with her or ask her to go out carousing or gaming.
For the first time in her life, she realized just how lonely she was.
"Will you be my friend?"
Acheron was utterly stunned by her unexpected question. "You would befriend me?"
She cocked her head as she watched him with a small puckering of her divine brow. She was shimmery and ethereal-far beyond the reach of something like him. "Well, yes. I mean, we can't let others know it, but I like what you have shown me. I wish to learn more about this world and about you." She smiled warmly at him as if she were truly sincere with her offer. It reminded him how rare such a thing as sincerity was. And friendship . . .
It was an elusive dream he dare not allow himself. People like him didn't have friendship. Any more than they had love or kindness. Yet he found a foreign part of himself aching for want of it.
Aching for want of her.
"So, are we friends? I promise you, you'll never regret it."
This had to be the strangest moment of his life and given the oddity of his existence, that said a lot. How could a whore be the friend of a goddess?
Acheron pulled the blanket from the bed and wiped himself clean. "I think you would regret being my friend."
She shrugged. "I doubt that. You're human. You'll only be alive . . . what? Another twenty or so years? That is so little time that it hardly matters and I doubt I shall be your friend once you grow old and unattractive. Besides regret isn't something an Olympian feels."
She smiled as she traced his lips. "Kiss me. Kiss me and let me know that we are friends."
It was a ludicrous thought and yet he found himself doing just as she asked.
Friends.
The two of them. He wanted to laugh at the thought. Instead, he closed his eyes and breathed her in. Her hands were sublime in his hair. And as they kissed, he wanted her friendship with a desperation that made him ache. His only hope was that he'd be worthy of it.
December 13, 9529 BC
"What are you doing?"
Acheron opened his eyes to find Artemis standing on his balcony a few feet away from him. Even though it was freezing cold, he was sitting on the railing, leaning back against a column while he listened to the turbulent sea below. "I was getting some fresh air. What are you doing?"
She pushed her lower lip out into a becoming pout. "I was bored."
That amused him. "How can a god be bored?"
She shrugged. "There's not that much for me to do really. My brother is off with your sister. Zeus is holding council and I'm never invited to those. Hades is with Persephone. My koris are bathing and cavorting with each other and ignoring me. So I'm bored. I thought you might have some idea of something we could do together."
Acheron let out a long, tired breath. He knew where this was headed and yet he was still compelled to ask the rhetorical question. "May I at least go inside where it's warm before I remove my clothes?"
She frowned. "Is that what humans do when they're bored?"
"It's what they do with me."
"And you enjoy that?"
"Not really," he answered honestly.
"Oh." She paused a second before she continued. "Well then, what do you do for fun?"
"I go to plays."
Crossing her arms, she approached him. "That's those made up stories where they have people pretending to be other people, right?"
He nodded.
By her face he could tell that she had no understanding of why he might find that entertaining. "And you like that better than being naked?"
He'd never really thought of it quite that way before, but . . . "Yes. It makes me forget who I am for a while."
She looked even more puzzled. "You like to forget yourself?"
"Yes."
"But isn't that confusing for you?"
Not half as confusing as this conversation. "No."
Artemis tapped her fingers against her upper arm. "I guess if I weren't a god I wouldn't like remembering who I am either. I can see why people would feel that way. So, is there a play we can go to now?"
"There's one every afternoon in town."
"Then we should go," she said firmly.
He snorted, wishing everything was as easy as she seemed to think it was. "I can't leave."
"Why not?"
He glanced to his closed bedroom doors that had been slammed and locked since the last time he'd been thrown in here and left to rot. Oh wait, that would have been yesterday. "My previous guards were beheaded for allowing me to leave. The new set is much more cautious. If I try to speak to them, they draw their swords and push me back into my room, then lock the doors."
She shrugged. "They're no problem for me. I can take you into town."
Acheron swung his legs down from the railing as hope swelled inside him. He hated being trapped like a rabid animal. He always had. All he'd been doing for the last two days was dreaming of escaping this place if only for a brief time. But the only two ways to leave his room were through the doors behind Artemis or jumping from the stone balcony that dropped a hundred feet to the rocks below. "Really?"
She nodded. "If you'd like to go, yes."
It felt as if something in his chest was lifted at her words. He could actually kiss her for this. "I'll get my cloak."
Artemis followed her new friend into his room and watched as he pulled a cloak from beneath his straw mattress. "Why do you keep your cloak under your bed?"
He shook it out as he answered. "I have to hide my cloak or else the maids will burn it."
"Why?"
He gave her a blank look. "I told you I'm not supposed to leave here."
She didn't understand that. Why would they keep him locked inside this small room? "Did you do something wrong to be imprisoned?"
"My only crime was being born to parents who have no use for me. My father doesn't want anyone to know his eldest son is deformed so here I'm to stay until I die of old age."
A foreign pain fluttered in her stomach as she felt sad for him. There were times when she felt imprisoned, too, though no one had ever made her feel freakish by any means.
She looked down at his muscular legs. "Is that why your feet are bare?"
He nodded as he wrapped the cloak around his body and raised the cowl over his head. "I'm ready."
"What about your shoes?"
He looked baffled by her question. "I haven't any. I told you, I'm forbidden to leave."
Now that she thought about it, she realized he hadn't been wearing any shoes in her temple either. "Won't your feet be cold?"
"I'm used to it."
She curled her toes in her shoes as she considered walking over winter stones barefoot. It would be a miserable feeling that not even a human should bear. Shaking her head, she manifested a pair of warm leather shoes on his feet. "There now, much better."
Acheron looked down in amazement at the dark brown shoes lined in fur. They felt so strange against his skin. But they were incredibly warm and soft. "Thank you."
She smiled at him as if the shoes pleased her as much as they did him. "You're welcome."
The next thing he knew, they were in the center of town. Acheron gaped at the sight of them standing by a well. No one in the busy crowd seemed to notice the fact that they'd just appeared out of nowhere. He immediately drew his cowl lower over his face to make sure he was shielded from those around them.
"What are you doing?" Artemis asked.
"I don't want anyone to see me."
"Oh, that's a good idea." An instant later, she wore a richly woven cloak that was pulled up around her face in a way identical to his. "How do I look?"
Before he could prevent it, a smile curved his lips at her innocent question. He quickly banished it. He knew better than to smile. It always got him into trouble. "You're beautiful."
"Why does saying that make you uncomfortable?"
Acheron clenched his teeth at the simple truth that had haunted him the whole of his life. "People destroy beauty when they find it."
She cocked her head. "How so?"
"By nature, people are petty and jealous. They envy what they lack and because they don't know how to acquire something, they try to destroy anyone who has it. Beauty is one of those things they hate most in others."
"Do you really believe that?"
"I've been attacked enough to know it for a fact. Whatever people can't possess, they try to ruin."
Artemis was stunned by his cynicism. She'd heard such comments from some of the gods. Her father, Zeus, was always making similar statements. But for such a young human . . .
Acheron was strangely astute at times. She could almost believe his claim of divinity, but she knew better. He was just a little more perceptive than most humans.
"Where do we go?" she asked, changing the subject.
"The common gate is over here." He led her toward a small door where a group of unwashed and filthy humans gathered.
Curling her lip in repugnance, she pulled him to a stop. "Should we be going through the common gate with common people?"
"It costs to go through the others."
How could that possibly be a problem? "Don't you have any money?"
He frowned at her. "No."
Sighing, she manifested a small purse and held it out to him. "Here. Get us decent seats. I'm a goddess. I don't sit with common people."
He hesitated before he obeyed her. Hesitated. No one did that. Yet he seemed oblivious to the fact that she was divinity. On one level it insulted her that he could be so cavalier and on another it intrigued her. She liked the feeling of being nothing more than a woman with a man.
Especially one so incredibly handsome.
But he did need to respect her godhood. She was, after all, the daughter of Zeus. She could kill him if she chose to.
Then why didn't you? His dare echoed in her head and she again saw him so proud and defiant in her temple. He was definitely an odd human.
And she liked that second only to his beauty.
Artemis stayed by his side as he purchased their seats and led her to an area that was sectioned off from the peasants. The seats here were less crowded and filled with nobles and the families of senators. Acheron paid more money to buy her a stuffed pillow that he set down on the stone for her comfort.
"Aren't you getting one for yourself?" she asked as she took a seat on it.
"I don't need one." He returned the purse to her.
Wrinkling her nose, she stared at the hard stone where he sat oblivious to the cold. "Aren't you uncomfortable?"
"Not really. I'm used to it."
He was used to a lot of things that weren't natural. Something odd went through her chest. It actually bothered her that he was abusing himself. He shouldn't have to do without things and most definitely not while he was with her. Snapping her fingers, she created a pillow underneath him.
He looked up with a startled expression that was almost comical.
"You shouldn't have to sit on cold stone, Acheron."
Acheron touched the padded blue cushion beneath him in disbelief. Only Ryssa had ever cared about his comfort. Well, and at times Catera. But Catera's care had come from a desire to make more money from him. Artemis had no reason to care whether or not he was bruised or cold. He was nothing to her and yet she'd done something truly kind for him. It made him want to smile, but he didn't trust her fully yet. He'd been fooled too many times by people's kindness that had been motivated only by their selfishness.
His chest tightened as his memories surged and he recalled the time he'd been homeless after his father had cast him out of Estes's house.
"I'll give you work, boy . . ."
He squeezed his eyes shut in an effort to banish the horror that followed his blind trust. Truthfully, he hated people. They were users and they were cruel to others.
All of them were cruel to him.
"Wine for my lord and lady?"
It took Acheron a moment to realize the old vendor was speaking to him. Stunned by the show of respect, he couldn't formulate an answer.
"Yes," Artemis said imperiously. She handed him coin and he in turn gave her two goblets of wine.
The vendor bowed low before them. "Thank you, my lady. My lord. I hope you enjoy the show."
Acheron couldn't speak as he took the cup from Artemis's hand. No one had treated him with such regard since the time he'd spent with Ryssa and Maia at the summer palace. And no one had ever bowed to him before.
No one.
His throat tight, he slowly sipped the wine.
Artemis paused to study him. "Is something the matter?"
Acheron shook his head, unable to believe that he was actually seated next to a goddess. In public. Wearing clothes. What a strange turn of events.
Artemis dipped her head, trying to meet his gaze.
Out of habit, Acheron averted his eyes.
"Why don't you look at me?" Artemis asked.
"I do look at you."
"No, you don't. You always avert your gaze whenever someone comes near."
"I see you though. I learned how to see without looking directly at things a long time ago."
"I don't understand."
Acheron sighed as he turned the cup in his hands. "My eyes make people uncomfortable so I try to keep them hidden as best I can. It prevents people from becoming angry at me."
"People get angry at you for looking at them?"
Acheron nodded.
"What does that feel like?"
He swallowed at the memories that cut him all the way to his soul. "It hurts."
"Then you should tell them not to do it."
If only it were so easy. "I'm not a god, Artemis. No one listens to me when I speak."
"I listen."
She seemed to, and that meant a lot to him. "You're unique."
"True. Perhaps you should spend more time around the gods."
He snorted at the very idea. "I hate the gods, remember?"
"You don't hate me, do you?"
"No."
Artemis smiled. His words relieved her and she wasn't sure why. Intrigued by him, she reached over to touch his back. The moment she did, he sucked his breath in sharply between his teeth and pulled away. "What's the matter?"
"My back's still tender."
"Tender from what?"
Somehow he managed to give her an insolently droll stare without looking directly at her. "I told you I was forbidden to leave my room. My trip to your temple cost me."
"Cost you what?"
He sighed as the play started. "Let's watch the play, please."
Turning her attention to the actors, she listened as they told some insipid story that held no real interest for her. The human beside her . . . that was another matter. He intrigued her greatly.
Anytime she'd ever approached a human of any stature, he or she would grovel and beg for her approval. Even royalty. Or they'd stare at her as if she were sublime, which, of course, she was. But this one didn't do any of that. He seemed oblivious of the fact that she could kill him with a glance. Even now he was ignoring her completely.
How very strange.
"Why does that group keep singing?"
"It's the chorus," he whispered, his attention firmly on the actors below them.
"They're key-off."
He frowned at her. "Key-off?"
"Their tune . . . it's not right."
"Off-key," he corrected as he turned away from her again. "No, they're not. They sound fine."
She arched a brow at his peeved tone. "Are you arguing with me?"
"I'm not trying to argue with you, Goddess. I'm trying to hear what the actors are saying. Shh."
No . . . no, he hadn't really shushed her! Anger whipped through her. "Excuse me? Acheron? Shh?"
For once he met her gaze and there was no mistaking the agitation in those swirling silver eyes. "I'm not the one talking, Artemis." He turned back toward the stage.
Aggravated at him, she snatched the cowl from his head to get his full attention. The instant she did, she realized she'd made a mistake. Every person near them was suddenly fascinated by Acheron whose face had lost all color.
Without a word to her, he covered himself and rushed for the exit. Several of the people around her headed after him.
Curious, she followed up the stairs and out of the stadium to find Acheron as he was becoming surrounded by people. He appeared panicked as he tried to push his way through the crowd that continued to try and talk to him.
One of the men grabbed him roughly by the arm.
"Let me go," Acheron snarled, shoving at the stranger.
The man tightened his grip so much that Acheron flinched from it.