Acheron 9529 BC–7382 BC 1 страница

December 11, 9529 BC

Acheron turned away from Apollo's temple. Impotent anger roiled through him. He was so tired of being reminded of his place in this world.

Being reminded he was nothing.

No doubt his father would punish him later for this. Not that he cared.

He no longer felt physical pain like the rest of the world. Too many days of being used and abused had left him hollow and unable to feel much of anything except hatred and anger.

Those two emotions burned inside him constantly.

He'd been made a whore against his will and now it was held against him as if he'd had a choice in the matter. As if he enjoyed being groped and fought over.

So be it.

Seeking some sort of vengeance on the ones who had cursed him to this fate, he found himself heading into the temple across the street from Apollo's.

It was empty. Most likely the occupants and caretakers were all across the street to witness his sister's sacrifice.

Fucking pigs.

There was nothing people loved more than to watch someone else being humiliated, especially royalty. It gave them a sense of power. A sense of superiority. But in the back of their minds, they all knew the truth. They were just grateful it wasn't them being degraded.

He walked down the center aisle that was framed by huge columns that stretched up toward the heavens. Columns that led toward the statue of a woman. He'd never been inside a temple before. Whores weren't allowed since the gods had abandoned them and mankind had damned them.

Defiantly, he lowered his cowl as he stared up at the carved image of the goddess. Made of solid gold, she was beautiful. Her peplos seemed to be rippling from an unseen wind and she held a bow in one hand with a quiver of arrows on her back. Her left hand rested on a tall poised deer that was brushing up against her leg.

He stared at the writing on the tablet at her feet, but couldn't read it.

He vaguely recalled Ryssa trying to teach him to read all those years ago when she'd rescued him. He hadn't seen a scroll or word since.

As he traced the first letter of the goddess's name, he thought he recognized it.

It was an A. Ryssa had told him his own name began with that letter.

He ran through his mind his limited knowledge of the gods and what he knew of them as he tried to think of one whose name sounded similar to his.

"You must be Athena," he said out loud. It would make sense since Athena was goddess of war and held a bow in her hand.

"I beg your pardon? Athena?! "

He turned sharply at the angry voice behind him. The woman was incredibly voluptuous with long, curling auburn hair and dark green eyes. Her beauty was natural and piercing. If he were capable of being sexually attracted to anyone, he might even have desired her. But honestly, he'd screwed so many people that he could live the rest of his life without another body under, over or near him.

Dressed in a white flowing gown, she stood with her hands on her curvy hips. "Are you blind? Or just stupid?"

He snarled at the insults. "I am neither."

She approached him with a narrowed gaze before she gestured toward the statue behind him. "Then how is it you don't know the image of Artemis when you see her?"

Acheron rolled his eyes at the mention of Apollo's twin sister. He should have known since the temples were so close together. "Is she as worthless as her brother?"

The woman's mouth fell open. She appeared shocked by his question. "I beg your pardon?"

Anger burned through him as he saw the tributes laid out on the altar before the imperial goddess. He flung his arm against them, sending them flying. Platters crashed to the floor while bits of flowers, toys and other offerings scattered and rolled over the marble. "Why do they bother when no one on Olympus hears them and if they do it's obvious they don't care?"

"Are you mad?"

"Yes, I am," he said from between clenched teeth. "Mad at this world where we are nothing to the gods. Mad at the Fates who put us here for no purpose except to toy with us for their petty amusement. I wish all of the gods were dead and gone."

The woman snarled, rushing at him. Acheron caught her hand before she could slap him.

She shrieked and something slammed into him, knocking him straight to the ground. Pain spread through his body.

An unseen force picked him up from the floor and flung him against the wall. The breath left him as he was pinned to the wall, a good ten feet above the ground.

The woman glared at him. "I should kill you."

"Please do so."

Artemis withheld the final god bolt that would have sent this human straight to Tartarus where he belonged, and let him fall to the ground. She'd never met anyone who didn't know her on sight. Never met anyone who couldn't feel her unearthly presence and god powers and yet this human seemed immune to them.

She watched as he pushed himself to his feet and stood defiantly before her. He was a handsome young man. She'd give him that. His face was flawless in its beauty. Dark blond brows slashed over swirling silver eyes that were searing with their hatred. No one had ever dared give her such a look.

His long blond wavy hair framed his features to perfection. It appeared softer than down and was every bit as inviting.

And his body... It was lean and well muscled. Tanned. Gorgeous. There was something about it that made her mouth water for a taste of him. Never in her life had she felt such an incredible pull toward any man.

More than that, he was taller than she, a mortal rarity that she appreciated.

"Have you any idea who I am?" she asked him.

"Judging from your anger and what you just did to me, I would assume you're Artemis."

So, he wasn't stupid after all.

"Then bow down and apologize."

Instead, he offered her an intense look that caused her stomach to flutter. He walked toward her with an arrogant swagger that made his entire body ripple like a panther's. A foreign aching need pounded through her. She didn't understand what she felt, but whatever it was, it left her breathless and weak.

He laid his warm hand against her cheek as he stared down at her face with those beguiling eyes that seemed to hypnotize her. "So, you're a goddess," he said, his voice thick as he boldly examined her. His pupils dilated...

Her stomach tightened even more. His nearness was searing. His eyes riveting.

She'd never felt anything like this.

Before she realized what he intended, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

Artemis couldn't breathe as she tasted him. Part of her was outraged that he would dare such, but another, alien part of her was thrilled by the unexpected sensation of his lips on hers. Of his tongue exploring her mouth.

His arms surrounded her as he pulled her closer to him.

Her head spun as he pulled back slightly and trailed his lips from her mouth to her neck. Chills swept over her, and at the same time an incredible heat built inside her. All she wanted was to pull him closer...

To feel every inch of his body.

He made an appreciative noise against her skin that made her ache. "You do taste divine."

He dropped to his knees before her.

"What are you doing?" she asked as he lifted one of her feet into his hands. She didn't understand what was going on. It was as if she had no control of herself. This... creature compelled her in a way that was wholly unnatural.

He looked up at her and her stomach felt as if it were turning over. "Kissing your feet, goddess. Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?"

Well, yes, but as he nibbled her instep she couldn't suppress a deep moan of pleasure. Artemis leaned back against the wall as his mouth worked magic on the sensitive tendons of her foot.

She'd never known such a rich, deep burn deep in her blood. And he didn't stop with her feet, he trailed his lips up her leg, to the back of her knee.

Artemis struggled to breathe.

Then he moved his mouth higher.

"What are you doing now?" she gasped as his warm breath fell against her buttocks.

"I'm kissing your ass. Isn't that people are supposed to do?"

"Not like that."

She groaned as he nibbled her high on her buttocks. She should stop him. He had no right to touch her like this and yet she didn't want this to end. It felt too good.

He nudged her legs farther apart.

With a mind of their own, her legs obeyed him. Artemis looked down to see him with his eyes closed as he tormented her with pleasure.

She felt his hands on her as he touched her where no man had ever touched her before. His fingers ran down her cleft, making her burn even more before he took her into his mouth.

Reaching down, she buried her hand in his hair as he tasted her.

Her senses went wild as she surrendered herself to him and the licks he gave that sent her careening to an unimaginable height. Every one sent a white hot shiver through her. Her throat went dry an instant before her body burst apart.

Artemis cried out as she experienced her first orgasm.

Terrified and embarrassed, she vanished.

Acheron sat on the floor in stunned disbelief. The taste and smell of Artemis permeated his senses. His body burned with aching need.

He'd never really tasted desire before. His body had always reacted to being stimulated by others or by drugs, but he'd never really wanted to touch someone.

Until now.

Now he wanted a woman... no, he wanted a goddess and that made no sense to him.

He laughed bitterly. "The least you could have done was kill me, Artemis," he shouted. That had been his only intent when he'd first approached her.

But the moment he'd touched her, he'd felt real desire.

Unable to fathom that, he wiped his mouth and pushed himself to his feet. Turning around, he looked up at her statue which bore no resemblance to her whatsoever. He gave her a sarcastic salute.

His body strangely hungry, he left the temple and made the long walk back to the palace alone. And with every step he took, his anger built even higher than it'd been before.

It was eerily silent as he walked through the marbled corridors of his father's home with no destination in mind. Everyone had gone to see Ryssa's sacrifice. He wondered idly if it would work. If Apollo's favor could be swayed from the Atlanteans to the Greeks,

Not that he cared. Neither the Atlanteans nor the Apollites had been any kinder to him than the Greeks had been.

All any of them wanted to do was fuck him.

Sighing, he found himself in his father's large and impressive throne room—his first time walking into it, since the previous times he'd been bound in chains and dragged through the doors.

His gaze narrowed as he saw the two gilded thrones at the far end. Thrones that should have been his mother's and father's, but since his mother had been banished for his birth, Styxx had occupied her place. Too bad the old bitch had died in her isolation. She would have loved to see her precious Styxx become King.

Styxx. His baby brother.

Acheron cursed. If not for his eyes, he would have been the one to sit to the right hand of his father.

No one would dare mock him then. No one would ever have forced him to his knees to...

He snarled at the memories.

It was so unfair.

He'd never asked for this life. Never asked to be born. Never asked to be a demigod.

He heard Estes's voice in his head. "Look at him. Son to an Olympian. How much will you pay for a taste of a Greek god?"

Acheron didn't even know who his father was. His mother had always protested her innocence over his birth and no god had ever stepped forward to acknowledge him.

Angered by that fact, he crossed the room to sit on his father's throne. The man would die to see him perched on it and that gave him an instant moment of gratification. His father would have it burned.

Perhaps he should let his father find him here. It would serve the king right to know a whore had fouled his beloved throne.

A whore... he flinched with the thought.

By birthright, this should have all been his. Closing his eyes, Acheron tried to imagine what the world would have been like had he possessed blue eyes like Styxx.

People would respect him.

Respect.

The word hung like a phantom in his mind. That was the only thing he'd ever craved.

"Don't you want to be loved?"

He opened his eyes to see Artemis standing in the center of the room, studying him.

"Everyone claims they love me." At least while they screwed him. Unfortunately, that affection ended the minute they came. "I've had more than my share of other people's love. I'd rather do without it for a while."

She frowned. It was a delicate expression that he found oddly sweet. "You're a strange human."

He scoffed at that. "I'm a demigod. Can't you tell?"

Her frown deepened as she drew near him. "Whose issue are you?"

"They tell me Zeus."

She shook her head at that. "You're no son of an Olympian. I would know it if you were. We can always sense our own."

Her words went through his heart like a knife. "Then whose son am I?"

She cupped his chin in her warm, soft hand so that he looked up at her as she stared into his freakish eyes. Eyes he'd hated all his life. Eyes that betrayed him.

"You're human."

"But my eyes..."

"They are strange, but birth defects are common among your kind. There are no god powers inside you. Nothing to mark you as divinity. You're human."

Acheron closed his eyes as pain assailed him. So he was his father's son after all.

It was the last thing he'd wanted to hear. A birth defect. A simple accident of birth had deprived him of everything. He wanted to scream out in anger.

"Why are you here?" he asked, opening his eyes to find Artemis still staring at him.

She ignored his question. "Why do you not fear me?"

"Should I?"

"I could kill you."

"I asked you to, but you didn't."

She cocked her head as if he baffled her completely. "You're very handsome for a human."

"I know."

Artemis scowled at his words. They weren't said arrogantly. Instead, he'd said them angrily as if his beauty bothered him. He was so unlike any human she'd ever met.

If she didn't know better, she would believe his claim of divinity. There was something unnatural about the desire he created in her.

But gods and their issue had an essence that was unmistakable. All she felt inside this human was hatred, despair. He hurt so badly that it was almost painful for her to be near him.

"Why are you so sad?"

"You would never understand."

Most likely not. Sadness wasn't something she normally felt. As for despair...

It was completely alien to her.

In all eternity, she'd never wanted to comfort a human. Today, she did and she didn't know why.

"Do you ever smile?" she asked him.

He shook his head.

"Never?"

"No. All it does is draw people toward me. Make them want me more."

"But I thought all humans longed to be desired."

Again he scoffed. "Do you know the Atlantean term tsolous?"

"Sex-slave?"

He gave her a blank stare.

Artemis gasped as she caught his meaning. "You're one of them?"

"I was."

Her vision darkened with the knowledge. "And you dared to touch me?"

"So will you kill me now?"

That made her anger falter under another wave of confusion. Who was this man who braved more than any before him? "If you wish to die so much, why not kill yourself?"

His lip curled as his eyes flared with fury. "Every time I've ever tried, I was brought back and punished for it. It appears the gods don't want me dead so I figure if one of you kills me, then I'll finally be at peace."

"Then it's not fated for you to die."

He came to his feet with a snarl so feral that Artemis actually took a step back in fear.

"Don't you dare say their name to me. I refuse to believe this was my fate. I was not meant to be this. I was never meant to be..." The pain in his eyes tore through her. "This can't be all I was born for."

"It's the fate of mankind to suffer. Why should you be different?"

Acheron couldn't breathe as her words tore through him. Over and over in his mind he saw himself and his past. Saw the horrors and degradations he'd suffered.

But the most horrifying thoughts were those of the future. Forever alone with nothing but scorn and abuse for company. Being forced to eat against his will, or worse, traded like nothing more than a sack of wheat.

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...

Дата добавления: 2015-10-30