by A. Star
Apollo tisked. "I do hate history books. They always make a mess of what really happened." He sipped his wine. "I turned Daphne into a laurel tree, Siobhan. Not Gaia."
I frowned. "You? Why?"
"I had my reasons."
I was a bit suspicious of these "reasons." "Is Daphne still, uh, around?"
Apollo grinned. "Daphne is not a threat to you, if that's what you're fishing for."
I blushed and demanded he tell me another story. That one didn't count either.
Hours and hours passed away in Sol, and at some point, I fell asleep. I woke up the next morning tucked into my own bed back in Ireland. Apollo was nowhere to be found, but he'd left a note and the handkerchief embroidered with his initials folded on my pillow.
The next time you fall asleep in my bed, it had better be after a night of extremely passionate love-making. —Apollo
I rolled my eyes and tried to remember at what point in the night I had ended up in his bed. I read the last line of the note.
P.S. Keep the handkerchief. Not to remember me, but to never forget me.
I picked up the handkerchief and brought it up to my heart, happy to have it back and knowing I would never let it go again. He was right. I was never going to forget him now.
Emmaline burst into my room then. "Mornin', miss!" she chimed, setting down a cup of tea on my night table, then opening my curtains to let the sunlight in.
"Mornin'," I greeted the immortal. Emmaline had been my servant since I was fourteen. We usually never kept an immortal servant longer than three years to avoid rumors from circulating that our staff never aged, but like Conor, Emmaline was loved and I had refused to let them take her away from me. We looked related with our matching blonde manes, and when questioned out in public, we usually told people we were cousins. Vicky hadn't seemed to notice Emmaline's lack of aging, but I wasn't surprised at that at all.
Emmaline moved around, tidying up things. "Would you like a bath before lunch, miss?"
"Lunch!?" I glanced at the digital clock by my bed. It was almost noon. "Why'd you let me sleep so long, Emmaline?"
"You got in so late, miss. I didn' want to disturb you."
I cringed. "How late is late?" I held up my hand to stop her from answering. "Never mind. I don't want to know." I reached for my tea.
Emmaline giggled as she headed into the bathroom. I heard the water for my bath begin to run. "You mus've had a grand time with his lordship. I've never known you to miss breakfast and your mornin' practice time," she called out.
I nearly burned off a lip. "You know who I was with?"
"Everyone knows, miss. Your parents have made it no secret tha' you're bein' pursued by the Olympian."
Of course. "It's really nothin' like tha', Emmaline. I enjoy Apollo's company but it's nothin' more than tha'."
Emmaline reappeared and held out my robe to me. "Not yet at least."
I stood and let her help me into it. "Wha' do you mean by tha'?"
"I mean, you're already callin' him 'Apollo'."
I sat down at my vanity and let her brush out my tangled hair so I could wash it without any hassles. "Tha's his name, isn' it?"
"It's intimate, miss. Neither your family nor any immortal in this house would dare call his lordship by his divine name without the proper title, especially not to his face."
"I don't either," I protested.
Emmaline smiled at me in the mirror. "I can see it in your eyes, miss. You like him."
I averted my glance and fussed with a comb on my vanity. "So? Is tha' so bad?"
"Depends."
"Depends on wha'?"
"Depends on wha' his lordship wants you for." Emmaline didn't wait for me to respond. She strolled into the bathroom and turned off the water to my bath. When she returned, she gathered my tea cup and saucer. "Anythin' else, miss?"
"Aye, jus' one more thing."
Emmaline waited patiently for my request, in which time, I turned to face her.
"Wha' do you think A—, I mean, his lordship wants from me?"
"Besides the obvious, miss?"
I flushed. "Yes. Besides tha'."
Emmaline smiled and delivered an answer I never expected. "Your blood."
VIII. A LOVER'S DECEPTION
After an early morning practice session three days later, I joined my parents for breakfast where, unsurprisingly, all they wanted to talk about was Apollo and how our relationship was progressing.
"Why hasn' he been back to see you?" my mother questioned. "Did you do somethin' to insult his lordship, Marie?"
"No, Ma," I replied. "I swore I'd be nice, remember?"
"I'm sure he'll come around soon, Eileen," my father said. He paused. "He did say he would see you again, right?"
I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Da."
"Have you become intimate yet?" my mother asked.
"Ma!" I was so glad Garrett only had breakfast with us on Sunday mornings. I couldn't have done this with him there. "No. We're jus' friends, Ma. Nothin' more."
It bothered me how disappointed my parents looked.
After breakfast, I went to our library to read. Before Apollo had ventured into my life, I'd hardly had any time to myself outside of university and the orchestra. My mother wanted to groom me in the useless art of being an Influential wife. We had never discussed it, but I knew she had been working on setting up a meeting between me and the heir of one of the Australian families who was around my age. But since Apollo had come along, I hadn't been made to attend any tea parties or dinners or any other gods-awful events, Influential-related or not. Life was grand at the moment.
Closing the doors of the library to block out the sounds of the servants bustling about with their work, I browsed the collection of classical fiction books since I was really not in the mood for anything mythical or divine. I chose a classic novel and pulled it down from its shelf.
"Your ass looks fantastic wrapped in black."
I fumbled the book in my hand and pivoted to find Apollo perched on the corner of the desk across the library as those blazing blue eyes of his stared me down. He looked delicious dressed in true divine garb—a black leather cuirass, leather trousers and boots—and biting the inside of my cheek was all I could do to keep myself from drooling. His displayed muscles were olive and toned and I wanted to touch and grab and run my hands all over them. But I stayed right where I was. I didn't trust myself to stop at touching.
"My lord," I breathed, now clutching the book to my chest. I ran a hand over my black skirt. "Wha' are you doing here?"
"You have to ask?" his ancient voice rumbled as his eyes ran over the entire length of my body.
"How did you get in?"
A sexy, black eyebrow raised.
"I mean, how did you get in without me knowin'? I didn' see a flash. Why do you flash sometimes and other times not?"
Apollo waved his hand in the direction of the doors and I heard the lock click into place. He stood and began slowly prowling toward me. "Gods flash because we're vain and we like to make an entrance. But we don't have to. We don't have to do anything we don't want to do."
Suddenly, he was right in front of me. I almost screamed.
"Don't do tha'!" I said, sucking in a deep breath as Apollo pried the book from my hands and placed it on the shelf behind me.
"Don't do what? This?" His arms were around my waist and he was kissing me within half a heartbeat.
I just couldn't resist the man. His kiss was like an oasis after I had been dragging half dead through an arid wasteland. I gulped him down and I still couldn't get enough. For this man, this god, I would always be parched.
I tried not to think about the other women Apollo had drawn close to him and kissed like he cared for them as my arms folded around his neck and my fingers twisted in his thick, black hair. I hated feeling jealous when it really made no sense to be. Apollo was a three thousand year old Greek god. His prowess was as legendary as his fertility, and I was just another notch in his divine belt. I
knew this. But in that moment, Apollo was with me and I decided to forget about everything else and just cherish it while it lasted.
His lips finally released mine. His voice was gravelly when he said, "Take off your clothes, Siobhan."
"No," I replied, half out of breath.
"No?" He smirked, almost like he had already known I would turn him down again. "Why not?"
"I don't want to sleep with you," I said like it was obvious.
"Really? I think you're lying." Smiling, Apollo rolled his hips into mine. "We both do."
I pushed him. No luck. "My lord!"
"Please, Siobhan. Do us both a favor and stop calling me 'my lord.' Use my name. Preferably between screams and gasps of pleasure."
He had no shame at all.
I pushed him again and he stepped back with a chuckle. I grabbed my book off of the shelf and headed toward the reading corner and my favorite leather armchair. Apollo followed. Closely. He might as well have carried me.
He sat down before me and pulled me into his lap. "Is this necessary?" I said, though I made no attempt to move.
Apollo ignored me anyway. "What are we reading today?"
Trying not to like the way he softly kissed behind my ear, I glanced down at the cover and laughed. "The Secrets of the Gemstone Forest. Ugh, I grabbed the wrong book. I really need to lecture the servants on puttin' books back in the right places."
I made a move to get up, but Apollo stopped me. He snatched the book from my hands and tossed it up into the air, where I witnessed it burst into flames.
"Are you mad!?" I exclaimed, watching as what was left of the book rained down around us.
"For you? I'm insane," he growled, nipping my neck with his teeth. His hand reached up, yanked the band from the end of my braid, and pulled my hair loose. And he wasn't gentle about it.
"Apollo, stop!"
"Those two words do not belong together," he replied, his voice muffled as his lips caressed my neck.
I swatted at the hand that had made its way underneath my skirt. "I mean it!"
"No, you don't. You love it when I touch you. You love the way I adore you and kiss you and crave your body like a man starved half to death." His hand cupped my cheek and he turned my head so we were eye to eye. "Our need for each other will only grow, Siobhan. So give yourself to me, here and now, and end the torment for both of us."
"No," I said without a moment's hesitation.
"Ah, the future foretold once more."
I frowned. "I don't under—"
In an instant, Apollo was kneeling in front of me, trapping me in the chair. His hands slipped under my skirt and glided up toward my hips. "Nice," he said as his fingers grazed over my lacy knickers. I heard a ripping sound. "Now take them off."
I just stared at him in disbelief. Was he really about to force himself on me?
He chuckled. "I would never force myself on you, Siobhan. But if you won't let me make love to you, then I'll have to settle for the alternative."
"Apollo..." I breathed, figuring out rather quickly what the alternative was.
He only smiled as he tossed the useless lace aside. He pushed my black skirt up and I lifted my hips without being asked. When I lowered them again, I was sitting bare bottom in the cool, leather chair.
Apollo gripped me behind the thighs and jerked me forward. Spreading my legs, he draped each of them over the arms of the chair and sat back on his heels to look at me. My face burned at being exposed to him like this, but I didn't close my legs or try to cover myself. I just sat there while he got his fill.
"Beautiful..." he murmured. I gasped when he ran his finger down my slit and then pushed it into me.
"Do you like that?" he asked, slowly pumping his finger in and out.
"Aye," I breathed.
He worked his finger inside of me for a minute longer. Then, never letting his eyes drift from mine, he pulled out his finger and inserted it into his mouth.
"Fucking delicious," he said, and pushed his finger back inside.
He leaned forward and slowly ran his tongue over the most sacred part of me. My hips jerked in response, pushing me against his mouth. Embarrassed, I started to sit up and close my legs, but Apollo stopped me.
"Relax, my love," he said, two fingers now working themselves in and out.
His mouth found its way back to me. I forced myself to watch as his tongue came out and swirled over my nub again and again until I was writhing in my chair. At some point, my hand found its way into his hair and held him there, threatening him with violence very uncharacteristic of me if he dared to stop.
My eyes crossed when he started to suck on me and a thick, sultry moan ripped from my throat. Against my will, my nails dug into his scalp. Apollo groaned in response and bit me just hard enough to let me know he liked that. There was something so erotic about seeing Apollo's mouth on me. I'd never had this, had never known anything could feel this good. I was dizzy with desire for more and seeming to know that, he gave it to me. His fingers slid in and out while his lips sucked with a firm, steady rhythm with no breaks in the pleasure, allowing it to build and build until I was ready to burst.
I threw back my head and screamed as my orgasm assaulted me from the inside out. Every conscious thought shattered and the world erupted into a million different colors in front of my eyes. Apollo sucked on me until he had drawn every last shiver and breath from my body, leaving me sated beyond all comprehension.
"Please say I can fuck you now," he mumbled before attaching his lips to mine and kissing the life out of me. Practically crazed for him, my legs wrapped around his hips and I kissed him back like my life was his to have. I tasted myself on his lips and the inferno blazing at my core exploded again. I moaned into his mouth as my tongue slid over his. I pulled on his hair and bit his lip when he laughed at me. I was ravenous for him. What was this man doing to me?
"Take off your clothes, Siobhan."
Without even a slight hesitation, my hands reached for the hem of my shirt.
Someone banged at the library doors. "Marie? Are you all right in there?"
"Your brother," Apollo growled as he pulled away. I glared at the doors right along with him.
"Wha's wrong, Marie?" Garrett jiggled one of the handles. "Why are these doors locked? Let me in!"
"I suppose it would be cruel to ignore him, yes?" Apollo ran a hand up the inside of my thigh as his eyes burned with primal need.
"I heard you scream, Marie." Garrett sounded sort of worried now. "Open these doors now or I'll kick them in!"
"I'd like to see him try," Apollo chuckled.
"We'd better let him in before he gets my da involved and I can never look either of them in the eye again," I huffed. "Where are my knickers?"
"Right here." Apollo waved my shredded underwear in my face, then shoved them into the pocket of his leather trousers. "Mine."
I rolled my eyes at him before standing and pulling my skirt down over my bare ass. There was no time to argue over my underwear. They were useless anyway. I fussed with my hair, which had to be a mess, but I don't think I did it much good. Not that it mattered. My missing braid would give me away the moment my brother saw me.
"Unlock it," I said when Garrett banged on the doors again. With a wave of Apollo's hand, the doors swung open. Garrett came stumbling through, having been throwing his weight against the doors in his attempt to break them down.
Rubbing his shoulder, he straightened and took in the two of us. Immediately, the worry vanished from his expression and suspicion took its place.
"My lord," he said, bowing to Apollo. The deity said nothing. Garrett looked at me. "Are you okay, Marie?"
"I'm fine," I replied, hoping I looked more convincing than I felt. "His lordship and I were jus' talkin' a bit."
My brother frowned as he looked me over, his blue eyes lingering on my hair. "I can see tha'."
Dear gods... "Is your shoulder okay?" I asked, trying to change the subject.
"It's fine,"
he snapped, not about to be diverted.
"What do you want, boy?" Apollo interrupted, sounding every bit as irritated as he looked.
"I came to check on Marie, my lord," Garrett said, giving Apollo a bold stare. "I jus' didn' expect to find you here."
Apollo smiled, appearing to appreciate Garrett's brazenness. "Well, you should expect to see me more often. Siobhan and I are lovers now."
"Apollo!" I hissed. "I mean, my lord. No." I looked at Garrett. "We're not lovers."
Apollo also looked at Garrett. "That scream you heard was one of pleasure, boy, not angst. Your sister tends to have rather fierce orgasms. But that was to be expected as I'm quite skilled with my tongue."
My mouth fell open. I was mortified. Absolutely mortified. But not as mortified as Garrett.
"Where is your father, boy?" Apollo said, acting as though nothing was amiss.
"I-In his st—study, my l-lord," Garrett stammered, face as red as a cherry. I wanted to melt into the floor with embarrassment. I'd never be able to look my brother in the eye again.
"Tell Ronan to come here now. We must seal the agreement with Siobhan present." He waved his hand, dismissing my brother.
"Yes, my lord." Garrett practically flew from the room, tripping over his feet as he went.
I was momentarily distracted by Apollo's statement. "Wha' are you talkin' abou'? Wha' agreement?"
He gave me a look and held onto it as he let me come to my own conclusion. It didn't take very long, and anger quickly took precedence over whatever chagrin I had just felt.
"How dare you," I hissed, starting to shake just a little bit.
Apollo arched a brow, questioning me. Playing stupid, I concluded. So much made sense now...
"Tha's wha' you came for," I said, pointing a finger at him. "Tha's wha' your business with my father is all abou'. Your business was me."
Apollo just nodded once. No hesitation, no denial.
"Unbelievable." You should have known this, Siobhan... It was all so obvious...
He cocked a brow again. "Surely you're aware of the centuries-old truce between the gods and the twelve Families."
"Wha' are you talkin' abou'?"