Lover, Divine

by A. Star

  Apollo stared at me a moment, then his eyes fluttered closed. "Damn him."

  "Wha' are you talkin' abou', Apollo? I don't know anythin' abou' any truce."

  The Olympian clenched his jaw in anger. "Your father assured me you would understand. I took that to mean you knew about the truce made with the first Families. Because of the status the Families of Influence have among mortals, deities always seek out the permission of the head of the family before taking their virgin daughters—or sons—to bed."

  I blinked. "There's a truce tha' as long as the gods talk to mummy and daddy first, you can romantically pursue Influentials?"

  "The truce only covers virgins, because you are usually guarded until marriage. All others are free game."

  I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "And my da actually gave you his permission?"

  He nodded. "Of course, in exchange for my essence. We had only to seal the official scroll with you present and the truce was made."

  I bristled. My father had brokered a business deal with a god for my virginity, and all without taking it up with me. Apollo had basically purchased me. How dare they!

  "It was Ronan's right as your father and the head of this family to enter this truce," Apollo said, reading my thoughts, also without my permission. "But in the end, the decision is still yours." Apollo moved in on me, slipping his arms around my waist and pulling me into him. "And you will say yes to me. It is only a matter of time."

  I would not be wooed this time and I was insulted that he even tried. I pushed at his chest as hard as I could. It was like trying to push away a mountain. "Let go of me!"

  "No."

  "I mean it, Apollo! Get your hands off of me!"

  "You don't mean that."

  "I do!" I beat at his arms. "Let me go! I don't want you here!"

  "Siobhan—"

  "You're a liar! You're a liar!"

  "Siobhan."

  "No! Get out! Leave me—"

  Suddenly, I was alone. There was no flash of light or anything. Apollo had just gone.

  My father entered the library with a scroll in his hand. I figured it was the contract.

  "Marie? Where is his lordship?" he questioned, eyeing me suspiciously.

  "Gone," I snapped. "I sent him away. For good."

  My father reached out and grabbed my arm as I tried to push past him to leave. "Why has he gone? Wha' have you done?"

  I snatched my arm out of his grip. "Wha' have I done? I haven' done anythin'. You're the one tha' bartered me to him. You're the one tha' gave me away to a god. Wha' kind of father are you?"

  "The kind tha' cares abou' the future of this family beyond my lifetime," my da retorted. "And it pains me tha' you believe I think so lowly of you to jus', as you say, give you away to a god. For the gods' sake, Marie, this is so much bigger than you. You have no idea."

  I chucked up my chin, refusing to accept this lame justification that explained nothing. "Doesn' change the fact tha' you went behind my back on this. Why does everyone think it's okay to lie to me? Wha' is such a big deal tha' you had to keep so many secrets from me?"

  My father sighed. "I'm sorry tha' I left you out of the negotiations, but I had a good reason and I was sure you would be understandin' abou' this once you found out. I was wrong, but wha's done is done and I'm glad it's all out in the open now."

  I opened my mouth to argue, but my father cut me off.

  "His lordship will come back to you. When he does, accept him. If you care abou' the world we live in at all, you will accept him back into your life and do wha' is required of you." He stepped back. "Do not let the universe down, Marie."

  Then with the most unnerving look I'd ever seen on my da's face, he turned and left.

  IX. A LOVER'S RETURN

  Two months passed and Apollo never came back to me. No one could remember he'd even been a part of my band or had ever attended the university, so when he didn't return to the orchestra, nobody missed him. I couldn't ever figure out if that bothered me or not.

  For the first few weeks, I couldn't concentrate in any of my classes because all I could think about was Apollo and what my father had said.

  Do not let the universe down, Marie.

  What had he meant by that? What did my relationship with Apollo have to do with the universe? I was just one mortal woman with a bleak future as an Influential wife. It just wasn't possible that someone as ordinary as me could affect anything as grand as the entire universe. But I had to wonder if there was truly more to this than I knew.

  What Emmaline said came back to me. Could Apollo possibly want me for my blood? Influential blood was rare and special, I knew that. It had been hallowed by a deity many millennia ago and that put us at a higher standing than other mortals in the gods' eyes. But being an Influential on its own couldn't be enough to alter the universe, could it?

  I didn't talk to my parents for days. How could they not have told me about the truce? Never once in all my life of being tutored on the history and the ways of the gods, had they ever once mentioned that our family was contracted to them in more ways than what the usual divine politics called for. The truce wasn't written down and was only known by the Families, so I wouldn't have read it anywhere. I felt plotted against and betrayed, and I didn't even get upset when Garrett brought up the fact that he'd warned me. He had and I hadn't listened. I'd let the Olympian in and look what had happened.

  But even with all of that, I still missed Apollo. I'd never felt so connected to another being in my life, divine or not. He was my calming force and he made me feel like I didn't have to be what was expected of me. That's why it hurt so much to find out about the truce and that he had gone behind my back. Apollo told me the secrets he kept were for my benefit, but how could this have been for my benefit? How could lying and deceiving me be about anything but his own selfish wants and desires?

  Spring came early and Ireland was green and beautiful again. My first concert series went well, but it was bittersweet without Apollo there. I wanted him beside me, sitting first chair and grinning like the smug bastard he was. I didn't even feel his divine sight on me and I had opened myself up to it, hoping and wishing that he'd be watching. Fates knew how much that hurt me. But maybe that was their plan all along. I'd had to lose Apollo to realize how much I wanted him. The Fates were teaching me a lesson: That their will would be done, and there was nothing I could do about it.

  Then one cool, starry night in March, he came to me. Having just dozed off to sleep, my eyes flew open when I felt his presence. I knew it was him even before I saw him.

  I rolled over and he was lying beside me, bare-chested and beautiful. Without a word, I moved into his open arms, and before they had even closed around me, his mouth came crushing down on mine. His tongue danced with my tongue, his moans matching my moans. We kissed like we missed each other, like we hadn't seen each other in years. Our hands were everywhere. Grabbing, pulling, groping, wanting.

  His hand slipped between my thighs and two fingers pushed inside of me. I moaned into his mouth.

  "I couldn't stay away any longer," he mumbled against my lips. "I just couldn't."

  "I missed you," I whispered, pushing against his hand, wanting him deeper.

  "I am sorry I left you, my love. But I wanted to give you time..."

  "I know."

  "Say you forgive me."

  I didn't hesitate. "I forgive you."

  He kissed me hard. "I need you to come for me, Siobhan. And look at me when you do." His fingers pushed against the perfect spot and I did as ordered. I came hard, staring into his eyes while I jerked on his hair with one hand and gasped my pleasure.

  Gripping my waist, Apollo pulled me on top of him until my knees were planted on each side of his hips. I couldn't resist running my fingers up and down his magnificent chest and stomach. I wondered how many effigies had been modeled after his great beauty. Had to be hundreds, maybe thousands, because I knew nothing in existence could be more exquisite than Apollo.
r />   His hands slipped under my gown and caressed my thighs. "I need you to know something, Siobhan."

  "Yes?" I leaned forward a bit, my hands planted on his chest.

  "I need you to know that despite what it may seem, you are more than a simple negotiation to me. We are more than just fate. Damn that truce. We won't be sealing it. I want you for you and I need you to want me, too."

  When I reached out and stroked his face, he turned his head to kiss my palm. "I do want you," I said. "I want you more than anythin'."

  "Really?"

  "Aye. It's jus' the lyin' and the secrets—"

  "I'm sorry, my love. But this is a dangerous thing, you and I. I could have pursued another mortal woman—any mortal woman—but I pursued you and there will be consequences for that."

  "Consequences?"

  "Yes." But he didn't explain what he meant.

  I sighed. "Is this really how it's always going to be between us? With you only tellin' me wha' you think I need to know?"

  "For now it has to be this way. All is not well in Myth and it will get much, much worse before it gets better. I don't want to lie to you, Siobhan. I hate keeping the truth from you. But if Chloe and I are to stand a chance, then I must do what I can to protect you."

  I frowned into the darkness. I knew he could see my face as well in the dark as he did in the light. "Who is Chloe?"

  He didn't respond for quite a while and I began to worry. Was this another woman of his? But then he said,

  "The Oracle."

  "The Oracle?" I said. "But there is no Oracle. She died almos' twenty years ago."

  "True, but another will be born in four years time. Her name will be Chloe."

  "Really?" I was pretty taken aback. A new Oracle was a big deal for the celestial world. "Wha' will this new Oracle have to do with wha'ever is happenin' in Myth?" I questioned, not understanding how this girl could affect events happening even before her birth.

  The moonlight streaming in through my window seemed to spotlight his face at that very moment. "She will be Pythia."

  I gasped. "Pythia?" That's all I could say. I wanted to ask more questions, but I didn't know where to begin. Was it really true? Pythia was coming? Something monumental really was happening...and in my own lifetime...

  "You must not say anything to anyone," Apollo said, his tone more serious than I'd ever heard it. "Swear to it, Siobhan."

  I took a moment to get my thoughts together. I couldn't believe it. Pythia...the Oracle the gods had been waiting on for almost two thousand years... Apollo was trusting me with this information and I was determined not to betray that. "I swear on the River Styx. I'll never utter a single word until you tell me to."

  I thought about what my father had said, about this all being bigger than me and my feelings for Apollo. Now I knew the truth of it. This had something to do with Pythia.

  Taking my hands and lacing our fingers together, he said, "Are you on my side, Siobhan?"

  I nodded. "Always. I'm here. I'm yours. Jus' be honest with me and tell me wha' you need me to do."

  "I'll always be as honest as I'm allowed to be."

  I frowned. "So you're jus' gonna keep this up then? You tell me Pythia, the Oracle of the Great Unknown, is comin' and still you keep me in the dark?"

  "I won't apologize for keeping quiet about things that put you in danger, Siobhan," he replied.

  I said nothing. He sounded quite adamant and if there was one thing I'd learned in all of this, it was that gods could not be swayed. I sighed, finally accepting what I could not change, but it still made me sad that this was how things would be between us.

  "I won't be sorry for protecting you," Apollo said again, pulling me down until we were face to face. "But I can apologize again for abandoning you. I've been miserable these months without you. They've been the longest of my existence and for a god, a being with infinite time on his hands, you know how serious I must be." He tilted my chin up so I could meet his eyes. "I missed you, Siobhan."

  I melted into a puddle of forgiveness. "I missed you too. Please don't ever leave me again."

  Apollo kissed me, but he never said he wouldn't.

  We spent the entire morning and afternoon in my suite, only opening the door for Emmaline to deliver food for me. Apollo disappeared right before sunrise, but he returned soon after and didn't waste any time trying to seduce me. I had quite a bit of fun fighting him off, and once he finally ceded that I wasn't going to give in, he let me read to him instead. It was a silly historical romance, set in the time of Louis XIV, and I kind of enjoyed reading to Apollo. He laughed at all the funny parts, cringed at all the historical inaccuracies, and rolled his eyes at all the tacky one-liners. The way he reacted...it was almost like he was mortal.

  "Play something for me, Siobhan," he requested between chapters.

  I smiled and marked my place in the book. "Only if you play somethin' for me as well."

  He nodded once, watching me closely. I slid off my bed and went to collect my violin from my practice room, which I accessed through the doors that connected all of my rooms together. After a bit of tuning, I returned to my bedroom. Apollo remained where he was—shirtless and beautiful, stretched across my bed with his arms folded behind his head. I shivered. He was the reason handsome men were sometimes referred to as Greek gods, though I was completely certain that no mortal man could ever look this magnificent.

  Tucking my violin beneath my chin, I started to play and was immediately drawn into my own secret realm. It was like a new experience every time I played my violin. I became lost in the music, swept away by the melody, and forgot the rest of the world existed. Even in practice, I poured my entire soul into the pieces I played because, like love, I felt that true passion could never be put on hold. Music was me, and I was it. I couldn't imagine my life without it.

  With a final chord, I ended my piece.

  Apollo didn't applaud me, but his admiring smile was praise enough. "I'm looking forward to the day when that piece is finished."

  I blushed, realizing I should have known the god of Music would recognize an unfinished composition when he heard one. I wondered if he knew I had written it for him.

  "Your turn," I said, setting my violin on the stand I kept in my bedroom.

  "The only instrument I want to play now is you. Like my lyre, plucking all the right strings to make you sing."

  I could hardly contain my smile. "Is tha' so?"

  "Indeed. Come over here and let's discover the highest note you can reach."

  There was a knock at the door at that precise moment. I wanted to stamp my feet like a child at the interruption.

  "It's me!" my mother's voice rang out.

  I rolled my eyes, knowing my mother had only stopped by to nose around. She had to know Apollo had returned and was with me. Emmaline most certainly would have told her by now.

  Remaining shirtless with his leather trousers sitting low on his taut waistline, Apollo flung open the door and leaned up against it, not shy about putting all of his Greek godliness on display in front of my mother. Drinking him in like the tall glass of divine wine he was, my mother blushed all the way down to her conservative little shoes. She fidgeted, though my mother hardly ever fidgeted, and for a moment, I thought she might faint. It was difficult not to find joy in this.

  "M—my lord," my mother stammered as she curtsied all the way to the ground. I rolled my eyes. "I—I was ecstatic to hear of your r—return and came by to see if you needed anythin'." She inspected me from a distance and looked almost disappointed to find me still clothed. I smiled at her.

  "Well, isn't that nice of you, Eileen," Apollo said, running a hand over his glorious abdominals. Probably on purpose. "But I do believe Siobhan is the only thing I need at this party, though she is being quite selfish with her party favors." He winked at me.

  "You're such a dog," I said, climbing onto my bed.

  "Marie!" my mother scolded.

  "Woof, woof," Apollo replied with a grin.


  "Down, boy." I winked back at him.

  My mother was clearly uncomfortable with our banter. "Well, I guess if you don't need anythin', I'll jus' excuse myself."

  "As always, it's been a pleasure, Eileen," Apollo said.

  "My lord." She curtsied.

  "Bye, Ma!" I waved enthusiastically until Apollo shut the door.

  In the span of a blink, he appeared beside me on the bed and pulled me into his arms. "Tell me," I said, "are all Influential parents tha' obvious and embarrassin'?"

  "I wouldn't know. You're the first Influential I've ever wanted in my bed."

  I gaped at him. "You can't be serious."

  "I swear it on the River Styx." I knew it was true then. Swearing against the River Styx was the oath to trump all other oaths, and it applied to everyone. Demigods, immortals celeste, mortals, and deities. Not even Apollo would swear against Styx and not mean it.

  "Wow... I jus' never expected..."

  "Why not?"

  I shrugged. "Its' jus'... It's you. I figured there wasn't any bed you hadn't been in, figuratively speakin', o' course."

  He groaned. "My cock loves it when you're jealous."

  I studied the mighty bulge just below his waistline. "I'm not jealous."

  "Yes, you are."

  "No, I'm not, Apollo. Shut up."

  He growled and in the next moment, I was pinned under him, my arms trapped above my head.

  "Open your legs, Siobhan."

  I shook my head and clenched my thighs together. "No."

  "Do not play games with me, mortal."

  "No games, my lord. I jus' won't give my virginity up so easily, not even to you."

  He smiled. "Are you offering up a challenge?"

  I shrugged. "Sort of."

  He kissed me. "I like it. Name the stakes."

  Smiling, I said, "Dinner. You have to take me to dinner. More than once. And I want flowers and candy and love notes...and diamonds, if you have a few extra jus' lyin' around."

  Apollo raised a brow. "You wish for me to court you?"

  "Aye."

  "Why?"

  "You want to be my lover, correct?"

  He grunted and released my hands. "Yes."