Acheron cherished those words. Ryssa was the only person who'd ever loved him. At times he hated that love because it made her do things to hurt him, but unlike with others he knew her actions were motivated out of kindness.
She scooted from his bed and ran across the room, to the hallway.
He heard their father's angry curse through the walls. "What were you doing in there?"
Acheron winced. At least Ryssa didn't have to fear being beaten. To his knowledge their father had never once struck her.
"You are the mistress of a god now. You're not to keep company with the likes of him ever again. Do you understand? What would Apollo think? He'd throw you out and spit on you."
He couldn't hear Ryssa's soft reply.
But his father's words tore through him. So he wasn't worthy of being in Ryssa's presence, but he could keep company with Artemis. He wondered how his father would deal with that knowledge. If it would make his father look at him with something other than derision in his eyes.
Most likely not.
His doors swung open so forcefully they echoed. The king strode into the room with fury punctuating every step. Acheron looked away and forced all emotion from his face . . .
Fuck it. If his father wanted to hate him, let him. He was tired of hiding and cringing. Beatings and insults he could take.
His nostrils flaring, Acheron met his father's angry glare without flinching. "Good morning, Father."
He backhanded him so hard, Acheron tasted blood as pain erupted through his skull. Gasping, he shook his head to clear it, then he met the king's furious glower.
"I am not your father."
Acheron wiped the blood away with the back of his hand. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"Father, please," Ryssa begged, running across the room. She took his arm before he could advance on Acheron again. "I went to him on my arrival. Acheron did nothing wrong. It's my fault, not his."
The king leveled one bony finger in a condemning gesture at Acheron. "You are to stay away from my daughter. Do you hear me? If I catch you near her again, I'll make you wish you'd never been born."
Acheron laughed bitterly. "That would be different from a normal day, how?"
Ryssa put herself in front of their father as he started for Acheron. "Stop it, Father. Please. You had questions about Apollo. Should we not focus on that?"
He cast a superior, condemning sneer at Acheron. "You're not worth my time."
With that, he hauled Ryssa out of the room. "Seal his door shut. He can go without food this day."
Acheron leaned back against the wall and shook his head. If his father wanted to control him with food, he should have spent more time with Estes. That bastard had known how to hold food over him.
His gut tightened at the memory of his begging Estes for even a drop of water to slake his thirst.
"You've earned nothing and nothing is what you'll have . . . Now get on your knees and please me, then we'll see if you're worthy of salt."
Squeezing his eyes shut, he forced the images away. He hated begging and crawling. But the only thing that would make it go away was the memory of the goddess who'd claimed him.
"Artemis?" he whispered her name in fear that someone might actually hear him call her. Honestly he expected her to ignore him as everyone else did.
She didn't.
She appeared before him. Acheron's jaw opened ever so slightly in shock. Her long red hair appeared to glisten in the dim light. Her eyes were vibrant and warm and welcoming. There was nothing about her demeanor that condemned or mocked him. "How do you feel?" she asked.
"Better with you here."
A small smile toyed at the edges of her lips. "Really?"
He nodded.
Her smile widened as she approached his bed and crawled across him.
Acheron closed his eyes as the sweet smell of her skin filled his head. He wanted to bury his face in her hair and just inhale it. Straddling his hips, she brushed the hair back from his neck before she fingered the skin she'd bitten.
"You're very strong for a human."
"They trained me for stamina."
Ignoring his comment, she frowned. "You're still not looking at me."
"I see you, Artemis." And he did. He saw every single line of her face, every curve of her luscious body.
She took his face in her hands and turned his chin until he was facing her squarely. Still Acheron kept his gaze on her knees that poked out from underneath her dress. "Look at me."
Acheron wanted to run. He'd spent his entire life never looking directly at anyone except for those times when he wanted them to see his defiance. And any time he dared that, he'd been brutalized for it.
"Acheron . . . Look. At. Me."
Bracing himself for her attack, he obeyed. His heart stilled as every part of his body tensed in expectation of being hurt.
Artemis sat back on his groin with a pleased expression. "There now. That wasn't so hard was it?"
Harder than she could ever imagine, but as each second passed and she didn't slap him for looking at her, he relaxed a bit more.
She smiled. "I like your eyes. They're strange, but very pretty."
Pretty? His eyes? They were disgusting. Everyone, including Ryssa, was afraid of them. "You don't mind my looking at you?"
"Not at all. At least this way I know you're paying attention to me. I don't like the way your eyes dance around the room as if you're distracted."
That was a first for him. "How could anything ever distract me while you're with me? I assure you, whenever you're around, all I see is you."
She beamed in satisfaction. "Now why did you call me?"
"I'm not sure. Truthfully, I didn't think you'd come. I only whispered your name, hoping you might answer."
"You're such a silly human. Are you stuck inside again today?"
He nodded.
"We can't have that. Come." The word had barely left her lips before they were once more in her bedroom.
Acheron was again dressed in red, which was odd given that everything else was white or gold. "Why do you always put me in crimson?"
She bit her lip as she walked around him, dragging her finger over his body. "I like the way you look in it." She paused before him so that she could lift herself on her toes and kiss him.
Acheron gave her what she wanted. It was always in his training to please whoever he was with. To take nothing for himself. His needs never mattered. He was only a tool to be used and then forgotten.
But with Artemis he didn't feel like that. As with Ryssa, she made him feel like he was a person-that he could have his own thoughts and it wasn't wrong. He could look at her and she didn't curse him.
Artemis sighed as Acheron pulled her close. She loved the way he held her. The way his muscles rippled around her body. He was so handsome and strong. So seductive. All she wanted was to be alone with him like this. To feel his heart beating against her breasts.
His breath mixed with hers. She could feel her teeth growing as her hunger for him increased even more . . .
She pulled back and met his gaze so that he could see the real her. He didn't even blink at her fangs. Instead, he tilted his head and offered her what she wanted most. No one had ever been so accommodating before. Normally she fed from her brother or one of her maidens. But they didn't care for it.
Her heart racing, she brushed her hands over his neck before she sank her teeth deep.
Acheron hissed as pain spread through his body. But it was quickly replaced by a pleasure so profound that it made his cock harden. Weakened by it, he staggered back. Artemis followed, gripping him even tighter.
His head swam as everything around him became sharp and clear. He felt her breath on his skin, heard her blood pumping through her veins. Every part of him seemed alive. So strong and yet so weak. He staggered again, falling against the wall behind him.
"Acheron?"
He heard her voice, but he couldn't respond to it.
Artemis licked the blood from her lips as she saw the bluish tint to his skin. His breathing was so shallow that she half expected him to die. "Acheron?"
His eyes were half open. There was no recognition in his gaze that he saw or heard her.
Afraid she might have hurt him, she transported him to her bed and laid him down gently. She took his hand into hers and rubbed it. "Acheron, please say something."
He whispered something in Atlantean, but she couldn't understand it. With one last expulsion of breath, he passed out. Artemis jerked back as his entire body flashed to a vibrant blue while his lips, nails and hair turned black. An instant later, he appeared normal.
What on Olympus? Never had she seen such. Had her feeding caused it?
Swallowing, she crawled closer to him and poked him with one finger. He was completely unconscious.
Manifesting a warm fur, she covered him and watched as he drew shallow breaths. While he slept, she traced the shape of his lips, the length of his nose. His features were sharp and flawless. Like his body. She didn't understand why he compelled her so. Afraid of being dominated, she'd asked her father when she was a child to make her immune to love and to give her eternal virginity. Zeus had granted that request. Yet as she looked at Acheron resting, she wondered at the emotions she felt for him. They were unlike anything she'd ever felt before.
She liked the way he talked to her. The way he held her and made her scream in pleasure with his touches and licks. Most of all, she loved the way he tasted when she fed from him.
He's just a pet.
Yes, that was it. She didn't have any real feelings for him. He was merely like the deer that lived in her forest. Beautiful to watch and to touch. They licked and brushed up against her, too. And like them she was sure he'd come to bore her in time. Everything did.
But for now she intended to enjoy her pet for as long as possible.
Acheron woke up starving. The hunger pain was so fierce that at first he thought he was again in the dark hole underneath his father's palace. But as he opened his eyes and saw the gold ceiling above him, he remembered being with Artemis.
He sat up slowly to find himself alone in her bed. There were voices outside. He started to get up and head toward them, then thought better of it. Artemis had left him here for a reason. No good could come of his opening those doors.
So he sat in bed, his stomach aching while he listened to words that had no real form. They were muffled through the gold and stone. He had no idea what time it was or how long he'd slept.
It seemed like forever before Artemis appeared. She drew up short and smiled. "You're awake."
He nodded. "I didn't want to disturb you. You sounded busy."
She closed the distance between them to cup his cheek. "Are you hungry?"
"Starving."