She cringed at the reminder. Orion. Artemis had taken a fancy to the man but before she could even approach him, Apollo had jealously tricked her into killing him with one of her arrows. Then her brother had placed his image in the stars to always remind her that Apollo was the only male she could feed from.
"I didn't trifle with Orion."
He forced her to face him. "You need to feed."
Yes, but she didn't want to feed from her brother. She wanted Acheron.
Apollo pulled her into the shadows of his temple while the humans were gathered outside of hers to pay tribute. She didn't want to follow him. But if she didn't, he'd know she'd been with someone else and may Zeus help Acheron then. Her brother would tear him apart.
Her heart aching, she tried not to cringe as Apollo jerked her against him and offered her his neck. She took it and in her mind she pretended he was Acheron. Even so, she could taste the difference between them. Apollo's blood lacked the spirit. There was no racing inside her as she tasted him. No fire that wanted her to hold him close.
It was just blood.
When she'd taken enough to placate him, she pulled back and licked her lips.
Apollo attacked her then. His teeth tore through the tendons of her neck, leaving it throbbing. She wanted to slap him for it and many times in the past she had. Damn Hera for this curse. The jealous bitch had tried to kill both of them at birth and because Artemis had helped her mother deliver Apollo, this was her punishment. There was nothing worse than being forced to feed on your own kind. It was a lesson she and Apollo had known the whole of their lives.
Her head light, she tried to think clearly. Apollo was taking too much blood. It was something he always did when he was angry at her.
Grinding her teeth, she kneed him hard in the groin. He jerked back with a curse, tearing at her neck. Her curse joined his as she covered the gaping wound with her hand. "You're such a bastard."
He grabbed her upper arm, blistering it with his grip. "Remember what I told you. I catch you with a mortal man and I will kill him."
Artemis snatched her arm free. "Go play with your humans and leave me alone."
Her joy in the festival completely squelched, she transported herself back to her temple. But it was so lonely here. Her koris were gone for the day.
She looked at her bed and imagined the sight of Acheron there, his smile warming her while he pleased her with kisses and gentle caresses.
Needing him desperately, she flashed to his room. The instant she saw him sitting cross-legged on the floor with his back to her, her heart lightened. Without thought or hesitation, she ran to him and embraced him.
Acheron was startled as Artemis threw herself against his back and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hold. Even so the scent of her filled his head.
"I missed you today," she whispered in his ear, sending chills over his entire body.
"I missed you too."
Her grip tightened before she released him and placed her chin on his shoulder. "What are you doing?"
Acheron snatched the scroll up from the floor and folded it so that she couldn't see what he was about. "Nothing."
"You're doing something . . ." She grabbed the scroll from him before he could stop her and opened it. She frowned at his childish marks. "What's this?"
He felt heat sting his face at having been caught. "I was trying to teach myself to write."
"Why?"
"I don't know how and I wish to learn."
She lowered the scroll to stare in disbelief. "Can't you read?"
Acheron hung his head as shame poured through him. "No."
Artemis lifted his chin in a gentle caress until he met her gaze. The kindness in her eyes warmed him completely. "You can now."
Acheron gasped as a slight pain went through him. She handed him the scroll back.
"Write your name."
Baffled by what had just happened to him, he picked up the quill and knew how to draw the letters. He wrote his name flawlessly. "I don't understand."
"I'm a goddess, Acheron. And I don't want you to hang your head in shame. Does this please you?"
"More than anything."
Her smile dazzled him. "Come with me. I'm in the mood to hunt."
"I don't know how to hunt."
"You will."
True to her words as soon as they were in the woods, she gave him a bow and arrow and just like with the writing, he knew exactly what to do.
How wondrous to be able to do something without all the years of learning it. But in truth, there was something more he wanted than literacy and hunting. "Can you teach me to fight?"
Artemis turned on him with a stunned expression. "What?"
"I want to know how to fight."
She scowled, then asked the one question that she never failed to voice. "Why?"
"I'm tired of being hit. I want to know how to defend myself."
Artemis was stunned by his unexpected request. An image of Apollo knocking her around went through her head so sharply that she flinched. Like most men she'd known, Apollo was such a controlling bastard. The last thing she wanted was to make herself vulnerable to Acheron. Teaching a man to fight could never lead to anything good. "I don't think so. I won't let anyone hurt you, Acheron. I'm all the protection you need."
"What if you grow bored with me?"
She cupped his cheek in her hand. "How could I ever be bored with you?"
Acheron offered her a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I really wish you'd teach me."
His insistence set her hackles rising. "I said no," she snapped.
Acheron paused at the hostility in her tone. He knew that anger and what it stemmed from. "Who hits you?"
Artemis lowered her bow. "I think there's deer over this way."
"Artie . . ." He pulled her to a stop. "I know the sound in your voice. I've had it too often in mine not to recognize what it means. Who has hurt you?"
She hesitated for so long that he didn't expect her to answer, but when she did her tone was so low that he barely heard it. "Other gods."
He was stunned by her confession. "Why?"
"Why does anyone hit?" Her eyes were furious again. "It makes them feel more powerful. I will not have you hit me. Ever."
"And I would never do so," he said, his voice rife with conviction. "I could no more do to another what has been done to me than cut my own heart out. I only wish to protect myself."
"And I told you. I will protect you."
He caressed her arm before he dropped his hand and stepped back. "Then I shall trust you, Artie. But I want you to know that I don't trust easily. Please don't be like everyone else and break your word to me. I hate being lied to."
She kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Let us hunt."