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.