He gripped her neck as his canine teeth elongated. "There's only so long you can feed from a human before you hunger for something a little more substantial." He dipped his head toward her neck.
Artemis stepped away from him. "I'm not interested."
Apollo's eyes flamed red. "You do remember what happened to the last man you trifled with?"
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?"