Sunburn (17 page)

“Oh, we’ve had people fussing over us for eons,” Cindy replied. “It gets boring. It’s nice to do the fussing sometimes. Besides, boss’ orders. We’re to give you the works!”

Tiffany and Polly led her to the massage room and the others followed. They had the spa closed to the general public, and it was almost too sumptuous for Patience. There were bowls of fruit they could munch on, and fizzy beverages to quench their thirsts. Patience just went along with everything, in a daze.

Once in the massage room, Mandy untied Patience’s robe and pulled it from her shoulders. She felt shy, being nude in front of the goddesses, but none of them cared her bits were on display and a damn sight bigger than their bits were. They urged her to lay front down on the table. Immediately, nine pairs of hands were on her body, oiling her up, rubbing and squeezing and making her feel so bloody good and limp.

“Oh.” Patience couldn’t help moaning.

Ellie Muse giggled as she massaged Patience’s scalp. “You’re different than Apollo’s other lovers.”

Patience tried to correct the hitch in her breathing at the word “lover.” Was that what she was? And how many others were there? “I am? How so?”

“You’re nice,” Ellie replied. “You seem to care.”

“Of course I care,” Patience struggled to say under those sets of ministering, probing hands. “Others haven’t?”

“Gods, no,” Uma said as she dug her elbow into Patience’s lower back in a Swedish-style massage. “They cared more about what they could get
from
him. There was that dreadful Cassandra. The myths from the Trojan War are sympathetic, but really she just teased and teased Apollo until he gave her the gift of sight. Served her right nobody believed her prophecies. Oh, and there was Chione, who strung both Apollo and Hermes along to see which of the gods would favor her more. She eventually ran off with Hermes, stupid girl. Why any woman would choose the god of thieves over the god of the sun is beyond me.”

“Hear, hear,” Polly cheered, from somewhere down by Patience’s feet.

“What about Daphne?” Patience asked. “One always reads about Daphne.”

The Muses breathed in as one. Tiffany responded for the group in a hushed voice. “We don’t talk about Daphne.”

“Please. Tell me.”

Tiffany sighed. “Daphne was a nymph who’d pledged herself to Artemis. She’d taken a vow of celibacy and was going to spend her life following the maiden goddess.”

Ebony piped up. “Daphne was a little slut.”

“Erato!” scolded Tiffany. “Sorry, I mean Ebony. Darn it, I keep forgetting our new names,” she griped, throwing her perfect hands into the air. “Anyway, let’s just say Daphne had a bit of trouble keeping her vows to Artemis.”

“You mean she fooled around with Apollo?” prompted Patience.

“No,” Tiffany continued. “She got knocked up by a hairy olive merchant. The history books don’t tell you that, do they? Anyway, she lost the child. She then went on to seduce a long string of men: rich men, warriors, statesmen. The sad thing is Apollo was still smitten with her, oblivious. She was his first love, you see. Daphne led him on, and at some point she agreed to marry him. To become his goddess wife, even though she didn’t love him.”

“How could she not love him?” Patience asked.

“She was already on to the next man,” the Muse continued. “Daphne was one of those women who was never satisfied with what she had. Today, she’d be called a sex addict.” She continued massaging Patience’s back muscles. “I think she was afraid of offending a god, so she never told Apollo the truth.”

“Apollo was so good to her,” Tina chimed in from the other side of the massage table. “But she was already looking for the next best thing.”

“At any rate,” Tiffany said, picking up the story again, “when Apollo came upon her that fateful day, I guess Daphne was worried he’d figured out her game. Once again, he offered his hand in marriage and showed himself to her in his full glory. She grew afraid and ran. The rest you know.”

Patience lay there getting pummeled, stunned. Surely Apollo couldn’t still be hurting from age-old wounds. Then again, he did watch Daphne turn into a plant in order to escape. “Why?” she murmured, “why did Daphne and the others run from him?”

“Have you seen him in his glory yet?” Mandy asked.

“I’ve seen his eyes turn sort of gold.”

“Yeah,” Mandy said. “You haven’t seen his full glory yet. He is the god of the sun. It’ll take a strong woman to accept that much radiance.”

What on earth did that mean? How could he possibly get any more brilliant? He already made suns dance in front of her face!

“He likes you, Patience,” Uma said. “We can tell. Hopefully, he’ll be able to persuade Hades not to kill you. That wouldn’t be conducive to the start of a good relationship.”

“But,” Tiffany said, jumping in. “The question is, how much do you like him, Patience?”

Patience lay there very still, her face down on the massage pillow. Several of the hands slipped from her body, and she assumed the Muses were listening for her response. Hell,
she
was listening for her own response.

“I like Apollo a lot,” she began quietly. More hands lifted off her body as the Muses hung on her every word. “More than I’ve liked anyone before. He makes me feel safe, which is saying a lot considering the situation I’m in. I want to see things through his eyes. I want to experience everything with him. It might sound stupid, but when he smiles at me, it feeds my soul. It’s as if I could live off the power of those smiles.”

Another few hands slipped away from her frame until only two hands remained, massaging up and down the length of her. Sliding over her oiled and scented skin. It occurred to Patience the touches were growing more intimate, as the two hands slipped between her thighs, grazed the sides of her breasts, and squeezed her buttocks. However, too lost in her thoughts about Apollo, she didn’t give the massage much thought.

“His kisses do things to me I don’t even understand,” Patience continued. “I’ve known him for such a short time, but it’s as if I’ve known Apollo forever too. He makes me want like I’ve never wanted before. It’s scary, but it’s the best feeling in the world. I don’t think I’ve ever needed anything or anyone so much.”

The two hands pulled her gently to a sitting position. She turned. The Muses had disappeared. And Apollo had joined her. He was nude. His hands were slicked with the oils from her body, and he was gazing at her with utter happiness.

“I need you too, Patience,” he uttered. “I need you now.”

Swept away by a desire more powerful than any she’d ever encountered, Patience nodded. “Have me.”

The god lifted her from the massage table and carried her to a hot tub that was gurgling in the corner of the room. Still holding her, Apollo climbed the two steps and descended into the steamy bath. Patience sucked in a breath as the hot water tickled her toes. Rather than set her down in the Jacuzzi, he gathered a soft towel with one hand and laid it on the tiles. And then he set Patience on the towel so she was sitting outside the tub facing him.

“Don’t you want me in the hot tub with you?” she asked.

He shook his head as he ran his hands up her calves, desire burning in his eyes. “Not yet.”

Apollo put his wet hands on her knees and moved her legs apart, exposing her pussy. He placed his hands on her ass, drew her to him, and licked her center. Patience buried her fingers in his blond waves, helpless as he nibbled at her lips and drove his tongue into her seam. Every so often, he’d look at her, catch her eye, and let his tongue dart between her folds so she could see. It was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen. To see her need echoed in his eyes was enough to drive her around the bend. And he felt so good, she wanted to clasp her legs around his head and keep him there forever.

Apollo pushed her legs together and moved her knees up higher so he had greater access to her pussy. He buried his face in her core, clamped onto her clit, and sucked hard. Patience writhed under her blond god, legless, completely numb as the first spasms of her orgasm rocked her body. She released his curls and her arms flailed by her sides.

And as the monumental wave threw her body, she wanted to shout in adoration.
Apollo is my god!

It was many minutes before she calmed. Apollo held her there, which was good because she no longer had control over her own movements. As the final, soft convulsion eased through her, he moved his face from her sex and kissed the backs of her thighs. He then moved up her leg and kissed the back of her knees. Only then did he release his grip on her legs and allow them to gently fall back to the towel. He pulled her into a sitting position and gathered her in his arms.

It only took a second for their lips to find each other. His tongue dove into her mouth, branding her, claiming her, tasting of her essence. Making her head turn with emotion she’d stifled for so long. At the same time, this feeling was different. Apollo was her new addiction. Sweeter than chocolate and more warming than a roaring fire.

As his lips traveled down her neck, Patience remembered what the Muses had said. “Apollo?”

“Hmm,” he murmured against her skin.

“I want to see you, in your full glory.”

His kisses stopped. He paused, and then he looked at her. An angry flame of gold danced in his eyes for a moment, but he blinked and extinguished it. He removed his hands from her body, making her want to cry. His response, a resounding, “No.”

He took a step away.

“Please. I need to know you. Completely.”

He shook his head, not meeting her eyes. “I said no.”

She slid into the water with him and reached for his hand. “Apollo, I’ve already shown you I won’t run. I’m sorry for what Daphne and the others did to you. But I’m not them, and I want to know every last part of you. Every inch, every spark, every beat of your heart. Please.”

It took several minutes before Apollo would look at her. Finally, he raised his head and met her eyes. And when she saw her own hope reflected in his eyes, she dared to dream.

“Stand back, Patience,” he whispered. “I don’t want you to be blinded.”

Chapter 14

Patience did as he asked and moved to the opposite side of the hot tub. And then she looked at Apollo and waited for … something, but what it was, she didn’t know. Part of her expected him to sprout another head. Another part of her wondered if he’d combust, or if she would. Mostly she just felt so badly because he’d never felt free enough to show himself to anyone he loved. He was a god. He could make wounds heal and stars shine, but he’d never been shown true, unconditional love.

Would she be able to show it, the woman who’d been lied to and neglected and used for much of her life? Did she have anything left to give? When Foster had left her bleeding on the floor that day two years ago, she’d made a pledge to never give herself fully to anyone else again … just like Apollo. Yet here she was, demanding it of him, and willing to show herself in return.

She could do this. She wanted to be there.

It couldn’t be
that
bad, could it?

The water around the god bubbled as if in a boiling pot. Patience’s gaze was riveted, but she wondered if she should get out of the tub. It looked like a witch’s cauldron in there.

“It won’t burn you,” he assured her. “Stay.”

“Okay.”

His eyes took on the now-familiar golden hue. Blue diamonds, scintillating, transforming, taking on a lambent heat. Only the fire in his eyes was spreading now. His skin was changing, brightening, turning from tan to a tone that was almost phosphorescent. And Patience wasn’t sure if her eyes were tricking her, but he appeared bigger too. He seemed to suddenly take up more space in the hot tub, even though he wasn’t towering over her any more than usual. Everything about him simply looked enhanced and more vibrant, but also more intimidating and powerful.

All at once, the little suns that usually danced before her eyes took on a new intensity, a new heat. They morphed into slashes of fire, darting through her brain with lightning speed, making her reel. It seemed in that moment her whole world was one frightening ball of light.

She gaped at Apollo, at his true self, and wanted to scream. Visions popped into her head, sights he was clearly letting her see for the first time. Bits of his past cut into her consciousness. Horrible battles. Bloodshed. A woman turning into a gnarled tree, crying out for mercy.

The temptation to shield her eyes was so great. For a fleeting moment, Patience wanted to run. Run from him.

But then, somewhere in the inferno that was Apollo, she glimpsed his kind blue eyes again. They twinkled, and a lone tear escaped from one of them. His glory was indeed terrifying, but also so breathtakingly beautiful.

Patience gathered whatever courage she possessed, the same courage that had allowed her to live even after Foster had made her want to die. She walked toward Apollo and reached for his glowing hands.

“I’m not running.”

His lips fell apart on a sigh. He pulled her in for a tight embrace, and her nude body absorbed the heat from his. “Patience.”

Somehow, in the stunning show of light, Patience never lost her need for him. As he held her, caressed her, the moisture seeped between her legs, coating her pussy in sweet desire. Apollo reached a hot hand between her thighs, as if feeling for any fear, and smiled when he touched her wetness.

Slowly, he glided a finger into her core while palming her clit.

“Please,” she cried on a shattered breath.

Apollo picked her up and set her on one of the steps inside the tub. He leaned over her, and plunged his shaft inside her, taking her in a savage fashion. Grunting. Never relenting. Thrusting like an animal. Over and over until Patience couldn’t see.

Somewhere in the middle of the gigantic swell that claimed her, Patience felt as if she’d left her body. She felt only lightness and air and bright sunshine.

Total happiness.

After what seemed the longest time, her vision came back. And as Apollo withdrew, she saw his beautiful face again. He wasn’t glowing anymore. He was himself, his wonderful, smiling self. He cradled her in his arms as they sat in the hot tub, and she rested her head on his chest.