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“My apologies!” I sputtered, though there were worse things than calling the god I had always favored beautiful. I bowed my head and finally managed a more sensible, “I am Dax, lord Apollo.”
Gentle fingers alighted beneath my chin and lifted it. I could have had his warm skin on mine for the rest of eternity, but he drew his hand back as he said, “One needn’t look away from the sun unless it shines too brightly.”
He did, but to be allowed to look on him was a gift.
“Tell me, which of your patron goddess’ tenets do you hold most dear, young Dax?”
If any other god had asked me that, I might have feared a trap, but I sensed he wanted an earnest answer. “Between beauty, desire, and love, there is one I hold dearest and have hoped to obtain most since boyhood: to find someone whose heart would be mine and who would take mine in return. Love.”
Apollo’s smile made the suns in his eyes shine even brighter. “Then if I might, I would ask not to have a courtesan but to court. Would you walk with me, Dax?”
I looked back to seek Aikos, to curse or praise him, I wasn’t sure. Here I was, being courted by the divine like I had once only longed for in daydreams, and Aikos, my friend and newly anointed god of courtesans, and in his own words, “multiple orgasms,” was nowhere to be seen.
I was terrified, but I had no intention of denying Apollo his request.
“Y-yes, my lord Apollo. I would like that very much.”
Chapter One
APOLLO
I found Dax in the mortal courtyard, as it was sometimes called, since surrounding it were many quarters for favored mortals chosen by the gods. It was as beautiful as any other courtyard on Olympus, with marble pillars surrounding it, lush greenery, intricately carved statues, and benches with plush pillows where our guests might lounge and enjoy the perfect weather. It only ever rained on Olympus if a god was in mourning.
I had caused a downpour or two myself.
I did not make my presence known right away. I hovered, hiding behind one of the pillars, to watch Dax in the company of others. He was beautiful of course, as any who ascended from acolyte to courtesan would be, tall and strong and bronzed tanner than even I. A lover of my domain and more beautiful for it but never burned. Auburn hair spilled about his shoulders, and dark, deep brown eyes kept the attention of all mortals—and gods—who looked upon them.
Just as those eyes had kept my attention last night.
We’d walked through the salon first, enjoying food and wine, but eventually tread to the edges of it and beyond, where we could be alone. Clever Aikos had dressed Dax in a one-shoulder chiton dyed similarly to my own robes. We were a match in more ways than one, but as full of hope as I felt in Dax’s presence, something I had not known in ages until I glimpsed a possible future with him through Aikos’s eyes, I still had doubts.
My frigid heart could scarcely remember what it was like to be set aflame without eventually having its embers smothered. I wanted my doubts to be proven wrong, and so I started with learning about the bronze beauty beside me.
“Tell me, Dax, about your life before Aphrodite’s temple, about what brought you there, and about your time there too, so I might begin to know you.”
He was slow to find his tongue, something I assumed he usually had no trouble with, as courtesans were well-versed in how to use them. I found his stumbles charming, however, because it proved his heart was genuine.
And I did not like liars.
Dax recounted his childhood and all I had asked of him, including meeting Aikos and their fierce friendship. But when he reached his ascension and his time with the high priest who’d chosen him, he admitted disappointment that the love he’d longed for hadn’t been found.
“Because love is what you seek most in life?” I’d asked, reaffirming his admittance.
We had paused on a balcony overlooking the world below. The sun, my sun, had finished its trek across the sky some time ago, and the stars above were a canopy of diamonds. Tears of the gods, some mortals called both stars and their gemstone cousins.
But there was no need for godly tears tonight.
“Y-yes?” The word wasn’t really a question but trembled from Dax’s lips. Then he laughed with a lovely timbre. “Forgive my nervousness, lord Apollo. I never imagined I would explain all that directly to a god and not simply in mortal prayer. Do you… hear our prayers?” His dark eyes sprung wide.
“Aikos wondered the same,” I said, lowering my voice to a whisper, “and was just as concerned when Zeus confirmed that, yes, we do.”
The darkening of Dax’s cheeks told me which of his prayers he must have been thinking about, for many mortals, when they did not truly believe the gods were listening, could get quite creative in their requests of us.
Like when Dax had prayed for a lover with the heat of the sun god in his touch—while fondling himself beneath the gaze of my statue.
“B-being in my lord Apollo’s presence has set my face aflame.” Dax pressed a palm to one of his rosy cheeks. “I hope there is no offense in anything you have ever heard from me. Before or now. This is all a bit overwhelming, talking to the god I most admire. Aside from my patron!” he corrected, as if fearing Aphrodite might appear that moment to throw him from Olympus for choosing another.
She might have, but not when Dax’s love and loins clearly led him toward men.
