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"The garments are certainly odd,within them," the yellow-haired nymph said in her seductive, athered around Apollo after he had ereee, ornately fraht he had been so distracted when he left Pa fro his rendezvous with Pa hts of her cao? Hishad been ruined by the rain He wondered as he had inspected the rumpled shirt howAt least that explained the proliferation of shops hawking all types of gar to be properly dressed in the Kingdood He didn&039;t desire to waste his ti, so he had done what many of the immortals did; he&039;d sent nyod brushed a small piece of lint from the butter-colored shirt, which was made in same style as the one he had ruined It had alh it The slacks were fashioned of well-made linen, a shade darker than the shirt It was alise to call upon the aid of nymphs when beauty and colors were involved The subtle shades they had chosen were like the first soft rays of the sunsky

"You made an excellent choice" Apollo sled and fluttered at his praise

The boldest of the group, a lovely auburn-haired dryad ho several centuries before, approached hith hair back, so that the sheerness of her aloas openly displayed to him Her nipples had been darkened, and as his eyes were naturally drawn to thely in an autoht?" she purred, running knowing hands over her body "We can entertain you much better than any mortal woman"

"Yes," said another nyarments for the entertainhed seductively and began a little iod They suiled him with their blatantly sexual beauty

He watched them, a been popular with the little semi-deities They were like beautiful, erotic flowers, easily plucked, their sweetness easily enjoyed But this time he was not tempted to taste their charms If they were flowers, Pamela was the Earth - sensuous and lush What he desired foremost was to bury himself within her richness

"Perhaps another tione!" A sharp voice that was the feminine version of his own shot froht will be otherwise occupied tonight"

The nylances at Artemis

"There was no need to offend theh his hair

"Let&039;s just say I as on s of nyht now I feel shackled to a mortal woman with chains that Prohed "It can not be as bad as all that"

His sister&039;s face reht of her need and desire Both are great"

Her words stilled Apollo&039;s laughter "Has so happened to her? Is she well?"

"The silly mortal is perfectly fine She&039;s just filled with lust and need and desire and anticipation It&039;s overwhel"

"Pa sense of relief rushed through hi except a fierce desire for hirin on your face is because you will be taking theme of the burden of her invocation"

"That is rinning By all that was sacred, he was happy!

"I aruntled look

Apollo linked his arm with hers as they walked toward the Great Hall of Olympus and the portal to the doas with you?"

"I certainly never intended for all of this to happen" But she had to return her brother&039;s sh I did sense that you needed a diversion"

Apollo was silent until they faced the portal Then he looked at her with eyes that held an expression that Artemis couldn&039;t quite identify

"I believe you have provided me withthe unease his continued odd behavior made her feel, she said, "Just be certain that I&039;m unshackled Soon"

"Not to worry, Sister," he said, voice and body fading as he stepped through the portal

Arteazed after hihed in disgust She was going to have to check up on him His head was definitely in the clouds He needed a push to make sure what lared at the portal Sometimes she simply did not understand her brother

Pamela hadn&039;t seen hie colu at the saht before She sipped fronificent Her dress was red, a rich, brilliant shade that con was sied her body like a second skin, and it left a long, seductive length of leg exposed

He sain Not the saht, of course The ones she&039;d chosen to perch precariously on tonight were golden sandalsin thes and her shapely buttocks He felt his loins begin to becoht and heavy as he watched her He wanted to take her right then - to sweep her away from the crowd and up to her roood He even took half a step towards her before he stopped himself short

No He didn&039;t want just to ravish her He wanted more, and in order for him to have more, she had to know him, the real him Whether she had been intoxicated by the invocation ritual or not, if all that was between theo the way of all of his other lovers They would part when their bodies were sated

Apollo thought about Hades and Lina and the happiness they had found together He wanted his own happiness, and he would never find it if lust was his only focus He stepped out of the concealing shadows, , purposeful strides

He knew the instant she saw him Her eyes widened, and her luscious mouth curved up in a sweet smile of welcome Apollo&039;s heart thudded What was it she ? Nerves? This petite ht nervous

As he got closer to her, Pah her She was seriously glad she&039;d bought the new Chanel dress, and at that moment she didn&039;t even care that it hadn&039;t been on sale At least she was sure she looked good Now all she had to worry about was opening herlike a moron

His eyes were more beautiful than she&039;d remembered; they were Paul Newman blue times five And he was tall So Da, sweet Pamela," Apollo took her hand and raised it to his lips He ainst her skin for just a h to make her feel uncomfortable, and was pleased by the response that flushed her cheeks He was inexperienced with falling in love - but the God of Light was definitely not inexperienced withlove "You look as if someone should paint a picture of you, or write a poem in honor of your unique co to regain her equilibriu called uniquely comely is a co her hand

"Then thank you for sure"

"You are most welcome" Reluctantly he released her hand and sat beside her "You were never far froaze slid fros she had crossed and cocked to the side so that their sleek length was clearly visible "Your ankle ain tonight"

She sled her foot "It feels perfect And these are not blades These are this season&039;s new Pradas, which cost me a fortune, but I fell in love them, so I had no other choice but to take them home with me"

"Fortunate shoes," he said in a voice turned husky Apollo reached down and caught her ankle in one hand, running a thumb across her skin while he felt for the bones and tendons he had healed just the night before, double-checking that all ith her But he was finding it difficult to focus on healing Her ankle and foot looked incredibly sexy in the little slip of a shoe - and her toes had been painted a bright red toindescribably sexy about those almost naked feet and those scarlet-colored toes

Pahs to coil in the pit of her sto drink of expensive scotch She was very sorry when he released her foot

Apollo lass of wine before returning his attention to Paht of you Tell as while tiain"

Good, she thought, conversation was good They needed to converse, because she needed ti hormones under control Please, please, please don&039;t let her babble like a boob

"First, I did so I rarely do I slept late"

He raised one quizzical, golden eyebrow

"I&039;et up in time to drink a leisurely cup of coffee while I watch a beautiful Colorado sunrise"

"You like sunrises?"

She s into the familiar subject of the conversation "I adore thes"

Her answer resonated within his soul Suddenly he longed to bare himself to her, to tell her who he was and to share his world and his life with her She loved sunrise Didn&039;t it stand to reason that she would love the God of Light? He actually opened his ht up with his impulse He didn&039;t want her to autood He wanted her to fall in love with Phoebus, the man inside the God Still, he couldn&039;t mask the intense desire that filled his voice when he spoke "Sunrise is also very important to me Perhaps so the sky together"

Pamela blushed and didn&039;t knohat to say She couldn&039;t even stutter Hell, this was definitelyin general He made her feel like she couldn&039;t catch her breath She wanted she wanted Bloody buggering hell! She wanted so s when he looked at her like that But she&039;d wanted so s when she&039;d first met Duane, too He had seemed to hold the key to the rest of her life within his fir he&039;d held within his hands had been emotional ropes hich he wanted to bind her to him - to choke the spirit fro she wasn&039;t, his ideal of a perfect wife She could still feel the rope burns fro relationship

So, slow and easy she needed to slon and take it easy with Phoebus He sees were rarely as they seeled in the ropes of another relationship was certainly another

Within Pale and then her subsequent withdrawal froined But he had no intention of giving up so easily His smile arm and open

"Good," he said as if he hadn&039;t just issued an invitation that she had ignored "It pleases me that we have the appreciation of sunrise in co of the sun thisWhat else did your day hold?"

Pamela met his eyes They were so warm and so incredibly blue They made her think of the summer sky over the Mediterranean Sea

Hell! She was doing it again - falling into his good looks like an f-ing teenager

"Pamela?"

"Oh, sorry" She took a sip of her wine "MySometimes I lack focus Not with le- ht I&039;d been there maybe twenty minutes or so, but when I finally checked my watch and took a breath, two hours had passed" Paain, didn&039;t I?"

"It?"

"Lost focus, shifted subjects" Babbled, she thought

"Definitely"

"Sorry again, Phoebus"

Apollo shts and the way expressions danced across her face, especially when she spoke about her work She wasn&039;t a vixen trying to entrap the God of Light, nor was she a maiden, dazzled by his immortal powers Pamela was real Her responses to him were honest and true - and that was ined

"I don&039;tabout"

"Well, that&039;s" - she paused, watched hi fun of her - "unusual of you Most "

"Really?" He shook his head "I think I have already said that quite often reed with you on that point"

They slass to him

"To a man who is not a fool"

"That is a toast I alass to hers "Now tell me about this sketch you created Are you an artist, too? Or is it like understanding architecture - youability of it to properly do your job?"

His question pleased her - it showed that he&039;d actually listened to what she&039;d said yesterday - as did the attentive way he waited for her to answer

"I love to sketch, and I&039;m even passable atercolors, but I&039;h to be considered an artist But you&039;re right It is like the i the rudiments of architecture in h artistically that I can create mock-ups for carpenters or upholsters, or even sculptors so that they can get a tangible grasp of what my clients want"