Quick Important Note: Slight Spoiler Warning (no spoiler in this paragraph)! Slight, possible spoiler alert for those of you who did not yet read The Darkest Seduction. It's not exactly a major spoiler to Paris' story, but it still is a slight spoiler in general. If you are the type of person who does not like to hear any details of an unread story, then please stop reading right now, and come back another time ;)

Chapter 1: It Was All Just a Dream

Torin was pissed. It was all a dream. It was literally all just a dream! He should have expected for Cronus to twist his side of the bargain, but at the mention of a woman's touch, Torin's brain slightly lost reason. Key word slightly. He had enough sense to ask about the usual things that can go wrong with such a vague bargain. Not a child, not an old lady, not dead. All things were a go. All bases were covered, weren't they? Guess not.

Reality. Who the hell would have thought to ask for the experience to be real? Not to feel real, but to be real. He might as well have been in his bed waking up from a very vivid wet dream. Torin let out a heavy sigh as he closed his eyes. Even since his "birth", he only concentrated on his duties and never got a chance to bed a woman. Torin rolled his eyes at the thought.

Never got a chance, my ass. Oh, he's had plenty of chances. His pale-white hair had an unnatural silver tint and was a stark contrast to his black eyebrows. His sensual face was a feast to female eyes, and his emerald eyes held a playful gleam which added a hint of boyish appeal to his face. Oh yes, he's had plenty of chances with women, but he never took them. His first priority was his duty to Zeus, and so he always put off women for another time.

Torin remembered the last time he touched a real woman. A woman who he lusted from afar ages ago. It was a simple caress that was forever burned into his memory and hand. A blessing turned into a disaster. His would-be lover died and the Black Plague spread. The caress that bought a momentary joy shattered his hope of ever being with a woman and it brought him back to his harsh reality. Ugh, that word again. Reality.

Torin felt cheated. His blissful experience with the dream woman was a lie. He only dreamt and daydreamed of such things, and had been limited to dreams since the opening of Pandora's box. Torin, the Keeper of Disease, could not have any skin contact with a living being without the chance of a plague spreading. He tried to isolate himself from the group as much as possible so that there would be no chance of accidentally touching his brothers. They would not get sick but they would be highly contagious to mortals. Torin let out another sigh.

Cronus was such a bastard. Cronus got what he wanted out of the bargain. He needed someone to hold onto the mysterious All-Key that could supposedly unlock anything. Now why the hell would Cronus give that up? Torin's brain was ticking and before he could ask all that he wanted, Cronus threatened to take back his offer. He knew something was up when Cronus threatened to withdraw his deal if Torin kept asking more questions. But he couldn't let such an opportunity go. Torin was just so desperate for a woman.

The most recent woman he "had" (again, excluding Cronus's damn dream woman) was Cameo. Cameo was a fling, mostly. If they can call it that. Cameo, the keeper of Misery, held the all the world's sorrow in her voice. It made you want to stab yourself, jump off a bridge, or just probably stab your ears to get away from such grief. A friendship quickly bloomed when they understood each other's loneliness. Cameo could clear out a room by speaking, and Torin purposely steered clear of a room with living beings. Somehow their relationship changed from friends who enjoyed each other's company to friends who enjoyed each other. It was a strange type of friends with benefits, but it worked for them. They knew it wouldn't last and understood that they would use each other to blow off some steam. A lot of steam.

Torin took a quick glance at the computer screens before heading to bed. He was looking forward to—no, dreading sleep. Wonderful—no, terrible dreams were waiting for him in his bed. Torin flopped onto the bed and laughed bitterly. Since when had he dreaded sleep? Ever since that life-like dream, that's when. He was disappointed to find out his second encounter did not feel as real.

He started to dream more often and when he did, his dreams were filled with her. She was completely different from the fair-haired, clear blue-eyed woman who caught his eye over four hundred years ago. The dream woman held only one similarity to Cameo: dark hair. Cameo's silver eyes were piercing, and sometimes he swore she could see his misery; the kind of misery that solitude brings. Cameo was a kindred spirit of sorts. Both were miserable in their own way. The dream woman's eyes were a far cry from blue or silver. They were a warm honey brown, and Torin hated to sound like a cliché, but he could drown in them. Drown in those liquid brown eyes and forget the solitude.

Each time he woke up, he felt aggravated and lonelier than he had ever been. He used to look forward to his dreams. He used to dream of Cameo asking for more than what they had, and how he would finally be able to touch her, taste her. Regardless of how much he wanted to remember, he would forget the details upon waking. The dreams of her, however, had the opposite effect. He remembered most of the details, and they no longer seemed like dreams, but memories. Hauntingly sweet memories that would never be. Torin closed his eyes and hoped his mind would dream her up again. He didn't care if he woke up in bed alone. At least he would have a taste of heaven again, even if it was only in dreams.

Author's note: I rated this M because I do plan on writing a lemon in the future (I mean, how can I not? Haha). As for language, there is slight cursing, but I don't exactly know if certain words automatically make the rating M rather than T, so I decided to just rate it as M first rather than upping it from T when the lemon hits.

Reviews not required, but welcome! I know how some people like to criticize, just please make it constructive :) I won't turn away praises either :P