Warning! The following chapter suggests sexual content, read at your own discretion. If you would like to skip it, please skip to the line break.
T-T
Two figures were naked on top of a bed, covered by a blanket. The male propped himself over the female while she lay beneath him, covering her breasts with her hands. Her hair strung out all over the place like in the shape of a fan. She squirmed slightly, a trace of nervousness etched onto her face. Her silver eyes flickered between his face and the far side of the room, not finding the courage to look him in the eyes while the male seemed to be calmly gazing at her face, silently watching the woman's vulnerable display.
He gently grabbed her chin, feeling the silk-like texture like he was handling an expensive porcelain vase. After a second, he slowly moved her head to face his. Her eyes averting themselves in embarrassment, pretty lashes fluttering like the wings of a butterfly in a clear sky.
His warm breath grazed her nape, sending a wave of excitement down her spine. "Artemis," he breathed, "You're so cute." Her mind spun in circles, running a thousand laps, unwilling to calm down.
Huh? Did he just say c- cute?
Her?
Cute?
Those words made her face heat up at a rapid pace, turning a bright shade of red.
Nobody had ever called her cute before.
Nobody except him.
One look at his eyes told her that he meant every word, and his eyes held a conviction that what he said was a fact that no one could deny.
If it was anyone else, she would've felt revolted rather than embarrassed.
Her mind blanked while she lay as still as a sculpture, even forgetting to breathe for a second. When he raised her chin slightly towards him, she didn't react-
No.
There was no way she could react because this was a situation that she'd never been in before. Everything was completely new to her.
All of her life experience could never been able to prepare her for this.
He raised her chin up towards him, her pupils resembled the shape of a heart as she dumbly watched as his lips got closer to her own. She only regained her sense of self when she felt an innocent gentleness brush her lips. Closing her eyes, she mustered some strength in her chest to deepen the intimacy.
She couldn't hear anything but the drumming of her heart, pounding at a million times a minute. Her breath quickened as her anticipation grew to an all time high.
And finally, her wish was granted as his lips brushed against hers. Her back made an arc, and her toes curled in pleasure.
That feeling of warmth was short lived as she was deprived of the wonderful sensation just as fast as it came. Her lips became cold.
She expected another kiss, her lips slightly puckered, wanting another kiss to come. But after seconds of waiting, the goddess opened her eyes. Her eyes seemed glassy like she was about to tear up. A faint smile appeared on his face, seemingly enjoying the look on her face.
Swiftly kissing her, she let out a satisfied moan. She could feel his desire stirring as he continually attacked her lips.
"My lady."
"Hnn~ Mm!" He sealed her lips before she could say anything, but she welcomed it.
Her hands wrapped around his body and pulled it towards her. He smothered her with the heat radiating from him and wrapped his arms around her waist.
His thick scent entered her nostrils, overpowering the rest of her senses with smell of the ocean.
Pulling her up in a sitting position, he pinned her against the frame of the bed, continuing their passion. She tightly clung onto his neck, trying to bring him closer, but they were as close as could physically be. There was a hot rod sandwiched in between her buttocks, resting against her tailbone.
Their lips separated for a moment to breathe, panting heavily.
He was no longer looking at her with the same calmness from before, but with a bestial desire that was a stark contrast to his usual demeanor. The greens in his eyes chaotically swirled like a raging storm as it wanted nothing more but to lay waste on her body.
However, he could barely retain his lust, she could tell. By the way he gripped her thighs, he wanted nothing more than to dominate her, to conquer her, to make her into his woman like any other man.
But this time, she did not feel disgust like she would any other man.
It was cute watching his internal struggle as the strings of his sanity were snapping one by one.
Her womanhood throbbed as her stomach felt a craving for manliness. The emptiness and craving in her stomach grew, the more their lips met.
As much as she wanted to ignore her bodily desires, they continued to grow until it was unbearable.
Hugging his neck, she brought her mouth close to his ear and whispered some words in his ear.
His figure froze, possibly thinking of the consequences of his actions.
"It's okay. You can violate me as much as you want," she said in a soft tone like she was coaxing him. Her ears gradually got hotter as the words left her mouth.
His rod moved towards her womanhood, the tip edging the entrance of her cave that was already drenched with her juices.
It lingered there for a moment, her breath pausing in anticipation, she began to say, "I lov-"
"you."
Artemis tossed and turned, half-asleep, searching for a source of warmth, fondling the mattress for something to grab onto, however the cold clung on her like a shadow. Her eyelids trembled, the gears of her mind slowly began to turn to start the day.
As soon as she woke up, her body shivered, the blankets doing nothing to warm her.
The goddess let out yawn that sounded more like a moan than a yawn.
Artemis blinked several times in disbelief, unsure if that was her who made that sound, before that feeling turned to embarrassment.
That was definitely her voice.
How obscene.
The goddess glance at the spot on the bed next to her. There was nobody laying there, but it did look like someone had been her for the night.
He's not here.
Her heart felt disappointed, partially expecting to see a certain someone peacefully sleeping there, even though she knew it was selfish of her to think that way.
Her head felt clear and refreshed, a much welcomed feeling and change from her usual routine.
Perhaps, she should sleep more often.
Even though her head felt clear, Artemis felt like she was forgetting something.
What did she dream of?
It was clear to her that it was definitely something good, otherwise she wouldn't be smiling right now.
Artemis knew that she had dreamt of something pleasant.
What it was about, the goddess was unsure.
It felt like she knew what she dreamt of, the contents lingered in her mind like a haze, barely remembering but not remembering at the same time.
Gods weren't really supposed to dream, or even sleep in the first place. Sleep, usually, were for mortals. And Hypnos, who had spent a majority of his life in slumber.
Were you supposed to forget your dreams?
Artemis didn't know the answer to that question.
There was a strange feeling coming from her lower half. Her fingers ran over the spot where she felt it, and it was unlike anything she had ever felt before. It was a sticky and clear substance.
Weird.
A bodily fluid that Artemis didn't know of.
Artemis didn't know what happened, but Artemis knew that she needed to take a bath.
It felt dirty.
Obscene, even.
Letting out a short sigh, Artemis was about to get up from the bed, before someone walked into the tent.
Her gaze sharpened in the direction of the entrance, prepared to have her bow out at any sudden movements. Nobody should be able to enter without her being notified about it. There was a specific enchantment that was essentially a home burglar alarm.
A familiar man appeared in her view.
It was Percy.
Upon realizing who it was, she lowered her vigilance, her tense shoulders relaxed in the process.
"Perseus, you should really let me know when you're coming in. You almost scared me."
Percy was holding a breakfast tray with an assortment of food on it.
"My apologies, I didn't know if you were still sleeping, Mistress." Percy had an apologetic look on his face. A thought appeared in her mind.
"I got breakfast."
"Thanks, you can set it on the table."
Percy followed her request as she came towards the table.
When he turned around, there was a knife to his throat as Artemis glared daggers at him.
"Who are you. Where is my guardian," Artemis demanded at the imposter. "He doesn't call me, Mistress."
Artemis omitted anymore from her explanation.
"Oh. Was that not it?" he mumbled underneath his breath. His green eyes were calm as ever, looking unfazed to the threat on his neck.
Artemis frowned, hearing his words with her keen ears. "What do you mean by that?"
"Ah! Pardon me. You weren't supposed to hear that." Although he said that, his face showed no remorse.
"Tell me. Now. Or else." Her tone was calm, however she could not hide the cold fury behind her words.
"I really can't tell you~" An arrogant and mocking look appeared on his face.
Her hands gripped the knife tighter, digging it slightly into his throat, drawing blood.
"Even though, this is his body?" He chuckled, causing more blood to spill.
"Huh? What do you mean by that," questioned Artemis, slightly holding the weapon away from his neck, clearly confused.
Nonchalantly answering, he said, unperturbed by the line in his neck, "Exactly what I said. This is his body."
Those words fell onto her like a hammer. "What did you do to him!" Her anger was evident by the tone of her voice. A faint silver veil flickered in and out of existence around her, anger filled her face as the temperature of the room began to drop.
Her silver irises radiated a wrath that threatened to obliterate his existence if he didn't respond to her.
Despite this happening, he looked bored, letting out a yawn. His face asked if she was done now.
"I temporarily replaced his consciousness. He is fine. For now."
Artemis didn't know who the person in front of her was, but she had no choice but to believe him. If that was Percy's body, then he had the upper hand.
Since he said temporarily, it meant that there was a time limit. The imposter couldn't stay in his body forever if he was telling the truth.
Stalling for time so that Perseus could come back would be too obvious.
There were two problems.
First, the amount of time necessary was completely unknown and two he was the one who gave her the information. It wouldn't be hard for him to follow the same line of logic if he had half a brain.
Artemis had to think of something else.
He called her Mistress, meaning that he didn't how the depth of their relationship. This meant that he didn't know about the marks she made.
If Artemis could somehow see the left side of his neck, she would be able see her teeth marks on Perseus' body and be able to know if he was telling the truth or not.
If it was his body, then there was not much to do. But, if it wasn't, then she wouldn't hesitate to strike him down.
Now, the question was how could Artemis check without making it obvious she was trying to verify his words.
How was she supposed to-
An idea popped into her head.
Artemis could make it seem as if she was unleashing her divine form, which will most likely cause him to close his eyes to avoid it.
One second was enough time to verify.
If it turns out that it was Percy's body, then she would have no choice.
Her last resort was to overload his mind with the power of the moon. It was the only way to render him unconscious.
The reason why Artemis considered this a last resort was because there was a high risk that Percy would be permanently scarred from the aftermath.
His mind could be completely destroyed if Artemis injected too much divinity into him. Or, if she didn't put enough, then all she did was alert him that she was planning something.
The goddess could only hope that she didn't have to resort to that.
Artemis took a deep breath in, closing her eyes, making sure that he saw her.
Here goes nothing.
"Did you think I would fall for your petty tricks?" Her eyes opened with the luminosity of the sun. The air shimmered and vibrated as if it could not contain her power any longer.
Her figure rose slowly into the sky as to display her might right in front of him
As she planned, he knew what was going to happen and quickly shut his eyes.
Artemis caught a glimpse of the area, where she bit him.
It was there.
Her mind shuttered, trembling about her next course of action. She had to bring him back.
There was no other way.
Channeling the power of the moon into her hand, there was a speck of light, the size of a snowflake, forming on the palm of her hand.
All her decision making occurred in a fraction of a second.
It had to be done.
Pouring all of her focus into her palm, sweat dripped down her forehead as she knew that she could not afford to make a single mistake.
It would cost her him.
She couldn't lose him.
Artemis had never been this concentrated on something since her first hunt as a child.
The memory of her biting into his skin and the taste of iron in her mouth became clear in her mind.
Her moment when she realized that she had fallen in love with a male, not just any male, but one that had never wrong her. A male who destroyed her perception of men entirely, and only showed her kindness when all he was looked at- was with scorn.
Their first kiss.
The feeling of happiness that always came when he was around.
Perseus was a person that was irreplaceable.
In her heart.
And her soul.
Artemis realized it from the moment she had fallen in love.
That she could not live without him anymore.
The star formed and floated towards the crescent on his forehead.
Artemis never knew why it was there, but she had a feeling that it was a mark of servitude.
The speed at which the star travelled seemed slow to an outsider's eyes, but in reality it was extraordinarily fast. Faster than a lightning strike.
Piercing his head, it looked like nothing else happened.
Artemis collapsed to the ground with heavy breaths. Her consciousness struggled to stay intact as she crawled towards his body. All of her mental power was spent.
Gods usually had a limitless amount of mental fortitude, but somehow Artemis had spent all of hers in a single second.
She could not pass out yet, forcing her mind to stay awake. She needed to know if he was okay, and if she had done it properly.
Artemis could never forgive herself if anything happened to him.
Shakily approaching his limp body, he laid unconscious on the ground.
If she did it properly then it would look like he was merely sleeping.
The telltale sign that she had messed up was if he was foaming at the mouth.
Her entire vision was blurry, and she looked like a complete mess, but she forced herself anyways.
Hand.
Arm.
Collarbone.
Neck.
Adam's apple.
Chin.
Lips.
They seemed perfect.
Her hands traced his lips like she was reading Braille, trembling as if she was in the harshest winter.
He was breathing.
Thank goo- dnes- s.
The goddess fell unconscious.