Inbetween - Book 1 of the Guardian series

Chapter 13 - Tension

When Apollo suspected he'd done something wrong with any woman he never went to Artemis for advice. At least not at first. He loved his sister but she was twice as strong as any man, twice as wise as most of them, and twice as dangerous when it came to something that might anger her. It was her way. She'd always been protective of women and a woman's right to power. To her own strength. Apollo respected that. Apollo also knew that it could mean that he'd be dragged to the living world and punched in the face and return to find out that everyone in the City of the Dead knew about his mistake before he'd even healed. 

There was a pair of women he went to for this. Both that could get angry too but in a more subtle way. Both thought with a more balanced view of men and women and had experience to handle both points of view. Aphrodite and Venus, the two women made into goddesses for their wisdom of love and sexuality. Aphrodite, the older of the two, was there as she usually was. She took him into one of the cosy nooks of her temple, which she still hadn't tired of, and Apollo accepted the wine.

He told her what had happened. That he'd desired physical comfort from Amelia, which Aphrodite understood, and then when she hadn't been willing he'd gone to get it from someone else. 

"Who?"

"Lavina." He replied, shrugging, stroking the glass without having much interest in it. Lavina had been a friend of his for a long time, more or less, a woman who wasn't unhappy with offering him 'comfort' be it food, shelter or something else. She was warm, affectionate, and knew it for what it was. Comfort.  She had a number of friends, male and female, who she comforted or sort comfort in. 

"Ah, she's good." Aphrodite nodded slowly, sipping her drink, a small smile. 

"You'd know." Apollo hesitated. "But I ended up having to give up trying. I couldn't take my mind off it. It was bothering me, that Amelia would reject me."

"First time?"

"For a long time, yes." Apollo admitted. 

"Then what?"

"I went back to Amelia and let her know she was right. That it'd been a mistake."

The slap from Aphrodite wasn't expected. He blinked her stupidly as she shifted back onto her cushions and sipped her wine. 

"Better me than your sister, Apollo. How old are you?"

Apollo scowled at Aphrodite at that. "Old enough."

"You should remember these things. I'm sure we went over something similar with  Leucothea. "  Aphrodite muttered. "You don't say things like that. Never make it a mistake. Mistakes mean you regret it. Do you regret the kiss?"

Not really, no. He'd hoped to do it again. Apollo had enjoyed it, the taste, the warmth, and the return of it... it had started off as two way. "No."

"So why tell her you did?"

He didn't know. Because she'd looked shocked. A bit scared. "I regretted making her feel ...uncomfortable."

"So say that. Not all women can be seduced at the same pace. Apollo, you've taken hundreds of lovers since Leucothea. You're more experienced than most men here. Both myself and Venus have happily given you instruction when needed. I'm a little surprised you're even asking." Aphrodite raised her eyes as she shook her head. 

 So was he. Now that she'd said it, it made a little more sense, but ...

Amelia left her world.

He'd been aware of Amelia's world, somewhat, been trying to check the world's accessibility since she'd thrown him out. Even as he talked he'd been checking to see if he could re-enter. Apollo had hoped to calm her down.