Craziest week ever! I collapsed onto my bed, face-first, and lay there, my body aching all over. My life felt like a whirlwind from battling gods, falling for them, still needing to defeat X, oh, and I’d died. Now Zeus had sent Ares as my sidekick. What was he thinking? Like I needed more men and complication in my life.

A knock came at my door, and I propped my head up, staring at the clock on my bedside stand. Ten o’clock at night, and in all honesty, I had no idea who it could be, though I had planned on a long shower followed by devouring some coconut sorbet.

I climbed off the bed, dragged myself to the door, and opened it. In the doorway stood Apollo, wearing the widest grin, one hand pressed up against the frame, the other in the pocket of his jeans. His sexy eyes sparkled, and the energy within me surged forward, engulfing me, owning me, demanding I take what was mine.

“What are you doing here?” I teased.

He didn’t say a word but strolled inside, so I shut the door behind him.

“I want alone time with you. No interruptions, no other gods, or anything else. Just you and me.”

He took my arm, drawing me against him. The touch ignited my fire further, burning deep between my legs. His hands sailed to my face, cupping my cheeks, and he kissed me without a word. His scorching lips melted me, and I softened against him. The hunger in his kiss drew me closer. Our chests pressed together, the inferno between us intensifying.

“I couldn’t stay away,” he breathed against my mouth. “I want you so much, no matter the consequences.”

Stiffening, I looked into the bluest eyes. “What consequences?”

He kissed me again, my thoughts stolen, every worry in the world fading. “I wanted to take you on a small getaway tonight,” he said, his arms still looped around me tightly.

“What do you have in mind?” Curiosity threaded through me because it was a nice change to have someone come to my door with a promise of fun instead of doom and gloom. We stared at each other, both desire and hunger glowing in his gaze.

“You’ll see, sweetheart.” When his mouth pressed against mine, the world around me disappeared, and I drowned in his emotions. A tingling sensation prickled my flesh, and there was nowhere else I’d long to be but in Apollo’s arms. He affected me like no other. I craved him, needed him. His insistent mouth was parting my lips, and I was dissolving into his love, forgetting everything but the two of us.

A cold breeze blew across my nape, icy claws digging into my flesh. Panic struck my chest. Was X back? I broke free from Apollo’s embrace, glancing around to a world cloaked in night.

I was no longer in my apartment, or Chicago for that matter. The wind whistled in my ears and darkness encased us. I rubbed my eyes to settle in with the scene as a bitter chill settled in my bones. The moon’s silver glow lit up the wooden platform we stood on, encased by a railing. We were on the side of a mountain so damn high up in the air. All I could see were enormous shadows towering around us like gods… But they were mountains, so many of them, the snow coating them almost glistening in the moonlight.

I wore a fur coat that fell to my feet, keeping some of the cold at bay, but my fingers were icy cold. “W-Where are we?” I turned to Apollo, who was also bundled up. He took my hand and cupped in his, warming me in seconds, the heat sliding up my arm and whisking through me.

The silvery light illuminated the side of his gorgeous face. His blue eyes pierced through the night-enchanting—and his lips stretched wide, as if proud of his surprise. I wasn’t so sure yet.

“Did you know that Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in the Alps in France?” He glanced over to an oversized range towering in the distance.

“We’re in France?” Okay, I hadn’t traveled much, let alone visit Europe. I gasped and leaned against the railing, staring out into the night, then hurried along the length of the platform, bouncing on my toes. At our backs sat a building, windows dark, and I could only imagine this place was a lookout for tourists, or even a research location. But who the hell cared? I was in freaking France!

Except I wished it were daytime so I could see the splendor. Then again, I was dating a god and we could return anytime, right? So were we officially dating? Was that what I called falling for the god of the sun?

Apollo closed in behind me and locked his arms around my stomach, holding me tight and close. “I brought you here because this is the highest place on the mountain, where the moon is so full, it feels like you could almost touch it. And I wanted you to see its beauty.”

I leaned back into his embrace and stared up at the great luminous moon, its light pouring from the heavens across the land. It was enormous, and Apollo was right: the longer I looked at the moon, the closer it appeared to be easily within arm’s reach. Silver sequins blinked in the heavens, scattered, illuminating the sky. I could stargaze for eternity, admiring the cluster of galaxies, making everything else feel so insignificant. Was this how the gods felt looking down on Earth?

“Wow! It’s incredible up here.” My breath formed a mist that floated in front of my face.

Apollo spun me around to face him by my shoulders, and he pulled open his coat, drawing me into his warmth. “For you, I’d capture the moon in the sky.”

And I believed him. My frozen lips found his warm ones as my breath hitched at his words, I drank in his passion, our bodies tight, his hardness nestled against my stomach. Didn’t matter where we were, that magnetic attraction between us blossomed. His presence fogged my mind, and my body tingled to have him take me. I ran my fingers up his neck, adoring everything about Apollo.

“I don’t plan to let you go,” he said, “and I’ll do whatever it takes to ensure we stay together.”

The fire flickered in his eyes and the honesty of his voice touched me because he clearly meant every word, and I couldn’t deny how much he meant to me.

“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you,” I said. “I miss you when you’re not around. But I worry about X and the other gods and how that will impact us. I will fight X, you know that? And I can’t have you standing in my way.”

“Shhh…now is not the time for such things. It’s just you and me tonight, remember?”

He was right. Enjoy the moment, I mean I freaking died. And after everything I’d been through I knew that moments like this were precious and fleeting. I swallowed past the lump wedged in my throat.

Of course he was right, but it wasn’t that simple. Nothing ever was. That bastard X had affected me, drawn out my anger to make me fight when I should’ve used my head. But I refused to get into an argument about that now. X had ruined enough, and tonight was about Apollo and me.

“The future isn’t always what we think it will be,” he added. “What we can control is today.” He dug a hand into his pocket and opened his curled fingers.

In his palm sat a golden chain with a round glass ball. White sand—or was it snow?—half-filled the pendant.

“I have a small gift for you, sweetheart,” he said. “And it shines like the moon.”

My mouth opened, but no words came out because the last person who’d given me a present had been my dad. He’d offered me his set of daggers that my grandfather had presented to him. A family heirloom. But Apollo’s surprise was different. This came from his heart, and with the love in his eyes when he studied me, I was lost.

“It’s stunning.” I reached out to the chain tenderly, lifting it out of his hand, studying the fine particles in the ball, the way the contents glinted in the dark. “Are they powdered moon rocks?”

“It’s the essence from within the moon, and it will always brighten the way for you when I’m not around. Let me put it on.”

He collected the necklace from my hand, and I turned away from him, lifting my braid away from my neck. Once his gift was clasped around my neck, I faced Apollo once more, fingering my pendant, staring down as it sat in the center of my chest, gleaming with a silvery hue.

“It’s beautiful. I love it so much.” I glanced up at him, my throat closing up with emotion at the mesmerizing gift.

“I’d give you anything to keep you smiling. I want to show you the world, its splendor, the good that Earth has to offer.”

His words fluttered through me because I had fallen for a man… no, a god who offered me the world and I had no doubt he meant every word.

“I want to make this work,” I said, pressing against his chest, his arms wrapping around my back.

“We will.” He kissed the top of my head and we stayed there for what felt like eternity. I was embraced by a god while I stared out at the heavens of the gods.

A cold breeze rushed past, raising the hairs on my arms, and Apollo held me tighter. “Let’s head inside. The sun will rise in two hours and I want you to see its beauty. It will be glorious this morning.”

How could it not be when the god of the sun promised it would? “So two hours until then, you say?” I asked.

He leaned down, one arm under my knees, the other at my back, and lifted me into his arms with such swiftness, I lost my breath.

“Tonight, sweetheart, you’re mine. Plus, I’ve arranged some of the finest cheeses and wines France has to offer.” He winked and I snuggled against his chest, unable to believe I could feel such ecstasy and joy after the week I’d had. But from my first time with Apollo, I’d known he affected me like no other. We’d bonded before I’d understood what was going on. And this was so much deeper than our sexual arousal—it was something I needed to explore further, as if my life depended on it. To finally give myself permission to date someone, not fear they wouldn’t understand about my missions. Apollo was part of my world and if anyone would be there when I needed support, he would be the one to catch me when I fell.

The fight with X swooped into my mind in that very moment, and how Apollo had not taken my side, but hell, I knew why he hadn’t jumped in and that he had kept X at bay. It still sat heavily on my chest, especially with Hades’s approach to stopping me. But I hadn’t exactly been acting rational, either. And trying to work it out hurt my head, so I shoved those thoughts aside. I wouldn’t let them ruin the best night of my life.

I was with Apollo in the French Alps, and he’d gifted me a piece of the freaking moon. Nothing else compared. Not a single thing.

Oh, except knowing Apollo, the god of the sun, was all mine!