Artemis felt like her half brother Hephaestus had poured burning liquid silver into her veins, replacing her blood when Garrett pressed his lips to hers. Part of her wanted to struggle, to pull away from Garrett's lips, his arms, his hands. But another part, a much larger part, wanted to fall into his kiss, to wrap her arms around him and never let go.

Garrett felt Artemis tense when he kissed her, felt her muscles squirm underneath his grip. But then she relaxed, and oh, God, it was good. She tasted sweet and wild at the same time, like wild berries and wooden glades and filtered moonlight. He held her and couldn't help but think that he held a wild creature, or pure moonlight, or an unattainable treasure in his arms, the silky skin underneath his fingertips.

"I think I love you." Artemis murmurs against his lips. He smiled.

"I thought you might. I love you too."

Epilogue

Of course, there was the small problem of Garrett being mortal and Artemis being a goddess. Eos, the dawn, and Selene, the moon had run into the same trouble with their own lovers. Eos foolishly wished for eternal life without eternal youth, and her lover had turned into a cricket. Selene had been wiser and wished for her lover to have eternal sleep. But Artemis didn't want Garrett to sleep. Being the direct daughter of Zeus she stood a better chance of getting what she wanted. So she wished for Garrett to have eternal youth and life. And the goddess and the mortal lived happily ever after.