The Girl in the Woods

Chapter 1

It was a whole different world here.

Sunlight dappled through the water like the reaching arms of starlight, and the dazzling blue and turquoise of the basin sparkled on my pale skin. I looked up in wonder toward the surface; my vivid red hair swirled around my face, stroking my skin gently.

After a few seconds of waiting, my underwater sky exploded in bubbles as Apollo dove in. I felt my heart skip a beat as my eyes focussed on his lovely, grinning face. Exactly a year later, he was still breathtakingly perfect. Apollo's rich, dark hair swirled around his remarkable face; although his looks were youthful his strong jaw was one of a mature man, and the chiselled muscles of his chest rippled beneath his ivory marble skin as he swam down toward me.

I held out my hands to him, and he promptly took them. His smiling lips were open as if he was laughing, but of course no sound reached my ears. I smiled back at him, and he shot off the rocky bottom, propelling us to the surface.

The sun was blinding when we broke the surface. The warm air rang with his whooping shouts, and my laughter joined after I caught my breath. The waterfall roared to my left, and its spray misted over my exposed skin.

"Let's go again?" Apollo looked at me eagerly, his brilliant green eyes even more dazzling in the summer sun.

I pretended to think it over, a look of deep concentration on my face as we treaded the surface. "Hmm..."

"Please?" He pouted, his lower lip sticking out.

I shot him a scathing look. "What did I say about using the puppy dog face?"

"Don't use it." He replied automatically, raising a hand to push the sopping water out of his face. "But it doesn't change the fact that it's extremely effective."

He laughed jubilantly at the look on my face, and I opened my mouth to protest. Before I could, he gripped my face firmly and planted a deep kiss on my lips. My angry protests were forgotten, and my hands tangled in his dripping hair. Apollo's hand drifted down to hook behind me knee and pull it around his waist, and I forgot about the roaring waterfall, the turquoise jewelled water, the dazzling sunlight -

My eyes snapped open, and I jumped involuntarily.

I felt Apollo stir beside me, and I looked over to see him prop himself up on one elbow. His hair was mussed up with sleep, and although the digital clock behind him said it was well passed sunrise, the room was still dark; the thick curtains mercilessly kept the sun from creeping into the room.

"Falling dream?" He asked me, his musical voice throaty. I looked at his green eyes; even in the dark they were bright, but they were drooping with sleepiness.

"Did I wake you up?" My own voice was hoarse, and I cringed at the thought of what my hair looked like.

"Not at all." His arms curled around my waist, and his face nuzzled into my throat. "I was awake for awhile, actually. You were chuckling in your sleep, and I was trying to make you talk."

"Really?"

"Mhmm." Apollo pressed his blazing lips against my skin. "Must have been some dream."

I was quiet for a couple minutes, thinking it over. "We were swimming."

Apollo laughed softly. "Well that's not very interesting - "

"It was sunny."

"Ahh." He raised his head so he could see my eyes. "Was I disintegrating in the water?"

"No - "

He laughed again. "So it wasn't very interesting."

"I suppose."