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  “Praxis!” Erastos shouted right after me. “You vicious child!” Erastos stood and flung water from his face as he searched the woods around him.

  “Oh, the cleverness of me!” Praxis ran off.

  “Praxis!” I called after him, laughing a little despite myself.

  “Which way did he run?” Erastos asked me as he came striding up.

  “Uh ...” I gestured vaguely as I looked over Erastos's wet hair, dripping over his nearly see-through tunic which was clinging to his muscles like a second skin.

  He followed my gaze, his own heating as he watched mine. Then he began to smile. Erastos took my hand and led me back into the clearing. The scent of wildflowers sprung up around us as the giggling pixies flew away. Erastos went to his knees before me, his hands sliding down my body as he went, then stared up at me longingly. My hands went his wet hair, pushing it back as he closed his eyes in pleasure. I bent to kiss him gently, and he pulled me down into the sweet grass, easing me back on the blanket he'd been laying on.

  There were wet patches, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was the heat in Erastos's dark eyes and the way his curls fell forward when he eased above me. I brushed them back, but his hair was long enough to reach his shoulders, and it kept dangling down. I smiled as he kissed me and his wet locks brushed my cheeks. The sun was warm upon us, so the water felt good, and I found myself licking the droplets from his neck. It was just what I had once longed for; a lover kissing me as we laid in the sun together.

  Erastos groaned and rolled so that I was above him. He took my hand and lifted it to his lips, kissing each fingertip.

  “You are glorious, backlit by sunlight,” he said. “I would be happy to spend eternity in your shadow.”

  “Erastos,” I said softly as I lowered my body and nestled in against his chest, “tell me about your life before Neverland.”

  “Why do you want to know about that, love?”

  “Because I want to know you.”

  “You already know me.”

  “I know this you,” I protested. “I don't know the you that made this you.”

  He chuckled, and it vibrated into my cheek.

  “I don't want you to know him,” he finally whispered.

  “Why not?”

  “He was not someone you could love.”

  “Were you a mean man?” I asked. “Drakon said he was rougher before.”

  “Rougher? No, I was quite the opposite.”

  “You were softer?” I asked in surprise.

  “I don't want you to know my past, Pan.” He sat up abruptly, forcing me to sit as well.

  “Erastos,” I said gently. “Nothing in your past could change the way I feel about you.”

  “You say that now ...” Erastos looked away, something haunting his eyes.

  “All right,” I angled his face back to mine as I climbed into his lap. “You win. Keep your secrets.”

  “Pandora,” he groaned as he laid his cheek on my chest. “I want to share everything with you, but some things are just too shameful.”

  “Whatever you've done or was done to you”–I kissed the top of his head–“it has made you into this man that I'm holding, and I'm grateful for it.”

  “Do you know that place between sleep and awake, where you still remember your dream?” Erastos asked me softly as he looked up at me, and I nodded. “That is where I'll always love you, my Pan. That's where I'll be waiting.”

  “Don't wait for me there,” I whispered. “Show me here and now what your past has forged. Make the shameful into something beautiful.”

  Erastos laid me back among the flowers, and we made something beautiful together. We loved past the memory of dreams.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Pan?” Akylas's whisper brought me awake.

  I blinked up at him and smiled.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked as I sat up in bed.

  “I wanted to share something with you,” he said. “And your bedroom happens to be the perfect place for it.”

  “What is it?” I asked.

  He picked an item up from the floor. It was a silver tube. He showed it to me; there was glass set into each end, and the tube had smaller tubes nestled into it.

  “It's a spyglass.” Akylas rubbed a hand over the shiny metal. “I found it among the pirate treasure. Would you like to look at the stars with me?”

  Akylas waved his hand toward my window, and I saw that he had placed a blanket on the floor before it, with pillows for us to sit on. I nodded and slipped out of bed. Akylas took my hand and walked with me to the blanket. When I was settled, he extended the spyglass till it was very long, and then handed it to me.

  “Look there, the second star to the right,” he whispered.

  “I see it,” I declared. “It's so bright. Looking at them through this glass makes it feel as if I can touch them.”

  “That it does,” he agreed as he sat beside me. “I was amazed by it, and had to share it with you.”

  “Thank you,” I put the glass down and leaned against his shoulder.

  Akylas took it from me and stared through it, at the small piece of heaven we could glimpse through the swaying branches of our home.

  “There is a group of stars that seem to be talking to each other,” he murmured. “They wink in patterns.”

  “Let me see.”

  He held the spyglass out to me, and I peered through it again.

  “Yes, they do wink!” I exclaimed. “It must be the language of stars. How beautiful!”

  “Stars are beautiful, but they can't take part in anything, they must just watch the world forever.”

  “Like me and my pool.” I frowned.

  “Perhaps they were punished as you were meant to be,” Akylas spoke in the sweetest tone, the one that no woman could resist. “But they were not as lucky as you, and did not attract the attention of a sympathetic god.”

  “Punished?”

  “For something they did so long ago that no star can remember what it was.” He smiled softly, getting into his story. “Now, the older ones have become glassy-eyed and seldom speak–only wink”–he winked at me–“but the little ones still wonder.”

  “You are a romantic,” I said with a measure of surprise.

  “Don't sound so shocked,” he huffed. “I was a poet once.”

  “You were?”

  “Yes, I wrote poetry for all the pretty girls, and for the boys who wanted to bed them.”

  “You wrote poems for the boys?” I teased.

  “So they could use them to woo the girls,” he explained.

  “Ah, you shared your romance.” I chuckled.

  “Now, I only want to share it with you,” he whispered.

  Then he asked the one thing that none of the other men had.

  “Will you tell me who you were before Zeus gave you to Epimetheus?” Akylas asked.

  I blinked at him, first in shock and then in sadness.

  “Pandora, what is it?”

  “I was no one,” I whispered. “Hephaestus made me at Zeus's request. I had no childhood or life before I met Epimetheus. I was created as a grown woman and immediately given away.”

  “Like a statue or a work of art.” He scowled. “And then Epimetheus treated you like a viper in his bed.”

  “In a way, I was.” I swallowed convulsively and looked away. “I'm not a star; I'm the heavens. I am the punishment that keeps you stars away from the world.”

  Akylas took my face in his hands and turned me back to him.

  “Sweet Heaven,” Akylas whispered against my lips, “hold me forever. I beg of you. Never let me go.”

  “Never is an awfully long time,” I said just before I kissed him.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The next day, a knock sounded through the tree, and we emerged to find a band of Indians outside. The chief was among them. He came forward with a solemn face.

  “Captain Kadmos sent men to our village,” the chief said. “They saw the item
s you traded us and were very angry. They fought with us.”

  “Is everyone all right?” I asked.

  “Although there is no death in Neverland, some of the men were injured, and the pirates have taken my daughter, Tigerlily.”

  “Oh, gods,” I whispered.

  “We will rescue Tigerlily for you,” Praxis said, surprising us all. He looked back at us and asked, “Well, we will, won't we?”

  “Of course, we will,” I confirmed. “Leave it to us, Chief. We'll save your daughter and have her back to you by supper.”

  “Thank you, Pandora.” The chief nodded, and his men started settling down in the grass.

  “What are you doing?” Straton asked.

  “We wait here until Tigerlily is returned,” the chief said.

  I grimaced at Straton, then said, “I'll go get my sword.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The pirates were expecting us, so we didn't bother with subterfuge. We rowed a boat right up to their ship. They stood back as we climbed aboard, and made way for us. Captain Kadmos strode forward.

  “Pandora,” he growled as he stroked his thick mustache. “You have taken from me, so I have taken from you.”

  “Have you?” I surprised him by asking.

  My warriors frowned at me, and the pirates frowned at Kadmus.

  “Yes, I have.” Kadmus looked confused. “I have Tigerlily secured in my quarters.”

  “I'll bet you do,” I huffed.

  “Are we speaking different languages?” Kadmus asked. “You do understand that I have your precious Indian princess below decks.”

  “Ah, but is she my precious, or your precious?”

  Just the barest flicker of fear filled his eyes.

  “She is not precious to me,” he protested.

  “I think that she is,” I sauntered forward. “I think this was all a ruse to satisfy your crew's need for vengeance while you also made Tigerlily's father accept your relationship.”

  “Relationship?” Straton asked. “What are you talking about, Pandora?”

  “Go on,” I said to Kadmus. “Shame the Pan and tell the truth.”

  “I shall murder you, you foul bitch,” Kadmus growled.

  Captain Kadmus leapt forward, unsheathing his sword as he came, but I jumped into the air and hovered high above him. As he floundered, I laughed.

  “To die shall be the greatest adventure!” I exclaimed.

  Kadmus gaped up at me for a moment before recovering.

  “Then I'll be happy to hurry you on your way!” He swung at me, but I just floated away. “You horrible harlot! You trapped us here with nothing! My men were innocent of your crimes, and yet we were punished along with you.”

  “Innocent of opening the jar, perhaps,” I agreed. “But they are hardly innocents. You're pirates, all of you, and I stole goods that you had first stolen from others. In my opinion, that makes it justice.”

  “Justice?” Kadmus seethed. “Justice would be seeing you hang till you choked on your tongue.”

  “You shall never be happy if you hold onto this evil, Captain Kadmus,” I warned him. “Neverland is inhospitable to evil. You'd do better to let go of your hatred and try to find a new life here. Perhaps if you presented yourself better, the Indian chief would approve of a union between you and his daughter.”

  “I do not love Tigerlily!” Kadmus shouted.

  “You don't?” Tigerlily stood on the deck, staring at Kadmus with wounded eyes.

  “Lily,” he whispered.

  “No,” she held up her hand. “I allowed you to attack my people just so we could be together, and now I see that it was all a ruse to get to Pandora. I was a fool, but you are an evil man, and I would rather be foolish. Goodbye, Kadmus.”

  Tigerlily held her chin high as she walked through the pirates. Her buckskin dress clinked with beads and metal tubes, and the feathers strung through her ebony hair trailed in the salty breeze. She was stunning, and no one dared to touch her. She went past my men and crawled over the railing, to sit in our boat and wait for us.

  “Damn you, Pandora!” Kadmus roared and came at me.

  I was floating just beyond the ship railing, above the water instead of the deck, and Kadmus had to leap into open air to slash at me. Distracted by Tigerlily and her dramatic exit, I was unprepared for his attack. But my protector, sent by the Goddess Aphrodite, was ready.

  As the Captain's sword came toward my heart, and my warriors shouted in fear, a massive, green-scaled body rose from the ocean. I didn't see it at first, my widening stare focused on Kadmus, but then his stare transferred to something below us, and it filled with far more fear than I felt.

  A pair of long, narrow jaws closed over the Captain's hand, severing it at the wrist. The Captain's momentum was halted, and he plummeted downward with the enormous crocodile, screaming in pain. The crocodile seemed to smile up at me, the silver of Kadmus's sword sticking out of its teeth like a silver cigarette. They hit the water together, but the crocodile created a far bigger splash. The beast spat out the hand which still held Kadmus's sword, and went after Kadmus.

  “Captain!” One of the pirates tossed a rope overboard, and Kadmus swam to it anxiously.

  The crocodile pursued, and I turned away. We needed to use the distraction to get Tigerlily home. What happened to Kadmus was irrelevant. Though I did wonder if death would come to Neverland, after all. It seemed unlikely that a man could survive being torn into pieces by a magical crocodile.

  I alighted on the deck, and my shocked men rushed forward to surround me like a shield. All of the pirates were on the other side of the ship, though, trying to save their captain. We hurried to the railing, climbed over the side, and down the rope ladder, into our boat.

  Tigerlily remained silent the entire trip back to shore.

  When we reunited her with her family, the chief cried in relief, and Tigerlily looked at me sharply, with a question in her eyes. I shook my head; I would not betray her secret. Love had betrayed her, and that was rough enough as it was. I wouldn't heap more pain onto her shoulders.

  Tigerlily sighed and softened, giving me a sad smile before she left with her tribe. We watched them go in silence until Drakon finally broke it.

  “Was that a fucking crocodile?”

  Chapter Seventeen

  That was only the beginning of my adventures with Captain Kadmus. He did not die that day, but he did lose his hand. The pirates forged a golden hook for him to replace it, and all of Neverland started calling Kadmus, Captain Hook.

  But for the time being, I was safe with my men, and my crocodile protector roamed the waters of the bay to ensure that safety. I was able to relax and forget about the pirates plaguing my Neverland.

  “To die shall be the greatest adventure?” Straton growled.

  I opened my eyes to find all of my warriors standing in my bedroom. I sat up and eased to the edge of my bed.

  “It sounded good at the time.” I shrugged. “You know, battle banter. Like Kadmus saying that he was going to kill me when he knew damn well that he couldn't.”

  “It did not sound good to us,” Drakon growled.

  “Do not scare us like that again, Pan,” Praxis was serious, an odd look on him.

  “We do not know for certain that you can't be killed,” Straton snapped.

  The men eased forward grudgingly and gathered around me.

  “I'm a goddess, remember? Dionysus said that none of us would grow old here and Death was not one of the evils the pirates brought with them. We are immortals.”

  “We don't know that for sure.” Straton's jaw clenched. “Watching that sword streak toward you was the worst moment of my life.”

  “I'm sorry,” I whispered and hugged him.

  “We want you to make us a promise, Pan,” Drakon said gravely. “That you will think of us before you risk yourself again.”

  “That you will value our love first, before adventure,” Akylas added.

  “That you will allow us to take care of you,�
� Erastus added, “and maybe, take care of us.”

  “That you will be with only the five of us,” Straton growled, “and no others. Especially not mermen.”

  “And that you will love us for the eternity we spend in Neverland,” Praxis finished.

  “Those sound very similar to marriage vows,” I noted.

  They nodded.

  “Does that mean that you're proposing?” I lifted a brow.

  Straton dropped to one knee and took my hand. “You've had my heart for far longer than you know. I'm sorry that I took so long to admit it, but I love you, Pandora. Will you marry me?”

  “And I knew no peace until I felt your touch,” Drakon knelt beside Straton, taking my other hand. “Save me from the storm that would consume me. Marry me, Pandora.”

  “You washed away my shame and made me feel like a new man.” Erastos knelt beside Straton and took my hand from him. “I can't go back to feeling filth upon my heart again. Please marry me.”

  “I didn't laugh until you freed me from my chains,” Praxis said as he bent his knee and took my hand from Drakon. “Your light showed me the path to happiness. Let me make you happy too, Pan. Marry me.”

  Finally, Akylas just walked up to me and kissed me–hard. When he pulled away, his eyes glistened with tears.

  “You are Heaven, and Earth, and all that is between,” Akylas said. “You are the winking stars and the endless sea. You are the Pan, our everything, and we cannot exist without you.”

  “It's time for me to make a promise that I can keep,” I said, glancing back at the jar of Hope. “I vow to love you, all of you, my lost boys, until breath fails me and the gods abandon Olympus. No one will ever come between us, and nothing will ever take me away from you. I swear it.”

  “I think we can accept that promise,” Straton said as he stood.

  The other men began to smile.

  “To live shall be the greatest adventure,” I whispered as I went into their arms.

  The Little Glass Slipper

  An erotic tale of love, fairies, and footwear