Adonis had heard of her long before he was ever permitted to set eyes on her. Her beauty was legendary, the kind that mere men could never dream up in word or minstrel song though they often tried to capture it, never succeeding. Every man he knew seemed to desire her though none had ever seen her. The stories were enough to make their hot blood boil when she visited them in dreams.

He would often imagine her bright hair hanging around her pale, shining face, her eyes blue with sunbursts of molten gold, her lips like rubies scorching on his neck, his chest, his midsection until she was on her knees, taking him into her mouth. His hands would be on the back of her head though she needed no guidance from him. But he wanted them there because it made her submissive to him in a way she would be to no one else.

These fantasies would consume him at night as he knew they did other men. Adonis heard them quietly gasping from their bunks just as he did, striving for release from her, though they knew they would always secretly want her and no fantasy could ever compare to the exquisite pain she would no doubt be able to wreak upon their bodies.

But it would be years until Adonis would finally be able to lay eyes on the living goddess, the myth who was heir to the planet he served. When his unit was transferred to Terran rule to aid in the upcoming war from the Dark Kingdom, he and the others were called to palace where they would be seen off. He saw her from far away, standing next to one of those four kings, the Shitennou as they were called. Dressed for war, standing tall and proud as she looked upon her shoulders, he wanted her more than ever. He could hardly say he was the only one who did, but he knew this was different.

Adonis knew everything he had done or would do from that moment would mean nothing. Without Venus in his vision, nothing was worth seeing and no other woman was worth loving. She was the ultimate, her curves perfected by the hands of the gods, her beauty enough to make stronger men weep. She was the kind of woman one went insane for, one dedicated his life towards, and one died for without hesitation or question. Every breath that entered her lungs cast its spell on him.

She was trapping him, and he gladly allowed it.

She went with her troops to Earth as an empty gesture, a sort of final farewell. She did not venture far from the Shitennou or Prince Endymion, perhaps sensing the hundreds of hungry eyes on her and knowing it would be better to keep her distance. She made her speech of goodbye and gratitude and glory, spared them a smile that devastated him, and then took her leave, escorted by the palest and proudest of the Shitennou.

Adonis followed her. He had no intentions of approaching her, knowing it would not be proper and perhaps fearing her in a way he could not describe. He had little choice in the matter, feeling as if her chain were tied around his neck, leading him along in her footsteps. He stumbled around in the dark, knowing where she had tread. He inhaled her scent on the wind, following it into the dark.

He found her sooner than he thought he would, leaning against a tree and staring up at the night sky, the moon making all of her seem even more ethereal. He couldn't breathe.

"What are you looking at?" a male voice asked. He recognized it as the white Shitennou. Kunzite he was called.

"Nothing," Venus whispered, the sound of her voice so hushed that it made him a bit lightheaded. "And everything all the same."

Kunzite came into view, standing at her side. "Does our sky impress you so much?"

"It was blue before," Venus observed, her voice a little awed. "It's different now. I didn't know a sky could do that."

Kunzite blinked, a little surprised by her words. Then he softened, smiling a bit. "I had forgotten."

He wasn't sure why, but Adonis noticed that she did not turn to Kunzite. "That it changed?"

"That the Moon's doesn't," Kunzite clarified.

"It's wonderful," she breathed.

They were silent for awhile as Venus continued to look at the sky and Kunzite's eyes refused to rest on anything for very long. The king seemed uneasy, his hands twitching occasionally. Adonis wondered how he could look away from that goddess and why he would even choose to. He also wondered how he could speak, how he could do anything but grovel at her feet and beg her for pleasure and for pain.

After a time, she spoke again. "It seems so far away here. The stars look so much closer on the moon."

"I know," Kunzite answered, his voice quiet. His hand moved forward with assurance, lifting her curtain of hair away from her, baring her shoulder. "The moon seems farthest away most nights."

Her eyelids fluttered a bit as his fingers ghosted down her bare arm, a smile curving on her lips. "Why is that?" she questioned, sounding as if she knew the answer already.

Kunzite cupped her chin, turning her face to him. The look of awe did not leave her face. "Because you're there and I'm not."

Those words seemed to change everything between them. Adonis watched in mute horror as her hands closed around Kunzite's neck, pulling him down with strength and want, kissing him like claiming him, marking him with burning lips, arching her body into his while his white hands gripped at curves, backing her into the tree.

It was several long moments before they parted, her palms flat to his chest, her mouth at work on his neck, nibbling and licking and kissing as he spoke. "It's been too long. Why did you--"

"Because," she interrupted breathily, her fingers undoing his jacket, his fingers sliding her satin shoulder straps down. "I don't want to leave tomorrow. I don't want to think about tomorrow, but it's all I can think about every time I see you." A grin spread across her face. "And because I love to drive you crazy."

Kunzite laughed a bit. "You're quite proficient at that." He dipped his head, and she gasped, pulling his jacket off and letting it fall to the ground. "We have tonight," he reminded her, his voice sounding even deeper than before. "That's all I think of when I look at you. Tonight."

He pulled the bodice of her dress down, baring her breasts to the night air before he covered them with his hands, kneading and twisting as she panted in his ear. She was not so docile as to merely clutch at his back and was hard at work on his trousers, her teeth closing around his earlobe.

Kunzite glanced around quickly, checking to see if they were being watched. Adonis hid himself well, cloaking himself in shadows and silence, choking the urge to scream. "Are you sure you don't want to--"

"Shut up," she growled, her hand disappearing between his legs. He moaned, but Adonis could hear her voice above it. "I don't care who sees. Just take me. Gods, just take me."

More than willing to oblige, Kunzite moved his head to kiss her, there lips and tongues at pleasurable war with one another as her hand stroked his cock expertly, making him clutch her hips with bruising force. She showed no pain.

"Do you want me?" she whispered in between kisses, the last syllable crushed beneath his lips.

"Yes," he said desperately, his eyes opening for long enough for Adonis to see him. Adonis thought he had seen starving men in less need than Kunzite.

She nipped at his lips, rocking her hips forward so she was grinding against his thigh. "Then what the hell's taking you so long?"

Kunzite didn't seem to need any further prompting. He lifted her up with her help, pushing her skirts up around her hips. Her strong, white legs wrapped around his waist, her hands buried in his hair. He took her breast into his mouth as he thrust into her roughly, making her shout. Theirs was not a gentle coupling, moving wildly against the tree, each knowing how short their time was, how long it had been, and how long it would be. Venus kept her eyes closed through much of it, and when she did finally open her eyes, looking at him, she seemed briefly panicked as if he were disappearing even then. She pushed him to the ground, dominating him, fucking him into a frenzy. The orgasm did not wash over them but crashed into them, taking them unawares so that they both shout, their mouths coming together in a hurried attempt to muffle them.

She laid on his chest, trying to catch her breath, her gaze hazy and unfocused, staring out into the darkness. Out to where Adonis was hiding. A few moments later, her eyes sharpened and he knew with certainty that she had seen him. She was amused, laughing quietly at his clenched fists, his white lips, and the look of jealousy and hatred for the man beneath her that he knew must be on his face.

"I'm afraid to ask, but what's so amusing?" Kunzite questioned.

"Nothing of any importance," she said casually, fixing her dress. "Anyway, we ought to get going."

"Oh?" he asked, straightening himself up. "Do you have somewhere you need to be?" His voice was light, teasing her, but Adonis did not miss the look of intense longing in Kunzite's eyes, even after all that.

"Your bed," she answered throatily, matter-of-factly. "I'm hardly finished with you, my king."

The emphasis was soft, but Adonis and Kunzite both knew that it was true. But Kunzite didn't belong to her the way Adonis did. Kunzite was hers because she was his and because they both willed it so. Adonis was trapped, caged, and no matter how he submitted himself, Adonis had no choice in the matter.

Knowing that, Adonis left, his heart aching within his chest, his trousers tight around his hardened cock. He could scarcely think anymore, his head light from his voyeuristic lust. He knew that he was enraged, disgusted, and somehow betrayed. But all he could see was that look she had given him. That glittering, mischievous, almost disdainful look. She knew that he wanted her, knew that he was not worthy, and found amusement in his agony.

The whole experience kept playing over again in his mind. The sound of her cries, the flush that had crept into her breasts, her strong/soft thighs flashing underneath the moon, the way her hips bucked...

His fantasy changed then. Adonis forced Kunzite from his mind, replacing the pale warrior's body with his own. He changed her voice so that she was whispering, "Adonis... Yes... Just like that, Adonis." Her lips on him, her legs around him, her fucking him.

He fell to his knees, unable to stand his arousal any longer. His hand closed around his cock none too gently. He wanted her beneath him, screaming his name. He wanted her helpless, her hands pinned down. He wanted to bruise her, hurt her, own her more than she owned him or Kunzite or any other man who had the misfortune of laying eye on her. He wanted to make her mad, pound whatever mystique she had out of her so that he could be whole again.

Adonis wept when he came, curling into a ball on the cold, hard ground, shivering as his seed spilled over on to his hand. And he remained there for a long time, tears splashing down his face because he knew it would never be. Not even if he died for it.

And one day, he did.