Accidents Happen | By : Miara Category: InuYasha > Het - Male/Female > Sessh?maru/Kagome > Sessh?maru/Kagome Views: 14510 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story. |
Warning: Major OOC, but hey, it's my story, and I can do what I want. Sore. re. *pfft*
"Eros!!!" Aphrodite's shout could be heard all over Mount Olympus. The object of her summons, her son and general dogsbody, sighed.
"Wonder what she wants this time?" he grumbled to himself as he headed for the opulent manor. He trudged through the ornate front gates of her palace and into the heavily landscaped courtyard, and found the goddess of love reclining on a divan with a pair of well built, handsmalemale attendants fussing around her. Beside the divan stood her Mirror. It was remarkable only for its plainness in this place of lush beauty. Using it, Aphrodite could spy on anyone, anywhere, without having to leave her luxurious quarters.
"Yes, mother?" Eros hoped, he hoped, he hoped that this wouldn't be a repeat of the last mission she had sent him on, a farcical attempt to reconcile a bitfeudfeud between two families in Verona by having their children fall in love.
Well, the love part had worked at least. That was the whole purpose of the golden arrows in the quiver at his back after all.
The reconciliation part had worked too, really. He remembered the heartwarming sight of the two once mortal enemies falling into each other's arms as they swore eternal alliance.
Too bad poor Romeo and Juliet had had to die.
"Just look at them, Eros!" the golden beauty before him told him, waving in exasperation at the scene being displayed in the Mirror before her. He spared it a quick glance, catching a glimpse of a beautiful young asian woman accompanied by a - was that a demon? - with long white hair before turning back to his mother.
"What about them?" He had a sinking feeling that he knew where he was going. Please, he thought to whatever entity governed the lives of gods, can't you have her send me some place with a decent climate, just once?
"They're perfect for each other, but that idiot Inuyasha's hung up on some dead woman he used to love, and Kagome's too shy and polite to change his mind. Go fix things, Eros." She pouted, and he sighed. One of these days he would hand her the bow and take a long vacation with Psyche.
He trudged towards the door.
But not today.
Japan was hot and humid, just as Eros had expected. It was summer after all.
He found the girl easily. She was submerged up to her chin in the cool water of a slow moving river, obviously taking refuge from the heat.
One down. Where's the other?
Eros looked around. If Aphrodite was correct, and she usually was about this kind of thing, the other should be around here somewhere. He spotted a glint of long white hair through the trees and smiled.
Looks like this won't be so bad after all.
That was always the worst part of these jobs. Following his targets around until he was sure that there wouldn't be any risk of the love spell on his arrows being tripped by a passerby. But here was Kagome, and there, in the woods watching her was this Inuyasha fellow.
Best get the guy first. he thought to himself, stringing an arrow in his bow. He released it, watching the shaft as it sped towards it's target and struck. Perfect shot, he smirked.
And now the lady. A second arrow, a second strike.
And I'm out of here, boys and girls.
He would be home in time for dinner after all.
Kagome arched her back and stretched, enjoying the sensation of cool water flowing over her bare skin. It had been a lohardhard, hot, day. They had left the village they had been staying in early in the morning, hoping to make it to the possible location of a new shard before the broiling midday sun could appear, but an unplanned fight with a youkai had cropped up. By the time Inuyasha managed to carve the creature to pieces, they were all sweaty and exhausted. And covered in blood and bits of deceased youkai.
Thank god we found this stream! she thought to herself. The heat was bad enough, but rotting youkai guts ... EEWWW!!!
Sango had come with her to bathe earlier, but when the older woman had decided to return to the camp, Kagome's desire to cleanse herself completely of the remains of the day's youkai had easily overriden her natural modesty, and she had stripped off the bathing suit that she usually wore for these expeditions. With Sango already returned to the camp, Kagome felt certain that her male companions would be stayawayaway from the stream until she was finished.
Not that she was sure she would have minded if Inuyasha decided to accompany her. She shifted, uncomfortable with the direction of her thoughts. Inuyasha had dithered, refusing to finally choose either Kikyou or Kagome, until Kagome decided that she had had enough of the heart wrenching and uncertainty. She was moving on, despite the difficulty of trying to get over someone she saw every day. But he's still really cute. And it's not like I have any other alternatives to distract me.
Sometimes it seemed that her life was going in all the wrong directions. School, relationships, this whole time travel thing. She thought enviously of her school friends. They're starting to have serious relationships, but I'm still moping about someone who's not even from my time. I wonder what it's like to have someone...
She shook the thought off, aware that it wouldn't do any good. She found herself nong mng men more frequently these days, caught by their different grace. If she wasn't careful, her hormones were going to get the best of her.
She felt a slight stinging sensation on her arm, and rubbed at it. Must have been a bug, she thought. Better remember the calamine lotion tonight.
Eventually the cool water sapped the excess heat from her body and she began to feel cold. Time to get out, I suppose. She stood slowly, fee the the water slide down her skin. She wrung the excess water from her hair and turned to walk back to shore.
Sesshomaru was standing there, watching her.
"W-what do you want?" she asked nervously, stepping back, away from the tall youkai, her arms coming up to cross over her chest. The look in his eyes was disturbing as they trailed over her exposed body, and Kagome felt a flutter in her stomach as that golden gaze met hers. Have his eyes always been that beautiful? she wondered.
"I was merely passing, and stopped to enjoy the exquisite scenery," Sesshomaru told her, and she felt pleasure warm her at his compliment. Somehow, the violence of their previous encounters was forgotten as his eyes probed her own.
"T-thank you, I think," she replied, stumbling to talk as more and more things about his appearance suddenly struck her. That hair. I wonder what it would feel like... she blushed as she realized what she had just thought.
"As to what I want..." his voice trailed off and his eyes drifted once more down her body to lock on the tops of her breasts. Kagome felt a deep pulse of excitement as heat burned away his customary indifference, revealing a quite flattering appreciation of her form. She found she enjoyed being stared at by such an attractive male. I can't believe I just thought that!
"Come here."
It was an order. His voice was slightly hoarse, but it lacked none of his customary arrogance. Kagome took a step towards him. Forget that, I can't believe I'm doing this!
Sesshomaru stood and watched as his brother's woman walked out of the river towards him. Earlier, he had arrived by the stream as she bathed. He had been about to seize her and use her to taunt Inuyasha when he had suddenly realized that he had a much more important reason for taking her, one that did not involve returning her to Inuyasha, ever.
The shock of realization had paralysed him. He, Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands, was lusting after a human. His hanyo brother's human.
He had been frozen, unable to move, trying to reject the unwanted realization, for minutes on end. She was human, Inuyasha's bitch, he had told himself. He, Sesshomaru, hated humans, destroyed them if they crossed his path. He would never lower himself to couple with one. Never.
But she's not a normal human, remember. She doesn't scream, doesn't run, doesn't fear you. a voice had whispered in the back of his mind. And she's a miko, a powerful one. Can't you imagine the taste of her power? And he had imagined it, imagined the glory of her body writhing beneath his, her blood in his mouth.
And then she had risen from the stream, pale flesh shimmering with water under the late afternoon sun. The sight had driven him from hiding, burning with the desire to touch her. To taste her. To lie her down on the grass and drive himself into her. To claim her. Her race was irrelevant. Inuyasha was forgotten. There was just he, Sesshomaru, and the woman who would be his.
He was half afraid she would flee when she first saw him, but she merely stood in the water and stared back at him. And as the wind brought her scent to him, he realized that he could smell her desire on the air.
He called her to him, raw satisfaction filling him as she came out of the water. When she finally stood before him, he reached out to gently scrape the claws of one hand along her throat. She gasped and arched into his touch, and he curled his fingers around the back of her neck, dragging her mouth to his.
His lips were firm and demanding as they moved over hers, Kagome noticed dimly as she lost herself in the new sensations flooding her senses. His tongue swept out, tracing her lower lip and Kagome gasped at the feeling. He seemed pleased by her reaction, and repeated the movement, coaxing her mouth open so he could taste her. His mouth was exotic and dangerous, and an odd floral scent tugged at the corners of her mind.
He drew back, and Kagome stared spellbound into his golden eyes. "Sesshomaru..." she wasn't sure what she had been planning on saying, but whatever it was evaporated as her eyes fell to his mouth. For a moment she wanted to draw it back down to hers, but she suddenly realized that she was standing naked before him, her arms wrapped around his neck, and she flushed with embarrassment. She drew back, trying to cover herself. Sesshomaru caught her hands in his.
"Do not hide yourself from me," he told her, and she felt her blush deepen. She tugged at her hands and tried to avoid his eyes.
"Why such modesty?" Sesshomaru asked, and she could hear the curiosity in his voice as he used his hold on her hands to draw her nearer, until their bodies were touching.
"I-I haven't..." her voice trailed off and she saw the exultant realization dawn in his eyes.
"Do you wish to stop?" he asked, releasing her hands and wrapping his arms around her gently. She rested her head lightly against his chest and felt him nuzzle his face into the hair above her ear.
She cuddled closer to him, his gentle manner soothing her, and she felt the sensations growing between them intensify as her urge to bolt vanisheubsuubsumed in the growing heat inside her. She shivered slightly, and moaned as sensation poured over her. How am I supposed to reject this? Why would I want to?
"No." Her whispered response wouldn't have been audible to any but youkai hearing, she knew, but her actions spoke clearly as she lifter aer arms to wrap them around his neck. The move brought her curves flush against him. She felt the bamboo of his armor press into the softness of her breasts, and was suddenly aware of the sensual contrast between her nakedness and his fully clothed state. "Don't stop, please."
"Then we won't. But we will go slowly." Sesshomaru lifted his hands from her back to run them through the black silk of her hair. Kagome closed her eyes to better concentrate on the feel of his hands on her and heard a murmur of pleasure come from her own throat as his motions caused her hair to slither across the skin of her back. As though he had been waiting for the sound, Sessomaru tugged gently, tilting her head back to expose her throat. His lips found the sideh of her throat, and he laved kisses down to her collarbone, drawing firmly on the skin over her pulse before setting his teeth and biting gently.
Sesshomaru felt Kagome shiver under his teeth, and he felt the urge to bite down more firmly, to leave his mark on her for everyone to see. Later, he promised himself When she's ready for it.
He kissed and licked his way back up to her mouth, settling there once more as he tried to coax her hands into movement. He brought them up and spread them agains his chest, pressing against the silk of his hitatare above his armor. They quickly grew bolder and began to wander, tracing the edges of his armor. She drew back to look at him as she traced the bamboo strips.
"How do I get this off?" she asked, and he felt an urge to rip the armor away, to feel his skin against hers.
"Like this," he told her, showing her where the fastenings could be found, helping her rid him of the rigid breastplate. It fell unheeded to the ground as her hands returned to the silk of his hitatare, drawing a firm line from his shoulders to his taut abdomen. His muscles leapt under the caress and she jerked back, startled.
"Don't stop," he told her, grinning, pulling her hands back to his stomach. "That felt good."
Kagome smiled wickedly as she repeated the motion, enjoying the feeling of power that filled her as his muscles contracted under the gentle caress. She was grateful when his hands took over, unloosening his obi and dropping it to the ground so her hands could push his garments aside to expose his pale skin. She watched as her fingers stroked over his smoothness, fascinated by the sight and feel of her skin against his. She traced a finger over one of his nipples and was fascinated to see it stiffen under her touch. She leaned forward to lick at it and was rewarded when Sesshomaru groaned, his fingers tightening in her hair.
Sesshomaru was pleased. Kagome had good instincts for an innocent, and he could tell that with the proper encouragement and training she would be a magnificent lover, passionate and uninhibited. He intended to be very encouraging and very, very thorough, he thought. The reward was so very worthwhile, after all.
As he was thinking this, Kagome pushed his hitatare and kosode off of his shoulders and down his arms, trailing her fingers along his newly exposed skin. They paused on the muscles of his right forearm.
"You've healed," she murmured, following the path of her fingers with her mouth.
"Youkai do," he informed her. "It took nearly two years though."
"I'm glad. It always seemed so wrong to see you with the other ones."
"They were servicable," he told her, feeling a surge of gratitude that she had cared. But he had to admit, "I am also glad. I would not want to watch another's hand on you as I do this." He brushed his hands up her sidesstrostroke them lightly over her breasts. He was rewarded with a pleased moan, and Kagome's hands fell away from him as the sensations overwhelmed her. She stood, entranced, as he played with her breasts, and when he lowered his head to suckle at a taut nipple her knees collapsed. He caught her before she could fall, lowering her gently to his discarded garments and following her down.
He licked and nipped at her breasts until her fingers twined in his white hair and she tried to hold him in place. He obeyed her silent command but slid one hand down her stomach to rest on her dark curls. One finger slipped cautiously down to test her readiness. She yelped and tried to close her legs, but he pressed firmly, rubbing against her swollen clitoris, and she relaxed, nearly purring with pleasure. He withdrew the finger and traced a damp line up her chest to their mouths, breaking their kiss so he could slide the digit into his mouth and taste her.
"Please, Sess," she begged "I need..." her voice trailed off as she realized that she couldn't bring herself to say the words. Instead, she parted her legs in invitation and he rose over her, settling between them. He kept his eyes locked on hers as he rubbed the head of his cock against her damp flesh, teasing them both with his proximity, making sure he was slick with her need before he placed it at her entrance.
"Now," he told her, catching her hands in his and pinning them by her head as he drove himself into her. Kagome could feel him sliding into her inch by slow inch, and her breath caught at the invasion. Did I want this? she wondered frantically, overwhelmed by the size of him inside her. Suddenly she felt tight pressure and she tensed, but Sesshomaru ignored the sudden tension and kept moving. The pressure suddenly eased and she felt a sharp pain. She cried out, trying to draw away, but Sesshomaru didn't stop until his pelvis touched hers. Once fully seated, he stoppedweriwering his forehead to hers.
"I'm sorry," he told her, holding himself motionless inside her as he waited her to adjust to him. He placed a gentle kiss on her lips and was pleased when she respondedopenopening her mouth and inviting him inside. The kiss turned slow and hot, and soon Kagome was lifting herself against his body, shifting him inside her and drawing groans from both of them. Sesshomaru began to move slowly, savoring the slick heat of her body.
Kagome felt a new tension building in her lower body as Sesshomaru filled her and withdrew, filled her and withdrew. She found herself rocking in time with his movements, some instinct teaching her how to increase both of their pleasure. He freed her hands and she reached up to entwine her them in his hair, luxuriating in the silk of it. His hands caught at her hips, changing their angle, and suddenly her world narrowed to the feel of him inside her. He began to move more forcefully, losing himself in the pleasure of her, of them.
"Oh, oh, oh, oh." Kagwas was chanting the syllable over and over as his body beat gently against hers, until suddenly she screamed as she convulsed around him. Sesshomaru caught the scream with his mouth and let his own release overtake him.
For a long time they lay together, adjusting to this new thing that had sprung up between them as they shared soft touches and quiet whispers. After a while, Sesshoumaru fell silent, his hand stroking gently over Kagome's hair.
"I don't know." Her voice was as quiet as his as she reflected on the last hour. "For a second I saw you as a man, without all the baggage, and I realized that if you weren't always trying to kill me, I would probably like you. When I realized you weren't going to attack, when the threat vanished, I suddenly realized that I was attracted to you." For a second she pondered the answer she had given. It seemed right, described how she had felt, but somehow it felt like something was missing.
Brushing the thought away, she asked the obvious question. "Why did you want me?"
He was silent for so long she was afraid he wasn't going to answer her. Finally he spoke.
"I don't know either. You were there, and suddenly it was like I was seeing you for the first time. Not as a human, or as my brother's woman, but as a beautiful stranger." He turned to look at her. "You have many traits that I have always admired. Your courage, your loyalty. Your power." He smiled as he said the last, aware of how it sounded, but she took no offense. After all, his confident strength was one of the things that had appealed to her.
"I realized that if you weren't human, I would have wanted you, tried to claim you even though I thought you belonged to Inuyasha. And suddenly, I realized that it didn't matter that you were human, that you were his. I wanted you anyway." His answer, like hers, felt both right and wrong, she thought. It had the ring of honesty, but somehow failed to explain that 'suddenly.'
"I'm glad." She pushhe whe worrying thoughts aside and nestled her head on his shoulder, yawning. The unaccustomed exercise had made her sleepy, and her eyes drifted slowly closed.
Eventually, her hand drifted lower, to his softened flesh, and curiosity struck her. She traced a trail of kisses down the path her fingers had taken until she could lick at his softened penis, tasting the mingled flavors of their bodies. Deciding she approved, she did it again, more firmly this time, taking his softened cock into her mouth so she could lave him clean. She ran her tongue around the ridge just below the head and was rewarded when she heard a choked groan and felt him beginning to harden again.
She drew him deeper, running her tongue along the vein on the underside of him. When she had taken as much as she could comfortably manage, she sucked at him and bega wit withdraw, lightly scraping her teeth over his sensitive skin. His hips arched as he instinctively tried to keep himself in her mouth, and she smiled to herself with the thrill of having this beautiful, powerful man under her control.
Before she could complete the thought, he was pulling her away, rolling her onto her back and pushing her legs apart so he could settle between them. His long white hair brushed over her stomach, silken touches that had her purring. Noticing her reaction, he dragged his head up to kiss her, feeling Kagome shiver as the soft strands teased her sensitized breasts. He drew back slightly and shook his head, causing this hair to dance once more across her velvety skin, and watched enthralled as pleasure filled her face.
"That's not what I was planning," he told her, sliding down her body until he was planted firmly between her legs. He looked up at her over the slight rise of her stomach, keeping his eyes locked on hers as his tongue darted out, licking the crease where her leg joined her torso. Kagome whimpered and tried to tug him away, but he would not be deterred and traced further, along the side of where she was throbbing and wet for him. He repeated the move on the other side of her body before stroking his tongue back up along the center, diving deep into her heat to sample her taste.
"This is what I was planning," he told her as she jumped under his mouth, reflexively trying to close her legs. He was in the way though, and the pressure of his chest on her hs ehs excited her, making her incredibly aware of how open she was, how defenseless. Thrills shot through her as he exploiter ver vulnerablility, driving his tongue into her cunt before dragging it up to rasp across her swollen clitoris. The sensation was overwhelming, and she squirmed and tried to retreat from it, but he closed his hands around her hips and held her firmly in place. She whimpered again as he closed his lips around the tender nub, and a scream broke in her throat as he sucked and bit at her and her world exploded.
She wanted to drift slowly in the pleasure he had given her, but he continued his attentions and abruptly her world narrowed once more to the sensation his mouth on her.
Suddenly, just when she thought she would climax again he drew back, flipping her onto her stomach and pulling her up onto her knees. She felt him probing at her entrance and arched to accomodate him as one of his hands slid around to continue playing where his mouth had been. She moaned her appreciation as he drove into her, deeper this time, pushing her higher and higher until her body began to tighten around him.
"Sesshomaru!!" it was almost a scream as she felt his mouth on her shoulder, his sharp teeth digging into her delicate skin not quite hard enough to draw blood. The sensation drove her over the edge and the pulsing heat swept through her. It was more intense this time, all enveloping. It swallowed her whole, and she could barely feel his body jerking against her before everything went black.
This time it was Kagome who broke their silence.
"What will we do?" she asked. This had been sudden, and still confused her, but deep inside she knew that it was right and she needed to know if he felt the same. She felt his fingers trace over the mark he had left on her shoulder.
"You are mine." he told her, and she looked at him curiously. He touched the mark again, and she could read possessive determination in his eyes. "I have claimed you."
She balanced herself with her hands on his shoulders as he lowered her onto him, hearing him match her groan at the exquisite slowness with which each inch of his cock was enveloped in her slick heat. Finally, he was seated to the hilt, and he simply held her there for several beats before starting to move once more.
"Sessss," she panted as his arms reversed their movement, lifting her away from him. She clenched her inner muscles around him as he slid out of her, trying to hold him inside, but all she succeeded in doing was intensifying the friction as he continued to lift her until only the tip of him remained within her. He repeated the motion, a long slow lowering followed by a drawn out and tormenting withdrawl until she was whimpering and writhing in his grasp, trying to break free of his control. He was too strong for her though, and all she managed to do was drive herself further into a frenzy.
"Put your hands on your breasts," he ordered her, and she obeyed him immediately, stroking her hands over the soft mounds, pleased by the raw lust in his face as he watched her touch herself. She pinched one of her nipples, and was rewarded by a dart of sensation that ran through her stomach to where they were joined. She repeated the movement with her other breast as she saw his hunger increase.
"Don't you want to be the one touching me?" she taunted him, stroking slowly over the taut nubs. She brought a finger to her mouth, licking it before bringing it back down to annoint a nipple with her saliva. "Your hands on me, your mouth?" Cupping her hands under her breasts she lifted them, an offering for his pleasure.
Her offer was accepted, but not in the way she was expecting. Instead of releasing his control of her, he simply lifted her off him entirely to raise her breasts level with his mouth and capture a stiffened nipple in his teeth. He bit gently before using his tongue to soothe away the pain. He repeated the action with her other breast before raising his head to look her in the eyes.
"Better?" he asked, with a wicked grin that told her he knew exactly what she thought of his actions.
Oh, well she thought, and gave him what he wanted. "It was better with you inside me. All the way inside me," she specified as he once more lowered her around him, and she broke off to pant as her body stretched to accomodate him. "Ohhh, yess, just like that." The brief loss of him made his return seem deeper, hotter, and as her pelvis touched his she came, hard, contracting around him until she thought she would implode. "Ah!" He held her close, waiting for her spasms to subside.
"Eros!!!" Aphrodite's shout could be heard all over Mount Olympus. The object of her summons, her son and boy friday, sighed.
"Wonder what she wants this time?" he grumbled to himself as he headed for the opulent manor. He trudged through the front gates and into the courtyard, to find the goddess of love standing beside her divan. Her usual attendants were nowhere in sight. Beside the divan stood her Mirror.
"Yes, mother?" He was bit worried. Aphrodite looked murderous. She pointed at the Mirror.
"What did you think you were doing?" She asked furiously. He looked at the images being displayed and his eyes widened. He hadn't known that was physically possible!
"I thought you wanted them doing, well not that exactly, but something close to it. Kagome and Inuyasha, lovers."
"THAT ISN'T INUYASHA!!!"
Oops.
Where - ? He barely had time to start the thought before a clawed hand closed around his throat.
"What do you think you are doing, creature?" The voice was was flat, emotionless, but Eros heard in it a promise of instant death if a satisfactory answer was not immediately forthcoming. Oh, shit.
"Umm, I, er, well... IwassupposedtohitKagomeandInuyashawiththelovearrowsbutIgotyouinsteadandnowI'msupposedtofixthings." He tensed in anticipation of pain. It didn't come. He turned his head a bit to look at his captor's face. The demon seemed to be lost in thought.
"A spell?" Eros couldn't tell what Sesshomaru was thinking.
"Yeah. I have these arrows you see. Gold for love, lead for indifference. Mom was getting frustrated by Kagome and Inuyasha's dithering, so she sent me out to fix things. But I didn't realize there were two demons with long white hair hanging around her so I got you instead. I came back to put things back the way they were supposed to be." Please don't kill me. Please don't kill me.
The demon turned to look at the woman waiting for him on the riverbank. He looked back at Eros.
"I find I prefer things the way they are now." He drew back his other hand, and a green glow formed around it. "As a token of my gratitude, I will not destroy you this time. But if you return ... " The green glow coalesced, and poison oozed from sharp looking claws.
"Ok. No problem. I'll just be heading along now. You'll never hear from me again." Eros smiled ingratiatingly, and the hand around his neck released him.
"Bye. Have a happy life." He waved as he ran for safety.
If Aphrodite wanted this fixed, she could fix it herself.
It was time for that vacation.
While AFF and its agents attempt to remove all illegal works from the site as quickly and thoroughly as possible, there is always the possibility that some submissions may be overlooked or dismissed in error. The AFF system includes a rigorous and complex abuse control system in order to prevent improper use of the AFF service, and we hope that its deployment indicates a good-faith effort to eliminate any illegal material on the site in a fair and unbiased manner. This abuse control system is run in accordance with the strict guidelines specified above.
All works displayed here, whether pictorial or literary, are the property of their owners and not Adult-FanFiction.org. Opinions stated in profiles of users may not reflect the opinions or views of Adult-FanFiction.org or any of its owners, agents, or related entities.
Website Domain ©2002-2017 by Apollo. PHP scripting, CSS style sheets, Database layout & Original artwork ©2005-2017 C. Kennington. Restructured Database & Forum skins ©2007-2017 J. Salva. Images, coding, and any other potentially liftable content may not be used without express written permission from their respective creator(s). Thank you for visiting!
Powered by Fiction Portal 2.0
Modifications © Manta2g, DemonGoddess
Site Owner - Apollo