“She’s not a pet, Ares.”
“No shit.” Ares spun on his toe and stormed out the door. “I’m out. Tell Mom hello for me.”
He didn’t stop his stride until he reached the front door. When his foot crossed the threshold, he disappeared into thin air.
* * * *
Juliet nearly tumbled out of bed when she felt the soft fabric caress her naked body. She fought the fog that smothered her senses. She glanced sleepily around the cave. Instead of the brilliant, blue sky above her head, she was surrounded by gauzy creme colored curtains. The flames from the multiple candelabras set all over the room flickered leaving dark shadows cast along the rock walls. She looked like she was back in Hades club, not Ares’s home. Was she?
Her gaze fell on the god of war hunched over his knees as he sat on the final step of the stone staircase. She chided herself. Part of her knew she’d end up here. She believed every word that Ares said when he told her he was leaving her alone in Vegas at Dillion’s mercy.
She believed him so much she wandered the streets of Vegas alone. She couldn’t stop searching for the vampire hunter. If she weren’t scared out of her cursed immortal skin, she would have realized that Dillion was probably too busy to hunt her. It had been centuries since Juliet had been with a woman. She had been a mortal in the French court the last time she slept with another female, her best friend. Even then and now as a certified member of the undead, she preferred men. But she had to admit the goddess of love could make her change her tune in a heartbeat. Juliet would do anything Aphrodite wanted her do just to be in her bed for one night.
She paused. Not everything. She wouldn’t give up Ares. But she wasn’t sure he wanted her anymore. With what his uncle said about Zeus, she couldn’t blame him.
She squinted across the dim room to see what he was up to.
Ares was staring at her as he rubbed his fist with his free hand. He was dressed in a white linen shirt half unbuttoned to show a peek of his sculpted chest and a pair of black slacks. The cuffs of the shirt were rolled up to his elbows and an undone bow tie hung around his neck.
Juliet smirked. “Where are my clouds?”
“Gone,” Ares replied.
“So the basic decor of the Ancient Greek gods is a gothic haunted house? I feel like I’m back in Hades VIP room.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my decor.”
She frowned. “What’s wrong with you?”
He was silent for a long moment. “Nothing.”
“There is something obviously wrong. Tell me.”
He stood and stalked away. “Nothing you need to fucking worry about. So don’t.”
“Are we having an Olympus sized temper tantrum?”
He spun at her. The ground beneath the bed shook and a bolt of lightning pierced the sky above. “Juliet, enough.”
She bit her lower lip as she gathered the sheet around her and scooted off the bed. She pushed too far. She admitted it. But sometimes, Ares was too pompous for his own good.
She crossed the cave until she was just beneath his nose. “Thank you for defending me against Dillion. You could have turned me over to him. But I can’t be second to Aphrodite. You love her. I get that. I know what’s going on between us is just fun for you but—”
Her words were cut off by his mouth on hers. He gripped the sheet and pried it from her hands. He let it fall to the floor then pulled her bare body against him.
He tasted like the finest whiskey but that wasn’t what shook her. She sensed something from him. It was powerful, more powerful than any emotion she ever felt from herself. It engulfed her in its wave and drowned her in the wake. It filled every pore of her with blazing heat. She didn’t know what it was. If she ever felt this, it was hundreds of years ago before she was cursed.
All she knew is that she never wanted it to stop.
Ares lifted her up and guided her legs around his waist. Then he carried her back to the bed. He laid her down then stretched out beside her.
“That connection with you,” Juliet murmured.
“I know,” he replied. “I want to try something.”
“What do you want to try?”
He nuzzled his nose against hers as he brushed his mouth across hers. She arched up for his kiss. He pulled away and smiled. “I want to know what you were like when you were mortal.” He gathered her in his arms until she was molded against him. “Trust me, Juliet. Relax.”
She was lost in his kiss before she could question his motives. Her mind clouded, her thoughts jumbled. Everything was just Ares. She was lost in his scent, his touch, his taste.
Suddenly, she felt a chill. It wasn’t the typical cold that came from being a vampire. It felt like winter, or at least the beginning of it. The image in her mind cleared. She was in Paris outside the palace. There was frost on the grass beneath her feet. It would snow two days later. She remembered the day well.
She had just dismissed a regular lover after he paid her handsomely. It had been a long night of drinking, conversation and the kinkiest sex she had ever been exposed to. She bid him goodbye then slept until the sun set. She dined on the finest of pastries before she wrapped herself in her brand new shawl and made her way out into the night.
Juliet saw him the moment she stepped foot inside the palace. He had blond hair pulled back by a thin leather cord and wore fine clothes. His skin was paler than most. From across the room his ice blue eyes pierced her. He intrigued her more than most of the men that came into the king’s presence. She would have to work a little harder for this one. Not that it mattered. She was the most desired, highest paid courtesan in the palace.
If she wanted him, she’d get him. And there was no doubt in her mind that she wanted him.
Juliet followed him deeper into the palace. They hadn’t reached the throne room before he turned back to face her. Juliet hardly opened her mouth to greet him when he kissed her hard and deep. She clung to him for dear life as he gripped her close then pressed her against the wall with his body.
If only then—she had realized he had fangs.
When they parted breathless from each other, he introduced himself as Antonius. He already knew who she was and he was prepared to pay her as much as she wanted to spend the night with her.
And what a night. No small talk, no games. Just the rawest, most decadent sex she ever had. The man was insatiable. The heat between them was undeniable. He fucked her until just before sunup then disappeared as she dozed off.
Antonius filled her bed every night for the next couple of weeks. He told her she was beautiful. He called her a goddess, a priceless work of art. He lauded her for her ruthlessness with the other men and women in the palace. He promised he would want her for eternity.
As each night with him passed, her feelings for him changed. They were no longer cold and professional, a woman pleasing a man for money. No. They were warm, sensual, powerful. She never felt that way about anyone else ever in her life. She didn’t want him to leave her when he slipped out from beneath her sheets. She begged him to stay. He always silenced her with a chaste kiss on her lips then disappeared into the night.
The other courtesans that gave into the notion of being a man’s mistress spoke of the concept of love. Was that was what she was feeling for Antonius?
Then the last eve of the year arrived.
Juliet hurried home from the palace as twilight set. There were divots in the drifts left by bootsteps and the blades of the sleighs. The warm glow beaming out of the windows of the houses along the Paris streets looked almost like modern day streetlights through the thick snow laden boughs of the trees in the park. She couldn’t wait until she was in her own home next to the fire. Antonius was coming. The thought left her heart aflutter.
He arrived at her apartment shortly after she did. He didn’t say a word. He kissed her hard and deep as he slowly undressed her.
She was mindless with need in his embrace. She didn’t notice the words that tumbled out of her mouth.
He asked as he feasted on her body how long she would love him.
She vowed with a moan she would love him until the day she died.
He questioned as he buried himself deep inside her if she would love him for eternity. Would she belong only to him, serve him, worship him for eternity?
She cried out her promise as the rush overcame her. Yes, she would.
He gently turned her neck to the side as he grunted out his release. She felt his teeth scrape her flesh.
Juliet gasped for air as Ares’s broke the kiss. She scrambled across the bed until she was perched in the furthest corner from him. She curled herself in a ball without taking her gaze off him. What she felt for Antonius was what she sensed from Ares. Except it was so much stronger.
Love. She felt love. But was it from him? Or was it resonating from her? Whoever it came from, it was the most intense emotion she’d ever felt.
Ares sat up against the head of the bed and crossed his arms over his broad chest. He snarled at her. The ground tumbled again. “Antonius, huh? Who was the son of a bitch?”
Juliet’s voice was a weak, tiny squeak. “Is.”
“What do you mean ‘is’?”
“Had you held on for a moment or two longer, you would have seen Antonius sink his fangs into me just enough to turn me. You would have felt me go through the most horrifying pain possible. He locked me in a room in some house I had never seen before. He let me change. It hurt so much I wished I would die. Then, when I couldn’t take it anymore, Atticus brought Beatrice to the house and locked her in with me. She was my closest friend and sometimes my lover. She cried when she saw me and what he had done to me. I couldn’t kill her. I couldn’t feed on her. I shook in pain for hours but I loved her more intimately than I had anyone else before Antonius. I couldn’t end her life. So he did it for me after he tortured her in front of me. He abandoned me in that room. Called me worthless. Called me a waste of his gift.”
“So this asshole is still walking the planet?”
“He’s a vampire, Ares. He’s immortal.”
“No, baby. I’m a god. I’m immortal. I can’t die. Your little friend? He’s one bright, shiny sunbeam away from a painful, horrible death. And believe me, I’m going to arrange it.”
“Why? For changing me?”
“No. For touching you in the first place. For taking your love for his own. That right didn’t belong to him. It belongs to me.”
Juliet gave a weak laugh. “My love? It belongs to you?”
Ares sat up on his knees and reached for her. He pulled her to her knees until she was tight against him. She felt his warmth radiate through his expensive clothes. His gaze burned into hers. “Yes, it does.”
“He changed me centuries ago.”
“I would have found you.”
“I was mortal.”
“I would have changed you.”
“Is that what’s bothering you now? You want to change me?”
He paused a moment. “Yes. I went to Zeus. He won’t do it. So I have to find a god or goddess who will help me.”
Juliet cocked her head as she smiled. “Is it that big of a deal to have some who can keep up with your sexual appetite?”
Her smile faded at his stone cold glare. “No. I told you that your love belongs to me. You belong to me. You are mine.”
“Your concubine.”
“My lover.”
Juliet pulled away from him but he kept his hold tight. This was too much. Her head was swimming from what he said. “Lover is a two way street, Ares. I haven’t even said that…”
“That you love me? I felt it.”
Juliet’s heart fell. So that overpowering rush of emotion was her. It hadn’t come from him.
He nuzzled his nose against hers. “You didn’t feel my love for you?”
Her eyes opened wide. “I felt something. I wasn’t sure what—” She sunk into his kiss. It sent lust coursing through her ice cold veins. But something else was there. It set off butterflies in her belly.
As they broke apart, he murmured to her. “I love you, Juliet. I would end the world for you.”
“Don’t. Just leave the world as it is.”
He chuckled. “If you insist.”
She ran the pad of her thumb across his bottom lip. “I love you, Ares.”
A soft growl slipped from Ares’s throat as he snapped his fingers. They were suddenly enveloped in pitch black darkness. She felt his hands between them fumbling with his clothes.
“What did you do to the light?” she questioned, her words just a breath.
“I know you’ve got a few notches on your bedpost, my love. But have you ever had sex under the stars?”
“Can’t say that I…”
The black slowly melted away into a sultry twilight. The sky above was a brilliant blanket of galaxies. It had been centuries since Juliet had seen stars so bright.
Her attention was torn away from the created sky above to Ares.
His fingers whipped down his chest as he unbuttoned his dress shirt.
Juliet wrapped her hands around his to still him. She gave him a wicked smile as she finished with his buttons then trailed down to the zipper on his slacks. “Let me undress you.”
He trembled at her touch. “As you wish.”
Her gaze never left his as she took her time to unfasten his pants. She slipped her fingers into his briefs to free his cock. She pumped her fist up and down the length of him. He grew harder at her touch. “You’re a god. Shouldn’t I worship you?”
His voice cracked. “On your knees, baby.”
Juliet dropped to her knees at his feet then stared up at him. Her god stood tall and dangerous above her. His thick, long cock was rigid in her hand. She ran her tongue around the tip to catch a drip of precum then down the length of him. She enveloped one of his balls in her mouth then the other.
He hissed in response.
She trailed her lips along the underside of his cock before she took the length of him in her mouth. She bobbed her head up and down him as she sucked. He wound his fingers in his hair as he caressed her head. The tip of his cock hit the back of her throat when he bucked. She was surprised she didn’t gag. She held her head still as he took over, thrusting harder and faster. His breath came out in ragged gasps. A thin sheen of sweat beaded on his exposed skin. It made his shirt stick to his flesh and define his muscles.
He threw back his head and roared as he released in her mouth. She swallowed as quickly as she could. Whatever she missed, she lapped off his flesh obediently. She let him go with a pop of her lips then gazed up at him.
His voice sounded like rolling thunder. “Stand up. Now.”
She slowly rose to her feet before him. A force struck her and pressed her to the rock wall. Ares’s clothes were long gone. His bare flesh molded tight against her.
He wrapped his hands around her thighs and lifted her up. She wrapped her legs around his hips and her arms around his shoulders. The tip of his cock nudged against her folds, dipping barely inside but enough to set her on fire.
He cupped a hand under her as he plumped up her breast with the other. He circled the nub with his tongue the sucked it into his mouth. His teeth scraped against the sensitive bud. She whimpered as she cradled his head to her.
The words she murmured were incoherent even to her. She just knew she never wanted him to stop.
She groaned as he arched his hips up and impaled her. His thrusts were slow and deliberate. His mouth left her breast only to feast on the other one. His tantalizing strokes built the tension in her into inferno. She peppered his face with kisses as she bounced to meet him. Each nerve singed as she grew closer and closer to her orgasm.
His hips picked the pace as he drove into her harder. She clenched him closer to her as she trembled. Ares let go of her breast then gripped her ass to control their strokes. He plowed into her deep and slow. It was all that was needed to push her over the edge, the
ecstasy drowning her in its wake and leaving her breathless.
His hips slowed to a stop as he kissed her forehead.
Her orgasm was so powerful she’d missed the warm rush of his release.
It took a moment for him to find his voice. “Bed.”
Juliet pressed a long, slow kiss to his lips. “Yes, please.”
Chapter Five
The pure white light from the full moon fell through the thick tree branches in slivers. The floor of the forest was blanketed with fallen leaves, pine needles and broken twigs that snapped beneath Juliet’s boots. She stared at Ares’s back as she hurried to keep up with him. Once again, he aspirated them out of his cave into the middle of nowhere and again, she was following a few steps behind him. All those sweet words of love and devotion were a bullshit lie. She was just his concubine after all.
She jolted a few inches in the ground as she felt a large hand reach back and wrap tight around hers. “The Black Forest in Germany,” Ares spoke.
“Say what?” Juliet questioned.
“You’re wondering where the fuck we are. We’re in the Black Forest. I’m looking for someone.”
“Oh. Got it. And you’re holding my hand why?”
“Because you called what I feel a bullshit lie. It’s not. You need to understand something. This? You and me? I’m not used to it. I fuck and I move on. Well, except for Aphrodite. And baby, I didn’t make an effort to hold her hand. And I don’t slow my pace when I walk. I’m on a mission wherever I go because my actions alter the very fabric of this universe. So just be patient with me. I love you. Nothing will change that ever.”
Juliet couldn’t fight the smile that cracked her lips. She just hoped the darkness of the woods hid it. “So who exactly are we looking for?”
“An old friend.”
“Going to need a little more there, lover.”
Ares chuckled a little. “Well, you know so much about the Greek gods. We’re looking for Pan.”
Juliet frowned. Ares was the son of Zeus himself. Why was he searching for such a low level god?
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