by April Zyon
“Once you are out of it, I’ll clean it and store it. Did you want it in the room or should I stash it elsewhere for now?” he asked. Taking her hand, he led her towards the bar. Leaning over he ordered them each a drink; soda for her, scotch for him. “Think about where you’d like to go, Ava,” Ares advised her as he handed over her glass of soda.
“As far as the gown is concerned, I think somewhere else for now. With the diamonds that are on this gown, I think somewhere very secure would be a great idea. Can you make that happen?” she asked him with a smile. “As for where we should go?” She shrugged. “Surprise me. Take me to your favorite spot; show me what makes you, you.”
“I can pretty much make anything happen if I put my mind to it,” he said. Scotch in his one hand, he took her free hand with his other. Guiding her slowly through the room he had his head cocked at a slight angle, thinking. “I don’t know if I really have a favorite spot. There are a few places that help calm me when I’m feeling the urge to obliterate the universe; I’ll show you those spots.”
“The urge to obliterate the universe, huh?” She looked at him with wide eyes and shook her head. “I would really rather you didn’t do that. I happen to live in the universe, and I really like living. So I would really rather you didn’t destroy anything,” she teased. “All right, show me your secret places, Ares.”
“I will, but they really aren’t all that secret. Well... All right, one place is fairly secret, mainly because I only let a select few in, but I’ll show you so you can see that all the legends and myths really are nothing more than pretty little lies.”
“You would trust me with one of your secrets?” she asked with wide eyes. “Really? I would love that,” she admitted to him with a smile. “I very much would love to know a place that you go to remind yourself that legends and myths are not all that real. Where is this place anyway?” She was rambling again. Dammit.
“You’ll see,” he told her quietly. He downed his drink and looked at hers. “Finish up, little one. Looks like Dion is being summoned to the kitchen. We have ourselves an opportunity here to make a break for it, because if he sees us darting out of here before he’s given leave-” Ares shook his head, “The legends of the battles of the Titans and the Greek Gods, will have nothing on the snit fit he will throw.”
“Then we should get out while the gettin’ is good I would say. It’s very good timing that someone is there to cause an issue in the kitchens, don’t you think?” she teased him with a grin. “Did you have something to do with that perhaps?”
“Not this time around. It’s likely just a question of when he wants who served what. It’s all new kitchen staff except for a couple of the chef’s; so, more than likely, the person that’s in charge- I can never remember their title- is nervous and wanting to double check everything.” Setting his glass down he took hers from her hands and set it aside. A hand on her back pushed her lightly towards the door as he continued to check over his shoulder.
“Do they know what he is? Or do they just think that he’s an insane and wealthy man? One who tosses money around like it’s water and has a way of looking into a person’s soul and making them do what he wants.”
“They don’t know who he is outside of being the owner. Those that find out about us, well, they usually end up with their memories wiped, before being sent on their way. There are a select few who know about us. It’s normally people who come from a history tied to us, like yourself.” He urged her towards the bank of elevators.
“Well, I’m glad that I’m not going to have my memory wiped. I happen to like recalling what I had for breakfast and all that,” she teased. “In all seriousness, however, I would like to recall you, no matter what. I happen to enjoy you, even when you do that thing with your upper lip when someone pisses you off.”
Frowning at her words he just stared at her as they got into the elevator. It was empty, but given the fact the hotel had just opened and there was a party going on, that was not a huge surprise. “What thing do I do with my upper lip?” he asked.
She grinned and turned to look at him. “For example, when the bartender passed you a drink, he must have done, said, or thought something that pissed you off because you did this,” she gave a slight snarl with her upper lip to show him. “That, see this is what I’m talking about.” She didn’t know if she was pulling it off or not but she was trying.
“That’s not bad,” he said with a sigh. He sucked air through his teeth and tipped his head. “He wanted to know when you would be free next. I asked what he meant, and his answer didn’t make me very happy. End of story.” He turned his head to watch the numbers on the display, obviously not wanting to discuss it.
“When I would be free next? I don’t underst- Oh.” She gulped. “I get it now. Now I understand that look. Wow, I seriously would not want to be in his dreams or his shoes right now. That’s really not a good thing to ask. Of anyone. And how dare he? Do I look like a prostitute?” she demanded.
“Not even a little,” Ares said quietly. He looked at her as they reached her floor. “I’ll be letting Dion know about the bartender. But you’re right; no one will want to be in his shoes after tonight. I’d have done something but with the number of people at the bar, it would have been a little suspicious.” Taking her hand, he pulled her from the elevator and led her down the hall towards her room.
“I appreciate your restraint, a great deal.” She moved closer to him and wrapped her arm into his. “Thank you, Ares. You didn’t have to do that, but I thank you. Thank you for being there for me. For standing up for me. For, well, everything.”
“You’re welcome,” he said softly. Looking down at her he shrugged, “It wasn’t anything that any other decent person wouldn’t do.” Stopping before the room to her door he stepped aside so she could open it. “If anyone else even thinks it, I’ll break them into little pieces. Slowly.”
Ava just smiled. Looking up at him she moved to hug him. “Thank you,” she said happily. “Now, I want to know more about where we are going. What should I wear?”
“Whatever you want. As long as you are comfortable, that’s all that matters. I can control the temperature around me so you won’t be cold or hot.” He wasn’t helping her to decide in the least. “I’m going to borrow your bathroom for a second while you decide, and get changed myself.”
“Sounds good.” She waited for him to leave the room and then began to get out of the dress. Laying it carefully on the bed she touched it and smiled. “Simply stunning,” she whispered and walked to her closet. After pulling on jeans and a tee shirt, she grabbed a hoodie and then slipped on a pair of comfortable sneakers. Undoing her hair, she pulled it back into a ponytail and simply sat to wait for Ares. “I’m done by the way. If you are waiting, that is.”
“I was; I figured you’d be getting changed, so I sat on the vanity and waited,” he explained as he stepped out in jeans, a t-shirt, and runners. He went to the bed and lifted the dress up, “Good Gods, this thing is heavy. How the hell were you able to move around in it?”
“It’s actually not that bad,” she admitted. “I don’t know why, but it really wasn’t that heavy on me. It’s stunning, though, isn’t it? I felt like a princess in it; which is not something that I’ve ever felt in my life so for that I should thank Dion. Later. Much later. For now, I just want to spend time with you.”
“You looked better than any princess I’ve ever met or seen. I’ll stash this at my place for now. No one but me can get in there so it’ll be safe. Do you want to come along and check it out while I put it away?” he asked folding the dress over his arm as he turned to look at her.
“Are you sure?” she asked with a smile. “I would love that. If you don’t mind having someone other than yourself in there, that is. I would love to see what you actually call home instead of what the Romans seemed to think was your home.”
“Well, technically I have two homes. One here in this realm and the other is up on Oly
mpus. That’s where we’re going with the dress. It’ll be safest there since none can enter my space without my permission. If they tried they’d either be seriously injured or, at the very least, they would set off the alarms that I have in place and would end up dead when I arrived and beat them into a bloody pulp.” He walked to her and held out a hand, “You may want to close your eyes for this next part. It tends to make people throw up the first few times it’s done if they are looking around while I move us through time and space.”
She moved to him and placed her hand in his. “Are you sure that you want me to go to that space with you? I want to, but only if you are very sure that I won’t be upsetting your balance in your home in anyway or something like that.” She was babbling, again. She was worried that maybe she was pushing too hard; wanting too much and that bugged her, like mad.
Ares pulled her in close to his body. “Stop talking, Ava. I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t want you there. So close your eyes, hold on tight and we’ll be there in a moment.” He slid his arm around her waist and pulled her in close to him; real close.
Ava wrapped her arms around his waist, pressed her face to his shoulder and closed her eyes. Breathing in the scent of him she sighed and relaxed, feeling complete and utter peace for the first time in far too long.
Chapter Six
“You can open your eyes now; we’re here.” Ares' voice was right next to her ear, his lips just touching the curve. “Come on, Ava, eyes open and then you can check out the place while I tuck your gown away.” His hand was sliding up and down her back, slow and so very warm.
Ava was reluctant to leave his arms. It felt far more wonderful to be wrapped up close to him like this than she could possibly explain to anyone, herself included. "And if I tell you I need another moment to open my eyes to this completely and fully life changing event? Because I have a feeling that when I do open my eyes, I won't ever want to leave and then what will you do?"
“You can take all the time you need; we’re not on any schedule. As for leaving-” She felt his chest move, likely shrugging. “You are more than welcome here, Ava. I’ll make it all official if you want, you’d be the first person, besides myself, of course, allowed through the wards. I can even modify the necklace I gave you so you can come and go if you’d like.”
“You would do that for me?” she asked, pulling back to look up at him. “Truly? That’s outstanding.” She murmured. “I would like that, but only if you are sure that you wouldn’t mind me coming and visiting you at any given time in life. Keep in mind I might drop in on you at the most inconvenient of times.”
"Define inconvenient," he said with a grin. "I don't ever have visitors; except for Dion or Apollo from time to time. There wouldn't be anything to walk into. Unless I'm wandering around in the buff. Guess you could just cover your eyes when you arrived. Probably be the safest stand to take."
“Or I could just ask that you tell me when you’re walking around in the buff so that I could come and stare at you for a good long time. Silly, I know, but goodness, you’re truly an amazingly handsome man and I would very much love to see you naked.” Life was far too short to not give in to the things she wanted, and she wanted him. With a passion.
His eyebrows went up towards his hairline. "Okay, uh, I'll give you a schedule or something." He appeared a little flustered and slightly wary. Hmm, maybe she'd gone too far? "I probably shouldn't admit this but, since you're being so open, I will too. I've been trying, rather desperately, to imagine you fully naked. Especially since I've been behaving over the last couple thousand years and not peeking at what I want."
That made Ava smile. He was so charming and sweet; she was deeply affected by him. Far more than she cared to admit. "I would like that. Typically I am not this brash or forward. I guess you bring it out in me and don't you dare apologize for it. I like being able to fully speak my mind with you. I like you. So maybe not this moment but soon, we can show each other our birthday suits?" she offered brazenly.
Ares smiled, "I'd like that, Ava." Leaning in he brushed a light kiss against her cheek. "Now go and look around. Just don't go out that," he pointed, "door. It leads right out to the main thoroughfare of Olympus and will expose you to the others. No going out there without me. But if you want to go through any of the other doors, feel free. The rest is shielded from prying, conniving, vicious eyes."
“Right, no going out there. I have a feeling that if I were to, they would zap me deader than dead before I could blink.” Ava looked at him and smiled. “Go; do what you need to do. I will go ahead and look around. Will I be able to look out of the windows without others seeing me?”
“Of course,” he nodded. “You can even go out into the yard if you wish. It’s got a wall surrounding it that provides more than enough protection. As well, it’s shielded fully. So even if another God was sitting up on the top, he, or she, would never see you. I won’t be long,” he said and started away.
He stopped though and turned with a snap of his fingers. “Don’t drink or eat anything. It’s not exactly human-friendly around here right now. But, I will fix that because I want you to feel at home here when you come to visit.” Smiling slightly he headed off once more down a long, wide hallway.
“Thank you,” she said with a smile and moved from where they had been standing and walked outside. “Wow,” she breathed out softly, taking in the sheer beauty of her new environment and its surroundings. “This is utterly incredible,” she whispered and walked to a tree that was a study in perfection; flawed perfection, and beauty. Reaching up she touched her finger to a leaf and whispered, “Amazing.”
“That tree has been here since I built the place. It was a gift from a friend who has long since left the world,” Ares told her. He was close, really close, behind her. “So be gentle with it, it’s very, very old.” He moved so she could see him at her side.
“It’s stunning, Ares,” she whispered and turned to look at him with a smile. “You have an amazingly beautiful home. It’s incredible; truly your home is amazing in ways that I can’t even begin to explain. I’ve never-” she stopped talking suddenly. She was going to tell him she had never felt more at peace, more at home, than she did at this moment and that was not a good thing to tell someone you had just met.
His attention was on her fully, “You’ve never what, Ava?” he asked. His voice was a low rumbling purr. He’d lifted an eyebrow and, impossibly, he was closer. “I’m trying to behave around you and stay out of your head. But then you go and drop a line like that, with an expression that makes me want to kiss you, and you clam up. That is really, completely, and truly unfair, sweet.”
“Honestly?” she asked softly. At his nod, she licked her lower lip and looked up at him. “Never in my life have I felt more at peace, more at home, than I do right now in this moment and in this space. It’s surreal to me that I feel this way here; now.”
“I’m glad,” he said. Backing off slightly he smiled. “Come; you wanted to go and see one of my favorite places, so let’s go. We can come back here later if you’d like. I’ll even be sure to stop somewhere so we can get takeout.”
“That sounds good to me.” She reached out and touched the leaf of the tree one more time. “All right, show me one of your favorite places. Oh, and why wouldn’t I be able to eat the food you have here? Why do we have to go and get take out? I saw all kinds of fruits on the table, so what’s up with that?”
“They, and everything else here, are all products of Olympus. They are meant for the Gods and only the Gods. If a human were to eat anything here, they would grow ill and die. That’s why I’m going to clean it all out and ensure that anything that I have here is safe for you to eat, so you don’t ever have to worry. And neither do I.”
“Ah yes, very good idea,” she said with a nod. “Thank you for thinking of me on that one,” she said with a smile. “Because I don’t want to come here to see you, eat a grape and die. That would just be bad all around. I happe
n to want to be able to spend as much time with you as possible.” Damn! What was with her spilling her every single thought to this man?!
Ares smiled slowly, “I really like it when you speak your mind. And no, I didn’t read that, kind of caught the tail end of your thought process there since you were projecting. Now, let’s go,” he pulled her in close to him again. “Eyes closed, hold tight and when I tell you to open your eyes, don’t freak out okay?”
“As long as you’re holding me I will try not to freak out,” Ava assured him with a grin. “I promise, I’ll try,” she teased his. Wrapping her arms around him again she pressed her cheek to his chest and breathed in the scent of leather and man and sighed. Her eyes slid closed, and she thought, This is my new favorite scent of all scents.
That one I heard, she heard his voice in her head. His arms were around her in the next moment holding her close. A small tingle later and there was a gust of wind tugging at her clothing. “You can open your eyes now if you want, little one.” His arms moved down to her waist, “Look at the view, but don’t move.”
“How about you first tell me where we are so that I don’t freak out and jerk away from you without thinking about it?” She felt the wind tugging at her hair and clothing and tightened her arms around him. “Wherever we are it feels marvelous, I’m just afraid of how I will react when I open my eyes.” Licking her lips, she added, “And how did you hear what I was thinking? How did you talk back to me in my mind?” D’uh! She thought suddenly, because he’s a God.
Chuckling he gave her a squeeze, “That’s right, I’m a God, Ava. And we’re in New Zealand, on top of one of their many magnificent waterfalls. And by the top, I mean we have a view that goes down a very, very long way. We are on an outcropping where no one can see us, which means we have a terrific view of the water tumbling down the rocks, as well as, a view of the landscape. We’re in a place very few people will ever get to stand.”
