“Ava, he loves you more than his own life. For a God that says a lot,” Hades cupped her face. “Look at me and listen. You can feel his love from here, it’s wrapping around you, holding you tight and asking you to walk out there. If I go out there without you he’ll think something is wrong and freak out even more. Chin up, let’s walk out there and you can see him for yourself. If you need a hug when we get there, take it. It’s your fucking day, Ava, do this however you want to do it.”
“All right, let’s get down that aisle quickly because I really, really want and need to have that hug from him.” She was all for running down the aisle now. Linking her arm with his, she took a breath. “I do love that man, more than life itself.”
“Remember that and keep your eyes on him the entire walk. Be glad it’s short,” he said as he guided her out of the tent. They were pointed the right way and paused as the music swelled. Then, as it calmed they began to walk down the aisle. “See, he’s looking more relaxed already.”
She smiled, nodded and couldn’t help the tears from falling. Gods, she loved that man. When they finally made it to the end of the aisle she didn’t wait, she threw herself into his arms and hugged him tight. Against Ares ear she whispered, “I needed this. You to hug me and me you,” she whispered honestly to him as she just held onto him.
“Shh, babe, I’ve got you,” he said holding her tight. He rocked her in his arms, rubbing her back in that soothing way he had. “I’ve got you and I’m never letting you go. You’re mine, Ava, and you always will be.”
“Good, I’m glad you are never letting me go,” she whispered against his ear. Nibbling on his neck, she sighed and then nodded. “I was perfectly fine until your father showed up. Then I wigged out. You owe Hades big for talking me into walking down the aisle for you, baby. I wanted to have you come and whisk me away and elope.”
Chuckling, he squeezed her close, “I’m just glad he got off his ass and came.” His words were a dark mutter in her ear. Hmm, sounded like a little bad blood there. Pressing a kiss to her cheek, he drew back and smiled at her. “Ready to get this show on the road?” he asked softly.
“I’m ready to get it on the road and us on the road. I need to have you with me for as long as I can keep you so let’s make this legal.” She didn’t let go of him fully, she just turned with him to face the priest and smiled. “Please, begin.”
The priest, and several guests, chuckled softly. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today.”
*****
“Holy hell, we’re married,” Ares said with a grin. Spinning her around the dance floor, or rather his patio, he pulled her back into his arms. The reception was well underway. Everyone was dancing or drinking and talking. “I’m just glad my family all behaved themselves. The fact my dad showed up was a little shocking. I’d hoped but really didn’t expect it. And,” he frowned down at her. “You never did explain why you were so upset and nervous, love. Why did you practically tackle me at the alter?”
“Why did you never introduce me to him?” she asked softly. “I guess I was worried. Worried I wouldn’t be good enough,” she admitted bluntly. “And then Hades set me straight.” She smiled and shook her head. “I adore your uncle by the way. He talked me into coming down the aisle and then I had to just jump into your arms.”
“Hell, I adore my uncle too right now,” he laughed hugging her tight. “Zeus is, well, he’s a randy bastard who thinks with his cock and tends to ignore the word ‘no’ more often than not. He gave humans free will and yet, he’s always been a little loose with the rules. The rest of us get bitch slapped if we interfere or step on free will. I was worried he’d try something with you and didn’t want to put you into a position like that until we were married and tied together fully.”
“Step back, boy, time for the favorite uncle to take the bride for a twirl. Since she adores me, you can’t say shit,” Hades said, clapping a hand to Ares shoulder.
Ava smiled and looked up at Ares, “I love you,” she said happily and then turned to Hades, “And where is the bridesmaid that was flirting with you earlier?” she asked him with a smile. Going into his arms, she began to dance with Hades.
“She is over there dancing,” he told her. He spun her around a couple of times before moving her through the motions of the dance. “Don’t worry, you only have to put up with me for one song. So all better now that you’re over the paranoia?”
“Yes, very much so. As long as I get to go back into the arms of the man I love, you had better believe it,” she said with a smile.
“Isn’t that your brother, approaching your date?” she asked him. “Maybe I’m wrong because Gods only know I’ve never met your brother but the man looks a lot like Ares, Apollo, and you.”
Hades head whipped around and he cursed something she’d never actually heard before. “Sorry, darling, I’ll be right back,” he smiled a feral smile.
Hades headed off at high speed as Ares wandered up and caught her in his arms. “There are not many times I like my father, but getting you back in my arms is definitely one of them. I just hope Hades doesn’t pummel him too much, blood is so hard to get out of the tile.”
“Good point. All I know is that we should leave. We’ve done the dance. We had the food. We cut the cake. What do you say about us disappearing and running away for a while? I really think that would be a great idea, don’t you?”
“Excellent idea,” he smiled at her. “Hades promised to stay until everyone left. So we’re good on that front. Let’s slip upstairs and change, then you and I have a honeymoon to get to. I, for one, cannot wait to have you naked for the next two weeks.”
“Will we be able to be naked for the next two weeks where we’re going?” He had kept the honeymoon so quiet she hadn’t the first idea where they were going and it was driving her nuts. “Are you going to tell me yet?”
“Yep and nope,” he grinned, snagging her hand. Pulling her behind him, they slipped into the house and jogged for the stairs. At the bottom Ares scooped her up and carried her up and into their bedroom. “But it’s somewhere we can be naked the entire time and have no worries. Other than that, you’ll just have to wait until we arrive.”
“Oh you are so bad. It’s a good thing I love you as much as I do and you have already gotten me to say yes,” she teased him. “I am Mrs. Ares now.” And she couldn't be happier. Ava was lucky and she damn well knew it.
“That’s Mrs. God of War to those we don’t like,” he grinned at her. Laughing softly, he kissed her and set her on her feet. Her dress suddenly drooped and she knew he’d undone the back for her. “Change quickly before someone figures out we’re not down there any longer.”
“Clean and put my gown into storage please?” she asked when she stepped out of it and put it onto the bed. “That way if we ever have a daughter she can wear it.” She ran her hand over the wedding gown and smiled. “And she will know the love I have for her father. We can only pray she’ll have as much love for her man too.”
“He’d better worship the ground she walks on or I’ll break him into little pieces.” A deadly promise, but a promise no less. A small flash of light and the dress was gone. She knew he’d cleaned it up and put it away somewhere nice and safe. Another flash of light and he was in worn jeans and a button down shirt showing a chunk of his chest.
“Well come on, do me too,” she teased with the double entendre. “Dress me in clothes that will hug me as lovingly as yours are hugging your body.” She hooked her fingers into his front pockets and pulled him closer, her lips brushing over his chest as she did so.
“Oh I’ll definitely do you too,” he said with a chuckle. A slow slide of his hands down her arms and she was dressed. A bra that pushed her chest up, a shirt that was tight and exposed most of her high breasts, slim jeans hugging her from hip to ankle and sandals, dainty and pretty on her feet. No panties she noted feeling the rub from the seam of her jeans on her clit.
Ava laughed, the decadent feeling of the clothing
on her body had her grinning up at him. “Now then, my husband, you said something about our honeymoon being somewhere we could be naked at all times? I suggest that we go.” Leaning up on her toes, Ava kissed him, her happiness blossoming around them both as she did.
Grinning, he grabbed up a duffel, “A few necessities like toothbrushes and paste, goggles and sunscreen plus a few surprises for our honeymoon.” He put it over his shoulder in such a way that she wouldn’t be getting any peeks into it. Then he hauled her to his chest and kissed her hard. The flash happened halfway through the kiss, the noise of the party gone and the soft sound of water taking its place.
“Oh that’s just naughty of you.” She had begun just before he pulled her into his arms. The moment he kissed her all thoughts were gone and instead she focused on him. When they pulled apart she licked her lips and sighed. “Man, you certainly know how to make me forget all thoughts, all everything don’t you?” she asked quietly, happily.
“I have had a bit of practice after all,” he teased softly. “That and time to practice all my distraction techniques. It’s always very handy with you,” he grinned. “Now, do you want to see where we’re at, or do you want to stand here and kiss some more.”
“I want to kiss some more and then we should look over this wonderful place that you’ve taken me too.” She kissed him again and then pulled back. When she opened her eyes she was greeted with a breeze on her naked body. She laughed and shook her head. “Oh you bad, bad boy,” she teased him and looked over the beach. “Private I take it?”
“Doesn’t even exist on a map and never will,” he told her. “The entire place is shielded and only six of us have access to it. We’ve kept it secret from everyone else so we can have a place where not even our family can find us. When one of us is here we hang the proverbial sock on the knob and the others don’t intrude. Plus I let the others know I was coming here with you.”
Ava laughed, “I love it. Thank you.” She hugged him again and then pulled away. “So since it’s all shielded, does that mean we can swim in the ocean without worry of sharks or mermen or whatever your uncle Poseidon has in the oceans?”
“Yup, we have a twelve mile line, just like any other country. It’s all clear of anything dangerous and deadly. Only thing here that can get you is the sun and the occasional monkey with an attitude problem.”
“Awesome,” she said with a smile. “Then I think we need to go for a swim. Come on, Ares, share this first swim with me as a married couple?”
“Right behind you,” he smiled at her. “Head for the beach, I just want to watch your ass wiggle. I do so love how your ass moves when you’re naked. Especially when you know I’m watching. I swear you add a little extra hip action just for me.”
“You better believe that I do,” she said with a smile. She wiggled just a little bit more for him and looked over her shoulder at him she grinned. “Well come on, husband, catch me without magic and we’ll fuck in the ocean.”
“You do realize I have longer legs right?” he asked. “Ten second head start because I love you, but you’d better run like the devil is on your ass. Because when I catch you, I’m going to take you hard, fast and you’ll be feeling it until we leave.” He paused, smiled at her with full intention in his eyes and then whispered, “Go.”
Ava laughed over her shoulder and ran, she ran as if he were right there on her heels the entire time. She had almost made the water when he caught her. She didn’t mind though, she would get pleasure no matter what. Hugging him tightly, Ava leaned in and kissed him. “I love you, husband, so very much.”
Laughing, he spun her around and kissed her right back. “I love you, wife. Forever and into eternity,” he whispered. Catching her mouth in a long, deep kiss he worked at keeping his promise to her from before their little race. Over and over again.
Books by Edlyn Reynolds
Gods of Old
Ares
Hades – Coming Soon
Apollo – WIP
Naughty Fairy Tales
Goldie and Her Bears – Coming Soon!
Would love to hear from you!
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Excerpt from Team: Alpha
Knights of Ares Book One
by Honor James
"She's living in Sweetwater," Anton said as he looked up from the computer he'd been working on for the past hour. "She owns a small property, works at the local hospital and her daughter is enrolled in the local elementary school. She's never married and doesn't date. And from what I can see of her financials, every penny she brings in is very carefully handled and either goes to the kid or to necessities."
"Doesn't mean she doesn't date," Marius said, looking over his shoulder.
"No, but this does," he pulled up another screen. "This guy, Michael has been IM'ing her off and on for the last year. He asks her out and she says no, says she's not ready and so forth. Basically that is the cold hand of the brush off, lads."
"Sweetwater is only an hour away," Gareth murmured to Mikhail as they stood out of the way of the others who were tracking down Daisy and her daughter.
Nodding, he let out a breath, "She'll be on shift tonight, which means we're not going to have a hell of a lot of a chance to talk to her. We need to get to her as she comes off shift. Get to her when she's tired and not thinking clearly."
"We corner her and she'll run off," Gareth pointed out.
"Yeah, but we have to see her, if for no other reason than to return the diary that I'm pretty damn sure Honey wasn't supposed to be toting around," Mikhail looked at him. "We’ll leave early and get there well before her shift ends. We’ll take some of the lads and do a full recon to ensure she's actually there, and then use them to keep everyone else away from where we take her to talk."
"Sounds like a plan destined to get us thrown in jail," he muttered, rubbing a hand over his short red hair.
"Won't be the first time and I'm pretty sure it won't be the last," Mikhail smiled slowly. "Hell, at least jails in the States come with toilets and benches."
"Shut up," Gareth said before he nodded. "Let's do it." Turning to face the room, he moved to the table and looked around, "Boys, we have a shitty plan that has jail time written all over it. Who's in?"
Like he even had to ask.
Excerpt from Deadly Spurs
Taming Team TEN Book Three
by Jana Leigh
Arden closed the lid on her laptop, she hated she couldn’t let her boss know what was going on, but she refused to bring him into this mess. No, she needed to trust in West Trete, and the rest of them if she could find a phone number she would call. Maybe he would know how to get in touch with the guys from Dag’s team. She had a feeling this was something she was going to have to tell them.
Arden turned, hopefully she had time to clean up and make herself presentable. It was sad and scary what she looked like in the review mirror. Hell, even the freakin' dog at the station took one sniff of her and backed away.
She crawled into the back seat, her windows were all tinted so no wandering person could just see in, and the SUV was big enough she shouldn’t have to worry about someone looking in unless it was the Swamp Creature. She laughed to herself, of course, she would think of the only movie Dagwood and her loved to watch on Friday nights when the weather sucked.
Her bag held everything she needed to clean up. Arden pulled out the last set of clean clothes, and underwear she had packed, the wet wipes, and her extra strength deodorant. Damn, she swore as she undress and began to wash herself off, she was going to have a nice long bath with no interruptions when she finally got to a hotel. Then smelling her clothes, she added a new wardrobe, a spa day and a fucking shopping spree at Victoria's Secrets to her list. These assholes didn’t know who they were dealing with right now. If she were to be face-to-face with the bastards, she would kick them in
the nuts, and give them something to cry about.
She kicked open the side door when she was done and used her water to brush her teeth. Good lord she felt like shit. Probably from sleeping in a Hummer for six nights and seven days. Well it was over, she refused to even think about having to do this one more night.
The sound of an engine turned her gaze to the entrance to the road she had parked on. Hopefully it was West. Arden waited and then the SUV with black tinted windows pulled to a stop about a hundred yards away from the front of her vehicle. Maybe he was trying to make sure she was comfortable enough for him to approach but this didn’t feel right.
Arden eased back into her Hummer and then locked all the doors and slowly crawled back over to the driver seat, thank goodness her car was as big as it was. The SUV was lower and she shimmied so whoever it was would not know she was moving to the driver seat. Once there she paused, what the hell was she doing? Arden knew she was feeling paranoid.
Peeking over the dash she saw there was still no movement in the front of the SUV, after squinting her eyes she realized she didn’t even see the driver that she had seen moments ago when he pulled up. Where the fuck was he? She cussed to herself in her head.
Slowly she pushed herself up a little more so she could see the area around the Hummer. He had to be thinking she was nuts at this point, certainly there was that possibility since she was wondering that herself a few minutes ago when she had been bathing with wet wipes, but there was her being dirty from hiding in her Hummer for seven days, and then there was down right gross if she hadn’t washed up. Where is he? she wondered and looked out the back window, and still didn’t see him.
As she turned around, thankfully the morning sun was at the right angle, she saw the flash of metal and ducked quickly before she heard the first shot. Fuck, he was shooting at her? Why in the hell would he do that? She called him for help, not to kill her. She covered her head and waited while she heard the rapid shots breaking her front windshield. Fucker.
Ares Page 17
