Gods, he wasn’t sure he could manage it, but he was damn well going to try.
He rolled her over, his broad body covering her slender one, and the shift in position and the way her legs instantly wrapped around his backside didn’t help his cause. He groaned and buried his face in her throat, buying himself a moment to get his body back under control. She felt so good around him, hot and inviting, tight. She shifted and her muscles flexed, showing him just how tight she could go, and he groaned and lightly bit her shoulder, trying to stifle the urge to release right that moment.
He was not going to make a fool of himself.
“You with me?” she whispered softly in his ear and he nodded stiffly. She giggled. “I love the feel of you inside me.”
Ares groaned again. “That’s not helping.”
She nibbled his ear. “Just take it slow... or fast... whatever you want. It already feels so damn good to me.”
“Me too,” he husked and kissed her cheek.
Her legs tightened around him, restricting his movements, and he leaned his weight on his elbows, keeping it off her. He could lay like this for hours with her, just savouring the feel of their bodies joined together.
He kissed along her jaw to her mouth and captured her lips as he lay inside her, enjoying her heat and the way her body gloved his. She swept her lips across his and deepened the kiss, her fingers toying with the strands of his hair.
“Gods, you feel good,” he murmured against her lips and felt her smile. “Like you were made for me.”
She leaned her head back into the mattress and searched his eyes. “Maybe I was. I thought there was that whole theory about Zeus creating everyone. Maybe he made me for you.”
He laughed. “My uncle isn’t that nice... but I thank the Fates I met you.”
“I do too.” She twined her fingers in his hair and bit her lip, her cheeks colouring. “And I think you were made for me... and I’m going to keep you.”
He grinned, couldn’t help himself as his heart kicked against his chest and his blood heated to boiling point.
“You want to keep me?” he said, awed by that and the way she had said it, all serious and breathless.
She nodded. “How about you? Want to keep me, Big Boy?”
He grinned. “Forever.”
Her smile hit him hard. “Forever it is then.”
Ares kissed her again and she loosened her hold on his hips. He settled over her, his hands against her shoulders, and slowly withdrew, feeling every inch, and then eased back in. He hadn’t lied. She felt incredibly good, and he was going to keep her forever, but not because of how she felt in his arms.
He was going to keep her because he had fallen in love with her.
She belonged to him now, and this moment would prove it, cementing his claim on her.
She moaned and shifted her legs, running her feet up and down his thighs as he slowly thrust into her, kissing her the whole time. He didn’t think he had ever made love before, not like this. This was making love, slow and deep, a connection that ran deeper than physical.
He felt connected to her right down to his soul, all of him bared for her.
He drew back and looked down into her eyes, wanting to see if she felt the same as he moved against her, withdrawing slowly and then surging forwards, thrusting all the way home. Her eyes were dark, glittering with warmth and tenderness, and he lost himself in them and the feelings they revealed.
He wasn’t alone.
He could see all of her, nothing hidden, everything on display for him.
Her body tensed around his and she settled her legs around his hips, moved her hands to his face and cupped his cheeks as he made love with her, easing in and out, her eyes locked with his. He wanted to kiss her again, needed it, but she held him firm, not letting him move. He groaned and clutched her shoulders, hips meeting hers with each slow thrust, her body soft and warm beneath him.
“Ares,” she whispered, breathless and beautiful.
She frowned and her eyes closed and then snapped open again and locked with his. The depth of her feelings shone in them, stealing his breath away, causing his movements to slow further. He flexed his hips, thrusting into her, and couldn’t stop himself from opening to her too. He wanted her to see how this made him feel, and how he felt about her.
“Megan,” he murmured and she loosened her hold on him.
He lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her as slowly as he was moving against her, and she moaned into his mouth, her breath hot and moist, and rocked her hips against his, countering his thrusts. The action tore a groan from him and he slid one hand beneath her, pulling her back off the mattress and forcing her body against his. He thrust deeper, his pace quickening to match the rising tempo of hers as she undulated her hips, riding his cock.
“Gods,” Ares groaned and devoured her lips, swallowing whatever she said in response.
She pushed against his shoulder and he went willingly, rolling onto his back and taking her with him. She didn’t break their stride. She rose above him, her hands against his stomach, hips rotating as she eased up and down, taking him into her heat. He tensed and groaned, wasn’t sure how much more he could take.
She spread her legs further apart and moved faster, her eyes locked on his, holding him captive. He grasped her hips and helped her, moving her up and down, countering her thrusts just as she had countered his. She groaned and tossed her head back, and his eyes were drawn to her pert breasts as they bounced. He wanted to devour them, sucking on her nipples and teasing them with his teeth until she screamed his name and climaxed.
Another time. Next time.
His fingertips pressed into her soft flesh and she rode him harder, bouncing faster, and groaned each time their bodies slammed together. He sank his teeth into his lower lip, blood thundering with his racing pulse, tension ratcheting up with each hard plunge of her body onto his.
“Ares,” she moaned and he loved the sound of his name drenched in desire and passion.
He thrust harder, unable to find his voice to speak her name. His balls drew up and he groaned as she leaned back, her body tightening around his. He moved her harder, faster, lost and dizzy as he struggled to hold back the impending wave of his release so she could find hers. The feel of her clenching him, her core milking his cock, pulling at him, was too much.
He growled and shoved her down hard onto his aching length.
Release shot through him, hot and fierce, leaving him trembling as he pumped his seed into her. She moaned and kept moving, riding out his orgasm, heightening it until he couldn’t breathe and his heart was racing so fast he couldn’t distinguish one beat from another.
She grasped his right hand, brought it down and guided it into her plush petals. He moved with her, rubbing her and teasing as her thrusts slowed. She moaned, writhing against him, and he could feel she was close, felt her tightening and clenching, her whole body going rigid. He squeezed her nub and thrust hard into her, slamming all the way to the hilt again, and she cried out his name, her body quivering and trembling with release.
A long murmur of satisfaction left her as she slowly eased herself down, coming to lay with her chest against his, their bodies still intimately entwined. He smiled as she kissed him and ran his hands up and down her back, relishing the quiet moment of intimacy as bliss flowed through him.
He shifted his hands to her bottom and she drew back, a frown pinching her eyebrows together.
“What?” he said, wanting to know why she was frowning when she should have been smiling from ear to ear like he was.
She ran her fingers in circles on his chest. “Tell me you don’t have to go out soon.”
He frowned now. “I don’t. It’s daylight and there’s no point in me heading out until I feel him anyway. Why are we talking about this right now?”
She hummed and smiled at last. “Because I don’t intend to let you leave this bed until we’ve done that at least another three times.”
He grinned. “
That’s a plan I can go along with.”
He rolled her onto her back and kissed her again, his body already hardening in anticipation of round two.
He had a few hours until sundown and, even then, he wasn’t leaving this bed until something happened to make him leave it. He was going to stay right here with Megan and make love to her until both of them were too sated to move.
And then he was going to make love to her some more.
CHAPTER 21
Megan lay on top of the covers on the double bed, her gaze tracking Ares as he paced the length of the bedroom along the dividing wall, his handsome face set in a dark scowl and his delicious body on show. His brother had called when he had been dressing, catching him as he buttoned his jeans, and he was still on the phone now, close to half an hour later.
She wasn’t sure which brother it was but Ares didn’t sound happy.
She wanted to crawl over to him and lure him down for a kiss but he didn’t look as though he would appreciate it. As soon as he ended the call, she was going to kiss him though. It had been over an hour since the last time she’d had his mouth against hers and she wanted it again.
She wanted him again.
Making love to him yesterday had been an eye opener. She had thought she had been falling for him but in reality she had fallen, and she had fallen hard.
They had made love four times and fooled around for hours, learning each other’s bodies, sharing with each other. She hadn’t been able to keep a lid on her feelings at all, and neither had he. Everything he felt had shown in his beautiful dark eyes and echoed in her heart.
He loved her.
She knew that without him saying it and she was fairly certain that he knew she loved him too.
Nothing had happened during the night hours. She had stayed up with him, tangled together on the couch, watching movies and kissing, and talking more about the Underworld and his life. He fascinated her and she had learned so much about him, and shared things about herself that she had never told anyone.
She had never spent the evening with a man like that before. She had never sat with a guy and talked while he held her, laughed and poked fun at action movies, ate pizza straight out of the box and eventually showered and then slept together.
It had been perfect.
Ares had held her so close to him while she slept, tucked safely in his arms, their bare bodies pressed together until not a millimetre of air came between them.
If this was what love was, then she had never been in love before.
She felt connected to him, aware of him even when she wasn’t looking at him, as though they were joined on a deeper level, an emotional level. He had talked about the Moirai, or the Fates as they were sometimes called, when they had been together watching movies on his couch, and the more he had told her about them, the stronger the feeling inside her had grown, the sensation that those three sisters had intervened somehow and made them for each other. It was the only explanation that made sense to her, because they seemed so perfect for each other, two halves of one soul.
He glanced at her and a smile instantly broke out on his lips, warming his dark eyes and chasing away his frown.
Heck, she loved it when he looked at her like that.
He had a way of holding her without even touching her that she had first noticed during the meeting with his brothers about the daemon stealing his amulet. The way he looked at her, with an intense warmth in his eyes, gave her as much comfort as a physical embrace, held her from a distance and made her feel loved.
She crooked her finger and he frowned then, but not from anger. He looked pained. She kneeled on the bed and crawled down the length of it to him. He paused before her, towering over her, his bare chest enticing her to touch it and start things up again. She was sure if she touched him, he would end his call in a heartbeat.
He muttered something into the receiver and jerked his chin up, silently commanding her to come to him. She thought about refusing him but she really wanted that kiss.
She hooked her fingers into his belt and pulled herself up and him down at the same time.
He slid his left hand around the back of her neck, clutched it hard and tugged her up to him, his mouth claiming hers. The heat of the kiss melted her and she grasped his arms.
A moan escaped her and a muffled voice broke the silence.
Keras and he didn’t sound happy about the interruption.
Ares huffed and released her, and stared at her the whole time he paced and talked on the phone, his gaze locked on her. She knelt at the end of the bed, legs bare, wearing only her underwear and a navy t-shirt. His dark eyes fell to her legs at times, burning into her, stirring her desire. The man was insatiable and she loved it. Centuries without making love hadn’t dampened his ability at all but she had a feeling it was more than just god-given talent at play. Whatever she felt when they made love, he had to feel it too.
He had said she had been made for him. When he had told her that, she had wanted to confess her feelings and tell him that she loved him, needed him more than anything, but in the end she had only said that he had been made for her too.
Had he really meant it when he had said he wanted to keep her forever?
She had never considered entering into a serious long-term relationship with anyone, had always thought it was too dangerous because of her power to heal, that they would find out and it would destroy her when they left, or worse, informed the authorities.
Whenever she looked at Ares now, his words floated around her head, taunting her with the possibility that it hadn’t just been something he had said in the heat of the moment, but was something he meant with all of his heart.
As far as she knew, she aged at a normal rate, and he was several hundred years old but looked like he was in his late thirties. Forever was a possibility for him.
Was it a possibility for her?
The thought that it might not be, that she might age while he remained the same, and they would only have a few short years together before he fell out of love with her, cut her to the bone. She stared down at her legs and felt his eyes on her.
He paused in front of her and fell silent. She knew he wanted her to look at him but she couldn’t, not while she was wrestling with her feelings. She wanted things to work out, but what hope was there? If his power didn’t drive them apart, then her aging would.
He crouched in front of her. “I have to go.”
He tossed the phone onto the bed and she realised he had been talking to his brother, not her.
“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” He brushed his knuckles across her cheek and she lifted her eyes to meet his.
“I can’t have forever with you.”
He frowned, his expression turning blacker than she had ever seen it, and red flared in his eyes, engulfing the dark of his irises until they blazed like fire.
“Why not?” he snarled and she shrank back.
He didn’t let her move away. His hand caught the nape of her neck and he held her.
“Because I’m mortal.” She diverted her gaze, fixing it on the living room.
Ares sighed and loosened his hold. “Is that all?”
She turned back to him and frowned. “I think it’s a pretty big obstacle.”
He smiled and her heart skipped a beat. “Not really. There are many paths to immortality.”
He stood, caught her hands and pulled her up into his arms. He held her bottom and she wrapped her legs around his waist, and cursed him for distracting her with the hot hard feel of his body against hers.
He pressed a brief kiss to her lips and then drew back again, the fire in his eyes still raging like an inferno. “The easiest way is to take you with me when all this is over.”
“With you where... oh... you mean the Underworld.” Megan couldn’t imagine living down there. He had told her about it and she had pictured a dark place, full of dead people and flaming pits. His reassurances that parts of the Underworld were as green and beautiful as par
ts of this world hadn’t broken through that image lodged in her head. Immortality was one reason to venture into such a dark place, but she had another reason to go there with him, one that was infinitely more important to them both. “Your fire wasn’t a problem down there, was it?”
He shook his head and she made up her mind right then, looking into his eyes, watching the way they flickered with fire and knowing that he would always look at her this way, and that Daimon was right. Being here in this world, unable to touch Ares, would kill her. She wanted to be with him, and that meant she had to go to the Underworld.
“We’ll talk about it more when it comes to it,” he said and she knew he was trying to avoid what he thought was going to be a painful conversation. She wanted to tell him that she had already made up her mind and she was going with him, would follow him to the ends of the Earth, or at least into a different world, but he spoke over her. “Right now, I’m afraid you’re stuck here, with me.”
“You’re stuck here?” She hadn’t missed the way he had said it. Not the usual flippant way people said that sort of thing. Sorry, Baby, you’re stuck with me. He had been deadly serious.
He nodded. “Father banished us all. We can’t enter the Underworld again until we have fulfilled our mission.”
“That’s terrible. I know you love him, but your father seems like a real asshole.” The ground shook and she clung to Ares, turning wide fearful eyes on the pale apartment. “I take it back.”
He chuckled into her ear and was smiling when she looked back at him. “Don’t let him bully you. He can’t leave the Underworld. You’re safe. He can be an asshole, but everything he does, he does it for a reason. The whole thing about the Key of Hades being the amulet, and banishing his sons from the Underworld. He does it all to protect the two worlds.”
Ares Page 28
