by Marie Harte
She almost wished she could see that, but if it meant seeing Aeros again—she couldn’t. She sat up and rubbed her hair off her face. Aeros watched her closely, so closely she almost felt like he knew her inner turmoil—almost. She smiled over at him and sighed, acting as tired as she could.
“I am a bit tired. Maybe I’ll take a nap.”
“You can sleep here. I’ll only be gone for a little while.” He folded his arms over his chest and watched her so closely she felt a shiver lift the tiny hairs on the back of her neck. “When I return we can sleep together.”
He made that sound like he wanted that more than anything.
“If I had my way, I’d not leave. You know that, don’t you?”
She lifted a shoulder. “It’s no big deal, Aeros. We have to do this. Dare needs to stick up for herself at some point. When you tell Ares where she is and he can’t do much about it, well, he’ll have to do what she says, right?”
“One can only hope. He is a god, though, Tabithia. It might not be so simple.”
“Sometimes the simplest plans are the best.”
Her plan was pretty simple. Leave and never see Aeros again.
Her heart tightened, squeezing so hard in her chest it throbbed painfully. Just the thought did that, what would she do when she left him?
They’d been together for three days now. Three perfect, wonderful days. And nights. Her body craved him. Sammie had called, changing the meet to tonight. Aeros had listened and grinned when she’d suggested she go home again. Then he’d occupied her so thoroughly that all thoughts of leaving had left her head.
Now? He was leaving.
Somehow that panicked her. Not that he’d get hurt. But that maybe Ares, the big mouth, would tell him about why she’d first gone with him. Had sex with him. Or worse, tell him about how screwed up she was. How she lived. What she did to herself when these black feelings rose too high to handle.
He interrupted her self-pity party with a laugh. Walking over, he sat next to her and caressed his hand from her shoulder to her butt.
“Ah, yes, simple plans, I can see why you like them, Tabithia, but sometimes you have to strategise to win a bigger battle.”
His light teasing didn’t match the serious expression he wore. She tilted her head and watched him.
“Mmm, I think my strategies worked pretty well last night.” She lifted her hips and rubbed into his hand. Jeez, she was worse than a cat needing to be petted.
Aeros leant down and kissed her shoulder and sighed. “I’m not going to argue that point, sweet.”
With another sexy look, he stood up and began to gather his clothes. She watched him tug on a pair of jeans commando-style with a grimace as he adjusted himself. She knew she was blushing from the heat hitting her face, but she watched anyway. She wanted to remember this mundane, so simple thing, so that when the darkness dissipated, she would have this bright memory of him. He pulled a T-shirt on and ran a hand through his short hair, tousling the little length he’d grown into something altogether too rumpled and sexy-looking.
Her heart broke a little more.
“So, we will go meet your friend this evening?”
She groaned at that. Meeting friends. That was what couples did. Couples.
“Tabithia?”
The bed dipped, and his sexy smell, some Aeros thing, soap lightly spiced with his own warm heat, filled her nose. He smelt like happiness.
Gods, she needed out of this. Panicked, trapped, she took a moment to gather her turmoil into something she could deal with before lifting her head and trying a smile on. It felt wooden.
“Tired. Just tired. I guess I’ll take that nap.” She prayed he couldn’t tell when she was lying, because she was. She was leaving as soon as he did. She’d not spelled in days, so her power level was bigger than the Hoover Dam. She’d spell home and then… Well, then she’d see. First, get home. Then deal. A rush of panic hit her at the thought of him not nearby, but she shoved it aside.
Numb, she met his dark gaze firmly.
“I will be quick. I want to come home to you sleeping in my bed, Tabithia.”
The way he said her name, as if he couldn’t get enough of it, tore and ripped deep. Doubts assailed her, but she refused to think and clung to instinct.
“Mmm, well, it would be a first.” The bed was a mess, tangled sheets and tumbled blankets everywhere. Clothing littered the floor where they’d not wasted time on getting to each other’s bodies. Empty plates and half-filled wine glasses lay on the thick fur rug by the fireplace where they’d made love under the warm glow of the fire. The place looked well used. They’d used the bed, but not for sleeping.
“Yes, I know.” How did he make that sound sexy? “Behave, I’ll be back soon. And Tabithia?”
She paused, halfway to getting off the bed. Hell, had he found out she was leaving? He pressed his thigh between her legs, making her practically mount his thick leg, and pulled her tight to his body. He was fully erect again. The shiver that spiked down her spine made her body turn liquid against him.
“Ares is many things, but my boss is not one of them. I answer to him, but I think it’s time I settled a few things between he and I.”
With that, he pulled her up and in his arms, enveloping her with his hot, hard body. His temperature wasn’t as scalding as before when she’d first noticed his heat, but he was still warmer than she was. Especially right now, when desperation ripped through her and she wanted leaving him to be easier. How would she ever feel warm again? How would she ever let him go?
His kisses were gentle, tender, as if he sought to tame her all over again.
Inside, he shattered her heart.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Aeros left Tabithia, but a sinking feeling in his stomach made him want to turn around before he’d even finished the words that would take him to Ares. She’d been hiding. He’d felt her trembling against him, not with pleasure but he thought with pain. The brittleness of her smile had torn at him, but he needed to secure her, keep her safe, even from his god.
Ares. The thought that Ares had spoken to her, had summoned her had him raging. The leash he had on his temper was fraying. He’d given enough, served long enough, he deserved Tabithia. He’d have her. All of her, and Ares would back off.
The spell took him to Ares within seconds. The bastard grinned and said, “So, you’ve got laid. The little tumble doesn’t seem to have done your temperament any good, my dear captain.”
There were no words. A simple roar of such power left him that Ares fell back like Aeros had plunged a dagger in his chest instead of hit him with a fist in his face. He welcomed Ares’ immediately response. The power behind the god’s fist to his jaw staggered him but he recovered against a wall and charged back in. Two more rapid fires of his fist to the kidneys, followed by a kick to the back of the god of war’s legs had Ares bellowing in pain.
Ares’ counterattack came hard and swift. Two jabs to the stomach followed by a stunning hit to the chin nearly drove Aeros to his knees. The air left his lungs from a knee to the stomach but the blows he pounded down on Ares’ head rewarded him with a grunt of pain from the god.
“Stay the fuck away from Tabithia.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Ares threw his hands out to his sides.
Aeros didn’t bother to talk. He simply hit Ares with a double punch to the side. Ares spun away and attacked. Aeros dived under a punch that would have felled a lesser man and toppled Ares who rested against the railing. Ares twisted, turned in Aeros’ grip to block a fist, and nailed him with a sucker punch in the throat. Aeros clenched his fists around his god’s thick neck and head-butted the bastard just to hear the bones in Ares’ nose crunch.
Two quick jabs hit him in the side, one breaking ribs. Pain shot up, the rage boiling through him. He tasted blood and shook off the god like a dog, managing to bash his head into the floor before he found himself under Ares, fists like iron battering into his face repeatedly. He hooked
a leg around Ares’ waist and twisted, shoving hard and rolling down the length of the damn room landing and receiving blow after blow. Panting, breathless, his strength ebbing, he still managed two more good blows before a fist hit his temple and nearly knocked his head off.
“Damn it, Aeros. Back down. What the fuck? What the fuck are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking”—his fist landed a blow to Ares’ stomach and grunt Ares made was so satisfying he drew back and did it again—“if you ever talk to Tabithia without me there again, I’ll fucking kill you myself.”
“Fucking idiot. I saved your fucking miserable life.”
Ares landed two more powerful punches on Aeros’ gut and ripped the air right out of him. Gasping, he fell back, feeling the fight drain out of the other man—god—whatever.
Ares stumbled and caught himself with a hand on a wall. Aeros got up and followed, clutching his middle and glaring. He’d fucking hit the bastard again if he—
Suddenly what Ares had said registered.
“What did you say?”
Spitting blood on the floor, Aeros wiped his mouth with his wrist and tried to figure out what the hell Ares had meant. Again, his god wasn’t dressed in robes or battle attire. He was dressed in cargo shorts and a tight, blood-splattered, black T-Shirt. What the hell? One glance around showed they were on Earth. On a boat. Yacht. Whatever the fuck.
“Where the hell are we?”
“Sonofabitch, you little bastard. You broke my nose.”
He had? Straightening was painful but he managed by gripping the railing of the damn boat. Breathing hurt like a motherfucker, though.
“Where are we?”
Ares threw out the hand that wasn’t using to clutch at his nose. “Somewhere in the South Pacific. What the fuck does it matter?”
“Well, it fuckin’ matters because you’re not top side. You told me—”
Ares dropped his hand. Blood flowed from his nose and busted lip and dripped down his chin. He looked like hell.
“Look, Aeros, I lie. Get that through your head. I lie like no one’s business. But truth is I need your fucking head on straight here. We, and I mean you, me and your men, need me to find my fucking woman. And fuck her. Now. Immediately. Do you understand?”
“No. No, I don’t. I doubt you’ll convince her of that, either.”
Aeros spat blood over the side, and glared back over at Ares. Something was off. Ares was bleeding. Oh, he’d seen Ares bleed before. Whoever thought gods couldn’t bleed just wasn’t intelligent enough to feed himself. Ares cut, bleeding, and on Earth, though—that was enough to make his spine tingle. The last time he’d seen Ares this way was right before Aeros lost his life in a battle for Sparta.
“Look, I need her. Okay?” Ares held his hands up and shook his head. “Maybe I can wait a day or year or whatever to fuck her, but I need her. Now. Here. Time is running out. Did you think Tabithia could completely cure you? She saved your ass, but your life is in the balance just like mine. We need me to be with Daracha. Just tell—”
Something inside Aeros froze up like he’d been shut in a freezer. He held up a hand and glared over at his god. Speaking clearly, he said, “What are you talking about? Tabithia saved me?”
Ares rubbed both hands over his face, smearing the blood and making a mess of his face. He looked like he wore a blood mask. “She—”
“If you say anything that pisses me off, I will make your face look pretty compared to what I do to the rest of you.”
Ares blinked, grinned and a black brow rose. “All right. You and Tabithia made love, no?”
Aeros took a step, ready to do damage.
“Damn, down, boy, down. She had to—if not you’d be dead soon. I guess she hopped on that right away. The woman surprised me. She didn’t even wait the full two weeks to work up her nerve.”
Dead soon. He’d be dead if Tabithia hadn’t made love to him? A memory of her from last night rose up. She’d lowered herself down his cock while she’d watched him with half-lidded eyes. Her face had been flushed, excited, her hungry, green eyes intensely focused on his face. She’d bitten her lip when she’d taken all of him. He’d reached up and cupped her breasts, and she’d leant down, slowly running her hands up his chest to trace his lips with her fingers.
‘Never want to stop, Aeros. Can you feel me?’
She’d saved his life. But he’d done something for her as well. Warmth flooded his heart until it felt too full for his chest. She loved him. Didn’t she? He loved her. Loved her so damn much he was a goner. Goner.
“Damn, you are such a sap. She saved you. Now, let her out of your bed so she can save you again.”
She’d be worried. She was worried, he realised now, about him coming here to meet with Ares. Instincts warned him she’d been worried about him finding out she’d made love to him to save his life.
He focused back on Ares. The god of war had wiped most of the blood off his face with his T-shirt. He stood shirtless, watching Aeros with a blank look.
Ares was lying about something.
“How? How has she saved me by making love to me?”
A powerful shoulder lifted in a too casual shrug. “You were nearing your end. You needed her, I’m not sure why, but you did. She brought you something.”
Ares didn’t know, did he? He had no clue. The selfish god hadn’t ever lived. Oh, he’d fucked his way through life. Fought and fucked. But he’d not lived.
Tabithia had brought him a life.
He’d tell her as soon as he returned home. He wasn’t angry at what she’d done. How could he be? She’d given a part of herself to save him. No wonder she’d needed the pendant. His chest nearly burst with the pride and love he felt for her. Felt. For her. Tabithia. His witch. She was so fuckin’ brave.
A thought occurred, and he speared Ares with a glare.
“Men, my men. Will this happen to them?”
Ares folded his arms over his chest and frowned. The frown suggested that the thought at least worried him. “They will be fine. You’re the one who never had a life before you answered my call.”
Never had a life? Hell no, he hadn’t. He’d served Sparta.
“Answered your call? Did I have a fuckin’ choice?” he demanded.
Ares speared him with a narrow-eyed glare. “If you had, would you have not come? Not had this woman?”
“Like you knew I’d ever fucking meet her!” he bellowed and swung out again, connecting with a force he felt all the way to his shoulder.
Ares roared and hammered him down with punch after punch. He managed a few more dirty ones before they both staggered back breathless and pissed off.
“Fucking idiot. If not for me, you’d not have her. You may still not have her. Damn it, Aeros, stop!”
He swayed to the side of the boat again, gripping the side hard enough to bend the metal rail. “What the hell are you talking about, then? Explain.”
“She’s in trouble. And I’m not the one you need to talk to. You go deal with her, settle things with her and then get her to take us to Daracha, damn it. Think, man, think. If you want this woman, you need to get me mine.”
Fuck. What the hell did that mean? The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. The look in her eyes, the shadow of something in her expression, tension, something tight and hard, felt suddenly dangerous to him. What if she’d left him?
“Don’t call me again, Ares. I’ll come to you, but no more will I answer your every fucking summons. I’ve paid. More than paid. I’ll get you Dare, and we’ll see if you get what you want. Until then, leave me the fuck alone.”
“Dare?”
“She likes to call herself Dare now, and, buddy, she’s not going to take you back lightly. She’s safe and at a club. Evie’s.”
It was Aeros’ turn to grin when Ares’ face, covered still with traces of the macabre blood mask, turned pale. His fists clenched, and every muscle in the war god’s body tightened.
“Say that again?”
�
�You heard me. Whatever the fuck you have for brain cells had better start working. You’re a god, for fuck’s sakes. Act like one. She’s singing at Evie’s, and, if I understand the place correctly, even you, oh mighty war god, can’t enter unless invited.”
“Aeros, how the fuck did you let this happen? My woman is at a sex club! What the fuck were you thinking?”
Ares’ panicked roar was gratifying.
“Look, you wronged her. Tabithia saved her. Just how long were you going to punish her? For what?”
Ares glared, but didn’t speak.
“All right. Well, the woman still loves you, who knows why? Hell, all those women you had at your place and she still wants you? I’d count myself lucky to still have my balls.”
“I never fucked those women, Aeros, and you wouldn’t understand. I found her with my brother—”
“Look, whatever—”
“No! Not whatever. She’s mine. Mine alone. No one else’s.”
Aeros rubbed a wrist under his nose and came away with blood on his hand. Ares looked ready to blow again, and, right now, Aeros hurt enough to want to stall that fight.
“Well, now she’s up on stage singing for a hell of a lot of others. So maybe get a grip on that temper.”
Ares nodded tightly, his bloody mess of a face forbidding. “Fine, how do I get her back, then?”
“She wants her demands met. Tabithia told you those, remember?”
“Fuck that. I want her here. Now!”
The power in that voice nearly broke Aeros’ eardrums. “Why would you want her if she chose your brother over you?”
Ares froze in his pacing. He turned his head and stared at Aeros for several long moments.
“She didn’t choose him. He wanted her. She denies it, but—”
Holy shit. The stupid jealous bastard. Aeros watched Ares break off and turn to continue his pacing of the length of the yacht, clearly agitated.
“I was gone, I came back and she was in her home with my brother. His interest was clear—”
“Ah, shit, I’m not Oprah, man, but did she indicate she wanted him? And which brother are you talking about?”
