Designed by Death

by Melody Rose

  “I’m not quite sure myself as to what it means,” Arges admitted. “But I feel that as his only living offspring, you should do everything in your power to find him. Do you not want to?”

  I blinked at the question, taken aback. I had thought about meeting him, sure. What young child didn’t? But I’d resigned myself to the fact that it was just my mom and me for so long that the desire in me waned. Then, when I found out he was a god, I thought I might get the chance. I didn’t know why it hadn’t been a priority to find him. A part of me always assumed that I would go in search of him after I graduated from the Academy.

  But maybe I needed to consider finding him sooner than that.

  22

  “Am I interrupting something?” a familiar voice rang out through the cavern smithy.

  Immediately, my head snapped up at the sound of Ansel’s voice, real and close. The sadness dissolved at the prospect of seeing his handsome face again. This time, the tools actually left my hands, clattering against the anvil with a rattle. I stepped around Agres and ventured towards the mouth of the cave.

  There he stood, backlit by the sun beginning to descend into the ocean. He looked magnificent in his all-black uniform sans orange sash. When our eyes met, Ansel’s face broke into the widest, goofiest grin. I didn’t waste a second. I dashed forward and leaped into his arms, wrapping myself around his broad frame. Unknowingly, I was up in the air and twisted my legs around him. The soldier held me steady and close as I planted a kiss on him.

  His lips were warm, tasting of salt with a hint of chocolate. I lost myself in his embrace, comforted by his presence and his touch. His hands roamed all over my back while still holding me up. I ran my fingers through his golden hair, scraping my long nails along his scalp. Ansel moaned into my mouth at my constant strokes, and I felt him harden against me.

  Just then, a cough echoed through the cave. It stilled the both of us and reminded us where we were. As much as it felt like it, we were, in fact, not the only two in the world at that moment.

  I unhooked my lips from Ansel’s and looked over my shoulder to see a grumpy cyclops shooting my boyfriend and me a skeptical glare. I licked my lips, getting one last taste of Ansel before the soldier loosened his grip on me, and I slid back to the ground, safe on my own two feet.

  I coughed amidst the awkwardness and adjusted my positioning so that I was next to Ansel and facing Arges. I made the proper introductions.

  “Arges, this is Ansel, son of Apollo. Ansel, this is Arges. Cyclops and Blacksmith,” I added because I realized just then that I didn’t know the proper way to introduce the monster.

  Ansel moved forward to shake Arges’s hand, but the cyclops just eyed Ansel’s hands with skepticism. Quickly, Ansel’s smile fell, and he lowered his hand, stepping back into place beside me.

  “Cheyenne tells me you have the ability to control sun fire?” Arges asked as though this were a police interrogation.

  “Yes sir,” Ansel answered in his soldier voice. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at the unnecessary formality. I knew both of these beings better than this. But for some reason, Arges felt the need to intimidate my boyfriend.

  “Show me,” Arges challenged.

  “Really?” I snapped. “You don’t trust me?”

  “I want to see it for myself,” Arges countered as he crossed his muscular arms, flexing as he did so. I felt Ansel’s body tense next to me and grabbed his hand in order to reassure him. With his free hand, the Fotia soldier raised it and snapped. A small flame appeared atop his thumb and pointer finger.

  Arges stomped closer and leaned over with a critical eye. He glared at the flame as those he was trying to look right through it.

  “Is that good enough for you?” I asked, not bothering to hide the exasperation in my voice.

  “Hmph,” Arges grunted. He straightened himself back up to his full and albeit intimidating height. “We’ll see. I hesitate to leave the two of you alone, but I need to help Phae prepare dinner. For our guest.” His voice bit down on the last three words as though it were painful to say them. Arges purposefully walked between the two of us, and we had to step away in order to allow enough space for him to do so. The cyclops reached the entrance of the cave and turned back over his shoulder to offer us one last command.

  “I expect to see a prototype of the helm before dinner,” Arges warned. “That should take you most of the evening.”

  With that ominous statement, the cyclops left us in the smithy. Completely and utterly, alone.

  “How have you worked with that guy all this time?” Ansel asked me as he stuck his thumb out over his shoulder. “He seems like a real delight.”

  “He is fine when you get to know him,” I offered with a shrug. “But definitely takes some getting used to.”

  “To be fair, the only cyclops I’ve met are ones I have had to fight, so I might be biased,” Ansel said with a glance back towards the entrance, as though Arges was spying on us as we spoke.

  “Arges isn’t like that,” I assured my boyfriend. “He’s not a danger to us.” I tugged on Ansel’s arm and pulled him further into the cave. “Come and see this workshop. It’s amazing!”

  Ansel followed me into the smithy, a small smile appearing on his face as he watched my enthusiasm. The smile brightened and widened as I danced about the workshop, showing off this tool and that machine. I even flicked on the overhead conveyor system to which he appropriately oohed and ahhed. After my short tour, I stood in the center of the smithy and held out my arms, spreading them wide and proud.

  “So that’s where I’ve been working,” I concluded.

  “It seems right up your alley,” Ansel said, the smile never leaving his face.

  “Wait until you see the rest of the property!” I cooed.

  “I saw a lot of it when I drove over it,” Ansel explained, as he stuck his hands in his pockets. “It’s pretty spectacular.”

  “I’ve grown quite fond of it,” I said, realizing the words as I said them aloud. I had been on Arges’s villa for several weeks, and even though it had been a frustrating struggle at times, I really did enjoy being here.

  “Italy looks good on you,” Ansel said as he stepped closer to me, leading with his pelvis before pulling his hands out of his pockets and snaking them around my waist.

  “Oh yeah?” I asked, my voice unintentionally breathy. I tilted my head back so I could stare in his green eyes, which looked like emeralds in this dark cavern. Gods, he was so attractive.

  “You’re all giddy and geeking out.” Ansel swayed our bodies as though we were dancing, but to what beat, I wasn’t sure. “You’re so beautiful when you’re happy.”

  A blush flushed my cheeks instantly at his words. I lowered my lashes and ran my hands up and down his torso, finally resting them on his chest. He pulled me closer so that our bodies were pressed together, so close they seemed to meld into one another. Ansel leaned down and whispered up against my lips.

  “I missed you.”

  “I missed you too,” I agreed, finally giving in to his intoxicating presence and kissing him fiercely.

  My hands traced the lines of his pecs and ran up so I could wrap them around his neck as he leaned forward. My back bent backward like a gymnast, but I couldn’t even feel the discomfort because I was too focused on the sensations his tongue gave me.

  He slipped in through my teeth and stroked mine with practiced precision. It was a familiar move, and I melted into it with ease. That hint of chocolate came back mixed with a smoky scent as I reminded myself to breathe through my nose. But then I forgot to breathe altogether when one of his hands trailed up my spine, up my shirt, and teased my nerves with his fingertips the whole way up. The other roamed down towards my ass and cupped me, pulling my lower body closer to his.

  Automatically our bodies knew what to do. They rubbed against one another as his mouth detached from mine so it could plant kisses along my neck. My skin blazed with heat when he did this. I leaned my head back to give hi
m access to as much skin as possible.

  When he nipped at my collarbone with his teeth, my eyes popped open in pleasure-filled surprise. However, once my vision cleared, I remembered where we were, and the spell broke. The whole scene shattered like broken glass, and my blood ran cold.

  Ansel noticed my sudden detachment because he stopped his trail of kisses and moved so he could look me in the eye. “What is it?” he asked, worry all over his face. “Did I bite you too hard? Normally you like that--”

  “No, it’s not that,” I assured him quickly. “That was… fantastic,” I let myself enjoy the memory of the moment. That was clearly a mistake because Ansel took that as an encouragement to continue.

  “Then why…” he said between soft, feather-like kisses, “did… you stop?”

  “Because as much as I want this-- Ooh!” I moaned as he pulled at the collar of my shirt, trying to get access to the tops of my breasts. “We can’t. Not here.”

  Ansel fully stopped then, as though he finally took stock of where we were too. “Oh, I get it,” he said with a knowing nod. “You never wanted to do it in your smithy at the Academy either. Well, is there somewhere else we can go? Your room, perhaps?”

  I released a frustrated groan. I wanted to push him out of the smithy, head down to the beach, and take him in the crystal blue waters, or… Hell, that would take too long. I’d just take him right there on the workbench, but I knew we weren’t going to have time.

  “We have to make the helm,” I said through gritted teeth.

  Ansel’s face fell. “The cyclops was serious?”

  “His name is Arges, and he was dead serious,” I said as I detangled my limbs from his. The throbbing in my heart and between my legs protested loudly as I did so, but I pushed reason and rationality to the forefront of my thoughts. “He will be really upset if we don’t have something to show him before dinner.”

  “Okay, we can stop,” Ansel paused dramatically and then bounced his eyebrows up and down. “For now.”

  “Oh?” I teased, turning away from him, so I wasn’t tempted to run into his arms again. “Did you have something planned after dinner?”

  “Not after dinner,” Ansel answered, his voice husky and tempting me even though I now stood three feet from him, it would only take two steps to close that gap. “If I’m not mistaken, the cyclops said the helm would take us most of the time to finish.”

  I picked up on his meaning. Then I grabbed a smaller rounded hammer and waved it at him with a smirk. “I’m picking up on what you’re putting down, Ballas. Let’s get started so we can get done sooner.”

  “Yes ma’am,” Ansel said, offering me a salute. “You’re in charge. Tell me what I need to do.”

  “I need you to heat things up in here,” I said as I crouched down to grab the necessary supplies. When I looked up, I saw Ansel staring at me with wide eyes and raised eyebrows. It took me a second to realize what I had actually said.

  “No!” I exclaimed, embarrassed by my unintentional innuendo. “Not like that! Jeez, Ansel. I need you to light the forge using your sun fire.”

  “Right,” Ansel said, drawing out the word into two syllables, his suspicion showing. Despite his supposed grievances, he still did as I asked.

  The son of Apollo walked over to the forge and stuck his hand right inside of it. Suddenly, a bright yellow fire appeared at the tip of his middle finger. Slowly, as though he were slipping on a glove, the fire cascaded down his fingers, past his knuckles, and up to his wrist. Then Ansel reached down and dug his hand into the coals. After a few moments, the sun fire spread throughout the coals, and a fire surged in the forge.

  Ansel retracted his hand, and the sun that encompassed his skin went out. “Well, if that’s all you need me for, I think I’m going to head down to the beach.”

  “No!” I cried, standing from my spot on the floor and grabbed his hand. “I still need you.”

  “I thought this was your thing,” Ansel said with a raised eyebrow. “The smithing thing. You just needed me to light your fire.”

  I resisted the urge to respond to his double meaning comment. “I thought we could…” I bit my lip, suddenly nervous to ask him.

  “Yes?” Ansel prompted.

  “I thought we could make the helm together,” I offered, my words coming out in a rush. “I need an extra set of hands, and I thought… well, I thought I could use yours.”

  As I spoke about his hands, I ran my own over his callused skin, a sign of his hours spent training with weapons. I rubbed my thumb over the top of his hand and then kissed each one affectionately.

  “I suppose I could help you,” Ansel relented. Even though his voice may have sounded exasperated, I knew that it wasn’t true. He was just excited to spend time with me, in whatever way that might be.

  We started with heating up the metal to make it more malleable. Ansel stood behind me, watching as I turned the steel in the forge, glowing white against his golden sun fire. I felt his breath on my neck as I explained the next steps in the process.

  I took the metal out and brought it over to the anvil. “Would you like to try?” I offered.

  “Why don’t you show me?” Ansel replied, a smirk playing at the corner of his lips. I wanted to know what he was up to because I could see the wheels turning behind his eyes.

  “Okay,” I said as I cleared my throat. “We’re going to shape the metal around the long round part of the anvil. So you just start pounding.”

  I raised my arm and swung. After a couple of solid slams, Ansel moved, so that he was directly behind me.

  “I think you should try it like this,” he said, whispering seductively in my ear. As he spoke, he slid his hand down my arm and wrapped his hand around mine. We clutched the hammer together, and he pressed his front into my back. He wrapped around me like a blanket, and I leaned my head against his chest. Just for a moment, I breathed him in. Right in the seconds before we swung the hammer down, I enjoyed the security of him, his protection. While I wasn’t ever a woman to crave a man that could guard me like I knew Ansel could, it was a reassurance that he had my back and would always push me forward.

  In tandem, we swung the hammer.

  We worked together like this over the next two hours as we molded the helm into the shape needed.

  It was as though we were dancing. Our movements were so fluid and in sync. He followed my every direction, but soon, Ansel fell into his own rhythm as he made one side of the helm, and I worked on the other. Together we alternated our hammer hits, making a symphony of creation.

  I loved having him near me. Every so often, I would reach across him unnecessarily for a tool, or he would graze my arm. A squeeze on my shoulder, a kiss on my cheek. All of our little stolen touches and signs of affection continued throughout our making session.

  It was as though I were a tea kettle, ready to whistle as he turned up the heat bit by bit with each touch, nip, and nuzzle. Despite all of our teasing, we were rather productive when creating the helm. While I would have thought his presence would have distracted me, as it was known to do, he motivated me. Ansel’s encouragements were the best fuel I needed to continue this project. For the first time since learning how to make armor, I felt confident in what I had learned and in the process.

  His presence was the last push I needed to make the helm as perfect as it could be.

  The sun dipped behind the water, leaving only the light of the torches in the cavern. I stood with my back against Ansel’s chest as we admired our creation as it sat on the anvil.

  The helm was simple in its design, nothing flashy like a skull mask or any intricate carving in the sides of it. The sides clipped right at the jawline, narrowing down towards the chin. The face opening was in the shape of an “M” with a small widow’s peak coming to sit right between the soldier’s eyebrows. There were two parallel rows of bolts that hold the two halves together, one side made by Ansel and the other made by me. It wasn’t the most spectacular thing that I had ever made, but it wa
s one of the items I was most proud of. The complexity and detail required when rounding out the metal and forming it to the human skull were exquisite.

  “Damn,” Ansel whispered in my ear. “That’s a good-looking helmet if I do say so myself.”

  “Thanks,” I said as I tipped my head this way and that to look at our creation from all angles. “I had a good apprentice.”

  Ansel leaned his head down and inhaled my hair. His breath tickled my neck, causing goosebumps to cascade down my spine. “I had a good teacher. Say, do you think that it’s wrong for a student to sleep with his teacher?”

  “Ansel,” I moaned in protest. “We have, like, two minutes until dinner.”

  “We’ll be late,” Ansel said before he wrapped his arms around me and slid them inside of my shirt, fingertips roaming up my belly. His mouth kissed the soft space between my jawbone and my ear.

  I let myself fall into his embrace. I arched my back against him, pushing my breast forward as his hands cupped around the outside of my bra. My shirt was just getting in the way at this point, so I took the second away from him in order to rip it off over my head.

  Ansel quickly followed suit. My back pressed into his sculpted chest, and I reached my hands so I could grab something of him. As much as I loved this position because it gave him full access to my breasts, which he played with masterfully, I didn’t have access to any of his delicious parts. I wanted to spin around and kiss down his torso, unhook his pants, and keep going down, but he pinned me against him, preventing me from going anywhere.

  My boyfriend pushed the cups of my bra so that it raised up my exposed breasts, making them appear plumper and fuller than they actually were. He rolled the tip of my nipple with his thumb while he pinched the other. I squirmed in his grip, to which Ansel snickered gleefully.

  I noticed that if I rose up on my toes, my ass pressed right against his thick bulge. That gave me some bit of power over the situation, allowing me to excite him more. So I rubbed myself against him, in time with his teasing rolls along my nipple.