I had no idea what I was doing. This was insanity. Being here like this, even in the bath, went against everything I knew and believed about myself. Touching him, desperately wanting him…it felt treasonous.
And yet I did not tell him to stop.
Instead, I angled my wrist his way so that he could see the pale blue veins pulsing beneath my skin.
He bared his canines, his breath hitching. A delicious sense of satisfaction stole through me. If I could makehimbe the one who felt reckless with desire, then I wouldn’t have to feel like I was doing something wrong. We were playing a game, that was all. And I would win it.
Tensed, Ares pressed his lips to my wrist. Droplets of water hit my skin, falling from his curly strands. His teeth nicked my arm, and a flash of pain followed. I breathed out slowly. I’d never actually had someone drink from me like this, other than when I’d found Hestia. As the princess, I’d been off-limits. And as the High Queen, no one dared.
And this certainly felt different from when I’d fed Hestia. That had been about survival. This was…
I didn’t know what it was.
Gently—more gently than I would have imagined possible—Ares sliced into my wrist. Pain raked through me, brutal and sharp. I cried out, arching my back. Instantly, Ares pulled back. My blood painted his lips.
“Did I hurt you?” he asked.
I steadied my breathing. “Yes, but it’s fine. Drink.”
His eyes searched mine. “Are you certain? Despite what you think, I don’t actually want to hurt you, Selene.”
“I said drink,” I whispered.
I pushed up onto my toes and lifted my arm to his lips. The water vanished from my shoulders, exposing the top curves of my breasts. A hungry look tore across his face. Mouth capturing my wrist, he dug his teeth into my skin again.
This time, I was more prepared. The sharp pain stole my breath, but it soon faded. And the look on his face, the naked hunger as his lips moved across my skin, captivated me. His tongue danced along my wrist, and I shuddered.
A groan emerged from his throat, and he clutched my arm tighter. Whatever heat I thought I’d felt before was nothing compared to now. An ache tightened between my thighs, and my ears roared.
There was nothing between us. Nothing but steam and water and empty air. All I had to do was reach out, and my fingers would brush his chest. Shuddering, I nearly did just that.
My mind screamed at me to stop. This was Ares. He’d rather see me dead than alive. But that wasn’t exactly true anymore, was it? We’d found some common ground out there in the woods. It wasn’t much, but wassomething.
And then Atropos’s gifted fate echoed in my head, reminding me of exactly why I shouldn’t be doing this.
Three times, he would attempt to kill me, and he’d only tried once so far. Surely it would not be long before he tried a second time. He’d fail again, but it didn’t matter. It was the fact he would try. It was difficult to look at him now and reconcile that.
It made me wonder exactly what was going through his head. He was good at pretending. That was the entire reason we were in his rooms in the first place. The desire I thought I saw in him—it was nothing but another lie.
And all I wanted was for it to be the truth.
36
SELENE
Reluctantly, I pulled away from him. As soon as I gave the smallest tugs, he extracted his fangs and dropped my hand. It took me a moment to steady myself. Ares had not taken much of my blood, but the small loss left me light-headed. That and the soft caress of his tongue and the desire I swore I could scent in him.
“I think,” I said, my breathing shallow, “I’m clean enough now. I would like to go to bed.”
He searched my gaze. “All right, Selene.”
A part of me had expected him to argue or even question my sudden change of heart. I’d invited him to drink from me, after all. But he merely returned to his side of the bath and said nothing.
“I put a towel on the floor next to where you entered the bath,” he called out when I swam to the other side again. And sure enough, when I reached the edge, I spotted a folded towel waiting for me.
It was so unexpectedly thoughtful. But it was also a lie.
I couldn’t forget that it was a lie.
