Softly, I brushed a curl off a burnt patch of skin on his forehead. He stirred, and I quickly withdrew my hand. But then his eyes cracked open, and he smiled up at me, and the defenses I’d built against him suddenlycracked.
He wound his hand around mine, tugged it to his lips, and kissed my palm.
“You’re all right,” he murmured against my skin. Chills swept down my arm.
“Thanks to you,” I said softly. “You went against Zeus’s orders.”
“I told you I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“But what about our fates? You must have known the beasts couldn’t kill me since…”
“Fuck our fates. I’ll never stand aside while you’re in danger.”
I swallowed, suddenly feeling a bit nervous. He had that heated look in his eye again, despite the pain he must be feeling. Despite the rift this must have caused with the vampire king who’d saved him from the streets.
And so I began to ramble. “What happened after, do you know? How did we get here? Where is my blade? I should probably talk to Orpheus. And what about Athena? The last thing I saw was—”
“Athena is fine.” He gently wrapped his hands around my waist and tugged me toward him. “I don’t want to focus on any of that right now. I want to focus on your lips and your touch and the way your body feels against mine.”
My heart thundered so hard, I could barely think. “Ares.”
“Tell me you don’t want this. Tell me you don’t want me, and I’ll never bring it up again.” He dragged his thumb across my bottom lip, making my breath catch. “But if you do, for the love of whatever god you serve, let me show you exactly how much I’m willing to rip up our fates and watch them burn.”
It wasn’t possible to do that, and he knew it. But that didn’t matter right now.
What mattered was this: I wanted to feel alive. I wanted to abandon all reason and give in to the instinctual pull I felt toward him. No one had ever looked at me the way he did. It made me feel seen, like he knew me, despite how hard I tried to hide who I was from the world. The darkness in me, my sharpest edges. The bits of me my mother had tried so hard to buff away.
Trembling, I eased into his touch. But he waited for my answer, not fully drawing me near.
“I want this,” I whispered. “But what about our fate?”
“I believe we have always been destined for each other. Whether it’s for love or death remains to be seen. But I will promise you this, I will fight against death every step of the way.”
Heart pounding, I let him pull me onto his chest. My hair tumbled over my shoulders, spilling across his skin. He’d forgone a shirt during sleep, and the hard planes on him pressed against my breasts.
“You are so beautiful.” He gazed up at me with naked adoration. Then his hand slid around the back of my neck, and he pulled my mouth down to his.
His lips were soft but hungry. I kissed him, letting my legs slide onto either side of his hips. Groaning, his fingers skimmed my thighs, sparking heat and desperate need in my core. As I lay there, sprawled on top of him, I let go of all my tension. I let go of all the fear and the anger so that all I felt was him.
I banished everything else from my mind, focusing on the salty taste of his lips and the hint of blood on his tongue. As if he sensed my growing need, he skated his fangs across my mouth. Goosebumps cascaded over me. His nostrils flared, scenting me.
He hummed against me, a deep sound that sent another wave of goosebumps across my bare skin. And then he took his fangs and dragged them across my neck, digging deeper and deeper into my skin. I trembled, and as if driven by some carnal instinct, I arched against him. I drove my thighs against his hips.
His hard length pressed into me, and a groan spilled from his mouth. He clutched my waist tighter, and he ground me against him once more, lifting his hips to meet mine. I shuddered at the delicious heat the friction caused.
But I wanted more. Ineededmore. This barest of touches wasn’t nearly enough.
Ares pulled back with a feral look in his eye. In one fluid motion, he flipped me onto my back and tossed the silken sheets to the other side of the bed. His linen sleep trousers hung low on his waist, revealing the ridges along his hips. As he gazed down at me, I reached up and traced those lines and the outline of his tattoo, exploring him, learning him, feeling the way his muscles flexed at my touch.
“You are going to make me lose my mind if you keep that up,” he said in a gruff voice.
“Good.” I smiled up at him. “I want you to abandon all restraint. Show me every part of you, Ares. I want to know it all.”
“If that means I can spend all day buried inside you, scenting you and tasting the heat between your thighs, I will gladly forswear sanity.” He cupped my cheek.
I sucked in a breath, my heart pounding. Ares slipped a finger beneath my blouse and tugged it down until he could see the curves of my breasts. And then, with a wicked curl of his lips, he pulled it down the rest of the way. Cool air whispered across my bare skin, tightening my nipple. Ares dropped his head to my chest and gently kissed me.
I arched against him, overcome by need. His tongue swept across me, tasting me, teasing me, making me fully lose all sense of control. A moan curled from my throat. That seemed to only encourage him.
