A Spartan's Kiss

by Billi Jean

  Trouble placed her palms on the counter top, forming a kind of circle by bending her fingers inward. Gazing down, she continued in a low voice.

  “A circle, Tabithia, we live and die within a circle of our own making. Sometimes that circle reaches out and bites those closest to you, harming them and thereby harming you.”

  Trouble stalked to the other side of the kitchen and turned to slash her hand through the air.

  “You were taken by the same man who raped me. The same man who took my son. I didn’t kill him, you see. I made him impotent. Unable to do more than desire, crave, but not reach fulfilment ever again. I took his wife and made her want with a burning, vicious need any man who looked at her with lust.”

  Trouble laughed, a broken, half-sobbing sound, before she went on to whisper, “He killed her within weeks.”

  Eyes bright, her aunt hugged herself around the middle and hunched over and leant back against the stainless steel refrigerator. “Then he came for us. But we had moved, you see. We travelled much like gypsies, only for us moving wasn’t so much a way of life, as a way to save our lives. Your mother met your father on such a move. They bonded within days and nine months later, you brought your shining light into our world.”

  She broke off again, staring into the darkness beyond her windows until Tabithia almost went to her, almost interrupted, but when Tabithia opened her mouth, Trouble continued.

  “I’d forgotten all but my own pain, my own rage, and my own suffering. But when I looked upon you, oh, goddess, when I saw you, so small, so pure, something inside me broke and all the sorrow poured out, cleansing me in its own way.” She turned on the last and stared over at Tabithia. “You did that. You brought me closure. My own son was taken from me and died. Yet, your life cleared my vision so that I could grieve. With it, some of my pain receded.”

  Tears poured down Tabithia’s face, blurring Trouble’s painful expression. Without conscious thought, Tabithia reached out and pulled Trouble close, hugging her tight enough to break her, but afraid to let her go, afraid to see the pain and sorrow any longer.

  The things Trouble said, what she’d endured, how could her aunt carry on? How could she smile, joke, live? Circerran. She’d renamed herself. Tabithia remembered her aunt’s cocky grin when Sorcha called her Circerran that last time. Trouble had shrugged, running a hand through Tabithia’s hair and laughed.

  “I think we’ll let Circerran go, sister. I like trouble, so Trouble it will be.”

  Sorcha had sat speechless, Tabithia remembered, too indignant to respond. Trouble had laughed harder and sauntered out for another night of trouble. The image was so strong, so clear, Tabithia shook with sorrow. Circerran had made mistakes, had gone through so much pain, that she’d simply refused to dwell on her memories. She’d chosen the cocky name for that reason.

  “I failed you, Tabbie-cat. I failed you then, when you were taken, and I failed you again when I couldn’t stop your mother from walking off into the storm. But I didn’t fail you when I killed that bastard. And I won’t fail you now.”

  Trouble shoved Tabithia back so hard that Tabithia stumbled and her back hit the stove painfully. Trouble gripped her arms, shaking her fiercely.

  “Do you hear me? You will love Aeros. You will stop cutting yourself. You will put the pain you endured behind you, and you will turn to your future.”

  “How can I do that? How can you say that? What will Aeros think of me? What will he—?”

  “He knows. He knows, Tabbie, I showed him.”

  Ice filled every inch of Tabithia’s veins, pouring coldness into her body at a rate she was certain would kill her. “What? You did what?”

  Trouble nodded, her eyes blazing bright green. “I showed him.”

  It was Tabithia’s turn to shove Trouble. “How dare you! You showed him what that monster did to me—”

  Trouble stumbled back, another stricken look crossing her face before she wiped it clean and replaced it with a determined expression that Tabithia rarely saw directed at herself.

  “No, goddess, I don’t even know what that bastard did to you! You’ve never told me. You never said.”

  Breathless, Tabithia tried to grapple with her anger. “Then you told him, what? That I cut myself?”

  “No.” Trouble hissed the word and just when Tabithia would have sighed in relief Trouble said, “I showed him. I let him see you cutting yourself so that he would know what you did, who you are, and what he needed to get through to you. So far, he has done well. But tell me, Tabbie, why today? Why cut yourself today?”

  “I can’t believe you! How dare you. When did you—? Damn it, Trouble, when did you—?”

  “After you left Evie’s upset. I had a little chat with him.”

  Holy shit. Before Aeros had slept with her. He’d still slept with her. He’d cuddled her, loved her with his body, walked with her, yes, and stumbled over his feet over her.

  “I don’t understand. Why…? I mean, why—?”

  “Tabithia, he loves you.”

  She scoffed even as her heart soared.

  “He loves you. You love him.”

  She couldn’t deny she loved him, but did he love her?

  “Listen, I have no idea what you are thinking, but listen to me. I love you. Sorcha loves you. Your mother died of grief over losing you—”

  “Uh, excuse me.”

  They both spun in place to see Dare standing in Trouble’s kitchen, her hands up in a gesture of protection.

  “Who the—?”

  “Dare. Trouble, this is Dare, the godhead,” Tabithia said. “How did you find me?”

  Dare shrugged and glanced at Trouble, biting her lip and twirling her short chestnut hair on her finger. “I can always find you.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “There’s trouble. Ares is pounding on the club doors to get in.”

  Trouble murmured, “Oh, shit.”

  ‘Oh, shit’ didn’t cover it.

  “Aeros went to tell him where you were. I guess that things didn’t go so well. Er, I mean, maybe I should—” Tabithia halted when Trouble gripped her arm.

  “Call him, Tabithia. Call him. Now. End this and call him.”

  “End what?” Dare asked, looking scared spitless by Trouble’s obvious temper.

  Trouble dropped her arm and turned to Dare with a look Tab knew would not bode well for Dare’s little plan. “Not you. You are going to have to step up and play the game. If you want to punish your lover boy, well, get your ass back on that stage and shake it. Got it?”

  Trouble didn’t wait on a response. She turned and walked away, calling over her shoulder, “I’m showering. Enough of this shit, ladies. Get hip or hit it.”

  As soon as she was out of sight, Dare coughed in her fist. “Get hip or hit what?”

  “The road. As in don’t come back.”

  Tabithia took a deep breath and pulled out her phone. She did a check on her nerves and found them calm, a bit quivery from everything that had happened, but right now all she wanted was…

  Aeros.

  She wanted him so badly it hurt.

  “I’m calling Aeros. Can you do this? Sing and all that? Still want your demands?”

  Dare reached out and gripped her hand, squeezing it tightly, and smiled.

  “Yes, you call Aeros. He loves you. He’s worried over you. Call him. I can…get hip. I know what to do. Thank you, Tabithia. Thank you.”

  She kissed Tabithia on the cheek, startling her, before pulling away and vanishing.

  The witch had travel skills! Shit. That sucked.

  Tabithia’s phone vibrated in her hand a second before the ring tone hit her ears. One glance at the screen, and she smiled so big it hurt.

  Aeros.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Aeros stood outside his LA home and stared at his phone. He should call her. Act normal. Pretend nothing was wrong. Taking a deep breath, he counted to ten and released it. Slowly, he dialled her number. What if she wa
s still in her closet? Still harming herself? Leaving her home had been the hardest thing he’d ever done in a long life of hardship. He barely remembered walking out and had no idea if he had even shut the door.

  The phone rang once, twice, and he held his breath until with a whoosh it left him at the sound of Tabithia’s voice in his ear.

  “Aeros! Ares is at the club. We have to get over there and—”

  “Tabithia, hold on, slow down.” His brain struggled to process the excited quality of her voice and the meaning of her words at the same time.

  She sounded pleased to hear from him. Should he ask where she was?

  “I can’t. Aeros, we need to move it. I’m in LA at my aunt’s. Can you meet me at the club? And, oh, shit, I need to get hold of Sammie. We were supposed to meet her, and Aeros, we… I mean, I… I need to talk to you.”

  Ah, shit. What did that mean? She needed to talk to him?

  She rushed on before he had a chance to speak. “But not now. We promised Sammie we’d be at One Eye’s, and your jerk of a…” He heard her pause, then hurry on. “Well, anyway, whatever Ares is, he’s messing things up, isn’t he?”

  Relief flooded his senses so badly he sank back to lean into his SUV.

  “Aeros? Are you there? Where are you? Can you use that spell once more? Does it have any juice left? Otherwise—”

  “I’m in LA, Tabithia. You weren’t home, so I came here. I was worried.”

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered so softly he could barely hear her. She sounded sad now, and that was the last thing he wanted. She wanted to talk. He’d meet her and they’d talk. Could he tell her he knew she harmed herself?

  “Tabithia, we can simply go to One Eye’s to meet your friend. We don’t need to go to Evie’s. Your friend is protected, and, trust me, I spoke to Ares. He knows the deal now. He had”—how to explain the insecurities of a god? He hardly believed it—“issues.”

  Tabithia was silent for several long seconds, then she huffed a laugh. She sounded happy. Had she missed him?

  “Huh, ya think? He, like, imprisoned her forever and shaved her head, for God’s sake. I mean, who does that? And then he brought over women—”

  He interrupted her rant with a grin. “I need to see you. I don’t want to talk on this phone. I want you. Now.”

  She was silent for a long, intense moment, then murmured, “Um, okay.”

  “I missed you. I wanted you with me. Not out there alone.”

  “Aeros, I—”

  “No, I will come to you. Stay there. Where you are.”

  “I’m getting on my bike now. I’ll be at the south end hub. Meet me there, okay?”

  South end hub. He knew the place, but…

  “No, meet me here and we’ll head out to meet your friend together. If Ares is still being an ass, we’ll go afterward to Evie’s and straighten things out.”

  He heard her bike start up and winced. Gods, he hated her on that bike.

  Over the sound of her engine she said, “All right. That works better. Maybe we can take your big SUV?”

  Now why did that question make his cock twitch? “Yes, anything you want, sweetheart.”

  “Oh, interesting. Anything I want, huh?” Her purring tone had him hard as stone within seconds.

  “Tabithia, be careful.”

  “I am always careful, Sparkie. Later. Five minutes, okay?”

  Five minutes. She sounded excited. To see him? Did this mean she needed to cut herself to feel better before seeing him? Or that after she cut herself she could be happy? Had she been happy in his home? With him?

  Gods, he needed answers. He wanted to hold her close and never let her go.

  “Ten minutes. Be careful.” He couldn’t help saying it again. She laughed and disconnected, but not before he heard her tyres squeal.

  He hated that bike and her on it. She drove too fast and took too many risks. He needed to protect her.

  The house was empty. He knew the men had all taken their downtime, except for Aaron who’d gone to the council in his stead. For now, his second could take over for him. He needed to secure Tabithia. Make sure she was safe. The bedroom was still rumpled and well used from their day here. The pendant caught his eye. They’d left it on the bedside table.

  A plan took root and grew. If he couldn’t love her enough to help her stop hurting herself, maybe he could tell her to stop. Order her.

  Tabithia hated his orders.

  But he hated the thought of her hurting.

  Could he order her hurts away?

  * * * *

  Ten minutes to the second, Tabithia pulled up to Aeros’ LA mansion, her heart racing and her nerves quaking. He’d known all this time that she cut herself. He’d not simply heard she sliced her skin, but had seen her cutting herself. Her most shameful secret, the most cowardly, sick thing she did, and he knew.

  She knew one thing about Trouble—her aunt didn’t lie. She didn’t candy-coat anything. The truth hurt at times, she always said, but the truth of their words was sometimes the only thing they could claim as theirs.

  Trouble had taken away Tabithia’s biggest obstacle in loving Aeros.

  The knowledge freaked Tabithia out so badly she felt like her stomach would never settle down, yet she felt suddenly okay. Now that he knew the most shameful stuff, and still he wanted her, had wanted her the entire time, she somehow seemed free from what she had done. What held her back, she thought suddenly, from being with him, having him?

  She parked her bike, her hands trembled alarmingly but she wasn’t sure if it was nerves or fear. Both maybe.

  “Tabithia!”

  She turned, nearly knocked off her feet by Aeros’ hug. He raised her up and spun her in a circle, smiling up at her, like he’d done before. The breath whooshed out of her to make room for all the happiness filling her. Then she registered his face. He was bruised, his perfect bottom lip bloody and a big cut bleeding down his jaw.

  “Ah, goddess! What happened to you? Aeros, put me down. Oh, gods, should I call Sorcha?”

  “Tabithia, it’s nothing, baby. I beat the hell out of Ares for talking to you alone.”

  Her eyes widened into disbelief. “You did what?” Happiness threatened to burst past her throat and spill out all over them.

  ‘He can heal you.’

  Yeah, she guessed he could. Did. Had? Maybe. He’d beaten up a god? For her?

  “Tabithia, I’ll kill anyone that ever threatens you. Kiss me, you took too long.” He eased her down his strong, warm body slow enough for her to get a good idea just how much he’d missed her.

  “I didn’t take too long, and I was careful. Wasn’t that what you said? Be careful?”

  She cupped his face, skimming her hands over his hurts and murmuring a childhood spell to ease the bruises.

  He grinned and captured her fingers and kissed her fingertips. She smiled up at him and couldn’t hold back the need to feel him again. Surprising her, he grabbed her close at the same time she tugged him down to kiss him for all she was worth. His lips parted under hers, and she dived in, exploring him boldly, loving how his big arms tightened around her as if she might try to escape. She kissed him until, with a groan, he turned them and pressed her back up against something, the garage, the SUV, she didn’t care. She only felt—felt him, big and strong, hard and so perfect, against her, wanting her as much as he always had.

  He lifted his head then kissed her again, barely moving back once more to stare down at her.

  His dark gaze held hers mesmerised as he murmured, “Never leave again.” He lifted a hand from around her waist and smoothed his hand through her hair. “Don’t leave again.”

  She smiled up at him—what else could she do?

  “Aeros, I’ve been gone for only a few hours.”

  Half of her worried he knew exactly what she’d been doing, but the other half simply was too thrilled to have him back in her arms to care.

  “A few hours too long. Tabithia, I’ve lived for centuries alone. I d
on’t want to be alone any longer.”

  “Oh,” she breathed out the breathy sound and barely kept off the oh my.

  He let her feet touch the ground but kept her plastered to his big chest, simply caressing her back and hair. “So this club, One Eye’s. You go there often.”

  It wasn’t a question, but she sensed his uneasiness.

  “I used to.”

  He still looked like he wanted to say something, so she shrugged in his embrace and rubbed his chest.

  “I was alone, too. Not centuries, but…alone all the same.”

  “And now you are with me.” He nodded as if that was enough.

  Surely, he’d heard rumours of her partying. She knew he had. But all he did was nod and accept her. Would he always?

  When she stayed silent, he brushed a tender kiss to her lips. “We’ll fill both our lives, eh?”

  Warmth heated her chest. “Yes, I suppose we will, if you can stand me.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “Stand you? I can’t stand not to have you. I want you right now, Tabithia. Always.” He pressed the rigid length of his erection against her hip. “Always. But I want more than sex from you. I want that nap you promised. I want to see you eat. I want to see you sleeping in my bed. I want you, woman. You.”

  The breath left her in another small whoosh. His passionate words, his intense expression and firm grip on her like he’d never let her go, did odd things to her. Happiness bubbled up, and she squealed, unable to keep the sound inside any longer.

  “I want you too, Aeros. I always have, I think.” She reached up on tiptoe and kissed his jaw. He was all bristly again, but she loved the shadowy beard against her lips. And her thighs.

  “Damn, sweetheart.” He gripped her butt and dragged one leg up to press her her tight to his body. “I want you now, but I am thinking you’re going to make me wait, aren’t you?”

  Tabithia ran her hands over his shoulders and breathed him in. Samantha was waiting. They had to go and help her out with the demon, Agni, then maybe…

  “We should go and help Sammie out.”