by Anna Edwards
Instead of being a bridge to bring us closer together, in the hope he might love me someday, it would only drive us apart.
Finally, everything I’ve been holding back breaks free. Pluto taking me against my will. Susan’s murder. Every second of torture. I don’t even attempt to stop the tears. The misery. Feeling dirty at the way he touched me. My body might be healing with godly powers but inside it will take far longer. Mental scars I’ll have to live with. The God of the Underworld won’t break me. I won’t let him. I’m a survivor. Even now I won’t let him win.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
MARS
For three days, I’ve paced up and down my apartment while Hercules and Apollo have come and gone. I’ve not been allowed to leave as they continue to repair the damage I caused with my near Armageddon. The world has recovered as best it can, and the war has already faded in the minds of the human’s to a vague memory, which possibly never happened. The magic we possess and Vicky’s abilities allow everyone to heal. I tried to call Vicky once but was overpowered and my phone smashed. What the hell do they think I’m going to do, destroy the world? Been there, done that, and don’t want to try again. I just want to speak to the woman I’m supposed to marry today. This is all wrong. She’s told me she loves me, but even though I love her back, I’ve not directly said it to her. I didn’t want to be ordered to marry her. I wanted to ask her myself. It’s all happening too fast, and I don’t feel as though I can breathe. Maybe, I should just beam myself to Tartarus, and when my father is satisfied I’m no longer a threat, come back and reunite with her. No, that's probably the most stupid idea I’ve ever had. If I were to do that, she’d never speak to me again, let alone allow me to put my cock where it needs to be, which is buried deep inside her while she whimpers my name in ecstasy. Damn I need sex. How long has it been now? Four? Five days? That would be hundred and twenty hours, seven thousand, two hundred minutes, and I’m not going there with the seconds. It’s the longest I’ve ever gone without, and since I’m not allowed to create war, I’ll have to deal with the virility side of my nature instead. Maybe, if I just take the edge off…. I shove my hand down into my jogging bottoms and wrap my fingers around my immediately hard cock. In an instant, I’m tugging at myself like a freight train speeding through a tunnel.
“Mars!” My mother’s shocked tone fills the room. I pull my hands out of my bottoms and hold them up. “What are you doing? Actually, no, don’t answer that. I don’t want to know."
“Mama?” I step toward her to embrace her, but she steps back and raises an eyebrow at me.
“Not until you’ve washed your hands.”
I place my hands at my side and look sheepishly at the ground.
“What are you doing here?” I question on my way to the sink in my bathroom. Thankfully, my rock-solid dick went from hard enough to hammer nails in to soft as a baby’s bottom as soon as my mother arrived, so walking isn’t an issue.
“It’s time. I thought Apollo would have had you dressed?” She looks toward the garment bag, which arrived earlier from some, no doubt, designer boutique. With my thoughts racing, I hadn’t had time to look.
I click my fingers, and in a flash, I’m dressed in the suit.
“Better.” My mother smirks and rubs at a speck of something on my cheek like I’m a five-year-old boy who’s about to have a photograph taken. She wrinkles her nose and sniffs the air, “When did you last shower?”
“This morning,” I answer with complete disinterest.
“That’ll have to do, then. We don’t really have time for you to shower again. I bet you are just like your brothers and didn’t use deodorant.” I lift my arm up and sniff at my pit.
“Smells alright to me.”
She rolls her eyes, and then she spots something on my dressing table and hurries over to collect it. I notice the cologne she picks up and manage to shut my mouth, just in time, before she sprays it all over me. She sniffs again.
“Much better. You need to impress your wife. This is the only first impression you’ll make as a husband, and it’ll count forever.”
I frown at her in the hope she’ll stop talking because I can see by the way her eyes glaze over she’s reliving a memory with my father, and they’re often vocalized to the detriment of my cast iron stomach.
“I remember when I first saw your father at the altar. I was so scared. He was already the most powerful of all the gods, and I was to be his wife. He wore his hair longer in those days and had it pulled back in a ponytail. His eyes lit up when he saw me, and the biggest smile crossed his face. As I walked nearer, I could smell the most amazing scent. It was all male, passion, and dominance. I gave myself to him that day, and I’ve never regretted it since. You need to make that impression on Venus and make sure she remembers this day forever."
I turn away from my mother and allow my shoulders to slump.
“She’ll remember it alright but not for the reasons you think.”
“Mars?” The long skirt of my mother’s gown swishes along the floor as she comes around me and urges me to look at her with a hand placed under my chin. “What’s wrong?”
“Everything feels so out of control. It was only a short time ago I was chasing anything in a toga to have my wicked way. Then, Vicky appeared, and I’ve not thought of anyone else since.”
“That’s a good thing,” she tries to reassure me but fails.
“But it’s also a bad thing.”
“How?”
“Because this wedding isn’t something we’ve decided together. It’s not something we’ve even spoken about nor been allowed to have any say in the planning.”
“You know why that is.”
“Because I tried to destroy the world,” I snap. “Don’t you see that makes this a punishment, not a pleasure, and not a rest of our lives decision.”
“Mars.” My mother interrupts again and places a delicate hand over mine. “She loves you.”
“I know.” I wrap my fingers around the tiny digits and squeeze them. “But does she know I love her. Have I told her so? No.” I shake my head. “Mother, please, I know Father decreed I should stay here until we’re married, but I need to speak to Vicky before that happens. I don’t want her to have any doubts in her head about marrying me. She’s been through so much and developed a strength even I’m in awe of. But I fear if this wedding goes ahead as it is, then her light will eventually fade away, no matter what I say after the event. I need to tell her beforehand.”
My mother pulls her hand away, and her gaze is taken by the diamond solitaire sparkling on her ring finger. She brings her other hand to it, slides it off, and hands it to me. I take it and look at her in confusion.
“I don’t understand.”
“Go. Quickly. I’ll cover for you with your brothers and father. You don’t have much time. Ask her in the proper way to be your wife.”
My mouth drops open.
“You’re listening to me?”
“I’ve always listened to you. You’re not evil, despite what others think. The greatest war you’ll ever inflict is the one within yourself. The daily battle you wage against your own misguided belief that because of your name you should be evil. That has never been what your war was about. Go, now.” She leans forward to place her head against my chest. I kiss the top of her head and think of Vicky.
The next thing I know, I’m standing in front of her as she sits in my bedroom in Tuscany. She’s applying makeup to her eyes, but I can see the job’s made difficult by the droplets of water forming in her eyes.
“Mars?” She spins around to face me. “What are you doing here?”
I look down from her face and notice she’s dressed only in bridal underwear–a white bra and matching panties, with stockings and garters. Holy fuck, she takes my breath away. I lick my lips to try to get some moisture in my mouth because it’s gone bone dry...and speaking of bones, my trousers weren’t this tight around the groin before.
“You look amazing,” I splutter
out, and she blushes.
“You aren’t supposed to see me before the wedding. It’s bad luck.”
“I know.” I come closer to her and kneel in front of her, taking her hand. “I’ve something I need to say to you first, though.”
“Oh.” She pulls her hand away and turns back to the mirror.
“Vicky.”
“It’s ok. I know what you’re going to say. It’s a marriage of convenience and all that. We can have lots of sex because that’s good, but you want your other consorts and can’t be tied down.”
I’m stunned into silence.
“Er...no,” I eventually manage. “That wasn’t what I was going to say.”
“It wasn’t?” She spins around to look directly at me with hopeful expectation on her face.
“Not at all. I want to marry you, today.”
“Well that’s good because I have a feeling it’s happening whether we like it or not. Your mother has catered for five thousand.”
I chuckle and take ahold of her hand, again.
“Listen, for once. No interruptions.”
“Ok.” She purses her lips together to illustrate her silence.
“I need you to know that I want to marry you today. I love you with all my heart, and by doing this, I’ll be the happiest man alive. You are my world, Vicky, Venus, my beauty, my salvation, my equal, and my passion. I couldn’t be happier right now.” I open my other hand to reveal the ring my mother gave to me moments earlier. “Will you marry me?”
A smile spreads across her face at the same time as tears start to fall from her eyes. But then I see it, the moment a thought ruins all the happiness in her body.
“I have to tell you something.” She trembles under my touch. “I can’t give you an answer until you know.”
“Tell me, what is it?” I softly urge.
She swallows deeply, more tears fall, and I let go of her hand to wipe them away.
“Vicky?”
“I’m pregnant.”
I fall back, momentarily stunned, and then I surge upward, bringing her with me at the same time. I twirl her around the room.
“A baby, we’re having a baby. A sibling for Luigi, he’s wanted one in forever. I love you so much.”
I bring my lips to hers, but she pushes me away.
“Venus?” I question.
“Pluto raped me without protection.”
The bottom of my world falls out. The woman I love is pregnant with a child, which might not be mine but her rapist’s. I consider the doubts that must be going through her head, the emotions twisting inside her as she comes up with every possible response I’ll give her to this situation. Would I hate her for it? Would I hate the child? Would I make her give the child away? Would I kill it? The last one feels like a dagger to my own heart.
I sink to my knees in front of her and place my head against her stomach. Without thinking, for this reaction is completely natural and born out of the love I have for its mother, I lean forward and kiss the child through her flat belly.
“Hello in there. I’m not good at biology, so I don’t know whether you can hear me or not. You’re mine, though, whatever. DNA speaks for nothing here. You’ll be my son or daughter, and I’ll love you as I do Luigi. Hell, if you're a little girl who looks like your mother, I’ll love you a whole lot more. You’ll have me wrapped around your finger by the time you’re three thousand years old.” I place another kiss and get to my feet. “You have nothing to worry about. This child is ours.”
“But what if it’s different when it’s born.”
I laugh, my amusement getting the better of my judgment.
“What?”
“Pluto is infertile. Proserpina saw to that the first time he took her to the Underworld. She wants no children from him, and nobody else does either.”
“So, what you just said?”
I place my finger over her lips.
“I love you. I love our child. And if it’s a girl, she’s never dating.”
It’s her turn to laugh.
“So, the question I asked.”
“What question? I’ve forgotten.” She raises a playful eyebrow at me. “Maybe you should remind me.”
I groan, knowing I’ve met my match. This woman’s my equal in every way. I drop to my knees and present her with the ring, again.
“Will you marry me?”
She doesn’t hesitate this time with her answer but wraps herself around my body and smothers me in kisses.
“Yes, yes, yes.”
Chapter Thirty
VICKY
Across the ballroom, I catch my new husband's eye. The love I feel shines from my gaze. I know everyone can see it and feel it in the energy buzzing around me. Everything’s perfect. A dream wedding. The whole day’s been flawless and planned to perfection. His mother went out of her way to make it a fairytale event.
Mars stands tall and proud in his suit at his father's side. Glass of champagne in hand, he salutes me.
Lips curving in a tempting smile, I return the gesture with my own flute. I can’t wait for us to be alone. It’s only been a few hours since we exchanged our vows, becoming tied in matrimony. With so many people attending, it’s been a non-stop whirlwind of meeting and greeting. We’ve barely had a second to ourselves.
Taking a sip of the bubbly liquid, I recall the heat in Mars’ eyes as we faced each other in front of the altar. He loves me. All my fears and worries have melted away with his pledge from a few hours before.
Luigi is beside his mother as she chats with some guests. Although he’s still pale from his ordeal in the Underworld, he made a handsome ring bearer. Strong like his father, but it’ll take time for him to heal from the ordeal Pluto put him through. Both of us carry inner scars unseen by the eye. Ones that will eventually mend through love.
Sighing deeply, my happy smile widens as Mars’ mother sweeps up to my side. “Thank you for everything. You’ve made it a magical day.” The ring he proposed to me with glitters on my finger.
“Oh, my dear, I’m happy to see you’ve opened your hearts to each other at last,” she says with a quick affectionate hug. “I knew it would work out in the end. Welcome to the family.”
“To you, Venus. Our new sister.” Apollo toasts as he and Hercules join us. “We expect no less from you than to keep Mars on his toes,” he teases.
“Busy in the bedroom you mean,” my husband replies from behind me. Slipping his arms around my waist, he pulls me back into the safety of his arms. “If I have my way, you won’t be seeing us for the next century or so.”
Tilting my head to the side, I meet his brown, piercing eyes. “Is that a decree?”
“As my new wife, you're supposed to cherish and obey me.”
“Well, I never did like rules.”
Lips kiss my bare shoulder. “I’m sure I could find a way to persuade you.”
Biting my lip, his touch sends lust bursting inside me with a neediness that never abates when he’s around. “I think you might just have to.”
Plucking the glass from my hand, Hercules rolls his eyes. “You two love birds better go find a room. The way our brother’s staring at you, he’ll take you here on the floor, and I very much doubt you’ll want that on the wedding video.”
Apollo laughs as I blush.
“There’s still the cake to cut,” their mother protests.
Turning me around, Mars steals some kisses. “We’ll be back before that,” he promises. “I know I’ll never hear the end of it if we’re not.”
Giggling with excitement, I don’t hesitate as he leads me through the crowded room.
“Are you sure it’s ok to leave?” I ask, chancing a glance back at the guests.
“They won’t miss us, my Beauty. I need to have you now, or I’ll lose my mind. I’ve never been without sex this long.”
“Oh really?”
Tugging me through a door, tingles dance up and down my skin. In the next instant, we’re standing in the deserted Coliseum. B
elow us, the center is bathed in pale moonlight.
He’s such a romantic.
“Yes.”
“Someone might catch us,” I tell him, the thought instantly soaking my panties.
“The security cameras won’t pick us up, and we have fifteen minutes before the guard returns from his break.” Cupping my cheeks, his mouth crashes down, taking no hostages. I moan in response. He tastes of power and spice.
Walking me backward, my arms wind around his neck as my back meets the cold surface of a pillar.
Mars looms over me. I can feel the desperation in his kiss. The need.
Lips still locked, he bends to lift the skirts of my dress, bunching them up at my waist.
“Are you sure?” he asks. “I don’t want to rush you. If you’re not ready to be intimate again we can wait.”
I blink back tears. Even now he’s only thinking of me. Worried after everything that’s happened.
“Please, Mars, don’t hold back. I need you. Make me forget and give me happier memories to blot out the bad ones.”
Hands curling under my thighs, he lifts me. "Only good ones from now on. I promise you."
I don’t need any urging to wrap them around his lean hips. Tangling my fingers in his hair, I urge the kiss deeper.
“You're so beautiful,” he mutters feverishly, one hand releasing its hold as he scatters kisses over my cheeks and nose. “I’m the luckiest god alive.”
Hearing the sound of a zipper being lowered, I squirm with the desire for him to fill me.
Mars doesn’t disappoint. Hooking my panties to one side, with one hard thrust, he spears me on the end of his cock. Our groans mingle, filling the sultry Rome air, in mutual satisfaction. Pushing deeper, he doesn’t stop until he is balls deep.
“My wife.” Urging me to move, he sets a rough pace to our love making that leaves me in no doubt he’s been thinking about this moment for days. “My love. My heart. I vow to keep you at my side for eternity. There’s no one else for me but you.”