Now, she couldn’t get the thought of it out of her mind. It was warm, the sun was setting, and the world around them was silent. It felt as though they were the only people in the world.
She bit her lip, feeling a little wicked and a heck of a lot excited.
She wanted Ares and she was going to have him.
Right here. Right now.
CHAPTER 22
Megan ran her hands over Ares’s jean-clad thighs and up his hips. She delved under his thick jumper and t-shirt, and moaned as she reached skin. She traced the ridge of his hips, delighting in the feel of his body beneath her fingers, and then continued upwards, until her hands met in the middle of his stomach. She still couldn’t get over his physique.
The man was sex on legs, a god in all ways.
She purred at the feel of his muscles and he groaned, pulled her back to him and kissed her hard.
She had enjoyed the times they had been gentle with each other, taking things slowly and learning each other’s bodies, but it was the times when she pushed him over the edge that she had loved the most. He was always so hungry for her, his kisses relaying a desperate sense of urgency that echoed within her, as though he couldn’t get enough and needed more, would never be satisfied.
She looped her legs around his waist and pushed his jumper and t-shirt up. She wanted to see his body as well as touch it. He leaned back, ditched her backpack and yanked his tops off, letting them fall onto the pillion of the bike. His muscles shifted, tensing and stretching, relaxing as he moved, and she drank in the delicious sight of him.
He settled his hands on her waist again and stared at her, and she raked her eyes over him, tracking her gaze with her fingers as she followed the curves of his muscles up his arms to his shoulders. She focused on his left one when she felt the pronounced marking beneath her fingertips and tilted her head to one side and traced the tattoo.
It flowed over his biceps and the top curve of his shoulder, and it looked darker than she remembered.
Was it just the evening light or did it change colour like his eyes did on occasion?
She leaned in and kissed it, and he caught her around the nape of her neck and brought her mouth to his, capturing her lips in a fierce kiss. She moaned into his mouth and he leaned over her, pressing her back into the fuel tank. His hands shifted beneath her jumper, pushing it up to reveal her breasts, and he bent his head and kissed them through her bra.
She wanted more.
She tugged the cups down to reveal her breasts and he instantly swooped on her right nipple, tugging it into his warm mouth. She moaned and flexed her hips, rubbing against him and cursing her jeans and his. She wanted to feel him against her.
He teased her nipple with his teeth and she clutched the back of his head, holding him against her, and loosed another moan. His fingers tweaked her left nipple, torturing it into a hard peak, and she strained for more. The back of her head hit the instruments on the bike but she didn’t feel the pain. She only felt pleasure as Ares devoured her breasts, his low groans rumbling through her and his strong hands working her to a frenzy.
“More,” she husked, desperate for him to take things further, hungry to have him inside her again.
He didn’t give it to her.
She made a noise born of frustration, tangled her fingers in his overlong tawny hair and pulled him off her. She sat up and kissed him again, silencing him with it before he could say anything. Her other hand trailed down his body and she groaned again, the feel of his hard packed muscles causing her desire to spike. She curled her fingers, lightly raking her short nails down his stomach, and he growled, grabbed her around the back, and dragged her hard against him. His stomach and chest pressed against hers with each hard breath he drew and she rocked her hips against him, needing more.
She released his hair and decided it was time to take what she wanted, because she felt as if she would die if she waited any longer.
She skimmed her palms down his chest, kissing him the whole time, and stopped at his belt. His kisses slowed. She made swift work of his belt and the buttons on his black jeans, angled her hand and slid it into his underwear, and moaned at the first caress of his hard length against her palm.
He was silk and steel beneath her fingers, and she wriggled, slick with arousal and hungry for him.
He groaned and shoved her onto her back again, the force of his actions knocking the breath from her but sending her desire soaring at the same time.
This was the side of him she had come to love the most.
The one who seized command but always left her humming with satisfaction.
He glared at her jeans and attacked them, pulling her belt open and unzipping them, grabbing and tugging them down, and she almost fell off the bike when he yanked them under her backside. She locked her hands around the handlebars behind her and held on as he pulled her trainers off and her jeans quickly followed them.
“Want you,” she whispered, surprised at the sound of her desire-drenched voice.
His eyes darkened and he groaned. “Gods.”
She settled her bare legs either side of his and then lifted one foot and ran it along the beautiful length of his rigid cock. It flexed against his stomach and he moaned again, the muscles in his jaw popping and his eyes darkening another shade, verging on black. Red spots appeared in them and her heart fluttered, excitement rushing through her.
“Want me?” She ran her toes up his erection.
He grabbed her ankle, pulled her legs apart and buried himself in her heat in one swift hard stroke.
She cried out and arched against the fuel tank.
“Yes,” he muttered into her ear and grasped her bare backside, raising her off the seat.
He leaned over her and kissed her breasts as he withdrew and slowly thrust back into her core.
A moan escaped her and she gripped the handlebars, stopping herself from sliding off the bike. She looped her legs around his back, her knees against his underarms, and tilted her head back, giving herself over to the pleasure flowing through her veins. He suckled her nipple and held on to her bottom as he thrust into her, hips flexing and driving him home.
She closed her eyes and focused on where their bodies joined.
It felt so good as he stretched her tightly around his cock, withdrawing almost all the way out of her before sliding back in, slowly and deeply, driving her out of her mind. She flexed around him, tensing and clenching him, tearing a low growl from his throat.
“Megan,” he moaned against her breast and kissed across to the other one, lavishing it with attention as he plunged into her, hitting her deep in her core.
She lowered her feet, pressed them against the passenger seat behind him, and pushed off him, countering his thrusts, riding him as he rode her, taking them both higher. He groaned and thrust harder and she wanted to touch him, wanted to feel his powerful body flexing as he moved inside her. She sank her teeth into her lower lip and tensed again, and he jerked forwards, slamming hard into her, and groaned.
He grasped her harder, fingers pressing into her bottom, and quickened his pace, long fast strokes that threatened to have her screaming his name before long.
She reached for release with him, raising her backside higher and spreading her legs so he could drive deeper into her, taking all of her. He grunted against her chest and pumped harder, faster, his tempo matching the frenzy in her blood. She moaned and joined him, thrusting down as he thrust up into her, their breathy murmurs of pleasure mingling in the evening air.
He rolled her nipple between his teeth and she cried out, unable to contain the burst of pleasure. He bit again, harder this time, and she quivered, close to the edge. A few more thrusts and she would be there. She couldn’t stop herself from seeking them, riding him harder, forcing him to move quicker and deeper. He growled again and she clenched him, tearing a strangled moan from his throat.
She liked that sound.
She kept her body tensed around him, gloving him tightl
y, and his thrusts turned jerky, his breath coming in rapid short bursts against her chest. He grunted with each plunge of his length into her, his pelvis hitting her aroused nub with each meeting of their hips, and she arched her back, her grip on the handlebars tightening.
So close.
She tensed her whole body and cried out his name as he thrust to the hilt and pleasure slammed through her, sending her thighs quivering and heart bursting into overdrive.
He curled his hips and kept pumping into her, taking her higher and drawing out her climax. She tried to keep her body tensed, wanted him to find the same mind-blowing release that she had experienced, but the bliss running through her was too good to deny and she melted into the bike.
His hips jerked forwards, slamming him to the hilt inside her, and he grunted as he climaxed, pumping his hot seed into her core. She moaned with him as he gave a few short thrusts, the feel of his length throbbing adding to her pleasure, and then released her death-grip on the motorcycle and wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he settled over her, his head resting on her chest.
His hot breath skimmed across her stomach and she smiled and looked down at him as she stroked his hair from his face. He was smiling too, his eyes closed and expression one of bliss.
She kept stroking his hair, losing track of time as she watched him and slowly came down from the high of making love with him.
The sun was close to setting when he finally lifted his head and looked at her. He pressed kisses to her stomach, his eyes locked on hers, red flecks shining in them.
She knew right then that she would follow him anywhere, just as she had thought earlier. She would go with him to the Underworld so they could be happy and be together with nothing standing between them.
He withdrew from her and tucked himself away. She blushed and slipped down from the bike, and dressed, tugging on her blue jeans and rearranging her tops. She shoved her feet back into her trainers and was about to tie her laces when he caught her around the waist and pulled her back onto the bike, so she was sitting side-saddle on his thighs. He kissed her, slow and deep, each sweep of his lips laced with affection that stole her breath and made her feel light inside.
The sun bathed the sky in gold and pink, warming the world and making her wonder whether she had ever had a moment this perfect in her life or would ever experience one like it again.
Ares wrapped his arms around her and pressed his cheek to the top of her head, and she looked out over the sloping vineyard to the setting sun. She leaned her head against his shoulder and savoured the feel of him holding her, basking in the warmth of his affection.
Her heart trembled, nerves threatening to silence her, but she fought them and let the words slip out.
“I love you,” she whispered and waited, pulse ticking in her throat.
And there it was, words she had thought she would never say, and she was saying them to a god of the Underworld.
A very silent god of the Underworld.
Damn. Had she moved too fast?
She drew back and looked up at him.
Red blotted out the brown in his irises but they weren’t hard with anger or any negative emotion.
She had never seen them so warm and affectionate. Desire and love shone in them, heating her down to her heart and easing the erratic beat of it as calm washed through her.
His eyes darted between hers, as though he needed to see in them that she had really just said that she loved him.
Megan lifted her hand and stroked his cheek. His eyes and his expression told her that he needed to hear it again, needed to see her lips move with the words, in order to believe she had said them.
“I love you,” she whispered again.
He frowned, tightened his grip on her, squeezing her against his chest, and spoke in his strange language.
Her ears hurt and she flinched away, unable to cover them because his grip on her restrained her arms. His look softened and turned apologetic. He raised one hand to her face and smoothed his palm over her cheek, settling his fingers along the curve of her jaw, and his red eyes held hers, flickering gold in places, mesmerizing her.
“I love you,” he husked and then dipped his head, tilted her chin up, and kissed her hard.
The ground shook.
At first, she thought it was a delayed reaction to him speaking the language of the Underworld, but the trembling grew worse, until she was forced to hold on to Ares to stop herself from sliding off his lap.
He wrapped his arms around her and growled, the sound so feral and vicious that she hid in his arms, afraid of what was happening.
Her eyes widened.
The ground in the vineyard below her split, the jagged fault line racing up the hill directly towards her.
She tensed in his protective embrace and curled up, afraid that the earth was going to swallow them both, and didn’t breathe a sigh of relief even when the fault line stopped metres from them.
Her breath lodged in her throat, mind unable to comprehend what she was seeing.
The vines grew into tall twisted trees and the ground beneath them rose, both sides of the rift rising up until they formed a steep hill. The ground continued to shake and Ares continued to growl, holding her close to him the whole time. The split down the middle of the vine-scattered hill widened, revealing darkness in its core, and a terrifying cacophony of strange screams burst out of it on a rush of cold wind.
Megan squeezed her eyes shut and hid against his chest.
What the heck was happening?
“Do that steppy thing.”
“No,” came the stern reply and she peered up at him.
There was no anger or fear in his fiery eyes, only resolve.
She looked down the slope to the small jagged hill and the dark cave it embraced.
A sound like beating drums emanated from it, together with low echoing shrieks. Her heart beat painfully hard against her chest and she squeezed his arm, shaking him in an attempt to make him move. She didn’t want to face whatever was coming out of that hole in the earth.
A black hoof appeared, followed by another, forming the shape of a huge dark beast with glowing red eyes. A horse, but not like any she had seen before. It was immense, larger than any horse from this world, and it had a friend, an equally as black equine with bright crimson eyes. The two horses moved forwards, slower than should have been possible, as though someone had slowed down time. They tossed their heads, their black manes catching in the cold breeze coming from behind them and flowing forwards.
Two more huge horses appeared behind them and then another shape formed in the shadowy darkness.
Megan’s heart stopped beating.
A man.
The shadows clung to him and the distance between them stole details but she could still make out his tall noble form and his pale handsome face. His black cloak melted into the darkness as he raised an onyx gloved hand with fingers tipped with points like claws and the horses halted, the first pair in the light.
He remained in the shadows, the light of the sun not touching him.
Red eyes met hers and she shrank back as a sense of power slammed into her.
Ares’s arms tightened around her and she looked up at him, seeing the striking resemblance in their eyes.
The horses shifted, kicking at the earth, and whinnied. She could feel the man’s eyes on her still, boring into her, and she didn’t want to look at him. His gaze unsettled her. Heck, it terrified her.
She felt it move away and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He was too far away to make out any real detail about his features but she didn’t need to see him clearly to know who he was. Keras looked much like him, lithe and handsome, pale and dark at the same time.
Megan frowned as the man slowly turned his head, his black crown melting into his equally dark hair at the base but the long curved spikes reflecting what little light penetrated the darkness. Someone moved beside him and her gaze darted there.
A woman.
She walked past the horses and out into the evening light.
Megan stared, a jealous hiss echoing in her mind.
The woman was beautiful and flawless, youthful in appearance and with skin as clear as milk. Long red hair flowed over her shoulders, curling at the ends, a stark shade against the sheer layers of her corseted black dress. She approached slowly, her steps light and her green eyes glittering, fixed on Megan.
Megan lowered hers.
The woman’s feet were bare but that wasn’t what shocked her. Red poppies and blue cornflowers sprung from the pale golden earth around the woman as she walked, erupting and blooming in a heartbeat, bright and colourful, and beautiful.
Ares leaned back and held Megan closer. She looked up at him again. He was still staring at the man, a wary edge to his red eyes.
The woman halted a few metres down the slope, halfway between the dark horses and them.
She spoke and Megan covered her ears, wincing as they hurt. Ares spoke back to her in the same strange language.
The man remained in the shadows, the huge horses restless and wild, their red eyes matching his. He stared at her, unwavering, menacing. She shivered and felt Ares’s attention shift to her.
He snarled in the direction of the man.
“Ares,” the woman said and Megan’s eyes widened at the beautiful soft melody of her voice. “Your father means her no harm, and you know that.”
“Why is Father here?” Ares didn’t relinquish his hold on her or move his glare away from the man he had called his father.
Megan didn’t want to look at him again but her eyes ignored her commands and shifted back to him. He stared at her still.
“You know in your heart why.” The woman tilted her head, looking back over her slender shoulder. “Hades is concerned. You spoke our language. What you said—”
Ares Page 30