“Loved that,” she murmured huskily with a smile in her voice and pressed a kiss to his temple. “Love you.”
Ares found the strength to pull back again and looked deep into her eyes. “Love you too.”
He kissed her again and she wrapped her arms and legs around him, holding him against her in a way that said she would never let him go.
He was hers now.
Forever.
Ares eased his hips back and withdrew from her, and set her down in the shower. She pouted at him and then smiled again.
“No fiery problems?” she said and he shook his head, only just realising that he had made love to her and not once had his power pushed for control or hurt her.
He grinned.
At least some things in his life were looking good.
He picked up the shower gel, squeezed some onto his palm and rubbed them together, forming lather. He stepped towards Megan and she frowned at his hands.
“You’re not getting your own back.” She held her hands up but it didn’t stop him.
He pressed his soapy palms to her breasts and she moaned, cursing him softly.
It was only fair.
She had driven him crazy by washing him and she needed cleaning too.
He skimmed his hands over her, taking his time, enjoying the slippery feel of her beneath his palms. When he reached the apex of her thighs, she huffed and gently pushed him away, chastising him with a glare that didn’t last.
Her smile broke through again.
She turned off the shower and he stepped out, giving her room to exit the cubicle too. She picked up a towel and looked as though she was going to dry him off so he took it from her and concentrated to keep his mood calm. She frowned.
“Towels and me have a rocky relationship,” he said and understanding dawned in her eyes.
“Does that mean you won’t be drying me?”
Ares groaned and his control slipped. The water on his hands evaporated and her eyes shot to them. He focused and reined his fire back, tamping it down and forcing himself to relax.
“I can do that.” He stepped towards her and focused on her beautiful body as he dried her from head to toe, paying close attention to her breasts and her shapely legs.
He reached her feet and paused to press a kiss to her stomach. She giggled and ran her fingers over his hair, down the curve of his ear and under his jaw. He rose to his feet before her, obeying her silent command, wrapped the towel around her, tucking it closed between her breasts, and then kissed her.
His fire faded, a gentle burn in his blood, placid and under control.
It still astounded him whenever it did that.
Megan deepened the kiss, threatening to test the limits of his ability to control his power around her. He pulled away and her smile was beautiful.
“Slow it is. I like it when we go slow.” There was mischief in her eyes again and he loved it.
This woman would never stop tying him in knots or bringing him to his knees with just a look. He was a fool for her.
Gods, he was just like his father after all, willing to do anything for the woman he loved, weak for her and only her.
She breezed past him and he grabbed one of the towels, dried himself off, and then wrapped it around his waist.
He followed her out of the bathroom. She wasn’t in the living room. Cold air flowed over his bare chest. He looked to his left, towards the bedroom, and found Megan on the balcony, wearing his navy robe.
He padded across the wooden floor to her and stepped out onto the balcony behind her. She glanced over her shoulder at him, the wet ribbons of her hair obscuring part of her face but not hiding her tender smile.
He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her back against his front, savouring the feel of her there, safe in his embrace, with him.
He rested his chin on top of her head and stared out at the dark city stretching before him.
It flickered between this world and the otherworld.
The buildings were no longer rubble but they were still ruins, parts of them destroyed and smoking in the fiery darkness. The trees in the park burned brightly, the flames reaching high into the air. Screams of mortals suffering and shrieks filled the air, and the coppery stench of daemon was strong, choking him.
Amaury was dead but Ares’s city still burned, the destruction only slightly reversed and not for long. A building crumbled in the distance, black smoke billowing upwards and along the streets, blotting out the fires and smothering the screams.
War was on the horizon.
The enemy had made its first move and it wouldn’t be long before they made their next one.
Ares pulled Megan closer to him and looked down at her, seeing her in this world, safe in his embrace.
No matter what happened, he would always protect her.
He held her to him, needing to feel her in his arms.
He would never give this up.
Cars rushed by below them and the cold night air carried the scent of rain again. Warm lights dotted the perfect skyscrapers and snaked through the dark swath of the park.
He would fight to protect his gate and those of his brothers, not only to protect the Underworld, not anymore. He would fight to protect Megan’s world because she had become his world now, and his place was beside her in this one.
He would fight for her.
He stared out at the city and it flickered to the future, and another building collapsed and burned bright in the red darkness.
Megan turned in his arms, pressed her palms to his chest, and kissed him, and he knew he wasn’t alone in his feelings.
They would fight for their world.
They would fight against the growing darkness together, side by side, with the aid of his brothers.
They would fight for their forever.
And that fight started now.
The End
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Felicity Heaton is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author who writes passionate paranormal romance books. In her books, she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons!
If you're a fan of paranormal romance authors Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter, Larissa Ione and Christine Feehan then you will enjoy her books too.
If you love your angels a little dark and wicked, her best-selling Her Angel romance series is for you. If you like strong, powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm romance series or any of her stand alone vampire romance books. If you’re looking for vampire romances that are sinful, passionate and erotic then try her Vampire Erotic Theatre romance series. Or if you like hot-blooded alpha heroes who will let nothing stand in the way of them claiming their destined woman then try her Eternal Mates series. It’s packed with sexy heroes in a world populated by elves, vampires, fae, demons, shifters, and more. If sexy Greek gods with incredible powers battling to save our world and their home in the Underworld are more your thing, then be sure to step into the world of Guardians of Hades.
In 2011, five of her six paranormal romance books received Top Pick awards from Night Owl Reviews and Forbidden Blood was nominated as Best PNR Vampire Romance 2011 at The Romance Reviews. In 2012, she was awarded the GraveTells Author of the Year Award, and Heart of Darkness was announced as a 2013 Epic Ebook Awards finalist in the Paranormal Romance category. Many of her books receive five star reviews from readers and review sites alike.
To see her other novels, visit: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk
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PARANORMAL ROMANCE BOOKS BY FELICITY HEATON
Stories in the Guardians of Hades romance series
Book 1: Ares
Book 2: Valen - Coming in 2017
Stories in the Eternal Mates romance series
Book 1: Kissed by a Dark Prince
Book 2: Claimed by a Demon King
Book 3: Tempted by a Rogue Prince
Book 4: Hunted by a Jaguar
Book 5: Craved by an Alpha
Book 6: Bitten by a Hellcat
Book 7: Taken by a Dragon
Book 8: Marked by an Assassin
Book 9: Possessed by a Dark Warrior
Book 10: Awakened by a Demoness
Book 11: Haunted by the King of Death
Stories in the Vampire Erotic Theatre romance series
Book 1: Covet
Book 2: Crave
Book 3: Seduce
Book 4: Enslave
Book 5: Bewitch
Book 6: Unleash
Stories in the Her Angel romance series
Book 1: Her Dark Angel
Book 2: Her Fallen Angel
Book 3: Her Warrior Angel
Book 4: Her Guardian Angel
Book 5: Her Demonic Angel
Book 6: Her Wicked Angel
Book 7: Her Avenging Angel
Book 8: Her Sinful Angel
Stories in the Vampires Realm romance series
Book 1: Prophecy: Child of Light
Book 2: Prophecy: Caelestis & Aurorea
Book 3: Prophecy: Dark Moon Rising
Book 3.1: Spellbound
Book 3.5: Reunion
Book 4: Seventh Circle
Book 5: Winter's Kiss
Book 6: Hunter's Moon
Book 7: Masquerade
Book 8: Hunger
Books 1-3 are also available in one anthology ebook: Prophecy Trilogy
Stories in the In Heat romance series
Book 1: In Heat
Book 2: In Heat: Mating Call
Stand alone paranormal romance books
Blood and Snow
Love Immortal
Ascension
Forbidden Blood
Heart of Darkness
Vampire for Christmas
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2016 Felicity Heaton
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written consent of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
The right of Felicity Heaton to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First printed November 2016
First Edition
Layout and design by Felicity Heaton
All characters in this publication are purely fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Cover by Felicity Heaton
Ares Page 35