OF WAR Anthology Novels 1-3

by Lisa Beth Darling

Alena brought out bags full of colorfully wrapped gifts almost all of them with Raven’s name and placed them under the tree while Ares watched. She was like a little elf all a titter and a light with her bare feet seeming to float around the room on a cushion of air. She stuffed the stockings and took a bite out of the cookies Raven left for Santa. He knew what he wanted her to leave under the tree for him. “You’re beautiful; did you know that, Mrs. Claus?” Ares tore his eyes away from her to look around the room and saw that everything was perfect. The Fortress glittered and glimmered from ceiling to floor with candle light. Garlands of holly and evergreens, handmade by the lady before him, graced every hearth and every mirror in the place. The smell of fresh cookies and fresh pine made the God of War feel all warm and fuzzy inside. “Santa never had it so good.”

  “You’re quite handsome yourself, Mr. Claus.” Almost all of her tasks complete she floated over to his side and wrapped her arms around his taut torso. “I love you, thank you for letting me do this.”

  It was true he hadn’t been all in favor of the idea when she first brought it to him but now he was glad he’d given in to her as he always did. Alena was half-fey and half-human, she celebrated Christmas and Yule but the Olympians didn’t observe either holiday. Spending most of her life among the mortals she grew very attached to their customs and what she called ‘the spirit of the season’. “Oh, anytime.”

  “Come here,” she whispered devilishly and led him to the burning hearth, “stick your foot in there.”

  Ares looked down to where she was pointing, “In the ash bucket?”

  “Yes, go on, do it.”

  Not knowing what she was up to, he planted a big booted foot into the ashes. “Now what?”

  “Now take it out and put the other one in, walk from the hearth to the tree.”

  It took another moment before Ares got it, “Very clever, my Wife. Santa’s foot prints. Raven will love it.” With ash clinging to his boots, Ares took careful steps from the marble hearth to the glittering Christmas tree. “How’s that?”

  “Perfect!” She exclaimed as her face lit up. Yes, Raven was going to be astonished by that tomorrow morning. “One more thing!” With a waving hand, she beckoned him back to her side and made him stick his thumb into the ashes and then pick up Raven’s note leaving his thumb print behind.

  “Aren’t the devious one, huh? I never knew this about you.” Yes, it was devious, cunning, and underhanded but in the best of all possible ways which also made it guilt-free fun. Then again, he imagined Alena had waited an unusually long time to do all of this for a child of her own. Undoubtedly, she made her Christmases in the refugee camp as bright as she could for the children there and had great fun shopping and decorating for her students when she was in Boston. This was the first she was able to do it for her own Son and Ares was thrilled he was here to witness it and play a part in her schemes. His thumbprint firmly stamped on the paper he looked down at the plate left for Santa. “Do I get to eat the cookies too?”

  Alena handed him the glass of milk to get another print and watched him take a swallow before putting it next to the plate of cookies. “Not all of them, you have to leave some crumbs.”

  Clearing the soot off his thumb by wiping it on his leather pants before picking up the first cookie, he looked over at the tree and all of the presents below in their odd shapes, sizes, ribbons, bows, and bright paper. “Any of those for me?”

  “I thought you didn’t like Christmas or Yule,” she teased.

  “Well, ya know, just to make it all appear real…for Raven.”

  “For Raven, yes, I see.” Alena glanced toward the tree and then back at Ares with a wicked little grin, “Maybe one or two or three things under there might have your name on them.”

  “What? Let me guess. Aftershave? No, wait, you got me an electric razor.”

  Alena reached up to the well-trimmed beard on his face, “Don’t you dare,” she whispered as she ran her fingertips through the soft hair on his cheeks clearing away a few errant cookie crumbs.

  “Neck tie?”

  “Oh yeah, I’m sure you’d love a new neck tie. But no, darn, that slipped my mind. Sorry.”

  “Bummer,” Ares whispered as his arms slipped around her, “Since Raven got to open a gift tonight I’d say only fair that I get to do the same.”

  “Do you now? Well, I don’t know about that.”

  With her in his arms, he looked around the room again and began shaking his head. “My, my, my. Seems with all you’ve done it’s still not perfect.”

  Alena pulled away from him, turned around, and took in the room. “What?”

  “You’ve forgotten the most important part, my Wife.”

  She did? No, she didn’t.

  Trees? Check.

  Presents? Check.

  Garlands? Check.

  Cookies? Check.

  As her mind feverishly searched for what she’d missed, a small bit of fluffy white and green came into her view and she felt relief as a smile broke out on her pretty face. “What’s that?”

  “Mistletoe, I believe there’s some Mortal custom about standing beneath it and then being forced into kissing.”

  Alena glanced upward over her shoulder to take him in and marveled at how handsome he was. “Forced? How terrible.”

  “Awful,” Ares holding the mistletoe over their heads with one hand and pulling her in close with the other. He lowered his head for the kiss he’d been waiting for all night. When their lips he was not disappointed but encouraged to probe deeper with his tongue and grasp the soft red velvet surrounding her tighter as the mistletoe fell to the marble floor and he grabbed her with both arms turning her fully around to face him. Her heart raced against his stomach, even through the velvet, he felt it as she pressed against him and reached up to grab handfuls of midnight hair. “You know, if you’re lucky,” Ares said breathlessly as their lips parted, “I think I might have a candy cane around here for you to suck on.”

  “Oh, really? I love candy canes,” she winked up at him as she bit down on her lower lip, “where oh where could it be? Over there by the tree?”

  Ares shook his head, “No,” ran his hand through her silver hair. “Guess again.”

  “Did you put it in my stocking?”

  “Not yet.” That made Alena giggle like a schoolgirl. He always loved it when that titter graced his ears.

  The hands still entwining in his hair let the strands curl around a few more times before slowly descending over his neck and then running across his chest. Her hands shook and quaked with delight every time she touched him she couldn’t stop it and didn’t want to. “I know where you’ve hidden it,” she whispered and let her hands slide down his firm flanks to the waistband of the leather pants. “Yes, I think I can find it.” She watched him lick his lips and his eyebrow raise as he gazed down at her. “Is it…here?” His eyes rolled back in his head and then closed as she grabbed a thick handful of his growing package. “Yes, I found it.”

  “I think you need to unwrap it,” he encouraged trying to retain himself. Alena had been so busy this past week shopping, decorating, wrapping, and baking, that they hadn’t made love. Ares was just about bursting at the seams.

  “That’s the best part.” Still with a handful of hardening cock, she led him over to his Throne of Bones and sat him down. For a moment, she hesitated wondering if they shouldn’t take their little Christmas Eve Party upstairs to their bedroom, Raven could wake and come down here for a peek to see if Santa had arrived.

  “I’ll seal his door shut if you want,” Ares said as though reading her mind. “But I think he’s not waking until morning.”

  “Good,” Alena chimed and dismissed Raven from further thought until morning as she slid the black tunic over his head to expose the brawny hairy chest she loved so much. Like those quaking fingers she could never help, she couldn’t stop the sparkle in her eyes when she took him in this way. Kissing her way from hardening nipple to hardening nipple and then down that
wonderfully taut happy trail her fingers deftly untied the leather crisscross keeping her from her goal.

  Opening the front of his tight leather pants, Ares let out a long sigh of relief as his throbbing cock found the air and freedom. Soft kisses on the tip and then she was taking the pants the rest of the way down. Ares obliged and assisted by lifting his hips off the Throne of Bones letting her glide them past his firm ass and then down those long legs to the floor. Kisses went with them, down the length of his right leg and then up the length of his inner left thigh until the tip of her nose nuzzled against his balls and her steamy breath made his cock twitch with anticipation. Then a tiny sound met his acute ears, one he couldn’t place, and there was a wicked gleam in her gray eyes. “What have you got up your sleeve?”

  “Nothing,” she whispered and kept the small vial she’d called to her hand hidden. “Close your eyes.” Ares eased back on the Throne of Bones and closed his dark eyes as she asked. Alena put a little of the contents of the vial on her lips and a touch on her fingertips before she took him into her mouth. The instant she did so, his eyes flew open again as his cock tingled so deeply it lit up every nerve in his brawny body. His hips lifted off the throne as his hands clamped on down on the bony armrests. Letting her lips slid up his long thick shaft she smiled for him, “You said you had a candy cane for me, its peppermint oil.”

  “Nice touch, very Christmassy,” he gasped, “wow.”

  “I try to think of everything,” Alena lowered her head over his pulsing cock and took him down her throat until her nose was deeply buried in that soft/coarse patch of hair between his legs. Taking him all the way down was no easy feat, History held that Ares had the largest cock ever to grace the face of the Earth and from what she could see and feel that was true. She could wrap both hands around it like a baseball bat and still not cover the whole shaft. One hand greedily massaging his burgeoning balls and the other lightly scratching and kneading the crevice between his pecs it wasn’t long before the God of War offered up the first hot load of the night. The eruption that gushed from his pulsing cock came in a long flood of molten liquid that hit her tongue the back of her throat to linger the softly sweet taste of dark Bing cherries in her mouth. “How’s that Santa? Better?” She whispered against the slightly shaft resting in her hand as she licked the last of his offering away.

  “Definitely off to a great start,” Ares agreed and tried to catch his breath even as he reached down for her bringing her up to his naked lap with the crimson velvet and soft white fur brushing against his sensitive skin. “You promised I could unwrap a present. This is the one I want.” Gently sliding his strong across her cheek where her tongue reached out to lick the back of his hand, his fingers fell upon her shoulders and the velvet. Slowly he pushed it aside to reveal her alabaster shoulder and a red bra strap. Satin that shimmered in the firelight. “More surprises for me?”

  “A few perhaps,” she cooed in a whispered tease.

  “I like it,” he couldn’t wait to see what else was under there so he didn’t. Ares pushed the long flowing velvet cloak from her slender shoulders and down past the curve of her waist to take in the sight of the red satin push-up bra holding those perky breasts out for his hungry eyes to feast upon. “Oh, yes, I like this.”

  “I thought you might.” She moved in close, nuzzled her lips against the nape of his neck and started kissing him but Ares sat her up again.

  “I’m not done unwrapping,” he protested, “I know there’s more under there…for me.”

  Holding the floor length cloak tight just under her breasts, Alena eased off his lap and stood up. “Well, come on and unwrap me.” She invited when he just sat there looking at her with wicked thoughts dancing behind his gleaming eyes.

  Ares leaned forward on the Throne of Bones then reached out with hands that wanted to grasp and clutch but he forced to be as gentle as possible as they grabbed the velvet and he let the softness of it ease and then kindle the fire within him. Pushing her arms away from her willowy body, he watched the cloak fall to the floor and pool at her bare feet. Then he let his eyes slowly wander upward over those short but well-molded legs and thighs to the matching red satin panties….

  “See? I didn’t forget.”

  A wide smile broke out on Ares’ ruggedly handsome face lighting up his eyes as he gazed at the sprig of mistletoe attached to the waist of the red panties. “I guess I have to kiss you now?”

  “Right here. Right now. It’s a rule I’m afraid, what can you do?”

  “Comply,” Ares slid off the throne and fell to his knees before her. One hand on each of her slender hips his bearded face buried itself over that sweet patch of red satin and its mistletoe bringing the intoxicating scents of musk and honeysuckle to his nose. “It’s the best Christmas ever,” Ares proclaimed in a hushed whisper as he took the panties letting his hands take in every inch and every curve from her hips to her toes and back again. Using his powers, he materialized a large bed of soft pillows between the tree and the hearth on which to lay her down for the night. Relieving her of the sexy little bra, he looked around the room. “Where’s that peppermint oil, woman? I think I’ve a few uses for it.” The vial was lying on the floor and Ares called it to his hand as his naked body sidled up against hers. He loved looking down on her all spread out before him like a fine buffet just waiting for him to partake of all the tasty delights she had to offer. He never felt more like a man then when she was at his side. “I love you, Alena.”

  She reached up him, “I love you too,” gentle but insisting arms brought him down for a peppermint and cherry kiss. “Tell me again how you’ll never let me go and we will always make love like this.”

  “Always,” he agreed from his heart, “and never will I let you go, never.” Uncapping the vial, he let a little peppermint oil onto his fingertip before tracing it along the sweet spot just under Alena’s right ear. She shivered in his arms when it began tingling and he watched with much delight as her nipples hardened just before his lips descended over the oil. Her back arched and she rose off the pillows pressing her naked glory against him as Ares wrapped his arms around her body and began to suckle. Blood flow ran so swiftly he could hear it charging through her feel it running through her just below the tender layers of skin in his teeth. Below him, she moaned and sighed as she reached for him with nails swiftly turning into talons. Ares grabbed her wrists with one hand and pinned them up over her head against the plush pillows even as his teeth grabbed for more purchase. The beard on his face prickled the tender skin on the nape of her neck bringing bursts of electricity that zipped from her ear all the way through her body down to her toes making the curl up tight.

  “No, don’t,” she protested softly, “Ares.”

  That was his cue, when she tried to turn away from him, he looped a strong leg over hers pulling her back to him and holding her steadfast in place. “Give it to me,” the demand came in a sensual wisp of hot breath. Ares worked a little harder, writhed against her a little further, held her a little firmer, and suckled with more force until she couldn’t deny him any longer. His wanton eyes opened and peered down just in time to see her hips arch upward, her breath stop in her lungs, and then that long lovely stream of juice trickle forth between her legs making it wet and ready for him.

  The heavy scent of musk and honeysuckle filled the air as the fire beside them crackled.

  When he pulled away from her she looked up at him with bewildered eyes, “How do you do that?” Until Alena met Ares, she never even thought it possible a man would make a woman climax without ever even touching her between the legs.

  “You don’t want to know,” he returned softly knowing that if he bit down in that exact spot just another centimeter or so he’d kill her. Blood would rush into his mouth spill over his face, and down his chin in a river so fast that she’d die within moments even as the heights of passion encompassed her. It always amazed Ares that the weakest, most vulnerable points of the body, were also the ones that could
bring the most pleasure.

  With her face buried in his chest she mumbled, “Make love to me?”

  “So impatient,” Ares chided, “I haven’t even gotten to where the mistletoe was hung yet.”

  “Perhaps you should do that now.”

  “Oh, you’re such a slave driver.”

  “That’s me, always cracking the whip.”

  Ares pushed her onto her back once more and lowered his head over hers for a kiss, “Bitch,” he whispered just before their lips met and he felt her giggle in his arms as she pulled him in closer. Then the comforting and arousing warm weight of him was descending her slim frame to the waiting space between her parted legs. With a smirk on his face he poured more peppermint oil onto his fingers and then delighted in the harsh ‘oooo’ that came from her throat and the shiver rushed through her when his fingers and the oil met the tender musky flesh. “Turnabout’s fair play, how do you like it?” She didn’t have to answer, not when her hips rose up off the pillows searching for more. Ares didn’t hesitate to comply; he let his fingers wander all around her folds before they slipped inside. The deeper they went the harder she shivered and let out those soft coos that made his ears tingle and twitch. It was the dulcet tones of an angel in heat calling out for her lover and he was the man for the job. Letting the softly falling dewdrops of musk and honey catch in his beard Ares moved in for the kill as his agile tongue slipped into her working and probing every inch he could find. Alena sat up partway, with his free hand he pushed her down again and then reached for one aching lonely breast. Ares indulged in his work, Alena surrendered to his touch. Surrounded by the warmth of the fire and the night, she gave over to the passion and heat building between them, let go of the fight and conceded defeat to all that desire and love offered tonight. Her hips rocked in time with his thrusts and the walls around his fingers began swelling until they constricted and clamped down sucking and pulling his fingers in deeper as they wettened. The milky dewdrops cascading down his lips turned into a slow running river. Thighs parting and rocking even as they ground down on him the scent ushering forth filled him body and soul even as his nostrils sought out more.