“I’d love to see it some time.” She cradles her own mug and folds herself back into the corner she was sitting in before.
“That would be… yeah, that would be great.” I blow over the coffee and take a sip. I’m not used to having her attention on me, but a feeling of happiness bubbles up inside me at the thought of her coming to see me at our house, something almost like pride. “Do you… I mean, do you go out often?” I wince a little, but I don’t want to set myself up, thinking she’s going to come and be disappointed when she doesn’t.
“For you I will.” She keeps her eyes locked on mine. “I know I messed things up, Laura. I’m hoping you’ll give me the chance to try to repair that. I know it’s not going to make up for everything that happened, or happen overnight, but I love you.” She shifts the mug to one hand and wipes under her eye. “And I would like the chance to show you that.”
I slide my hand down my thigh. “Okay, yeah. I would like that.” I don’t know what else to say. I’m worried she’s going to disappoint me, but I have to give her a chance. I want to anyway.
Wyatt lays his hand on my arm. “Thank you.” He chuckles. “I feel like I’m always thanking you. You’ve given me so much to be grateful for.”
I feel a blush cover my cheeks. I don’t think I’ve done much he should be thanking me for. Except killing Leon, and can someone really be thankful for that? “You’re welcome. I guess.” I look down at my lap.
“Maybe we could come over for Christmas?” Wyatt suggests, sounding hopeful. “Or is that too soon?” He looks back and forth between my mom and me.
“I’m okay with that. We’re coming here Christmas Eve, but if you wanted to stop by on Christmas, I know the guys would be okay with it.” I leave the decision up to my mom.
Her eyes squint a little, but she gives me a small smile. “That sounds good.”
Wyatt claps his hands together. “Now, what do you want for Christmas?” He sounds so excited.
“Ahh, I have no idea. I haven’t even thought about it since we didn’t do presents.” I glance at Mom.
She looks away, biting the corner of her lip. “We will this year,” she murmurs.
“Whatever, I guess.” I don’t think I’ve ever said ‘I guess’ so much in my entire life.
“We’ll figure out something, right, Mandy?” Wyatt pulls her back into the conversation. She nods quickly and takes a sip of her cooling coffee.
I pull my phone out of my back pocket when I close the side door. I’m more tired than I have the right to be, considering I was only there for an hour, and all we did was talk. But nevertheless, I’m exhausted.
“Hey, it’s me,” I tell Ares.
“How did it go?” His voice comes through the phone clearly.
“Okay, good, I think. They want to stop by on Christmas Day.” I know I already agreed, but now I feel like I should have talked to them first.
“Do you want them to?”
“I kinda do.” I pull on my seatbelt and hit the start button. “Do you mind?”
“No, you never need to ask, Cara. Are you on your way home?”
“Yeah, just now leaving.”
“No talking and driving,” he admonishes me.
“I haven’t even left the driveway, Ares.”
“Okay, see you when you get home. Drive safe.”
“I will, bye.”
“Love you, bye.”
“Love you too,” I reply, but I think he already hung up.
I hit the red icon and set the phone in the cup holder, before backing out and turning to head up the driveway.
I feel much lighter on the drive home. All the time I spent worrying was kinda wasted. It wasn’t even that bad, awkward at times, yes, but much better than the last time I went to see them.
When I pull in, I see Dante’s car is missing. I wonder where he went. Ares didn’t mention anything.
I punch in the code for the new entry door on the lower level. The pad makes a beeping sound, and I hear the lock disengage.
“Hey,” I call up the stairs. “Anybody home?”
“In here,” I hear Ares answer from somewhere deeper in the house.
“Where?”
“Bedroom.”
“Where is everybody?” I mutter, and start up the stairs.
“No, down here.” I look over my shoulder to see Ares leaning out of the master bedroom down the hall.
“Are you working?” I hop back down and meet him in the hall.
“Not really. Come see.” He motions for me to follow him into the bedroom.
“Whoa, you guys were busy, I wasn’t even gone that long.” I look around the room. It looks similar to Ares’s old bedroom, but different. “Did they finish the bathroom?” I walk past the huge, low bed and peer into a bathing oasis. “Oh my God, that is a tub.”
I look over my shoulder at Ares. His arms are folded across his chest and he’s leaning on the doorframe.
“How the heck did you guys hide this?” I walk farther into the room and run my hand over the smooth surface of the huge, white tub.
“We didn’t even try to hide it, there’s just been a lot going on,” he answers as he follows me. It’s not that big of a room, and the tub takes up most of the space, but there’s still a separate shower stall and a toilet hidden behind a half wall.
Every inch is covered in gleaming white tile with small, black squares dotted around the room in no apparent pattern. I turn around and throw my arms over Ares’s shoulders. “This is amazing, thank you.” I get a little teary-eyed, knowing I will never have to use another camp shower if I don’t want to, I have my very own bathroom.
“What’s wrong? Do you not like it?” He pushes me back a little so he can look down at me. “We can change it,” he offers.
“No, I love it.” My voice wobbles a little. “It’s just… I’ve never had a real bathroom. It’s stupid, I know.” I bury my face in his chest before I start really crying.
“It’s not stupid, sweetheart.” He palms the back of my head, holding me closer to him.
“It’s stupid that I’m crying about it.” I’m a little outraged at myself.
“No, it’s not,” Ares soothes, comforting me.
I give myself a few moments to get past the emotions. “Where is everyone else?”
“We weren’t sure how long you would be gone, so they decided to hit the store. I won the draw for staying here in case you came home.” Ares places a soft kiss on the side of my temple.
“So, we have the whole place to ourselves?” I bite my lip and gaze up at him. “For how long?”
Ares wraps his hand around the front of my throat and forces my head back a little. “Long enough,” he whispers.
Chapter 28
A sigh falls from my parted lips. Ares has a way of making me feel as if I can let everything go. No matter how heavy the burden, he would more than happily carry it for me.
My body slackens as he steps in even closer, his lips ghosting over my cheek as he leans near my ear. “I want you to take a bath.”
My brow furrows, this is not where I thought this was going. “A bath?” I sound a tiny bit whiny.
“Yes, now strip.” His voice has a hard edge to it. One that sends a delicious tingle down my spine and a jolt of anticipation through my core. He releases his hold on my throat and walks over to the tub. I turn to watch him as he unbuttons his cuffs and rolls up the sleeves of his white dress shirt. Damn, I have no idea why that is so sexy, but it so is. He bends and starts the taps to fill the tub, oblivious to my gawking.
Ares inspects me when he’s done with the task. “Something wrong, Cara?” I swallow thickly and shake my head. “Why aren’t you naked?”
My hand immediately goes to the hem of my shirt. I don’t tell him that he’s too distracting for his own good. I just do as he asked and strip.
Ares sits on the side of the tub, before bringing his foot up and removing each shoe and sock, lining them up neatly near the wall. Once he’s done, he leans
back and watches me.
I can’t take my eyes off him as the darkness in his eyes bleeds to cover all the white. His gaze is roaming over me like I’m the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.
I push my jeans down my legs, lifting my knees to pull them all the way off. I don’t bother trying to be seductive. I’m way too eager to get into the quickly filling tub and see what exactly Ares has planned.
He beckons me over with a crook of his finger once I’m nude. I walk over until I’m standing between his spread knees, our eyes still locked on one another. Ares leans his head back and lets his eyes fall closed when I thread my fingers into the hair above his ears.
I take advantage of my height and plant a soft kiss on each eyelid, then his lips. Ares responds by wrapping his arm around my back and arching me closer to him.
Too soon he stands, keeping me locked against him. I brace my hands on his shoulders, my toes are dangling near his knees, but he doesn’t break the kiss.
I angle my head to deepen the kiss. It feels like Ares touches my soul when we’re like this. Like he can actually invade my insides and lay claim to the part of himself that lives within me, and stoke it to grow even larger.
The steady rhythm of my heart thuds against my chest, crashing into his. Can he feel it the same way I can? Does he know he’s part of the reason it beats so strongly? “I love you,” I mumble around the kiss, unable not to.
“I love you more,” he replies, his eyes opening to show me the white constellations that frightened me the first time I witnessed it.
“Impossible,” I counter, and run my finger over his cheek.
“We can argue about that later. Right now, I want you to get in the tub.” He quirks an eyebrow at me, telling me the debate isn’t finished.
Ares sets my feet on the edge of the bathtub, holding me by the waist. “Tell me if it’s too hot,” he warns.
I stick a toe in and the burn is just right. Another sigh leaves my lips as I submerge into the water all the way up to my neck. The excess water flows over a thin slit all around the tub, making it so the water is able to go to the tippy top.
“Okay?” he asks, turning off the tap for the water.
“Perfect,” I purr, closing my eyes. “Are you getting in?” I can already feel the sweat beading on my upper lip.
“Not this time.” His voice holds that dark edge again. I look up to see him scanning his eyes over me, the clear bathwater not hiding an inch of my flesh from his passionate eyes.
“You’re just going to watch me take a bath?” I smile, thinking it’s a little silly, but I also have to admit, it’s rather exciting. Turns out I may be a little bit of an exhibitionist, first with Ollie watching me and Dante, and now this.
“For now. Do you mind?” Ares questions.
The ‘for now’ part sounds promising. “No, not at all.” I lift my hair off my back and pull it over my shoulder, then rest my head against the tub, relaxing.
Ares leaves the room for a moment, and when he returns, he has the body wash from the upstairs bathroom and a black washcloth. I sit up a little, preparing to take the stuff from his hands, but he kneels next to the tub.
“What are you doing?” I chuckle a little.
“Shush.” Ares narrows his eyes. I widen mine in response, and pretend to lock my lips and throw away the key.
He dips the cloth into the water and wrings it out before squirting a small amount of the body wash on. I sit up a little more, my arm covering my breasts a little. Is he really going to wash me?
“Lie back.” My suspicion confirmed, I lay back into the water, feeling a little wary. This is kinda weird, right?
Ares lifts my arm, holding my fingers, and brushes the cloth up my arm slowly. Okay, so it might be a little weird, but it feels pretty damn good. His hand shifts to cradle my forearm as he moves high up my arm, reaching my collarbones and shoulders. He pays special attention to my throat, making sure to be extra gentle.
I watch his eyes travel over the area, an open hunger on his face as he bites his full bottom lip. Eventually, he moves away from my throat and motions for me to hand him my other arm. All of this is done is silence. Only the noise of the water and our breathing fills the room, which still sounds a little hollow in the absence of any personal items, there aren’t even any towels in here yet.
Ares continues with his job meticulously. Washing my legs and feet after my arms, he then works his way up the center of my body, starting at my collarbones again. I tilt my head back and he drags the fabric over my chest. My nipples are already aching for his caress, so I hiss when he finally touches me.
After a few moments, he abandons the cloth to sink to the bottom of the tub and uses his hands instead. The soap is long gone, but my skin still feels slick under his fingers.
I undulate, wanting him to touch more of me. Ares has the patience of a saint. I can barely keep myself from grabbing the tight shirt he’s wearing and dragging him into the tub with me, but he seems completely calm as his hand travels farther south.
His fingertips dance over my pubic bone. I lift my hips, but instead of his hand delving lower, he pulls back, denying me. I want to pout, but I don’t. I know Ares will give me what I need, want. I just need to wait for it, be patient like he is, he will definitely make my obedience worth it.
I relax my body again, and my arms float out to my sides, just skimming the surface of the water. Ares makes a small sound of approval and rewards me by sliding his hand between my legs. His middle finger brushes over my labia, back and forth a few times, and I almost spread my legs, but remain still.
He puts his whole hand between my thighs and cups me, his palm tight against my mound. I can feel an echo of his touch, but it’s not enough. I look up at the ceiling, my hair slinking over my shoulder to fall completely in the water. It allows my entire body to float up, and I feel Ares’s lips lock around my nipple the moment it breaks the surface.
Not caring how wet I am, or how wet he’s going to get, Ares puts one arm under me and locks the other over my waist, pulling me up from the water. He stands, bearing my full weight, and soaking his clothes in the process. I wrap my arms around his back and cling to his shoulders as he carries me bridal style to the newly finished bedroom.
Ares places me on the bed and steps back. I rise up on my elbows and watch as he strips out of the damp white shirt. It gets dropped to the floor along with his undershirt, and then he unbuttons his pants next, shucking them off quickly along with his boxer briefs.
Ares naked is a sight to behold. His skin is naturally tan, and the short, dark hairs on his chest tapering down to the thin trail below his belly button is so fucking sexy, I can barely refrain from reaching out to him.
He crawls onto the bed, his eyes peering up at me from under his brow like some sort of predator stalking me. I lean back and allow him to drag himself over me. The coolness that accompanies his powers comes with him, tempering the heat from the hot water.
Ares’s hips go between my legs. It’s the first time I’ve felt him without anything between us. I know he’ll get a condom, but God, does he feel amazing against me.
I wrap my knees around his hips. Ares leans over on one elbow, and plants his palm on my throat with the other. I tip my head back, loving the feel of him holding me down with his body pushed up against mine.
He turns my head and runs his tongue up the side of my neck, biting the bottom of my earlobe. I shiver under him. Ares rocks his hips up and I feel him so close to where I need him to be. I wiggle, not thinking about the consequences of what could happen if he were to slide inside me, only how good it would feel and how desperately I want it.
Ares pulls back, and he kisses his way down my body, paying special attention to my breasts before sliding down far enough that he has to release his hold on my neck. With his head between my legs, he stares up at me, his eyes blown wide with white sparks dotting the inky darkness.
He keeps his gaze locked on mine while delivering one slow, long lick
up my center, his tongue parting me to curl around my clit with amazing accuracy. I reach down and wrap my fingers in his hair. Ares adjust his position when I tug, a small growl vibrating along his lips against me.
He brings me to the edge of an orgasm with his tongue, and my head is thrashing back and forth against the pillows. He’ll be lucky if I don’t have a handful of his hair when he’s done. But then he slides his hand up my inner thigh and finds my opening with his fingers. My back arches clear off the bed. His tongue dips lower while his finger slides in and out of me. The orgasm catches me then, hard and fast. I come apart, and he prolongs it by pulling my clit into his mouth and sucking while I’m in the middle of coming.
Panting, Ares lifts his head, and his arm snakes over to the side of the bed where he grabs the foil packet. “Fuck, I don’t want to put this on,” he curses, and rips the condom open with his teeth, spitting the corner off to the side. I’m loose against the mattress, my entire body soft and satiated from his efforts.
Ares makes quick work of getting the condom on. His arms cage me in as he pushes back up against me. I’m so wet, I barely feel the cool dampness that comes with the rubber protection when he guides himself inside of me. He has to work himself in slowly, the orgasm has left me tighter than the last few times we’ve made love.
His forehead lands on mine, and his nostrils flare as his eyes search mine. “Am I hurting you?” he grates out through his clenched jaw.
“No.” I shake my head and glide my hands over his sides until I reach his ass. I dig my fingernails in a little. Ares’s head goes back and a groan leaves his lips.
“Goddamn, you were made for me.” He pushes a little harder, his hips almost jerking. I lift my head and bury my face in his neck. Ares reaches down and palms my butt cheek, lifting me so he can go deeper.
I bite the side of his neck. There’s an edge of pain every time he bottoms out, but it feels incredible. I can’t decide if I want him to push harder or just stay buried deep inside of me.
Infinity Chronicles Book Four: A Paranormal Reverse Harem Series Page 25