𝙄 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨

Morning

She woke up with a start.

Her head buzzing, legs entangled with someone elses, hair tickling her neck, arms wrapped around her.

She looked down at Ares.

He was sleeping peacefully.

Nestled against her.

She decided right then and there, he didn't deserve peacefulness yet.

Without warning she kicked him in the nuts and pushed him away.

He grunted and jumped away from her.

She looked around.
This wasn't her room.

"What in Tartarus am I doing in your fucking room, Ares?" she demanded, taking hold of his collar and glaring at him.

He winced as he was still recovering from her wake up call.

"Calm down." he said soflty.

She glared at him, demanding answers.

"You fell asleep on the forest, so I brought you here." he explained looking into her eyes.

She fought to remember last night.

The drink he gave her, that must be it.

"That...that drink!" her grip on his collar got tighter. She pushed him against the closet. "It was a sort of sleeping draught wasn't it? To get me into your chambers and use me. Again!" she accused.

His eyes widened.

"What? No! It was just wine. Strong wine at that, but it was your choice to drink it.
You looked tired either way. The drink just eased your nerves." he tried to reason with her.

She searched his eyes for any sort of lie and found none.

She sighed and let him go.

" Whatever. This won't be repeated. Not if I can help it. "she said defiantly and started searching for her stuff.

He smirked running his hand through his hair.

" Keep telling yourself that. Truth was, you enjoyed it. Or else you wouldn't have submitted so easily. You relish being in my arms, as much as I relish holding you." he stated smugly.

She rolled her eyes at him, stuffing her blades on her side pockets.

"Dream on." she said sarcastically.

He smirked, starting to approach her.

"It didn't take long for me to lull you to sleep. Petting you the way you like it. Caressing your face. Playing with your hair. You needed that. And you needed the sleep." he whispered in her ear pressing a soft kiss on her neck.

She leaned back and closed her eyes pressing against him.

He smirked against her neck.

Finally, she was submitting.

Her hand found his hair and he started to relax against her before she pulled roughly, in a way he most certainly didn't enjoy.

He let out a cry of pain when she elbowed him in the stomach.

"Keep talking. I dare you to." she glared at him over her shoulder.

He took her hand off his hair and looked at her mischievously before bringing it to his lips and pressing a firm kiss on it.

It was so quick, she didn't have a chance to react.

She fixed him with a disgusted expression and wiped the back of her hand on her trousers.

His smile widened even more at that.

She rolled her eyes. She just couldn't annoy him.

And that annoyed her.

"I'm serious Ares. This can't happen. It won't. I already made that mistake once." she said looking into his eyes.

He frowned, his smile dropping.

"A mistake?" he asked, approaching her dangerously.

She gulped at his intense gaze.

" Yes. A mistake." she said glaring at him.

His frown deepened.

"We were lovers for two months, Tal. If you thought it a mistake, surely it would have ended after a few days!" he said, searching her eyes, almost begging her to take it back.

" I betrayed everyone because of you! You and your manipulation! Your seduction! I was a sworn virgin, protected by Artemis! I was happy. Happy with my friends, happy with my life. Even with you I was briefly happy before you decided to leave me. And then...I was cast out. I never saw Rhea again...I never said goodbye.." she let out, fighting her tears.

His eyes widened.

He never knew she felt that way.

" If...if you hadn't found me there...vulnerable...alone...and broken...if..
maybe I wouldn't even be here...You became an addiction...a way to escape reality...after that first night...you soothed my pain with your kiss...and...and I fell for it...everything...The biggest fault is my own. I know that... I just..."she sighed, running her hands through her hair.

She was so upset, he couldn't stop himself from wrapping his hands around her.

She shook her head and tried to push him away.

But she was too weak, too fragile from her emotions.

She closed her eyes and let herself sink in to his touch. His feel around her.

"You were young." he whispered. "Afraid." he continued, pressing a tender kiss on her temple.

She clenched her jaw.

He let her go and sat on the edge of the bed.

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"I offered comfort, understanding. You had just found your father. A father that didn't want you. Gave you up as a child for not being a boy. He now saw you as a prise for men. Marriage. You didn't want that. You never did. You run away.
I found you. You were sitting near a river, catching your breath. You looked so vulnerable, so frail. So beautifully innocent. I was entranced. Even more so when you figured I was there and threw a blade at me. You demanded I reveal to you my identity. I did. You looked suspicious, aiming at me with your bow. The most skillful of archers. I raised my hands and offered you a drink, asking you what happened. You took a big gulp. As always. And let me sit next to you. You shared to me your life and I mine. We found common ground. You grew warmer, softer. I kissed you. Your first kiss. You tasted sweeter than anyone I had tasted. You looked at me afraid for a moment and I almost regretted it. But then your gaze grew determined. I was captured. Your eyes. That wild look. So untamed. I wanted to tame you. Found a challenge in you. You kissed me back. You let me in. There was no going back from there. We made love. Again and again. We laughed, fought and hunted together. I kept coming back for more. Insatiable. I was scared of myself. Never before had I been so besotted with a woman. An equal. A friend. I learned from you compassion, as you tended to the injured animals. And then...Zeus called...told me I was playing a dangerous game. Told me about the Fates.How they didn't want us together.
I reacted, fought with him, he got into my good graces when we feasted and told me he just needed me to take care of one more war before I returned to you. I did as he asked. And then I returned. You weren't there. You weren't anywhere. Artemis had abandoned you and you disappeared from sight. Any sight. It all went downhill from there...all those wars...all the havoc they teach in history...I couldn't help my rage. I thought perhaps the Fates were right.
I closed up. Until a century ago when we saw you again. " he explained.

Tal looked into his eyes, searching again for his deceit. Almost begging to find it.

His eyes were soft. He was certainly calmer after all those years. Perhaps he had thrown enough tantrums.

Her mind was still stuck on his last sentences.

"Wait...Zeus..didn't sent me here? To this century? As punishment for betraying Artemis?" she asked, confused.

He frowned.

"No?" he said, looking more confused than her.