Ares: (Gods of Old Book 1) (12 page)

“Well, then I am very happy that you have learned how to phrase your requests so that we can find these special places. Besides, if you were given information that would send you into danger or trouble, you would know it right? Not only because you’re a God, but because you’ve been around the block and back again a few times?”

“Are you calling me old?” he asked with a faint grin on his face. “Because that’s what it sounds like. And, while I may be up in years, it’s still rather impolite to point out a man’s age like that. Especially when he’s madly in love with you, woman.”

“Have I mentioned that I have a thing for older men? I really do. I happen to love that you are who you are, the age that you are. To me you are perfection. And no, I wasn’t calling you old. I was alluding to your experience.”

“Oh, well,” he seemed to be blushing. He was also shifting in his chair looking a little uncomfortable. “I suppose then you could keep on alluding if you wished. Sorry, just jumped to my most natural conclusion and the one I tend to get when people know who I am.”

Ava cupped his cheek and pulled him close, “I love everything about you, Ares. You have been waiting for me, and I have been waiting for you to become the man that you are at this moment to step into your life. Never doubt it.”

“I don’t, little darling,” he said quietly. “I just hope you don’t regret getting hooked up with a guy that’s been around since before your people even existed.” He wrapped his arm around her and hugged her to him, brushing a kiss on her lips.

“I don’t regret anything with you, Ares. Well, maybe how we started; but that’s behind us now. As for being with you. No way. I don’t regret one single, solitary moment of being right here in your arms. In your life. And I’m damn well keeping you too.”

“Good,” he smiled kissing her again. Then he let out a decidedly relieved sounding breath. “I worry that this is all too much for you. If it ever becomes too overwhelming just say the word, and we’ll go somewhere, quiet, where you can process.”

“Don’t worry, if it becomes too much, I promise you that I will tell you. I tell you everything anyway, so why in heaven’s name wouldn’t I tell you that I would have issues with our being together? And if someone begins to hassle me I swear I will tell you.” That was one of her issues, her worry that perhaps one of the other Gods would give her flack.

“No one should hassle you, I hope. But yes, if anyone does, you grab hold of your pendant and mentally scream my name. Trust me; I’ll be there so fast I’ll probably still be half in motion when I arrive. Likely, I’ll fall on my face but, one can only hope not, because that’s just embarrassing.”

“Well, I seriously doubt you would fall on your face, especially if you knew that I was in danger, or someone was harassing me. I have a feeling you would come in with guns a blazing, or something like that,” she said with a grin.

He coughed into his hand and looked to be blushing again. “Yeah, or something.” Ares licked his lips and made a face, “Guns were never really my thing. But something would definitely be blazing if you were in any danger at all.”

“Exactly.” Ava knew with Ares being hers and having him loving her as he did she would always be safe. “I love you too, Ares.” She was repeating herself, but that was neither here nor there. “Now then, what is it that we were going to do before I got us sidetracked?”

“We were going to finish the meal and then decide whether to remain for dessert or hit one of the street carts or cafes instead. The choice is yours, darling,” he told her letting her loose. Sitting forward he picked up his fork again and continued to eat.

“I think we should try one of the cafes. I think that they might have the best food available, don’t you?” She wasn’t sure honestly. They were in Spain after all! “I am going to lean on you as to where we should have our dessert.”

“Well, we could head to Italy and grab some gelato if you’d like. Go and sit at one of the fountains before we head back to the house. Or, we grab our dessert, and I take you up into the hills, and we can sit and watch the sunset.”

“I would love to watch the sunset with you. I think that sounds like the best idea ever. Have a nice thick blanket under us and just the two of us watching the sun as it dips below the horizon.”

“Done,” he smiled at her. Leaning in he kissed her gently. “Finish your meal and I’ll get the bill so we can leave once you’re finished.” Winking at her he leaned away and lifted a hand; signaling for the waitress before looking back to her again.

Ava continued to eat the spectacular meal before her and sighed with each bite she took. “This is so good. You take such amazing care of me,” she said with a smile and then leaned back when she was finished with her meal. “For now, I think I’m done, though. If I eat anything else, I won’t be able to eat another bite.”

Chuckling he shrugged, “I’m sure you’ll find room. We could always stop at the house and burn off some of the calories. That way you’ll have lots of room for more goodies. Or we could just go for a nice long hike up a hill; that’ll work just as well to burn the calories.”

“Ha, if we are burning calories we are going to do it the fun way, mister.” Ava shot back at him with a grin. “Because burning calories with you is an amazing and wonderful thing to do. I happen to love burning calories with you.”

“I love burning calories with you too, love,” he smiled. He got up from his chair and handed off the payment to the waitress as she passed by. Holding out a hand to Ava he pulled her from her chair when she slid her palm to his.

The connection, the rightness of feeling him taking her hand was automatic, and she loved it. Taking a deep breath, she looked at him and smiled, “Get us out of here, Ares. Lets go and watch the sun setting over the fields of our home, shall we?”

Pulling her closer to him, he pressed a kiss to her cheek. He led her outside slowly and around a corner. Nudging her a little further into the darkness he wrapped her up in his arms. “I’m going to pop us into an alley near the gelato place that’s the very best in town. We can grab our dessert and then head up the hill.”

“Sounds good to me.” Laying her cheek against his chest she sighed and closed her eyes. “I trust you,” she whispered the words softly to him and meant them. She did trust him. Fully, completely and without a shadow of a doubt. He was her everything, and she would trust him with her all.

Smiling down at her he kissed her slowly and gently. The slight change in temperature warned her he’d flashed them. That and when she lifted her head, the buildings looked different. “You good?” he asked in that low, husky tone of his.

“Damn that voice of yours,” Ava whispered with a smile. “Incredible.” She looked up at him and nodded, “Yes. I’m perfectly fine. Any time at all that I can be in your arms, I’m great,”she told him happily. “Just FYI for future reference.”

“Good to know,” he grinned. Dropping another quick kiss on her lips he pulled back and took her hand. “Come on; you have many choices of gelato to try and narrow down.” Tucking her close to his side he led her out of the alleyway and around to the front of the shop. Inside he let her get up close to the counter and look at all the flavors.

She took her time as she looked at the flavors; she sampled several before finally choosing one that made her sigh and close her eyes in bliss. “That one,” she told him. “The Coyote Chocolate one, please,” she said with a grin, then added, “Oh, and the Amaretto one.”

“Mint lime for me, please,” Ares said shaking his head at her. “At least I know what to bring home on occasion.” He pressed a kiss to her hair before moving to pay for their desserts. “That is, of course, if this isn’t a passing fling with flavors.”

“Oh no, I don’t think that it is. I really, really like it. A great deal.” Ava looked up at him and smiled, “So you’re saying that you’re glad you brought me here so that you have something that I like in order to steer me away from if I’m upset?” she teased.

“Well yeah, what man doesn’t want to find something to soothe his woman when she’s having a bad day?” He’d phrased that rather well. “Plus, having something to surprise you with on occasion that I know for a fact you like, bonus.”

“Well it’s totally something that I like,” she said with a smile. “So you can surprise me on occasion with it if you would like. Especially if you want to suck up. That’s a very, very good way to go,” she assured him with a smile.

“I’ll remember that,” he said. Reaching out he took their desserts with a thanks to the man behind the counter. Passing hers to her, he waved her towards the door and followed her out of the store. “The sun’s starting to go down. We should head up and find a good spot to sit before it’s too dark to see.”

“Then how about we find a shadow and you move us to where we should be?” she asked with a smile and took a bite of her gelato and sighed. Closing her eyes, she savored the flavors. “And people say that ice cream is best. Idiots.”

“That’s because most will never experience a true gelato. The stuff made in the US, unless by a true master, is a pale imitation at best.” He guided her between buildings and into a shadowed doorway. Stepping in closer to her he wrapped his arm around her waist. “Close your eyes for a moment more and we’ll be where we need to be.”

Ava wrapped herself close to him and sighed. Closing her eyes, she rested close to him, the beating of his heart reassuring her even as she felt the pressure change when they moved from place to place. “Are we there yet?” she said with a laugh.

“Cute, but yes we’re here,” he said quietly. A quick kiss on her lips and then he was letting her go. “Here, hold my gelato will you, please. I’m going to create a blanket and spread it out for us to relax on.”

Taking his gelato she took a bite of his, her eyes never leaving his as she did so, almost daring him to say something. “Well, go on. Create the blanket, honey, so that we can sit and enjoy the sunset.”

“Quit eating my gelato, woman,” he said. Making a face at her, he shook his head and snapped his fingers. Shaking out the large blanket he created, Ares settled it on the ground. Holding out a hand to her he smiled, “Come on, darling. We have a great view of the ocean and the sun will keep us warm even as it slowly sets.”

“Sounds good to me.” Passing him his gelato she settled down on the blanket with him, unsurprised when pillows popped up behind them. “You think of everything don’t you, honey?” That was one of the many things she adored about him. He thought of her in every single turn that he made.

“I try,” he shrugged. Leaning back on the pillows he settled his cup of gelato on his lower chest. “I just want to ensure you are comfortable at all times. If you’re not, then I have to figure out why and fix it. It’s part of who I am so I hope you’ll understand that in the years to come.”

"Well, all I can say is that I am hopeful that in the years to come we will learn each other very intimately and know just what the other is thinking by the look on our faces." She smiled as she spoke, eating her gelato as she talked to him. "We will get to know each other. We will also spend a great deal of time loving one another. That, my dear, is what I am looking forward to."

“The talking or the loving?” he asked with a grin. “Because while I adore talking to you, learning about you and just being with you; the sex is fucking rocking and will only get better with time. As we learn one another, we’ll learn more about what each of us wants and needs in our love life.”

That had Ava laughing, and she nodded. “I happen to love the sex with you as well. If it is only going to get better, then you better take out some great life insurance on me because if it gets better than this, then I will totally die.”

In a move too fast for her eye to track he had their gelato set aside and she was flat on her back with him over her in barely a moment. “Don’t ever say that,” he said softly. The look on his face was completely serious, no joking at all. “I won’t lose you, Ava; it’s not permitted. So please, never say such things even in jest.”

Reaching up Ava touched his cheek. “I’m sorry, Ares, I was truly only kidding,” she whispered honestly. “It was a joke, pure and simple. I never want to be away from you. I never want to live in a world without you. I am yours, Ares, from now until the end of time. I don’t know how we will accomplish that but it’s what I want; what I need.”

He hugged her tight, “I’ll find us a way, Ava. Somehow, someway, I will find us a way to share the life together that we want to have. One of pleasure, love, laughter and great in length. But no tears; tears are very bad, and I do not do well with them at all.”

“No tears,” she promised him with a smile. “I know that you will find a way. I know that you will find a way for us to be together for your entire span of life. I have no idea how you will do it, but I know that you will. I trust in you that much, Ares.”

A shudder wracked his body, and his arms tightened around her. “I love you, Ava, thank you for giving me such trust. You barely know me, so I understand just what a blessing it is. You’ve given me so much, little one, but this,” he kissed her gently. “This amazes me completely.”

She smiled and shrugged, “Not that hard to trust you. I’ve been fascinated by you for my entire life; I’ve always wanted to know what you were like and now that I do-” She shrugged again, her fingers feathering through his hair. “Now that I do, I love you. Now that I do, I know that there is no one else out there for me, just you.”

“And you are it for me, love,” he smiled. Leaning in he kissed her again, slowly, gently. A moment later he sat up and pulled her up as well. “Here you are, love,” he passed over her gelato. Then he settled back down against the pillows, “Oh, the sun’s setting.”

Settling back against him once more with her head on his chest she watched the sunset with him, enjoying her gelato and simply taking in the beauty. “Incredible,” she said after a small time. Smiling she looked at him, her gelato finished and simply enjoying life. “Thank you for this. It’s been an amazing day.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, Ava,” he smiled at her. Pressing a kiss to her lips, he took her dish and set it aside along with his. Settling back he pulled the blanket up and around them both, his arms wrapping her close to him.