Ares (14 page)

“Course I can,” he grinned. “Now, why don’t you scoot back into your seat and finish your meal. Then we’ll go and do something for the day, whatever you would like to celebrate our engagement. Tonight you are all mine. I plan on you being extremely relaxed as soon as the sun goes down.”

She couldn't help grinning and looking at her ring. “I think we should go somewhere we haven’t been before and celebrate our engagement. I can’t think of where that would be but I know you’ll think of a place for us, won’t you?”

“Somewhere we’ve never been before,” he stared at her. “Are we talking a country, state, province, city or a restaurant? 'Cause if we’re talking a country we’re screwed unless they’ve suddenly got restaurants in Antarctica.”

“Take me to somewhere that will blow my mind. Take me somewhere that I’ve never been and will enjoy with you tremendously. Doesn’t matter where, just take me?” she asked quietly. “That’s all that I ask."

“That I can do,” he nodded. “One more question though before I decide. Do you want relaxed or more dressed up with the bling on location?” he asked quietly. “You know, do you want high end sexy in heels dining or jeans, shit kickers and relaxation?”

“All your choice. I said yes and now you need to make it over the top special. I trust wherever you want to go and however you want me dressed. So anything goes tonight, Ares, anything. Make your mind go into the deepest recesses and pull out a fantasy you want and make it happen for us both.”

“Oh, darling, you shouldn’t give me such huge allowances. I have some pretty deep recesses, you may not like what I end up pulling out of there.” He was grinning big at her, just enough to make her a little nervous. “I’ll keep you decent, but that’s all I’m promising you.”

“Do whatever you want, baby, because I’m willing and ready to take anything you have to give. I want and need to see the darkest parts of your life, well not dark so much as kinky. I want to have you giving me everything.”

“Alright, that I can do, but you need to finish your lunch so I can think about this. We’ll go down to the beach for a couple hours and play in the surf. Then, when we come back, we’ll get you dressed. I think I know where I want to take you, it’s different but I think you’ll like it.”

“That sounds good to me. I look forward to it.” She began to eat once more, her hand tilting and turning as she ate so she could admire the ring. Grinning, she shook her head and said, “I can’t believe how perfect it is. How could you have known just what I wanted?”

“Because I’ve come to know you very well, Ava, at least enough to have had a clue on what sort of jewelry you would like. That and I did a little reconnaissance too. That day you went shopping and we split up, I sort of followed you past the jewelry joint and noted what caught your eye.” He leaned over and touched her ring, “I think I did rather well if I do say so myself.”

“You did more than rather well, you did stunningly well,” she said with a grin. “I love it.” Her hand tightened on his and she squeezed it before letting it go to continue to eat. “Now I have to find something to surprise you with and I have no idea what in the world what it will be.”

“You don’t need to get me anything, love. I have the greatest treasure there is, you,” he smiled at her. “I doubt you could top that, especially since you are unique, one of a kind and all the more precious because of your love for me.”

That had her sighing and she shook her head. “How you never found someone to marry before me I will never know, but I’m glad that you didn’t. I’m happy you remained a bachelor and you are mine because I think I would have to kill someone for you.” It was mostly a tease, mostly.

“I think you could do it too,” he chuckled. Shaking his head, Ares leaned back in his chair, stretching his legs out. “But I couldn’t marry just anyone, Ava. I hadn’t found the one person put in this universe just for me. Who would understand and fit me in ways no one else ever could.”

“And now that you have you put a ring on me. I love it.” She wasn’t shy to say that to him at all. “Because I am the only one that would ever fit you perfectly. I’m your forever girl and everyone else was just.” She shrugged, “Well they were temporary fixes while you waited on me to be born in the perfect time in your life.”

“Precisely,” he nodded, but he was watching her with a wary expression. “You seem to be looking at all of this very philosophically, love. I’m not sure if I’m impressed or slightly terrified by how well you’re looking at it.”

“Well a girl has to be able to accept things in life.” She leaned in closer to him and whispered, “But now that I’m here there will never be a need for a temporary fix, ever. Now that I am in your life, I should be all you need, right?”

“Absolutely,” he nodded again. “You are everything I’ll ever need or want, Ava. There is no one who could understand me as well as you seem to, no one who cares for me as much as you do. Everyone else in my life either wants something from me or wants me to do something for them. You, you love me for me. That is an incredibly precious gift in my world.”

“You bet that I do. You are incredible.” She leaned in and brushed her nose to his. “I think you are amazing. The only thing I want from you is your happiness, my happiness and your body, definitely your body.” And his mind, his heart, his wit, she wanted everything from him.

“You have it, darling, everything. It’s all yours, I’m all yours. Just as I know you’re all mine,” he smiled. Kissing her lightly he let out a happy sigh. “Quit stalling, finish eating and then we’re going to the beach. I think it’s time to show you who’s master of the sand castle builders union around these here parts.”

“Well then, let’s get our butts out to the sand. I’m done,” she assured him. “I was just lingering in case you wanted to eat more. If you wouldn’t mind just tidying up, let’s get out of here?”

Laughing, he snapped his fingers and cleaned up the kitchen. “Go and grab your suit, love. You have ten minutes and then we’re out of here. Don’t forget your sunscreen this time though,” he warned, leaning forward to kiss her. Standing, he pulled her up and urged her to the stairs, “Go, quick like an adorable bunny with a wolf hot on her fluffy tail.”

That had her grinning and she raced off, bounding up the stairs as fast as she could, feeling him coming after her as she ran. Snagging her suit and sunscreen, she stripped quickly and pulled on her suit. Sunscreen in hand she raced back down. “All right, I’m ready if you will just get us the towels please? Nice, thick, long, fluffy ones that we can both lie on?”

“Already have them waiting in the basket with the water and snacks. I also put your hat in there and I’m bringing an umbrella too, just in case it actually gets as sweltering as they’re predicting. If it does, I say we go visit my uncle, it’ll be cooler in his realm than up here.”

“That sounds good. Who's your uncle?” she asked as they walked toward the beach, toward the beckoning sun and delicious waves. “I can’t think of where it might be cooler, so who in the world is your uncle?”

“Hades,” he said with a grin. “And yes, it’s supposed to get that hot today, hence the leaving early. We’ll come back before it really gets baking, get you dressed up and I will take you out for dinner.”

“Oh good lord, seriously?” That’s right! She had forgotten that Hades was one of Zeus’s brothers, likely the only one who could take the ‘big God’ out if push came to shove. “Didn’t he trick Persephone into becoming his wife? How is that working out for him?”

Ares sucked air through his teeth and waved his hands looking around frantically. After a moment he let out a long sigh and shook his head. “Never, ever mention Hades in the same sentence as those two psychotic bitches. Demeter tricked him into wedding her daughter and the shit hit the fan centuries ago. He only got out of the contract about two hundred years ago. Unfortunately it’s still a bit of a sore spot.”

“What? Seriously?” Ava’s eyes went wide and she shook her head, “Holy shit, how in the hell could they have tricked someone like him? I mean, whoa. Even in the book of the Gods that my family has, they have it as him tricking her, not the other way around. This is epic and holy hell, I bet that man was ready to tear them piece by piece, wasn’t he?”

“He’s just relieved he’s gotten away from them. Demeter had plans that involved getting rid of Hades entirely, which considering he is his realm and his realm is him, wouldn’t really have worked out well for anyone. That kind of power vacuum tends to make even the humans notice, no offense, darling,” he smiled her way. “But he’s a child of the Titans, which means while you might dupe him for a time, he will figure it out, he will get even and then, then he’ll make you pay for the rest of existence.”

“Right, so stay on his good side,” Ava said with a grin. “I would hate to be those two women. I hope he’s making them pay, and pay a great deal for what they tried to do to him.” She was sure he likely did, it was either that or he was so happy to be away from them he simply walked away and never to look back.

“Never mention his marriage or those two names and you’re golden. Plus, I think he’ll quite like you. I love and adore you so the least he can do is like you,” Ares pointed out with a chuckle. “Alright, beach, let’s go, woman.”

“Beach, you betcha,” she said happily and slipped her hand into his. “I can’t wait to see you in the water. Do you think you can maybe put a bubble around us or something and we can see all kinds of fun things under the water and not have to worry about drowning?”

“Of course I can, but we’ll need to be out far enough that casual divers or snorkelers don’t see us. Maybe we should take a boat out a little ways,” he suggested. “Then we won’t need to worry about sand in places sand shouldn’t go.”

“I like that idea.” She grinned and added, “And it means we will be able to make some wild monkey lovin' on the deck of the ship after we have had an undersea adventure?” She hesitated and asked, “Your uncle, Poseidon, won’t mind, will he?”

“I think you’re a little nymphomaniac,” he said with a smirk. “Ah, my work is done here.” Chuckling, he pulled her toward the bag of items. Wrapping his arms around her, he shrugged. “Poseidon’s cool with people in his space. As long as you don’t dump crap into his oceans or destroy anything, he’ll leave us be. I should mention that if you spot a mermaid or merman, try to ignore them. They like to lure humans to their deaths and get some seriously sick pleasure from it. They are like the demented tricksters of the sea.”

“They’re real?” Holy hell the things she was learning about life! “Wow. All right, so if I see one I just need to hold on tight to you so they don’t kill me, right?” she asked with a grin, “Because I really don’t want to die. I love living and I think you might destroy the oceans if one of them did that to me, so we’ll keep together just to make sure that doesn’t happen, deal?”

“Yeah, they’re real and yes, good plan. Don’t need my uncle riding my ass for the rest of time because I evaporated all the salt water off the planet. That and you humans would whine and snivel for eons, it would just be bad. If you get the chance to meet Poseidon, thank him for creating the twisted little shits will you. He ignores the rest of us for pointing out the seriously off the wall issues that showed up in the merpeople.”

Ava shrugged and laughed, “Maybe he just needs to get laid,” Ava said with a laugh. “Maybe we should hook him up with one of those dating websites or something like that. Maybe he just needs a good woman, or man, in his life?”

“He’s straight, I think,” Ares frowned. “Yup, pretty sure he’s straight, but he’s a little, oh what’s the word, old-fashioned in his views of women. He pretty much figures a woman should thank him for banging her and then demand she lick his boots. He’s an ass and will more than likely make some remark that makes you see red. Don’t strike out at him, it’s a trap and if you hit him he can punish you anyway he wants. It’s some weird ass loophole in his contract and being the God of the Seas and Oceans. I’ve never been able to fully understand it but yeah, it’s all bad.”

“Right, okay so try not to offend that backwards asshat in his realm where he can drown me.” She hated people like that. Men often thought women were weaker simply because they don’t have a penis. Yep, she was so going to get along with that man. Not.

“Pretty much, but just think,” Ares squeezed her hand as they stepped out of the house. “If you don’t get killed by the sexist under the sea, you’ll have an eternity of multiple orgasms whenever you want them.”

“Oh, when you say it like that I don’t think that I can refuse. An offer that good a girl just simply can’t pass up. Not now, not ever. I love the idea, a hell of a lot.” Ava let him lead her out of the house and she looked to the skies. “It’s going to be an amazing day. A wonderful day to see the delights under the waves.”

“I thought you’d see it my way,” he chuckled. Hugging her close, he guided her toward the end of the patio. It apparently gave him a clear line of view to where he wanted to flash them. “Ready?” he smiled down at her, pulling her into his body.

“You betcha.” She moved so she was at his front, able to press her face against his chest and close her eyes. Breathing in the scent that was only Ares, she sighed happily. “I’m as ready as I am going to get, Ares, so get us there.”

“Hold your shorts, woman,” he chuckled. A moment later he flashed them but they didn’t move right away. After all the time together she knew he was checking to ensure they weren’t going to be spotted or caught on tape. “Alright, let’s get to the boat and we’ll head out.”

“Perfect.” She grinned up at him and winked. “Thank you for making sure we got here in one piece. Now let’s get our happy selves out to the middle of the ocean so we can get deep under the ocean and enjoy the beauty that is down there.”

Chuckling, he shook his head, “Why are you so gung-ho about this? Not that I mind in the least but I am curious. You could have gone scuba diving at any time, or snorkeling. So why now, sweetheart?” he asked curiously. They walked down the dock toward the boat he kept there. It wasn’t a large boat by any means, but it was a decent size with room to laze about for sunbathing.