Disclaimer: I don't own Greek myths I do own all characters not related to them ^_^

A/N: There is some sexual content in this chapter just talk none of the actual scene, cause I'm not good at love scenes, and I was lazy! Sorry it took so long to do this chapter but here it is.

Chapter 8

Claire sat in her car, she was gently beating the stirring wheel of her corvette, the top down. Reba McEntire played on her car radio, she was waiting for Allen. He seemed to be taking his dear sweet time today...she wasn't impatient about it though. She was actually looking forward to this weekend, she hadn't had a weekend off in a while. When Allen/Ares had said something about taking the weekend to go to the beach house his parents owned, she jumped at the chance. It had been years since she'd been the beach not since she was a little girl. She was going to give him five more minutes, then she was going to go in.

She turned the radio up, after all she'd been listening to Reba's greatest hits, and this song suddenly hit her.

My gosh, she thought to herself, this song so fits Hera! As she listened to the lyrics she realized it really did. She smiled a bit, remembering the music video, the explosion at the end was the best. Yet, for some reason the song was just that a song...a song of love, hurt, and revenge. She knew now that Hera wasn't out for that, not any more, her husband was being faithful for once in their many many years of marriage. She hoped the queen was enjoying herself, as far as she could tell from Ares, his parents were getting along, she was glad.

"Took you long enough." She teased the man, who threw his suitcase in the back of the car. "You know the beach doesn't just wait for any one."

He opened the car door and got in pulling her close to him, she kissed him then, shocking her slightly, but she smiled. "It would wait for us, I guarantee it."

She laughed then. "How's your mum?" She asked, putting the car into drive.

"She's doing much better, she had that nasty cold you know...last week, but she's all better this week. She's taken to baking as many sweets as we can eat though." He sighed a bit laying back in his seat. "Rather surprised I haven't gained twenty pounds with all the chocolate, hard candy, cakes, cookies, or anything else she can think of."

"...Do gods gain weight like mortals?" She asked, she couldn't imagine an over weight god, no matter what she thought.

"We do, but we like to stay fit, to attract the ladies." He winked at her, and she just giggled again. "Oh just so you know the beach house hasn't been used in a few years...so it might not be as comfy as it was."

"I get to work on it?" Her eyes sparkled. "I love to work with my hands you know..."

He raised an eyebrow at that comment. "You do, do you?"

"I do pottery in my spare time, some of the items you've seen in my apartment and office I made myself. I sell pottery online as well, makes some spare cash for trips, chocolate, movies, that kind of thing." She continued to drive. "So why do you need to get away?"

"Mom and dad..." He stated, "They're being all mushy again, and sometimes I just can't stand it. There are times I almost prefer the fighting."

"Oh come on, it can't be that bad..." She looked at him then, before getting on the free way.

"Yes, yes it can be. You don't want to know what my parents do when even the kids are around." He shivered.

She laughed then. "Oh...well I suppose yes that is awkward. I am very fortunate that it has never happened to me."

"Pray that it never does." The grown man shivered again, and she giggled. "Its not funny...its weird!"

"Well were do you think you came from?" She asked, the smile on her face clear in her voice. "That's what my mother would say, in fact, when we had the talk she did. I was like uh okay mom I know this."

Ares shook his head again, his dark curls shaking a bit as well. Those were memories he'd rather just forget, but it was almost like a nightmare. Something he couldn't shake, something that was a part of him.

"So how'd you manage to get this weekend off?" He asked, just to change the subject.

"Oh it was easy, I have vacation stored up, I haven't taken days off in a long time. Nor have I had a sick day in about two years." She replied. "So I took the whole week off, but I'm spending the weekend with you...mom and dad have the rest of the week, sorry."

He paused then, thinking about it. "Are you going to introduce me to your parents?"

She blinked a few times. "You're serious?" She asked, it would be odd introducing the god of war to her parents. Just how would you go about that any ways?

"I'm serious, I'd like to get to know your parents, besides you know mine...even better then most girls that have met them." He replied. "Unless of course you're ashamed of me?"

"Ashamed, never, Ares, its just how do you go about introducing the god of war to your father, who was a war general in WWII?" She asked.

"Easy," He smiled a bit. "I'm an army recruiter remember? We can leave the god part out for now, I wasn't suppose to tell you on our first date..."

"I'm glad you did." She relaxed a bit now, and turned down her CD. "Most men are not that honest."

"...I have to tell you why I told you though..." She glanced over at him. "The last woman I told...kind of well she..."

"Shattered your heart into a thousand pieces..." She finished for him. "I know the feeling...the first guy I ever introduced to my father...shattered mine."

"Its just...not many mortals want to be with a god any more...and I can understand it."

"I don't care about your status," Claire stated, "I care about you, not as a god, not as an army recruiter, but as a person."

He felt his own heart skip a beat then, at that moment he knew he'd made the right choice. Those were words, he was sure, that any guy, or girl for that matter, wanted to hear in their life time...ones that many did not get to hear. He suddenly felt much like a school boy then, with his childhood crush. He reached over and brushed a stray strand of her dark red hair back. He watched as a smile made its way to her lips, and a slight blush on her cheeks.

"I love you, Claire." He kissed her cheek lightly. "I mean it."

She blushed again then, "...I love you too, All...Ares." She giggled then. She pulled into a gas station then. "I'm going to get a drink, you want anything?"

He grinned slightly then, "If I said you, I'd be in trouble wouldn't I?"

She gave him a look and a sly smile. "I'll bring you something." She winked at him. "Don't break my baby."

The god was surprised then, no woman, other then Aphrodite, had come on to him like that. Was she being serious or was she just playing around. That was one thing he had never understood, was women and their sex drive. He'd actually asked his mother about it once...when he'd been younger, and she had tried to explain it to him. Told him that he should wait 'til either she, the girl, was ready to settle down...or he'd end up like his father. Sad to say he ended up like his dad, until just recently. For some reason Claire got him to thinking about settling down...he wasn't sure if it was with her, at the moment, they'd only been going out three months, but he felt close to her. He knew at this moment though he was going to enjoy time with Claire, take things slow.

She tossed him a paper bag then got into the drivers seat. "I got you something to eat too...just in case you were really hungry for food, besides me." She teased, starting up the car.

"Claire...can I ask you something?" He asked opening the bag he found a bottle of Pepsi and a package of Red Vines...she already knew his favorite mortal candy.

"Ask away." She stated, putting her shades back on, and driving off.

"How do you feel about this weekend? I mean..." He wasn't even sure how to put what he wanted to ask into words.

"I think I know what you're getting at." She smiled. "I feel very sure of this weekend, and as for us sleeping together...I'm not worried about it. I can keep my hands to myself..."

"Its not you I worry about." He laughed then, "We're not teenagers."

"Nope, but if you mean to make me a lover...you'd better just get those ideas out of your head. I'm no man's play thing." She got back on the free way, pushing the cruise button.

"If I was to make you a lover, it would not be as a "play thing"..." Had she been listening to his mother talk about the old days?

Her face flushed a dark pink then. "...Well I appreciate that," She looked at him then. "Ares if any where to happen? I mean us?"

"If we did..." Ares stopped for a minute. "There were consequences, I would take care of you."

She pulled into a parking lot then. "... ..." She stopped the car and pulled him close kissing him with a passion that she hadn't used in years.

He smiled into the kiss, before gently pushing her away. "Is this all it takes to turn you on, Claire?" He asked a smirk on his face.

"No..." She stated, pushing the button to push the top back up. "You just said certain things."

He pushed her a bit farther away. "Your car is not the place for this." He watched her eyes, "Claire I don't want to make love with you just because of something I said...we've only."

"I don't care." Claire replied. "...that's not why I want to, I want to because I want to." She stated, kissing him again. "You haven't called it sex once...you know."

He knew that look, he knew for once it wasn't just lust in the woman's lovely eyes. "Claire...not here." He stated, he was also worried about hurting her. She was a mortal, as it was. "I don't have any.."

She grinned then and let him up. "I do. I bought some at the store we were just at." She giggled then. "You want to drive?"

"You think you can control yourself?" He countered.

"Yeah...I think so..." She took a deep breath then, calming her body. "...Ares you don't think I'm a ..."

He looked at her, switching places with her so he was driving. "You're not a slut, Claire." He replied taking her hand in his, entwining their fingers. He could drive with one hand. "My mother would say its hormones...but I do hope its more then that."

"...I want to be close to you, its not a crime, to want to make love." She stated looking at their fingers. "...At least I hope its not."

He laughed then, he hadn't laughed in a long time, not since before he met Claire. "If it were a crime...then a lot of us should be locked up and the key thrown away."

She smiled then, closing her eyes. She'd use these next two hours to reflect to rest. To rethink about her plans, was this really what she wanted, and then she knew. She knew she wanted to be with him, to spend this weekend in his arms.

He noticed she was asleep when they pulled into the beach house. He was actually surprised at the condition of it. It seemed to have held up to many of his uncles storms. He got the bags out first, then slowly picked her up, she was lighter then he had thought. Not that she was over weight, nor was she as skinny as a pole, but she was just the right size. He smiled and kissed her forehead lightly, pulling her slightly closer to him as she slept.

He went to his room and laid her down, he figured he'd make them some dinner, he'd probably need to go out shopping, but he'd have a romantic dinner waiting for her when she woke up.

A few hours later he was cursing the stove, she managed to wake up then, she stretched and giggled a bit, going down the stairs. She watched him from the door way, a smile on her face as she watched him.

"Something wrong with the stove?" She asked, causing him to jump slightly, she giggled again then. "Never thought the god of war would be so jumpy."

"I was trying to make you dinner..." He growled a bit, she walked over to him then, and kissed him tenderly.

"First of all, Ares," She stated, that smile still on her face. She turned down the oven. "You have the oven too high, love."

He blushed a bit. "I don't cook that often..."

"Well that's why I'm here," She smiled and kissed his cheek, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Why don't we cook dinner together?"

"Sound perfect," He stated, nearly melting at her touch. Something about her was just wonderful. "I brought steak and that."

"Why don't we make some pasta? I could go for some pasta." She moved away from him then and opened the bags he had brought. "We have everything here to make stroganoff."

"That sounds good to me, will that take a while?" He asked, "I had the table set..."

She looked out at the table. "You're a romantic at heart, aren't you, Ares..." She teased, seeing the candles and the single rose on the table. "I'm glad I woke up before you lit those, though." Her eyes twinkled then.

"Well you learn a few things..." He stated, then shook his head at her teasing. "Alright tell me what I need to do."

"Brown the steak, after you cut it into cubes." She stated, getting the mushroom sauce together. "I'll get the sauce, we should be done in about thirty minutes, then we throw it together, and that takes another thirty for all that to cook. So we could read a book, watch part of a movie, or something."

"Sounds like a plan." He continued cutting the steak as she had directed.

Half and hour later the two were sitting down on the couch, he placed his arm around her shoulder, and she snuggled close to him. They decided to see what was on TV, they didn't really find anything, but left it on a boring channel just for some noise. They were wrapped up in each other when timer went off, they both jumped slightly, but when her stomach growled, they both laughed.

She cut some of the French loaf, and buttered it, before setting the food down on the table. "There we go, a beautiful dinner."

"Made by two." He pulled her chair out of her, she smiled and sat down.

The two didn't have much conversation as they ate, both lost in their own thoughts. Once dinner was over Claire went to do dishes, Allen went into the living room. He found a book he'd brought the last time he was here, and sat down on the couch. Claire finished the dishes and walked out.

"What are you reading?" She asked, smiling.

"Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens." He stated, "I brought it last time I was out here...never read it."

She chuckled a bit. "I didn't expect you to read Dickens." She sat down on the love seat. "I read him in high school, it was pretty good."

He shut the book and grabbed her arm pulling her next to him. "Then we'll read it together, before bed." He stated kissing her temple. "At least get through some of it."

She smiled and snuggled close to him. "Okay," She kissed his chin, wrapping his arm around her waist.