A kiss! I could not believe my eyes! After all this time in which I almost gave up hope, they were finally sharing a kiss! A real kiss! One that did not have one trace of deceit in it….And to make everything even sweeter, neither of them had hidden agendas on this occasion. For once, it was a simple display of pure, utter love….primal love and longing all together! The perfect mix for the ultimate outcome!

Good Gaia, I have always known I have a gift when it comes to bringing people together- not that I had an actual contribution this time, but let's face it….sometimes my charmingly divine presence somewhere is more than enough for people to solve whatever love problem they might have- even when they don't have the slightest clue I'm there! What more could I say? I'm a genius! Bro' owes me one ….like again!

XXX

With that thought in mind, and with her brain numbed by the drug like effect of the sheer passion radiating from her favorite couple's heated bodies, the Love Goddess decided that she had seen enough. Everything was going to be just peachy from that moment on between the War God and the "Warrior Babe" - at least in her opinion- so, with her mind finally at peace, she decided that it was high time to pay her Bard friend a visit….

XXX

What Aphrodite didn't know though, was that she had been just seconds away from witnessing something really worth watching, something that would have really made her think twice before jumping to conclusions...

The touch of his lips pressed against hers was like oxygen to fire. She had never tried hard enough to resist him - she silently scolded herself as his tongue demanded entrance, thrusting, swirling and taking everything away from her, from her so called self control to her self induced conviction that he was bad- extremely bad- for her…But for some stupid reason that she didn't want to admit- not even to herself- she allowed her yearning soul to get lost for a moment in that flawless world of sick, carnal passion in which there was no one else but them, in which there were no consequences, only limitless, mind fogging pleasure, in which the addictive touch of his gentle hand cupping her left breast – made her think that he was actually trying to cup her heart…..

She moaned softly into his mouth as he slipped his tongue even deeper, and her fingers clenched almost wildly into his hair in response, dazed by that sudden magic that had sprung between them…It was indeed the same, hear mind moaned along with her, unable to think clearly anymore….He was right….despite the passing of time nothing had changed….The feel of him, that unique smell of his skin, the sheer, dark power radiating from behind his every gesture , all combined to transfix her, to enslave her her will along with her body ….

With a strong enough push to send a mortal flying to the other side of the room, she managed put a bit of distance between them, biting her lower lip hard enough to draw blood, hard enough to bring her back to reality , forcefully pulling herself out of that sweet abyss of emotions he had pushed her into.

"Stop it!" she commanded in a low, hoarse voice, still intoxicated with the incredibly arousing sensation of having him so close, so unbearably close to her….The perspective of them together again had been haunting her all morning, ever since he desperately rushed to protect her when his name recklessly escaped her treacherous lips….And now he was obviously taking advantage of her weakness, the Bastard, playing her like a stringed puppet…..She never learned….

" You know I'm right. " he spoke in a voice at least ten times calmer than hers had been, his eyes still fixed on her blood red, swollen and unspeakably tempting lips….For the love of Zeus , what was it about this woman that always pushed him to the brink of insanity? He couldn't really tell, but truth be told, he didn't actually care too much…All he knew was that he would have done right about anything to have her back, to have things the way they used to be…" And that kiss, was all the proof I needed….."

" It was just a kiss , Ares…It didn't mean anything " she muttered, the first thing that came into her mind really, not knowing what else to say…

"…Just a kiss, huh..?" he playfully inquired, trying hard not to laugh in her face. That was the most ridiculous self defense statement he had heard in months….Oh, how he had missed her!

She mentally slapped herself a couple of times, struggling to keep her expression unreadable while with the most graceful of moves , he cupped her chin, brushing his thumb over the little dent in its center. He was absolutely breathtaking….Charmingly manipulative as always...

" Don't do this.." she murmured, in a lower, almost pleading tone.

" Why not, Darling…? "

" Just don't….Ares….don't delude yourself into thinking that we can turn back time... I'm not the same anymore…."she patiently explained, angry with herself for having even allowed that discussion to start. She should have known better…

" Oh yeah? Then how do you explain what just happened?... That chemistry, the fire, that bloody connection that just refuses to break….? You can't deny it….It's exactly the way I put it…It's like time stopped…As if it all happened yesterday…" he insisted, smiling a bit smugly at the uneasy look she gave him.

" Well it sure didn't happen yesterday and that was definitely no chemistry! It was just a…."she bluntly contradicted, stopping in mid sentence as no reasonable lie took shape fast enough on the tip of her tongue.

"A…?" he inquired in a bemused tone, eager to hear the rest of her ludicrous reason.

" Never mind. Whatever it was , it shouldn't have happened, and it has nothing to do with fire or …."

Before she finished that line though, the War God' s lips hungrily found hers again and something must have exploded inside her at the contact, for not all the words in the world could explain that wave of desire coursing through her when he pushed her ferociously back against the pillows, and despite that ripping pain coming from her shoulder, the muffled cry that soon broke into fading echoes in his mouth had nothing to do with physical suffering but with a strong, uncontrollable need to feel him that was tearing her soul apart from the inside…

This time, instead of listening to her reason- the little that she had left anyway- Xena decided to stop fighting his assault, her treacherous body now as pliant and as fluid as silk, arching into his own as his hand started raising the hem of her shift….His touches were electrifying, and her heart, slamming rebelliously against her ribs wasn't precisely doing her a favor…For an endless second, she was willing to throw it all away….logic, self control, their burdening past….Every nerve in her body just hummed with desire, lust annihilating even the warm sensation of blood trickling slowly from her wound…