For once, she didn't look around her while she advanced through the thick, engulfing forest- she just walked, mentally blocking the awareness of any possible threat coming form the outside. She didn't care any more. She simply walked, walked away from the pain and the disgust of having stupidly allowed him once again to trample all over her feelings and this time it hurt more than ever, because he had cruelly chosen none other than Dite to be the tool of her humiliation…Dite….one of the few people to whom she had discreetly attributed the honorable title of "friend"…

Indeed, this time his treason had cut deep….

A few dried branches cracked nosily under her feet as she made her way through the thicket of high, massive oaks, stumbling over a couple of surface roots here and there, each time making sure to mutter a barely audible but utterly expressive curse at the unfortunate tree that had dared get in her way.

About half an hour later, as she finally reached a clearing and the moonlight could finally provide a bit more light than before, she cast a long, wondering glance around her. She had reached a river, at least that's what the calming sound of the flowing water told her….

Furiously wiping with the back of her hand the salty tears that had been streaming down her flushed cheeks for awhile now, she headed in the direction of the river, eager to splash a bit of cold water on her face, maybe even take a midnight bath. Despite the fact that it was an usually cold night for that time of the year, she felt her entire body burning and sweaty as if she had been running for miles….

Without bothering to check her surroundings, the Warrior Princess carelessly took off her shift and, within seconds, her eyes closed and her jaw clenched as she tried to wash away along with the heat, the unseen blood flowing from her deep, invisible, but very much present wounds….If it hadn't been for the grim darkness of the night, she knew that she could have easily noticed the claret shade of the water….

XXX

His back leaning against a tree , he watched her passing him by, her astonishingly beautiful visage stained by the pearly tears glistening on her cheeks, and given just how red and puffy her eyes were, she must have been crying for quite some time.….He could distinctly feel the heaviness of her aura, the distress radiating from her flawless mortal form, and he could only wonder what it was that had caused her so much suffering…He had barely left their camp, and there she was, far away from her Olympian friends, all alone in those woods, in the middle of the night, her spirit crushed and her soul torn to pieces.

One thing he was dead sure of…Something must have triggered that reaction, and judging by the fact that Ares- the Control Freak as he mockingly liked to call him- wasn't anywhere near her, he could only suspect that it was him who had been the moral author of the blaring heartache that was now engraved on her half petrified, half saddened features.

His string of thoughts was abruptly interrupted though, the moment that dark piece of fabric she had been wearing- the color of which he didn't quite appreciate anyway- fell down in a puddle at her feet, unabashedly revealing carnal perfection in its ultimate form…

He swallowed dryly at the sight he now had before him…..There were no words to describe her…..She was absolutely breathtaking, every curve marvelously enhanced by the lights and shadows that the moonlight now cast on her naked body, and, as she pulled her silky hair up in a rather messy but practical bun, it suddenly hit him: if he had only tried to provoke Ares hours earlier, before the meeting, when he nonchalantly told her that the Germanic Bards had been right, and that she indeed surpassed in beauty any mortal or Goddess walking the face of the earth, everything was of a transparent clarity now….He had spoken the pure, undeniable truth….She was something else…His Greek rival had any reason in the world not to let her out of his sight…. or reach…He now had the conviction that he would have done the very same if he had been the one to own her….

With hungry, lecherous eyes, he watched her running her hands across her shoulders before stepping into the water, smiling bitterly as her barely seen reflection did the same…Another unchecked tear found its way towards her lips, and she licked it away as fast as she could, looking aside with the expression of a person who had a terrible secret to keep, and whose every single gesture could force that secret out into the open…

His entire immortal being shivered in expectation…Time and space had somehow become imperceptible while he waited for her next move, and that move came when her toe reluctantly touched the surface of the cooling water…..As she cautiously entered the river, taking the needed time for her body to adjust to the considerably lower temperature , he could see her nipples hardening at the contact and her chest rising in surprise….The water was probably ice cold, he thought, but that didn't matter much to him. Entranced as he was at the sight of her full, round breasts bouncing slightly as she moved graciously towards the middle of the river, and of her flawlessly traced, appetizing ass cheeks getting more and more engulfed by the water, he now had one single thing in mind…and it had nothing to do with just how warm or cold that water was…His heart was tugging wildly at the mere thought of it, and the fact that it was dangerously exciting- she was Ares' Chosen after all- only inflamed his passion even more….He was ravaged with desire, and the overly sensual image of her, splashing water on her arms and her chest, gently caressing the surface of her discreetly glowing skin, only made him burn on the inside….

How he would have loved to run his hands over her soft skin, to relish into the soft texture beneath his fingers, to cover her in wet, devouring kisses before throwing her on the grass and turning all his fantasies into reality with her, right there, trapped underneath his wanton body, complying to his any request….

" Didn't your momma ever teach you it's rude to stare?"

The sound of her strong but feminine voice sent shivers down his spine….Did she know he was there? She couldn't…..There was no way for her to sense his presence. He was a God….and mortals lacked the ability to feel anything that surpassed their limited senses….

Instead of answering he confidently took a deep breath…He could smell her….The air was full of the distinct perfume of her skin, despite the fact that the water had washed away most of the sweat and the dust...There was no doubt about it though….it smelled like her all right….It smelled liked that rare but fatal combination between power and delicacy that he had always searched for in women….A perfect balance that he had failed to find and that was now staring him in the eye from the sky blue orbs that had fixed him with a shockingly familiar glance….It was as if he had met her before…..in a previous life maybe. Whatever it was, she attracted him beyond words, and, bewitched as he was by the unexpected sheer force now radiating from her previously shattered, barely pulsating aura, he almost missed the moment when she got out of the water, approaching him with light but intimidatingly firm steps…

"And yes, I'm talking to you, Teiwaz…." she said once that her lips were just inches away from his own, her hot, irregular breath now caressing their surface in such a torturously tantalizing way, that his mind went blank for a couple of seconds….Gods, he wanted that woman beyond imagination…..

As the ripping sensation offered by the tip of her fingers gliding down his chest exploded everywhere inside him, he finally made himself visible to her.

…He unwillingly gave her a small smile before she claimed his mouth…

She could feel that her unique beauty along with his obvious attraction for the forbidden fruit, for the unseen barrier that theoretically separated them - thus making her untouchable- had created a noticeable bulge in his pants….

Her own smile turned into a mischievous grin soon after, the moment she realized that the wetness oozing out her luscious slit had nothing to do with her bath…As the thought of getting her revenge slipped into her devious little head, she got so turned on that bolts of electric excitement shot straight where she needed them to…..right between her legs…

"Your timing is perfect…." she whispered seductively while she took his hand and guided it slowly down to her clit….His erection nearly doubled in size as his fingers worked easily their way up and down the slippery core, still a bit taken aback by what was going on…Her tongue now darting boldly in and out his mouth though, made his breathing grow erratic, pleasure pulsing in every corner of his body….

In all appearances, that night was going to be a memorable one for both of them …