Apology

Rini awoke with a massive headache and was surprised to find herself in her bed. The last thing she remembered was catching Ares cheating with the wind. She had a vague memory of an energy swelling and erupting from inside her and then everything went black. She had a scant memory of Ares' soothing her and cradling her in his arms. Her face flushed red. How embarrassing. She'd failed her first test. He must think her incredibly weak. Rini sat up on the edge of the bed and the movement set her temples throbbing. She squeezed either side of her head as if applying pressure inward would somehow stop the outward pressure. Her stomach roiled from the pain. She felt the cold floor beneath her feet and forced herself to stand. When she was certain she could manage a few steps, she made her way to the door but it felt like she was walking in knee-deep water.

Once she reached the hallway, she made the turn for Ares' suite. She wanted to tell him she was ready for her next session. She didn't want him to think she was a pathetic warrior. She'd never fainted in her life! It took her a good five minutes to even make it to the double doors. She had to stop and steady herself against the wall another time. She paused at his door. She knew she wasn't ready for her next session but she didn't want him to see or know that. Rini took a deep breath and called on her Amazon meditation training.

"Miss, Missus," Millie called as she hurried down the hallway. "The Master gave me strict orders to make sure you're rested."

Rini exhaled and clenched her jaw. The woman's voice ricocheted off the stone walls and clanged like kitchen pans. She struggled to talk, "I'm fine. I just want to see my father."

"Well Miss, he's attending to business. Might not be back this evening. He wants you to rest."

Rini looked back at the double doors. She'd disappointed him. Of course she had and now he'd gone off to tend to more important things than her. Xena and Gabrielle had warned her that he was only interested in power. Well, if it was power that he was interested in, she'd just have to find a way to grow hers. "I'm not interested in resting. Resting is for the weak."

"If you don't mind my saying, my lady, you're as weak as a little mouse right now. I've got some meat roasting that'll get you right as rain in no time."

"I'm not weak," Rini gritted and pushed past Millie nearly knocking the cook over. Rini made it back to her room and managed to get the door shut before collapsing against the back of it. She was conscious still but had never been as exhausted in her entire life. She fought tears as she questioned her decision to seek her father for the first time.

AXAXAXAXAXAXAXAXAX

Joxer the Mighty

He's very tidy

With Gabby as his sidekick

Fighting with her little stick

Xena had already gone through the names of the Archons of Athens, she'd recited Homer, and she'd listed the names of the warlords she'd killed, she was running out of things to do to keep her sanity. Never did she think that Joxer's little song would prove a useful tool but focusing on trying to remember the lyrics was giving her something to do in her solitude. She'd moved to the back wall, opposite the door and was waiting for Ares to make his move. But he'd kept her waiting much longer than she'd expected. Or maybe it just felt like an eternity because of the quiet dark. The dark did little to get him out of her mind. That was where she always found him. And now, even as she sang Joxer's ridiculous diddy, thoughts of Ares ran rampant in her head. She wanted to forget the wounded look in his eyes when he'd first seen her but feelings of shame wouldn't go away. Yes, it had been dirty to keep Rini from him but she was protecting her daughter. She'd failed to protect Solan from Hope and Callisto, and she hadn't been around to save Eve from falling into Ares' clutches. She'd be damned if she was going to let Rini follow that deadly path. Xena didn't want to think Ares would seduce their daughter sexually but she was pretty sure he and Discord had had a sexual relationship and Discord was his sister. Xena knew the gods looked at things differently than mortals did. For crying out loud, Zeus and Hera were siblings. But even among the gods, parent/child sex was still pretty taboo, Xena reassured herself. But even if he kept things between them strictly familial in the mortal sense, Ares would still twist her moral compass to the point that she'd have little idea of what was good and what was evil. He'd have her doing things she'd grow to regret and hate herself for.

Light appeared under the hairline crack between the bottom of the door and the floor. Almost immediately after the golden shafts hit the floor, Xena's senses were hit with that old tingle she got every time Ares was near. She steeled herself against the opium-like surge she knew was going to course through her. She ran her hand over her mouth willing herself not to give into it but the pulse that exploded at her center nearly caused her to cry out. She clenched her fists as she heard the door bolts sliding. Luckily she'd regained control of her body before he swung the door open.

When he opened the door a brazier that hung above the center of the room flared to life washing the room in light. Xena looked around taking in her surroundings, looking for anything she might have missed when making her mental map in the dark. Nothing. Not a damn thing. Just the walls, the door, and the brazier that had been too high overhead for her to have reached anyway.

Ares watched her take it all in. Something twisted inside him enjoyed watching her scramble to look for a way out of his prison, even though she knew full well that she'd never leave there alive without his blessing. He gave her more time than was necessary to survey the room. Then with a wave of his hand a table appeared and he set the crate with the items he'd gathered on the table top.

"How's the head?" Ares asked as he looked her over. He could see he'd hit her left hand pretty good with the fireball. The skin was raw and peeling. It would scar but she'd heal from that. He was more worried about the head wound.

"Hurts." Xena looked into the crate.

"That will teach you to walk into my world and act like you own it," Ares responded. There had been a time when she could've owned it all. They both knew it. But she'd chosen repeatedly to throw every offer back in his face.

"She's my daughter, I wa-"

"She's my daughter now."

"Yes, she's our daughter," Xena agreed.

"No, Xena. She's mine. You had her all those years. And now she's mine. To do with whatever I want. My little warrior princess. You tried to make her a little Amazon princess, didn't you? Well, she'll be much more than that! She's got so much potential, Xena. In just one training session-"

"You son-of-a-bitch, you've already started?"

"Well, I couldn't waste time, now could I, since so much of it has been robbed from me?"

"She's smart, Ares. She'll see through you."

"What? Like you did? What, you think Hercules is gonna come along and give her a little dick and she's gonna have an epiphany about how bad she's been and run off crying about her evil deeds like some whiny little bitch."

Xena couldn't help herself. She laughed. He still thought she left over his brother's cock! It had never been about Hercules. It had always been about the baby she'd saved from her lieutenant, Darphus. The child had stirred in her a longing for all the things she had lost. The chance to raise Solan. The love of a family. Friends. Everything in her life had become about power. Even her relationship with Ares, especially her relationship with him had been wrapped up in her quest to conquer the world.

"What's funny Xena?"

But as much as Xena knew it hadn't been about Hercules, she knew that it killed him to think that it was. So she did what she did best, she plucked that thorn and dug it in his side again. "It wasn't little, his dick."

Ares struggled not to slap her. It was what she wanted. He closed his fists. He saw her look down at them anticipating the violence with a gleam in her eye. Ares grinned. "You like to play games Xena?'

"You brought him up. But then again, I brought him up too, didn't I? Again and again! He's got stamina that one. Like a fucking stallion and the strength of those hips when he comes inside you, mmmmm" Xena moaned.

"Okay," Ares pursed his lips and nodded his head. She wanted it this way. Ares swung his backhand at her but stopped just shy of hitting her.

Xena never flinched. "You can't even finish," she taunted.

Ares put his hand down. "You can run your mouth all you want, Xena. You're not going to get the fight you want out of me. But I am going to teach you a lesson. One that you seemed to have forgotten. Unlike my dear little brother, I am an actual god. And you've crossed this god one too many times. I've let my soft spot for you get the better of me for the last time. Now, you are going to learn your place or you will rot away in here like the mortal, decaying piece of filth that you are."

"I don't need anymore of your lessons and neither does my daughter."

Ares turned back to the table and methodically started pulling the items out of the crate and placing them on the table top. When he'd finished he pointed to them and said, "pick one."

Xena looked at the spread: a waterskin, a chamber pot, a blanket, an oil lamp, a loaf of bread, and a jar of salve. "What's the cost?"

Ares smiled. "Very clever."

"Not really, there's always a price with you."

"Well, if you must know, my dear, dear Xena. one item from that table can be yours with a simple apology."

Xena snorted. "I'll never apologize for keeping my daughter safe from a monster."

"Suit yourself," Ares packed up the crate, picked it up, and turned for the door.

A tinge of panic reached out and gripped Xena. If he left, the darkness would return. She wasn't ready for that just yet. Plus she was thirsty and hungry. Her hand hurt but she could live with the pain, she'd done it before. She really needed the chamber pot since there was nowhere to relieve herself in the cell. Xena had no intention of apologizing to him but she knew him well enough that she was sure she'd still be able to get the items off of him anyway. "Ares, don't go."

Ares smiled. So, she'd decided to play afterall. He quickly dropped the sides of his mouth before he turned. He didn't want her to know how satisfied he was that he'd wrangled her into playing his game. "Pick one."

Xena sighed. She looked the items over again. "Water or wine?"

"Water."

"Okay, I'll take the skin."

Ares reached into the crate, picked up the skin and set it atop the table. "Okay, it is yours when you apologize."

"You expect me to apologize for a single item."

"Well, you do have a lot to apologize for, Xena."

"Ares, why are you doing this?" Xena dropped her voice to the seduction tone that always worked so well on him, half vulnerable, half tigress.

"Well, for starters, I want to know if you planned it. When you slept with me, were you watching your cycle? Were you trying to get a baby off of me? Did you do it to spite me?"

"And if I tell you the truth, and it hurts you, are you going to take the skin away?" Xena moved closer to him.

"No, I told you how you get the skin, Xena. All you have to do is apologize."

Xena was dangerously close to him now. The old ache built within her again. "Ares, you and I wanted different things. Except one. We both wanted her."

"You wanted a baby with me?" He swallowed. Why hadn't she just told him that? Part of his heart leapt that she'd chosen him to sire her child. She could have turned to any man or god. What fool would have said no to her?

Xena ran her right hand up his left bicep. "Yes. I wanted your child. But I couldn't trust myself around you. This shouldn't be a secret to you." Xena ran her thumb along the bearded jaw.

"If I meant so much to you. Then you couldn't have done what you did, Xena. Not unless you were trying to hurt me. And if that's the case then you owe me an apology." Ares breathing quickened as he talked. Her hands on his face were having the desired effect. Xena smiled inwardly knowing he was still putty in her hand.

She moved in and whispered in his ear, "running away wasn't about you, Ares. It was about me, you're bad for me." She kissed along the cartilage of his ear, then down his neck. She pulled back his vest and nipped at his shoulder before trailing her mouth down his chest and toying with his nipple. Xena looked up and saw the jagged edge of his jaw and could tell he was fighting to not let go.

The feel of her mouth on him was making him insane. Ares was glad he'd had a good cum before seeing her because he could feel another load building and knew he could control this one longer. "You knew who I was before you got involved with me, Xena."

"Ares, God of War," she breathed across his belly and licked the sensitive skin. His hips involuntarily jerked toward her mouth. And for the first time Ares wondered if his pregame warmup was going to be enough to keep him from blowing too soon. Xena's focus shifted to the swell of his pants.

"There was a time those words actually meant something to you," Ares let his hand play in her black hair.

Xena tried not to wince as his hand touched the sore spot where she'd been conked in the head. But she sucked breath through her teeth.

"Hurt?" he asked.

"It's not my head that I'm worried about," Xena said as she slid his pants down over his hips. When his cock popped free and bobbed in the air proudly, Xena knew she had him exactly where she wanted him. He'd give her anything she asked for. She closed her mouth over his hot plum head and worked her lips down his shaft. Xena felt her clit swelling at the sheer delight of having him in her mouth again. With her right hand, Xena cupped his balls letting her middle finger tickle along the seam.

"Rhrrrrmm," Ares thrummed. Gods she was so fucking incredible.

Xena gave his cock a couple of more deep throated passes before she pulled her mouth away. She pulled his shaft back and ran her tongue along the backside before taking a nut into her mouth and rolling her tongue along it. His head had gone from a perfect plum to a dark rose. She knew she could finish him with another minute of devotion. Xena looked up at him with those delicious blue eyes and asked, "Since I've been a good girl, will you leave the whole crate?"

Ares looked down at her looking up at him, begging. Her lips swollen from sucking his cock. Her eyes hungry for more. "Yes," he answered and guided his cock back in her mouth but now he set the pace, fisting his hand in her hair and fucking her mouth. Xena continued massaging his balls while he took his pleasure from her face. Another incomprehensible murmur erupted from his throat as he came in her mouth. When Ares opened his eyes, he looked down at her so pleased with herself. Gods she knew how to control his fucking body! He'd never be able to resist her. But he knew the feeling was mutual. She was as much a slave to their mutual desire as was he. Ares pulled his pants back up and walked over to the table. He picked up the wine skin. "You want the skin, or what?"

Xena looked at him perplexed. "I thought we worked that out," she wiped cum from the corner of her mouth to illustrate her point.

"Yeah, we did. I told you I'd leave the whole crate. But if you want any of the shit in it, you're gonna have to apologize."

"Fuck you!" Xena spat and some of his own cum smeared across his face.

Ares laughed. He'd finally beaten her at her own game. How many times had she dealt with him in half truths and little deciets? Well turnabout was fair fucking play. "So, that's a no?" Ares gave her a beat and she came at him with deadly intent. He disappeared in shards of light leaving behind only the crate which fell to the floor when the table disappeared and Xena tripped over it in the darkness!