In a hard to bare, crushing silence, the Warrior Princess and the War God followed Nabucco's slave up a ridiculously long, spiral flight of stairs and then down some impossible to remember corridors and passages, neither one thinking for at least one fraction of a second about searching for the other's gaze, definitely still too mad to say something and probably aware that given the still mounting tension between them, one single glance would have been more than enough to unleash an avalanche of curses meant to release their frustration, naturally spiced with a few strategically applied blows that would have certainly led- judging by the War God's tightly pressed lips - to broken hands and legs- in Xena's case of course, as they both knew it….
At the same time, regardless of the amount of frustration their hearts had gathered, they were both sober enough to realise that they couldn't possibly display their feelings as openly as their troubled spirits desperately demanded them to. Allowing the other to see just how much they were hurting inside, how vulnerable and fragile they were, was pretty much out of the question, since it represented the ultimate weakness- an unpardonable error that would have indisputably given one of them a precious leverage over the other- and recklessly risking their position like that was something neither of them could afford…
As they entered the room they were supposed to share for the night, Ares casually snapped his fingers, thus making four torches light up, instantly engulfing that sea of darkness in a warm, soft, golden glow, and despite the dreadful savagery still present in her eyes, Xena couldn't hold back the small, childish gasp of surprise that escaped her lips the moment she noticed that the unusually high walls of the chamber were actually completely covered in outstandingly massive mirrors, giving the place a breathtaking effect….There was indeed no comparison to anything she had seen before….
" Quite impressive huh?" the God casually asked, without seeming as fascinated as she was by the superbly decorated place, and given his reaction, the Warrior Princess couldn't help wondering if he had been there before- and most importantly with whom…? Was it with the Queen or with some other woman….women….?
"More like bizarre….who would like to sleep in such a room ?" she retorted , arching an eyebrow at him, their eyes finally meeting, his harsh gaze spearing hers- his face refusing to flinch one muscle at the pure rage spitting back….It did seem though that he was a bit more furious and frustrated than she was….
"Let's just say that a good night's rest wasn't precisely what they had in mind when they designed this room….One could do a million other things in here though, and that bed wouldn't even be necessary …" he remarked, narrowing his eyes at the wild thoughts that started whirling restlessly inside his head as she began to take off her earrings. He was angry with her-very, very angry- and that was something he had to keep in mind no matter what, he vainly tried to remind himself while his erratic brain preferred to focus more and more on the overly sensual way in which her hands moved as they went up to her ear, the arousing laziness in which her head tilted to the side while her skillful fingers worked at unclasping a tear shaped sapphire earring.. ….the graceful way her silky tresses danced from the middle of her back to her right shoulder as she did that, the inviting way in which her waist curved slightly to the left, arching subtly towards him.. …
Pretending that she had failed to detect the lust reverberating from his voice as he spoke, Xena decided to ignore the God's comment, forcing instead every neuron in her brain to cling to the still painfully vivid memory of him and the Queen sharing that beastly, infuriatingly passionate kiss - most likely as a cure for the temporary madness that had urged her heart to beat faster the instant she heard that subtle change in his tone as he addressed her. She might have felt dangerously attracted to him – Zeus knew his magnetizing personality left her breathless most of the time- but she was no fool…..There was no way she was ever going to allow him to control her to the extent to which the sound of his voice alone would soften even the engulfing flames of her fury….No….
Without giving her actions too much thought, her mind now overly occupied with everything that had happened that night, the Warrior Princess finally stopped her pacing in front of one of the mirror walls, and, after a short pause, she also began to unclasp the marvelous silver necklace the War God had materialized around her neck back when he had changed her dress.
It was only now that she had the chance to admire it….It was the most incredible piece of jewelry she had ever seen in her life- a stunningly beautiful silver rose with a fancy, deep grayish blue sapphire in the middle, the leaves and twigs of which were elegantly wrapped around her neck….A priceless work of art, beyond any shadow of a doubt.
" Hephaestus' latest collection…-fit for a Goddess…." he emphasized, staring a bit longer than necessary in her direction, and failing miserably this time to hide the utter fascination gleaming in his eyes …..She was dazzling, his Princess….Her every gesture, no matter how insignificant was like an amazing magic trick to him…For a brief moment as their gazes met again, there was neither spite nor anger in them….All the resentment had melted somehow, or maybe it was just an illusion- skillfully projected by the bright orange flames of the torches. . " Every eye in the room was on you tonight…." the words left his lips on their own- without bothering to wait for his approval- as his burning gaze met hers in the mirror….
" Yeah….minus yours….." she bit without hesitation, finally managing to unclasp the choker and placing it carefully on the small vanity table at her right. " You were too busy flirting with your good friend's wife to pay attention to anyone else" she added, once again haunted by the feral lust flickering in the God's eyes each time he looked at the redheaded Queen.
...That's precisely what bothered her the most in the first place ….the awareness that he was actually attracted to her, that some other woman had actually captured his attention, bewitching him to the point where he had almost failed to notice that she was half naked in some other man's arms…He obviously considered the Queen tantalizingly attractive and the implications of this new reality were eating her alive….
"If my eyes hadn't been on you all night long, my dear, I'm quite sure you would now find yourself in a slightly different company, am I right?" he skilfully contradicted, unconsciously moving closer to her.
" Well…I'm sure you wouldn't have disliked the idea too much…That way, you could have spent the rest of the night with her…." she answered, trying to appear unaffected by her own words, in spite of the fact that they left the most unpleasant, bitter taste in her moth as she articulated them.
He chuckled softly before he answered, walking unhurriedly towards her, taking his time to study her expression as he got closer and closer to her slightly shivering form….A few more steps and he was right behind her, his gaze roaming with great interest over her flawless reflection in the mirror, intrigued to discover just how disturbed she still was about his innocent flirting with Amytis…The Queen was indeed an out of this world temptation, there was no point in pretending otherwise, but he thought he had cleared everything up when he stated that he wanted nothing to do with that accursed woman anymore, that she belonged to his past and that she had no reasons what so ever to be jealous….By the nine Muses, why in Tartarus was she still upset?!
" There's only one thing wrong with that scenario…." he said- lightly caressing her arms- and judging by his tone he was slightly amused by that ludicrous thicket of jumbled thoughts that he could just tell was now growing more and more out of control in her mind .
Her body went immediately stiff at the contact, but he just couldn't help himself, he had to touch her….The almost palpable rage pulsating from her aura was drawing him like a magnet…She was irresistible, the worst of all sins….And that piercing, arctic blue gaze boring defiantly through his, that almost made him forget all about the troubling images fueling his anger….
" Oh yeah? What's that?!" she asked, their gazes never breaking.
" Well, I'm here with you, so figure it out on your own….." was all the reply she got before he placed a feather like kiss on her shoulder…." Do you need help with this?" he inquired, gently caressing her back- where the laces of her corset where tied- and, without waiting for an answer, he slowly began to unwrap them….
" You could just make it vanish with a snap of your fingers, remember?" she tried to attack, a barely audible whisper though, since her body was desperately yearning for his touch- more likely for a confirmation actually, that she was still the one who mattered the most to him- the sensations now flooding her every nerve ending as he ran his fingers down her back being a bit too much for her to handle….
" Where's the fun in that?" he asked, grinning devilishly at her, while pulling her closer to him. "Plus….I love doing this….It's like Solstice all over again…." he smugly added, wetting his lips at the sight he knew he would be soon be enjoying.
" And given that you're such a Solstice fan….." she hissed through clenched teeth, frowning both at his insinuation and at the fact that she literally had to force a gift down his throat the previous year…..
" Hey! Not fair! You…took me by surprise back then…" he complained, he too recalling the moment, smiling mysteriously at her as he finally reached the lower part of her back….Just three more crosses left...
" I thought you loved surprises…"she murmured, holding her breath as his hands stopped moving for a moment, her gaze still locked with his, secretly wishing he threw her on the large king-side bed behind them and finish what they had started at that stupid party earlier…Unavoidably, she ended cursing herself the for having dared think about it….Once again though, as if sensing the unwanted change in her aura, his soft, velvety voice, filled with dark power swept beguilingly inside her mind, a sinful caress to her soul, one that she couldn't possibly resist….
" I do…And I did appreciate your …effort, as I recall" he added, finally letting the delicate fabric fall in a puddle at her feet, thus revealing her perfectly sculpted body to him, his gaze now hopelessly glued to that mirror…
"So….uh….what is it that you like about her?" the Warrior Princess found herself asking- a question the content of which was meant to slap her back to reality.
"Huh?" he answered, too entranced to think straight any more.
"About Amythis." she clarified, arching a sharp brow at him.
" Amythis…who?" he playfully replied, his index now teasingly tracing her spine, completely enthralled with the way in which her breathing would change its rhythm with every new caress...
"Your….old friend." she retorted, suddenly possessed again by that overwhelming desire to strike him, an urge that didn't go unnoticed, for every muscle in her body tensed to the point of snapping.
"Let's not go there." he wisely advised, his arm finally wrapping around her waist while his other hand pushed her hair aside, giving him better access to her neck.
" What….? It was just a question…." she defended, trying to find a justification for her immature impulsiveness. Impulse or not though, she was just dying to hear his version.
"That is never just a question, Xena. Making comparisons is a bad idea." he explained, in his turn trying hard to make her drop the subject.
" Why would it be a bad idea? I'm not comparing myself to anyone. I was just curious." she stubbornly insisted ….For some reason, she really wanted to know the rest of the story, cause judging by the obvious sexual tension between them, it was absolutely impossible for their relationship to have been only about fucking each other….
" It's a slippery slope…" he warned. "You might not like the answer. " he murmured lowly against her ear , lips brushing against the shell, his hot breath on her skin almost convincing her that he was indeed right….Almost, but not quite…
" What ? That's she's physically perfect? That's obvious…"
" Physically perfect?! According to what standards?" he retorted, doing his very best to stifle a laugh…He couldn't believe it. She was not only jealous, his Princess, she was also terribly insecure….
"Oh come on, Ares, I'm not blind! " she said stiffly, trying to break free from his iron like clasp.
" Neither am I, my deceitful beauty…." he answered, sweetly caressing her face despite the quite powerful elbow strike to the stomach she had used in order to get away from him, and he could only find one single reason for this primal reaction of hers…..She was hurting inside and she didn't want him to see...Consequently, she needed to put as much distance between them as possible...….
" You gotta be kidding me…" she sneered, rolling her eyes at his statement.
" What do you want me to say? She's good looking, yes ..." he commented, carefully choosing his words.
" Good looking?! The woman's gorgeous! "
" No. You're gorgeous. " he pointed out in all honesty, a compliment that the Warrior Princess dismissed a bit too quickly to his liking. .
" So...apart from the alluring physique, what else do you find attractive about her?" she stubbornly pushed, finally managing to irritate him enough as to twist his hand into giving her what he wanted….She obviously ignored the fact that truth is not the easiest thing to deal with at times…
" In short? She's fun, wild and disinhibited, she doesn't give a damn about what people think about her and …she is an incredibly good fuck. " he finally barked, visibly unnerved with her interrogatory, clicking his tongue once those last words rolled off his tongue….Maybe he should have kept the spicy details to himself….." Too much information for ya'?" he coldly asked the moment the nonchalant retort he had been expecting - one to go with his own- never came.
" Why aren't you with her then? She seems to be quite a catch."
"Like…..now?"
" Like…all the time…..As a couple….."
" Why would I want to do that? " he laughed, the idea itself being as ludicrous as it sounded. "I can have her any time I want. Needless to say, that makes everything a bit too….boring. Leaving that aside though, she's good for Nabbucco." he added, on an almost melancholic, pensive tone. " ….keeps him in check most of the time.."
" I've always said that men are shallow, but I swear, they should draw your face in the dictionary next to the word….Screwing a woman a couple of times just to drop her once you've got bored with what she has to offer….? Just because she's too available?... That's sick, Ares…." she stated in disgust, only to squirm even more in his arms, indignated by his condescending attitude.
" What can I say? I do have my problems….One thing's certain though…you better find a way to keep me interested as long as possible and fast….." he let her know, with a mock serious expression that really made her want to tear him limb from limb, the Bastard!
" You do know that this theory of yours can go both ways, don't you? I might just lose interest in you one of these days and move on…." she verbally attacked instead, poisonous words that did taste like honey in her mouth nonetheless. At the same time, she somehow managed to turn around in his embrace, wanting to make sure that he understood she had meant it.
"Yeah well….let us fix that before you decide to act on those suicidal thoughts of yours ….I'd hate to have to replace you…." he playfully threatened, his hand swiftly encircling her neck, squeezing slowly at first but gradually adding enough pressure as to restrict the amount of air entering her lungs, enough to make her realize that he wasn't joking, while his other hand began a torturously slow descent down her stomach, obviously heading for her crotch…..
" That might prove to be quite a challenge…I'm irreplaceable….." she chose to answer, intoxicating lust mixed with latent fury in her voice.
" Listen Sweetie, just 'cause I like you and all, I'll let you in on a little secret ok? But you'll have to promise that you won't tell a soul. Do we have ourselves a deal?" he patronizingly asked while delicately brushing her clit now. " Good… Now, this might come as a shock to you, but…..anyone can be replaced…."
" ….You seem to be forgetting one thing…."
" What's that?"
" I'm not just anyone….." she whispered on the dirtiest tone she could produce, distracting him enough as to knee him straight in the groin, lazily passing him by the following second, heading for the bed…
The next thing she knew though, his hand was savagely grabbing a fistful of her hair, and soon she was being brutally shoved against the cold mirror on the wall, her legs tightly snaked around his waist, while their tongues began a vicious fight with one another.
The kiss they shared blazed an invisible but will destructive path from the Warrior Princess' lips to her belly and beyond, settling between her thighs, an inferno of salacity in which everything else had ceased to exist. As he mercilessly crushed her body with his own, Ares grunted lowly at the unreleased, vibrating moans and whimpers in her throat….No matter how much she hated him this very now, she wanted this as much as he did…..
"No...you're not..." he murmured back, still feeling that she deserved a reply. " That's why you're still alive and breathing...That's what sets you apart from all the others..."