Chapter 24
The darkness surrounded her as the only light in the room was coming from the fire that was slowly burning in the hearth giving her a little bit of warmth while she was laying there on the bed. Lyceus had left earlier and though only a few hours had passed, she already missed him tremendously. She wished he didn't have to leave so soon after having just gotten there. She let out a deep sigh as she hugged the pillow closer to herself. She had went the rest of the day going on like nothing had happened but once she got back to her bedchamber and smelled his lingering scent on the pillow, she couldn't help the tears that started to prick at her eyes.
Xena told herself that she would not let them fall and she tried heroically to hold them back while she laid there curled up on her bed, hugging his pillow. She sniffled when one rogue tear managed to fight its way free and she immediately brought her hand up to wipe it away to stop any others from following in its place. She gently placed her hand back down on the pillow and started to lightly run her fingers over it, tracing an invisible pattern as she made small circles on it. She laid there thinking about nothing specific, just hoping that this small bit of sadness that she was now feeling would go away soon and then her body stiffened a little as she felt it. He was there, in the room with her and she could feel his strong presence near her as she felt that tingle go down her spine. She closed her eyes at the feeling, letting his strong presence drift over her, filling her with comforting warmth, calming her. Xena let out a relaxed breath at the way his presence was now soothing her and a small smile began to form on her face from the way he was currently making her feel, but, only a few seconds later, taking even herself by surprise, she suddenly snapped her eyes open and she got up off of the bed in a hurry.
She moved away from where she had felt his presence , obviously not wanting him to see her crying. According to all rules in the book, that was supposed to be a weakness to the War God and she didn't want to appear weak in front of him.
Xena moved to stand in front of the fireplace instead as she tried to compose herself. She wiped her eyes, trying to be as subtle as possible, to try and get the appearance of the tears out of them. She wondered why he was there as he had yet to show himself.
Once Ares had arrived in Xena's room he stayed hidden in the ether, not really decided about what he wanted to do now that he had arrived there. Why was he even there? He thought he had settled that problem back in his throne room but yet, there he was. He frowned to himself and he just stood there watching her laying on that bed, the whole situation becoming rather uncomfortable from his point of view, the moment she had chosen to move as far away from him as she could after having realized that he had seen her crying. Despite her best efforts, the War God could clearly see that she was trying to hide from him, vainly struggling to conceal her tears. It started to pain him to see her like that but he didn't know the first thing he should do as he had never been in any similar position before. It shouldn't even matter to him whether she was sad or not, after all. He tried to reinforce that to himself as he was once again wondering why he had even come in the first place, he had important things to take care of.
Ares figured that leaving and pretending that the whole thing never happened was the most intelligent thing he could do.. ..She did seem ok and he could do it, he could still walk away. He started to look around the room everywhere, anywhere but at her, as he tried to will himself to just leave, but he found himself firmly fixed to the spot. One of his generals had probably screwed up big time and his soldiers needed him to get them out of a bind somewhere and he was wasting his precious time on …..mending broken hearts! Yeah that was it, he had to go take care of that and then this whole situation would be put out of his mind and he wouldn't have to think or speak about it ever again and if she happened to bring it up he would just pretend that he had no idea what she was talking about. The War God had his plan and he felt certain about it this time that it would work. He began to nod his head in agreement with his own thoughts but his eyes betrayed him though as they stole a glance in Xena's direction and he saw her just standing there with her arms folded across her chest as she stared into the fire in front of her. He groaned inwardly as he now knew that he wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon. Why did he have to look at her? He was doing so well and nearly had his exit but his traitorous eyes just had to be drawn to her, didn't they?
"Ares?" Xena softly spoke snapping the God of War out of his thoughts.
Ares had been having a silent debate with himself on whether or not he should show himself or just stay where he was. He knew that she knew he was there but since she wasn't acknowledging that he was, he figured that he should just stay put. That way he wouldn't have to deal with all those messy tears, it wouldn't be good for his image. But when he heard her silky voice call out his name he instantly appeared before her.
"I don't know how you sleep in here." he looked around the room in disgust. "This decor is awful." Ares tried to be his usual self and to ignore the fact that she had been crying. He figured if he didn't give voice to it, then he wouldn't have to deal with it and he decided to just keep looking around the room. Don't look at her, don't look at her, was his silent mantra. If he could just do that, then he could easily survive the overly dramatic situation. .
Xena turned to face the War God at his words and could see the repulsion that was now on his face as he looked around her room. "Not to your liking?" she asked him, wanting to keep the conversation light, he must have been there for a reason. She was certain that it wasn't to admire the interior of her bedchamber and it seemed that he was trying to avoid her completely since he had yet to look at her. She thought that was odd since every other time he had shown up he had made it a point of his to keep his eyes firmly fixed upon her.
"Can't say that it is..." he lingered off as he looked around the room some more. "Everything just seems soo... bright." he shuddered at the thought.
Xena smiled at his comment, she had always thought it was too. The brightness in the room sometimes nauseated her. She had changed it once but Athena had gotten rid of everything that she did and changed it back to the way it was. Something about deep blues, red and purple were way too close to the image of Death and they had no business being in the room. Athena could be so uptight sometimes, it was only a few minor changes but she acted like she had sullied her name by doing it.
"Athena doesn't let us redecorate much. She likes things a certain way."
"Can't say that I'm shocked. She always was a control freak. I keep telling her that she needs to get laid, it would certainly ease some of that tension! ... Really mellow her out."
Ares heard Xena laugh at his comment and he smiled inwardly to himself. He could make her laugh, that thought for some reason started to fill him with something that he didn't know how to describe. Thinking that her laughter meant that all her tears were gone and that it was now safe, Ares moved his gaze to Xena for the first time since he appeared before her and she had this amused look on her face but still held that sad look in her eyes. Damn...
The War God didn't like that look and, trying to distract himself from it, he began to run his eyes over her body, instead. He slowly lowered his gaze, hungrily taking in the way her shift clung to her curves. How the flimsy fabric was barely tied together with the laces that rested in the front right between her breasts, leaving him an ample view of her cleavage that his eyes were now glued to. Ares groaned mentally at the sight and immediately made the connection with their time in the arena and how he had indulged himself while he had bathed those voluptuous breasts with his lips.
He moved his gaze down the rest of her body to her lavish legs that he had been lucky enough to have the pleasure of running his hands over until they had disappeared under the fabric of her shift. His mind started to go through all the ways he would have liked to explore the rest of that tempting body. To have the pleasure of peeling, ever so slowly, that pesky article of clothing off that illicit curvaceous body of hers. Revealing every delectable inch of it to him so he could feast on every little part of that alluring silky bronzed skin. He let out a very faint growl as his thoughts on what he would like to do to her started to excite him.
In the meantime, Xena was starting to feel uneasy with the way he was looking at her. That deep probing gaze he would give her as if he was looking right into her and could see everything that she was trying to hide, made her feel very naked in front of him. To think that she really believed that there was something off with him for having avoided her before. And now there he was, back to trying to mesmerize every little bit of her as the War God's eyes roamed over her body, trying to sear her into his memory. He was not at all subtle with his staring as he just stood there taking her in as if he was trying to solve this mysterious puzzle thinking that the answer would just come to him if he just looked long enough. There was a passion in his gaze and needing to reaffirm to herself that he didn't have such an effect on her, she tried to regain some control.
"It isn't polite to stare." Xena fidgeted as the War God's eyes continued their journey over her.
"Am I making you uncomfortable?" Ares smiled as he could see that his gaze had indeed affected her.
"No, you're just being rude!" Xena told him firmly, all the while her nerves going absolutely crazy inside of her from his passionate gaze.
The War God brought his eyes back up to her face and Xena felt herself blush from the intensity of it. Seeing that this was heading dangerously close back to their recent activities she tried to steer it to something else.
"So… I take it Aphrodite was able to find a way to calm you down?"
Ares gave her a puzzled look, silently wondering why she had said that. What did his ditsy sister tell her?
"She came to see me earlier," she clarified for him, "..she seemed to think that I could somehow help in the matter." now she was curious as to why he was so angry to begin with. "Why were you upset? She never did tell me."
"Oh, that..." the War God was still quite conflicted about why he was so angry to begin with and he didn't want her to know so he lied. "Just a few plans going wrong with my generals, nothing to worry about. They can never seem to stick to what I tell them."
"Is that so?" she gave him a curious look. "Aphrodite made it seem like it was more than that."
"Dite makes everything more dramatic than it really is." Ares replied while trying to avoid her questioning eyes. "They're just idiots, plain and simple."
Xena could tell that he was lying about the real reason to why he had been so upset. He had no problem meeting her eyes before and now it seemed like he couldn't get away from them soon enough as he was trying to avoid the subject completely. She didn't think that a few failed plans would cause the Love Goddess to come to her and try to help fix the problem. She decided to let it go and figured that if he wanted to tell her then he would. But judging by the look in his eyes this was something that he was not going to willingly let out.
"Sounds like you need better help."
"Good help is hard to find." He was relieved that she wasn't going to push the matter. A cattish grin began to form on his face as he thought to steer the conversation into a more neutral topic…. One that he was still waiting for an answer to.
"Soo... speaking of help..." he tried to see if he could keep the mood going. "..how's life fairing for you? Is being a warrior for Athena everything you hoped it would be? Given any more thought to what we discussed?" He moved to sit down on the bed, slightly bouncing on it a little to test it out, thinking that maybe they would get to seal their deal as he waited for her response.
Xena was wondering what he was up …..He still hadn't mentioned anything about the reason of his unexpected visit…Was that it?
Still, the fact that he had been lingering and just watching her before he finally did appear seemed a little strange to her. Now this light casual conversation they were having as if they had know each other forever and this was just an everyday thing for them to do, a part of some unknown routine that they had made between themselves…. What was he trying to accomplish?
She took a small step in his direction and she was just getting ready to respond but she winced a little from her sore muscles from practicing the whole day in the arena and she never got a chance to work out the kinks. She quickly tried to hide the pain from the War God, another weakness that he didn't need to see.
"What's wrong?" Ares asked immediately, he had seen the pain that had flashed across her face before she tried to hide it from him. Was she hurt?
"Just a little sore from today's training , that's all. Nothing important. " She cursed herself for not being quick enough to hide her pain from him. Why wasn't she able to block him out like all the rest? She was a little shocked that he was paying that much attention to notice in the first place.
"Come here." Ares beckoned her to come closer to him and then patted the empty space on the bed next to him.
"What for?" Xena arched an inquisitive eyebrow at him, hesitant to go any closer to the War God. She didn't trust herself being that close to him and the fact that she was wearing nothing more than a flimsy piece of clothing didn't make her want to have him that close to her either. Though now that the idea of her clothing came to her mind, she wished that she was wearing something else. She started to think that her shift was a little too revealing to be wearing it in his company and she crossed her arms across her chest, attempting to cover herself a little from his curious eyes. Did he think they were going to finish their activities from the other day?
"Nothing sinister, I promise." Ares responded, quickly noticing the way she was now trying to conceal herself from him. He could also see the reluctance shining in her azure eyes and he gave her a small innocent smile as he continued to pat the empty space beside him and motioned with his left hand for her to join him again.
Uncertainty written all across her face, Xena slowly moved closer to him, keeping her guard up to anything that he might do and watching every little move that he was making as she unhurriedly made her way to him. She only stopped once she got about an arm's length in front of him and then he stood up from the bed, stepping closer to her. His soft chocolate eyes bore into her cerulean ones and he brought his right hand up and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and then slowly let his fingers gently glide over her cheek.
"Now lay down on your stomach." Ares commanded and stepped out of the way so she could do just that.
She gave him an inquiring look but did as she was told and moved to lay down on the bed on her stomach and folded her arms under her head. She felt her anxiety grow as she laid there for a few moments, waiting to see what was going to happen next, and then she felt the bed shift near her as he sat down beside her. Nervous about what he was going to do she laid completely still and then she felt his strong hands on her shoulders as he began to massage her there. Xena tensed at his touch at first but soon allowed herself to relax as he continued to knead her sore muscles.A few moments later, he started to move his hands lower down her back and then he abruptly stopped. She groaned inwardly thinking that was it…that it had been a very short and not at all rewarding experience. She never got a lot of massages but she was certain they lasted longer than a few fleeting seconds. Her kinks were not even worked out and she expected something... Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt when she felt him pulling at the straps of her shift and she quickly sat up and faced him.
"What are you doing?!" she swiftly pulled the strap back up on her shoulder.
"Relax, the massage will have more of an affect without the clothing." He could see that she was doubtful. "Trust me." he said in a sincere tone as he stared into her eyes trying to convince her that he wouldn't do anything that she wouldn't want him to do.
Xena just looked at him for a moment not sure whether or not she should believe him. His soft brown eyes boring into hers were weakening her resolve though. They were asking her to trust him and she found that she did, that he wouldn't push her into something she wasn't ready for. He seemed to just genuinely want to help her relax.
"Fine." she finally agreed and waited for him to turn around so she could undress. But the War God just stared at her expectantly with this gleeful smirk on his face as if he had expected for her to just undress in front of him. "Turn around!" she firmly ordered and his smile quickly faded from his face as he huffed out a breath and just gave her an annoyed look. Still, he had to comply, so, despite not liking the idea, he got up off of the bed and turned his back to her.
Hastily Xena slipped out of her shift and moved to lay back down on the bed on her stomach. She carefully pulled the sheet up to her waist to cover her lower half-the last thing she wanted was to give him any ideas. She cast a glance in the War Gods direction as he continued to stand there with his arms folded across his chest, his back at her as he waited for her to finish. If she was being honest with herself then she was completely nervous to be laying there naked in front of him. Apart of giving a much more intimate feel to the whole scene, the situation also made her think back to the way their bodies had fit so perfectly together when they were in the arena and she felt her anxiety grow more at being that close to him with even less clothing on. She turned her head away from him, not sure if she wanted to see his reaction once he did turn around.
"Ok, you can turn back around." she murmured.
Ares turned back around to face her and he sucked in a breath at the sight he was now seeing. He found himself rooted to where he stood as he gazed at her. By the Gods she was stunning! He ran his eyes over her, taking in completely what he was seeing. Her skin just seemed to glow in the fire light and he raked his eyes over every inch of her. The way her breast peeked out a little from being flattened against the bed, her bare back that shined in the low light, down to the pesky sheet that was obstructing the rest of that enticing body from his view. Feeling himself becoming unstuck from the floor, he cautiously made his way back over to the bed and sat down next to his siren. He didn't touch her at first as he continued to run his eyes over her body. He could feel the tension that was coming from her but he wasn't sure whether it was from his nearness or her sore muscles. She sure looked like a Goddess and he couldn't stand to sit there and to not touch her anymore. He moved his right hand to the middle of her back and let his fingers lightly touch against her skin there. Then, he leisurely ran his fingers up her back, making sure to move them in small stimulating circles, till he got to her shoulders and began to work at her tired muscles. She tensed at the first contact but quickly she was once again relaxing at his touch. He started to work his way slowly back down along her spine and he had to resist the urge to slightly graze her breast- that was annoyingly asking him for attention- as he moved lower. He moved to her lower back and began to massage the skin there when he found a knot and she let out a soft moan from the pressure, pushing herself into the bed.
"Feels good?" Ares asked as he chuckled softly at her reaction.
"Gods yes..." Xena breathed out with another moan. "Do you do this for all your warlords?" she teased.
"Only for the one I want." the War God replied as he worked on a knot he found near her shoulder blade.
If Xena wasn't so caught up in the way he was making her feel she would have caught on to what he had said. "Mmmmm... no wonder your warlords can't focus on a plan. They're too busy wondering when you'll ease their tension again." she taunted.
"And what of you? Will you be wondering too?" he asked as he got rid of the last knot he had found.
"Nah, I'm not that easily distracted." she smiled at him from over her shoulder.
"Is that so?" he inquired as he continued to work his hands over her body in a more sensual way.
"Mmm hmm." was her simple reply, for her brain couldn't work properly to form a sentence as he continued to do wonders on her body.
Ares made a small bottle of oil appear and he uncorked the top and poured a little amount of the liquid into his hand. He rubbed his hands together a little and moved them back to the almost relaxed woman in front of him. Once he touched her again, Xena recognized the fragrance of the oil as lavender, her favorite oil to use. How was it that he seemed to know her so well already? He started to work the oil into her skin and she sighed as she let herself get lost in his caress.
Xena was enjoying the way his hands were working magic on her body. She could feel the tension leaving her at his ministrations. As he continued to go lower down her back she felt him slightly run his hands under the sheet and his fingertips grazed the top of her butt as he gently massaged her there. She stiffened a little from the contact and she held her breath not sure whether he was going to continue to go lower, and she wasn't quite sure if she would stop him if he did, but slowly she exhaled it as he began to move his hands up her back. His touch was just amazing and she couldn't help the deep moan that made its way out of her mouth, almost on its own.. She was so lost in the feel of his fingers on her skin that she didn't even realize what she was doing. She closed her eyes as she just let him soothe her.
All this time, the War God was having a terribly hard time controlling himself to not just take her right then and there. The awesome sensation of her luscious body trembling under his fingertips, just there for him for the taking, and the soft moans she was giving at his every touch were driving him crazy. To be this close and to not have her was pure torture. He had really tested his boundaries when he intentionally ran his hands under the sheet that was blocking the rest of her appealing body from him, when he felt her stiffen slightly from the movement. He didn't want her to be uncomfortable around him so he didn't attempt to go any further. He heard her let out a small sigh as she seemed to snuggle more into the bed. He continued to work his hands across her body instead, just outlining her curves as he moved his fingers softly over her skin, and after a little while, satisfied that he had successfully managed to ease all the tension out of her, he finished his massage. When she didn't make a move to get up or have him turn around again, he leaned over her and looked at her face and saw that she had fallen asleep. As never before, he felt an overwhelming urge of protectiveness for her in that moment; she looked so peaceful that he didn't want anything to get in the way of that. The fact that she had felt secure enough to fall asleep next to him in such a vulnerable state made him reach out and tenderly run the backs of his fingers down her cheek. With a wave of his hand he made a short black silk nightgown- that clung to every curve of her body and was more to his liking then what she was wearing earlier- appear on her and he grabbed the edge of the sheet and pulled it up to cover her.
He stayed there with her for awhile just watching her sleep. Ares moved to lay down next to her so he could gaze upon her face and he would occasionally reach out and smooth her hair back from the few rogue strands that fell into her face. Thinking that it would be best if he left, since he was starting to wonder why he was still there to begin with, and let her continue her sleep undisturbed, he began to quietly get up from the bed. The War God had only made it to a sitting position when he heard her call out her brother's name in her sleep. He turned back to look at her and could see the saddened expression that was now on her face. He furrowed his brow at the sight and moved to lay back down beside her. He reached his left hand out and caressed her cheek with the backs of his fingers and she sighed at the contact, her features softening a little.
"Ares." Xena breathed out and the next thing the War God knew she was moving closer to him as she started to settle herself against him. He just laid there not sure what she was going to do as she got more comfortable against him. He thought that maybe she had awakened and that perhaps they would get to finish some unfinished business they had but that thought was quickly snuffed out the moment he noticed that she was just resting her head against his chest. Needless to say that the God of War was at a loss of what he should do now as he laid there with her. He had never done this with a woman before, whenever he bedded one he wouldn't stay afterwards and they certainly never just laid cuddled together. Who just lays together in a bed? The thought was completely ridiculous to him as he could think of a lot more better things to do with a woman in a bed then just lay there.
As she continued to settle herself more on him, he started to wonder what she thought she was doing. He wasn't a pillow, there were plenty of those on the bed that she could use instead of him. He looked down at her with a scowl but it quickly faded when he saw her nestling her face on his chest and he figured she might be more comfortable if she didn't have the fabric of his vest digging into her cheek. He made his vest vanish and the feel of her skin on his, filled him instantly with this warmth that he had never felt before. Ares continued to lay there with his arms out awkwardly as he didn't know what to do with them now. He felt Xena move her arm around his waist and she snuggled closer to him. Taking a cue from her he figured he would give it a shot and if he didn't like it then he could always stop and , trying to be as subtle as possible- since he wasn't quite sure where he should place his hands- he carefully wrapped his arms around her, placing his left hand on her hip and the other on her shoulder.
The War God mulled over this new situation in his head and he got to the conclusion that it felt kinda nice as he laid there with her and in the end, he even relaxed his arms…. It wasn't so bad and he wondered why he had never done it before now. He looked down at the sleeping woman and saw a few stray strands of her silky hair lingering on her face and he moved his right hand up and brushed them away so he could see her better. A thought came to him then when he did that and so, despite himself he began to run his fingers through her long raven tresses several times. A faint smile formed on his face at the sensation that filled him while doing that.
Xena had started to shift a little and he froze thinking that he had done something wrong but when she relaxed back into his hold he let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding and he pulled her closer to him. He looked down at her and took in the serene look on her face and started to smile again but soon stopped himself once he realized what he was doing. What was he smiling about? He didn't even get to do anything with her. Ares figured he should go since he didn't know how long these types of situations were supposed to last and he was starting to feel a bit foolish for just lying there and holding her with no real purpose. He started to remove his hands from her and tried to ease his way out from under her so he wouldn't disturb her.
The moment he had started to move though, Xena tightened her grip on him a little and she inhaled deep and then breathed out his name again and started to nestle her head against him more. Any idea he might have had of leaving was quickly erased from his mind at the sound of his name. The War God settled himself back into her hold and he tightened his grip on her wanting to make it last as long as possible since he didn't know when or if he would be doing this again. He didn't want to sleep because he wanted to remember every detail of this moment as he laid there with her and he once again brought his hand up and started to smooth back her hair, reveling in what this small gesture was doing to him. So for tonight, for the first time, he would just lay in a bed with a woman and let her use him as her own personal pillow.