Chapter 28

"Ok Marcus' army should be here in a day." Xena stated as she glanced at her warriors, "If we move out now we should be able to cut off their route from the East and we should be able to delay them from reaching Athens and that will give us another day to build our defenses."

She glanced around the room and saw the warriors nod their heads in agreement.

"We have a few moments to gather what we need and we will all meet back here a little after mid-day so we can head out to the location and be prepared for when they arrive." Everyone gave their understanding and began to leave the temple to gather the necessary supplies.

Xena walked back over to the small wooden table holding the maps of the area. She rested her hands on the table and leaned over it a little as she carefully scanned some key areas searching for any other possible route or action that they could take in order to defeat this army. If Athena would have listened to her when she warned her about this threat the other day then they would not be scurrying to come up with a plan of attack when the enemy was so close upon them. She huffed out a frustrated breath as she thought about several different ways they could slow them down and buy themselves some more time. A few moments later, she sensed that all too familiar presence and the tingle that went down her spine. A slight grin appeared on her face from the feeling and she felt a rush of lust course through her loins. She tried to ignore, struggling to keep her focus on the maps in front of her.

"Hello Ares." she finally said, not bothering to look to where she knew he was standing and trying to suppress her new yearning.

Ares materialized with an amused grin on his face. He still couldn't figure out how she always knew when he was around. The first couple of times he had gotten close to her he could see her stiffen at his presence but now she no longer did that as it seemed that she got use to whatever it was that alerted her to him. He was very curious to what it was that made her know that he was near her. He took her in and the way she leaned over the table to study the maps in front of her of the surrounding area. Lustful thoughts started to fill his head as he let his eyes roam over every little inch of her. She was in her element as her azure eyes scanned the piece of parchment. He could watch her strategize all day and his need to have her was only growing stronger.

"I still haven't figured it out yet, but one of these days you are going to have to tell me how you know when I'm here."

He couldn't resist to keep standing this far away from her and began to close in the distance between them.

"Well, a girl has to have some secrets." she replied with a bit of a tease in her voice and she turned her head to the side to look at him and flashed him a mischievous grin then quickly turned her attention back to her task.

She shouldn't have looked at him, he looked incredibly delicious. That black leather, his opened vest- just the right amount to give you a peek at that broad muscular chest, it only made her itch to run her hand over it. And that slight smirk that he had on his face... it only made him look even sexier. Their recent encounter was still fresh in her mind and she felt a pool of moisture form between her legs at the thought. She couldn't stop thinking about it since she left that alley. The way his hands had moved over her body, seeming to know just the right places to touch her at just the right time, his body pleasantly pressed up against hers and his kisses... Gods his kisses, she could get lost in the sensation of them and she did. They seemed hypnotizing and her body had easily given itself over to them, practically screaming at him to touch her again as it tried to get as close as possible to him. She tried to shake that line of thinking out of her head. That encounter was not something she needed to focus on, no matter how nice it had felt to be pressed up against him.

Ares chuckled softly at her comment, he would love to uncover all of her little secrets and he would certainly take his time as he explored every last one of them. The way she was standing and that look she gave him, it only made him want to sweep the maps off the table and haul her up on it and bury himself deep within her core and make love to her right then. He continued to close in the space between them, feeling the tension that was radiating off of her and how it grew more and more the closer he got to her . Once he reached her, he gently placed his left hand on her lower back and felt the very faint tremor that she tried to suppress from his touch. He smiled smugly to himself at the way her disloyal body betrayed her without the slightest hesitation...

"You know..." he began to say and lightly started to caress her lower back and leaned in closer to her ear, "..secrets have a way of coming out."

That being said, he began to run his hand little by little up her back and once he came into contact with some skin he began to trace invisible patterns on it with the lightest touch. He let his hand drift back down her backbone and let it rest against the small of her back where he made a warming sensation start to form from his hand as he softly started to caress her again. He could feel the effect his touch was having on her as she leaned in to him from the contact and she released a soft moan.

As Ares continued to touch her, Xena could feel him leaning in closer to her and she closed her eyes at the sensation. The nearness of him and those stimulating caresses made her pulse pick up. If her body was reacting in this simple manner she wondered what else he could elicit from her in another manner. To feel those strong arms around her, to have his hands glide over her body with just the right touch, to feel his lips touch against her skin, to lay her down and to have him poss... Quickly snapping herself out of those types of thoughts, she stood up straight and turned around to face the War God, determined to give him a snarky remark and thus trying to regain some ground that she had just lost from his touch. She wasn't expecting him to be that close to her when she turned and she almost brushed her lips against his when she wanted to speak. Seeing that he was standing way too close to try and put a rational sentence together and with the way his eyes were boring into hers, she headed to the other side of the table to try and clear her head and put some much needed distance between them.

Ares could sense just how affected she was by his nearness as much as he was about hers and he sure didn't even think about letting her escape that easily. Slowly, he began to head in her direction again, never taking his eyes off of her as he studied her every reaction. She had shifted her eyes to him for a moment and then just as quickly focused them back on the maps of the surrounding area, studying it as if she didn't already know the area like the back of her hand. A small grin began to form on his face as she tried dreadfully to pay no attention to him. Alright, if she wanted to play then he would play. But he wasn't going to play fair.

"Soo.. I see that you are going against Marcus' army tomorrow." he said with a sly smile.

Xena chanced a small look at the War God when he spoke and she saw the small grin that was now forming on his face. What was he up to? Once again, promptly she brought her attention back to the maps before her and placed her hands on the table. She could feel his eyes on her and she shifted a little under the heat of it. His gaze was doing more than just making her nervous, it was steadily filling her with an unbearable desire and she was frantically trying not to let him see just what he was doing to her. She figured if she didn't look at him then she could keep him out and keep what was arising in her doused.

"Yes, we are going to delay their entry into Athens by attacking them at the eastern path." she explained while leaning over the table to point to where on the map they were going to attack the army. "That should buy us some time to weaken his defenses before he reaches Athens."

Ares smirked to himself with the way she was trying so hard to block him out and he couldn't help but appreciate his new view when she leaned over the table, giving him a plentiful display of her breasts that were slightly rising and falling with her every breath. He was lost in the sight of them for a moment and then he moved his eyes over the rest of her body. He moved slowly towards her, watching how she moved, uneasy from his gaze and he once again closed in the distance between them. But this time he didn't waste any time with foreplay and he came up behind her and snaked his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him, causing her to have to straighten a little as her body gradually began to adhere with his own. He placed his head on her right shoulder so he could take a glance at the maps that she was using to desperately try and distract herself from him. He kept his left hand firmly but gently planted against her stomach as he held her to him and his hand began to glow red and fill her with a stimulating warmth again. He heard her very low whimper from his caress and he leisurely moved his right hand to her hip and then slowly started to move it up her side, softly running his fingers over her body so he could learn the contours of every inch of her even better. He made it to her shoulder and allowed his fingers to softly brush her skin there while tantalizingly playing with the strap of her battle leathers and then he swiftly moved her hair out of the way and swept it over her left shoulder, with the lightest touch of his fingertips. He learned forward and placed a kiss at the nape of her neck and as he heard her sharp intake of breath, he could instantly feel how her pulse had jumped from the contact. He then nestled his head back against hers. Since Xena wasn't reacting badly to the way he was touching, her he decided to continue on his journey. Slowly, he began to run his hand down her arm until he reached her hand that she was savagely digging into the table, as she tried to control her reactions to him. The War God picked her hand up and turned it so he could entwine their fingers together and he grasped her hand firmly in his own, smiling when she returned his hold. He looked at the way their hands were now clasped around each other and he brought her hand up and placed a gentle kiss on the back of it.

"You know my dear, if you post your warriors on this ridge here..." he took their joined hands and ran them over the map, forcing him to meld her body against his as they both leaned over the table, to the place he was talking about just a little bit underneath from where her original plan of attack was, "…then Marcus' army will be a threat no more." he said lowly against her ear and Ares inhaled deep the scent of her hair and tightened his hold on her, bringing her closer to him.

The tightening of his hold made Xena want to get lost in the moment and she relaxed into him. Plus, the heat he was consistently applying to her abdomen was filling her with such a pleasurable sensation that her pulse only began to quicken even more. Xena knew she had to remain focused since the fate of all Athens was at stake but the War God was not making it easy for her. Every little touch, the feel of his hot breath as it hit against the side of her neck, the delightful way in which his body was moving up against hers, causing her to end up rubbing herself against him in return was gradually breaking down her self control.

"Tha..." her breath hitched in her throat and her eyes drifted shut slightly when he started to caress her belly and then felt him lightly run his tongue over her skin then placed an opened mouth kiss against the trail his tongue had just taken against her neck, "...that ridge is out of the way from where Marcus' army is heading. If we would have had more time we could have diverted his army to it. The high ridge and the narrow path beneath it would have been a great ambush point but Athena waited too long to do something about this army and we don't have enough time to change its course." she whispered while fighting a vicious battle with herself, with what was being aroused in her from the War God's ministrations. It would be so easy to just give in to it and just allow herself to melt into him. Involuntarily, her hips shifted back into him, causing her to grind against his groin for a moment before she realized what she was doing. Recognizing her mistake, she attempted to put some space between their bodies. There wasn't really anywhere for her to go with the table in front of her and Ares behind her but she still tried to inch her way forward a little. She noticed that even though the War God never loosened his hold, he gave her the desired distance that she wanted. He always touched her with the most delicate caress and for some reason that constantly sent her nerves haywire. She hated the way her body so easily gave itself over to him, trembling at the slightest touch as if it had never been touched by a man before. It had no right to betray her like that when she was persistently trying to keep a firm line drawn between them. This is why she tried to keep her distance from him…,he excited her beyond words and his mere presence at all times took over her senses and made it hard to focus on anything else but him.

Ares smiled against her neck from her reaction as he nibbled on it, feeling her pulse quickening as he placed his lips against her vein. Her movement against him made him intensify the warmth against her stomach. Her low moan told him it had the desired effect, too. Trying to focus his thoughts back to the task at hand, and not on the succulent warrior he was holding in his tight embrace- and that he wanted to ravish so much- he once again told himself just how impressed he was with her . All by herself, she had managed to think of the perfect area for her plan of attack. Although she was right, with Athena's slow reaction to the advancing army, it would be too late to get them to the ridge.

"Well my dear Xena, I think you should take this course of action." he murmured out as he continued to kiss against her neck, as if he knew something that she didn't. "It seems that the commander of this army has taken a fancy for indulging himself with the local whores." he whispered in her ear and he knew the moment when she had put the pieces together. He could feel her pulse quickening even more from the excitement of a good battle that was to come as he continued with his constant kisses on her neck.

"That would give us an extra day." Xena started to recalculate what it would take to block off the eastern path to get the army to head to the ridge.

"The army would be at your mercy." Ares said seductively in her ear, "To get to see you in action, now that's a fight I would love to see."

Xena brought her left hand up and placed it over his that was still firmly attached to her stomach, giving off the pleasing warmth that was still coursing through her, making it harder and harder for her to keep her focus. She cocked her head to the side to look at the War God and could see the pleasurable gleam that was now starting to form in his eyes at the possibility of seeing her in battle and she turned slightly in his hold, bringing their faces closer together. A battle lust began to grow inside of her at the excitement of a well crafted plan and the enjoyment the War God was getting from it was filling her with a desire and his closeness only seemed to be feeding it as a new lust began to form inside of her. She was itching to once again be in a good fight and now this new piece of information was going to guarantee her one, and now she was incredibly turned on. She stared into the War Gods eyes and then slowly let her gaze drift to his mouth that was so temptingly close to her own, this burning urge building in her own eyes as her mind slowly started to grasp what she wanted.

Ares knew what that fire burning in her eyes meant. He could see the battle lust forming in those sapphire eyes of hers and they also held something else in them and it only made his own blood boil in return. He felt a hunger for her in that moment, a desire to have her like nothing else he had ever wanted before. Something he had never experienced before from all the times he had went into battle over the years. Her lust for battle was feeding him like no other sacrifice in his name had ever done over the centuries and he wanted nothing else but to devour her. If he wasn't certain that she was meant to be his before then, this only proved a point. This mortal woman had yet to stop amazing him and he longed to claim her, the need to plunge himself inside of her and just fuck her senseless until he filled her with his seed had never been stronger than it was at that moment. The power he was getting from her aura made his eyes start to turn a little darker and was starting to slowly intoxicate him.

Xena could see the raw passion and the feral desire that was now staring back at her from the War God's eyes. To anyone else, that look would have struck fear into them the moment they looked into his eyes and sent them running for the nearest shelter. It was the look for the lust of battle and it was coming from the deadly persona of the God of War himself. A look the effects of which she had only heard stories about and how if you found yourself in his presence when he was like this then you were in for a world of hurt or you were as good as dead. But to Xena, for some reason that she could not quite understand, she knew that he would never hurt her. If anything, that look only inflamed her own passion, filling her with a strength that was slowly starting to awaken after years of being dormant. She started to get this unbelievable urge to just push him down on the table and climb on top of him and fill herself with his godhood and just fuck him. The temptation to do just that was overwhelming, the thoughts of what she would get from that were consuming her, but she knew she couldn't give in to that passion, she needed to remain focused. She gave both of his hands a hard squeeze and regrettably she pulled herself away from Ares' embrace but did not distance herself too much from him, not willing to break just yet what she was getting from him.

Xena turned around to face Ares and saw that he was still way too close. They stared at each other for a moment, each seeing the passion that was steadily growing in the other's eyes. The pull she felt towards him just seemed to be getting stronger each time he showed up. As if with each new visit this unspoken bond that had developed between them in such a short amount of time would only get reinforced with each touch, each caress and each glance, searing one to the other. At times, even when he wasn't there she could still feel that burning desire to seek him out. An unquenchable feeling that wouldn't go away until the next time he decided to pay her a visit, which since their first meeting on that battlefield hadn't been more than a few days apart. On their own accord, which Xena was still trying to figure out how they ended up so close together again, they stood mere inches away from each other, each consumed by an untamed passion shining in their eyes.

Their hot labored breaths mixed together for a moment and then Xena shifted her eyes away from his and lowered her head a little. She brought her hand up and placed it against his vest, softly running her fingers over the material. Hesitantly, she moved her hand a few inches over to his bare chest and delicately let her fingers touch against his skin. She seemed mesmerized by the feel of him as she gently caressed his chest, slightly tracing the contour of his silver pendant. She shouldn't be doing this, she silently told herself, she was playing with fire. But she couldn't seem to pull herself away from his spell either. The War God had awakened something within her and she felt the need to keep it burning.

Ares was watching her carefully as she ran her hand over his chest. Her touch was only making his need for her grow and he tried to fight against it. Why did her touch have such an effect on him? She enticed him constantly and he couldn't seem to get her out of his head, she occupied his thoughts all the time. She just rested her hand against his chest now, feeling his heart beat, and he brought his hand up and placed it over hers. He lifted his right hand to her chin and titled her face up towards his and then ran his thumb over her lips. Her expressive blue moons looked intently into his for a few seconds and then they both started to slowly lean into each other. Their mouths met in a feather like touch before Xena pulled away just before it had a chance to deepen fully, only to meet again in another brief moment a few seconds later as their lips lightly brushed against the others. But neither one moving to take the kiss further as the both of them were fighting with themselves and didn't want to be the one to give in to the dangerous temptation that was standing in front of them.

Just then, sounds of foot falls and chatter could be heard coming down the hall towards them. The warriors had returned to the main hall of the temple. Their mouths melded together in one more tender encounter, each putting a little more eagerness into the kiss. Just as it was starting to take a turn to become deeper, as a result of their building passion, she pulled away completely and placed her hands on his chest and gently pushed him backwards. She couldn't focus when he was so close. Hearing that they were no longer alone, she took a few steps away from Ares and moved to the other side of the table where she tried to clear her head from what was transpiring between them. The War God never took his eyes off of her as she walked away from him, these sensations that she had managed to bring out of him made him feel more alive than anything else in his long immortal existence had ever done. She was special...

The first person that made it through the door to where Xena and Ares were at, was Astra. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw that Xena was with that man again, only this time she knew who he was. She tried not to make any noise as she watched them just stare at each other from across the table, they looked like they were about ready to devour each other judging by their hungry glances.. She noticed the battle plans that were strewn out across the table and wondered what Xena was doing with the War God and those plans. Did she plan on betraying Athens? It seemed to her as if they were having some sort of unspoken conversation between themselves through their eyes. The noise and chatter of the rest of the approaching warriors had disrupted the pair from their staring contest and they both looked in Astra's direction.

Ares frowned mentally seeing that yet again he had lost his opportunity with her. Why was it so hard just to get her alone for once? Every time he managed to make some sort of lead way with her, someone or something always seemed to interrupt them. He cast the intruder a hateful sneer, not at all pleased with her unwanted presence. He closed in the distance between himself and Xena and he turned his attention back to her. He picked up her hand, keeping his eyes on hers as he brought it up to his mouth and placed a tender kiss on her knuckles and gently rubbed his thumb against them.

"Anything I could do to help my dear." he let go of her hand and he disappeared from the room.

The rest of the warriors had finally made it back and began to file inside the room. All except one, missing the display between the sole pair that just occupied it. She was a little surprised by what she saw, and that term of endearment he had used before he left, what was that all about? It seemed to Astra that things between the God of War and Xena were taking an interesting turn and she wondered how she could use this to her advantage. She had already picked up a few tad bits about the pair but she needed something that would really do some damage. A few long glances from across the room was not going to cut it. She needed something that was more substantial.

Once everyone had made it back inside, Xena turned her attention to them. Now that the War God was no longer there the feelings that were aroused in her started to settle down. She wasn't quite sure what had just happened between them but something had definitely changed among them and she felt a little more connected to the War God. She always got a nice little rush when she was preparing for battle but there had been something different this time and it seemed like her lust was more intensified as they both seemed to have been feeding off of the other's excitement. Also now that he was gone, that warmth that started to slowly build inside of her was dissipating, making her feel a tad bit empty without it and she frowned to herself at the feeling. She tried to push the whole encounter out of her mind and put her focus on what really mattered at the moment.

"Alright change of plans." Xena stated to her warriors and began to fill them in on their new course of action.